Music From AI

 A music featuring familiar voices of famous artistes Drake and Weeknd went viral on social media platforms like TikTok and climbed the Spotify chart last week. But the song 'Heart on my sleeve' was not sung by the two artists. It was created with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by an anonymous TikTok user. In September last year, Lucasfilm created James Earl Jones' voice as the Start Wars movie character Darth Vader. The company could create the exact voice of Darth Vader with the help from Ukrainian software called Respeecher – a voice cloning product.

The latest episode of creating voice of singers using AI has created multitudes of debates in the music industry. While the AI technology could be used to immortalise any character of cinema or voice of a singer, it could virtually kill the musical career of many. While robots have started their jobs as news readers in countries like China and Japan and ChatGPT scored high in graduate-level exams at various universities in the USA, the rapid advancements in chatbots and other AI tools are likely to replace human beings from many jobs and even recreation like photography, cartoon and gaming. 

Until early 2000s, the musician and singers could sell their albums, earn royalties from radio and television, perform on-stage and sell merchandise items bearing their or bands' names. 

But the fast developments in computing, mobile and wireless technology changed the scene within a decade. Albums have become a thing of the past while revenue from the mass media channels like radio and television has begun to go down as people are attracted to the internet and consume the music free of cost from YouTube. However, platforms like Spotify pay the royalties to the music production companies. In such situation, if singers voices were created by an AI technology and robots were used to sing it on the stage, it will be the end of music creation by human being. It could create AI or robot stars in music industry.

 Likewise, the AI has raised the question of intellectual property rights (IPR) of the original musician and singer. Especially in a country like Nepal where IPR infringement is not considered a serious crime, artistes would face another challenge to make sure that the revenue generated by their creation reach them. 

Some famous cases of IPR and royalty demand include team of folk song led by Basanta Thapa demanding royalty from the stage show in Australia performed by the top contestants of Nepal Idol where they sang his song 'Saal ko paat ko tapari huni', film maker Shambhu Pradhan winning intellectual property case against the makers of movie 'Kri' for a song 'Yetti yeti paani' which was settled in more than a million rupees, and unauthorised use of music in advertisement and other promotional communication.

There are solutions as well. One of such is prescribed by musician Grimes aka Claire Boucher. She has invited the creators to use AI-generated version of her voice and make music and asked 50 per cent of the total royalties generated by such creations. She went a step further by promising to provide her raw audio files.  However, this idea couldn't be applied for the artistes who have sold the rights of their music or have any other legal bindings. There would certainly be a problem over the right on the royalties among the singer, marketer and other parties. But still, the question is would other artistes join Grimes to be a 'guinea pig' for the AI music projects? 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 1 May 2023. 

CM of Lumbini, VC of NPC emphasize promotion of domestic goods

 Kathmandu, May 3

Chief Minister of Lumbini Province, Dilli Bahadur Chaudhary and Vice President of National Planning Commission (NPC) Dr. Min Bahadur Shrestha have emphasized the production and promotion of made in Nepal goods.

In a meeting held at the office of the NPC at Singhdarbar, Chief Minister Chaudhary and Vice President Shrestha discussed the country's economy and development.

CM Chaudhary recommended that policies and programmes to promote indigenous production should be introduced. He requested the commission to play a role in making programmes that promote indigenous products and create jobs in the country.

Expressing concerns over the pervasive availability of foreign wines in the domestic market and poor importance given to the Nepali goods, CM Choudhary said, "We buy rice beer (chhyang) from South Korea, and the one made here in Tharu's home is being destroyed."

He said that even though indigenous products are very good, Nepal has not been able to market them, and now every indigenous product should be given priority.

Vice President Dr. Shrestha said that increasing domestic products is the need of the day. He said that domestic production should be emphasized in order to strengthen the economy as it helps in increasing domestic production and employment.

Dr. Shrestha said that he always believed that domestic products should be given priority in order to create jobs. "We have to do something new than what is happening, we will do something for production and employment," he said.

During the meeting, Vice President Shrestha congratulated Chief Minister Chaudhary and wished him a successful tenure. Chaudhary had received a vote of confidence from the Provincial Assembly as Chief Minister just a few days ago.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 4 May 2023. 

