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Kathmandu, November 16: Nepal successfully exported 40 MW of electricity to Bangladesh via India on Friday, November 15.

After Indian approval, the export of electricity to Bangladesh from Nepal was possible.

The electricity exports were just for one day this year. However, from next year, from June 15 to November 15, 40 MW of electricity every day will be exported for five years, according to the NEA.

The export successfully began on Friday at noon and ended at midnight.

Nepal’s Energy Minister Dipak Khadka, India’s Union Minister for Power and Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal, and Bangladesh’s Fouzul Kabir Khan, adviser, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, jointly inaugurated the event virtually.

People’s News Monitoring service.

Kathmandu, November 14: President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries, Chandra Prasad Dhakal, has expressed his commitment to continue supporting Nepali missions in various countries for investment, tourism and export promotion. In an interaction organized by the Federation with the newly appointed Nepali ambassadors and three consuls general to 17 different countries, the Federation said it is trying to work as a bridge between investors and the government to promote investment by establishing a foreign investment support cell.
“We are here to urge you to expand economic diplomacy by making full use of our mechanisms,” Dhakal said, “Our diplomats should take the lead role in this.”
He urged the newly appointed ambassadors to work on economic diplomacy as a standard of performance as the environment in Nepal has not been conducive to investment.
President Dhakal also said that the international network of the Federation could also be used by the agencies. The Federation has collaborations with around 50 private sector representative bodies and chambers around the world. Dhakal also mentioned that the Federation would also provide foreign membership and opined that foreign companies and institutions could be encouraged to become members of the Federation.
Referring to the economic challenges faced by Nepal, Chairman Dhakal said that various policy measures taken to control demand have had a negative impact. “There was a need to manage and move ahead with significant economic growth in the post-COVID era. However, we adopted a policy of controlling the economy, which led to the exodus of a large number of manpower, as well as a decline in investment and employment,” said Dhakal.
According to Dhakal, in the last two years, foreign investment has been limited to an annual amount of 7 to 9 billion rupees, which is only about 0.2% of the country’s gross domestic product. Therefore, he believed that investment promotion should be the subject of everyone’s interest.
During the discussion, he presented the positive side of the economy and said that investors can be attracted. “Foreign investors can take advantage of the high foreign exchange reserves,” he said.
President Dhakal also drew attention to the possibility of organizing various investment promotion programs together with the Nepali Commission and the Federation.
“In the last one-and-a-half years, we have held major conferences in India, China, and Dubai,” he said. Around 150 local entrepreneurs from all over the country participated in the event.
Mentioning the potential of Nepali agricultural products in the Middle East countries, President Dhakal stressed the need to pay special attention to it. In other countries, non-tariff barriers for Nepali products have also been identified as a problem.
In this way, as Nepal is on the verge of being upgraded from the least developed countries, it will affect the private sector by cutting the facilities available internationally. President Dhakal reminded that the newly appointed ambassadors will have an important role to play in reducing such impact.

During the discussion, the newly appointed ambassadors expressed the need to work to have less impact from the upgrade. In this way, they said, cooperation would be made to attract foreign investment so that the private sector could gain confidence. Nepal’s Ambassador to the UK, Chandra Ghimire, called for initiatives for a bilateral tax-exemption agreement.
Krishna Prasad Oli, Nepal’s Ambassador-designate to China, also called for exploring the possibility of exporting water from the Nepali Himalayan region. Ambassador to South Africa Kapil Shrestha, Ambassador to Pakistan Rita Dhital, Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Naresh Dhakal, Ambassador to Spain Sanil Nepal, Ambassador to Portugal Prakashmani Poudel and Ambassador to Malaysia Netra Prasad Timalsena expressed the commitment to work with the private sector.
Dr. Shankar Sharma, the proposed ambassador to India, offered to participate in the program to be held in India. What are the problems with India, he asked to give them in writing.
The proposed ambassador to Qatar pointed out that the Federation has established a joint council with the Qatar Chamber to benefit from it.
Nepal’s Ambassador to Germany Dr Sahyog Rupakheti said the Federation should take the initiative to take the GSP Plus facility to the countries going to the European countries.
Laxman Khanal and Gyan Bahadur Magar, joint secretaries of the Foreign Ministry, said that economic diplomacy is a priority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and special initiatives will be taken in this regard.
Senior Vice President of the Federation Anjan Shrestha said that the newly appointed ambassadors should keep economic diplomacy at the center. Office bearers of the Federation were also present in the program.

