The cabinet meeting scheduled on Friday morning has been deferred due to the ‘ill health’ of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, officials said.

The ministers who reached Baluwatar for the meeting were told that it could not take place owing to ‘ill health’ of the Prime Minister.

Nepal FM, a Kathmandu-based radio station, quoted Minister for Health and Population Giriraj Mani Pokharel, as saying that he regretted the sudden postponement of the cabinet meeting. “PM’s health has been referred to as the reason for it,” he said.

Pokharel said it was sad that the cabinet meeting was suspended even as the nation needed to make a number of key decisions soon. “This (abrupt suspension) shows how justified we were when we recently issued a statement expressing dissatisfaction over the government’s style of functioning,” he said.

Friday’s cabinet meeting was to discuss ways to rescue and rehabilitate thousands of people affected by flood and landslide across the country. It was also scheduled to discuss progress in government’s talks with Madhesi Janadhikar Forum, Chure Bhawar Ekata Samaj and others. The ongoing agitation by VDC secretaries demanding security was also to figure in the meeting.

Likewise, the recent row between Nepali Army and Maoist ministers would also have been discussed. On Thursday, Home Minister had assured Maoist ministers of investigation into the sudden change of guards by NA in Maoist ministers’ quarters. Maoist ministers were planning to table a proposal demanding dissolution of Ranger Force of NA at the meeting.

The cabinet meeting was also going to decide about the music for the national anthem. Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has received four different music tones for the new national anthem – two by senior musician Ambar Gurung, one by Nhyoo Bajracharya and one by Nepali Army (NA).

The next cabinet meeting is now expected to take place on Sunday.

Silk Air, regional wing of Singapore Airlines, is set to resume direct flights from Singapore to Kathmandu from October, the start of the main tourist season in Nepal.

Foo Chai Woo, general manager, India – Singapore Airlines announced that even though the authorisation is still pending the airline has plans to resume service as scheduled.

Manjeet Grewal, manager of Singapore Airlines in India , added that they expect more inbound flights than outbound. SilkAir plans to run three flights a week. Its General Sales Agent for Nepal is Everest Express Tours and Travels.

The chief of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN), Ian Martin, has said that “considerable challenges” remain for the holding of free and fair election to constituent assembly scheduled for November.

Talking to reporters at the UN headquarters in New York , Thursday, after briefing the Security Council in which the Nepal report presented by UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon was discussed, Martin said, “Improvement in the political and security situation is vital for the holding of credible polls.”

He said that although the peace process started in the country with the cessation of conflict between the government and the Maoists, it has become “increasingly more complicated as traditionally marginalised groups ask for fair representation in the process.”

“Dialogue with these groups needs to continue to ensure that there is a consensus so that the electoral system will operate fairly so far as all groups are concerned,” he said, adding that cooperation among political parties is also crucial to create “a situation in which they respect each other’s rights to campaign and to avoid the intimidation of voters.”

Home Minister Krishna Sitaula has announced relief package for the victims of floods and landslides.

Speaking at the parliament, Friday, Sitaula said the government will provide Rs 15,000 as compensation to relatives of those killed in the natural disaster. Likewise, he promised Rs 10,000 for those people whose houses have been severely damaged and Rs 5000 for those whose houses have been partially damaged. He also said helicopters and security personnel were being deployed to rescue and provide relief to the flood victims.

At the parliament, MPs asked the government to help the victims of natural disaster at the soonest. They also drew the attention of the government towards construction of dams by India across the border causing inundation on Nepalese side.

Meanwhile, thanks to flooding, around 3000 families have been displaced in Saptari district. Dhanusha district has also been severely affected as Janakpur city remains waterlogged. In Sarlahi district, 200 houses have been severely damaged.

Rautahat district, too, has been inundated by water overflowing from Bagmati and Bakaiya rivers. Flooding of Narayani has affected Nawalparasi district.

Banke district has also been substantially affected. Nepalgunj city has remained without power as flood waters have damaged local substation of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). Local authorities say that they are talking with Indian authorities regarding the Laxmanpur barrage, which they say has caused much inundation on Nepalese territory. Jhapa, Chitwan, Udayapur, Mahottari, Morang, Sunsari and Bardiya districts have also been affected by the flash flood.

The Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) has condemned the sacking of 49 journalists working in the state-owned Gorkhapatra daily.

In a statement Friday, FNJ demanded that the Ministry of Information and Communication and the Nepal government take moral responsibility for “snatching away the bread and butter of journalists” and immediately reinstate them respectfully.

