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A meeting of the Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee under the House of Representatives today unanimously endorsed its internal working procedure. The meeting was held at the Singha Durbar-based Committee office under the chair of Committee second senior-most (by age) member Mangal Prasad Gupta. Committee senior-most member and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba was not present in the meeting today. In the meeting, the entire Committee members were of the view of dispatching the bill relating to money laundering and transitional justice to the respective body for clause-wise deliberations. So, the Committee commenced the discussions on the TRC Act (Enforced Disappearances Inquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act, 2079 BS- third amendment). So far, 186 proposals have been registered, seeking the amendment to the Act. The Committee shall meet again at 11:00 am tomorrow and continue deliberations on the bill, according to Gupta.

The Nagarik Unmukti Party has warned of quitting the government if their demands are not addressed. Organizing a press conference in the Capital on Wednesday, Nagarik Unmukti Party leader Laxman Tharu said they would quit the government if their demands are not met within three days. He expressed his dissatisfaction saying that the government did not interpret the issue of the Tikapur incident in a political way. “We will be compelled to think about the participation of the government if our demands are not addressed within three days,” he said. Why did the government not make public the reports of Lal Commission and Devi Lal Sharma? he questioned. Resham Chaudhary is innocent as he fought for the rights of Tharu, he said. “We have talked with everyone. All have said that it is a political movement,” he said, adding, “Our protest will be peaceful.” The Kailai District Court on February 24, 2019 handed down a life sentence to 11 people including Chaudhary in connection with the 2015 Tikapur incident in which nine people were killed in a violent clash. The Dipayal High Court on December 18, 2020 upheld the decision of the District Court. Hearing the case on Tuesday, a division bench of Justices Ananda Mohan Bhattarai and Nahakul Subedi concluded that Chaudhary should be sentenced to life in prison for the Tikapur incident.  

Visiting Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia Tim Watts paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Wednesday. During the meeting held at the Prime Minister's official residence in Baluwatar, matters relating to bilateral interests were discussed, the Prime Minister's Secretariat said. On the occasion, the prime minister expected continuous support from the government of Australia and the people there to Nepal's development and prosperity. He also inquired about the status and issues of Nepali students in Australia. The Prime Minister also extended an invitation to his Australian counterpart for the visit to Nepal. The two also touched on issues ranging from commercialization of the agriculture sector and development of agro-based industries to the promotion of tourism industry for Nepal's economic prosperity. The Australian assistant minister assured of continuous support from Australia to Nepal's development and prosperity campaign.  

Speaker Devraj Ghimire has said a significant achievement in education, social and health sectors is possible in Nepal-like countries through the highest use of information technology (IT). In his message of best wishes on the occasion of the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day today, the Speaker underscored the need for awareness and some policy-level provisions for the proper utilization of communications technology. "The use of IT has converted the world to a single village, but still challenges remain for making it safe, reliable and widely accessible," the Speaker said, adding Nepal has potential to advance towards economic development and prosperity with the creation of job opportunities by using IT. The World Telecommunication and Information Society Day is observed on May 17 each year following the decision of the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Antalya, Turkey, in 2006. This year the Day is celebrated with the theme of “Empowering the least developed countries through information and communication technologies.”