ZCGI-Khani gets contract to retrofit Kaiser Mahal

Kathmandu, Nov. 29

The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) had signed a contract with the ZCGI-Khani JV for the retrofitting of Kaiser Mahal, a Rana era palace in the Capital. 


Central Project Implementation Unit (Building) of the NRA signed the contract with the contractor on Friday. 


CPIU’s Project Director Navaraj Pyakurel and JV’s Ratna Gautam signed the contract.

The retrofitting would be completed at Rs. 672.4 million. The contractor will complete the works within two years. 


Pyakurel said that the palace would be retrofitted in a way the building would not lose its original design and be quake-resilient. 


Gautam said that the company would start the work within a week. 


Likewise, a JV of John Sandy Associates Pvt. Ltd. SW Nepal Pvt. Ltd. and Pyramid Design Associates Pvt. Ltd are selected as the consultants for the project. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 30 November 2019. 

By-election in 37 districts today

Kathmandu, Nov. 29

By-election for 52 different posts of the Federal Parliament, State Assembly and Local levels is being held in 37 districts on Saturday. 


Voting will begin from 7:00 in the morning to 5:00 in the evening.

Polls will be held in 247 polling booths and 537 voting centres.


 There will be 32 polling booths and 82 voting centres for the election of the member of the House of Representatives, 87 booths and 174 centres for three members of the State Assembly and 137 booths and 281 centres for local level representatives. 


The ECN has assured the voters of their security in the constituencies where polls are happening and urged them to participate in the polls in a fearless manner. 


“We have arranged every security provision for the election and voters so we urge the voters to participate in the process to elect their representatives at the national and sub-national level without any fear, threat and doubt,” said Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya. 


He said that the only candidates, voters and the individuals having permission as per the election law can enter the election centre. He urged one and all to respect the election law and the process in order to respect the right of the people to vote and create conducive environment for the polls. 


Of the 52 positions for which the election is being held, one is for the House of Representatives and three for the State Assembly. 


Lawmaker from Kaski district constituency 2 Rabindra Adhikari died in a chopper crash in Taplejung. He was the Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. Likewise, three positions of State Assembly of – Bhaktapur of State 3, Baglung of Gandaki State and Dang of State 5 – had remained vacant due to the death of previously elected Assembly members Hari Sharan Lamichhane, Tek Bahadur Gharti and Uttar Kumar Oli respectively. 


In the local levels, death of Mayor of Dharan Sub-Metropolitan City in Sunsari district Tara Subba, Chairman of Falgunanda Rural Municipality in Panchthar Amar Kumar Nembang, Chairman of Makalu Rural Municipality in Sankhuwasabha Khadga Bahadur Katuwal, Chairman of Pipara Rural Municipality in Mahottari Binod Chaudhari and Vice-Chair of Kharpunath Rural Municipality in Humla Sindhu Hamal has created the vacancies. 


Similarly, the elections will be held in 43 different local bodies to elect the ward chairs. 


Thapaliya said that the ECN had made arrangement for those who had lost their voter identity cards as well. Voters can exercise their voting rights with the citizenship certificate, passport, driving license and other government issued valid identity cards. 


About 470,333 voters will exercise their voting rights in the by-elections on Saturday.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 30 November 2019. 

President Bhandari graces Bibaha Panchami

Janakpurdham, Nov. 29

President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Friday participated in the Sita Rama Bibaha Panchami Festival in Janakpurdham. She welcomed and honoured the wedding procession that came from Ayodhya – the capital of Kosala, the kingdom of Lord Rama.

In the day of Bibaha Panchami, Janakpur celebrates the wedding of Lord Rama and Goddess Sita with various programmes, worships and procession from Ayodhya to Janakpurdham – ancient capital of Videha, the kingdom of Janak.

President Bhandari felicitated priest of Digambar Akhada Baishnav Das, General Secretary and Secretary of World Hindu Council Milendra Pandey and Rajendra Singh Pankaj, Kanhaiya Dasji Maharaj, Bhaiya Dasji Maharaj, story teller Madhavi Bijaya Laxmi and Rambhushan Das amidst a programme organised at the Barha Bigha Rangabhumi ground in Janakpurdham.

She also observed a ballet performed by Mithila Natyakala Parishad which depicted the matrimonial activities of Rama and Janaki.

President Bhandari worshipped at the Janaki Temple and accepted Prasad. Panchakanya, main Priest of the Temple Ram Tapeshwor Das, Manantha Baishnav and Mayor of Janakpur Lal Kishor Shah and other dignitaries had welcomed her at the temple.

Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Padma Aryal said that Sita had an important contribution to promote Nepal around the globe.

According to her, characters of Lord Rama and Goddess Sita are an immense resource of education for the people of modern age as well.

