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Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is currently on an official visit to the People's Republic of China, arrived in Beijing today.

He arrived here at 11 am local time from Hangzhou where he attended the opening of the 19th Asian Games.

The PM is scheduled to address the Nepal-China Business Summit to be held in Beijing today.

The Summit is organized by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and CCPIT, the umbrella organization of Chinese industrialists and business persons, in coordination with the Embassy of Nepal in China.

More than 100 industrialists and business persons of Nepal and China will be taking part in the Investment Summit.

The areas of investment between Nepal and China would be identified as well as promotion of investment in Nepal would be discussed during the Summit.

Nepal's Ambassador to China, Bishnu Pukar Shrestha, will host a dinner in honor of PM Dahal and the Nepali entourage accompanying him on the China visit today.

The government has issued a directive to the consumers and stakeholders against using 103 types of antibiotics.

Director General of the Department of Drug Administration (DDA) Narayan Prasad Dhakal said the directive has been issued to minimize, prevent and control use of antibiotic drugs.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has also not recommended the use of these drugs. Dhakal said there is no rationality for using these antibiotics. "The WHO has published a list of 103 types of antibiotics which should not be used. We will neither register these drugs nor give permission for using them," he added.

According to him, however, 13 types among the 103 antibiotic drugs have been registered.

The DDA said it has prepared a national plan of action to reduce the rate of illness, death rate and the economic consequences resulting from resistance to antibiotics, which is in synchrony with the global action plan on antibiotic resistance. The plan is said to be in the final stages of approval.

Dhakal, the DDA Director General, said directives have been issued to the concerned agencies not to register, renew the registration and import as well as use these antibiotics. This directive, he said, is issued in line with the recommendation of the Drugs Advisory Committee.

Nepali Congress (NC) leader Dr Shashanka Koirala has ruled out the possibility of government change at present.

Talking to mediapersons in Chitwan on Sunday, the NC leader said though general misunderstanding among the ruling partners, there was no possibility for the government change at the moment.

"As far as I am concerned, the government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal could last for five years," he said, adding that a government is necessary to take the nation towards the path of development.  "There is no tug-of-war in the government."

The leader took time to say Dahal is not an ordinary personality, adding that he saw no ground that the CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center) would collaborate in the days to come.

He also said that in the past he wished the NC to stay in the opposition, underlining the need for further unity within the party to keep the party legacy intact. 

He advised the party leadership to provide an opportunity to the youth generation to own up the party leadership.

Police have restricted night-time vehicular movement along the Kaligandaki corridor in Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta-East).

The restriction has been imposed due to ongoing construction in the corridor.

According to the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) at the District Police Office, Nawalpur, Bed Bahadur Poudel, the night-time vehicular movement has been restricted taking into consideration the high risk of accidents in the corridor construction areas.

The Kaligandaki corridor is around 87 kilometers long in Nawalpur.

DSP Poudel said the ban on vehicular movement has been imposed to minimize risks.

As mobile connectivity was a big problem in almost half of the corridor section, it was difficult to carry out rescue works if accidents took place, he added.

"The corridor is under construction. It has increased accident risks. Rescue has been a big issue in the night time here", he further shared.

DSP Poudel said coordination was being made with the Nepal Telecom in regard to the installation of a mobile tower in the areas having less access to communications.

Vehicular movement will be allowed after establishing access to communications and completing the construction of the corridor, he informed.

Almost 80 percent of the under-construction Nawalpur section of the Kaligandaki corridor has been completed.

Small vehicles were being operated along the Kaligandaki corridor from Nawalpur to other mountainous districts.

A three-day BP Literary Festival, 2080 BS, is beginning today.

The event is being organized by the Nepali Congress (NC) commemorating the 110th birth anniversary of its founding leader and first people's elected Prime Minister of Nepal.

The event is being held at the NC central office, Sanepa of Lalitpur under the auspices of the NC Central Working Committee, in collaboration with the Nepali Writers' Association and the Nepal Cultural Federation, among others.

A poetry symposium, gazal recitations, musical performances, an art exhibition, documentary screenings and a photo exhibition are among the parts of the festival.

The opening session of the festival will witness the screening of a documentary titled "Hijacking for Democracy."

Head of Information, Communications and Publicity Department of the Congress Min Bahadur Bishwakarma said that there will be poetry, ghazal, painting exhibition, documentary exhibition, historical photo exhibition and other programs in the festival.

Litterateur Abhi Subedi will deliver a talk on BP's literary creation and philosophy of life.