The dismissal of the reporters, who had been working on contract basis, was politically motivated, FNJ president Bishnu Nisthuri said.

Gorkhapatra Corporation, which publishes Gorkhapatra daily and an assortment of publications, had laid off 49 stringers on Wednesday.

Om Sharma, former editor of CPN-Maoist mouthpiece, Janadesh weekly, heads the Corporation which operates under the Maoist-held communication ministry.

One passenger died and 30 others injured when an overcrowded bus overturned on the road in Tika Bhairab, suburban Kathmandu Valley, Friday afternoon.

The dead has been identified as Manisha Nagarkoti, 30. She died while being rushed to hospital, police said.

The injured passengers have been undergoing treatment at Bir Hospital and Patan Hospital.

The Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) had to cancel all its domestic flights as its employees went on strike Friday.

The NAC workers halted services demanding ‘reform’ in the airline’s management and more aircraft. All four aircraft didn’t fly to their destinations today.

Saying that the management failed to take any step towards institutional reform and add aircraft to save the ailing airline despite continuous pressure, the workers’ union also gave seven-day ultimatum to the management to meet the demands.

The Joint Struggle Committee, under which the agitating workers are united, said all the services in the domestic section would be halted until the management responded to the demands.

This is the first time since the start of the workers’ strike last month that the domestic flights have been cancelled.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Sahana Pradhan Friday said the Bhutan government’s unwillingness to sit for talks had almost brought to an end the bilateral process for a solution to the Bhutanese refugee crisis.

Speaking to journalists after launching a report of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Kathmandu, Pradhan said the Bhutanese ministers had informed about their inability to hold the talks citing their resignation from ministerial posts.

Seven Bhutanese ministers including Prime Minister Khandu Wangchuk resigned en masse on Thursday morning, intending to join party politics for the upcoming election, the first democratic election in the history of the dragon Kingdom, which is scheduled for March next year.

Pradhan said there was no option now before Nepal government than to try other alternatives for finding solution to the protracted refugee crisis. “The possibility of bilateral dialogue with Bhutan has almost ended,” she said.

She also hinted that government could decide to start the procedure for resettlement of the refugees in third countries including the United States. The US government has pledged to resettle at least 60,000 of the refugees in the US. Canada and Australia each offered to resettle 5,000 refugees.

The establishment of Out Processing Entity (OPE) by the US government has already begun in Damak, Jhapa district, where formal procedures of resettlement of the refugees will be carried out. The US government is planning to start the process by early September.

Nepal had asked the Bhutanese government to sit for final round of bilateral talks on the refugee crisis. Earlier in November, the Bhutanese ministers had postponed the scheduled talks saying they were busy with the birthday celebration of their fourth King.

Parliamentarians have asked the government to take immediate initiatives to demolish the embankment constructed by the Indian government in Laxmanpur in bordering Banke district, which has caused floods in several Terai villages.

Expressing concern over the damage caused by the flood in mid-western Terai due to the embankment on Rapti River, the parliamentarians said the government must take diplomatic efforts to convince India to demolish the controversial embankment.

Speaking during the Special Hour of the parliament Friday, the lawmakers also criticised the government for not being serious to lessen the woes of Nepali people due to the embankment.

They said the government must take the issue to international forums if the Indian government does not demolish the illegally constructed embankment.

At least six villages in Banke have been inundated by Friday as the water could not drain to India since the drainage of the flood has been blocked by the 13-km long embankment.

Governments in the past had asked India to stop the construction of the embankment, but Indian side turned deaf ear to Nepal’s request.

For the last two years, the Nepal government has not held any talks with India on embankment issue.

The embankment is only 300 m away from pillar no.19 of Nepal-India border.

Meanwhile, a team of National Human Rights Commission’s regional office in Nepalgunj visited the embank area today. According to NHRC, the Indian authority has opened all 14 doors of the embankment for water drainage.

After assurances by Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, the protesting importers have begun to receive their goods from the custom office at Tribhuvan International Airport from Friday.

According to Federation of Nepali Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI), the Finance Minister assured to address the demands put forward by the importers within the next one week.

Importers, led by first vice president of FNCCI, Diwakar Golcha, met Dr Mahat on Friday in an effort to end the row.

FNCCI said medicines and equipments used in health services and the raw materials for the industries that make exports goods have been received from the custom office on Friday.

The importers had called strike at the TIA custom office protesting the new policy of the government announced during the budget speech. The government had asked the importers to submit the details of price, transport cost and insurance of goods imported via air in separate sheets.

The importers had been on strike from the following day of the budget announcement saying the provision was not practical.