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The Supreme Court has issued an order to release Krishna Bahadur Raut, Secretary at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

A single bench of Justice Nahakul Subedi on Friday also barred Secretary Raut from going abroad without the court’s order.

The court also reminded the earlier decision of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority taken on February 5, 2020 to not initiate a corruption case against Raut.  

Raut was recently arrested on the charge of forging the government signature and documents in the course of registering the public land into the names of individuals.

Then, Raut filed a habeas corpus writ in the court.

A grant agreement of more than Rs 10.5 billion has been signed between Nepal and the European Union (EU) for two different programs.

At a program organized at the Finance Ministry, Singha Durbar, on Friday, two separate financing agreements - a grant agreement of 50 million pound sterling (equivalent to Rs. 7.38 billion) for 'Quality Education for All' to support the School Education Sector Plan - SESP, and a grant agreement of 22 million pound sterling (equivalent to Rs. 3.25 billion) for the 'Local Adaptation to Climate Change' initiative - were signed.

'Quality Education for All' will support the implementation of the government's School Education Sector Plan in a sector-wide approach (SWAp) supported by eight development partners, including the EU. The overall objective of this support is to contribute to a well-educated and skilled society in Nepal which is able to play an active role in the social and economic development of the country.

On the occasion, Finance Secretary Arjun Prasad Pokharel said, "l am hopeful that the support of SESP with the help in increasing equitable access and improving the quality of education, which are crucial for human capital development."

"Nepal is making sincere efforts to balance the development and climate action. I appreciate the support of the EU to plan and develop measures for Disaster Risk Reduction and to focus on increased human and financial capacities in order to enable the selected local levels and communities to manage their natural resources in regards to adaptation to climate change. I would like to thank the European Union for its continued support in the socio-economic development endeavors of Nepal", stated Pokharel.

Similarly, EU Commissioner for international Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen said, "The European Union is proud to continue our 20 year support to Nepal in education. Supporting quality education is one of our core commitments in our cooperation."

 "We are heartened by the government's commitment to support quality education and are happy to be a close partner", stated EU Ambassador to Nepal, Nona Deprez.

The European Union and Finland, as team Europe, will continue to work with local and provincial governments in Sudurpaschim and Karnali so they are empowered to make the most of their natural resources sustainable." said Nona Deprez, EU Ambassador to Nepal.

'Local Adaptation to Climate Change' is initiated with an overall objective to improve the sustainability and conservation of natural resources to notably increase their climate resilience in Sudurpaschim and Karnali provinces, reads a press release issued by the Finance Ministry.

The Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) and Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (SAAS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Thursday on technology development and exchange of skills in the field of agriculture. 

Executive Director of NARC Dr Dhurba Raj Bhattarai and Vice Chairman of SAAS Dr Leo Younghang signed the MoU on technology transfer and skills exchange.

It is said that the two institutions would cooperate on technology transfer and promotion developed for the farmers and agriculture sector.

Sharing the information about the MoU, NARC Executive Director Dr Bhattarai said that agreement has been made to collaborate on increasing quality productions as well as agriculture development.

Likewise, SAAS Vice-Chairman has pledged to provide training to Nepali researchers and technicians on high-quality agricultural technology. 

Such training would be given to Nepali researchers on maize and sweet yam production in the near future.

A team of SAAS Vice-Chairman is currently on a three-day Nepal visit.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Purna Bahadur Khadka has said that Nepal and Republic of Korea should work to further deepen the bilateral relations and ensure cooperation.  

At a meeting with Ambassador of Republic of Korea Tae-Young Park on Thursday, the Deputy Prime Minister also expressed pleasure for organizing separate programs in Kathmandu and Seoul to further deepen the friendly ties between the two countries on the occasion of completion of 50 years of formal diplomatic ties. 

Likewise, the DPM recalled that South Korea has been Nepal's reliable development partner for a long and its support to Nepal's energy, health care, education, human resource and rural development sectors were crucial. 

On the occasion, Korean Ambassador Park said that Nepal was the first priority to migrant workers in South Korea under the Employment Permit System (EPS).

The Ambassador said that as high as 10,000 Nepalis would be provided with the employment opportunity in the next year under the EPS model.