People’s News Monitoring Service.

ePaper 14 November 2024

Kathmandu, November 14: A delegation led by the chair of the Matsumoto City of Japan visited Kathmandu at the invitation of the Kathmandu Metropolis City.

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City of Nepal and Matsumoto City of Japan have sisterly relations.

The Kathmandu Metropolis organized a welcome program in honour of the visiting guests.

The delegation led by Matsumoto Municipality Chief Yoshinao Gan, visited Kathmandu on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the establishment of sisterly relations between the two cities.

While welcoming the Japanese delegation, Chief of the Kathmandu Metropolis Balendra Shah presented Dhaka cap and a replica of the Desh Maru Jhaya as a token of friendship. Similarly, the chief of Matsumoto, Gan, gifted handcrafted materials. The members of the visiting team were presented with Dhaka topi, Pasmina shawl and Buddha statue by Sunita Dangol, Deputy Mayor of the city. Matsumoto’s delegation includes 19 representatives from various federal agencies, including Matsumoto City Council President Yutaka Kamizho.

In the welcome program, the two hundred thousand Japanese yen collected from the employees of the Matsumoto Citr was handed over to the Chief Administrative Officer of the Metropolitan Municipality, Saroj Guragai. The amount collected to help the victims of floods and disaster in Kathmandu.

Vice Chairman of the Planning Commission, Dr. Suman Singh Rajbhandari was also present on the occasion. The delegation arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday.

People’s News Monitoring Service.

Kathmandu, November 14: Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba is visiting China earlier to Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s visit there. According to Deuba’s private secretariat, the Foreign Minister is going to China in preparation for PM Oli’s official visit.

“In connection with PM Oli’s China visit, as preparation, FM Deuba is scheduled to visit China,” said the Secretariat.

However, the visit date for FM has not been fixed. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is preparing internally for FM Deuba’s visit. Prime Minister Oli is scheduled to visit China from December 2 to 6. Foreign Minister Rana has been given the responsibility of coordinating preparation for the PM’s visit. An eight-member mechanism, comprised of top leaders of the ruling Nepali Congress and the UML, is also working on the PM’s visit.

Rana is scheduled to visit China on her way back from Japan, said a source.

People’s News Monitoring Service.  

By Our Reporter

After failing to get an invitation from India, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is now preparing to embark on an official visit to China. Tradition has it that any Nepali Prime Minister visit India first after his appointment to the top executive post. But this time, India did not invite Oli. Earlier in 2008, Pushpa Kamal Dahal visited China before visiting India. But everyone knows how the visit became costly for Dahal.

Although Prime Minister Oli tried to receive an invitation from India since his appointment in July this year, the Indian establishment has not shown any interest in inviting him. Of course, India has not been happy with PM Oli since his earlier stint as PM for issuing a new map of Nepal, and it was reflected this time.

Now he is visiting China, and before his visit to China, he has tried to take the Nepali Congress into confidence by forming a high-level mechanism and allowing Foreign Minister Arzu Rana, spouse of Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, to make preparations for his visit to the northern neighbour.

Foreign Minister Rana and Foreign Secretary Sewa Lamsal had also cancelled their Baku sojourn to participate in the COP29 after the PM got an official invitation to visit China, and they need to make preparations.

China has formally invited Prime Minister Oli for an official visit from December 2 to 6. Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Chen Song handed the invitation, extended by Chinese Premier Li Qiang, to Foreign Secretary Sewa Lamsal, as reported by the local media.

The upcoming China visit of Prime Minister Oli is likely to focus on the implementation of past agreements and accords, the UML leaders said after the party’s central secretariat meeting chaired by party chair and PM Oli on Saturday.

As the Nepali Congress is reluctant to accept loans under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) scheme of China, Prime Minister Oli has, this time, tried to get consent from the NC while inking an agreement with China.

It has already been seven years since Nepal signed the BRI deal, but no concrete progress has been made in the implementation of the BRI agreement as NC leaders have opposed the idea of receiving loans from BRI.

In Beijing, PM Oli will hold bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang. He will also meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall Of the People.

