KATHMANDU, July 27: The government on Thursday appointed  Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Purna Chandra Thapa the acting army chief of the Nepal Army. 

A cabinet meeting took the decision. Thapa was second in the  army hierarchy after Chief of Army Staff Rajendra Chhetri. Generally, the army chief goes on leave for a month before retirement.  Thapa will now be at the helm of the country’s premier  security agency. 

General Chhetri is retiring on September 9.

 
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