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It has been more than a year since Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said concluding transitional justice is one of his key priorities. However, there has been no progress in resolving the disputes among parties regarding some contents of the transitional justice amendment bill pending in the Parliament. Parties have yet to reach a consensus on whether to categorize arbitrary killings or all killings except those resulting from clashes as serious human rights violations. Conflict victims argue that all extrajudicial killings, mental torture and physical torture should be labeled as serious violation of human rights.

While parties may differ on ways to approach these issues, it is not difficult to resolve them if there is political will and honesty among the major parties. Since the inception of the peace process in 2006, parties have used the transitional justice issue as a bargaining tool rather than making serious, sustained efforts to resolve it. Just before the recent change in the coalition government, parties told people they were in negotiation to reach consensus on contentious issues and claimed that they were close to an agreement. With the formation of the new coalition, however, parties have not touched on the issue. Previously, the CPN (Maoist Center) and CPN-UML were at loggerheads on contentious issues while the NC appeared flexible. Now, the Maoists and UML seem flexible to compromise, while the NC appears tough.

The international community is one of the major stakeholders in Nepal's transitional justice process. It has reservations about some provisions in the amendment bill. Similarly, the concerns of conflict victims must be addressed to avoid societal conflict in the future. Since it has been almost two decades since the Maoists joined the peace process, transitional justice should be accorded the highest priority. It should not be a bargaining tool for state power. As the head of the government, Dahal should make extra efforts to resolve the contentious issues. So far, it seems Dahal is seeking ways to avoid prosecuting even those involved in serious human rights violations. The issue of transitional justice can be settled easily if Maoist leaders accept the international standards and honor Supreme Court verdicts.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Thursday filed a graft case against 19 individuals including former Nepal Telecommunications Authority Chairman duo Purushottam Khanal and Digambar Jha for carrying out irregularities while procuring the Mobile Device Management System.

The anti-corruption watchdog filed the case against 19 people including Khanal, Jha, Director Ananda Raj Khanal, Deputy Director/Director Min Prasad Aryal, Assistant Director/Deputy Director Binod Chandra Shrestha and two companies.

According to CIAA spokesperson Narahari Ghimire, a case was filed at the Special Court against them for carrying out irregularities while purchasing the Mobile Device Management System.

The Commission has sought a fine of Rs around Rs 910 million from them.

Earlier, the then Chairman Khanal resigned from his post following controversies over the procurement of Mobile Device Management System.

The Health Department of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has submitted a 26-point suggestion letter to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health and Population, Upendra Yadav, at the Ministry in Kathmandu today.

The suggestions are for the improvement of the health sector.

A team led by Dr Toshima Karki, member of the House of Representatives and head of the Health Department of the party, submitted the charter of suggestions to the minister.

The suggestions include making emergency healthcare services effective, making the health insurance program a high priority, reviewing treatment and healthcare fees, ensuring the management of medical and health human resources, and creating necessary posts as soon as possible.

The monitoring and regulation of healthcare providers should be intensified in a coordinated framework by making the regulatory bodies of the health sector more active in order to understand the condition of the equipment purchased in hospitals and health institutions, the RSP stated.

Presenting the suggestions, Dr Karki said, “We have a team of experts working in the health sector. We have done our homework on health issues. We are ready to cooperate and collaborate.”

While receiving the recommendation letter, Health Minister Yadav mentioned that there is a need for many reforms in the health sector. "The main thing is that common citizens should get quality and affordable health services in hospitals. There is a need for equipment and manpower," Health Minister Yadav said and expressed his commitment to follow the suggestions given, and ask for help when needed.

Finnish Ambassador to Nepal Riina-Riikka Heikka paid a courtesy call on Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens Bhagwati Chaudhary on Thursday.

During the meeting held at Minister Chaudhary’s office in Singh Durbar this afternoon, they discussed strengthening the relations between the two countries, cooperation on women, children, senior citizens and gender and sexual minorities among other issues.

On this occasion, Minister Chaudhary said that since the establishment of diplomatic relations on September 21, 1974, the relationship between the two countries has been harmonious, stating that Nepal attaches great importance to the relations based on friendship, amity and cooperation with Finland.

Minister Chaudhary expressed the belief that Finland's support will be fruitful for Nepal in the efforts to uplift the socio-economic status, especially the rural communities of Nepal, and thanked the Finnish government and people for extending their helping hands to Nepal during the difficult time of Covid-19.

Mentioning that Nepal is aiming to upgrade from underdeveloped country status in 2026 and become a middle-income country by 2030, Minister Chaudhary said that Nepal is striving to achieve the goals of sustainable development.

"I would like to thank Finland for advocating climate change together with Nepal in various multilateral forums," she said.

In the meeting, Ambassador Heikka said that to strengthen the bilateral relationship between Nepal and Finland, they will cooperate for bilateral development, according to the Secretariat of Minister Chaudhary.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 4.78 points to close at 2,035.64 points on Thursday.

The sensitive index, however, plunged by 0.36 points to close at 359. 09 points.

A total of 6,614,445-unit shares of 313 companies were traded for Rs 2. 65 billion.

Meanwhile, Himalaya Urja Bikas Company Limited (HURJA) was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 10. 00 percent. Likewise, Unnati Sahakarya Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (USLB) and Dhaulagiri Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (DLBS) were the top losers as their price fell by 10.00 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 22 trillion.

National Assembly Vice-Chairperson Urmila Aryal resigned on Thursday.

She submitted the resignation to National Assembly Chairman Narayan Prasad Dahal.

Aryal was elected unopposed as the National Assembly Vice-Chairperson on January 17, 2023.

