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A meeting of the Constitutional Council held in Singha Durbar ended inconclusively on Wednesday. Though the meeting discussed the issue of appointing the chief justice, it did not make a concrete decision, National Assembly Chairman Ganesh Prasad Timilsina said. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had called the meeting for today to discuss the appointment of chief justice. Main opposition CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli, Speaker of the House of Representatives Devraj Ghimire, National Assembly Chairman Ganesh Prasad Timilsina, Deputy Speaker Indira Rana Magar and Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka were present in the meeting presided over by Prime Minister Dahal.    

President Ram Chandra Paudel is being taken to New Delhi, India today for further treatment. President Paudel will be flown to India by an air ambulance of Shree Airlines this morning, said President Paudel's press advisor Kiran Paudel. Earlier on Tuesday evening, President Paudel was admitted to the Maharajgunj-based Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital after he complained of health problems. President Paudel will be treated at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi. The President had returned home after receiving treatment of stomach-related ailments at the same hospital on April 1.  

The meeting of the National Assembly scheduled for today has been postponed. The Federal Parliament Secretariat through a notice today stated that the meeting of the upper house of parliament scheduled for 2.31 pm today has been put off for a special reason. The date and time of the next meeting would be determined by the National Assembly Chair and the information of this would be given through another notice, Parliament Secretary General Dr Bharat Raj Gautam said in the notice.

Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has stressed the need for the government and the private sector to work hand in hand to resolve problems surfaced in the country's economy. The government was ready to cooperate with the private sector for economic improvements, he said at an event organized to congratulate and extend best wishes to the newly elected office bearers of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) here today. "Traders and industrialists are currently facing difficult times and pressure. But we have reached the situation wherein anything cannot be done to deal with the condition. There are some difficulties and hurdles. The government and the private sector should come together to resolve them," he said. He stressed the need for those well aware about the country's economic condition to take initiatives to solve the matter. He was stating that the new FNCCI leadership has got bankers as its office bearers. "We must help each other to cut through the current difficulties." Minister Mahat was of the opinion that the government has not been able to work in a way it should have. "We need to bring about reforms in all aspects. There is a challenge ahead to increase the country's efficiency," he said, adding, "We have said many things through the policies, but have not been able to put them into practice." According to the finance minister, the problem was because of the lack of synchrony between politics and economic accountability. "We should take the liability invited by the growing general expenditure in synchrony with the identification of economic resources and their mobilization from the political sphere," he suggested. He also said he has held formal and informal discussions with the Nepal Rastra Bank's leadership regarding economic revival and measures to be taken to that end. Finance Minister Mahat called on the private sector to also share about its reality and that the government was ready to address the problems through the monetary policy. Saying that problems have been seen in the economy due to the increase in the interest rate, he opined that the adjustment made by the Bankers Association in the interest rates has to some extent helped in the economic reforms. FNCCI president Chandra Prasad Dhakal shared on the problems facing the country's economy and the industrialists and business community.