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Three persons died when a jeep met with an accident at Gabiram in Shubhakalika Rural Municipality-6 of Kalikot on Saturday. The deceased have been identified as the jeep driver Harak Bishwakarma (30) of Shubhakalika-2, Ram Bahadur Shahi (31) of Shubhakalika-8 and Gopal Salamimar (25) of Naumule-3 of Dailekh, Jaishwar Rimal, Chief at the District Police Office Kalikot, said. The jeep (Lu 1 Cha 8498) was heading towards Shubhakalika from Chowki Bazaar when the incident occurred last night. The cause of the incident is yet to be ascertained. Police said that they are looking into the case.    

The government has decided to introduce a new law to allow the private sector to engage in power trading. The Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation was granted permission to present a bill on power trading to the parliament. Once the bill receives endorsement from the parliament and is enacted, it will open the doors for private-sector companies to engage in power trading. This signifies a significant shift in the power sector, allowing private entities to actively participate in buying and selling electricity. The proposed law aims to create a framework that enables private sector involvement and facilitates competition in the power trading market. According to a senior official from the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, the proposed bill encompasses provisions to permit the private sector to engage in power trading both domestically and internationally. Currently, in Nepal, the private sector is solely granted the right to generate electricity, while power trading remains under the monopoly of the government-owned Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). The Nepali private sector, including independent power producers, has been advocating for their involvement in power trading. This demand stems from the fact that the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) currently holds a monopoly on power purchase agreements (PPAs), leaving no other entity in the country authorized to sign such agreements. The Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government did make efforts to facilitate the entry of the private sector into power trading by introducing an ordinance last year. The Deuba government withdrew the long-pending Electricity Bill at the National Assembly and opted for an ordinance instead. In October 2022, the Deuba government passed an ordinance to ratify the Electricity Act 1991 to give licenses to the private sector for power trade. However, the then President Bidya Devi Bhandari did not endorse the ordinance sent by the government for authentication. The bill had provisions for the developers to sell their electricity in the market after taking approval from the ministry and the private sector can also obtain a license to trade power in the international market. The private power developers have welcomed the government's move to table the bill in the parliament. "This is a welcome move. We've been demanding this for long," said Krishna Prasad Acharya, president of the Independent Power Producers' Association Nepal (IPPAN). The Nepali power producers have been gearing up for power trading licenses by establishing power trade companies. According to the Department of Electricity Development (DoED), Nepal Power Exchange Ltd (NEPEX) and Power Trading and Energy Exchange Ltd (PTEEL) have applied for power trading licenses. Similarly, Nepal Infrastructure Bank has applied to the Ministry of Energy, on behalf of the Power Trading Company (PTC) Ltd, and the Himalayan Trading Company is also preparing to register an application for the license. While the private sector in Nepal is still awaiting the trading license to sell electricity in both domestic and foreign markets, some private entities have already signed the memorandum of understanding (MoUs) with Indian companies for cross-border power trading. The Nepal Power Exchange Limited (NPEL), subsidiary of IPPAN has already signed an agreement with Manikaran Power Limited, India to carry out cross-border electricity trade. As per the MoU, the Indian company will buy 500MW of electricity from the Nepal Power Exchange Limited besides investing in the Nepali company itself. During the Power Summit 2023, Nepali and Indian companies signed initial deals for selling 2,200 MW of electricity to India. Manikaran Power Limited signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to purchase around 200MW of electricity directly from the hydropower projects. Vedanta Resources, a sister company of Vedanta Limited, also initiated the process to buy 2,000MW of hydropower from Nepal in the next five years.    

