Rs 630m road budget

Kathmandu: The Road Board Nepal (RBN) on Wednesday announced a budget of Rs 630 million for the maintenance of roads across the country this year. Rs 137.09 million has been allocated for 50 municipalities with Kathmandu Metropolitan City sharing the highest amount — Rs 20 million. The board has allocated Rs 5 million for the Lalitpur Sub-metropolitan City. — HNS

Sahana meets PM

KATHMANDU: Minister for Foreign Affairs Sahana Pradhan met Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on Wednesday. The duo discussed Nepal’s agenda to be presented in the 62nd UN General Assembly in New York. Pradhan is scheduled to address the Assembly on October 3. — HNS

Looted arms returned

SIRAHA: Maoists on Wednesday handed over arms looted by YCL cadres two weeks ago from the policemen at the Choharwa Chowk to the Siraha district police office. Three 303 rifles and 115 pieces of bullets were handed over to SP Mingmar Lama, in the presence of journalists and UN representatives. — HNS

‘Reopen shut firms’

BIRATNAGAR: Entrepreneurs have urged the government to help reopen the industries based in the Morang-Sunsari industrial corridor. All industries have remained shut as the supply of raw materials came to a halt after the collapse of a bridge over the Domana river along the national highway in West Bengal. — HNS

RPP MP dead

KATHMANDU: Central member of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and MP Ajay Pratap Shaha died on Wednesday while undergoing treatment at the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow. He was suffering from kidney and lung problems for over two years. He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. The RPP has decided to fly the party flag at half-mast on Thursday to mourn his death. — HNS

Two bodies found

BANKE: The bodies of two more victims of the Rapti river boat tragedy were found in Jungpur of Baijapur VDC on Wednesday. Some 26 persons were swallowed by the river last Wednesday when their boat capsized and sank at Gavarghat. Till date, bodies of 17 victims have been recovered while nine others are still missing. Sub-inspector Mandhoj Singh Bhandari said neither of the two bodies has been identified yet. — HNS

Blast in house

JANAKPUR: A socket bomb went off in the house of senior advocate Ramji Prasad Mainali at Wakil Tole of Janakpur municipality-2 on Wednesday. Mainali was in Kathmandu while his wife and some servants were watching television on the first floor of the house, where Mainali’s office is also based, when the bomb exploded. Two doors, windows and cabinets were destroyed. No human casualty occurred, police said. — HNS

JTMM-J men kill one

JANAKPURDHAM: Cadres of the Jwala Singh-led JTMM shot dead 45-year-old Kedar Prasad Giri, a native of Lalbandi-5 in Sarlahi, at Pakchauda- 7 in Dhanusha on Tuesday night. — HNS