Government brings eight Nepalis home from Sudan

Kathmandu, May 3

Eight Nepali nationals who were rescued from conflict-ridden Sudan and taken to Jeddah have arrived in Kathmandu on Wednesday, informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

The Government of Nepal has rescued 19 Nepali nationals stuck in the conflict-ridden African country. The MoFA informed on Wednesday that 31 Nepalis were in contact with the Embassy of Nepal in Cairo, Egypt and had reached Port Sudan. From there, 19 of them were rescued in a ship with the cooperation of Saudi Arabian government on April 30.

The rescued 19 Nepalis have been taken to Jeddah of Saudi Arabia, the MoFA said in a statement.  Of them, six will stay in the Dubai branch of the employer company, eight have arrived in Nepal on Wednesday via Air Arabia while five will arrive on Thursday via Jazeera Airways.

"Efforts are under way to rescue six of the remaining 11 who are in contact with the embassy in Cairo from the Port Sudan via Jeddah. Remaining three are in a hotel at the port with the support of the employer company and two are in safe place at the border with Egypt," the ministry informed in the statement.

The MoFA has urged all Nepalis not to make movement in conflict-hit areas and contact Embassy of Nepal in Cairo in case of emergency. They can contact Second Secretary Dipak Ghimire at +201097772348 or +201029606662, or email at eoncairo@mofa.gov.np.

 

FM Saud to leave for UK on Thursday

Meanwhile, Minister for Foreign Affairs N.P. Saud is leaving for the United Kingdom on Thursday to attend the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Consort.

During his stay in London, He will attend the Coronation Ceremony at Westminster Abbey and the Reception given at Buckingham Palace. He will have other official engagements as well, informed the MoFA.

The Foreign Minister will return to Kathmandu on May 9. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 4 May 2023. 

Butwal Sanitary Ltd. wins ADB Hackathon on Sanitation Technology

Kathmandu, May 3

Hi-tech septic tank cleaning vehicle project by the Butwal Sanitary Pvt. Ltd. has won the hackathon competition organised by the Asian Development Bank and Department of Water Supply and Sewarage Management (DWSSM)'s Project Management Office.

Team Mantra Incorporation Pvt. Ltd. won the second prize for the Smart Urban Waste Handling and Management (SUbHaM) Unit in the competition Accelerating Sanitation for All in Asia and the Pacific (Nepal Project) organised last week in Lalitpur.

Likewise, Joint Venture (JV) Team Baliyo Sanitron stood third in the competition for its Smart Drainage System and Waste Sorting Machine for Sanitation Workers.

Team Nechno Technology Pvt. Ltd.'s innovative idea of Augmented Hands to collect sewage and waste materials efficiently and safely, while also helping them access hard-to-reach areas won the fourth position.

The winners all together will be provided with $40000 (more than Rs. 5 million) grant for the solution development, the project informed in a statement.

The event was co-hosted by Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) with the Robotics Association of Nepal (RAN) as the event management partner   for the Hackathon.

According to the organisers, the hackathon featured various activities such as pre-selection and short-listing of potential innovators, orientation sessions, on-site pitching and practicing of innovative ideas, prototype design demonstrations, and a hackathon with mentorship session.

The programme ran for a period of one month, and innovators from all over Nepal participated.

"The Hackathon inspired innovators across Nepal to leverage technology, creativity, and teamwork to develop technological solutions aimed at improving the safety and dignity of sanitation workers in the country as it identified start-up companies with innovative ideas or technological solutions that can improve the health, safety, welfare, and working conditions of sanitation workers in Bharatpur and Nepalgunj of Nepal," read the statement.

The ADB is piloting the project in Bharatpur Metropolitan City and Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 4 May 2023. 

GDP growth to shrink to 2.2 %

Kathmandu, May 2

Nepal’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is estimated to shrink to the rate of 2.2 per cent (at nominal prices) in the current Fiscal Year 2022/23, indicating that the country could be pushed into another round of economic recession.

The economy would expand by 1.6 per cent at consumer prices. 

According to the National Statistics Office (NSO) – the statistical agency under the Prime Minister’s Office, the economic growth this year would remain much below the earlier projections made by the government and international agencies. 

