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Prateek Dhakal, 63, is a senior travel writer from Jhapa in eastern Nepal best known for his contribution to tourism literature. His writings are mostly about mountain travel. His notable works are ‘Himal Pari Pugepachi’ and ‘Ananda Bhumi Ko Aagan’. Babita Shrestha from ApEx talked to Dhakal about tourism literature and its relevance in Nepal. How did you get into writing? During school, we had to read about national heroes and I was so obsessed with them that when I was six years old, I wrote a poem titled, ‘Dhar’, which referred to Balbhadra Kunwar. Also, as a result of my excellent academic performance, I received a collection of short stories. After reading that, I got interested in books and kept going to the library and became more inclined toward reading and writing. I started with translation work before I got into writing. I translated several books, including ‘Bright Red Star’ by Li Hsin-Tien. I started working on travelogs in 2002. Since then, I’ve published books like ‘Beyond the Himalayas’, whose initial edition was released in Belgium. What keeps you interested in travel writing? When I was transferred to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, I was often sent to different places as a liaison officer with tourists. That way I got the opportunity to visit many places. In the Khumbu region, I was mesmerized by the mountains. It was surreal. I felt a sense of duty to use my writing ability and the chance the government job offered to contribute to the tourism sector. I felt obligated to inform others about Nepal’s breathtaking mountains. In Nepal, words like ‘Che’, ‘Ri’, and ‘Khang’ are frequently used as suffixes for mountains. They all mean ‘peak’. I realized how important it was for Nepalis to understand their national identity, language, and treasure. Mountains have a mysterious beauty which is what inspires me every time to write in-depth descriptions of them and that is possible only through travel writing. Can you run us through your writing process? I research the place I’m about to visit because mountaineering requires understanding the climate and nuances of the area. When I’m traveling, I make sure to bring notes with me. Sometimes I choose to record when I can’t write because of the cold weather. After returning home, I try to jot down everything. While writing, I prefer to use the present continuous tense as it engages the readers. I try to keep my language light and loose. Also, to avoid things from getting too monotonous, I use monologues as well. Looking back, what’s your take on your books? My book, ‘Sagarmatha ko Adhar Siwir Bata’, is about my trips to Solukhumbu. Apa Sherpa, world record holder for most Mt. Everest summits, and Lakpa Gelu Sherpa, known for holding a world record for the fastest climbing of Mount Everest, launched the book from the summit of Mt. Everest. My other travelog to Dolpa and Upper Mustang is titled ‘Himal Pari Pugepachi’. It’s a place that’s not often regarded as a tourist destination. To help the tourism industry, I have tried to capture the captivating beauty of Dolpa in my book. ‘Ananda Bhumi Ko Aagan’ criticizes negligence in the field of mountaineering. In this book, I have also praised the Sherpa community, who have contributed a lot to making the mountains popular and accessible. My work on mountain writing focuses on exploring the cultures and civilizations of Nepal’s mountainous regions as well as promoting the mountaineering industry. For instance, I portrayed Mugu, Karnali, Jumla, and Kalikot in my book ‘Tyo Ujyalo Karnali’. Here, along with highlighting the mountain’s beauty, I have captured the brilliance of Karnali in terms of its natural resources, culture, language, and history. What are the challenges of being a travel writer? You can never truly express how you felt in a particular moment. For instance, when I visited the Khumbu region, everything was frozen and mesmerizing. I can never describe how thrilled I was. The magic of snow cannot be captured through words. So, for me, a huge challenge of travel writing is the lack of terminology to explain all the experiences and emotions. But I’m lucky as I get to be the protagonist of my narrative. You get to write what you experience, whether it’s about a place, art, language, or custom. You can find descriptions of places online, but what makes travel writing different is how a writer connects with a place and expresses that. Dhakal’s Picks Kalyani Dharti by Tikaram Sharma This is the translation of ‘The Good Earth’ by Pearl S Buck, a historical fiction novel published in 1931. Aparichit Anuhar by Mahesh Paudyal Aparichit Anuhar by Mahesh Paudyal is a Nepali short story collection published in 2021 by Shiksha Books. Madhabi by Madan Mani Dixit Madhabi is a Nepali mythological novel published in 1983 by Sajha Prakashan. The book won the Madan Puraskar in the same year.

The CPN (Maoist Center) has withdrawn its support extended to the CPN-UML-led government in Koshi Province. A meeting of the province office bearers held in Biratnagar on Tuesday decided to withdraw the support to the UML-led government. Chairman Harka Bahadur Nembang said that the support extended to the government was withdrawn at the direction of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is also the Chairman of the CPN (Maoist Center). Issuing a statement today, Nembang said that the ministers have also been recalled.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 25.66 points to close at 1,927.65 points on Tuesday. Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 2.87 points to close at 365. 09 points. A total of 5,541,878-unit shares of 269 companies were traded for Rs 1. 98 billion. Meanwhile, Nyadi Hydropower Limited was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 9. 85 percent. Similarly, Century Debenture was the top loser as its price fell by 3.04 percent. At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 2. 81 trillion.

