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Flights have been affected in Karnali for the past two days due to bad weather. The flights have been disrupted as it has been raining continuously.

Flights could not take place to and from Juphal airport in Dolpa, Simkot airport in Humla and Talcha airport in Mugu due to the incessant rainfall.

Rajendra Thakulla, an engineer with the Thulibheri Municipality, Dolpa, said he is stranded in Nepalgunj due to the disruption of flight. "It has been two days waiting for the flight to operate. I have not been able to fly to Dolpa due to the bad weather. There is also the problem of travelling by road," he lamented.

Most of the people in these remote mountainous districts of the Karnali Province rely on flights as most of the roads are damaged due to floods and landslides during the monsoon. They are affected as the flights also could not operate due to unfavorable weather.

Although Dolpa is linked by roadway, there is still the problem of travelling by road in the rainy season. Road travel has become risky as the water level in rivers and streams has increased.

Humla is not yet linked by road.

Nepal’s foreign trade has declined in the first month of the current fiscal year 2023/24. According to the latest foreign trade statistics released by the Department of Customs, both imports and exports declined in Shrawan (mid-July to mid-August). The imports shrunk by 1.56 percent in Shrawan as the country imported goods worth 129.23bn in Shrawan. The imports in the first month of 2022/23 stood at Rs 131.28bn. On the other hand, Nepal’s exports decreased by 8.65 percent to Rs 13.52bn. The country had exported goods worth Rs 14.80bn in the first month of 2022/23. With both imports and exports declining, the country’s total foreign trade decreased by 2.28 percent.

According to the Customs Department, there has been a big decline in the import of petroleum products in Shrawan. The country’s petroleum products’ import bills stood at Rs 21.98bn compared to Rs 25bn during the same period of the last fiscal.

There has been growth in the imports of iron and steel compared to the last fiscal. Nepal imported iron and steel worth Rs 12.95bn in this Shrawan compared to Rs 11.23bn in the last Shrawan. The country’s vegetable imports stood at Rs 2.5bn, medicine imports at Rs 2.81bn and vehicle imports at Rs 4.29bn.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 31. 52 points to close at 2,013.93 points on Thursday.

Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 4. 72 points to close at 385. 56 points.

A total of 4,657,137-unit shares of 275 companies were traded for Rs 1. 55 billion.

Meanwhile, Kutheli Bukhari Small Hydropower Limited was the top gainer today with its price surging by 9. 99 percent. Likewise, Molung Hydropower Company Limited was the top loser as its price fell by 8. 54 percent.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 01 trillion.

With the contraction in economic activities, digital payments in Nepal have taken a beating in the last fiscal year. While the expansion of retail digital payments remains stable, there was a reduction in the high-volume digital transactions primarily conducted through the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) during the fiscal year 2022/23.

According to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), overall digital payment has declined by 13.22 percent in 2022/23. The NRB data shows total digital payments amounted to Rs 51640.88bn in 2022/23 compared to Rs 59508.837bn in 2021/22. As high-volume transactions have declined, NRB said that the decline in RTGS has affected the overall digital payments in this fiscal.

The latest statistics of the NRB show RTGS payments plummeted by 18.61 percent in 2022/23. In the review period, the settlements amounted to Rs 34,289.977bn compared to Rs 42,134.018bn in 2021/22.

An RTGS is a funds transfer system in which the transfer of funds between one bank and another takes place in ‘real-time’ and on a ‘gross’—transaction by transaction basis. The NRB data shows RTGS transactions increased in the first three months of the current fiscal year, then started to decline gradually.

However, retail payments through wallets, QR codes, mobile banking, and ConnectIPS surged in the current fiscal year, according to NRB. The payment through ConnectIPS grew by 33.51 percent in the last fiscal year. According to NRB, payments worth Rs 4,114.628bn were made through ConnectIPS in 2022/23 compared to Rs 3,081.764bn in 2021/22. Similarly, mobile banking transactions surged by 80.64 percent to Rs 2,185.999bn in 2022/23 from Rs 1,210.134bn in 2021/22. There has been a whopping 159.67 percent growth in QR payments in the last fiscal year as Nepalis made payments totaling Rs 245.412bn.

Digital payments which were on an increasing trend till 2021/22, reversed in 2022/23. Bankers and experts point out the current economic slowdown for this. According to them, the spending capacity of consumers has been hard hit by rising inflation resulting in a decline in digital payments.