After Dahal was elected as the Chairman from the CPN (Maoist Center) in the ruling coalition, she tendered her resignation in consensus.

While forming a new coalition, an agreement was reached among the four parties that the Chairman of the National Assembly would be from the Maoist Center and the Vice-Chairperson of the CPN-UML.

A day after taking a decision to withdraw the support extended to the government, Sudurpaschim Province Chief Minister Kamal Bahadur Shah has assigned the responsibility to two ministers participating in the provincial government from the Nagarik Unmukti Party.

According to the Chief Minister's Secretariat, Chief Minister Shah has appointed Laxman Kishor Chaudhary as the Minister for Social Development and Khushiram Dagaura Tharu as the Minister for Industry, Tourism, Forests and Environment.

Earlier, both of them were appointed as ministers without portfolio.

Damodar Pandit, spokesperson of the party, informed that the meeting of the founding members of the party held in Tikapur on Wednesday decided to support the coalition in the central government and withdraw the support to the province government.

Along with this, Nagarik Unmukti Party will have four ministers and one state minister in the Sudurpaschim government.

The Budhi Gandaki Hydroelectric Project was first identified in 1978, while the first feasibility study was conducted in 1998. However, the government spent all these years debating whether to construct it with domestic or foreign investment. The 12,000 MW-capacity reservoir project is seen as an example of a project that has been unable to rise above political intrigues. The government has now decided to implement the project by mobilizing internal resources.

The Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation has finalized the project’s investment modality and sent it to the finance ministry for approval. A committee formed by the energy ministry has proposed to the government to own 51 percent stakes in the company to be formed to implement the project.

The committee, led by Joint Secretary Nabin Raj Singh of the energy ministry, proposed the modality. Arjun Kumar Gautam, CEO of the Hydroelectricity Investment and Development Company Limited (HIDCL), Dr Jagat Kumar Shrestha, CEO of the Budhi Gandaki Hydroelectric Company Limited, and the ministry’s Senior Divisional Engineer Raju Maharjan were in the committee.

HIDCL CEO Gautam said that the government can now proceed with the implementation of the project based on the committee’s report.

According to the report, the estimated cost of the project is around Rs 310bn. The committee has proposed a 70:30 debt-to-equity ratio, which means 30 percent of the project cost will be equity investment and the remaining 70 percent will be loan investment. The committee has suggested to the ministry to mobilize equity investment from the government, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), public entities, and through an IPO from the general public and project-affected locals. Likewise, it has proposed seeking Rs 139.91bn concessional loan and Rs 78.35bn commercial loan.

The committee has also suggested investing money collected from infrastructure tax levied on petroleum products in the project. The government started collecting infrastructure tax on petroleum imports in 2016 when finance minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel levied Rs 5 per liter infrastructure tax on diesel and petrol imports at the customs point.

Excluding the Viability Gap Funding (VGF), the government’s total investment in the project will be Rs 186.93bn. The total government investment will be Rs 260.13bn if VGF is accounted for. VGF refers to investments that the government supports projects that are economically justified but fall short of financial viability.

Gautam said that the provision of VGF has been recommended in the report to make the project financially viable to to raise commercial loans and investment through IPO. The committee has recommended raising Rs 18.44bn through an IPO.

The committee has suggested that the government levy an annual interest rate of one percent for the concessional loans, with a loan tenure of 50 years, including an 8-year construction period. It has suggested forming a consortium of co-financiers, including the Employee Provident Fund, Citizen Investment Trust, HIDCL, Social Security Fund, and commercial banks, to arrange the necessary commercial loans for the project. According to the financial plan, the developer can raise up to Rs 20bn through energy bonds issued by HIDCL.

The committee has recommended to the government to start project implementation in 2024/25 and complete it by 2031/32. According to the proposal, the project will need Rs 17.37bn in the first year, Rs 19.01bn in the second year, Rs 23.81bn in the third year, Rs 41.67bn in the fourth year, Rs 44.95bn in the fifth year, Rs 82.49bn in the sixth year, Rs 2.43bn in the seventh year, and Rs 38.74bn in the final year.

The project is of strategic importance as it provides multi-faceted benefits such as irrigation, drinking water, fisheries, water transportation, flood control, and tourism along with hydropower generation. The construction of the Budhi Gandaki Hydroelectric Project can be seen as an opportunity for the integrated utilization of domestic capital. Moreover, the electricity generated from the project can positively impact the country’s economy by displacing the billions of rupees spent annually on importing petroleum products.

The National Planning Commission had formed a committee under the leadership of its then Vice-chair Dr Swarnim Wagle in 2017 to prepare an investment framework for the construction of the Budhi Gandaki Hydroelectric Project. The Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, secretaries of the finance and energy ministry, managing director of NEA, and a joint secretary of the energy ministry were members of the committee.

The committee had suggested forming a subsidiary company under NEA to implement the project by mobilizing investment from Employees Provident Fund, Citizens Investment Trust, Rastriya Beema Company, HIDCL, Nepal Telecom, Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Ltd, CHilime Hydropower Ltd, welfare funds of Nepal Army and Nepal Police, among others. It has also suggested to the government to invest about 35 percent of the project cost as VGF through concessional loans or by utilizing funds collected as infrastructure tax.

Likewise, another study committee led by NEA’s Deputy Executive Director Pradip Kumar Karki suggested that the government invest Rs 73bn as VGF and make a 70:30 equity and loan ratio. It suggested that equity investment could be raised from NEA, Employees Provident Fund, Nepal Telecom, Citizens Investment Trust, and insurance companies, etc.