KATHMANDU: Following a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the government officially permitted four major hydropower projects—Lower Arun, Lower Nyadi Khola, Bhunchha Khola, and Tadi Khola—to utilize national forest land to accelerate development.

Alongside these environmental clearances, the Cabinet approved the 16th Amendment of the Civil Service Rules, formed a nine-member ad-hoc committee led by Bishal Kumar Bhandari to manage the disputed Nepal Red Cross Society, and received a probe report regarding former Home Minister Sudhan Gurung for future review.

During the briefing, government spokesperson Sasmit Pokharel also confirmed that feasibility studies for Kathmandu’s metro and monorail networks are underway, while promising zero budget cuts for Tribhuvan University.

Finally, Pokharel strongly defended Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle against parliamentary criticism over alleged tax-rate manipulations in the new Economic Bill, affirming that the entire administration fully backs Wagle’s hard work on the budget.