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Rastriya Swatantra Party acting Chairperson Dol Prasad (DP) Aryal and party Chief Whip Santosh Pariyar held a meeting with Speaker Devraj Ghimire at his official residence in Baluwatar today.

Shekhar Adhikari, the Speaker's press expert, said that during the meeting the Speaker urged the RSP to move forward responsibly rather than causing obstruction in the Parliament.

"The opposition's obstruction has held the Parliament hostage for two weeks. We must have extensive discussions about the budget. During this time of making the budget prosperous, the Parliament being obstructed has sent the wrong message to the people. The issues raised by the opposition are serious, and that is why I held back the Parliament for two weeks to reach an agreement, but now there is no room for that any longer," Adhikari quoted the Speaker as saying on the occasion.

The Speaker mentioned that as the leader of the Parliament, one must also take care of the constitutional limits, stating that the National Assembly had instructed to send the Appropriation Bill from the House of Representatives by this June 19.

Speaker Ghimire said, “In such circumstances, the budget must be passed at all costs; you should also understand the constitutional limits and constraints by changing the nature of your movements. Rather, I will facilitate the necessary dialogue with the government; so, let’s discuss the matter seriously.”

The RSP said that the demands raised by the opposition were serious and they voiced the genuine problem of the people.

"We have been forced to obstruct the Parliament because the government is not serious about our demands and issues. In the current situation, we are not in a position to backtrack from our issues; however, we are currently engaged in discussions and dialogues for a solution," RSP acting Chairperson Aryal said during the meeting.

The Budhi Ganga Hydropower Project, originally scheduled for completion by 2025, is now expected to take an additional four years. The project was initially planned to be completed within 42 months of the contract signing, but the contracting process is yet to be finalized.

The procurement process for civil and hydro-mechanical works is currently in its final stage. Project Chief Surendra Ghimire said a letter of intent has been issued after evaluating the bids, and the draft contract has been sent to the donor agency for approval. This is the fourth round of bidding, as the previous bids were canceled during the pre-qualification stage. The 20 MW semi-reservoir project will be constructed in Achham.

The project was designed in 1997 by Canadian International Water and Energy Consultants, with support from Metcon Consultants. A loan agreement was signed between the Government of Nepal, the Saudi Development Fund, and the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development, valid through 2025. Saudi Arabia agreed to provide a loan at two percent interest, and the Kuwaiti Fund at 0.5 percent.

The donor agencies are involved in every procurement stage. Recently, the draft agreement was sent for approval on 28 April 2025, after responding to two rounds of queries from the donors.

Ghimire said that the project has been focused on studies and land acquisition. Much of the documentation was lost during the Maoist attack on Mangalsen during the conflict, leading to delays in land surveying and verification. “Main construction hasn’t begun, and no contract has been awarded yet. A significant amount of time has been consumed in the preparatory phase. We had to remeasure lands as government agencies had lost original records,” said Ghimire. The Ministry of Finance must also approve funding sources, as the government is a project partner.

Due to time overruns, project costs have risen. Originally, the total estimated cost for civil and hydro-mechanical works (Lot-1), electro-mechanical works (Lot-2), and transmission line (Lot-3) was Rs 9bn. The revised estimate has increased the total cost to Rs 14bn. However, after transferring responsibility for the transmission line to the National Transmission Grid Company, the cost of civil and electro-mechanical works alone is now estimated at Rs 9bn. The Ministry of Finance must again provide source approval for these revised costs.

The loan agreement, initially valid until 2025, has been extended to 2027 due to delays. Ghimire said the project is prepared to request a further extension if necessary.

The project will now be implemented under a multi-year EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) contract, divided into three packages. Revisions to the detailed engineering design and environmental impact assessment have already been completed.

In the current fiscal year, only 15.39 percent of the allocated Rs 96.55m budget has been spent. According to the Ministry of Finance, the capital expenditure rate so far is 30.73 percent, with only 0.05 percent specifically utilized for the project.

To date, the project has completed several preparatory tasks. These include the environmental study of the transmission line and dam site, construction of office and residential buildings, establishment of the campsite and the Chapartola Substation in Doti, acquisition of 327 ropanis of land, and the construction of an access road and bridge.

A wild elephant has been found dead in a maize field near the Kaushiki Community Forest at Brahakshetra of Sunsari.

Brahakshetra Municipality Mayor Ramesh Karki said that locals informed them about the incident in the morning today.

