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A total of 79,100 foreign tourists arrived in Nepal in January, the first month of 2024.

The number was up by 24,026 as compared to the month of January, 2023. A total of 55,074 foreign tourists visited Nepal in January, 2023.

According to the Nepal Tourism Board, 81,897 people went out of the country in January. The highest number of Indian tourists (24,139) visited Nepal in January against 16,436 in January, 2023.

Similarly, 7,267 tourists from China, 7,047 from America, 4,619 from Thailand, 3,812 from South Korea, 3,629 from Bangladesh and 3421 from Australia entered Nepal in January.

Likewise, 3,276 from the UK, 2,229 from Bhutan and 1,568 from Japan visited Nepal in the month.

A team from the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police has arrested Arun Chaudhary, chairman and managing director of CG Holdings. He is accused of illegally appropriating the land belonging to Bansbari Leather and Shoe Factory. 

Arun, who is the brother of billionaire MP Binod Chaudhary, was apprehended from Lazimpat, Kathmandu, on Thursday.

According to the CIB, Arun will be investigated for his alleged involvement in the illegal transfer of 10 ropanis of land owned by Bansbari Leather and Shoe Factory and turning it into the property of CG Residency Pvt Ltd. 

The CIB also arrested Ajit Narayan Singh Thapa, the then-chairman of the Bansbari-based factory, and Sanjay Thakur, chairman of Chandbagh School, in connection with the case. 

The Bansbari Leather and Shoe Factory was established in the 1960s with the support of the Chinese government.

The disputed 10 ropanis of land were sold by the Bansbari Leather and Shoe Factory to Champion Footwear. Later in 1986, six acres of land were sold to Champion Footwear for Rs 250,000 per ropani, a far cheaper rate than the government valuation at the time. An additional four acres of land were given to get 2,500 shares of the industry.

At that time, along with Arun, Binod Chaudhary, Basant Chaudhary and others were the shareholders of Champion Footwear, which has long ceased to exist.

These days, the former shoe company operates as CG Chandbagh Residency Pvt Ltd, and Chaudhary Group Foundation has been running Chandbagh School here. Arun and his wife Sheela are its shareholders.

The land case was under investigation for the last three months. A three member team headed by Superintendent of Police Hobindra Bogati is leading the investigation. The team had gathered evidence from the Department of Land Management and Archive and talked to the locals before arresting the suspects.

Meanwhile, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has raised objections to Arun’s arrest. Organizing a press conference on Thursday, CNI representatives said that the police arrested Arun without any prior notice regarding the investigation. They said Arun, a high profile entrepreneur, was not going to leave the country for the police to apprehend him.

The government has appointed Umashankar Prasad Yadav from Rautahat as the National Planning Commission (NPC) member.

A meeting of the Council of Ministers held at Singha Durbar on Thursday decided to appoint Yadav as the member of the NPC.

Similarly, the meeting decided to form the National Trade Facilitation Committee with the participation of the private sector.  The Committee is headed by Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Ramesh Rijal, according to Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Rekha Sharma.

Likewise, Bikram Rai, the member of the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) Board of Directors, has been appointed as the NAC vice-chair.

Lekhnath Lama from Sindhupalchowk and Dr Sahara Shrestha from Kathmandu have been appointed the members of the Naradevi Ayurveda Hospital Development Board.

The meeting also granted the permission to the government to present the Bill to revise the Secured Transaction Act, 2063 BS (2006) to the Federal Parliament.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recommended action against 66 individuals, including 37 Nepal Police personnel, in the fiscal year 2023/24.

Four superintendents of police (SPs), four deputy superintendents of police (DSPs), five inspectors, seven sub-inspectors, four assistant sub-inspectors, five head constables and three constables are among the police personnel that the national rights body has sought action for violation of human rights. 

The NHRC has also recommended action against one Armed Police Force (APF) personnel, four Nepali Army personnel, one National Investigation Department personnel and 12 civil servants, including seven chief district officers and four prison chiefs.

The rights body has also found 10 leaders and cadres of the erstwhile CPN (Maoist) guilty of human rights violation and recommended needful action. 

The NHRC published the list following investigation into 117 complaints, including those pending from the previous fiscal year. According to the half-yearly report of the watchdog, it took final decisions on 44 complaints and recommended concerned authorities for action and compensation on 37 cases. It also awarded a total compensation of Rs 1.47m to 21 victims and recommended action against 12 individuals.

The NHRC said that it conducted work sessions with high-ranking officials from relevant government ministries and civil society representatives during the period to discuss the implementation of recommendations. Likewise, separate discussions were held with the secretaries of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Finance to ensure effective execution of its recommendations.

The Aarti Sah murder case was one of the significant cases of human rights violation that was studied in the review period. Although the incident was initially labeled as suicide, the NHRC study found that the police investigation into the case was not inadequate. Police officers Bishwa Raj Khadka, Bed Prasad Gautam and Dinesh Adhikari were found guilty of reckless negligence while investigating the case.    

Since Aarti’s family members were also assaulted in police custody, the NHRC ordered the government to pay a compensation of Rs 150,000 to Aarti’s sister Manisha, Rs 100,000 to Aarti’s mother and Rs 50,000 each to Aarti’s brother and maternal uncle.

In another case related to reproductive health rights, the NHRC ordered the concerned authority to dismiss the official who denied maternal leave to differently-abled employee Sumitra Kautwal of the National Federation of the Disabled. The rights body also asked the federation to provide 90-day maternal leave to Katuwal and also pay her a compensation of Rs 100,000 for violating her right to reproductive health.

It also decided to write to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens, chief ministers of all seven provinces and chief district officers of all 77 districts to monitor the implementation of laws related to reproductive health in government and non-governmental offices.

Likewise, the NHRC has recommended the government to pay a compensation of Rs 10,000 to Dr Ranjit Kumar Yadav who was arrested by Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police on a false charge of possessing fake license of the Nepal Medical Council. It also drew the attention of the Nepal Police and the Council to prevent similar incidents in the future.

It also recommended to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Finance, and the Nepal Rastra Bank to implement policies for sanitation of banknotes and currency before they are circulated in the market.

The NHRC also asked the Nepal Police to compensate 10 sexual minority individuals who were subjected to inhumane treatment by police personnel. It also asked the Nepal Police to communicate with all its units to respect the honor and dignity of sexual minorities.