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A Manang Air helicopter, which had gone missing since this morning, has crashed at Lamjura Danda.

The chopper with call sign 9N-AMV that took off for Kathmandu from Surke at 10: 05 am today was found crashed at Chyandanda in Lamjura of Bhakanje, Likhupike Rural Municipality-5, Rural Municipality Chairperson Mina Karki Basnet said.

The helicopter was flown by Capitan Chet Gurung.

Apart from Captain Gurung, there were five foreigners on board the helicopter, Sagar Kandel, ATC Office at the Lukla Airport, said.

A Manang Air helicopter en route to Kathmandu from Solukhumbu has been reported missing.

The chopper with call sign 9N-AMV took off from Surke Helipad in Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality2 carrying five passengers at 10: 05 am today, the Civil Aviation Authority, Lukla said.

Office Chief Mahesh Shrestha said that the helicopter, which was supposed to reach the destination in 45 minutes, has not come in contact yet.

Search is underway for the missing chopper.

Rapid spread of lumpy skin disease has taken a heavy toll on livestock in Baitadi district.

The officials at Veterinary Hospital and Livestock Service Center, Patan, said that the disease on animals has gone out of control in the district adding that there is no availability of vaccine so far.

Livestock Development Officer at the Centre, Dr Bishal Pathak, said more than 64,000 domestic animals have been infected with lumpy skin and more than 9,200 animals have already died of the infection.

"The cases of lumpy skin infection have increased every day but the district lacks vaccines. We have written to the federal and provincial governments requesting vaccines," Dr Pathak said.

It has been learnt that the disease has spread to all 84 wards in the district and has taken the form of epidemic through the mountainous area is less impacted.

Lumpy skin is a contagious virus disease transmitted to cattle by flies, mosquitoes or ticks. The cattle with the disease develop symptoms such as high fever, loss of appetite, reduced milk output and enlarged lymph nodes which can also lead to death.

It is said that 1-3 percent of infected animals might die due to the disease and the mortality rate can go up for lack of necessary care and primary aid.

The disease was first reported in Nepal in July 2020. In the first two years after the detection of contagious disease, as many as 13 out of 3,301 infected cattle of 16 districts died due in Nepal.

The Dailekh District Court sentenced a 50-year-old man to 33 years in prison for raping his 17-year-old daughter.

Hearing the case filed at the District Police Office on April 4 from the victim’s side, District Judge Balaram Lamsal issued the verdict on Monday, Information Officer of Dailekh District Court Tikaram Neupane said.

The man raped his daughter on March 15.

Neupane also said that the man has also been slapped with a fine of Rs 300,000.

In addition, the court has ordered the convict to provide Rs 50,000 in compensation to the survivor and pay Rs 2,800 for the Victims Relief Fund, Neupane shared.

In the district, the number of rape case of minors from father being registered in the police has reached four in the past three months after March 15.

The continuous improvement in the remittance inflow, tourism earnings, and forex reserves has put the country’s external sector in a comfortable position. The latest macroeconomic report released by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) shows Nepal has received remittances above Rs 100bn for seven straight months.

The comfortable position of the external sector has given space for the central bank to bring a moderate monetary policy for FY 2023/24. While the central bank’s top officials have not spoken about the direction of the new monetary policy, the latest data, according to the private sector, allows the NRB to be more flexible. The central bank in the current fiscal year adopted a tighter monetary policy amid declining forex reserves and a deteriorating external sector.

NRB officials say that the policy efforts of the government and the central bank implemented a year ago, aimed at controlling imports and credit expansion, have worked as expected. According to them, the challenge now is to maintain the pace of improvement.

The NRB Executive Director Prakash Kumar Shrestha also said that the latest macroeconomic report has indicated that a flexible monetary policy could be introduced. “However, which direction the new monetary policy will take will be determined by the market and statistics,” he said. “It is not just the external sector that has become improved. Liquidity has increased while interest rates are decreasing. But we should also pay attention to how the money will be used. While the indicators are positive currently, we need to tread with caution.”

Nepal has received remittances worth Rs 107.3bn in Jestha (mid-May to mid-June). The country has been receiving monthly remittances above Rs 100bn since Mangshir (mid-November to mid-December).

With the surge in remittance inflow, the country’s forex reserves, and balance of payment both have improved, said NRB. According to the NRB report, Nepal’s balance of payment (BOP) is at a surplus of Rs 228.98bn in the first 11  months of FY 2022/23 compared to a deficit of Rs 269.81bn in the same period of FY 2021/22. In US Dollar terms, BOP remained at a surplus of 1.74bn in the review period compared to a deficit of 2.26bn in the same period of the last fiscal year.

