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Tibet Military Commander of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Major General Yue Ande called on Chief of Army Staff Prabhuram Sharma at the army headquarters in Kathmandu on Wednesday.

During the meeting, they discussed the matters of bilateral interest and mutual relations, the Public Relations and Information Department of the Army said.

The joint military drill being conducted between Nepal and Chinese People’s Liberation Army has also been also been affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

They also discuss resuming the same military exercise, a source said.

Leading an eight-member delegation, Major General Yue arrived in Kathmandu on Wednesday.

Brigadier General Sunil Shrestha and Major General Sagar Bahadur Thapa had welcomed them at the airport.

The Nepal Army said that the Chinese military officials will visit Army Command and Staff College and Military Museum among other tourist areas.

“The Nepal Army believes that this kind of visit will help in strengthening the relationship between the two countries and also help in promoting Nepal's tourism,” Nepal Army said in a statement issued today.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said the social security scheme would be run as an intensive campaign by integrating it under the integrated concept for receiving the expected returns on the development of the economy.

Structures would be created for implementing the scheme in an integrated way for its sustenance and removing dual benefits while making many social security allowance schemes being based on contribution, he said while addressing the inaugural of the social security plan for workers and self-employed people in the informal sector at an event organized here by the Social Security Fund on Wednesday.

"The Fund is an important mechanism of the state for neglected, suppressed and oppressed people of the society. The mechanism has the ability of increasing entire production by making the internal production cycle active. On the other hand, hopes of workers are there in such a fund. The scheme helps in the context when workers in the informal sector have to work until their body allows and they have to retire empty-handed from the job."

The constitution cannot be fully implemented until workers' right to social security is implemented, he said.

Stating that Nepali migrant workers have been covered by the social security scheme, he assured of fully implementing the government's campaign to bring all workers under the scheme.

Stating that guaranteeing the rights of workers including social security was a mandatory condition for establishment of socialism-oriented political and economic system as envisaged by the constitution of Nepal, Prime Minister Dahal argued that social security was not a general concept.

"It would rather create an enabling environment for all citizens to avail education, healthcare services, employment, concession and rewards without discrimination," asserted Dahal.

Pressing for effective implementation of the 'Contribution-based Social Security Act-2074 BS' to make social security sustainable and organized, he pledged to mobilize regulatory agencies to oversee implementation of the Act keeping in view that no citizens are deprived of benefits of social security act.

Furthermore, he said efforts would be coordinated for registration of the establishment, renewal, taxation system, participation in procurement process among others to ensure that workers from formal sectors are affiliated with the Fund.

To enhance capacity of the Fund and to maintain its credibility and ownership, he also assured to rope in the government offices' workers working on the basis of contract and daily wages in the Fund.

He said that the government was serious towards enforcing the co-contribution of the State for the welfare of workers in the informal sector.

Similarly, Minister for Labor, Employment and Social Security Sharat Singh Bhandari articulated readiness of the government to revise and implement various plans unveiled by the Fund to contribute towards poverty reduction and increase attraction of the labor force in the labor market.

Likewise, Chief Secretary Dr Baikuntha Aryal suggested that the Fund should prepare to maintain record and manage the statistics of the Fund keeping in view the increasing number of its beneficiaries.

Joint Trade Union Labor Coordination Committee (JTUCC) President Binod Shrestha underscored practical implementation of labor rights issues provisioned in the constitution, law and policy.

Representatives from employer companies and international labor organizations were present in the program.

While successive federal budgets introduce a range of initiatives pertaining to the economy and private industry, their execution consistently falls short. The majority of the programs that are outlined in the budget seldom come to fruition in terms of execution.

A study by the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) shows only 18 percent of the economic sector programs announced in the 2022/23 federal budget have been fully implemented.

The CNI study highlights there is no satisfactory progress in most of the policies and programs that are directly related to the economic sectors. In its ‘CNI Budget Watch’ initiative, CNI has identified 62 points related to the economic development of the country, investment, and the private sector. According to the study, only 11 points have been implemented in the last FY. Similarly, the study shows 47 percent (29 points) were partially implemented. However, the remaining 35 percent (22 points) of policies and programs have no progress at all.

The CNI study says the issues related to foreign investment have been implemented to some extent, but the implementation of infrastructure, start-up, and land sector-related issues has been weak.

Among those are the policy of a minimum threshold of Rs 20m in foreign direct investment, arrangements of automatic approval of investments up to Rs 100m, 10 percent share reservation in the initial public offering (IPO) of companies for Nepalis in foreign employment, and initial approval of large foreign investments through electronic means within seven days.

Most of the policies and programs related to infrastructure, tourism, industry, and agriculture have not been implemented. The CNI study highlights that the overall budget implementation has remained poor in the last fiscal year. According to the Confederation, issues such as changes in tax rates and discount facilities related to the Economic Act have naturally been implemented immediately. “The progress of implementation of the points mentioned in the budget related to policy changes, legal reforms, and structural changes is disappointing,” said the report.

