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Winners of the taxpayer incentive prize have been announced. 

At an event held today at the Ministry of Finance under the program initiated by the Inland Revenue Department, Finance Minister Dr Swarnim Wagle selected 15 winners and one bumper prize winner. 

The Department said that the coupon number 007315254493 won Rs 1,000,000 under the bumper prize program. 

The person with this coupon had participated at the program by purchasing goods worth Rs 250 from Shiva Krishna General Store. 

Launching the taxpayer incentive gift program, Minister Wagle said it will help promote the culture of issuing and receiving bills and support the growth of the formal economy. 

He also expressed confidence that the program announced through this fiscal year's budget will make the public financial system more transparent. 

"We need to move towards a billing culture. All transactions should be recorded. Our goal is to create a public finance system where it is transparently visible how much tax is collected from citizens and where that money is spent," he said. 

Arrangements have been made for transactions made through digital payments to be automatically recorded in the system. 

Sharing that in the first phase, transactions worth about Rs 25.6 million were made and over Rs 7 billion have been included in the system, the Finance Minister expressed confidence that monthly transactions will reach billions in the coming days. 

"The program encourages many taxpayers to use digital methods, to give and take bills, and to come under the tax net," he said, "It will be effective in controlling revenue leakage and expanding the formal economy."

The government has launched the 'Taxpayer Incentive Gift Programme' to promote the culture of issuing and receiving bills (VAT bills) and to make economic transactions transparent.

On the occasion, Bhishma Kumar Bhusal, Director General of the Inland Revenue Department, said that the winners of the daily and first fortnight bumper prizes from the fiscal year starting Sawan 1 to 15 were selected through a computer system. 

According to him, the 'cryptographically secure uniform random sampling without replacement' method was used for selecting the winners. 

He stated that this method ensures every coupon has an equal chance, the same coupon cannot be selected more than once in a single draw, and the selection process is completely fair and secure.

The Consulate General of Nepal in San Francisco, United States, has announced that it will discontinue its services from September 1, 2026. 

The consular services at the consulate general would remain available only until August 31, as the Consulate General of Nepal there is in the process of permanent closure. 

The Consulate General has urged all service recipients to obtain services before September 1, stating that the San Francisco-based Consulate General will be permanently closed after August 31. 

Issuing a notice today on the closure of passport and consular services, the Consulate General said that passport and consular services, including visa services, will no longer be available from September 1 onwards.

Similarly, the Consulate General has asked the applicants, who applied for passports from the consulate general office or from its passport mobile service centres before July 6 this year, to collect their new passports soon from the consulate general office. 

The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has predicted that the weather will remain generally cloudy throughout the country today.

The Department said that light to moderate rain is likely at some places over the Himalayan and hilly regions and at a few places over the Tarai region of the country today.

According to the Department, the country is currently under the influence of the monsoon system. 

At present, the monsoon trough lies near its normal position in the eastern part, while it is slightly north of its normal position in the western part of the country.

The Department has also urged everyone to remain cautious in the areas where there is a possibility of rainfall, as it could cause flash floods, floods, landslides and soil erosion. Regular updates on weather information from the Department is suggested. 

The Supreme Court (SC) has issued an order to ensure education, health and housing to the children displaced from river banks.

A single bench of Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla issued an interim order, asking the government to guarantee the rights of education, health and housing to the children who were displaced during removal of encroachments on riverbanks in the Kathmandu Valley. 

Justice Pradhan stated that the education of the children of landless squatters removed from river banks was adversely impacted. 

The interim order came in response to a writ petition filed by the National Campaign for Children as Zone of Peace and the INSEC Bagmati Province Office.

The children must be provided textbooks, school dress, transport fare, psychosocial counseling while additional support to the disabled children.