Today’s national news in a nutshell

Khabarhub

July 25, 2022

7 MIN READ

KATHMANDU: Khabarhub brings to you a glimpse of major developments of the day in Nepal, including politics, business/economy, sports, entertainment, and more.

National Assembly approves proposal on Nepal Citizenship Bill

A meeting of the National Assembly on Monday approved a proposal seeking consideration on the Nepal Citizenship (First Amendment) Bill, 2022.

Minister for Home Affairs Bal Krishna Khand had presented the proposal seeking consideration of the upper house of the federal parliament on the bill along with a message from the House of Representatives.

National Assembly Chairperson Ganesh Prasad Timilsina announced after the theoretical discussions on the bill that the meeting has unanimously endorsed the proposal.

International human rights organizations call for amendments to Transitional Justice Bill

International human rights organizations have pointed out that the transitional justice bill does not fully provide justice to the victims and keeps Nepal from fulfilling its obligations under international law.

Although there are some signs of improvement in the bill brought by the Nepal government to amend existing laws related to transitional laws, they say that the current state of the bill cannot provide justice to the victims.

Amnesty International, the International Commission of Jurists, Human Rights Watch and Trial International have appealed to the government and parliament of Nepal to amend the bill so that it conforms to international legal standards.

Prachanda in favor of changing current election system and form of governance

Chairman of Maoist Center Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” has said that the current system of governance and election system should be changed.

Speaking at a program in Kathmandu on Monday, Prachanda said, if necessary, there may be a situation where parties have to appeal to the people for a fresh agitation for the same.

He said that the political forces, which were together while writing the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic, need to initiate discussions about changing the electoral system and the form of governance.

SC orders EC not to implement its decision on election symbol

The Supreme Court (SC) has directed the Election Commission (EC) to not immediately implement its decision to deny the Kamal Thapa-led Rastirya Prajatantra Party Nepal (RPP-N) the election symbol of cow.

A division bench of Justices Dr Anandamohan Bhattarai and Dr Kumar Chudal issued an interim order not to provide the Cow as the election symbol to any of the political parties and also not to implement EC’s prior decision.

“As the election symbol was also linked to the political party’s identity, don’t give this election symbol demanded by the petitioner to any other political party until the petition was finalized even by considering the loss that could occur on the petitioner,” the SC’s verdict stated.

Likewise, the verdict states not to implement the EC’s decision of July 11 for now while ordering the EC to furnish its written response within seven days.

Police raid Chinese national-run call center in Tinkune, Kathmandu

Police have raided a call center run by Chinese national in Tinkune, Kathmandu, on Monday.

A special team of District Police Office, Kathmandu, conducted the raid acting on a special tip given to the police.

The Chinese run call center was being operated by renting a house in Tinkune. It was equipped with latest electronics and sophisticated equipment.

The Chinese owner was using the call center to commit cyber crimes, it is suspected while further investigation of the office and its equipment remains to be done.

Yesterday too, police raided a call center run by a Chinese national in Butwal.

NC leader Rana Deuba undergoes successful surgery in New Delhi

Nepali Congress (NC) Central Committee member Dr Arzu Rana Deuba has undergone a successful surgery in New Delhi.

Taking to social media on Monday, the NC leader informed about her surgery being successful.

“Thanks Prof Dr. Harit Chaturvedi, Chairman of Oncosurgery, Max Hospital, and Dr. Kankita Batra Modi Robotic Oncogynecologist for my successful surgery and for my treatment,” she wrote on Facebook.

NRB makes public results of Inflation Expectation Survey; inflation expected to hit 14%

Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has released the results of Inflation Expectations Survey (IES) for the fourth quarter of FY 2021/22.

As per the survey, the inflation rate in next three months will, apparently, reach 14 percent.

The survey was conducted during July 4 to 11, 2022, among individual respondents from 31 market areas of twenty-eight cities through field interviews.

Nepal thump Maldives in SAFF U-20 opener

Nepal defeated Maldives 4-0 to begin their SAFF U-20 campaign with a thumping victory at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, India.

Dipesh Gurung, Sugam Suwal, Kritish Ratna Chhunju and Managya Nakarmi scored in Nepal’s victory.

NEPSE gains 54.45 points

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index gained for a consecutive second day a significant 54.45 points on Monday after monetary policy for the fiscal year 2022/23 was announced on Friday. The index had gained 61.05 points on Sunday.

The NEPSE index opened at 2,081.66 points and the opening index remained the days intraday low while the intraday high touched 2,134.62 points before closing at 2,132.96 points. The stock market gained 2.26 percent today (Monday).

Rs 320 billion goes out of country on fuel import in FY 2021/22

A large amount of Nepali currency has gone out of the country in a period of one year only on import of petroleum products due to the increasing inflation and consumption.

Data released by the Department of Customs shows that Nepal imported petroleum products worth Rs 320 billion 327 million 465 thousand from India in the fiscal year 2021/22.

The largest amount has been spent on importing diesel in the one year period.

Nepal has trade surplus with only 30 countries

Nepal has enjoyed a trade surplus with only 30 countries among the total 171 countries it conducted trade with in the fiscal year 2021/22.

According to the data from the Department of Customs, Nepal has a trade surplus with Afghanistan, the Maldives, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belize, Cambodia, Central African Republic, and Congo. Likewise, also with Croatia, Fiji, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Jamaica, Kazakhistan, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Yemen and Zambia.

The volume of trade with these countries, however, is minimal. For example, Nepal’s total trade with Kazakhstan stood at only Rs 209,000, as per data.