The country’s forex reserves increased by 21.8 percent in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year. The report said Nepal’s forex reserves stood at Rs 1480.87bn in mid-June, 2023 from Rs 1215.80bn in mid-July 2022. In US dollar terms, the gross foreign exchange reserves increased by 18.5 percent to Rs 11.3bn in mid-June 2023 from Rs 9.54bn in mid-July 2022.

In the report, NRB has stated that the current level of foreign exchange reserves is sufficient to cover merchandise imports for 11.2 months, and merchandise and services imports for 9.6 months.

Meanwhile, continuously growing tourist arrivals helped the growth of the country’s tourism income by 94.3 percent. Nepal has earned Rs 58.60bn as tourism income in this fiscal year compared to Rs 29.87bn in the last fiscal year. The country’s tourism earnings nosedived in FY 2019/20, and FY 2020/21 due to restrictions on international travel as countries imposed various lockdowns to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In what could caution the country’s policymakers as well as government officials, the country’s foreign education and abroad travel bills have crossed Rs 100bn in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year. While Nepal spends a huge amount of its foreign exchange on import bills yearly, foreign education and abroad travel has emerged as the other major areas where the country’s hard-earned foreign currency is being spent. 

According to the latest macroeconomic report of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), Nepalis have spent Rs 119.98bn this fiscal for foreign travel and payment for education abroad.

The amount spent by Nepalis for these two purposes is much higher than the country’s tourism income during the same period. Foreign tourists spent as much as Rs 58.6bn in Nepal in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year.

The NRB data shows a total of Rs 89.18bn have been sent abroad in the first 11 months of this fiscal to pay the education bills of Nepalis studying in foreign colleges and universities. Nepalis had spent as much as Rs 67.7bn for education abroad in the first 11 months of the fiscal year 2021/22. In FY 2020/21 and FY 2019/20, spending for education decreased to Rs 24.95bn and Rs 25.81bn, according to the NRB.

Likewise, Nepalis are spending heavily on traveling to other countries as tourists. According to NRB data, as much as Rs 30.8bn was spent on foreign travel during the first 11 months of the current fiscal year.

“Nepalis are spending large amounts of foreign exchanges for travels abroad for different purposes in recent years,” said the NRB official. “As Nepal is an open economy, we cannot control such spending.”

Nepalis spent as much as Rs 97.32bn in the last fiscal year 2021/22 for travels abroad both for visiting foreign destinations and studying abroad which is triple the amount the country earned from foreign travelers. Nepal earned as much as Rs 32.44bn from foreign visitors in the last fiscal year. Nepal’s tourism earnings were battered by travel curbs after the Covid-19 pandemic which has been recovering lately. The country earned only Rs 7.26bn from foreign tourists in the fiscal year 2020/21, according to NRB. But the country’s tourism is reviving which is clearly indicated by the growth in foreign visitors in 2022. 

Rising travel spending

Many children have fallen victims to trafficking in orphanages. But Nepal government doesn’t recognize the term ‘orphanage trafficking’, despite being the 176th country to ratify the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons or the Palermo Protocol that considers the current situation of child care homes (CCH) in Nepal as orphanage trafficking. Anushka Nepal from ApEx caught up with Amrita Poudyal, head of programs (South Asia), ECPAT Luxembourg, an INGO working for child protection. Child Care Homes (CCH) should be the last resort for children to live in. But still, many CCHs, in the past, have sheltered children who have parents or guardians to look after them. It’s orphanage trafficking. Is that still prevalent? The problem with orphanage trafficking is that the Nepal government has not yet recognized the term ‘orphanage trafficking’. Obviously, there are many children still being kept at CCHs despite having parents or guardians to look after them. But orphanage trafficking has not been defined in any of the acts, and the Human Trafficking Act has not been revised. So, if you ask me if orphanage trafficking is prevalent, it is. Still children are being sheltered in orphanages despite having parents or guardians. Internationally, that is recognized as orphanage trafficking. But the Nepal government doesn’t, so the answer becomes a bit more complicated. Has this situation gotten any better with the passing years?   I think it has. Looking at the past data, orphanages running in Nepal have decreased from 489 to 417. That’s because the National Child Rights Council (NCRC) has come up with a certain guideline that every CCH must follow. Also, they are required to register within the NCRC, which won’t happen if needed criterias are not met. Secondly, several municipalities have held training sessions for the ones who run orphanages on how a CCH should work. There were a few who handed over the children from their shelter to the municipality when they realized they could not meet the needed standard for running an orphanage. So that shows that things are falling into the system. And the orphanages are constantly monitored. If the criterias aren’t met, either they are given a timeframe to meet the criteria or are requested to shut down. What are the obstacles you face in tackling these issues? The problem is that, when it comes to the guidelines, it only says what needs to be done, but does not mention what happens to the involved party when the criteria mentioned in the guideline is not met. So it’s not obligatory. It looks more like a recommendation. And the other problem, again, is the government not recognizing the term ‘orphanage trafficking’. Are there ways for the government to ensure if CCHs are following needed regulations to create safe space for children? If so, are they doing a good job?  Nepal became the 176th country to ratify the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, commonly known as Palermo Protocol in 2020. Since Nepal has made the ratification, this protocol stands above the domestic laws, and the country should be amending their domestic laws to align with this protocol. Doing so would be one way to ensure safe space for children in Nepal, when it comes to their involvement with orphanages. But the government has not shown any progress to amend the Human Trafficking and Transportation Act that aligns with this protocol. But the government has addressed issues related to child protection in orphanages on their five years strategic plan which was finalized in Dec 2022. In the past, we have come across several news articles related to pedophilia and sexual harrasment in Nepal’s CCHs. Are these cases still on the rise or are they being mitigated? I think when it comes to the cases of pedophilia in orphanages, we have come across cases where the accused were both Nepalis and foreign nationals. I saw a high number of cases that involved foreign nationals during the Maoist insurgency. But the number has decreased since then, although we do see a few cases here and there. But that doesn’t mean the cases of sexual harassment as well as pedophilia has been mitigated. In fact, I believe it’s increasing. That’s because there are many platforms that influence these kinds of behavior, major being social media outlets. We still find Nepalis who lure children into orphanages, resulting in many cases of sexual and physical abuse. Vulnerable groups are being targeted not just in person, but also through online platforms, luring them with employment and educational opportunities. Although I don’t have the data to show the increment in cases, the cases I have come across in my time of career indicates that they are still on the rise.