At the end of the first day, a poetry symposium will be held where 20 poets are scheduled to take part.

The Nepali Congress has requested academicians and scholars and all those interested to participate in the festival being held for the first time ever.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal expressed his confidence that the Federal Civil Service Bill will be passed by the Parliament as early as possible.

Addressing a program organized on the occasion of the 20th Civil Service Day here today, PM Dahal said that the Council of Ministers on last Thursday decided to send the very bill to the Parliament and believed that the Bill would be endorsed by the Parliament through the consensus of the political parties.

Dahal assured that the incumbent government was committed to making the civil administration competitive at national and international level by motivating the entire administration system of the country as well as by making it highly moral, fair, transparent, result-oriented, accountable, clean, competent and technology-friendly.

"The role of civil employees is important in big political changes in the country. The contribution made by the civil administration in difficult circumstances of the country is important. From running State affairs to continuing developmental works and delivering public services to transitional management, the civil administration has played an important role," acknowledged the PM, lauding all the civil employees for this.

Stating that the major task of the incumbent government was to institutionalize political changes and lead the country to the agenda of social justice, good-governance and prosperity, he asserted that incumbent government also had the responsibility and challenges to give the benefit of change in the governance system to the people who struggled for political changes.

He further said, "If only this happens, democracy would be strengthened and the public's trust and confidence towards the State would increase. The civil administration should deliver under the political guidance to achieve long-term goals of social justice, good-governance and prosperity."

The Head of the Government asserted that it was everyone's responsibility to work focusing on the Common Minimum Program, policies and programs of the government as well as the budget of the current fiscal year.

Furthermore, he said that the government, embracing the main essence and sentiments of the constitution, was moving ahead with its focus on the effective implementation of federalism, governance structure and working style, public service delivery and zero tolerance for corruption.

PM Dahal believed that the civil servants would work actively and with determination by word, heart and deed in the campaign of transforming the nation's face infusing new energy in the civil service while tearing apart the sense of despondency among the people.

According to him, the civil administration needed a qualitative change in line with the present political changes and the constitutional provisions while also internalizing the role of the Civil Service Act issued on September 6, 1956, for the transformation of the civil service in tune with the political change.

"For this, policy-level, legal, institutional, structural and practical provisions have to be made for developing a service-oriented, responsible and professional civil service that is fully committed to the federal democratic republic, politically neutral and professionally efficient and highly motivated," the Prime Minister elaborated.

He insisted that the long-awaited Federal Civil Service Act would prove to be a milestone in institutionalization of the administrative federalism, in consolidating the federal democratic republic and its implementation while strengthening the functional interrelation of the administration among the three tiers of government and maintaining the administrative interrelationship amongst the federal, provincial and local level governments.

The Prime Minister reiterated that dutiful and capable employees with integrity who are dedicated to the service and interests of the nation and people and work hard in their work area would be further motivated by pursuing the system of reward and punishment in a concrete manner in future.

Civil Service Day is being observed across the country by organizing various programs on Friday.

Although it has been already 60 years since the formation of civil service in Nepal, this Day has been formally started to be celebrated from September 7, 2005.

A government led by the then Prime Minister Tanka Prasad Acharya on September 7, 2013, had introduced the Civil Service Act and Nepal formally started celebrating this Day from 2062 on this very day every year.

There are around 83,000 civil servants in the country.

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration is organizing various programs today to celebrate the Day.

A morning rally is going to be organized this morning and some civil servants are going to be awarded on this occasion.

Three medical stores operated at different places of Dogadakedar Rural Municipality in Baitadi district were sealed off.

A team comprising Chief District Officer, Suresh Panthi, had carried out monitoring of the medical stores operating in the rural municipality.

In course of monitoring, three medical stores—Kabir Medical Hall at Dogadakedar rural municipality-6, Ranashaini Pharmacy and Chand Clinic at Dogadakedar-7 and Joshi Clinic at Dogadakedar-3 were sealed off, said Chief of Health Office, Baitadi, Yohesh Prasad Bhatta.

He said, "The team has also taken the Proprietor of Kabir Medical Hall, Krishna Singh Karki, under control after the clinic was found running by the person who did not have required educational qualification for the same. Further investigation into the case was underway. "

Chief District Officer, Panthi, mentioned that the medical stores were sealed off after the team found the medical stores selling medicines without prescription of doctors and running without registration.

He said they accelerated the monitoring task in recent periods after receiving people's complaints that many medical stores in the district are in operation illegally.