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The federal government is preparing to transfer responsibility for the construction and maintenance of several roads and bridges to provincial governments. At present, both the Department of Roads under the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport and provincial government agencies have been involved in parallel repair and construction work. This has often led to overlapping responsibilities and inefficiencies in road maintenance. 

The Department of Roads is currently taking care of 80 national highways and an additional 3,078 kilometers of feeder roads. As per the plan, the department will continue handling national highways, while the responsibility for feeder and provincial roads will gradually shift to the respective provinces. Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Devendra Dahal, discussed the matter with ministers and secretaries of all seven provincial governments earlier this week. He said the division of responsibilities between federal agencies and agencies of provincial governments was felt as the demand for the construction and maintenance of multi-lane roads rises at the province levels. 

The necessity was also felt as budget allocations for the Road Board Nepal for road maintenance has been declining in recent years. For example, the board has been allocated only Rs 2.88bn for the current fiscal year even though it had sought an allocation of Rs 10.03bn. In 2013, the ministry was tasked with maintenance of 21 national highways and 209 feeder roads. The list was revised to a total of 80 roads including national highways and some strategic feeder roads. Now the ministry is preparing to hand over roads not included in this list as well as other roads and bridges built under the Local Roads Bridge Program to provincial governments.

Three provincial governments—Koshi, Bagmati and Sudurpashchim—have already published official notices listing 1,588 kilometers of provincial highways under their jurisdiction. They are expected to resume responsibility for maintenance of these roads within the current fiscal year. According to the Department of Roads, Koshi, Madhesh, and Bagmati Provinces have 452 km, 613 km, and 808 km of provincial highways and feeder roads, respectively. Gandaki has 310 km, Lumbini 418 km, Karnali 150 km, and Sudurpashchim 328 km of such roads.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has invited President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedow to visit Nepal.

During a meeting held between the two leaders today on the sidelines of the Third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDC), Prime Minister Oli invited the President to visit Nepal next year.

Giving a brief response to media persons of both countries after the meeting, Prime Minister Oli said that discussions were held on issues including bilateral interests, cooperation and collaboration and further strengthening the relations between the two countries.

On the occasion, he praised the development achieved by Turkmenistan in a short period of time and also shared about Nepal being upgraded to a developing country by 2026.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Oli thanked President Berdimuhamedov for the grand hosting of the UN conference on Landlocked Developing Countries in the city of Awaza. 

Prime Minister Oli is scheduled to meet with heads of state and government of other countries later today.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 2. 35 points to close at 2, 836. 35 points on Wednesday.

The sensitive index, however, dropped by 0. 31 points to close at 488. 13 points.

A total of 21,657,706-unit shares of 320 companies were traded for Rs 7. 63 billion.

Meanwhile, Wean Nepal Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (WNLB) was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 10. 00 percent. Likewise, Three Star Hydropower Limited (TSHL) was the top loser as its price fell by 3. 78 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 1. 60 trillion.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and leader of the Nepali Delegation to the Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), has said LLDCs face a complex web of challenges for trade potentials.

Lack of direct access to the seas, high transit costs, poor infrastructure, long and uncertain transit routes, limited market access, over-reliance on a narrow range of primary commodities, vulnerability to global shocks, climate change-induced disasters are among those challenges that resulted in underdeveloped and vulnerable economies of these countries. 

The Prime Minister said this while chairing the High-Level Thematic Roundtable 2: Seizing the Transformative Potential of Trade, Trade Facilitation, and Regional Integration for Landlocked Developing Countries held today under the Conference in Awaza of Turkmenistan.  

"In this interconnected and interdependent world- trade is a powerful engine of economic growth. It can significantly contribute to the socio-economic development of LLDCs, like others. But, despite their huge trade potential, LLDCs account for just over one percent of global trade in goods.  And this imbalance stems not from a lack of ambition or effort, but from structural barriers," he said in his opening remarks. 

In this context, the Awaza Programme of Action for LLDCs has come with concrete measures for turning landlocked countries into land-linked ones by building infrastructures, investing in smart trade corridors, developing transport and logistics industries, digitalizing trade and customs processes, promoting trade of ICT products and services, deepening regional integration and fostering meaningful partnerships, he apprised the meeting. 

He advised that with sincere implementation of these measures, LLDCs can harness their trade potentials for inclusive and sustainable development. "For this, we need to strengthen cooperation and partnership at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels." 

He stressed that “we must deliver on the promise to double the share of LLDCs in global trade, expand their service exports, and foster more diversified and resilient economies. "We need to implement this Program of Action to bring prosperity to more than 570 million people living in LLDCs." 

He further stressed that "trade and transit rights of the LLDCs are a moral responsibility of all" and they need greater solidarity, enhanced financial and technological support, as well as fair and equitable trade opportunities.

Echoing the urgent need for collective push for fairer trade terms and transit regimes is urgent, he stressed that "LLDCs must not be left behind in the global trading system."

He reminded the gathering that the Sevilla Commitment, adopted in June this year, also acknowledges the LLDC Programme of action and expresses a strong commitment to its full and effective implementation. 

He added that, in this context, the roundtable serves as an important reminder for urgent actions, calling for renewed commitment and global solidarity.

Rescue crews raced on Wednesday to clear debris and flooded roads as southern China braced for more extreme rainfall and spreading infection after some of the worst downpours this century, brought by a peak in East Asian monsoon rains, Reuters reported.

Forecasters warned of more thunderstorms after the century's second-heaviest August rains pounded Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, forcing its Baiyun airport, one of the world's busiest, to cancel 363 flights and delay 311.

The day before, the skies above Hong Kong and the high-tech cities of China's Pearl River Delta turned livid and dumped the heaviest August rainfall since 1884 on the Asian financial hub, according to Reuters.

More than 100 people are missing and at least one has died after a cloudburst triggered devastating flash floods in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, BBC reported.

Rescue operations are under way in Uttarkashi district after a massive wave of water surged down the mountains into Dharali village on Tuesday, submerging roads and buildings in its path.

Some army teams have been stationed in Dharali since Tuesday, but other disaster response forces and district officials have been unable to reach the area due to damaged roads and heavy rainfall.

Heavy rains have been lashing the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand over the past few weeks, according to BBC.

Three Pakistani Army personnel, including a major, were killed and three others seriously injured in a roadside bomb blast in Balochistan's Nushki district on Tuesday night, The Tribune reported.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for the attack. According to the report, the incident occurred around 8:00 pm (local time) when a bulletproof military vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Gargina area of Nushki.

The soldiers killed in the attack have been identified as Major Rizwan, Naib Subedar Ameen, and Lance Naik Younis. Three other personnel sustained serious injuries in the explosion, according to The Tribune.

The meeting of the Karnali Province Council of Ministers held this morning has decided to recommend ending the sixth session of the second term of the Provincial Assembly from midnight.

The Cabinet meeting also decided to depute Provincial Secretary Dholak Raj Dhakal, based at the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers, as Secretary to the Ministry of Social Development, shared the provincial government spokesperson Binod Kumar Shah. 

Similarly, following the Supreme Court's order, a decision was taken to recommend to the federal government to designate Luhadah-4 as the administrative center of Junichande Rural Municipality of Jajarkot district, 

The meeting has also approved the 'Journalism Award Distribution Procedure, 2082'. 

Spokesperson Shah shared that the meeting decided to form a Karnali Province Monitoring Committee under the coordination of the Secretary of the Governance Reforms Division under the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers to monitor the implementation of the provision of an Information Officer in the provincial government offices.