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The Office of the Attorney General is going to organize the International Conference on Crimes of the Digital Age: Anticipation and Response.

Organizing a news conference on Tuesday, Attorney General Ramesh Badal said the two-day-long event will start on February 27 and is expected to unite experts to explore the growing intersection of AI, digital economic crime, and cyber-enabled crimes.

It is said that the event will focus on innovative strategies for investigating, prosecuting, and preventing technology-driven crimes.

The conference is expected to address the rapidly evolving challenges posed by crimes enabled by advanced technologies, with a focus on technology-facilitated sexual violence and abuse (TFSVA), cyber security crimes, cryptocurrency and related digital economic crime and AI-enabled crimes.

More than 90 government attorneys, legal experts, judges and representatives from legal fraternities will attend from 13 nations including Nepal, the UK, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the Maldives, South Korea, Azerbaijan, India, China, Sri Lanka, Norway and Russia.

From Nepal, the representatives from the Supreme Court, Nepal Rastra Bank, different ministries and other bodies will attend the conference where 16 working papers will be presented in various sessions.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is scheduled to inaugurate the conference. 

Excavation of the 12,000-year-old Ratu River began in the first week of February under a contract awarded by Bardibas Municipality for the current fiscal year. However, weak monitoring has led to blatant violations of excavation standards by contractors.

Regulations allow river materials to be extracted only up to a depth of three feet, yet a monitoring visit on Sunday revealed excavation up to six feet. Contractors have also been found mining river materials dangerously close to bridges, despite the rule mandating a 500-meter clearance. In the Pathlaiya section, materials were being extracted just 200 meters from a suspension bridge.

Deputy Mayor and monitoring committee coordinator Taradevi Mahato assured that excavation would adhere to regulations. “We noticed some irregularities during monitoring,” she said. “The work must be done within standards.”

Riverine materials are highly lucrative, with low investment and high returns, leading to rampant river exploitation nationwide. CPN (Maoist Center) central member Raju Khadka accused authorities—including police, administration, and elected representatives—of enabling the destruction of the Ratu River.

Last year, locals petitioned the Supreme Court, demanding protection of the river’s ecosystem. UML leader Shankar Mahato warned of renewed legal action if local authorities fail to regulate excavation. “The unchecked exploitation of the Ratu River, which originates from the Chure hills, is turning fertile land into a desert,” he said.

Senior advocate Padam Bahadur Shrestha, an environmental and river rights activist, pointed out that the use of heavy machinery for river material extraction is banned but continues unabated in Ratu.

For the fiscal year 2024/25, Bardibas Municipality awarded excavation contracts worth Rs 84m (excluding VAT), dividing the river into four packages. According to Sajeev Baral from the municipality’s revenue branch, contractors are permitted to extract 294,681 cubic meters of river materials, with a deadline set for June.

Deputy Mayor Mahato stated that initial warnings had been issued to contractors. “We will halt excavation if it does not comply with standards,” she said. “We are ready to address shortcomings.”

Chief Administrative Officer Rammani Adhikari also instructed contractors to follow regulations. “Some areas have seen excavation beyond the permitted limits,” he admitted. “We have imposed conditions on contractors. If violations continue, we will take action.”

Meanwhile, Mahottari Chief District Officer Lalbabu Kawadi, a member of the District Monitoring Committee, assured that any work breaching regulations would be immediately stopped.

At least 17 persons were injured when a bus they were travelling in met with an accident in Kavre on Tuesday.

The District Police Office, Kavre informed that the bus (Pradesh 3, 001-005 Kha 9942) belonging to Araniko Travels was heading towards Okhaldhunga from Kathmandu when the incident occurred at Shardha Batase in Dhulikhel-10 along the BP Highway this morning.

The injured are undergoing treatment at the Dhulikhel Hospital.

There were 24 persons on board the ill-fated bus.

Police said that the driver and assistant driver are in critical condition.

The Nepali Embassy in Bangkok has requested the foreign job aspirants to receive labor permits from the government before leaving the country for jobs.

The Embassy informed that the rescue of the Nepalis stranded in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand had been difficult due to not having labor permits with those involved in various works.

Recently, the Nepali Embassy in Thailand rescued some Nepalis forced to work in online scamming. They returned to Nepal on Monday.

They were set free from Myawaddy, a town in the southeastern belt of Myanmar.

The Nepali mission has further requested everyone willing to have foreign jobs not to be lured by hefty income but carry verified document, including work permits.