Tourist arrivals hit a three-year high in 2022, with 614,148 foreign visitors coming into the country, but their spending as well as average stay in Nepal has plummeted to a three-year low. According to the ‘Nepal Tourism Statistics-2022’ published by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, the average stay of tourists has dropped to 13.1 days in 2022. The average length of stay in 2021 was 15.5 days, a ten-year high. With tourists shortening their stay in Nepal, their spending too declined in 2022. The average daily spending of tourists declined to $40 per day, down from $48 per day in 2021. The Tourism Ministry’s data shows that tourist arrivals and tourism earnings both surged significantly in 2022. Nepal welcomed over 600,000 tourists last year while tourism income rose to a three-year high of $326.28m. The surge in the number of tourists has not resulted in a significant increment in their spending during their stay in Nepal. With mainly budget travelers coming to Nepal, tourism entrepreneurs say the decline in the length of stay, and their average daily spending is natural. “A large number of tourists visiting Nepal are average spenders. We do not get affluent tourists who could spend handsomely during their stay in Nepal,” said Vinayak Shah, president of the Hotel Association of Nepal. According to travel trade entrepreneurs, the fear of the Covid-19 pandemic was still there in 2022, forcing travelers not to stay for a long time. “As international travel was opened across the globe fully in 2022, it takes some time to return to normalcy,” said Shah. Hoteliers and tour operators said tourists from European countries spend more than other countries. “But tourist arrivals from European countries in 2022 surged compared to 2021, but have not reached the level of 2019,” said Bishwesh Shrestha, owner of C&K Travels. Tourism entrepreneurs emphasized the need to create an environment to lengthen the stay of foreign visitors. According to them, there is a dire need to upgrade the tourism infrastructures. While the country has seen more five-star, four-star hotels, there are still issues related to product and service diversification. “There is a bottleneck in tourism infrastructures. The Tribhuvan International Airport cannot cater to more tourist flow than what it is catering now,” said Shah, “While the two international airports are yet to be operated fully.” The number of foreign visitors entering Nepal grew by 306.82 percent in 2022, putting an end to a two-year downward spiral that started in early 2020 when the coronavirus outbreak wreaked havoc across the world. While the number of foreign visitors entering Nepal grew significantly, it is still 48.70 percent lower than in 2019 when 1.19m arrivals were recorded. In the first half of 2023, the tourist arrivals surged by 97.79 percent to reach 476,507. With healthy growth in tourist arrivals from the start of this year, tourism entrepreneurs are expecting 1m international visitors in the country by the end of 2023. While tourist arrivals have improved significantly compared to the last three years, the number is yet to touch the pre-Covid level. Nepal had received 573,658 tourists in the first six months of 2019. The arrival of foreigners in the first six months of 2023 is 83.06  percent compared to the same period in 2019. With the easing of travel restrictions and China reponing outbound travel for its citizens, Nepali tourism entrepreneurs are pinning high hopes for 2023. In 2022, tourist arrivals reached over 600,000 without any significant contribution from China. Only 9,595 Chinese tourists visited Nepal in 2022. Tourists’ length of stay Year Days 2022 13.1 2021 15.5 2020 15.1 Average expense per visitor Year Expense 2022 $40.5 2021 $48 2020 $65 Tourism earnings Year Expense 2022 $326.28m 2021 $112.50m 2020 $217m