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Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said that the government's positive initiatives in favor of the people have created a fear among anti-people forces. While receiving a memorandum from a delegation of the Press Centre Nepal at his official residence in Baluwatar today, the Prime Minister stressed on the need of resisting the culture of protesting government's 'commendable actions'. Initiations to provide direct services to the people, to promote rights of Nepali who are abroad, to end malpractices and misconducts and steps taken during the recent India visit have contributed to building a positive atmosphere, causing panic among reactionary and regressive forces, according to him. He said, "Anti-people forces are now without any agenda and are well exposed to the people.  Endeavors taken by bracing the odds have made the government further strong." Through the memorandum, the Press Centre has drawn the government's attention towards several issues facing the country, people and the working journalists. The Centre stressed the need of further institutionalizing the right to Press and the right to opinion and the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution, underlining the need of unity among progressive forces towards that end.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said no compromises would be made in corruption control efforts as the government is tough on this matter. Addressing a program organized at the CPN (Maoist Centre) party office in Parisdanda today on the occasion of the fourth death anniversary of former minister and party leader Dhaniram (DR) Poudel, Prime Minister and Party Chairman Dahal reiterated that the government is moving ahead in a steadfast way to maintain good governance. "I see some people casting doubt whether the government will give in or compromise (in its move against stemming corruption). But I say it clearly that the government is not paramount for me. For me, good governance and service to the people is paramount," he added. Giving assurances that the government will move ahead steadfastly to wipe out corruption, the Prime Minister pledged not to compromise and bow out on this. The Maoist Centre Chair said that they are actively moving ahead of the communist movement as per the new situation and were focusing on the process of forming a socialist front to conclude the socialist revolution. Stating that the party suffered an irreparable loss with the sudden demise of DR Poudel, party chairperson Dahal recalled the late leader as the one who always fulfilled his duties and responsibilities given him by the party. "I had given him the responsibility of the Education Minister so that he would establish himself among the people. He also carried out his responsibilities well," PM Dahal said. On a different note, the PM said that the achievements of the movement have come under attack in recent times and those forces considered democratic have turned out to be involved in undemocratic and lowly conducts. "The responsibility of defending the achievements of the movement by struggling against the attacks has fallen on our shoulders. We have to prove that only the communists are honest and capable. Therefore, the government front has to be maximally used in favor of social justice, good governance and prosperity," he asserted. Party's senior Vice-Chair and Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha said that it is the responsibility of all to make the government successful under any circumstances. Stressing the need of expediting the journey towards prosperity, he insisted that the present government should be successful in fulfilling the public aspirations. "The political change happened on the backing of the People's Movement waged under the Maoist leadership. However, the economic and social transformation has still become a far-cry. Although some achievements have been made, the kind of social and economic transformation as directed by the historic political change and as expected by the people has not been experienced yet. The incumbent government will materialize this," he reiterated. Vice-Chair duo Pampha Bhusal and Agni Prasad Sapkota, general secretary Dev Prasad Gurung, deputy general-secretary Haribol Gajurel and Girirajmani Pokhrel, among other leaders paid tribute to Dhaniram Poudel on the occasion.  

An incident has come to light that an Armed Police Force (APF) inspector brutally beat up on-duty constables deployed at the Mechinagar border point in Jhapa. A team of three persons including Inspector Navaprabhat Rai in civvies beat up five constables in uniforms with bamboo sticks. Senior Constable Pasang Tamang, Constables Ganesh Bahadur Tamang, Ram Bahadur Karki, Assistant Constables Shanta Bahadur Rai and Umesh Rajbansi deployed at the Armed Police Force Border Out in Nakulbanda were beaten up black and blue by the team of Inspector Rai. Tamang and Rajbansi sustained injuries on their back while Karki and Rai on their right hands. The injured are undergoing treatment at the Ambda Mechi Hospital in Dhulabari. Tension ran high in Nakalbanda area of Mechinagar Municipality-5 for around five hours on Tuesday night after Inspector Rai, Constables Ram Sundar Tamang and Jeevan Bastola in plain clothes beat on-duty constables black and blue. Following the incident, enraged locals staged a demonstration demanding stringent action against all the three persons including Inspector Rai. It has been learnt that the locals also vandalized a vehicle (BAB 3246). After the situation turned ugly, a team of Armed Police Force led by SP Dev Raj Aryal immediately reached the incident site. In addition to that, around 100 Armed Police Force personnel were deployed to take the situation under control. Meanwhile, a probe committee has been formed to investigate the incident.  

