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Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Purna Bahadur Khadka has said that Nepal and Republic of Korea should work to further deepen the bilateral relations and ensure cooperation.  

At a meeting with Ambassador of Republic of Korea Tae-Young Park on Thursday, the Deputy Prime Minister also expressed pleasure for organizing separate programs in Kathmandu and Seoul to further deepen the friendly ties between the two countries on the occasion of completion of 50 years of formal diplomatic ties. 

Likewise, the DPM recalled that South Korea has been Nepal's reliable development partner for a long and its support to Nepal's energy, health care, education, human resource and rural development sectors were crucial. 

On the occasion, Korean Ambassador Park said that Nepal was the first priority to migrant workers in South Korea under the Employment Permit System (EPS).

The Ambassador said that as high as 10,000 Nepalis would be provided with the employment opportunity in the next year under the EPS model.

Millions of people heading abroad for employment should alarm a government worth its name.

If they do not, that is an indication that something is seriously wrong, not just with the government but with the entire state.

Facts first. Government data themselves show that about 5m people have opted for foreign employment in the course of 30 years. Many of these people land dirty, difficult and dangerous jobs, meaning death at work is pretty high. Data show that around 12,000 Nepali migrant workers have lost their lives abroad in the past 15 years alone. Despite these alarming figures, youth outmigration continues unabated. So much so, reports indicate that Nepali youths are even falling prey to non-state actors recruiting for the Ukraine war.

Perhaps the government does not bother much about this draining of the youth because it gets a huge amount in remittance every year. So much so, it seems bent on sending young professionals like nurses abroad without any regard for a public health system on sickbed.  Yearly remittance figures stood at $8.11bn, $8.23bn and a whopping $9.29bn from 2020 to 2022. Who would want to lose such a sum in these hard times? 

But these tall figures hide incalculable losses resulting from outmigration. Youths leaving in increasing numbers means no population dividend for a country lagging far behind in comparison to other countries in the neighborhood in terms of development and prosperity. It means tearing the very fabric of the Nepali society asunder. 

This is not to mean that one should not go abroad, in this day and age of interconnectivity, for acquiring new skills, technologies, getting a good education and landing a job, etc. But the focus of the state should be on the creation of a conducive environment to bring these people back and tap their newfound technical skills, knowledge, expertise and experience for the betterment of respective families, societies and the country.

The onus to stop this drain is not on the government alone, though. In particular, people of productive age groups have a tendency to see greener pastures abroad and this is also a reason behind outmigration. These people should not forget that Nepal is a job market for millions of people from across the border. Why are the youths themselves not getting gainful employment in their own country? Is it because they constitute a cream of the cream lot for whom suitable jobs are not available in a low-tech Nepal? Is it because of a mindset that regards certain jobs available in Nepal as inferior? What is the major reason behind thousands of hectares of farmlands lying barren for years, if not this mindset?

Whatever the reason(s), stakeholders, including the government, political parties, their youth wings and community leaders should hold discussions and work out ways to stop this sapping of national energies before it’s too late.

Police have arrested a Chinese national in connection with the gold smuggling case.

The immigration took the Chinese national under control from the Tribhuvan International Airport while he was preparing to leave the country and handed him over to the Revenue Investigation Department.

The Revenue Investigation Department recovered around one quintal gold from Singamangal on Wednesday.

Police said that the gold, passed undetected through the Customs Office of the Tribhuvan International Airport, arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday's Cathay Pacific flight.

The gold was brought in Kathmandu by concealing in the brake shoes of motorbikes and scooters.

ALSO READ: Probe committee formed to look into recent gold smuggling case

Sudurpaschim Province Government has failed to utilize Rs 11bn of the budget allocated for the fiscal year 2022/23.

Out of the total allocation of Rs 35bn in 2022/23, the provincial government could spend only Rs 24bn by mid-July 2023. The provincial government has stated that Rs 7bn from the capital budget and Rs 4bn from the recurrent budget remained unutilized in the previous fiscal year, which concluded in mid-July.

