By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Sep 1: The government has decided not to resume the domestic flights and long-route public and private vehicle services until September 16, 2020.
A meeting of the Council of Ministers held at the official residence of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Sunday took the decision to this effect, Minister for Finance and Communication and Information Technology Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada said on Monday.
Speaking at a press conference organised to make the decisions of the Cabinet meeting public, Dr. Khatiwada said the government took the decision keeping in view the increasing cases of COVID-19 across the country.
Prior to this, the government had announced to resume the operation of domestic flights and long-route transportation services from September 1.
The Cabinet meeting also decided not to open schools and other academic institutions until September 16.
However, the government decided to allow and conduct chartered international flights to bring stranded

Nepalis even from countries like Qatar and Kuwait which lack easy arrangements for PCR tests of Nepalis.
Such Nepalis can come to Nepal only upon the recommendation of the concerned diplomatic missions and if they are able to bear the air fare or the companies they work for do so for them, Minister Dr. Khatiwada said.

Appointments and promotions
The Cabinet meeting appointed Joint Secretaries Navaraj Dhakal and Udaya Bahadur Rana Magar as honorary consuls to Lhasa and Hong Kong of China respectively.
The government promoted Brigadier General Binaya Bikram Rana as Major General of Nepali Army, and transferred Major General Gokul Bhandari. Also, the government endorsed the resignation tendered by Brigadier General Arun Kumar Pal from his post.

PM Oli to lead 75th UNGA team
The Cabinet meeting also decided to form a 10-member delegation, including Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, to be led by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli for the virtual meeting of UNGA.
The meeting also decided to send similar credential for a formal purpose through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to Minister Dr. Khatiwada.
Also the Cabinet decided to have presence and leadership of the PM in some of the high-level weekly meetings from Kathmandu and officials from the Permanent Mission to the United Nations led by Permanent Representative Amrit Bahadur Rai.
Permanent Representative Rai has also been given authority to attend other sessions and weekly meetings.
The government has also endorsed the first amendment made to Social Security legislation for paving the way to renew the identity cards of all those physically challenged people till November 15, 2020, which had to be renewed by August 16, 2020.
The government has also granted permission to import dried peas and black pepper, which had been shipped in March 2020.

New labour permits open
The government has decided to open a process for inking a new labour permit agreement with concerned countries and open labour permit under the demand-based system.
The government has given approval for conducting a chartered flight to Nepal from Bahrain for 15 representatives, including prince of Bahrain and three British citizens, for summiting Lobuche and Manaslu peaks of Nepal. The summiteers team will arrive in Nepal after September 15. On their arrival, the team members should follow all the health protocols designed by the Ministry of Health and Population regarding the COVID-19.

2,000 quarantine beds to be built in Kathmandu
The Ministry of Urban Development has been given authority to build infrastructure having a capacity of 2,000 quarantine beds in the Kathmandu Valley by finding out appropriate space. For this, the government has authorised to begin a prompt process based on the special provision mentioned in rule no. 145 of Public Procurement Regulation 2007 and Section 66 of Public Procurement Act 2006.
Likewise, the government has asked all the lawmakers representing from both the Houses of the Federal Parliament to coordinate and monitor in prevention, control and treatment of the COVID-19 cases in their respective constituencies.

Medical Council’s licensing exams to open
The government has given permission to take the licensing exams of Nepal Medical Council by allowing only 25 examinees in one hall maintaining distance of at least two metres as prescribed by the guideline of Public Health and Security of the government.
Also, the government has given approval to foreign medical students studying in Nepal to come here by confirming their RD-PCR tests conducted within 72 hours and college admission documents. Minister Dr. Khatiwada said that such foreign medical students should compulsorily take recommendation letter of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Nepal before coming to Nepal.
Similarly, the Cabinet meeting gave permission to airlift up to 800 Nepalis per day from abroad. Earlier, this number was limited to 500 persons per day.

NRNs allowed to come to Nepal conditionally
Also, the government decided to give permission to Non Resident Nepalis (NRN) come to Nepal upon the recommendation of the diplomatic missions office of Nepal on condition that their family members die or they have to be present for medical treatment of their family members.
Govt instructs to arrange additional isolation beds in Kathmandu
Meanwhile, the government has ordered to arrange additional isolation beds and quarantines in three-tier governments under the coordination of Provincial COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre (PCCMC) and District COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre (DCCMC).
Also, in case of Kathmandu Valley the government has instructed to arrange additional and needed number of isolation beds in all government hospitals, private and community as well as teaching hospitals and health sciences and academies.