NCash is a new digital wallet developed by Sulav Pay Pvt. Ltd, a digital payment startup. Though the company has not officially launched the wallet, it has already started operations a couple of months ago. ApEx talked to Radhika Adukia, Chief Marketing Officer of Sulav Pay, to know more about NCash and the company. Excerpts: What is a NCash wallet? NCash is a digital wallet platform similar to other digital wallets. We want to make the digital payment experience easy, convenient, and the preferred payment method. It is hassle-free as you don’t have to look around to check if you have changed money or if at times you forget to take the cash you will still be able to make payments through the phone, so in a way it gives individuals freedom. We’re not trying to be the most used wallet, or the wallet you buy events from, or fit into a certain category. We want to be something of a ‘financial Swiss army knife’ for the everyday person. Through our app, users can not only spend but also earn money. We’re trying to build a ‘brand with a personality’ which is something brands in Nepal lack. For example, when you think of Apple you think of a cool and hip person. We try to personify NCash, to make it more relatable to everyone. We know finance is boring. We know digital wallets are boring. Our aim is to make NCash more fun, be it with our ads, our presence, or our product. How is NCash different from other digital wallet platforms? There are several digital wallets in Nepal; many of the apps have existed for a couple of years, and many are emerging. We aim to be different by providing a user-friendly interface, fast and secure transactions, offline payments, offers, and an opportunity to earn back the money users have spent. Further, our app is supported by three major QR services in Nepal, namely Fonepay, NepalPay, and Smart QR. It means you can make payments anywhere even if the server of one QR is down payments can still be made through others. We have many other unique features coming soon to our app which differentiates us from the other wallets. We’re in the business of providing a better user experience through our technology. Whether that be for the user or businesses, and that’s what we will capitalize off of. What is your company’s goal? Our goal is to empower the new generation by making transactions and payments easy. I have seen many companies around the world that have used the phrase “empowering the new generation” without doing anything that actually empowers us. But with NCash that is not the case. One of our features is called minor KYC which means users who are not 18 yet are able to open an NCash account that is linked to the accounts of their parents. So, the parents can load their pocket money on the app and their children can use it. But here’s the catch, so naturally parents want to know where their child is spending the money, so we provide parents with a summary of the different sectors their child has spent money on, for example, Rs 300 on food and beverages, Rs 200 on entertainment, 100 on transportation. Now to empower the youths, we do not provide parents with a detailed transaction history which is on what items their child spent money on, for example, maybe they bought flowers or gifts for their girlfriend or boyfriend. We will put that under a certain category that the parents can see but they will not know about the items their children have spent money on. Many of our ideas for the wallet have come from things we have experienced or seen our friends in universities go through. As students, we are constantly looking for ways to save, earn and be financially dependent so our features are based on how we can help the youths reach that point. The main goal is to be able to provide the new generation with the financial liberty, knowledge, and independence that as youths we look for. Likewise, we are working with standup comic artists of Nepal to provide them with a platform to showcase their skills. We have some amazing talents in Nepal, and I believe we should provide them with a platform in Nepal itself. My plan is to be able to collaborate with many different talents and give them an opportunity to show their skills. We want our youths to feel like they have good opportunities for self-growth and development in Nepal itself. There’s a growing trend of wanting to move abroad because of a lack of support or growth here and in NCash our goal is to provide the same support and growth in Nepal itself. How is Sulav Pay’s business currently?  It is a new startup, so we have not officially launched it yet. Even then we have around 200,000 users, which is a great achievement looking at how we have not launched yet nor have we done any major marketing. It is said that there is a lower profit margin in the mobile wallet business. What is the case with NCash?  It is true that there is less profit margin, especially for startups. But our business model is different from what you might expect. We don’t want to leech off of users and crazy transaction fees etc; we want to capitalize off of our technology. When our technology is up to the mark, any charges are justified too, but until they are, we can’t expect users to pay anything. We’re going towards a more subscription model, where both merchants will earn benefits and ease, and so will the users. And we don’t want to gatekeep our technology either. We will let every payment services provider (PSP) be able to use parts of our tech from the first day, for free. Do you see the prospect of mergers and acquisitions of digital wallet companies? There are around 28 digital wallets in Nepal currently. So with high competition, the survival rate is very low. I do see prospects of mergers and acquisitions as this can not only help to lower competition, but I believe wallets can benefit from it for instance, if one wallet lacks in technical aspects but has a great user interface, merging with another company with the strong technical team but the poor user interface will be beneficial as they can take advantage of the skills and develop one strong wallet. But our long-term goal is to take NCash to an IPO instead of being bought out by another company. How do you see the scope of the field of digital finance from a career development point of view? I think there’s a lot of opportunity in the field of digital finance as it is vast and rapidly evolving. In digital finance itself there are many career opportunities such as in fintech there are opportunities for crypto, lending platform, and mobile payments. There are prospects for data analytics so they can provide insights on how to improve the customer experience while managing risks, which brings me to cybersecurity and regulatory compliance related to digital finance. So, there are many career opportunities in digital finance itself. Alongside the opportunities in this field, I believe this is an amazing field for self-development as well. Because with advancements in technology, individuals are constantly learning and improving their skills which also allows for the diversification of skills such as programming, designing, data analysis, cybersecurity, and risk management. This diversification allows individuals to have career flexibility as well as the ability to adapt to this evolving industry. It allows you entrepreneur opportunities as well if you have an idea, you can code it and start your own venture. An example in this regard is the audio streaming and media services provider Spotify. Although it’s not related to digital finance, the way Spotify was developed and the journey to where it is right now is inspiring. So, I believe that digital finance is amazing for career and self-development.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 900 per tola in the domestic market on Wednesday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 111, 800 per tola today. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 112, 700 per tola on Tuesday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 111, 250 per tola. It was traded at Rs 112, 150 per tola. Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,425 per tola today.

