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The weather will be partly to generally cloudy throughout the country with chances of heavy rainfall at some places today.

There is a possibility of light to moderate rain along with thunder and lightning at some more places while heavy rain is likely at one or two places of Province no 1, said Sanjeev Adhikari, a meteorologist with the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. 

According to him, the monsoon low pressure trough is presently located a little bit south from the normal position in the west while it is around the normal position in the east. 

Monsoon likely to be more active from Thursday

It is said the monsoon would be more active from Thursday. The weather forecast of the Department for the next 24 hours is that there are chances of light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunder and lightning at some places of the country. Similarly, there is possibility of heavy rain at one or two places of Province no 1, Lumbini and Sudurpaschim provinces.

The Department has urged adoption of precaution as there is the risk of occurrence of landslide, mudslide and debris flow, risk of rise in the water level in the rivers and seasonal rivulets and the daily life and transportation services being hampered due to this in these places.

The Department said the weather will be partly to generally cloudy throughout the country with chances of light to moderate rain accompanied by thunder and lightning at some places tonight. There is also a possibility of heavy rain at one or two places of Province no 1, Lumbini and Sudurpaschim provinces tonight.

According to the weather update of the Meteorological Forecasting Division, the lowest temperature in Kathmandu Valley was 20.1 degrees Celsius and the highest 29.5 degrees Celsius.

Amnesty International, International Commission of Jurists, Human Rights Watch and TRIAL International have today jointly issued a statement with regard to the Bill that the government registered at the Parliament on July 15.

The statement says that the Nepali government’s bill to amend its current transitional justice law marks some progress toward accountability but will not fully provide justice to victims or meet Nepal’s obligations under international law in its current form. The four international human rights organizations have demanded that Nepal’s government and parliament should amend the bill to align with international legal standards.

“Victims and their families who have waited anxiously for amendments to the law, hoping that their demands for truth and justice will be met, are disappointed,” said Mandira Sharma, senior international legal adviser at ICJ. “Despite the promise of reform, this bill, if implemented as it stands today, would shield many perpetrators from being brought to justice.”

Successive Nepali governments have stalled the transitional justice process since 2015, when Nepal’s Supreme Court ruled that the current law fails to meet Nepal’s domestic and international legal obligations on several grounds, including that it empowers the two transitional justice commissions to grant amnesties to perpetrators of serious violations of international law. Although the new bill removes some of the previous amnesty provisions, it would still be difficult or impossible to prosecute those responsible for serious violations of international law including war crimes and crimes against humanity, the groups said. 

Several other provisions of the new bill, including those introducing limitations on the right to appeal, would also prevent accountability as required by international legal standards.

As per the joint statement, the major sections of the Bill that violate international law include: Section 2(5) categorizes violations to make it possible that perpetrators of gross violations of human rights, crimes against humanity and war crimes, could be granted amnesties and Section 29 (5) provides that verdicts of the Special Court which will try transitional justice cases cannot be appealed to the Supreme Court, in violation of international fair trial guarantees.

The bill also contains significant omissions: The bill does not establish any special investigation unit in the transitional justice commissions or the prosecutor’s office tasked with evidence collection.

Investigation units with expertise in human rights violations would ensure that investigations are prompt, thorough and effective in accordance with international human rights law and standards and that victims can access effective remedies.

The bill does not clarify the principle of non-retroactivity of criminal law in a manner consistent with international law. This omission makes it unclear how the Penal Code can be used to prosecute conflict era crimes, as stipulated by the bill, and allows the operation of statutory limitations for the crime of rape.

 “A credible transitional justice process is essential to ensure the right of access to justice and effective remedies for victims, who have suffered for years while struggling for justice,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Without major revisions, this bill won’t address the legal obstacles that have repeatedly thwarted the transitional justice process in Nepal.”

Victims’ groups and civil society organizations have issued statements calling on the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and the Federal Parliament to amend the bill, to ensure that it respects international law and the aspirations of victims which were expressed during recent, brief, consultations organized by the government.

CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that working class people and revolutionary forces are finding it hard to secure their positions in public posts due to the existing electoral system.

He said that it has been challenging to win the elections for a section of people as the existing electoral system has turned extravagant.

Referring to a report that the local rural municipality chairman spent Rs 100 million to win the election, he said, "It may cost billions of rupees to win the federal election."

In his address to a program organized at the party central office in Parisdanda today on the memorial day of founding leader of Communist Party of Nepal Nara Bahadur Karmacharya, the former Prime Minister said that corruption is being institutionalized because of the existing electoral system and the form of the governance.

"Though the Constitution has institutionalized the federal democratic republic, some forces are intending to weaken it and stand against it," he said.

He said money power and the use of unethical tricks are being dominant in the elections.  

Dahal further said that the party has proceeded with the unification process with those forces having similar ideologies.

The Maoist Center Chair also urged party leaders and cadres to dedicate their time to informing people about pro-people activities undertaken by the incumbent government. 

He insisted on working with a vision, ideologies and plans to consolidate the party presence in the days ahead and was of the view of proving the party a revolutionary touch in practice.

Admitting that the party was marred by several sorts of intra-party deviations, he stressed the need of fighting against such culture.    

The leader recalled Karmacharya as the personality with simplicity, openness, revolutionary zeal and dedication.

