Kathmandu, January 17: The government has decided to send back the illegally imported red sandalwood to India within three months. The red sandalwood weighing 173 thousand kg was being sent back to India via the Foreign Ministry in line with the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).
The information to this was shared by Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gokul Prasad Banskota, who is also the Spokesperson of the government. The recent Cabinet meeting decided to accept the loan of some Rs 12.76 billion to be provided by the European Bank for the upgrading and expansion of the electricity system.
Similarly, the concerned company has been given permission to use a total of 103. 220 hectares of forest land from 56 community forests of Dolakha, Sindhupalchowk, Kavre, Kathmandu, and Bhaktapur for the construction of infrastructures as tower and right of way as part of Tamakoshi-Kathmandu transmission line.
The government has also permitted the use of 80.66 hectares of forest lands from Hatauda, Chhhatiwan, Harnamadi, and Raigaon of Makwanpur for the construction of infrastructures under Hetauda-Dhalkebar-Duhabi 400 KV transmission line. Also decided by the Cabinet meeting was the permission given to use communist forest areas to build structures as part of Rukumgad hydropower project. The government also gave permission to use the lands for the construction of physical infrastructures for public service delivery in different districts.
Permission for the acquisition of a house (registration No 169- area 6 ana and 1 paisa) at Jadibuti road section along the Araniko Highway has been given for the expansion of the highway. Lands for the expansion of Tamagadhi-Simraungadh road section will also be acquired. The government also gave permission to acquire the land to construct a bridge along the Lamosanghu-Jiri road. Likewise, the decision was made to give approval in principle for the formulation of a bill relating to the operation of the National Forensic Science Laboratory.
Also, the government decided to provide Rs 3 million to the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the UN in New York for the reelection of the UN’s Human Rights Council and Rs 1 million for the reelection on Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Spokesperson Banskota further informed that the government approved the treaty signed between Nepal and China on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters and present it in the federal parliament for appraisal.
Rs 146 thousand would be provided as compensation for the treatment of Bal Mukund Adhikari and Santosh Chaudhary who were injured in the protest, demanding their due payment from the Italian company CMC. The remuneration of the local staffers working at various offices of Nepal’s diplomatic missions abroad has also been increased. RSS
