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Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, assured that security agencies would remain independent of any political influence, power centers, or money game while discharging their duty.

In a meeting held today with former senior officials of security agencies to discuss the ‘strengthening of peace and security,’ the Minister said that the Ministry and its subordinate bodies would strictly adhere to the Constitution, laws, and their designated responsibilities.

“We are devising comprehensive plans to enhance the overall performance of the Home Ministry and its subordinate bodies,” he stated. Furthermore, he said the Ministry has asked the Nepal Police and an investigation unit for ensuring impartial, independent, and efficient investigations into any incident. He said, “Police investigations are guided by laws, facts and evidence.”

He revealed that during the course of investigating cases of corruption and crime, complaints from respective areas are received.

When someone involved in irregularities in the political, administrative, or business sectors is on the verge of being brought under the purview of the law, there may be protests from people within their respective sectors, according to the Minister, who questioned, “Is it possible to promote the rule of law in such a situation and is the law applied only to the general public?”

“The culture of groupism has deeply affected the Nepal Police institution,” he said, adding that the government was actively working to intervene and eradicate such detrimental practices from the organization.

He hoped that security bodies would find a pace if intervention from the political leadership, power centers, the economic influence is prevented by promoting the rule of law.

As he said, he had proposed to the Parliament to remove the provision for 30-year service in the police administration, he said the provision will be discontinued by law. The Inspector General of Police is highly positive about the proposal, he said, adding that he was told that the IGP was ready to sacrifice for the removal of the provision.

Expressing his determination to implement the provision of voluntary retirement of police Constable and Head Constable completing 16 years of service and Assistant Sub-Inspector and Sub-Inspector completing 18 years of service, getting the pension in 20 years, the DPM and Home Minister said the matter is being discussed with the Ministry of Finance.

As he said, the Home Ministry is taking the initiative as to how the morale of police constables, head constables, and sub-inspectors could be boosted and how they can be made to work.

“The police have to work 24 hours; how can we work with a ‘depressed force’? Discussion is on with the Public Service Commission to make the promotion of the police constables and the junior officers regular,” he asserted.

Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force (APF) Nepal’s former Inspectors General and Additional Inspectors General lauded the steps initiated by the present government in controlling corruption and the promotion of good governance.

On the occasion, they had given suggestions for policy and structural reforms, timely increment in the pay and facilities, paying attention to the career development of police personnel, making the transfer, promotions, and foreign training predictable, dissuading impunity, and bringing the National Investigation Department under the Home Ministry.

Home Secretary Dinesh Bhattarai, Inspector General of Nepal Police Basana Kunwar, APF Nepal’s Inspector General Raju Aryal, high-level officials of the Ministry, police former chiefs, and police former high officers were present in the interaction.

Sixty-four households at Odak of Maiwakhola Rural Municipality-4 in Taplejung are to be evacuated to safety. 

The settlement has been facing a constant risk of floods and landslides for two weeks due to monsoon rains.

The local disaster management committee meeting on Saturday agreed to build temporary shelters at ward 3 promptly to shift the vulnerable households, according to Rural Municipality Chair Bijay Prakash Wanem. 

The hut construction project will commence on July 23.

The evacuation works will take place under coordination of various local agencies.

People of Odak have suffered the most in the entire rural municipality from monsoon-related consequences.

Bridges along the local rivers and rivulets have been swept away by floods and ground cracking is common at various places.

The governments of Nepal and Japan have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in regard with the implementation of the phase III of the 'The Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship by Japanese Grant Aid (JDS)' program. 

Finance Secretary Arjun Prasad Pokhrel and Japan's ambassador to Nepal Kikuta Yutaka signed and exchanged the MoU on behalf of their respective sides amidst a program at the Ministry of Finance today.

As per the agreement, the Government of Japan is to provide Rs 385 million to Nepal for the implementation of the scholarship program in 2023 and 2024 AD. The facility is targeted at the civil service employees to pursue the Master's and Ph.D. degrees.

Nepal has been receiving these kinds of financial support for human resource development from Japan since 2015.

So far, 100 civil service employees have been benefited by the Japan-funded scholarship scheme.

The industrialists and business persons in the district are found quitting their businesses and leaving for foreign employment due to the economic slump brought by COVID-19. More and more entrepreneurs are leaving the country for foreign land after their efforts to revitalize their COVID-dented businesses failed to pay off.

The entrepreneurs are finding it hard to pay their staff and the building or land rent. The number of entrepreneurs leaving the country for overseas employment has increased in the district in recent months.

Upon observation, one can see that many outlets and shutters in the main trading hub Narayangarh and surrounding markets are either shut or have put up 'On Sale' notice.

Chitwan Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Chun Narayan Shrestha said seven businesspersons have closed their businesses and gone abroad. According to him, they went abroad on business visa. Similarly, 12 industrialists and business persons have formally applied for closing their businesses.

"The situation is such that it is difficult to either start a new venture or to continue with the existing business due to the economic slowdown and the exorbitant bank interest rate," Shrestha summed up the current business environment and the reason for entrepreneurs quitting the business.

According to him, although this problem is comparatively less in the main market areas, it is severe in new and expanding trade towns. He said the entrepreneurs and traders are leaving their businesses due to the 'tight' monetary policy.

Shrestha further added, "The big industries and businesses are running for the 'sake of their existence' whereas the smaller businesses have been hit hard and are in a vulnerable situation."