Nepali Congress designated Vice-President Purna Bahadur Khadka as the acting president of the party in the absence of President Sher Bahadur Deuba. Khadka is also the Chief of Central Policy, Research and Training Academy of the party. Khadka has been assigned as the party acting president on the recommendation of President Deuba, party office chief secretary Krishna Prasad Poudel said. NC President and former Prime Minister Deuba has left for Singapore for routine health follow-up. Khadka would take charge of the party as acting president until the return of Party President Deuba.

The Beni-Jomsom road section that connects Mustang district with the national highway through the northern area has been disrupted. It has been learnt that the downpour-triggered floods swept away the culvert in Annapurna Rural Municipality-2, Bhurung Tatopani of Myagdi along the road section. Direct vehicular movement along the Beni-Jomsom road has been disrupted, Bharat Kumar Pun, Chairman of the Annapurna Rural Municipality, said. As a result, vehicles to and from Beni and Mustang have been left stranded midway. The flood that occurred on May 20 had swept away the three-meter-long bridge installed in Bhurung-Tatopani. Following the incident, a temporary structure with Hume pipe was built to cross the rivulet. The flood again washed away the hume pipe and road around the rivulet. The 76-km Beni-Jomsom road is under the up-gradation through the Kaligandaki Corridor Road Project. Project Supervisor Indra Singh Sherchan said that efforts are underway to resume traffic by mobilizing dozers and laborers since early this morning.    

President Ram Chandra Paudel has been discharged from the hospital on Wednesday after routine checkups and treatment. President Paudel was discharged from the Bansbari-based Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre this morning after a health examination followed by observation for 24 hours, Hospital's Executive Director Dr Chandramani Adhikari said. According to Dr Adhiakri, President Paudel’s health condition is normal now. He was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday after he complained of chest pain.