According to Media reports in Kathmandu, PM Oli is likely to push forward his plan for Kerung-Galchhi-Kathmandu railway line, Tokha-Chhahare Tunnel project and the upgrading of Dhulikhel-Tatopani road. Besides these, Oli is seeking help for Madan Bhandari Science and Technology University, Ratamate-Kerung transmission lines and the early completion of Kathmandu Ring Road project.

Oli has an obligation to show that the programmes under BRI are moving ahead and the Nepali Congress is with him to make them successful.

However, many suspect whether NC will support moving forward with the projects under BRI, because NC leaders have been seeking grants instead of loans from China citing that Nepal can get loans from World Bank and ADB. If NC agrees with PM Oli’s plan, his China visit will be fruitful, otherwise, it may not yield any desired outcome.  Also, it was NC which played a key role in endorsing and implementing the Millennium Challenge Corporation of USA despite opposition from China. As such, it is not easy to implement the BRI and MCC simultaneously.

Nepal has already bad records in implementing the agreements reached with China. Several agreements inked during Xi Jinping’s Nepal visit and China visits by Nepal’s presidents Ram Baran Yadav and Bidya Bhandari and late Prime Minister Sushil Koirala have not yet been put into implementation.

By Our Reporter

A jumbo team from Nepal has reached Baku, Azerbaijan, to participate in COP 29. The CIAA has sought clarification from the Ministry of Forest for carrying the jumbo team to Baku.

President Ramchandra Paudel is leading the Nepali delegation to COP29. He addressed the high-level World Leaders Climate Action Summit at the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP-29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on Tuesday.

In his address, President Paudel said even though Nepal’s carbon emission is negligible, the country is suffering terrible consequences of global warming and climate change.

He said that climate justice and climate finance, including reparations for loss and damage, are his paramount concerns.

He said, “In fact, we are reeling from some recent climate-related disasters–glacial lake outburst and devastating floods that caused damages worth tens of billions of rupees.  The scale of destruction is so immense that recovery and reconstruction present a severe challenge given our limited resources and capacity.”

He said that climate change has affected the whole planet, but its impacts have been especially severe in poor, least developed, developing nations and SIDS.

Meanwhile, an agreement has been signed between the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Ministry of Forest and Environment for the implementation of two major climate resilience projects in Nepal.

The agreement for around US $ 10.5 million was signed on Tuesday at the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP-29) in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The first project, Managing Watersheds of Enhanced Resilience of Communities to Climate Change in Nepal (MaWRiN), will receive US $9.2 million in funding from GEF and will be implemented in the Marin watershed area in Sindhuli district.

The second project, Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT), funded with US $1.65 million from GEF, will focus on enhancing Nepal’s capacity to meet reporting requirements under Article 13 of the Paris Agreement.

By Our Reporter

At a time when former Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister and president of Rastriya Swatantra Party Rabi Lamichhane is in police custody for about a month on the charge of cooperatives frauds and organised crimes, former Internal Affairs and Law Minister of Koshi Province Lila Ballav Adhikari has been arrested days after he resigned from the post after his involvement in human trafficking was revealed.

CBI arrested and brought him to Kathmandu for his alleged involvement in the crime of human trafficking.

Adhikari was arrested from his residence in Bargachhi, Biratnagar Metropolis-2 by a team of police led by DSP Narayan Chimoriya, Morang, arrested Adhikari at 1:30 pm on Sunday.

The police arrested Adhikari after the Kathmandu District Court issued an arrest warrant against him on Sunday.

Adhikari held on the charge of human trafficking said that he would cooperate with the investigation process.

Adhikari had been to Tokyo, Japan, on October 30 to participate in the ‘Culture at Hote’ programme organised by Arts Council Tokyo from October 29 to November 3. He had been to Japan without obtaining permission from the council of ministers of the province and the centre and was kept on hold for 25 hours at Tokyo Airport before deporting to Nepal along with four others.

Kanchan Devkota of Rasuwa, Dawa Sherpa and Janak Rai of Khotang who had travelled with Adhikari were arrested from the Tribhuvan International Airport upon their arrival from Japan on November 2.

Adhikari and Anita Timsina, who was with Adhikari, had left the immigration office after signing a document.

According to the statements of the three held on November 2, Jugal Rijal of Bidur, Nuwakot, Bir Bahadur Sunuwar of Jiri, Dolakha and Mahesh Pandey of Tripura Sundari, Dhading, who were involved in making fake documents, have also been arrested.

