Submit your Article

Japan's ambassador to Nepal, Maeda Toru, today paid a courtesy call on Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Devendra Dahal. 

During the meeting held at the Minister's office in Singha Durbar, the Minister congratulated the newly-appointed ambassador Maeda for assuming the office.

He acknowledged Japan's grants, loan, multilateral assistance and technical support to Nepal for its infrastructure and human resources development, and in the conservation of environment as well as in the development of health, education and agriculture sectors.   

"We acknowledge the support and cooperation from the Japanese government, citizens, non- government organisations and universities during the natural disasters including the 2015 earthquake," the Minister said, adding that bilateral relations and cooperation with Japan is always the top priority of Nepal.  

He added that Nepal longed for taking benefits from Japan's experiences, knowledge, skills and technologies in their efforts for development in various sectors including infrastructure, industry, agriculture and hydropower.

On the occasion, the exchange of high-level visits between the two countries was recalled.

The Minister urged Japan's investors to explore opportunities in Nepal as well, pledging the security of their investment. 

He highlighted that the year 2026 will mark the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Nepal and Japan, and in the same year, Nepal will graduate from the category of a least developed country to a middle-income developing nation. 

Minister Dahal also expressed gratitude to the Japanese government for providing scholarships to Nepal’s government officials each year under the Japan Development Scheme (JDS). Additionally, Nepal has benefitted from Japan's Colombo Plan.

Chandra Bahadur Thapa Chhetri has been appointed as the Chairperson of the Health Insurance Board.

Minister for Health and Population Pradip Paudel administered the oath of office and secrecy to the newly-appointed Chairperson Thapa at the Ministry today. He was the Board member for three years before this.

Newly appointed Chairman Thapa said that there is a plan to include all the citizens by reviewing and reforming the health insurance policy to improve health insurance.

He pledged to make the insurance claim payment process faster and transparent and to manage the insurance fund transparently and effectively, to take initiative for the approval of the permanent organization structure of the Health Insurance Board, to launch an awareness campaign about the importance of health insurance and to make the insurance programme effective by collaborating with the government, the private sector and international organizations.

The KP Sharma Oli-led government has faced widespread criticism for removing Kulman Ghising from the top post of Nepal Electricity Authority.

The decision to remove Ghising from the post of Managing Directing of power utility is being criticized by the ruling party Nepali Congress as well.

Meanwhile, various organizations have staged demonstrations in Maitighar and New Baneshwor today in protest against the government decision to sack Ghising.

A Cabinet meeting held on Monday dismissed Ghising from his position and appointed Hitendra Dev Shakya to the post.

Top national security officials for President Donald Trump, including his defense secretary, texted war plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen to a group chat in a secure messaging app that included the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic, the magazine reported in a story posted onlineMonday. The National Security Council said the text chain “appears to be authentic.” 

Trump initially told reporters he was not aware that the highly sensitive information had been shared, 2 1/2 hours after it was reported. He later appeared to joke about the breach, Associated Press reported.

The material in the text chain “contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Iran-backed Houthi-rebels in Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing,” editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg reported.

It was not immediately clear if the specifics of the military operation were classified, but they often are and at the least are kept secure to protect service members and operational security. The U.S. has conducted airstrikes against the Houthis since the militant group began targeting commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea in November 2023.

Just two hours after Goldberg received the details of the attack on March 15, the U.S. began launching a series of airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.