According to Karki, it is a male elephant that is around five to seven years old. The cause of the elephant's death is not known.

The District Forest Office, Sunsari, along with the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve team, is investigating the cause of the elephant's death, said Mayor Karki.

Vehicles will be able to operate along the flyover at Gwarko in Lalitpur after four days.

With the completion of the main structure of the flyover, the Department of Roads is now preparing for the operation of vehicles, said Deep Barahi, the head of the Quality Research and Development Center.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is scheduled to inaugurate the flyover on June 20.

Last Saturday, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Devendra Dahal, along with the officials of the Department of Roads, carried out a field inspection and gave instructions to prepare for the operation of vehicles.

After the construction of the main structure, the placement of lane separators, lining, and other works have been completed, making it possible for vehicles to operate.

Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has resumed the export of 40 MW of electricity to Bangladesh via India. Power from Nepal to Bangladesh was exported for the first time for 12 hours on July 15 last year. It resumed from June 15 this year.

A power sale agreement had been signed between NEA, Bangladesh Power Development Board and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited of India last year, which led to export of electricity for only 12 hours last year.  Nepal has been exporting excess electricity during the rainy season to neighboring India for five months every year. This year, starting today, NEA will export electricity to Bangladesh for the next five months, until Nov 15.

Subarna Sapkota, deputy manager of the NEA Electricity System Control Department, shared that 146.88m units of electricity will be exported in five months. The government will earn Rs 1.29bn in five months through the sale of electricity.  The selling rate of electricity exported under the agreement is 6.4 US cents per unit. 

The electricity will be supplied to the Bhermara substation in Bangladesh via Muzaffarpur, Behrampur, India from Nepal’s 400 kV Dhalkebar substation. Meanwhile, the NEA has continued its electricity exports to neighboring India and started exporting the green electricity to the Indian state of Haryana from this year. It had been exporting 185 MW of electricity since June 1, which increased to 200 MW from Saturday. As per the agreement between Nepal and India, the selling rate of this electricity export is InRs 5.25 per unit.

NEA has also started exporting 80 MW to the Indian state of Bihar since 12 last night. In addition, additional electricity is being purchased and sold in the Indian market through the Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur 400 kV and 132 kV transmission lines. As electricity generation in Nepal has increased with the onset of the rainy season, the surplus electricity is being exported to India and Bangladesh.

Iranian missiles struck Israel’s Tel Aviv and the port city of Haifa before dawn on Monday, destroying homes and fuelling concerns among world leaders at this week’s G7 meeting that the confrontation could lead to a broader regional conflict, Reuters reported.

At least five people were killed in the latest Iranian strikes, the national emergency service said, raising Israel’s death toll to 18 since Friday. At least 100 more were wounded in the overnight blitz, part of a wave of attacks by Tehran in retaliation for Israel’s pre-emptive strikes targeting the nuclear and ballistic missile programs of sworn enemy Iran.

Search and location operations were underway in Haifa where around 30 people were wounded, emergency authorities said, as dozens of first responders rushed to the strike zones. Fires were seen burning at a power plant near the port, media reported, according to Reuters.

The 11th Chure Conservation Day is being observed today by organizing various programmes.

The Day is being observed to mark the establishment of President Chure-Terai Madhesh Conservation Development Committee.

The main function was organized in Kawaswoti of Nawalparasi (Bardaghat Susta East) in the presence of President Ram Chandra Paudel today.

It may be noted that the Committee was established in 2079 BS aiming at contributing to poverty alleviation through natural resource conservation, sustainable management and ecosystem protection in Chure.

Since its establishment, the Committee has reported that it has worked to control landslides, streams and gully in 1,459 locations, expand multi-year crops over 166 hectares of steep agrarian land, run a greenery promotion programme over 5,230 hectares, and produce and distribute 2.93 million saplings.

Furthermore, it has constructed 412 kilometers of riverbank walls, established 162 hectares of green belts, and or restored 139 wetland ponds, built rainwater collection ponds, and conserved 548 water sources.

Additionally, nearly 1.5 billion rupees have been spent in the name of Chure conservation. The Committee has spent 14.96 billion rupees up to the fiscal year 2080-81.

The Committee having its central office in Lalitpur has been working throughout the country by setting up programme implementation units in Salakpur, Janakpur, Chitwan, Butwal, and Lamki.

The gold is being traded at Rs 197, 500 per tola in the domestic market on Monday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the price of silver, however, has increased by Rs 75 and is being traded at Rs 2, 165 per tola today.