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A meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR) today passed a proposal to seek considerations over a bill to amend some acts relating to the criminal offence and criminal procedure- 2079 BS.

The proposal presented by Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Govinda Prasad Sharma Koirala was unanimously passed by the meeting. Responding to queries raised by lawmakers during the discussions on the proposal, the Minister said the bill aimed to rise above the provision of compensation and to ensure repatriation to survivors.

As the Minister explained, internationally laws regarding criminal offences were being formulated through a new approach, the provision of reparation had been implemented and the government had tried to assimilate this trend.

He made it clear that just compensation was not enough to patch up damages and harms to survivor and the government was aware that its special attention was required not to let such incidents reoccur.

According to the Minister, the government has a policy of dealing with serious nature of crime and incidences of human rights violation seriously. He was hopeful of broader discussions on the issue during the clause-wise deliberations on the bill.

Prior to this, lawmaker Pushpa Bhusal Gautam demanded further clarifications on the act against acid for easy livelihood of survivors.

Binda Pandey apprised the House that woman was becoming the target of acid attack just for refusing to accept a love proposal. She demanded stricter measures in the production and supply of acid, stringent action against perpetrator(s) and proper justice to survivor(s).

Prakash Snehi voiced for controlling the acid market by a law while Shibamaya Tumbahangphe said the incumbent government coming up with the bill to recognise measures taken by the previous government through an ordinance was welcoming.

Durga Kumari BK, Dr Dila Sangroula Pant, and Prem Suwal sought the measures against the unchecked acid market and the guarantee of easier livelihood of survivor.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has said the government is committed to making necessary work plans to mainstream the provinces which are comparatively backward in terms of cooperation in the three tiers of government.

“The initiatives of and suggestions from the Sudurpaschim Concern Forum would be helpful to frame development policy and plan and carry out implementation in the federal and provincial governments,” he observed.

PM Deuba reminded that after passing SLC from Uchchakot School of Doti, he had to make a long journey to arrive in Kathmandu for higher study- the travel was sometimes on foot and sometimes by train and bus via the country and cross border. The travel up to Dhangadhi was all on foot, the border crossed to catch a train up to Raxaul.

“Comparatively, the far-western region has now witnessed much development. It is connected to the federal capital with transport facility. However, development as per expectation is awaited,” PM Deuba said, arguing that if the Paschim Seti project is made, this province will be developed more.

According to him, all sides’ contribution is imperative to aid the government’s efforts to wipe out poverty and inequality. He also shared that an agreement was made with India for the construction of the dry port. Foreign investment is necessary to ensure speedy development in Nepal, the PM emphasized.

The Sudurpaschim Concern Forum has been working for the development of far west Nepal for 16 years. Forum’s Chairperson Bishnu Prasad Khatri submitted a memorandum to the PM on the issues of concern in Sudurpaschim Province.

Australia has accused the pilot of a Chinese fighter jet of carrying out a dangerous manoeuvre near one of its aircraft over the South China Sea, BBC reported.

It says the Chinese aircraft released flares and cut in front of the Australian surveillance plane.

The Chinese jet then released "chaff" - an anti-radar device which includes small pieces of aluminium which entered the Australian plane's engine.

Beijing claims most of the region as its own territory.

The Royal Australian Air Force P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft was intercepted on 26 May by a Chinese J-16 fighter aircraft, during what was a routine maritime surveillance activity, Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese said.

"The intercept resulted in a dangerous manoeuvre which did pose a safety threat to the P-8 aircraft and its crew," he said, according to BBC.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said the Chinese jet flew very close in front of the RAAF aircraft and released a "bundle of chaff" containing the small pieces of aluminium that were ingested into the Australian aircraft's engine.

"Quite obviously this is very dangerous," Mr Marles told ABC television.

In a statement, Australia's defence ministry said it had "for decades undertaken maritime surveillance activities in the region" and "does so in accordance with international law, exercising the right to freedom of navigation and overflight in international waters and airspace".

Beijing has not commented on the incident. China has been building up military infrastructure there in recent years.

But the US, neighbouring countries and others, including Australia, dispute its claim, BBC reported.

In February, Australia accused a Chinese navy ship of shining a military grade laser towards one of its warplanes over the Arafura Sea off northern Australia.

The US and South Korean militaries launched eight ballistic missiles into the sea Monday in a show of force matching a North Korean missile display a day earlier that extended a provocative streak in weapons demonstrations, Associated Press reported.

The allies’ live-fire exercise involved eight Army Tactical Missile System missiles – one American and seven South Korean – that were fired into South Korea’s eastern waters across 10 minutes following notifications for air and maritime safety, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and US Forces Korea. 

The tit-for-tat missile launches were aimed at demonstrating the ability to respond swiftly and accurately to North Korean attacks, the South Korean military said. 

The South’s military on Sunday detected North Korea firing eight short-range missiles over 35 minutes from at least four different locations, including from western and eastern coastal areas and two inland areas north of and near the capital, Pyongyang, in what appeared to be a single-day record for the country’s ballistic launches.

It was North Korea’s 18th round of missile tests in 2022 alone — a streak that included the country’s first launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles in nearly five years. South Korean and US officials also say North Korea is preparing to conduct its first nuclear test since September 2017 as leader Kim Jong Un pushes a brinkmanship aimed at cementing the North’s status as a nuclear power and negotiating economic and security concessions from a position of strength, according to the Associated Press.

US and South Korean forces conducted a similar live-fire exercise following North Korea’s previous ballistic launches on May 25, which South Korea’s military said involved an ICBM flown on medium-range trajectory and two short-range weapons. Those tests came as Biden wrapped up his trip to South Korea and Japan, where he reaffirmed the US commitment to defend both allies.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol during a speech marking the country’s Memorial Day on Monday said his government would pursue “fundamental and practical security capabilities” to counter North Korea’s growing nuclear weapons and missile threat. 

“North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs have grown to a point where they are not only a threat to the Korean Peninsula, but to Northeast Asia and world peace,” Yoon said at the National Cemetery in Seoul, saying his government would “sternly respond to any kind of North Korean provocation.” 

Yoon, a conservative who took office in May, has vowed to strengthen the South’s defense in conjunction with its alliance with the United States. His goals include enhancing missile strike and interception capabilities and resuming large-scale military exercises with the United States, which were suspended or downsized in recent years to create space for diplomacy with Pyongyang or because of COVID-19, Associated Press reported.

Yoon’s dovish predecessor, Moon Jae-in, who had staked his five-year term on inter-Korean engagement, refrained from missile counter-drills after North Korea resumed ballistic missile tests in 2019 as its diplomacy with the U.S. fizzled.

North Korean state media have yet to comment on Sunday’s launches. They came after the US aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan concluded a three-day naval drill with South Korea in the Philippine Sea on Saturday, apparently their first joint drill involving a carrier since November 2017, as the countries move to upgrade their defense exercises in the face of North Korean threats.

North Korea has long condemned the allies’ combined military exercises as invasion rehearsals and often countered with its own missile drills, including short-range launches in 2016 and 2017 that simulated nuclear attacks on South Korean ports and US military facilities in Japan. 

Hours after the North Korean launches, Japan and the United States conducted a joint ballistic missile exercise aimed at showing their “rapid response capability” and “strong determination” to counter threats, Japan’s Defense Ministry said. 

The United States has vowed to push for additional international sanctions if North Korea conducts a nuclear test, but the prospects for meaningful new punitive measures are dim with the UN Security Council’s permanent members divided, according to Associated Press.