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The government has made it mandatory for government and public officials to acquire a vehicle pass from the concerned authority to use government vehicles on public holidays.

Accordingly, Mayor of Baglung Municipality Basanta Kumar Shrestha used a vehicle of the municipality on Saturday after getting a permit from the Chief District Officer.

The District Administration Office has provided a pass to Mayor Shrestha to use the vehicle for the purpose of carrying out monitoring, inspection and attending meetings.

According to the DAO, the vehicle (Dha. 1 Ja. 17) has been permitted to be used within Gandaki province. This rule had not been effectively implemented in the case of local level officials and employees.

The government has tightened the use of government vehicles on holidays to reduce public spending and lessen the consumption of petroleum products.

CDO Ramesh Dhakal said that any government vehicle would be taken under control if it was used without permission on public holidays.

The National Assembly today passed three separate bills related to the budget for the next fiscal year, amidst the boycott of the main opposition party, the CPN-UML.

The Upper House of the Federal Parliament passed the Finance Bill, 2079 BS, the Bill to Mobilize National Loans, 2079 BS and the Loans and Guarantee (Twenty-fifth Amendment) Bill, 2079 BS.

A meeting of the National Assembly passed by a majority a proposal presented by Finance Minister Janardan Sharma seeking the Upper House pass the budget-related three bills that have been received by the National Assembly with the message from the House of Representatives.

These bills which have been passed by the Upper House have been sent to the House of Representatives, the Lower House, along with the message.

The Lower House will have to endorse the bills.

The CPN (UML) lawmakers boycotted the meeting blaming that the tax rates in the budget were manipulated in collusion with an unauthorized person a day before presenting budget in the parliament.

The UML lawmakers exited from the assembly hall saying they were not taking part in the discussions on the topics related to the Finance Bill.

CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and noted cine artist Rajesh Hamal had a meeting at the former’s residence in Khumaltar on Friday.

The meeting focused on matters relating to Nepal's art and cine sector and other related issues.

According to musician Chetan Sapkota, who was also present on the occasion, the status of Nepal's film industry, State's investment in the relevant field and motivational aspects were among the issues discussed during the meeting.

Stating that the State's sufficient role was still awaited to elevate the domestic film industry to an international-standard, the former Prime Minister insisted on combined efforts for the promotion of the industry. He also took time to praise the long contribution of Hamal as an artist to the enhancement of the industry.

In response, Hamal said leader Dahal was accredited for providing a ground to develop a culture of artists joining the politics openly and acknowledging their presence and experiences in the political sphere. As he stressed, political stability was a prerequisite for institutionalized development in other fields. The two also held general discussions on the nation's latest political developments, it is said.

The Election Commission (EC) has urged the government to make necessary arrangements for the use of electronic voting machine in the upcoming House of Representatives (HoR) and Province Assembly (PA) elections.

According to the EC, it today wrote to the Council of Ministers, the Nepal Government through the Home Minister, seeking its role to make arrangements for electronic voting. The urge follows the report of a committee formed to study the possibility of the use of voting machine and its management in the election. It is also in line with the provisions in the relevant laws to make the election procedures smart, secured and impartial.

The EC in a press statement today said it seems the management of an electronic voting machine manufactured within home was not possible for the upcoming polls citing various reasons, and sought the government’s facilitating role to manage the import of machines by upcoming mid-July.The study committee coordinated by joint-secretary at the Minister of Communications and Information Technology recommended the formation of a technical committee consisting of University teachers, civil service employees and independent experts for the specification, quality check and reliability of the machines and to respond to possible public queries in its regard. It has also advised to learn experiences from the countries already implementing the electronic voting successfully, and ensure the use of a standard machine in the electoral procedures.

As per the legal provisions, the electronic voting can be implemented in the elections of the President, Vice President, members in the Federal Parliament and Province Assembly and local level elections.

The EC had successfully practiced electronic voting in six constituencies during the 2008 Constituent Assembly election and in five constituencies in Bardiya, Baglung, Kathmandu, and Kailali during the 2013 CA by-elections.

President Bidhya Devi Bhandari said the report of the Office of Auditor General indicated the increasing size of arrears, suggesting the need for a campaign to downsize it.

The head-of-the-state in her address to the 64th anniversary of the OAG here today underlined the need of fiscal discipline to prevent arrears.