Similarly, there has been no progress in the announcement such as the construction and operation of the industrial areas in potential areas including Shaktikhor in Chitwan in the public-private partnership. According to CNI, the government’s promise of reviewing the provisions regarding the delimitation of land required for the establishment of industries, arranging the land lease for 50 years for industries, and mortgaging of land in excess of the limit in the name of industrial businesses to take loans has not happened in the last fiscal year.

The fact that only 72 percent of the revenue target has been achieved in the last fiscal year shows the laxity in income and expenditure has revealed the weakness of budget implementation.

The budget implementation in the last fiscal year remained poor as the government managed to spend only 79.7 percent of the total allocated budget while only 72 percent of the revenue target was achieved. “The imbalance of both income and expenditure exposes the weakness of budget planning and implementation,” says the CNI study.

The ‘CNI Budget Watch’ has included 12 sectors, namely startup, information technology, tourism, industry and SMEs, land, foreign investment, public-private partnership, energy, infrastructure, agriculture, domestic production and export promotion, and others.

58 percent of industries still use generators: CNI

In what shows the government struggling to supply adequate electricity to the industrial sector, a new report by the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) shows 57.89 percent of industries have been using generators as an alternative power source.

The CNI’s recent Industry Status Report says since the electricity supply provided by NEA is from a common feeder for an area, it reduces the reliability. “A separate feeder is essential for commercial purposes,” says the report. The manufacturing industries using generators as alternative sources of energy stated that there is an additional 8.05 percent of cost increase due to the use of generators. 

Varagung Muktichettra Rural Municipality-4 in Kagbeni, Mustang has been shrouded in darkness for three days since a monsoon-induced flood disrupted electricity supply in the locality.

A massive flood occurred in the locality last Sunday and swept away over a dozen of electricity poles installed in and around the river basin. The poles were being repaired to resume electricity supply in the locality, said Anup KC, Chief District Officer (CDO), Baglung.

The Nilgiri Consumer Cooperatives has been distributing electricity in Kagbeni and other adjacent places. "The Cooperatives responsible for distribution of electricity have assigned technicians to repair the flood-damaged pillars," said CDO KC.

He added that the supply of drinking water would be resumed from today in Kagbeni. The flood had swept away pipelines of drinking water. The local authority is preparing to supply the drinking water brought from a nearby village.

Hundreds of villagers have been compelled to live in darkness due to power shortage, said Dhawa Dorje Gurung, a local resident.

The flood had swept away 29 houses and partially damaged 13 houses in Kagbeni.

No human causality was reported in the incident.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 20. 31 points to close at 2,025.12 points on Wednesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 5. 54 points to close at 386. 30 points.

A total of 4,838,106-unit shares of 269 companies were traded for Rs 1. 67 billion.

Meanwhile, Sunrise Focused Equity Fund was the top gainer today with its price surging by 4. 00 percent.

Likewise, Mountain Hydro Nepal Limited was the top loser as its price fell by 8. 06 percent.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 03 trillion.

The Labor and Employment Office in Janakpur has been found issuing work permits on the basis of fabricated documents.  Because of this, youths have been deprived of foreign employment opportunities. Not only foreign employment opportunities, workers have also been subject to financial losses incurred in the purchase of air tickets and the processing of labor permits.

The irregularity within the labor office came to light following the interception of several workers heading for overseas job destinations by the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) Immigration Office. 

Sources have pinpointed the involvement of Section Officer Basuki Nath Jha, Nayab Subba Umesh Kumar Dahal and Ram Balak Yadav, and translator Shamsad Alam in issuing labor permits on the basis of fake documents. Inexplicably, the Department of Foreign Employment and the Department of Labor and Occupational Safety have refrained from taking action or initiating investigations into these allegations. The authorities have neither penalized the culpable individuals nor pursued corrective measures. 

The Labor and Employment Office in Janakpur opted to deflect attention by dismissing translator Alam from their ranks. The extent of the wrongdoing at the Janakpur-based office emerged when three aspiring jobseekers en route to Kuwait were denied passage by the TIA Immigration Office. Chandra Bahadur Gurung, Raj Kumar Shrestha, and Kaji Ram Shrestha were refused departure after it was discovered that their labor permits were issued on the basis of  counterfeit Kuwaiti civil identification documents. 

Chandra Bahadur and Raj Kumar were embarking on foreign employment for the first time, while Kaji Ram had previously worked in Dubai on two occasions. It was also found that contract agreements signed with employers, which the youths were carrying, were also fake. 

While Section Officer Jha sought to distance himself from the issuance of Kuwaiti labor permits, suggesting that any mistakes may have been made by the translator, other officials contest this explanation. They assert that labor permits cannot be granted solely on the basis of translation.  Sources within the Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security have said that they have received complaints of wrongdoings by the Janakpur office. “We are in the process of getting more details,” a source said. Not only Janakpur, similar wrongdoings have also been reported against labor and employment offices in Pokhara and Biratnagar.