Maintaining that the event like Bibaha Panchami would help to develop Janakpurdham as a touristic attraction, Aryal said that the federal government was committed to the development of Janakpur and entire Terai Madhesh region.

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai said that the Bibaha Panchami was the festival that exhibited the cordial cultural relations between Nepal and India. He said that the relations between the two countries and people should be spotless and cordial.

He urged the Indian tourists to make a trip to Nepal during the Visit Nepal Year 2020. He informed that the Janakpur-Pokhara aviation service would start soon.

Chief Minister of State 2 Lalbabu Raut said that his government had planned to create connection between the two countries as it had been maintained since Treta Yuga – the period of Lord Rama.

Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri said that the relationship between the two countries was cordial since Treta Yuga.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 30 November 2019. 

NRA announces another chance for quake beneficiaries

Kathmandu, Nov. 28

National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) has again extended the deadline to receive the housing grant to the families which lost their houses in the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake but have not signed agreement for the grant or have not received the first and second instalments of the money.

However, it is a conditional opportunity, said the NRA.


The executive committee of the reconstruction body on Wednesday decided that the beneficiaries would be entitled to the grant facility only if they submitted the recommendation from the respective local bodies with the commitment to reconstruct their houses within the timeframe set by the NRA.


The beneficiaries who had not signed the grant agreement with the government by 6 June 2019 and had not obtained the first instalment of the money by 16 July this year can have the opportunity to get the grant. But the respective local government should ensure the house reconstruction and make recommendations to the District Project Implementation Unit (Grant Management and Local Infrastructure). The DPIU will investigate on the application and submit it to the District Reconstruction Facilitation Committee (DRFC).


DRFC has the authority to release the funds following a study of the application and commitment of the beneficiary to build house within the set deadline.


The new beneficiaries should obtain the first instalment by mid-January 2020 and the second instalment by mid-February next year.


The reconstruction body has extended the deadline for multiple times in the past. Recently, it had asked the quake-victims to obtain the grant by mid-November.


Chief Executive Officer of the NRA Sushil Gyawali said that the new opportunity might help some genuine victim-families to obtain the government grant. "We have re-extended the deadline on the request of beneficiaries and representatives of the local level," he said.


The NRA has set different deadlines for the families of integrated settlement, villages being relocated, landless and deprived people and beneficiaries in the Kathmandu Valley.


In their part, the identification of beneficiaries would be completed by mid-January 2020, first tranche of the grant should be disbursed by mid-February and the second and the third tranche should be distributed by mid-May and mid-July next year respectively.


The beneficiaries of the retrofitting should also obtain the last instalment of the grant by mid-July next year.


According to the NRA, reconstruction of about 62 per cent private houses damaged in the quake has completed and 24 per cent houses are under construction.


About 479,545 houses have been rebuilt so far and 189,141 are being reconstructed. The government has signed the grant agreement with 776,427 beneficiaries of which 99 per cent have received the first instalment of Rs. 50,000.


But the number of recipients of the second and third tranche is about 80 per cent and 67 per cent respectively.


The NRA has shifted 4024 families which were at the risk of post-quake landslides to safer locations. About 4,929 families were in the need of relocation.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 29 November 2019. 

Nepal-India agree to use wateryas up to three inland port

Kathmandu, Nov. 27

India has agreed to allow Nepal to use its inland waterways for the transportation of goods to and from the third countries via Kolkata Port.


A two-day meeting between Nepal and India on Review of the Transit Treaty that concluded on Wednesday agreed to allow Nepal to operate inland waterways from Kolkata Port to three different river ports near Nepal-India border – Shahebgunj in Jharkhand, Kalighat in West Bengal and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.


With the new agreement between the two countries, Nepal can operate its own ships up to these ports, said Navaraj Dhakal, Joint Secretary of Bilateral and Regional Trade Division at the Ministry Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS).


India has also agreed to allow Nepal to use three border entry points to carry cargo.

"This is a kind of a break-through in terms of inland waterways and diversification of transit facilities. It will help Nepal in foreign trade," said Dhakal.


However, Nepal has to use land route to Nepal to carry goods to and from Shahebgunj, Kalighat and Varanasi.


It will reduce Nepal's cost of trade which has been one of the major impediments in Nepal's international trade.


Likewise, the meeting agreed to open Dhamra port in Odhisa and Mundra port in Gujrat for Nepal for cargo movement. It has diversified Nepal's transit facilities.


Similarly, another agreement was reached to open Biratnagar-Jogbani and Bhairahawa-Sunauli border for bulk cargo movement via railway.


According to the MoICS, India is positive to implement transhipment facility to Nepal-bound cargo containers from the third countries with the Electronic Cargo Tracking System.