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is all set to evaluate the technical bids it received for the development of solar plants and supply of electricity to the state-owned power utility body. The NEA said in a notice that it would open the technical bids on Friday (June 9). On November 28, last year the state-owned power utility body had invited bids from the solar manufacturers to build up to 100MW of solar plants in different locations by setting the deadline for February 26, 2023. In an addendum notice, the NEA extended the deadline till March 13, 2023. However, the plan suffered a setback after the High Court, Patan, on May 5, 2023, issued an interim order barring the NEA from opening the bids. “After the high court scrapped the complaints registered at the High nearly three weeks ago, the NEA decided to open the technical bid,” said a senior official of NEA.  “There are about a dozen companies that have participated in the bid.” As per the bid notice,  the NEA has set an upper limit on the price it is ready to pay for solar power. It has fixed the maximum price of Rs 5.94 per unit for the bidders which many solar manufacturers say is unfeasible. In March last year, the NEA decided to cap the maximum rate to be offered to solar power generators at Rs 5.94 per unit.  Earlier, the NEA had been signing power purchase agreements with solar power developers at a fixed rate of Rs 7.30 per unit. Solar Electric Manufacturers Association Nepal registered a writ petition at the High Court claiming that the price cap would affect companies that have already made investments based on the prior price rate. While issuing the interim order, the High Court had taken into account the claims made by the association that the maximum price of Rs 5.94 per unit offered by the NEA would not be profitable for investors who had already made huge investments with the expectation of getting Rs 7.30 per unit, the rate fixed by the government earlier. In January last year, the NEA decided to procure solar energy only through competitive bidding,  putting an end to the practice of buying power at a fixed rate in the previous three years. The NEA plans to buy a maximum of 100 MW of power from such solar plants which have been proposed to be developed by the private sector at 16 locations across the country. According to the NEA, up to 230MW of solar power plants could be developed in those locations. As per the tender notice,  the bidders have to propose to develop plants with a capacity above 1 MW. The bidder can choose any solar photovoltaic power generation technology. The selected bidder will also be responsible for evacuating power from the plant to the nearby NEA substation, according to the tender notice. Nepal has a long way to go to realize its potential in solar energy with the country so far producing just 44.52MW from solar power, according to the energy ministry. Nepal has the potential to generate around 2,100MW of solar electricity, according to the Nepal Energy Sector Synopsis Report-2022. Nepal plans to have a certain portion of energy to be generated from solar. Nepal also aims to generate a total of 15,000 MW of electricity by 2030.  Of total energy generation. And it wants the contribution of mini and micro-hydropower, solar, wind, and bio-energy projects at 5-10 percent as an energy mix strategy.

Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has indicated that capital flight may be occurring through the practice of over-invoicing during the process of opening letters of credit (LC). The central bank recently cautioned the chairpersons of bank and financial institutions (BFIs), expressing concern over the escalating trend of over-invoicing when utilizing LCs for importing goods and services from overseas. Over-invoicing has emerged as one of the methods employed in trade-based money laundering schemes, facilitating the transfer of a larger sum from the importer to the exporter. Opening letters of credit (LCs) is a mandatory procedure when importing goods and services from foreign countries. However, officials from the central bank have revealed that they have received reports indicating that certain BFIs and businessmen have been opening LCs at inflated prices exceeding the actual value of the goods, resulting in the outflow of capital abroad. Although the central bank has not made any public statements regarding capital flight through over-invoicing, NRB Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari warned the chairpersons of BFIs during an interaction on Tuesday, saying that action would be taken against any BFIs found to be facilitating capital flight through the practice of over-invoicing. "It has been found that a group of BFIs and businessmen has been involved in the practice of opening LCs at prices surpassing the actual value and the capital has been illicitly transferred out of the country. This is a serious matter," said one of the BFIs' chairmen quoting Adhikari. "It is necessary to stop this trend immediately. If the BFIs do not stop it, we will be forced to take action against the concerned banks," Adhikari further said. Central bank officials have confirmed that Governor Adhikari indeed issued a warning to the BFIs' chairpersons regarding the issue of capital flight. The officials acknowledged that in the initial stage, the BFIs have been cautioned about their involvement in such activities. However, central bank officials also stated that if this trend persists, further measures will be taken to bring both the BFIs and businessmen engaged in this practice under the purview of the law. The timing of the central bank's warning is significant as Nepal's anti-money laundering regime is currently under review by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international watchdog focused on combating money laundering and terrorist financing. According to the US-based think tank Global Financial Integrity (GFI), trade mispricing accounts for the majority of illicit outflows from least-developed countries (LDCs) like Nepal. In a report published by the GFI, it was revealed that Nepal experienced a significant capital flight between 2001 and 2010, resulting in a staggering loss of $8.01 billion for the country. The report, titled 'Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2001-2010,' states that, on average, approximately $801.4 million left Nepal annually during that period.

