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Finance Minister Dr Prakash Saran Mahat has said the existing bank interest rates will be revised in a bid to reform the obtaining economic scenario, making the economy vibrant. The Minister said this in his response to lawmakers' concerns raised during the deliberations on the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill (except tax proposal) for the fiscal year 2080-81 BS (2023-24) in the National Assembly (NA) today. Stating that the new budget would be coming in a special context, he pledged for maximum efforts to address the economic issues to a larger extent. Thanking lawmakers for their valuable feedback on the bill, he assured of taking ownership over such submissions. Minister Sharma said that the upcoming budget would focus on achieving an inclusive economic growth rate instead of targeting it to a certain class or community. According to the Minister, the government is to take all possible measures to increase the size of foreign assistance. "There will be efforts for increasing capital expenditure and its efficiency from the very first day of the fiscal year," he said, adding that the new budget would be based on foreign assistance, revenue collection and internal loans. He also vowed for effective expenditures. "The government is aware that investment at the moment is not encouraging as the cost has increased due to a high interest rate," the Minister said, adding, "Interest rates will be minimized through a monetary policy which will positively contribute to the nation's economy and make it vibrant." He said that the home and finance ministries would work collaboratively to discourage revenue leakage. "The country witnessed a noticeable development in the areas of health, education and infrastructure. But this is not enough and many more are needed. " He took time to say that the government approach for taxation would be centered in the interest of the nation and people instead of any specific group or community and suggestions of lawmakers would be taken into account in course of the budget formulation. "The focus will be for cutting general and unnecessary expenditures to promote austerity." The finance minister made it clear that the government was committed to social security and had no plan of cutting the budget for the social security allowance. The NA shall meet again at 6:31 pm on May 17.  

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has been arrested by paramilitary troops in Islamabad on charges brought by the country’s anti-corruption agency, CNN reported.

Khan was submitting his biometric data for a court appearance when paramilitary forces broke down a window to get to him before apprehending him, as seen in a video provided to CNN by his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

In the video, paramilitary forces attacked Islamabad High Court premises before arresting Khan.

A video sent to CNN by PTI showed paramilitary troops piling out of cars and holding batons before the arrest.

PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry said the political leader had been “whisked away by unknown people to an unknown location.”

Khan was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote last year and has since led a popular campaign against the current government, accusing it of colluding with the military to remove him from office, according to CNN.

He has faced a growing raft of legal cases filed against him and multiple arrest warrants have been made, triggering confrontations with his supporters.

Khan faces allegations of illegally selling gifts given to him by foreign dignitaries while he was in office, which he has rejected as “biased.” He says the charges against him are political.

In March, the streets outside his residence in Lahore became something of a pitched battle between police and his supporters after officers attempted to arrest Khan for not showing up to court on corruption charges.

Supporters hurled stones and projectiles at police while people inside Khan’s residence lit fires after officers fired tear gas into the compound.

Police later cut the electricity supply to Khan’s home and turned street lights off in the neighborhood. The operations was eventually called off, CNN reported.

The cricket legend-turned-politician has accused Pakistani authorities of attempting to arrest him to remove him from the playing field ahead of a general election scheduled for October.

“[The government], they’re petrified that if I come into power, I will hold them accountable,” Khan told CNN during the unrest outside his residence in March .

“They also know that even if I go to jail, we will swing the elections no matter what they do.”

Top leaders of three major political parties held a discussion on various issues including the bill related to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. During the meeting held at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar today, the positive discussion was held on the issues including the bill related to Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the bill related to Constitutional Council, said Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's Press Coordinator Govinda Acharya. It is learnt that important and positive discussion were held in today's meeting on the issues including bills related to transitional justice and formation of Parliamentary Hearing Committee at a time when Monday's meeting of the Constitutional Council has recommended Hari Krishna Karki for the appointment as Chief Justice. Prime Minister and CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Dahal, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli were present in the meeting.  

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that the government will leave no stone unturned for reforms in the country's education sector. PM Dahal said so while receiving a memorandum submitted by the Nepal Teachers Federation National Committee at the Prime Minister's official residence in Baluwatar Tuesday. He said that the government will make a decision with a clear perspective on some past pending issues. On the occasion, the Prime Minister said that he would take initiatives for addressing the problems of teachers. Shankar Adhikari, President of Unified All Nepal Teachers' Organization said that the Federation has, through the memorandum, called for making public the report of the High-level Education Commission, for immediately issuing the Federal Education Act and for fulfilling the demands of the teacher employees in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The Federation has demanded that that amount equivalent to 20 percent of the total budget be invested especially in the education sector. Adhikari said that they have urged the government to create more posts of employees in school and make arrangements for salary and allowances in accordance with their posts, to provide the salary and allowances of teachers and employees on a monthly basis and to provide professional and subject-wise training for enhancing the quality of education.