A nine-member Nepali delegation led by Dhakal and eight-member Indian delegation led by Joint-Secretary of the Commerce and Industry Ministry of India Bhupinder Singh Bhalla deliberated on various bilateral trade and transit issues in the meeting.


Nepal and India had signed the Transit Treaty in 1978. The treaty was renewed in 2013 although it has a provision to renew automatically. The two countries review the treaty to incorporate the latest issues and address the problems in bilateral trade.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 28 November 2019. 

YETI job hub in the offing

Kathmandu, Nov. 27

The government is creating an employment information management system for job information and job creation in the country.


The proposed information infrastructure called Employment Management Information System will generate and collect country-wide employment information and opportunities as well as in other countries around the globe.


It will be created under Youth Employment Transformation Initiative (YETI) ,a project recently launched by the government, for effective and efficient management and monitoring of services provided by the project and Prime Minister Employment Programme (PMEP), management of data on job seekers and job-related opportunities, and evidence-based employment policy formulation.


"The new platform will create a connection with the employment information system of other countries so that the international job opportunities will be available at the local level," said Secretary at the Ministry of Finance (MoF) Dr. Rajan Khanal.

It will be a network of job information portals.


He said that the government was creating information management infrastructure at all the local levels with the support from the World Bank (WB).


The WB has extended its support of Rs. 13.75 billion (USD 120 million) in concessional loan to create the employment information system. Dr. Khanal and WB Country Manager to Nepal Faris H. Hadad-Zervos signed the loan agreement on Wednesday at the MoF.


The support is given to YETI which aims to strengthen the systems and services for employability, including programmes such as PMEP.


Yeti will support the 753 Employment Service Centres (ECSs) at the local level to increase access to employment opportunities by providing employment promotion and employment support services for the registered job seekers.


The five-year long project that will be implemented by the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MoLESS) aims at benefitting 100,000 young people specially women.


"Human capital development and creation of jobs within the country for young people, especially women are a top priority of the government," said Dr. Khanal. "It is a win-win situation as it will help develop an infrastructure at the local level while creating employment opportunities for the people there. There will be income generation opportunities for the deprived people," he added.


The project will create temporary employment opportunities in the infrastructure projects and provision of services to engage up to 35,000 vulnerable individuals yield about 3.5 million work-days annually.


"Temporary employment opportunities will be complemented by on-the-job and life skills trainings of up to 50 days per individual to improve the employability of young people in the long run and ensure sustainability," said Hadad-Zervos. To achieve this goal, the PMEP guidelines are being updated by the MoLESS and MoF.


According to him, the project will also support capacity building initiatives to facilitate effective service delivery and coordination in the new federal structure while creating synergies with the private sector and existing projects to promote employment and employment-related services.

Hadad-Zervos stated that the WB always supported the government in institution building.


Meanwhile, the multilateral donor has provided additional financing of Rs. 2.74 billion (USD 23.95 million) through the Global Partnership for Education grant to support Nepal's School Sector Development Programme (SSDP).


The programme is benefitting over 7 million students and over 180,000 teachers and early childhood education development facilitators in more than 30,000 community schools and ECED centres across the country, said the MoF.


The additional financing will maintain support for the government's SSDP to improve quality, equity and efficiency within the school education sector.



Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 28 November 2019. 

GIBL and Qatar Airways sign discount agreement

Kathmandu, Nov. 27

Global IME Bank and Qatar Airways have signed a discount agreement whereby the GIBL customers will have the privilege of up to 7 per cent discount on the flight tickets.


According to the agreement, Qatar Airways will provide the discount on its economy and business class air tickets to the card holders of the GIBL.


Head of Marketing and Business Promotion of GIBL Shanta Shiwakoti and Qatar Airways Nepal Country Manger Mohamed El Emam signed the agreement on Wednesday.


The special discount offer is applicable on the base fare of economy and business class tickets and can be enjoyed in various flight destinations of the airlines.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 28 November 2019. 

Agni opens tractor 3S setup in Bargachhi

Kathmandu, Nov. 27

Agni Group has opened a new Tractor 3S setup of Mahindra Tractor at Bargachhi, Biratnagar.  

The new tractor showroom and workshop were jointly inaugurated by Cabinet Shrestha, Director of Agni Inc, Chaitanya Kagalkar, Country Head of M&M for Nepal and Aakanshya Banshal, Senior Marketing Manager, International Operation M&M on Wednesday.

“The new tractor showroom and service centre will provide quality services to the customers of the Biratnagar, and its surrounding areas in a convenient and economic way,” the company said in a statement.

 According to Pravash Man Shakya, Deputy General Manager of Tractor Department, Agni Inc., the company is focused on providing a wide range of product as per customers need and consistent quality service for gaining optimum customer satisfaction at all Mahindra outlets.