"Economic fairness will help establish good governance," the president said, seeking the attention of all bodies concerned towards that end. The president insisted on transparency in public finance behaviours, acknowledging the role of OAG report in making public finance management effective.

As the president said, authorities ranging from the federal to local government should take the issues raised in the OAG report seriously.

Also speaking on the occasion, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma said the government was effortful to clear arrears and to enhance fiscal management.

The ministry was at work to settle arrears worth Rs 676 billion that remained so far, he added. "The issues of arrears clearance has been accorded priority in policies and programmes and budget for the upcoming fiscal year and the OAG will be provided necessary physical and financial assistance for the same."

She drew the attention of the government to the need to control unnecessary expenditures on foreign trips and to be frugal at a time when the country is reeling under economic difficulties.

Similarly, Auditor General Tanka Mani Sharma (Dangal) shared that reports prepared through electronic auditing would be released from this year. Stating that the OAG could not observe office anniversary due to COVID-19 risks, he shared that a total of seven staffers were awarded this year for best performance.

"Separate audit report of COVID-19 would be made public soon. The OAG had adopted risk-based auditing system from this year," he said. It was shared that no encouraging work could be accomplished to clear arrears this year. 

The Supreme Court has made public the full text of the verdict it had announced earlier over a case involving the proposed construction of Nijgadh International Airport on Wednesday.

A full bench of Justices Harikrishna Karki, Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha, Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada, Prakash Man Singh Raut and Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma has given different views in the full text of the verdict.

Judges Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha, Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada and Prakash Man Singh Raut have ruled that the airport should not be built at the site, while Justices Harikrishna Karki and Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma have said that though the airport could not be built at the designated place an environmental evaluation could be carried out for an alternative.

In the opinion of the three judges, the work of construction of the airport has been annulled by a certiorari order as the government’s work on the airport in Nijgadh of Bara district so far was found to be flawed. “We should not ignore or underestimate the importance of protecting the environment while carrying such large construction,” reads the full text.

Although it is natural to have some environmental damage during development works, it is mentioned that adequate alternative measures should be taken to minimize such damage as much as possible.

Similarly, in the full text of the decision, it is stated that the airport could be constructed at an alternative place by carrying out the environmental impact assessment of the site objectively and logically with regard to the suitability of airport construction in accordance with the due legal procedures. The construction of the airport should be carried in a location that is technically suitable and with minimal environmental damage.

In the opinion of Justices Harikrishna Karki and Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma, the Nijgadh International Airport could be constructed in government-owned vacant land by adding private land adjacent to the proposed construction site south of Nijgadh in Bara district or elsewhere.

If it is not found suitable for the construction of the airport due to technical or other reasons, the proposed area should be re-assessed as per the law and the environmental impact assessment should be done.

Similarly, the full text says that forest area should not be used for the establishment and expansion of the proposed airport city during the construction of the airport.

Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya has said the Election Commission (EC) was holding preparations for the polls as its responsibility to conduct the Federal and Province Assembly elections by mid-December.

Marking the beginning of the central-level review of the recently held local level election here today, Thapaliya said it was EC's responsibility to conduct the polls but decision on the election date is yet to take.

Stating that fencing the vote counting sites was a compulsion and was done citing insecurity in the local level polls, the Chief Commissioner said, however, it is unfortunate in a democracy.

The EC has already concluded its review meetings of the local level polls in all seven provinces.

The Narayangarh-Butwal road section of the East-West Highway which was disrupted since early Wednesday morning has resumed from today.

The section of the highway was halted with the flood sweeping away three diversions along the road section.

The two-way vehicular movement resumed from 5:00 this morning after constructing the diversions, Chief of District Police Office, Nawalapur, Superintendent of Police Prajjwal Maharjan said.

"We worked the whole night to construct the diversions. One-way traffic had resumed from 3:00 am and now two-way traffic is also on," SP Maharjan added.

The vehicles that were stranded due to obstruction have moved to their destinations after the construction of diversions.

The flooding triggered by the incessant rainfall occurred since Tuesday afternoon had swept away the diversions in Khaharekhola rivulet at Binaya Triveni Rural Municipality and Thulokhahare and Sanokhahare rivulets at Madhyabindu Municiplaity-10 in Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta-East).