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The Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police has submitted an investigation report with opinion to the District Attorney Office, Kathmandu in the 60 kg gold smuggling case.

CIB spokesperson Nawaraj Adhikari said that the CIB has submitted the investigation report to the District Attorney Office with opinion by concluding the investigation.

So far, police have arrested 32 persons and 18 are on the run, the CIB said.

According to the CIB, among the arrestees, 23 are Nepalis and nine are foreign nationals. The Bureau said that 14 foreign nationals and four Nepalis are on the run.

The CIB has recommended to file a case against the accused on organized crime, gold smuggling and other offenses under the Rastra Bank Act.

The Revenue Investigation Department on July 19 had confiscated the smuggled gold weighing 60 kilos and 716 grams from the Sinamangal area

The way has been paved for the Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) to initiate the operation of the ‘Nepse 30’ index. The Nepse board meeting on Monday endorsed the procedures formulated for the launch of the ‘Nepse 30’.

Murahari Parajuli, a spokesperson for the Nepse, commented, “The board of directors meeting on Monday approved the Internal Procedures for the Development, Operation, and Management of the Nepal Stock Exchange Limited Index, 2080.”

Following the approval of the procedure, the board meeting also made the decision to establish a committee responsible for implementing it. Nepse has stated that this procedure will serve as a guiding framework for the operation and management of a variety of indices, both presently in operation and planned for the future.

The implementation committee will advance the preparations and oversee the operational and managerial aspects of the ‘Nepse 30’ index. Furthermore, it will propose a specific date for the commencement of the ‘Nepse 30’ index’s operations.

Having received approval for the procedure, Nepse is now in high gear to introduce the new stock trading index, ‘Nepse 30’, in less than a month. The ‘Nepse 30’ could be up and running as early as the first week of October, said officials.

Currently, the ‘Nepse 30’ index is undergoing internal testing. This testing phase, initiated on July 25, has confirmed the feasibility of operating the ‘Nepse 30’ index.

Nepse envisions the ‘Nepse 30’ as an index formed by tracking the share trading activity of 30 carefully chosen companies. This new index will consist of the leading 30 companies that meet the specific criteria established by Nepse from among all the companies listed on its platform.

It is important to note that ‘Nepse 30’ will not be an independent index. Currently, Nepse comprises 13 sub-indices, including sensitive, float, and sensitive float indices. Nepse’s plan involves the inclusion of companies from six distinct sectors, such as banks and financial institutions, microfinance, insurance, hydropower, manufacturing, and trade and services, within the ‘Nepse 30’ index. Each sector will be represented by at least one company and may have a maximum of eight companies included in the index.

To be eligible for inclusion in the ‘Nepse 30’, companies must meet specific requirements, such as demonstrating profitability over the previous three years, maintaining earnings per share (EPS) exceeding 10 percent of their paid-up capital, surpassing the inflation rate with their EPS, and additionally, having allocated a minimum of 25 percent of their shares to the public while boasting a shareholder base of no less than 20,000 individuals.

Likewise, companies must exhibit a daily turnover averaging at least 2.5m over the preceding six months and engage in daily share trading of no less than 5,000 units.

Nepse has announced its intention to introduce the ‘Nepse 30’ with the objective of enhancing the development, operation, and management of indices in order to bolster activity within the secondary market.

The ‘Nepse 30’ index will be structured as a market capitalization-based index, incorporating immediately tradable (free float) shares.

Previously, Nepse had plans for the ‘Nepse 50’ index, but it opted for the ‘Nepse 30’, citing potential challenges associated with managing 50 companies.

The procedure outlines specific criteria for categorizing companies selected for the development of the new index based on their minimum paid-up capital. In accordance with these criteria, companies with a paid-up capital of Rs 5bn will fall into the A category, while companies with a paid-up capital of Rs 3bn will be categorized as B class.

Energy Minister Shakti Bahadur Basnet has laid the foundation stone for the construction of a 29.5m high Dam of the 216 MW Upper Trishuli-1 (UT-1) run-of-the-river hydroelectric project in Trishuli River of Rasuwa District. Basnet laid the foundation stone for the project amidst a special ceremony held in Kathmandu on Tuesday. 

Nepal Water and Energy Development Company (NWEDC), a special purpose vehicle through which Korea South-East Power Co (KOEN) along with Korea Overseas Infrastructure and Urban Development Corporation (KIND), International Finance Corporation (IFC) a member of the World Bank Group and domestic investor is developing the project on build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) model. The project development agreement of the project was signed with the government in December 2016. 

The UT-1 is the largest hydroelectric project under construction with foreign direct investment for domestic consumption. The concession period for the project is 35 years, including five years of construction period.

Addressing the ceremony, Energy Minister Basnet said that the government is fully committed to creating a favorable environment for domestic and foreign investors to develop hydropower projects. 

The President and Chief Executive Officer of KOEN Hoe-Chun Kim said the project is very important for fulfilling increasing internal power demand, especially in the dry season. 

The project’s main construction started in Jan 2022 and is estimated to be completed in December 2026. The main construction works including the excavation of the underground powerhouse, headrace tunnel, and head works are in full swing on all fronts and the overall progress rate of the project is 22 percent. Doosan Eneribility is the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor for the Project. 

The $647.34m project is financed through 70 percent debt and 30 percent equity. The project partners will provide an equity investment of  $194.2m. The debt of $453.12m is being provided by a group of international lenders, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Korean Exim Bank (K-EXIM), Korean Development Bank (KDB), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), FMO (The Netherlands), the British International Investment (BII), Proparco (France), and the OPEC fund for International Development (OFID).