This 3S setup will be dedicated to providing sale service and spare parts of all product range of Mahindra tractors. It has announced 24-hour service van facility to the customers.

 According to the company, the establishment of the new Mahindra Tractor showroom and service centre in the region will help further strengthen the trust between the customers and the company in the coming days and benefit the existing and new entrepreneur and farmers.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 28 November 2019. 

Nepal to make headway in bulk cargo movement

Kathmandu, Nov. 26

Nepal is likely to transform its transhipment system in a way it will help promote the country's export trade and reduce the cost of trade with the operation of inland waterways system and ease the bulk cargo movement.


A two-day bilateral meeting between Nepal and India to review the Transit Treaty that started on Tuesday in the Capital has given a positive signal for the operation of inland waterways to transport goods from Kolkata Port to three different river ports in India near Nepal border.


The meeting has technically resolved the issues of inland waterways, allowing Nepali importers to change the freight destination point at the Nepal-India border, said Navaraj Dhakal, Joint Secretary of Bilateral and Regional Trade Division at the Ministry Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS).


Dhakal is leading a nine-member Nepali delegation in the meeting. Joint-Secretary of the Commerce and Industry Ministry of India Bhupinder Singh Bhalla is leading an eight-member delegation.

"India has almost agreed to provide waterways facilities up to Shahebgunj, Kalughat and Varanasi from Kolkata Port. The discussions were very positive and encouraging," he told The Rising Nepal. 


Once the two countries sign the agreement on Wednesday, Nepal's dream to use waterways to transport cargo and operate its own ships will be materialised in near future.


Transhipment is the transportation of goods or containers to intermediate and then to another destination, sometimes by changing the means of transport as well.


Nepal is bearing the brunt of high logistic cost in the transit transport of goods, both in export and import. Past studies have shown that the cost of Nepali export goods is about 15 per cent higher than the neighbouring countries. But if the new deal was signed with the southern neighbour, the transportation cost would go down by almost a half.


Connectivity has been a topmost agenda in Nepal-India bilateral meetings and bilateral cooperation framework.


Dhakal said that the Tuesday's meeting was a kind of a 'break-through' in terms of inland waterways. The meeting will finalise the modality of operating ships such as running them, and issuing permits. However, there were no discussions about the use of waterways from the three designated river ports to Nepal.


Nepali traders should use land route to transport goods from Shahebgunj, Kalughat and Varanasi.

Similarly, the two sides have agreed to allow the movement of bulk cargo through the Bhairahawa-Sunauli border. According to Dhakal, Nepal will have the facility of bulk cargo movement for the goods like cement, coal and chemical fertilisers.


Earlier, in August this year, Special Secretary (Logistics) of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India N. Sivasailam had assured that India would soon allow Nepali importers to change the freight destination point at the Nepal-India border.


The meeting will also discuss about Nepal's access to Dhamra, Odisha and Mundra, Gujrat ports, which India had allowed Nepal to use. Other issues like electronic cargo tracking, diversification of railway points in Nepal and trade facilitation measures will also be deliberated in the meeting.

The agreements will be implemented after the cabinets endorse them. 


Nepal and India had signed the Transit Treaty in 1978. The treaty was renewed in 2013 although it has a provision to renew automatically. The two countries review the treaty to incorporate the latest issues and address the problems in bilateral trade.


Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 27 November 2019. 

FCAN postpones its protest programmes

Kathmandu, Nov. 26

Federation of Contractors Association of Nepal (FCAN) has postponed its Prime Minister's Office picketing programme.

Following a brief dialogue with Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Basanta Kumar Nembang on Tuesday afternoon, the contractors called off the protest programme which they had started from Monday.

Issuing a press statement in the evening, FCAN informed that it had postponed Baluwatar picketing as the talks with the minister concluded positively. With this, the state and district association of FCAN have also halted their programme to picket the Chief Ministers’ Offices and District Administrative Offices respectively.

Minister Nembang said that the government would bring out rules and policies so as to address the demands of the contractors.

However, he maintained that the responsibility of formulating business-friendly laws and rules was of the Public Procurement Monitoring Office, and the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport would put its efforts to create business-friendly regime.

"The government does not have intention to discourage Nepali entrepreneurs as they have the liability to support the government in developing necessary physical infrastructure in the country," he said.

FCAN President Rabi Singh said that the protest programmes were halted for the time being also considering the health of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli who underwent an appendicitis operation on Tuesday morning.

But FCAN said that along with the dialogue with the government, other programmes of protests would continue.

It has launched a protest programmes to draw the attention of the Prime Minister to extend the deadline of the pending infrastructure projects, access to a bank credit line to bid government project. The government has amended the Public Procurement Laws multiple times to address the demands of the contractors.

