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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government has forgiven 267 Nepali prisoners on the occasion of the 54th National Day (Eid Al Etihad).

The government of Nepal has welcomed this as a humanitarian and friendly step and expressed its gratitude to the UAE government. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the decision to pardon was taken following the initiative of the Nepali Embassy in Abu Dhabi and a request made as per the instructions of the Ministry.

If there are no other legal cases or restrictions, the Nepali citizens will be able to return home after completing the necessary legal procedures.

The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), in collaboration with the KOICA Alumni Association of Nepal (KAAN), organized a Departure Orientation Program for the 2025 Part II (January Intake) group of Master’s and Doctoral Scholarship Awardees at the KOICA Nepal Office on January 29. 

The orientation program provided essential information about their academic programs, host universities in Korea, Korean life and culture, departure procedures, and other practical aspects of studying abroad. 

Addressing the event, Choong Hee Choi, Deputy Country Director of the KOICA Nepal Office, congratulated the awardees and shared valuable insights to help them prepare for their academic journey in Korea.

To date, a total of 175 government officials have successfully completed their Master’s degree programs through KOICA’s Scholarship Program. 

In the current academic year, eight government officials have been awarded scholarships for the August and January intakes. Among them, two have been selected for Ph.D. programs in e-Government and Public Management, while the remaining six will pursue Master’s degrees in various disciplines.

In addition to long-term scholarships, KOICA continues to support Nepal through short-term capacity-building programs

In 2025, a total of 75 government officials from various ministries and departments participated in the capacity-building program focused on strengthening health emergency coordination and operational systems, enhancing e-learning skills of TVET instructors, improving post-harvest management of fruits and vegetables, and developing impact-based early flood warning systems in Nepal. 

All initiatives were formally requested by the Government of Nepal and implemented with KOICA’s technical support.

The Supreme Court (SC) has issued a directive order for the implementation of right to social justice at all layers of government- federal, provincial and local.

A full text of the directive order issued by a division bench of Justices Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma and Mahesh Sharma Paudel has been released recently. 

The order was, however, issued seven months back. 

The apex court has reminded the governments that it enforced citizen's right to social justice as enshrined in Article 42 of the Constitution of Nepal.

"Adopt constant and active engagement to translate the provisions in Article 42 of the Constitution in letter and spirit," asked the SC to all bodies under the federal, provincial and local governments. 

The order had come in response to a writ petition filed by Khajanti Mahto Nuniya from Phatuwa Bijaypur municipality of Rautahat district making defendants to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Minister, the Parliament Secretariat and the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration.

Article 42 of the Constitution has explicitly mentioned the rights to the marginalized communities which are socioeconomically and educationally backward. Such groups are women, Dalit, indigenous, Madhesi, Tharu, Muslim, minorities, people with disabilities, sexual and gender minorities and the oppressed ones. 

In order for the protection, elevation and empowerment of such communities, the State is obliged to provide education, shelter, health, foods and social securities. They deserve special opportunities to live a dignified life, the SC underlined in the order.

The construction work of the Kohalpur-Surkhet 132 kV transmission line section under the Kohalpur-Surkhet-Dailekh 132kV transmission line project has been completed. The transmission line project has stated that the construction work of the Kohalpur-Surkhet 132kV transmission line section, which is under construction with the joint investment of the Government of Nepal and the Nepal Electricity Authority, has been completed. In order to integrate the transmission line into the national transmission system, it is being tested from Thursday from the substation in Kohalpur, Banke to the Surkhet substation built in Subbakuna, Surkhet.

The project has urged citizens in the areas where the transmission project has expanded to be vigilant as electricity has started charging at the Surkhet substation. The project has urged the locals not to climb the transmission line towers, touch them with any objects, go around the towers, let livestock go around the towers, and not touch electrical structures marked with danger signs during the test period, as well as to make children aware of the issue.

An agreement was signed with the construction company on 7 July 2019 to complete the work within two years. The project, which was supposed to be completed by 7 July 2021, has been delayed by four years. The project was completed after four years due to land tenure issues, tree cutting, and local obstacles in the Banke and Bardiya National Parks.

The Kohalpur-Surkhet-Dailekh 132 kV power transmission project is going to release electricity from the Kohalpur grid to the Surkhet substation, said Ravi Kumar Chaudhary, head of the Kohalpur-Surkhet-Dailekh 132 kV power transmission project.

Chaudhary said that, while pulling the wires using drones, they faced difficulties in every area due to difficult terrain and thick fog. Indian construction company RS Infra Project, a joint investment of the Government of Nepal and the Nepal Electricity Authority, was given the responsibility of pulling the wires for the construction of the towers of the Kohalpur-Surkhet 132 kV transmission line. The project has stated that 13,000 trees had to be cut to expand the Kohalpur-Surkhet 132 kV transmission line.

The project was delayed due to delays in the process of cutting trees inside the national park and repeated obstacles from locals. A total of 162 towers have been constructed from Kohalpur to Birendranagar for the extension of this power line. One tower in Subbakuna, Surkhet is 50 meters high and all the other towers are about 30 meters high. Even the Supreme Court, saying that the work of expanding the 132 kV transmission line cannot be stopped, ordered the project to proceed by considering the practical aspects of the problem, and the locals in the obstructed area had to be compensated with about Rs 160m.