Even those enterprises that are somehow keeping their businesses afloat have been cutting down on their production and employees.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chitwan, said the enterprises that are in operation have also reduced their production. They are producing only around 40 per cent of their total production capacity. Shrestha, the Chitwan Chamber of Commerce and Industry president, said the State suffers from reduced tax while the businesses themselves are facing problems to sustain due to the reduced production.

It is said that among the 4,000 registered members of the Chitwan Chamber of Commerce and Industry that are in operation, most are running in financially weak condition. The automobile sector, poultry sector, concrete manufacturing industries, food industries, construction enterprises, among others, are affected the most by the economic downturn exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

President of Industry Association, Chitwan, Trilochan Kandel said till date 30 per cent industries have closed down in Chitwan. He added that this trend is on the increase. According to him, 30 percent of the 1,200 members affiliated to the Association have closed shop.

"The trend of industries closing down is increasing while opening new ones is minimal. It appears that the trend of industries closing down will still increase with the increasing bank interest rates and the economic uncertainty," he added.

Stating that with this growing trend of entrepreneurs going abroad by closing their enterprises will result in large numbers of people losing employment and hundreds of thousands of youths being left with no option but to go for foreign employment, Kandel suggested that the monetary policy of the state should be flexible to stop this trend.

He suggested that the banks reduce the interest rate and bring it down to 1 per cent and the government also paid serious attention to addressing the problems facing the industrialists and businesspersons.

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has started the process of providing scholarships to students of institutional schools in the metropolis. The KMC itself has started the process for the scholarship as the institutional schools were doing it as required, said KMC Mayor Balen Shah. The Education Department of the KMC has issued a notice for students studying in Grade 11 calling applications for scholarships. The application can be registered online until July 28. The students will have to sit for a test to be selected for the scholarship. The Education Act, 2028 BS, provides that institutional schools must provide free scholarships to underprivileged students with disabilities, women, Dalit or indigenous nationality students. The number of scholarships to be provided should be at least 10 percent of the total number of students enrolled in the school concerned.  

The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) is all set to issue a Treasury Bill worth Rs 10 billion on Thursday. The central bank has planned to issue the 'Development Treasury Bill 2086 (Cha)' on July 6 with a term of six years. It may be noted that the government uses the Development Treasury Bill as a tool to raise public debt. Banks and finances, non- bank and finance institutions, insurance companies and organized institutions and common people can purchase it. The coupon rate of the Treasury Bill will be determined by an auction through an online bidding, according to the NRB.  The clearance of the interest will take place on a half-yearly basis. The Bill could be put as collateral for taking loans.  

The Medical Education Commission (MEC) has estimated that more than 250,000 human resources related to the health sector would be necessary till fiscal year 2087/88. The MEC made this projection on the basis of a study based on fiscal year 2077/78 BS. A total of 358,938 human resources related to health including female health volunteers and office assistants in government and private health institutions within the period would be needed, said the Commission. Of them, 257,091 would be doctors and health workers. Vice-Chairperson of the Commission, Prof Dr Sri Krishna Giri, said that such a large number of human resources in the health sector was estimated based on the human resource to be retired and going abroad during the period as well as basic health institutions the government has been constructing. As per the World Health Organization, it is considered good to have minimum 4.45 health workers per 1,000 populations. A total of 234,361 human resources were needed in health institutions in fiscal year 2077/78 BS, only 178,309 human resources were working during the period. The Commission projected that 16,784 MBBS doctors, 15,435 specialist consultants (MD) and 411 nursing professionals are needed till 2088 BS. Similarly, 3,359 Nursing Assistants (Bachelor level), 88024 Nursing and Obstetrics Assistants (Certificate level), 2,083 Traditional and Alternative Medicine professionals (Bachelor's and Master's level), 2,118 Traditional and Assistant Physicians Technical (Certificate level) will be required. Likewise, 2,688 human resources related to other health professions (Master's level), 23, 150 human resources (Bachelor's level) in the other health related auxiliary professions and 104, 39 human resources (Certificate level) in the other health related auxiliary professions have to be produced till that period. The MEC stated that 57, 043 Female Community Health Volunteers and office assistants, 44, 800 cleaning staff and drivers would be required. The Council said 245, 463 medical workforce, 54, 463 female health volunteers and 42, 777 office assistants, sanitary staff and drivers will be needed in 2083 BS. According to the MEC report, 7,659 medical human resources in the Bachelor's level, 1,684 in the Master's level and 109 in the higher than Master's level would be produced this year. Similarly, 12. 102 health workers would be produced in 11 medium and basic level subjects including nursing, general medicine, dental science, ayurvedic health science, physiotherapy, pharmacy, among others. 10, 139 health facilities, including 7,889 government hospitals, the basic hospitals the government is constructing at local level included and 2,250 hospitals in the private sector are in operation throughout the country at present.  

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that the government would act more aggressively against corruption, setting a new revolution for good governance. During his meeting today with the CPN (Maoist Center)-affiliated YCL Nepal officials at the Prime Minister's official residence in Baluwatar, he said the government would not compromise with anyone else in its efforts to promote good governance. The Head of the Government promised to investigate scams and to penalize those responsible for offenses, according to YCL in-charge Ram Prasad Sapkota. During the meeting, the Prime Minister and the Maoist Centre Chair urged the party's youth wing to criticize the government if it performed negatively and promote its 'good' initiatives. He took time to say the government would not protect corruption under any circumstances and it was committed to meeting the people's aspirations. The CPN (Maoist Center) Chair urged the YCL to utilize its upcoming national convention scheduled to be held on September 25-27 as an opportunity to strengthen the organization through a new way and enriching relations with the people.