Guru Prasad Paudel, Chief of the Payment System Department at NRB, has said that the reduction in digital transactions reflects the economic activity’s contraction. “The decline in payments through RTGS has led to a decrease in overall digital transactions,” said Paudel.

There was a significant surge in digital transactions in Nepal in early 2020 following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The lockdowns compelled individuals to remain indoors, leading to the swift adoption of digital payment methods and online shopping for daily necessities. This shift was supported by the growing utilization of smartphones, with e-commerce and point-of-sale (POS) transactions emerging as notable trends.

Post-pandemic, digital platforms including connectIPS, e-wallets, mobile banking, internet banking, QR codes, and bank cards are being used widely as customers can use these instruments in self-service mode.

The election for the presidents of the parliamentary committees under the House of Representatives has been slated for Monday.

Speaker Devraj Ghimire fixed the date after holding a discussion with the chief whips of parties on Thursday, Speaker’s press advisor Shekhar Adhikari said.

According to him, the election for the presidents of parliamentary committees will be held at 1 pm on August 28.

Though the parliamentary committees were formed, the meeting has been conducted under the chairmanship of senior members without electing the presidents.

There are 10 thematic committees under the House of Representatives and two joint committees with representation from the members of the National Assembly.

Speaker Ghimire had been urging parties to pick the leadership on consensus.

The notice for the election will be published today itself.

It has already been agreed among the major political parties that Nepali Congress will lead four, CPN-UML three, CPN (Maoist Center) two and CPN (Unified Socialist), Janata Samajbadi Party and Janamat Party will lead one committee each.

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Media Alliance Nepal has expressed serious concern over the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal’s move of seeking clarification vis-a-vis the news published in Annapurna Post daily under the Annapurna Media Network (AMN) over air service disruptions in far-flung regions of the country.

Issuing a press statement, the alliance said the clarification CAAN has sought from AMN Chair Capt Rameshwor Thapa on the charge of ‘abusing publication rights’ is a direct violation of the freedom of the press and the freedom of thought and expression as well as a violation of editorial freedom.

Unconstitutional interference with independent media is unacceptable, it said, condemning CAAN and its leader’s illegal action against the media advocating for the rule of law and the Constitution.

There is a separate legal provision to seek redress for the media content published/broadcasted, it pointed out. An unrelated agency is demanding clarification over a matter beyond its jurisdiction from an unrelated individual, it said, adding, “This is a case of abuse of authority.”

The Media Alliance cautioned CAAN leadership against the abuse of authority and urged it to withdraw the clarification and respect the freedom of the press and freedom of thought and expression enshrined in the Constitution. Earlier, the Press Council Nepal wrote to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation over CAAN’s act of seeking a written clarification from AMN regarding news reports published in the daily.

CAAN introduced a policy to suspend air services in remote districts after 12 pm starting July 31. This decision affected remote and mountainous regions of Nepal where flights offer a lifeline for people needing urgent medical attention.  
Regrettably, due to the absence of air services, four children lost their lives in remote regions of Karnali province as they couldn’t receive timely medical care due to CAAN’s new policy.

After Annapurna Post, a sister publication of ApEx, highlighted the hardships facing people living in far-flung areas, the issue garnered considerable attention.

Despite appeals from the Chief Minister of Karnali province, the federal Minister for Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, political leaders and local representatives, CAAN chose not to lift air service restrictions. Instead, it targeted the media for exposing what was perceived as a misguided and callous decision.

The price of gold has increased by Rs 500 per tola in the domestic market on Thursday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 111, 100 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 110, 600 per tola on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 110, 550 per tola. It was traded at Rs 110, 050 per tola.

Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,460 per tola today.

The monsoon rain is expected to persist over the next two to three days.

According to the Meteorological Forecasting Division, it will take a couple of days for weather to improve.

Division's senior meteorologist Barun Poudel said the ongoing precipitation is anticipated to continue until Friday with chances of heavy rains at one or two places, particularly in Koshi, Bagmati, and Gandaki provinces.

The weather will be generally to mostly cloudy throughout the country today with the possibility of light to moderate rain at some places of the country.

Likewise, heavy rain with thunder and lightning is expected at one or two places of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki , Lumbini and Sudurpashchim Provinces.

Likewise, tonight there will be mostly cloudy throughout the country while light to moderate rain is likely to occur at many places of the country.

Heavy rain with thunder and lightning may take place at one or two places of Koshi, Madesh , Bagmati , Gandaki and Lumbini Provinces.