The government's hope to boost its revenue by taxing nearly 4,000 vehicles parked in different customs yards without clearance is being dashed with auto importers continuing to ignore the government’s call to clear their imports. Automobiles are among the highest revenue-generating imports for the government. The government expects to generate as much as Rs 8 billion once the vehicles parked at the customs yards are cleared. “We have estimated to earn Rs 7-8 billion if the imports are cleared by our customs offices,” said a senior official at the Department of Customs (DoC). “It would be a big relief for the government which is struggling to collect revenue as targeted.” The vehicles were imported based on letters of credit issued before last year's import ban, and have continued to remain parked at customs yards. Officials said the importers have not yet made any efforts to clear these vehicles even though the budget for the next fiscal year 2023/24 has already been presented on May 29. There have not been any changes in taxation on imports of fuel-based vehicles. “If the duty was hiked, those who haven't cleared their imports might have to pay more to clear the parked vehicles,” the DoC official said. However, automobile dealers said that they were forced to keep the imported vehicles at the customs yards due to the lack of demand in the market and also because of lack of bank loans for auto dealers and customers as well. Anup Baral, Managing Director of Narayani Auto Business said that the dealers could not clear the vehicles parked at customs yards because of around 80 percent slump in demands in the market, lack of availability of working capital, and high-interest rates. “Many auto dealers don’t have money to pay the high import duties at the moment,” he said. He however said that some auto dealers have started to clear a limited number of vehicles parked at the customs yards and making fresh imports lately in line with the current market demand. “People’s growing preference for electric vehicles also contributed to a decline in demand for fuel-based vehicles,” Baral added. Before the budget presentation, the customs department didn’t want to pressurize the automobile dealers to clear these vehicles in customs. “It is because we didn't want to give the impression that something is happening on the tariff to be charged on imported vehicles before the budget,” the customs official said. “Now, we plan to ask them to bring the vehicles in after completing the customs clearance process.” Auto imports declined since the government imposed a complete ban on their imports in April 2022 amid depleting foreign exchange reserves that created fear that the country would head in the direction of the Sri Lankan economic crisis. Even though the government lifted a ban on the import of vehicles among others in mid-December last year and removed all import restriction measures in January, there has not been a substantial rise in imports of automobiles. Since the import ban was lifted, Nepal imported automobiles and their parts worth around Rs 18 billion till mid-May of this fiscal year, according to the Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC). Overall imports of automobiles and parts till mid-May stood at Rs 41.27 billion, according to TEPC. During the first 10 months of the last fiscal 2021/22, Nepal imported vehicles and their parts worth Rs 86.80 billion. With auto imports slumping, it has badly affected the government revenue. With just a month and 10 days remaining before the current fiscal year ends, the government has been able to collect just over 50 percent of the annual target, according to the customs department. “DoC had an annual target of collecting Rs 668 billion but it has so far collected only Rs 342 billion,” the DoC official said.

A security guard was found dead at the under construction building of the Pashupati Area Development Trust on Tuesday. A staffer of the PADT found Dhan Bahadur Rana hanging while cleaning the premises of the office. Police reached the incident site after the staffer informed the Metropolitan Police Circle, Gaushala. The PADT said that Rana was recently transferred to the security department from the garden section. DSP Sanjeeb Babu Khadka said that the body has been sent to the Maharajgunj-based Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) for post-mortem. Police said that they are looking into the case.  

With Nepal and India agreeing to establish an inter-country digital payment system, the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has started preparations to bring the agreement on Nepal-India cross-border payment service into implementation within six months. The cross-border digital payment received a major boost after two countries signed a memorandum of understanding last week during Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's India visit. NRB Spokesperson Gunakar Bhatt said that Nepal has started to work on its part to implement the agreement. "While it’s the Nepal Cheque House Limited (NCHL) who's been mainly working on it, the signing of the MoU has paved the way," said Bhatta. In a major step towards financial connectivity between two countries through cross-border digital payment, NCHL CEO Neelesh Man Singh Pradhan and National Payment Corporation India (NPCI) CEO Ritesh Shukla signed an MoU on June 1. According to Pradhan, the technical work related to establishing the mechanism has been started. "First, we will integrate our structure with India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI)," said Pradhan. "After completing the integration process, we will roll out the services gradually." UPI is an instant digital payment system developed by NPCI. According to him, both sides are working out the details regarding instruments that can be used for digital payment, the methods of payments, and the types of transactions. Initially, the fund transfer service will be made available to ordinary consumers of both countries followed by merchant payments. "The technical discussion has begun with NPCI. After a few meetings, there will be clarity on the timeline to launch the services," said Pradhan. In the first phase, a trial run will be carried out by sending the amount from the account of Nepali Bank to the account of Indian Bank and vice versa through mobile banking. After that, payments through wallet, and QR will be implemented. NCHL is the authorized agency in Nepal by the central bank to establish and operate a national payment switch and a national payment card. The central bank, on the other hand, has also started preparations for policy arrangements on issues such as setting limits on transactions as well as service charges for cross-border payments. The implementation of cross-border digital payment services is expected to provide much relief to business people, students, pilgrims, and travelers from both Nepal and India. Once the mechanism comes into operation, citizens of these South Asian neighboring nations do not have to carry large amounts of cash while they visit between the two countries.  

The price of gold has increased by Rs 900 per tola in the domestic market on Tuesday. 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, 600 per tola on Monday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 111, 950 per tola. It was traded at Rs 111, 050 per tola. Similarly, the silve is being traded at Rs 1,420 per tola today.

The National Assembly (NA) meeting scheduled for today has been postponed for tomorrow. The meeting was called for 11: 11 am today. According to the Federal Parliament Secretariat, the meeting of the Upper House was deferred citing a special reason. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal was likely to deliver speech on contemporary issues in today's meeting. Finance Minister Prakash Saran Mahat was scheduled to present the proposal for holding general deliberation on the estimates of the revenue and income for the fiscal year 2023/24, the Secretariat said. The meeting will be held at 11: 11 am tomorrow.