According to Basudev Joshi, chief of Sudurpashchim Treasury Controller Office, only Rs 15bn out of the allocated Rs 22.84bn for the capital budget was expended. Similarly, Rs 8bn out of the allocated Rs 12.3bn for recurrent expenditure was utilized during the review year.

“Despite having numerous development plans, the province government lacked sufficient personnel to execute them,” Joshi explained. “This hindered the spending process.”

Joshi further mentioned that the majority of the unspent budget consisted of equalization grants and conditional grants received from the federal government.

The provincial government has been allocating budgets for projects even smaller than those prepared by local units. Under the Ministry of Physical Planning alone, there were 6,200 projects with budgets ranging from Rs 300,000 to Rs 50m.

“The budgets are allocated with the intention of favoring party cadres and individuals close to influential figures. There is a practice of implementing projects through consumer committees led by party cadres to pocket commissions,” said Rajendra Singh Rawal, the parliamentary party leader of CPN-UML in the provincial assembly. “Under such circumstances, how can the budget be fully spent this year?”

In terms of capital expenditure, the Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forest, and Environment achieved the highest spending progress at 79 percent, while the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers attained the lowest progress at 49 percent.

Similarly, the spending progress of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure stood at 73 percent, the Ministry of Social Development at 71 percent, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning at 65 percent, the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives at 65 percent, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law at 56 percent.

This is the second term of the Sudurpaschim Province Government. The average budget spending has remained at 60-65 percent over the past five years. In previous years, the budget spending stood at 59 percent in 2018/19, 62 percent in 2019/20, 64 percent in 2020/21, and 66 percent in 2021/22.

“In the previous fiscal year, budgets were allocated for fragmented projects, and we also faced a shortage of technical staff,” Naresh Bahadur Shahi, Minister of Economic Affairs of Sudurpaschim Province, stated. “Now, we have discontinued fragmented programs. These programs will be implemented by local units. We expect an improvement in spending in the current fiscal year.”

Approximately one-fourth of the budget for 2022/23, amounting to Rs 9bn, was spent in the last month of the fiscal year alone i.e. from mid-June to mid-July.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 1. 31 points to close at 2,163.92 points on Thursday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 0. 05 points to close at 410. 52 points.

A total of 8,424,108-unit shares of 264 companies were traded for Rs 3. 05 billion.

Meanwhile, Bishal Bazar Company Limited and Liberty Energy Company Limited were the top gainers today with their price surging by 10. 00 percent.

Likewise, Citizens Mutual Fund 2 and Kumari Equity Fund were the top losers with their price dropping by 10. 00 percent.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 17 trillion.

The Customs Department has formed a probe committee to investigate the recent gold smuggling case.

A six-member probe committee was formed under the headship of Man Bahadur Poudel, Director at the Investigation Section of the Customs Department, said Information Officer Punya Bikram Khadka.

The investigation committee has been directed to submit its report within five days. 

Director General of the Department Shova Kanta Poudel formed the probe committee today to look into the incident.

The Department of Revenue Investigation had seized around 100 kg gold from Sinamangal on Wednesday. 

Six persons have been arrested in connection with the case so far.  

The gold recovered from the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) has been taken to the Taksar Department of the Thapathali-based Nepal Rastra Bank to determine the exact weight.

The Revenue Investigation Department on Wednesday recovered around 100 kg smuggled from Sinamangal.

The Department has so far arrested an Indian national among six persons in connection with the seizure of around 100 kg gold case.

Businessman Deepak Malhotra’s name has also been mentioned in the same case.

Organizing a press conference in the Capital on Thursday, Malhotra made it clear that he is not involved in the case of gold recovered from the TIA.

He said that he is ready to face action as per the law if found guilty.

Police said that the gold, passed undetected through the Customs Office of the Tribhuvan International Airport, arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday's Cathay Pacific flight.

