- Saturday, 14 June 2025
With onset of monsoon, dengue cases surging steadily
With the arrival of monsoon season, public health concerns are mounting nationwide with a steady rise in dengue infections. Health authorities have confirmed that dengue cases are now being reported from
Managing Director of World Bank Group pays courtesy call on PM Oli
Managing Director and Chief Administrative Officer of the World Bank Group, Wencai Zhang, paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Friday.
Madhupark honours Udas, Sapkota and Singh
Three literary figures were awarded on the occasion of the 57th anniversary of Madhupark, a literary monthly magazine published by Gorkhapatra Corporation, on Friday.
Ahmedabad traffic saves Bhumi Chauhan as she misses fateful AI flight by 10 minutes
Air India Flight AI-171, carrying 242 people, crashed on Thursday afternoon in Ahmedabad. Of all those on board, only one person survived the tragic incident. Narrowly escaping the tragedy was Bhumi Chauhan from Bharuch, who was supposed to board the same flight to London. Due to heavy traffic in Ahmedabad while returning from Ankleshwar, she arrived at the airport just 10 minutes late and was denied entry at the gate.
Nation
House proceeding resumes after CPN-UML and Maoist Centre reach a deal
Meeting of the House of Representatives resumed on Friday, following an agreement between the ruling CPN-UML, and the main opposition CPN (Maoist Centre), ending an 18-day deadlock.
Home Minister pledges full cooperation for CIAA probe into visit visa scam
Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak has claimed he is being politically targeted in connection with the visit visa scam, asserting that he has no involvement in the matter.
Ruling and opposition parties agree to end parliamentary deadlock
The ruling and opposition parties have entered into a two-point consensus to resume the parliamentary meeting by ending the deadlock surfaced in the House of Representatives (HoR).
We have increased diplomatic engagement and results will be good: Foreign Minister
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Arzu Rana Deuba has said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has intensified its diplomatic engagements actively and expected this will yield good results for the country's foreign relations.
World
Gulf airlines cancel flights after Israel strikes Iran
Several flights scheduled for Friday and one Tehran flight on Saturday were listed as cancelled on the airline's website.
Business
Minister Adhikari stresses on budget implementation
Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Ramnath Adhikari has directed the secretaries, directors generals, division heads and heads of subordinate offices of the ministry to quickly prepare nec
Mustang farmers distributed agricultural tools
The farmers in the district have been distributed agricultural tools under the Prime Minister Agriculture Modernization Project.
Gold price climbs by Rs 4,200 per tola, trading at Rs 197,100
The price of gold has increased continuously in the international market from Tuesday.
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Uncertainty of Surkhet regional airport persists even after budget allocation
For several years now, the issue of constructing a regional airport in Surkhet has been a recurring topic in nearly every government policy, programme, and budget. Despite this continued presence in of
Sports
Bagmati dominate 15th President Running Shield
The 15th edition of the Central President Running Shield Tournament wrapped up on Friday, with Bagmati Province dominating the medal tally, grabbing 36 gold medals.
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Interview
Budget focused on giving impetus to economy: Finance Minister Poudel
Kathmandu, May 31: The government has presented its budget (income and expenditure) estimates for the upcoming fiscal year 2025/26 in the parliament. The government was expected to bring the budget with various reform plans to improve the overall economic situation of the country and achieve the expected pace of development. But an average and status quo budget was presented, which has raised questions about what role it can play in improving the economy. In this context, RSS correspondent Hemant Joshi talked to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel. The excerpts of the interview are as follows: What are the focus and priorities of the upcoming fiscal year's budget including the aspects of reforms?A realistic and disciplined budget has been presented in terms of resource and expenditure management. We have emphasized the optimal use of resources and also tried to be realistic in terms of internal revenue and external debt mobilization. The allocation for capital expenditure has been increased while funds going to the provincial and local levels through financial transfers have been increased. This budget has particularly emphasized on two to three things in the process of giving an impetus to the economy. It has set the path for favorable policy reforms for investment growth. It adopts a policy to attract domestic and foreign investment. It also set a favorable ground for production growth and job creation.Experts have described this as an average budget, did you not try to intervene or were not able to do?There is no question of blindly interfering in the name of reforms. The budget has already taken the necessary steps to determine and adopt the right policy. Various policy reforms have been made. A policy of using alternative development finance has been adopted. Improvements have been made in project management and procurement processes. Instead of waiting for the next fiscal year, we have made arrangements to start the procurement process from Jestha 16. We expect the policy of austerity and spending cuts to balance current expenditure. In terms of taxes, many suggestions were received about the kind of revenue policy to be adopted and we listened to all of them. But I think that the decision that has been made now regarding taxes has increased the trust of taxpayers over the state.What kind of political pressure did you face during preparation of this budget? Is your budget politically biased?All the comments and feedback on the budget are welcome. While preparing the budget, my focus was on making the budget realistic and disciplined. Budget preparation is not a matter of pressure but something that is done based on justification. I did not feel any kind of pressure. However, the budget cannot be separated from politics out rightly. The government's policies and programs should be followed and the budget is based accordingly. Therefore, one cannot say that it is a completely technical manner away from politics. But this budget has come within the limits of the fundamentals norms of a budget.The private sector seems excited over the budget but there are concerns that the general public was not given due consideration…We were in a situation where we had to prioritize the needs of the nation more than that of its people. The budget has been introduced keeping this in mind. We were guided more by the need to increase production and productivity, adding impetus to the economy, increasing the economic growth rate and making it sustainable than going for cheap popularity. The budget ensures that economic activities will expand, private sector investment will increase, employment opportunities will rise and infrastructure projects will be completed on time. I am also optimistic that the targeted economic growth will be achieved through this budget.How is the prioritization and selection of projects different from previous years?We have always been mindful of the fact that the federal government should present plans and programs that should be approved by the federal parliament. The budget was prepared with a focus on important federal responsibilities. Furthermore, the functions of the provinces and local levels do not fall within the scope of the federal government's budget. Hence, federal projects costing less than Rs. 30 million were not included in the budget. The message we have put out is that not only the federal government but the provinces and local levels should also come up with a balanced budget.Furthermore, implementing of the budget should begin immediately. In fact, we should start implementing the budget from today itself. Accordingly, we will immediately proceed with projects the contracts of which can be handed out within the current fiscal year. (RSS)
Our approach to responding to loss and damage is a country-led and bottom-up one: Diong
Ibrahima Cheikh Diong is the Executive Director of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD). Indira Aryal, a reporter with this daily, spoke with Mr Diong about the mandate and mission of the Fund, and how developing countries like Nepal can access it more easily. Excerpts:
Society
How did sole survivor of Air India plane, on seat 11A, escape Ahmedabad crash?
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, the only survivor of the fatal Air India plane crash in Gujarat's Ahmedabad that killed all others who were on the aircraft, said that he is still in disbelief about his escape. Ramesh, a 45-year-old British national, was seated on 11A – near an emergency exit – of the Air India flight, when it crashed on Thursday, killing 241 people onboard.