The Council of Ministers has declared 16 more persons killed during the Madhes uprising as martyrs taking the total tally of martyrs in the Madhes uprising to 40, on Tuesday.

24 others had already been declared martyrs. The government declared them martyrs as demanded by the Madhes based parties after the latter threatened of another agitation.

During the meeting on Tuesday, cabinet members also agreed on principle to form an Industrial Security Force as per the demand of the businesspersons and industrialists.   Â

Likewise, the cabinet meeting today also decided to sanction Rs 300 million to distribute as relief to farmers who lost in maize farming this year.

A lot of farmers in various Terai districts including Bara, Parsa and Rautahat had to bear heavy losses this year as the maize planted in their fields failed to bear fruit.

The cabinet also extended by 15 days the term of the probe committee formed to probe murder of media entrepreneur Jamim Shah. It has also added the term of local peace committees by one year. nepalnews.com