Similarly, the cabinet decided that OHCHR’s regional offices in Biragnagar, Kathmandu, Pokhara, Nepalgunj and Dhangadi would continue to operate as they are now.

Nepali Congress and CPN (UML) among other ruling parties had earlier suggested the government to close down these regional offices while European countries had lobbied for extending OHCHR term under current status.

The ruling parties have been accusing the UN human rights body of supporting the main opposition party Unified CPN (Maoist).

Further, the cabinet decided to increase allowance to Raute community. However, government spokesperson and information minister Shankar Pokharel did not mention the amount allocated for Raute. Raute leaders had in the morning met with Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal seeking financial assistance.

According to Pokharel, the cabinet has decided to send economic ordinance to President’s office for approval. The ordinance has proposed increasing import tax on gold. nepalnews.com