The estimate is way below the government projection of 8 per cent as announced in the budget speech. “I expect economic growth to be 8 per cent in the next fiscal year attributed to mobility in the economy, economic revival, encouraging private sector investment and the investment made by the government in economic and social sectors,” then Finance Minister Janardan Sharma had said in his budget speech. 

However, the country failed to achieve anything that as announced the then the finance minister. It was a turbulent year with increasing distrust among the political parties, as well as the government, private sector and consumers. 

Nepal saw six finance ministers in the past nine months of the current fiscal year including prime ministers holding the portfolio at least three times. Janardan Sharma presented the budget but was forced to resign amidst the allegations of tampering by external individuals with the tax rates, however, the court reinstated him. 

After the general election, Bishnu Prasad Paudel of the CPN-UML became the FM but he had to resign as the leader of the ruling coalition CPN (Maoist Centre) forged collaboration with Nepali Congress, which made way for Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat to become the finance minister. 

The projected growth rate is about a half compared to the estimates of 4.1 per cent made by the multilateral donors – Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank (WB).

The 2.2 per cent economic growth is among the lowest four instances in the last 25 years. In 2015/16, when a powerful earthquake of 7.9 magnitude hit the country, Nepal witnessed a zero growth while it saw a massive loss with -2.4 per cent during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in 2019/20. 

The quake coupled with the Indian blockade in 2015/16 had distressed the economy but the massive reconstruction activities and job creation created an environment of high growth trajectory until 2018/19 and the growth rate remained above 6.4 per cent for three years. 

The economic growth in 2002 and 1987 was also one of the lowest. Nepal’s average GDP growth rate hovers around 4 per cent annually. 

While the government every year exaggerates the growth rates and later corrects it, the evidence during the coronavirus pandemic could be identical this year as well. The statistical office amidst the pandemic had raised the hopes and estimated the GDP growth of 2.27 per cent in 2019/20 but it went negative by 2.4 per cent. 

According to the NSO, as it informed in a press meet organised on Tuesday, that no any shock is expected in coming months and economic activities are assumed to slightly increase in coming months compared to last eight months.

Size of Nepal’s economy by the end of this fiscal in mid-July 2023 would be Rs. 5381 billion. The NSO has revised the last year’s growth rate to 4.49 per cent from the earlier estimates of 5.26 per cent.

Sector-wise growth

All three major sectors of the economy are projected to witness a recession this year compared to previous two years, with agriculture being an exception.  

Gross Value Addition (GVA) of the primary sector (comprising agriculture and forestry) will grow by 2.69 per cent against 2.39 per cent of previous year 2021/22 and 2.89 per cent of 2020/21. Decrease in the production of dry-season crops, milk and eggs has barred this sector from achieving the higher growth, NSO reported. This sector will contribute 24.6 per cent to the national economy. 

Likewise, secondary sector (comprising manufacturing, energy, water and regeneration) will contribute 12.9 per cent to the economy this year. It will grow by only 0.56 per cent against that of 10.89 per cent of last fiscal and 7.06 per cent of 2020/21. 

Similarly, tertiary sector (comprising wholesale and retail trade, accommodation, food, transportation, real estate, health, education and other services) will contribute 62.4 per cent to the economy. This sector will grow by 2.33 per cent, much lower than 5.32 per cent of 2021/22 and 4.71 per cent of 2020/21. 

Value addition in recession

Three major components of the national economy – manufacturing, construction, and wholesale and retail trade - are estimated to witness a loss of more than 2 per cent in their value addition. The NSO informed on Tuesday that the Gross Value Addition (GVA) rate for manufacturing is projected at -2.04 per cent, construction -2.62 per cent and wholesale and retail trade -2.96 per cent.

As per the statistics wholesale and retail trade including repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles would see the largest loss among the 18-industrial classification of economic components. They had the GVA rate of 6.74 per cent, 7.08 per cent and 7.46 per cent in the fiscal year 2021/22, NSO informed in its report. 

Likewise, the GVA of electricity and gas sector is estimated to come down to 19.36 per cent from 53.35 per cent of last year. The sector to have the highest GVA growth is accommodation and food service which will increase to 18.56 per cent this year from 12.61 per cent of last year. 

