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Two rhinos were found dead in the Chitwan National Park (CNP) in two days.

Finance Minister Dr Prakash Saran Mahat held a discussion about the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2080/081 with the international development partners in Nepal today. On the occasion, Finance Minister Dr Mahat shared about future priorities of the government and the guidelines and principles to be taken by the upcoming budget. He also expressed commitment to make maximum use of the available resources. Considering the increasing debt of the government, it is a priority to invest in productive sectors so help pay both the principal and interest. The finance minister on the occasion called for substantial subsidies along with foreign loans including aid to address the impact of climate, that Nepal is not responsible for. During the meeting, heads and representatives of international development partners assured support to the priorities and programs taken up by the government of Nepal in the upcoming budget, and mobilized foreign aid through Nepal's national policy, system and structure. International development partners have suggested that there should be improvements in capital expenditure, management of public institutions, avoiding duplication of expenditure, preparation of blueprints for internal resource mobilization, among others. Suggestions were also received to increase investment in health, education, social security and nutrition, expand the scope of taxes, improve capital expenditure and gradually change the informal sector to the formal sector. Heads and representatives of multilateral development partners such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund and International Finance Corporation, United States Agency for International Development, Embassies of Japan, Korea, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Germany and the European Union was present in the meeting.  

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal expressed his condolences on the demise of the second people's movement victim Mukesh Kayastha. He wished for eternal peace to the departed soul and expressed heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family through a social networking site. Kayastha passed away on Wednesday night. He was 32. He could not walk and talk, and was confined to his home ever since he was injured in the movement. Following complications in his health, he was admitted to Banepa-based Scheer Memorial Hospital, where he breathed his last, said Hira Sharma, Chairperson of the Mukesh Foundation. Mukesh got injured during the second People's Movement at Teendobato, Kavre on April 9, 2006. He was shot by a bullet in his left temple. The kayasthas' only son Mukesh from Banepa Municipality-8 in Kavrepalanchok district was 15 years old when he was injured. He was an eighth grader at Bidhya Sagar School in Banepa. In 2078 BS, the Warriors, Achieves and Respect Committee of Democracy led by then the Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali honoured him as a 'Warrior of Democracy' and appreciated his contribution to the people's movement. He was also known as the 'Living Martyr'. The government waived loans of Rs 700,000 taken by his family. It had also been providing Rs 15,000 per month for his medication, and had managed a health worker for his care. He has completely stopped talking since the past one year. He was being fed through tube feeding. The Kayastha family did not lose their hopes on him. "Mukesh's right hand and both legs were immobile since he fell sick. We had a hope that he could be cured," said Mukesh's father Krishna Man. Lately, Dr Gopal Raman, who works at the Mediciti Hospital, was attending to him. Four youths from Kavrepalanchok were killed in the movement and 40 others were injured.  

Finance Minister Dr Prakash Saran Mahat today said that the government was going through hard times to manage resources for the budget for the next fiscal year, 2023/24. "It has increasingly become difficult to manage resources for multi-year and periodic projects of which implementation is mandatory," he said during a pre-budget discussion at an event organized here today by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI). At the same time, there are challenges in giving a space for new projects in the budget, according to him "Hundreds of projects have been contracted. But there are difficulties managing resources for them. Now, the biggest challenge is to manage resources. Government revenue collection is low. Collection of grants and loans has not reached the target. There is a pressure to provide projects in many areas. But we lack resources." The government had prioritized the increment of investments to widen the scope of the economy, he said, adding that there was no alternative to ease investments. "The more investments increase the more revenue collection is. The government is committed in line with laws to create a climate for people to get entrepreneurship in an easy way." The government had focused on increasing capital expenditures and cutting down on public expenditures, he said. Bank interest rates could be reduced through the review of the monetary policy, and there was a need for policy interventions in various sectors, he stressed. FNCII President Chandra Prasad Dhakal insisted on structural reforms in the economy, urging the government not to make a further delay to launch programs aiming to improve the economy in partnership with the private sector. "The role of private sector in economic reform programs has contributed to the reduction of poverty in India, China, Rwanda and Bangladesh." Monetary policy and its review, government annual plans and policies and budget are the tools to intervene in the economy for reforms, according to him who spoke of the need of promoting domestic and foreign investment through the implementation of special programs. FNCCI Senior Vice President Anjan Shrestha requested the government to focus on production and employment creations while formulating the budget. He was of the opinion that the promotion of domestic production and the achievement of a self-sufficient economy will help the nation advance towards a sustainable economy.

A total of 8,220 tourists visited the Himalayan district Manang from January to May 7 this year. According to Chief of Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) Lekhnath Gautam, 5,056 men and 3,163 women visited Manang in the first four months of 2023. Tourists from 42 countries had entered the district. In the month of January, 2023, as many as 318 nationals of 42 countries visited Manang. Inflow of tourists has increased in Nepal after the post-Covid situation. Most tourists entering the country especially prefer trekking along the Annapurna route. ACAP Chief Gautam said mostly foreign tourists visited the area for trekking. According to the data, the district drew the highest number of tourists (69) from South Korea in January this year.  