President Ram Chandra Paudel and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli held a meeting on Wednesday.

Oli reached Sheetal Niwas this afternoon at the call of President Paudel.

During the meeting, they discussed House deadlock and contemporary political issues.

On the occasion, President Paudel expressed his  concern over the House deadlock with main opposition party leader Oli, a source at the President’s Office said.

In the meeting, Oli said that the UML had demanded formation of a high-level probe committee or commission in the Parliament, but the government was not ready to form the same.

Oli said that the regular proceedings of the Parliament were obstructed due to the government’s reluctance to form the high-level probe committee.

In response, the President urged Oli to move ahead by taking all the parties representing in the Parliament into confidence.

Earlier on Friday, Parliament Speaker Devraj Ghimire and National Assembly Chairman Ganesh Prasad Timilsina met President Paudel and urged him to take initiatives to open the House.

They had urged the President to hold talks with all the political parties as a guardian.

inDrive has been operating in Nepal since 2022 and has become one of the popular ride-sharing services. The founder and CEO of inDrive, Arsen Tomsky, was in Nepal a few days earlier for the launch of his biography, inDriver, now available in Nepali too. ApEx caught up with him to talk about his book and business. Excerpts:

How do you feel about your first book launch in Nepal?

I am delighted. The foundation and growth of inDrive is not just a professional endeavor for me, but a deeply personal and emotional journey that has shaped my life, and writing about its development has been transformative, and I am thrilled to invite everyone to embark on this adventure with me.

What was the inspiration behind writing the book?

I wanted to share my journey with readers. With this book, I seek to motivate people to develop themselves and the world around them in any circumstance. In my case, challenging injustices have become an important driver for the foundation and development of the application.

Why did you choose to publish your biography in Nepali?

The book is already available in English, Spanish and Portuguese. It is now out in the Nepali language. The book is not for any business purposes. Rather we have planned to donate these books in schools and libraries just to share my journey and motivate others.

Nepal has no legal provision for ride-sharing services. Still, you launched inDrive here. What made you do so?

We follow a common industry practice of testing new markets through research and development activities. In Nepal, we are currently offering the inDrive app to citizens without charging any fees or commissions. This helps us understand the market and its potential before we officially launch our services. We are in touch with relevant government bodies and are committed to getting the necessary documents and approvals required by the law before the official launch. 

Yes, currently there are no ride-hailing laws as this is a recent development and in most countries the laws are being formulated. However, the concept of ride-sharing is not alien to Nepal. There are different service providers providing some form of platform-based services. In addition, the rise and need for such services have been acknowledged by courts and authorities.
inDrive is dedicated to fighting injustice and upholding transparency and fairness in the mobility and transportation space. The inDrive is focused on emerging economies where there are injustices to solve. The test run conducted in Nepal has made us more confident that the people would support our service.

inDrive has gained plenty of popularity in Nepal. Data suggests that it was last year’s most downloaded ride-sharing app here. What are the company’s future plans for Nepal?

inDrive arrived in Nepal in Q2, 2022 and since then thousands of drivers have been using inDrive on a daily basis and earning money with our platform. This year we are collaborating with NRS Sports Foundation to support a new initiative aimed at developing the running culture in Nepal and nurturing long-distance runners to participate in international running championships. The training program will be conducted within the Kathmandu Valley as well as in Thimi, Hetauda, Butwal and Pokhara, with plans to expand to other cities in the future. To promote young and underprivileged runners, inDrive will support more than 300 athletes by providing slots in Kathmandu Marathon which is scheduled for Oct 14.

We also run multiple initiatives supporting startups and gender equality in the tech industry around the globe. Very soon we will be announcing next year's traditional Aurora Tech Award in Nepal and in other countries.

What is your message to new entrepreneurs who are willing to start new ventures?

To other entrepreneurs with dreams of taking a startup into the global market, my advice is: We call ourselves underdogs because we are from a remote place. We didn’t have access to knowledge, experience, technology, investments, or other professionals. We had low chances to build something, but we did it. We focused on our goals and our mission to challenge injustice. We hope our example will inspire millions of other underdogs around the world.

What is inDrive’s goal for this year?

Our main objectives are to expand our business into new countries and grow in the markets we 

currently operate in, launching new verticals including freight, courier delivery and others to offer more equitable services. Alongside this, we prioritize enhancing customer experience and ensuring safety for all users. 

We are continuing our journey of empowering communities through our inVision programs, where we support access to education, arts, sports and science. 

To uphold our commitment to safety, we have introduced the Safety Pact—an initiative empowering users with dedicated features, tips, and a code of conduct for drivers and passengers. We promote mutual respect and have a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination.  By pursuing expansion, growth, customer satisfaction, and safety, we are well-positioned to continue delivering great results and making a positive impact in the communities we serve.