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Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is leaving for Lhasa of China's autonomous region Tibet today.

Prime Minister Dahal, who is on an official visit to China since last Saturday, is leaving for Lhasa from Ching Chong city this morning.

As per the local time, PM Dahal will reach the Lhasa Gonggar Airport at 12.05 pm.

PM Dahal will attend an interaction scheduled to take place at Lhasa-based Office of Consulate General of Nepal this afternoon.

PM Dahal is also set to visit Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple in Tibet.

The Prime Minister is also having a bilateral meeting with Secretary of Communist Party of China Xixhang autonomous regional committee, Wang Junzheng.

The PM entourage comprises Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Prasad Saud, Minister for Drinking Water Mahindra Roy Yadav, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Prakash Jwala and others.

Earlier, PM Dahal had arrived in Ching Chong city from Beijing on Tuesday.

He held a meeting with Communist Party of China (CPC) central member and also enquired about the initiatives taken by the Ching Chong Metropolis in agriculture sector.

The Supreme Court has sought written explanations from the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, the Office of the Attorney-General, the District Attorney’s Office, Kathmandu (DAO) and the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) regarding the exemption of former Prime Ministers Madhav Kumar Nepal and Baburam Bhattarai as well as former chief secretary Lilamani Poudel from the Lalita Niwas land-grab probe. 

A single bench of Justice Binod Sharma, following Tuesday’s hearing, sought explanations within 15 days from the above-mentioned offices as well as the two former PMs and former chief secretary Poudel in the high-profile scam involving the illegal transfer of the government-owned land (Lalita Niwas) located at Baluwatar in the name of influential individuals. 

The court was responding to a petition from senior advocate Balkrishna Neupane, who claimed that the three had been enjoying immunity in the case because of their clout. 

Additionally, the court has directed that this (Neupane’s) writ be attached with another petition concerning the land-grab, in which the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had given the two former PMs a clean chit, stating that the Cabinet’s policy decisions were beyond the purview of its investigation.  

On Aug 27, DAO had filed cases at the Kathmandu District Court against 310 individuals vis-a-vis the land-grab, taking it as a case involving forgery of government documents, despite recommendations from the CIB to move the court by taking it as a case of organized crime, citing the ‘lack of clinching evidence’.

Among those charged with forgery are former Deputy Prime Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar, former ministers Chandra Deo Joshi, Dambar Bahadur Shrestha and Chhabi Raj Pant along with former Minister of State Sanjay Sah. Former Chief Commissioner at the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, Deep Basnyat, and former government secretaries Dineshhari Adhikari, Narayan Gopal Malego and Yubaraj Bhusal have also been facing charges in the same case.

Furthermore, the police (CIB) probe into the case has identified ‘brokers’ Shobhakant Dhakal and Ram Kumar Subedi as well as Min Bahadur Gurung, the owner of Bhatbhateni Supermarket, as ‘important players’. But the ex-PMs have managed to avoid the investigation process by and large, though police have recorded their statements as government witnesses on the basis of an Aug 6 SC directive. In earlier proceedings in August, the court had mandated an inquiry to bring all individuals directly linked to specific Cabinet decisions made on 11 April 2010, 14 May 2010, 13 Aug 2010, and 4 Oct 2013 under scanner. This included those responsible for both drafting as well as executing cabinet decisions.

The Cabinet under Nepal had sanctioned the transfer of government-owned land to private individuals whereas the Bhattarai Cabinet had approved the registration of a portion of the prime property in the name of ‘Pashupati Tikinchha Guthi’.

Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has said that the school education bill should be passed in order to address the problems of teachers.

At the end of the discussion on the bill held with the stakeholders by the NC Parliamentary Party here today, Deuba said the problem cannot be left aggravating forever. Matters that can be addressed in the bill should be included.

He said the party will take the initiative to address the matter.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka, General Secretary Gagan Thapa, Chief Whip Ramesh Lekhak, Minister for Health and Population Mohan Bahadur Basnet among others were present in the discussion held with heads and representatives of Nepal Teachers Federation, Private and Boarding Schools Organization of Nepal (PABSON), NPABSON, Higher Institutions and Secondary Schools' Association Nepal (HISSAN), Community School Management Committee Federation, Nepal.

Following a street protest held in Kathmandu by the Nepal Teachers' Federation expressing dissatisfaction over the bill, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology had reached a six-point agreement with the teachers.

It may be noted that the bill was registered in the House of Representatives on September 13.

The Supreme Court (SC) has sought the government's response in writing on why cases were not lodged against former prime minister duo Madhav Kumar Nepal and Dr Baburam Bhattarai in connection with the Lalita Niwas land scam.

A single bench of Justice Binod Sharma on Tuesday issued a show cause notice in the name of government over the matter after a preliminary hearing on a writ petition. 

Senior Advocate Bal Krishna Neupane had filed the writ petition at the SC stating that the former prime minister duo were given exemption in the Lalita Niwas land scam.

Likewise, the SC has also ordered to submit two other writ petitions together that were filed before that demanded to register the supplementary charge sheet against the two former PMs Dr Bhattarai and Nepal.