Police have been investigating the arrested people on the charge of making forgery documents of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law.

Adhikari is also alleged to have received Rs. 1 million each from the three individuals in exchange for illegally facilitating their travel to Japan.

The ruling CPN-UML, Koshi Province Committee, had suspended Adhikari’s ordinary membership, relieving him of all responsibilities, amid human trafficking allegations, citing his act has tarnished the party’s reputation. This decision was approved by the party’s central secretariat’s meeting on Saturday.

Earlier on November 7, he resigned from the post of the minister.

The police have already received permission from the court to detain him for seven days.

The case of Adhikari revealed how politicians in Nepal have been involved in human trafficking. Earlier, Nepali Congress leader Bal Krishna Khand and UML secretary Top Bahadur Rayamajhi were held for trafficking Nepali nationals by making them Bhutanese refugees. Though Khand was released on bail, Rayamajhi and others are still behind bars.

Moreover, by arresting Koshi’s former minister Adhikari, who is also a powerful UML leader in Morang, the government has tried to send a message to Rabi Lamichhane that the government would not spare any wrongdoers. Minister for Communication and Information Technology hinted this on Monday during a press conference organised to make the cabinet decisions public.

Rastriya Swatanra Party has been demonstrating since Lamichhane’s arrest stating that his arrest was a political revenge.

By Our Reporter

Donald Trump has been elected US President for the second term by defeating Kamala Harris of the Democrats.

Earlier, Trump of the Republican Party was elected to the top post in 2016 but lost the election to Joe Biden of Democrats in 2020.

However, Trump did not accept the results of 2020 elections and resorted to violent activities for which he faced cases.

But this time, the Americans again elected him as their new president.

Trump, in the eyes of many, looks like a controversial politician because of his remarks on China, women and even COVID-19, which he termed as the China virus.

His controversial remarks on abortion laws and immigrants and attacks in Capitol Building In Washington on January 6, 2021, were expected to be costly for him, but the Americans decided otherwise and elected him the president for a term of four years.

The Americans who teach the world on human rights, woman empowerment and democracy have elected a conservative president. The US election has shown that the Americans are not yet ready to adopt woman leadership. Also, they are not ready to give women the right to abortion.  They rejected Kamala Harris’s candidacy and supported Trump who is against abortion rights. Moreover, they have elected a president who is intolerant to immigration policy and he has already announced to deport the immigrants.

His ‘America first’ and ‘ending the Ukraine and Israel wars’ slogans have worked this time. But the world needs to wait whether Trump will succeed in ending these two wars as he stated during the election campaign.

Obviously, Trump’s election is likely to divide the American society. Media reports have it that many Americans have started looking for a way to migrate to Canada after Trupm’s election to the top executive post.

By Our Reporter

Rabi Lamichhane, chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and former Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister has been taken to Rupandehi for his alleged involvement in misusing the fund from Butwal’s Supreme Cooperatives.

He was taken Bhairahawa from Pokhara. He has been in police custody in Pokhara since October 18 on the charge of cooperative fraud.

He gave a statement to the District Attorney’s Office regarding allegations of cooperative fund fraud on Tuesday and Wednesday denying his involvement in the embezzlement of the money from Butwal’s Supreme Cooperative. However, records show that fund from the cooperatives was diverted to Gorkha Media where he was managing director and in his personal accounts.

Following the Kaski District Court’s decision on Sunday to extend Lamichhane’s detention by 13 days, police took him to Rupandehi for further interrogation.

The District Attorney’s Office had prepared approximately 70 questions related to the Supreme Cooperative case.

Police are investigating allegations that Lamichhane embezzled funds from Butwal’s Supreme Cooperative, with millions of rupees reportedly funnelled into Gorkha Media Networks and various personal accounts.

The Parliamentary Investigation Committee reported that a total of Rs. 140 million from Supreme Cooperative was illegally invested in the Gorkha Media Network.

According to the report, Rs.19.6 million from the Butwal-based cooperative was transferred to Lamichhane’s account, Rs. 250 million to Chhabilal Banjade Joshi and Rs. 125 million to Gorkha Media Network under other individuals’ names.

Meanwhile, victims of the Supreme Cooperative protested in Bhairahawa upon Lamichhane’s arrival, demanding the return of their savings and punishment for the guilty involved.

Likewise, a group of RSP leaders and supporters also organised a rally in Bhairahawa.