On the occasion, party senior leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha stressed on the need of following the path shown by Karmarchaya who, as he described, was the person with ideology, principles and visions.

Nepal imported goods from 164 countries during the fiscal year 2021-22.

According to statistics unveiled by the Department of Customs today, Nepal imported goods worth over Rs 1,920 billion from those countries last fiscal year. The statistics show that Nepal purchased goods worth over Rs 1,200 billion from India alone while the export was worth Rs 155 billion.    

It means the country's trade deficit with India alone was over 1,044 billion in the last fiscal year.

After India, China is the second largest supplier to Nepal. Nepal imported goods worth over Rs 264 billion and the export goods worth Rs 887 million, resulting in a trade deficit of worth around Rs 264 billion.   

Trade deficit goes up

The country's trade deficit is increasing year by year. The figure of trade deficit increased by 23 percent in the last year compared to the previous fiscal year.

According to the Department, the trade deficit had reached over Rs 1,720 billion in the last fiscal year and it was over Rs 1,398 billion in the previous year.

In one year, Nepal saw foreign trade of worth over Rs 2,120 billion and this was more by 26.15 percent than of the previous year. In the fiscal year 2020-21, the country's foreign trade transactions were worth around Rs 1,681 billion.

A meeting of the National Assembly today approved a proposal seeking consideration on the Nepal Citizenship (First Amendment) Bill, 2022.

Minister for Home Affairs Bal Krishna Khand had presented the proposal seeking consideration of the upper house of the federal parliament on the bill along with a message from the House of Representatives.

National Assembly chairperson Ganesh Prasad Timilsina announced after the theoretical discussions on the bill that the meeting has unanimously endorsed the proposal.

The National Assembly will next meet at 11 am on July 28.

Nepali Congress President and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has said that the government will announce the date for federal and provincial elections soon.

He said so while inaugurating the Nepal Press Union's ninth national general convention in Hetauda today.

PM Deuba said that the government has been making necessary preparations for the same.

"The government is preparing for the elections. I urge the media to use their pens for the conduction of the election in a free, fair, and credible environment. Only impartial journalism makes the nation and democracy stronger," the Prime Minister said.

He also pressed for journalism to push its pen on topics of political stability.

Stating that the trend of intentional blaming has increased in the media of late, the PM stressed that only impartial journalism would make the nation and the democracy stronger.

"The Press has played an important role in the movement for political change in Nepal."

Prime Minister Deuba recalled that the mass media had played a crucial role during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pointing out the need of a healthy journalism in the country for consolidating democracy, PM Deuba said the Nepali Congress is always committed to democracy and freedom of expression.

Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki has reiterated that the government is ready to move ahead collaborating with trade unions of journalists for promoting the rights and interests and security of journalists and overall progress of journalism.

He said so while addressing the inaugural session of Nepal Press Union’s the ninth general national convention in Hetauda on Friday.

Minister Karki on the occasion spoke of the need of making the national unity stronger by protecting the freedom of the press and freedom of expression.

"The press should work as a bridge between the government and the public. It should help bring economic and social transformation," he said.

Also the government spokesperson, Minister Karki said that the government has registered a new citizenship bill in the House of Representatives for easing the distribution of citizenship.

Nepali Congress general secretary Gagan Thapa, who also took part in the program, said the political parties should come out of the power-centric mentality and become accountable to the nation and people while keeping alive the freedom of the press and freedom of expression for protecting democracy.

NPU Central President Badri Prasad Sigdel reiterated that freedom of press is required to make the democracy functional and dynamic. 

Central President of the Socialist Press Organization Nepal, Shambhu Shrestha called on all the media trade unions to be united and move ahead for the protection of the freedom of the press and democracy as per the spirit of the constitution.

NPU Makwanpur President Kumar Adhikari informed that the NPU's national convention which will run till July 23 will elect its new leadership and the presentation of the Union's report, annual programs and the process for registering candidacies would be conducted in the closed-door session of general convention this afternoon. 

One thousand nine hundred voters including representatives and observers from all the seven provinces are attending the NPU ninth national general convention.

The Nepali football left for India to take part in the U-20 Men's SAFF Championship on Friday.

The Championship will be held at Bhubaneshwor of India from July 25 to August 5.

All Nepal Football Association Chairman Pankaj Bikram Nembang, member secretary of the National Sports Council, Tanka Lal Ghising and office-bearers of ANFA bade farewell to the team.

There are five teams in the championship including the host India, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Nepal will play against Maldives on July 25 as an inaugural match.

Similarly, Nepal will play its second match against Sri Lanka on July 27 and third match against India on July 31.

Likewise, Nepal will play another match against Bangladesh on August 2. The top two teams of the championship will play final match on August 5. 

Ishwor Gurung, Unesh Chaudhary and Jiyarath Sheikh, Amar Shrestha, Sonit Dahal, Ayush Shrestha, Ajay Chaudhary, Sumit Shrestha, Srijan Dhani, Roshan Thapa, Abhishek Waiba, Dipesh Gurung, Ashish Rai, Sandeep Karki, Janmajaya Dhami, Mohit Gurung, Kritish Ratna Chhunju, Sugam Suwal, Managya Nakarmi, Ayush Ghalan, Dipesh Rai, Niranjan Malla and Roshan Khadgi are in the team.