The UT-1 is expected to generate up to 1,533 GWh of electricity. Out of the total annual energy generated by the Project, 38.75 percent will be generated during the dry season, which is higher than most of the other run-of-the-river hydropower projects in Nepal, thus contributing vastly to managing the dry season electricity shortfall. 

The Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police has claimed to have recovered 302 kg gold smuggled through brake shoes from abroad.

The CIB said that it has recovered a total of 362 kg gold—60 kg gold which was recovered earlier and 302. 62 kg gold which was recovered later from the brake pads.

It has been confirmed that 363 kg gold is worth around Rs 3. 5 billion was imported illegally to Nepal.

CIB Chief Kiran Bajracharya said that the Chinese nationals, who were arrested in connection to the gold smuggling case, had smuggled the gold to Nepal by establishing five companies.

“After the confiscation of 60 kg gold imported by Ready Trade Pvt. Ltd, we have recovered 302 kg gold smuggled through brake pads,” Bajracharya said that the CIB is preparing to file a case demanding a fine of Rs 3.5 billion. Investigation is underway as the smugglers may have brought the gold through other means.”

Preliminary investigation revealed that the five foreign nationals have also taken the citizenships and passports by submitting fake details. Investigation is underway regarding the same, Bajracharya said.

A team of 42 persons of CIB is investigating the gold smuggling case.

It has been found that Nepali, Indian, Chinese and Taiwanese nationals were involved in the smuggling of gold.

The Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police has made 50 persons defendants in the 60 kg gold smuggling case.

So far 32 persons have been arrested and 18 are on the run, the CIB said.

Prior to submitting the investigation report of the 60 kg gold smuggling case to the District Attorney Office, CIB Chief Kiran Bajracharya in the press conference said that 23 of the 50 defendants are of foreign nationals.

Among the arrestees, 23 are Nepalis and nine are foreign nationals, according to the CIB.

Bajracharya said that 14 foreign nationals and four Nepalis are at large.

The CIB has recommended to file a case against the accused on organized crime, gold smuggling and other offenses under the Rastra Bank Act.

The Revenue Investigation Department on July 19 had confiscated the smuggled gold weighing 60 kilos and 716 grams from the Sinamangal area

Completing its investigation into the case of 61 kilograms of gold smuggled from Hong Kong into the country, the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police is due to submit its report to the District Government Attorney Office along with its note today.

CIB Chief and Additional Inspector General of Police Kiran Bajracharya said that preparations are on to submit the report today since the report writing task was completed on Tuesday.

The CIB is to give its recommendations to file the case against those in the custody on organized crime, gold smuggling and others. The investigation period for organized crime is 60 days.

The case shall be taken to the court as the limitation of 60 days is getting over on September 16. The District Government Attorney Office will then get three days of time to review the report before going to the district court.

So far, 30 persons are in police custody while one is out of the police custody citing health issues.

The arrestees in connection to the gold smuggling include customs officials, customs agents, gold traders and Indian and Chinese nationals.

The Revenue Investigation Department on July 19 had confiscated the smuggled gold weighing 60 kilos and 716 grams from the Sinamangal area.

At least 11 persons were injured following a scuffle between inmates at the Birta-based juvenile center in Birgunj.

Three police personnel were injured after they were hit by the stones hurled by the inmates.

Tension ran high in the reform center after a group of 18 persons brought to the juvenile center of Birgunj from the juvenile center of Bhaktapur three weeks ago clashed with the inmates living in the center for a long time on Tuesday night.

SP Koman Shah, Chief at the District Police Office, Parsa, said that the 11 children including 10 of those brought from Bhaktapur and three police personnel were injured in the clash.

He said that the 11 children, who were injured in the clash, have been kept at the District Police Office following medical treatment at the Narayani Hospital list night.

SP Shah said that out of those who escaped by breaking the gate of the inmate center of Bhaktapur on August 21, 18 were brought to the reform center in Birgunj.

Center Chief Tika Kafle said that there are a total of 149 children in the juvenile center.

The clash broke out following verbal exchanges of children brought from Bhaktapur juvenile center with the leader of the center on Tuesday evening.

Following the incident, a large number of Nepal Police and Armed Police Force personnel reached the center to take the situation under control.

But the children from inside the reform center pelted stones at the police personnel and did not allow them to enter the center till late night.

Police also lobbed tear gas shells to control the situation.

DSP Kumar Bikram Thapa, who was deployed to the incident site, said that the children did not allow them to enter the center till Wednesday morning.

The juvenile center Chief Kafle said that the 18 children brought from Bhaktapur have been staging the protests for the past few days arguing that they would not stay there.

The CPN-UML has made arrangements for paying tributes to its Vice-Chairman Subash Chandra Nembang within the party central office from 9 am to 1 pm today.

The leader passed away on Tuesday following a cardiac arrest at the age of 71.

According to UML Publicity Department Secretary, Gagan Bista, the mortal remains of the leader will be kept within the party central office at Chyasal in Lalitpur till 1 pm today before taking the body to his residence in Baluwatar.

There, family members, his relatives, and friends will pay their respects to the late leader.

The last rites of the UML leader have been scheduled for 11 am tomorrow.

In honor of the late leader, the party has decided to fly the party flag at half-mast for three days.