Earlier, on Monday, PM Oli had directed the ministers and secretaries and concerned government executing agencies to scrap the contract with the contractors who fail to complete infrastructure construction.

Addressing the four-monthly review meeting  of the current fiscal year 2019/20, the PM expressed serious concerns over the poor performance of capital budget and directed the senior government officials to prepare a list of projects with their progress and performance within 15 days and immediately annul the contracts with the contractors and assign the work to other construction companies.

PM Oli also said that he did not want to hear the same story of the same contractors not completing the same projects again.

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 27 November 2019. 

Australian investors are interested to come to Nepal: Budd

Kathmandu, Nov. 20

Australian Ambassador to Nepal Peter Graeme Budd said on Wednesday that the Australian investors were interested to come to Nepal to invest in priority sectors.

"Small and medium investors have shown their interest to make investment in Nepal. If the country creates environment favourable for small investors, Australian investors will come for investment in agriculture, water resource and tourism sectors," he said while speaking at an interaction with Nepali businesspersons at Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC).

According to him, investors were more excited to come after the Nepal Investment Summit in March this year.

Ambassador Budd also said that he would take initiation to start direct flight services between Nepal and Australia within his tenure.

"Both the countries have the air flight agreement and once we have commercial agreement, the flight service can be started," he said.

He took note of Australian support to Nepal's community forest and said that it was exemplary practice for other countries as well.

NCC President Rajesh Kazi Shrestha said that the successful organisation of investment summit and the implementation of one-door system for investors have enhanced the chances of more Foreign Direct Investment.

He suggested organising regular road shows in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sidney, Canberra, Perth and other major Australian cities for investment, trade and tourism promotion. He also pointed towards the need of greater participation in the international trade fairs.

Shrestha expressed despair over Nepal's inability to use the duty-free facility provided by Australia and said that export promotion and import management should be done considering the large number of Nepali diaspora there.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 21 November 2019. 

Nepal uses only half of the funding pledged by the ADB

Kathmandu, Nov. 20

Nepal has utilised slightly more than the half of the funding pledged by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) till October this year.

Of the net available funding amount of USD 2.96 billion spread over 31 investment projects and two programme loans, 54 per cent has been contracted out and 55 has been disbursed in the first 10 months of 2019, said the ADB at the Tripartite Portfolio Review Meeting of ADB-supported projects in the country.

The government and ADB organised the periodic review of the collaboration to improve project implementation and achieve timely and effective development results on the ground.

However, according to the multilateral donor, disbursed USD 227.3 million in the first ten months of this year is higher compared to the same period last year.

“Challenges remain in ensuring speed and efficiency in project delivery, and such review meetings provide an excellent platform to highlight key issues of project implementation and agree on critical actions,” said Secretary (Revenue) Sishir Kumar Dhungana.

He said that the executing and implementing agencies should be more sensitive for timely completion of the projects to get the expected results on the ground.

ADB has recently approved its latest country partnership strategy for Nepal, 2020–2024, which focuses on three priority areas: improved infrastructure for private sector-led growth, improved access to devolved services, and environmental sustainability and resilience.

Under the new strategy, ADB expects to lend an estimated USD 500 million to USD 600 million on average during 2020–2022.

“As the volume of lending increases and the portfolio grows in the future, it is even more important that we pay attention to timely contract awards and disbursements. Successful project implementation is key to bringing results on the ground and improving the lives of Nepali people,” said Khamudkhanov.

“ADB will continue to help executing and implementing agencies strengthen their capacity to plan, design, and implement ADB projects,” he added.

The multilateral donor appreciated the partnership with the government and leadership of the Ministry of Finance in improving project implementation and timely development outcomes.

Khamudkhanov said that the Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa which was under the South Asia Tourism Infrastructure Development Project wass a good example of how leadership and improved implementation arrangement can positively impact the progress of a project.

"It is one of the projects that has met both its contract awards and disbursement targets for this year,” He said.    

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 21 November 2019. 

Xiaomi launches Redmi Note 8 with 64 MP Quad Camera

Kathmandu, Nov. 20

Xiaomi on Wednesday announced the launch of much-awaited Redmi Note 8 series of smartphones in Nepal. With a multitude of world firsts, including a quad-camera setup, the Redmi Note 8 series looks to disrupt the smartphone segment, said the company.

Sourabh Kothari, Country General Manager - Nepal, Xiaomi said, “Redmi Note series has been a true disruptor in the smartphone category. We are extremely excited to launch our 64MP Quad camera beast - Redmi Note 8 Pro, which sets a benchmark for gaming and imaging with the world’s first 64MP camera sensor along with Helio G90T chipset.”