As many as 3,600 kilograms of solid waste has been collected from Myagdi-based Annapurna First Mountain. As part of the Clean Mountain Campaign spearheaded by the Nepal Army, the waste was taken out from Mount Annapurna and its base camp. The 8,071-meter-high Mount Annapurna lies in Annapurna Rural Municipality-4, Narchyang of Myagdi. Chief Administrative Officer of Annapurna Rural Municipality, Amrit Subedi said that the NA's mountain cleaning team had started cleaning up Mount Annapurna on last April 10 and returned on May 9. A team comprising 10 NA personnel and 13 from Peak Promotion Travel Agency had collected the waste from the mountain and the base camp for 48 days. NA Major Gajendra Deuba had led the clean-up campaign. The team with Captain Bhim Bahadur Bhujel had reached atop the 8,091-meter-high Annapurna peak and collected garbage there. The waste collected include 1,200-kg biodegradable and 2,400-kg non-biodegradable, the team said. The biodegradable waste has been managed at Bhusaket in the presence of the representatives of Annapurna Youth Club in Narchyang. The non-biodegradable waste was taken to Dana of Myagdi via a helicopter belonging to the Prabhu Air. The waste airlifted to Dana from the Annapurna Base Camp was then sent to Kathmandu-based NA headquarters in a truck, said Indra Siingh Sherchan, a local of Dana. The 2,400-kg wastes including plastic, tin, iron and lead were sent to Kathmandu. Clean-up was done in the Annapurna Mountain and its base camp after 72 years since mountaineering was permitted, said Chairperson of Village Conservation Area Management Committee, Narchyang, Tej Gurung. "The waste was increasingly piling up in the mountain and base camp with the rise in the number of mountaineers and trekkers', he said, adding, 'The NA team cleaned up the Annapurna Mountain for the first time'. Pokhara metropolis had provided Rs 1.5 million to the NA for the Clean Mountain Campaign. The NA has conducted 'Clean Mountain Campaign-2023' in Mount Annapurna, Sagarmatha, Lhotse and Barunche peaks. The 8,000-merter high Dhawalagiri and Manaslu mountains located in Gandaki Province were cleaned earlier. The NA has placed the campaign realizing the waste dumped in the mountain caused environmental imbalance and imparted a wrong message. The NA that started the campaign in 2019 had extracted 7,157 kilograms biodegradable waste from the Mount Everest, Lhotse, Manaslu and Kanchanjunga peaks last year.  

Spring season is favorable for mountain climbing in Nepal. During this season, the country welcomes a noticeable number of aspiring climbers from across the globe for expeditions to Mount Everest and other various peaks. People from 80 countries including Nepal took permission from the Department of Tourism for climbing Nepal's peaks including Mt Everest this spring season and of them, citizens from 65 countries acquired permits for Everest expedition. The Department's Mountaineering Section said that revenue of over Rs 740 million has been collected so far from the expedition permit fees in this spring. The permission for Mt Everest alone contributes Rs 650 million to the collections followed by Rs 28.3 million from the Lhotse permission and Rs 13.6 from the permission for the Makalu expedition. Section Officer Bigyan Koirala said this time the permissions for Everest climbing are the highest and the revenue collection has also increased. Nepal is home to eight peaks over 8,000 meters. He said till May 8, 467 people of 44 expedition teams obtained permission for climbing Mt Everest. This figure is likely to go up slightly as the Department expects a few permissions by Wednesday. Almost all aspiring climbers have already arrived. They are in the Everest base camp and the second camp waiting for favorable conditions to set out for the journey to the Everest summit. Icefall doctors have already fixed a route to the Everest fourth camp towards the Everest South Col.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that the government will leave no stone unturned for reforms in the country's education sector. PM Dahal said so while receiving a memorandum submitted by the Nepal Teachers Federation National Committee at the Prime Minister's official residence in Baluwatar Tuesday. He said that the government will make a decision with a clear perspective on some past pending issues. On the occasion, the Prime Minister said that he would take initiatives for addressing the problems of teachers. Shankar Adhikari, President of Unified All Nepal Teachers' Organization said that the Federation has, through the memorandum, called for making public the report of the High-level Education Commission, for immediately issuing the Federal Education Act and for fulfilling the demands of the teacher employees in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The Federation has demanded that that amount equivalent to 20 percent of the total budget be invested especially in the education sector. Adhikari said that they have urged the government to create more posts of employees in school and make arrangements for salary and allowances in accordance with their posts, to provide the salary and allowances of teachers and employees on a monthly basis and to provide professional and subject-wise training for enhancing the quality of education.