Govt to approve Nepal-US deal on artefacts transportation

 By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Feb. 21:  The government has formed a High-Level Recommendation Implementation Task Force headed by the secretary of the government of Nepal to implement various suggestions made by two separate commissions and a study report.

Speaking at a press conference organised to make the Cabinet decisions public on Thursday, Minister for Communication and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung said that the government has decided to take various suggestions and recommendations made by the Economic Reforms Suggestion Commission-2081, Public Expenditure Review Commission-2075 and 'A Study Report Prepared on Merging, Dissolving, or Transferring of Separate Public Institutions Established For 

the Same Purpose,' to the implementation stages.

According to Minister Gurung, the high-level implementation task force will be led by the Secretary of the Nepal government under the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM), Singha Durbar. 

The Cabinet meeting held on February 18 decided to appoint Arjun Babu Dhakal of Gorkha as the General Manager of the Nepal Water Supply Corporation (NWSC) and approved the resignation tendered by Additional Inspector General (AIG) Rabindra KC of Nepal Police from his position. 

AIG KC tendered his resignation from the service on February 9, 2025. KC resigned from the service within just two months of his promotion to the AIG post. 

Similarly, the government has endorsed the visit of Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba to Geneva, Switzerland, to take part in the high-level segment meeting of the 58th Regular Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council to be kicked off from February 24 to 26. The regular session of the Council will begin on February 24 to April 4.

The government has decided to approve the agreement between Nepal and the United States of America regarding the restriction on the transportation and import of archaeological and community-related cultural artefacts. 

The government has also approved the visit of Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Badri Prasad Pandey to Berlin, Germany, to take part in the International Tourism Borse Fair (ITB-Berlin-2025), and 75th Annapurna Day in France from March 4-8. 

The Cabinet meeting also decided to table an amendment bill related to the Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act 2007 at the Federal Parliament and approved the Industrial Enterprise (First Amendment) Regulations-2025.

According to Minister Gurung, the Cabinet meeting held this week also decided to publish a notice in the Nepal Gazette regarding the public holidays and office hours maintained by the government for the entire year beginning from Baisakh 1 to Chaitra, 2082 B.S.