The yellow metal was brought in Kathmandu by concealing in the brake shoes of motorbikes and scooters.

After years of delay, the government has finally opened the site office of the Budhigandaki Hydroelectric Project to take the much-talked-about project ahead. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal inaugurated the site office on Wednesday in Siurenitar of Gandaki Rural Municipality in Gorkha. The central office of the project was inaugurated by Energy Minister Shakti Basnet on July 16. 

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayankaji Shrestha, Energy Minister Basnet, Province Chiefs, and Chief Ministers of Gandaki and Bagmati provinces were present during the site office inauguration. 

While the Prime Minister on June 26 had said that laying the foundation stone of the project would be done within the last fiscal year, the government only opened the site office. 

Opening the site office, Prime Minister Dahal said that the office was not inaugurated just for the sake of inauguration and the construction work of the project will continue at any cost. “The laying of the foundation stone for the construction of this project will be done during my tenure as Prime Minister. We will proceed with the construction of the project at any cost,” said Dahal.

The construction of the project, according to Dahal, will start after securing the investment. “Discussions are being held with entities such as the Citizen Investment Trust, and Employees Provident Fund,” said Dahal. 

Budhi Gandaki is a ready-to-go project as its detailed project report (DPR) has already been prepared. Compensation distribution to the residents of the project-affected areas for the acquired land has also reached close to completion. 

The mega project which envisages ensuring energy security for Nepal for the next decades has been in limbo due to uncertainty over the modality of its development.

The project will be Nepal’s largest reservoir-type hydropower project and its development has been estimated at $2.6bn. The project area is situated at the boundary between the districts of Gorkha and Dhading. For the government, generating resources and closing the project’s budget gap will be a difficult undertaking.

The government in the last fiscal year decided to build the reservoir-type project on its own and established Budhi Gandaki Jalbidhyut Public Limited for the development of the 12,00 MW project. 

As of now, the authorized capital of Budhi Gandaki company is Rs 20bn. The Energy Ministry has a 50 percent stake in the company while the Finance Ministry and NEA have 30 percent and 20 percent stakes, respectively. 

As developing storage-type projects is quite expensive compared to the run of the river-type projects, a viability gap funding is likely to be required from the government to develop this project. 

The project which has been touted as important to ensuring Nepal’s energy security as it is expected to help the country to be self-reliant even during the dry season has been in limbo for a long time due to uncertainty over the modality of its development.

Earlier, Budhigandaki fell victim to policy inconsistency despite facing hardly any problem in land acquisition and completion of DPR.

In 2017, the then government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal awarded a contract to build the project without competitive bidding to China Gezhouba Group Corporation under the engineering, procurement, construction, and financing (EPCF) modality.

The Sher Bahadur Deuba-led administration in Nov 2017 overturned the earlier government’s decision. A high-level team led by Swarnim Wagle, former Vice-chair of the National Planning Commission, was then established. The committee suggested that the project could also be developed using domestic resources. Again, in September 2018, the government led by KP Sharma Oli decided in favor of the Chinese company, reversing the decision of the Deuba-led government.

In April of last year, the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government once more decided to terminate the license granted to the Chinese company since it was not making any progress on the project. 

The report prepared by the committee headed by Wagle in 2017 suggested that the government should develop the project on its own by providing viability gap funding, covering around one-third of the project development cost.

As per its report, the government could cover the cost of land acquisition and resettlement of displaced families which could total as high as Rs 94bn. A significant chunk of resources can be generated from government institutions. An infrastructure tax being imposed on imported fuel could be an important source of revenue that can be used to develop the project.

According to the Wagle report, public enterprises such as Nepal Electricity Authority, Employees Provident Fund, Nepal Telecom, Rastriya Beema Sansthan, Hydroelectric Investment and Development Company, Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Company, Chilime Hydropower Company, along with Nepal Army, Nepal Police, and the general public could be tapped for the project.