The phone comes with a powerful 64MP quad camera setup paired with an equally capable chipset. The camera setup extends to the front with a 20MP selfie shooter.

The octa-core Helio G90T mobile platform brings unprecedented gaming capability to this segment. It comes with a full HD+ 16.5 cm (6.53) Dot Notch display with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The rear facade of Redmi Note 8 Pro sports 3D curved glass, creating an ergonomic hand feel with a thickness of only 8.8 mm.

The Redmi Note series features a camera array consisting of four cameras. This includes a 64MP main camera, an ultra-wide angle lens with a 120-degree field of view, a depth sensor and a macro lens that allows the user to go as close as 2cm to the subject, for photos as well as videos.

Redmi Note 8 will be available in 6GB + 64GB and 6GB + 128GB storage variants for Rs. 18,999 and Rs. 23,999 respectively. It is available in three colours - white, black and blue.

Redmi Note 8 Pro will be available in 6GB + 64GB, 6GB + 128GB and 8GB + 128GB storage variants for Rs. 26,999, Rs. 29,999 and Rs. 32,999 respectively. The phone has three colour variants, green, white and black.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 21 November 2019. 

Rafting in Trishuli is enthralling all seasons

Kathmandu, Nov. 17

It seems the Trishuli River offers rafting opportunity throughout the year.

While many people in the hills have begun to feel the chill in the morning and evening as the mercury is going down, a group of enthusiasts spent a day in the Trishuli River rafting down  the whiter water.
The blue water splashed on their faces and bodies. Some fell in the water and many splashed waters each other. An, it all happened as if it was a summer season.


In the morning, Pawan Bayalkoti, Executive Member of Gandaki Rural Municipality, was complaining to Ram Prasad Regmi, Ward chair of Gandaki – 8 that the time was not suitable, instead the programme should have been organised around the Dashain.


 However, after flowing down a couple of kilometres and having a couple of splashes of Trishuli water on his face, he said, "Wow, it is wonderful. The water is not that much cold."


A girl jumped in the water and enjoyed swimming for a couple of minutes. Rafter Nakkale said that it was not very cold in the river and the people come for rafting even during the winter, occasionally.

The 14-km long rafting from Benighat to Jawang Khola enthralled all. Dil Bahadur Gurung, Proprietor of River Life Camp in Wheeling – the ending point of the trip, welcomed them with fresh launch prepared from locally available products.

While people were savouring the food, Gurung said that he created the entire camp on his own and it had long been benefitting the villagers as well.


The Big-Fig Resort at Benighat had served the breakfast. Rajan Shrestha, Manager of the resort, said that while the Trishuli River was an option for adventure and entertainment for tourists, it had been a lifeline for many locals.


Chairmen of Gandaki Rural Municipality Ward Nos. 6, 7 and 8  - the organisers of the event - Tulasi Regmi, Jeevan Gurung and Ram Prasad Regmi said that the programme was organised on the eve of the Visit Nepal Year 2020 to promote tourism in the village.


Ward chair Regmi said that the local people and government should be benefitted by the Visit Nepal Year 2020 campaign.


"Our aim is to promote historic Mallapuri at the confluence of the Trishuli and the Budhigandaki, Chitradevi and Munthala Mai temples, Bhairabhi Hill and local homestays in the village," he said.


Mallapuri is a palace built by the Malla kings about 250 years ago. The area has both historic and religious importance. Dhading district was known as the Salyankot kingdom which was ruled by Malla king and later was annexed to Gorkha empire by king Prithvi Narayan Shah, before he conquered the Kathmandu Valley.


Minister for Land Management and Cooperatives of Gandaki State Lekha Bahadur Thapa Magar, Member of the House of Representatives Hari Raj Adhikari, District Police Chief Om Adhikari and Chief of Budhigandaki Hydroelectricity Project Krishna Bahadur Karki also couldn't hide their excitement as they continued their journey down the river with the local people, government officials and businesspersons.


Excited Minister Thapa Magar said that the Trishuli was just the face of the tourism promotion, there were many attractions in the district. "Manaslu peak, Rubi Nala Valley, tourism track, Manakamana Temple, Gorkha Durbar and surroundings, Siranchok and Ligligkot are just a few of them, there are many natural, historical and religious attractions," he said.


He said that the state government would support the local bodies in creating tourism infrastructure, including view towers in Bhairavi Hill in Bhumlichowk, Firfire and Upallokot.


He suggested all the local bodies to identify locations that have high tourism potential.


Devendra Lamichhane, Chief District Officer of Gorkha, said that it was necessary to promote domestic tourism to mobilise local economy and create employment. He suggested that the local bodies should organise such programmes to attract more people to the new locations so that both the hosts and visitors could benefit.


