Sita Dahal cremated with state honors at Pashupati Aryaghat (With photos)
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s wife, Sita Dahal, was cremated with state honors at Pashupati Aryaghat in Kathmandu on Wednesday.
Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka draped Dahal’s mortal remains with the national flag.
Along with PM Dahal, his two daughters Renu and Ganga lit the funeral pyre.
Cabinet ministers and senior leaders of various political parties gathered at the Aryaghat to pay their last tributes.
An emergency Cabinet meeting held this morning decided to cremate Dahal with state honors.
A band of Nepal Army also offered a gun salute to the departed soul.
Dahal passed away at the age of 69 on Wednesday.
She breathed her last during the course of treatment at the Norvic Hospital at 8: 33 am today, the hospital said.
Dahal was taken to the hospital this morning after her condition became serious.
She was suffering from progressive supranuclear palsy, an uncommon brain disorder that causes serious problems with walking, Diabetes Mellitus-II and Hypertension for a long time.
With excessive liquidity in banking system, NRB conducting reverse repo
With the country’s banking system flushed with liquidity, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) is conducting a reverse repo worth Rs 20bn to mop up excess liquidity in the market.
A reverse repo is a monetary mechanism through which the central bank absorbs additional liquidity of the banking system by paying certain interest rates.
Issuing a notice, the NRB has said that it is going to mop up Rs 20bn for July 25 (for a period of 14 days). The central bank is conducting the reverse repo for the third time within Ashad.
With the end of the current fiscal approaching, there has been a huge surge in government payments, which ultimately comes to the banking system. With demands for loans drying up, investable capital has been piling up in the banking system in recent days. As of July 9, investable capital worth Rs 440bn has been accumulated in banks and financial institutions (BFIs). The deposits of BFIs amounted to Rs 5,715bn, while loans totaled Rs 4,861bn.
Since Baisakh, the banking system has collected Rs 242bn in deposits. In the first three weeks of Ashad (the last month of the fiscal year), Rs 147bn in deposits have been added to the banking system.
With the liquidity position becoming easier, the interbank interest rate has also decreased. The interbank interest rate has come down from seven percent during the review period to 1.36 percent on July 9.
The BFIs that were experiencing a liquidity crunch until a few months ago are now facing problems of non-disbursement of loans. While liquidity is increasing, bankers say demands for loans have remained low.
While the commercial banks introduced a new home loan scheme by reducing the interest with the expectation that the construction sector will be energized, they are seeing no demand for loans.
As there is no demand for loans currently, the CD ratio of commercial banks has been continuously decreasing. The CD ratio which was 88.07 percent in mid-July, 2022, has fallen to 82.03 percent on July 24, 2023.
As per central bank regulatory norms, banks can disburse 90 percent of their deposits in loans. Banks have to maintain the credit-to-deposit ratio (CD ratio) at 90 percent.
As the government also spends in the last quarter massively, a large amount of cash is being deposited in banks in the period. BFIs generally make little lending during the last quarter of the fiscal year.
The credit expansion to the private sector in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year is far less than what the BFIs lent during the same period last fiscal year. Bankers say lending will not grow much in Ashad, the last month of the fiscal year, in which BFIs will be more focused on loan recovery.
According to bankers, the private sector has not sought bank loans with the deepening economic downturn. On the other hand, retail loans such as housing loans and auto loans have not grown with interest rates still remaining high. While the BFIs have been gradually lowering the loan interest rates, te demand for loans has not surged as expected. “The demands for loans have remained subdued due to the state of the economy and businesses,” said a banker.
Bankers say the other reason behind the sluggish lending is banks have become more cautious in loan disbursement due to a sharp rise in non-performing loans (NPLs).
Indian PM Modi saddened over Sita Dahal’s death
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his sadness over the death of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's wife Sita Dahal.
Taking to Twitter, PM Modi said that he was saddened by the death of Sita Dahal.
"Extremely saddened to learn about the demise of Mrs. Sita Dahal. I express my sincere condolences to @cmprachanda and pray the departed soul finds eternal peace. Om Shanti," he said.
Sita Dahal to be cremated with state honors
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's wife Sita Dahal will be creamated with state honors.
An emergency Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday made the decision to this effect, government spokesperson Rekha Sharma said.
Prime Minister Dahal’s wife Sita Dahal passed away on Wednesday.
She breathed her last during the course of treatment at the Norvic Hospital at 8: 33 am today, the hospital said.
Issuing a statement on Wednesday, Dr Yuva Raj Sharma said that she died at the age of 69.
Dahal was taken to the hospital this morning after her condition became serious.
She was suffering from progressive supranuclear palsy, an uncommon brain disorder that causes serious problems with walking, Diabetes Mellitus-II and Hypertension for a long time.
Gold price increases by Rs 300 per tola on Wednesday
The price of gold has increased by Rs 300 per tola in the domestic market on Wednesday.
According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 111, 600 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 111, 300 per tola on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 111, 050 per tola.
Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 5 and is being traded at Rs 1,400 per tola today.
NC postpones CWC meeting
The Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting of the Nepali Congress scheduled to start from today has been postponed.
Party General Secretary Gagan Thapa said that the office bearers and the Central Committee meeting called for today has been postponed following the death of wife of Prime Minister and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
Dahal’s wife Sita Dahal passed away on Wednesday. She was 69.
She breathed her last during the course of treatment at the Norvic Hospital at 8: 33 am today, the hospital said.
Dahal’s last rites will be performed at Pashupati Aryaghat at 2 pm today, PM Dahal’s Secretariat said.
Her body will be kept at the party central office Parisdanda, Koteshwar from 11 am to 1 pm to pay the final tributes, the Secretariat said.
Preparations are underway to call the meeting for July 18, the party said. But the official announcement is yet to be made.
The meeting was called at the party central office in Sanepa from today after a year to discuss the issue of the party's policy general convention.
Prior to the Central Committee meeting, party President Sher Bahadur Deuba had called an office bearers and former office bearers’ meeting at his residence in Dhumbarahi at 9 am today.
National Assembly meeting postponed
The meeting of the National Assembly scheduled for today has been postponed for tomorrow.
The meeting scheduled for 11.01 am today has been postponed for Thursday due to a special reason, according to the Federal Parliament Secretariat.
The next meeting has been scheduled for 11.01 am on Thursday, Secretariat Deputy Spokesperson Dasharath Dhamala said.
PM Dahal’s wife, Sita Dahal, passes away
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s wife Sita Dahal passed away on Wednesday.
She breathed her last during the course of treatment at the Norvic Hospital at 8: 33 am today, the hospital said.
Issuing a statement on Wednesday, Dr Yuva Raj Sharma said that she died at the age of 69.
Dahal was taken to the hospital this morning after her condition became serious.
She was suffering from progressive supranuclear palsy, an uncommon brain disorder that causes serious problems with walking, Diabetes Mellitus-II and Hypertension for a long time.
Though she was taken to the US, India and Singapore for treatment earlier, there was no significant improvement in her health.
Dahal’s last rites will be performed at Pashupati Aryaghat at 2 pm today, PM Dahal’s Secretariat said.
Her body will be kept at the party central office Parisdanda, Koteshwar from 11 am to 1 pm to pay the final tributes, the Secretariat said.
