KATHMANDU: Rajan Bhattarai has been appointed the foreign affairs advisor to the Prime Minister and Indra Bhandari the principal personal secretary.

Bhattarai is a former lawmaker and Bhandari the president of the then CPN (UML) Mechi Kathmandu liaison committee.

According to Kundan Aryal, Prime Minister’s press advisor, a meeting of the Council of Ministers on Sunday decided to appoint Bhattarai and Bhandari.

Although it is stated that the Council of Ministers has also recommended names for ambassadorial posts to some countries including India, the government has not made this officially public.

Press meet scheduled every week

Meanwhile, preparations have been made to hold regular interaction with mediapersons every week regarding the government’s various decisions and assessment of its works.

Aryal said, arrangements have been made for the interaction between government spokespersons and journalists in connection with decisions made by the Council of Ministers as well as other works.

The interaction would most likely take place every Thursday.

“It is not that the government is trying to hide information regarding the decisions it takes. It is thinking how these could be disseminated in a more effective and systematic way,” Dr Aryal explained.