"Most of the tourist activities are city-centric so we have to invite domestic and foreign tourists to new locations. There are many things to display such as demographic and natural diversity, historical and religious heritages and unique cultures," he said.


Lawmaker from Gorkha Hari Raj Adhikari urged the concerned government and private sector institutions to prepare tourism development plan.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 18 November 2019. 

Gyawali lauds Rotary

Kathmandu, Nov. 19

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali has lauded the role of Rotary International (RI) in humanitarian works and relief support during the disasters.

" I would like to appreciate your noble deed during the time of disaster and national need," he said while speaking at RI District 3292's Meeting with Heads of Diplomatic and other Missions on Tuesday.

He said that there were grey areas in the country where neither the government could reach, nor the private sector had an interest. Organisations like Rotary go there in the time of need.

FM Gyawali recalled the recent support of the RI in the landslides of Gulmi and other districts and Terai floods.

He said that he was looking forward to the government and rotary collaboration. He also said that the ambassadors and diplomats were the bridges between Nepal and the international community.

Gyan Chandra Acharya, former United Nation's Under Secretary General, said that Nepal needed partnership of all to make a big change.

Appreciating the role of Rotary in various humanitarian support and development, he urged for the collaborations at the ground level.

Tirtha Man Shakya, Former Chief Secretary and former Chief of Public Service Commission, said that the RI District 3292 (Nepal and Bhutan) had 122 Rotary Clubs and 123 Rotaract Clubs.

There are 5,000 members in Nepal and 1.2 million members globally.

Rotary has launched projects like Nepal Literacy Mission (TEACH), water and sanitation in school, earthquake relief and rehabilitation and reconstruction programmes.

It is also recognising the contributors to the social change with Rotary Journo Award and Gopal Kamala Rajbhandari Rotary Vocational Excellency Award.

Kiran Lal Shrestha, District Governor of RI District 3292, said that the programme was organised to create better understanding and cooperation between the foreign missions in Nepal and rotary clubs in the country.

"We aim at creating collaboration for various development works at the local level so that more people could be benefitted from our programmes," he said.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 20 November 2019. 

Media urged to help gain prosperity

Bhairahawa, Nov. 17

Lumbini News Fair 2019 kicked off in Lumbini from Sunday.

Lumbini Press Club in Siddarthanagar of Rupandehi has organised the 3-day news fair with the theme ‘Communication in federalism, Mofussil is the mainstream for prosperity’.

President of the club Dipesh Pachhai said that the event was attended by journalists from various media across the country.

Chief Minister of State 5 Shankar Pokharel inaugurated the fair and said that development and prosperity were the common agenda of the country. He urged the media to move ahead in the same direction and support to achieve the national aspiration of ‘Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali’.

Stating that the country was moving ahead with its head high he said that the three levels of governments were working to achieve the development and prosperity targets according to the constitution.

Speaking at an interaction session on ‘Journalism: Challenges and Future’ before the inauguration of the event, journalists said that they had a cumpulsion to work in more than one media. They also said the recent development of social media had created various challenges for the journalists and journalism.

They said that all the media stakeholders needed to concentrate on resolving the current challenges in media.

Chairman of the Press Council Nepal Kishor Shrestha said that the media monitoring body was receiving higher number of complaint about the news published in various online news portals.

He urged the journalists not to make hurry while preparing a news.

“The main problem in this profession is the copy-pasting of news items written by others. We need more investigative journalism,” he said.

Shrestha said that journalism would remain as a profession for a long time in future.

According to him, there are two major challenges to the media now – payment of the basic salary to the journalists and operating local media houses outside the Kathmandu Valley.

Chairman of the Centre for Investigative Journalists and former President of Federation of Nepali Journalists Shiva Gaunle pointed towards the need of asking questions to the authorities by digging out the hidden facts and information.

“Media should not be the spokesperson of the government, but instead should ask questions to the government,” he said.

Former President of the FNJ Bishnu Nisthuri said that the dual character of journalists had obstructed the objective reporting.

He said that the cadres of political parties must not talk about journalism. He also suggested the journalists and media to enhance the quality of information.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 18 November 2019. 

Border issue to be solved through diplomatic channels: Gyawali

Tamghas, Nov. 17

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali on Sunday said that the border dispute would be resolved through diplomatic channels. 

Speaking on the issue on India’s publication of a new map including Kalapani, Lipulek and Limpiyadhura in its territory, he said that the government wanted it to resolve in a diplomatic way. 

“No country has the right to encroach the Nepali land,” he said at a programme organised to inaugurate a health post in Jubhung of Gulmi Durbar Rural Municipality-2 in the district. 