Per Capita GDP remains stagnant

Meanwhile, the Per Capita GDP is projected to remain at US$1399 at the same point where it was in the last fiscal 2021/22 as well. 

The slowdown in various businesses and industrial sectors, loss of jobs and decreased industrial production has pulled the country’s economy back from making progress. 

Likewise, the country will see the gross fixed capital formation of Rs. 1356.46 billion 25.1 per cent of GDP), export of 385.1 billion (7.16 per cent of GDP) and import of Rs. 1964.33 billion (36.5 per cent of GDP). The NSO has estimated that the country will receive Rs. 1231.7 billion in remittance (22.89 per cent of GDP) by the end of this fiscal.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 3 May 2023. 

Govt asks local bodies not to damage cable network

Kathmandu, Apr. 30

The federal government has responded to the request of the Nepal Telecommunication Company Limited (NTCL) not to cut and remove the cable network installed by the corporation. 

Upon the request of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MoCIT), the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MoFAGA) on Sunday requested all local governments across the country to cooperate with the NTCL and not to damage the cable network. 

NTCL on  April 21 had written to the MoCIT requesting the ministry to save its information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure. It had said that the local governments including that of the country's Capital, Kathmandu Metropolis, have been haphazardly cutting the cable networks expanded by the company which has disturbed the telephone, internet and television services in the respective areas. 

Many consumers are deprived of the basic communication and entertainment facilities provided by the company because of such acts. 

"We need to import a large quantity of cables from foreign countries to rehabilitate the damaged network. It will take a lot of time, and the company, as well as the country, has to bear additional economic burden and pressure on foreign currency reserve," NTCL said to the ministry. 

It said that it was sensitive about maintaining the urban beauty and putting efforts for cable management in cooperation with the respective local bodies, especially municipal governments. "Hence, we request the ministry to preserve the infrastructure of telecommunication in collaboration with the concerned local bodies," read the letter of the NTCL. 

The Communication Ministry has also expressed concerns about the negative impact on the economy of the company and country due to random disturbances to the cable network which is key to the communication services. 

The NTCL has also requested the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport and decided to request the provincial governments via the Prime Minister's Office for the cause. 

Earlier, in September 2021, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) had launched a drive to cut and remove the internet cables from its poles as the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) refused to pay the rent hiked by the energy authority's infrastructure. 

As the ISPs and telecommunication service providers don't come together in terms of sharing the infrastructure and hang separate cables for their services, all the cities across the country have an ugly look due to entangled wires. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 1 May 2023. 

NFTA concerned about unauthorised imports

Kathmandu, Apr. 29

Nepal Foreign Trade Association (NFTA) has informed Finance Minister Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat that due to the increase in unauthorised imports caused by high customs rates in a country that has vast open borders, businesspeople abiding by the laws and rules are in trouble.

A delegation of NFTA led by its President Vinod Kumar Sethia called on the Finance Minister the other day to request him to find solutions to the existing problems the businesses and traders have been facing due to the illegal imports of goods.

"One of the best solutions to this problem is to reduce the customs rates," said Sethia.

He also drew the attention of the Finance Minister to the fact that all the citizens living in the Terai region are making the Indian market across the border a shopping destination to take advantage of the price difference caused by the high customs rate.

Citing the availability of the goods which were banned to import in the Nepali market, Sethia said that it should also be considered whether the ban promoted unauthorised trade.

According to him, a favourable environment should be created for commercial agriculture and contactless and paperless service delivery should be promoted for good governance.

Likewise, he emphasised on reducing the cost of doing business in Nepal. "There is a need to establish a Permanent Tax Clearance Commission to settle disputes related to income tax, value added tax, excise duty and customs duty," he said.

Sethia pointed out the need to expand the scope of taxes, formulate an act related to lending and amend the old laws and regulations in a timely manner, and said that the government should facilitate the business and make the regulation effective.

The NFTA has handed over a memorandum including suggestions to improve doing business environment in the country.

Ratanlal Kedia, vice-president of the association, said that in order to facilitate the rice industry in the country, different tariffs should be imposed on the import of paddy and rice.

In response, Finance Minister Dr. Mahat mentioned that he is serious about improving the economy and said that many complaints of businessmen will be addressed through the budget of the next fiscal year. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 30 April 2023.