The price of gold has increased by Rs 800 per tola in the domestic market on Friday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 112, 500 per tola today. The gold was traded at Rs 111,700 per tola on Thursday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 111, 9500 per tola. It was traded at Rs 111, 150 per tola. Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,455 per tola today.

The Election Commission has summoned an all-party meeting on Friday. The poll body called the political parties to discuss the government’s decision to scrap the district election offices. The EC spokesperson Shaligram Sharma Paudel said that the meeting has been called for 11 am today. He said that various five issues including the government’s decision to scrap the district election offices will be discussed in the meeting. Through the annual budget for the fiscal year 2023/24, the government announced to scrap all the 77 district election offices and put them under the jurisdiction of district administration offices. Earlier, the EC had urged Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayankaji Shrestha to roll back the government’s decision to scrap the district election offices. At Wednesday's Parliament meeting, Nepali Congress leader Gagan Thapa had raised a question over the government’s decision to scrap the district election offices. He had demanded that the government take back its decision immediately.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Friday arrested a lab technician of the National Public Health Laboratory, Teku, Kathmandu for taking bribe. A team deployed from the CIAA, Tangal apprehended Lekhanath Bhattarai with Rs 50, 000 bribe money from Sankhamul this morning. He is accused of taking a bribe of Rs 50, 000 from a service seeker to facilitate the lab registration process. Further investigation into the case is underway, the CIAA said.  

Save the Children Nepal has launched an initiative to raise awareness about the severe consequences of air pollution and the climate crisis on children’s lives. Introducing ‘Saathi’-the ‘Air Bear’ as the campaign’s mascot, the organization aims to make a significant impact through its flagship child and youth-led campaign, ‘Generation Hope’.  Unveiled on Earth Day, 22 April 2023, Saathi will embark on a nationwide journey, collaborating with young climate change champions, government officials, policymakers, and influencers to address the escalating climate crisis and deteriorating air quality in Nepal. Standing at an impressive four-meter height, Saathi recently concluded its visit to Karnali Province. During this visit, Saathi, accompanied by young climate activists, engaged in meaningful discussions with the Mayor of Birendranagar and other influential stakeholders. The focus was on raising awareness about the detrimental effects of air pollution and advocating for concrete actions to protect the rights and future of children through informed decision-making on climate-related issues. Ashmita, a 14-year-old climate activist, emphasized the gravity of air pollution, stating, “Imagine breathing such toxic air, imagine how this air will darken our future.” She further emphasized the need for collective responsibility by remarking, “As Saathi’s fur grows darker, it will compel us to reflect on the consequences of our negligence.” Young climate activists like Ashmita join Saathi on its journey, actively participating in discussions to find collaborative solutions to combat air pollution and climate change. Saathi’s travels across the country serve as a poignant reminder of the hazards of air pollution, while also underscoring the importance of empowering children and young people as leaders in climate justice conversations. By encouraging duty bearers and influential stakeholders to listen and engage with them, Saathi aims to secure a brighter future for the next generation.  Ayush Joshi, the Director for Advocacy, Campaigns, and Media at Save the Children, believes, “Saathi is a powerful catalyst that instills hope and ignites determination in children and young people. Together, they form a united front, advocating against the adversities of climate change and holding those responsible accountable for securing a sustainable future for children in Nepal.” Joshi expressed optimism, stating, “We are hopeful that Saathi will ignite a nationwide movement alongside young climate activists, raising awareness about the urgent climate crisis and its devastating impact on children and their future.” Through Saathi’s journey and the collaboration with passionate climate activists, Save the Children Nepal aims to galvanize a transformative movement that empowers young voices and drives meaningful change. By addressing air pollution and the climate crisis head-on, forging a path toward a safer and brighter future for the children of Nepal.