Minister Gyawali said that Nepal had enough evidences that the encroached land belonged to her. He also stated that the country was maintaining the strong friendship and cordial mutual relations with the neighbouring countries. 

Speaking on an another context, FM Gyawali said that the corrupt people were committing suicide as they had lost the opportunity for engaging in corruption. 

“The rich and powerful were evading the law due to various reasons so far. But the government is committed to bring the corrupt and criminals under the legal net,” he said.

 He maintained that nobody would be spared if they broke the laws.

The minister was felicitated by the rural municipality at the programme. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 18 November 2019. 

FCGO's internal audit shows Rs. 17 billion arrears

Kathmandu, Nov. 15

Financial Comptroller General's Office (FCGO) internal audit of the Fiscal Year 2018/19 has shown that there was Rs. 17.21 billion in arrears.

It is about 1.55 per cent of the total mobilised budget Rs. 1109 billion.

The integrated annual report of the FCGO, submitted to Finance Minister Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada on Friday has also found that advances equal to Rs. 30.41 billion have been mobilised, however, they are within the due date to be cleared.

Information Officer of the FCGO Niraj KC said that the amount was smaller than the last year's arrears shown by the internal audit then.

"The size of arrears will go down significantly by the time we conduct the final audit," he said.

The FCGO has submitted the report to the FM as per the new provision of the Economic Procedures and Financial Accountability Act, 2019 which demands that the FCGO should prepare an internal integrated annual report every year and submit it to the Finance Minister by mid-November.

The FCGO has submitted the report for the first time as per the new schedule.

Accepting the report, FM Dr. Khatiwada said that the internal audit played an important role in maintaining economic discipline.

He said that financial accountability, transparency and following the economic discipline were the major aspects of the federalism implementation.

"Transparent and fair accounts are instrumental to make the fiscal federalism a success," he said.

Dr. Khatiwada pointed towards the need of reforms in public procurement laws, payment on the basis of work progress and stopping early payment in order to bring down arrears to zero.

Meanwhile, speaking at another programme organised by the GEFONT in Lalitpur on Friday, Dr. Khatiwada said that Nepal must work to obtain the demographic dividend and should devise better policies for the same.

"Education and skills should go together and every youth should have an opportunity to be connected with the production process," he said.

Prime Minister Employment Programme was launched to provide employment to the people in need and with skills so that they could contribute to the society and their families, he said.

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 16 November 2019.

President Hamid concludes Nepal visit

Kathmandu, Nov. 15

President of Bangladesh Mohammad Abdul Hamid concluded his 4-day goodwill visit to Nepal and returned to his home country on Friday. 

President Bidya Devi Bhandari bid farewell to her Bangladeshi counterpart at the VVIP Lounge at the Tribhuvan International Airport in the afternoon. 

Minister for Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Kumar Bhattarai were also present at the airport to see off the visiting guest. 

A troop of Nepal Army presented guard of honour for the Bangladeshi President while artistes had performed music and dances representing all seven States in the country. 

Meanwhile, President Hamid's delegation had visited Chandragiri Hills in a brief trip. Chairman of Chandragiri Hills Limited Chandra Prasad Dhakal, General Manager Abhisek Bikram Shah and Proprietor Ambika Prasad Poudel welcomed the delegation. 

The visiting President's scheduled programme to visit the touristic spot atop Chandragiri Hills was cancelled in the last minute. 

Earlier, President Hamid had held a meeting with President Bhandari on Wednesday where the two heads of the states discussed the issues of the mutual interest and strengthening the bilateral relations between the two nations. 

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Chairman of the National Assembly Ganesh Prasad Timilsina, Chairman of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda and president of the Nepali Congress Sher Bahadur Deuba paid a courtesy call on the visiting President on the same day. 

In a meeting, President Hamid and PM Oli talked about transforming the existing cordial and traditional relations into economic partnership so that both the countries benefit from it.

They discussed about enhancing the relations network, energy cooperation, using ports in Bangladesh, infrastructure construction, tourism development and trade promotion between the two countries. 

The meeting had also emphasised on enhancing the bilateral trade between Nepal and Bangladesh by utilising the ports and border entry points provided by the latter and supply Nepali goods to the Bangladeshi market. 

Issues of cooperation in waterways, aviation, education, transportation and agriculture were discussed between President Hamid and PM Oli. 

President Hamid went to Pokhara, the capital city of Gandaki State, on Thursday and went for boating in the Fewa Lake and sightseeing around the Pokhara Valley. 

Speaking at the luncheon organised by the State government in his honour, President Hamid said that he was hypnotised by the beauty of the Pokhara Valley. 

Nepal and Bangladesh are engaged in various multilateral platforms like SAARC, BIMSTEC and BBIN (a sub-regional network of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal) as well. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 16 November 2019.