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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.

The Supreme Court has issued separate show cause notices to the then Maoist supremo Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ and his second-in-command Baburam Bhattarai in response to a petition against the forced conscription of child soldiers during the Maoist insurgency that began on 13 Feb 1996 and ended with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord on 21 Nov 2006. A single bench of Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla, conducting a preliminary hearing on the writ from nine child soldiers, including Lenin Bista, demanded written clarifications from the defendants, putting the case on priority. It has given Dahal, the current prime minister and chair of the CPN (Maoist Center), and former Maoist leader and prime minister Bhattarai 15 days to furnish written clarifications on the charges leveled against them in the petition. The two leaders can furnish their clarifications before the court in person or send in their legal representatives through the power of attorney. On medical grounds, they can get a further 15 days for furnishing clarifications. Bista and others had moved the apex court accusing the former rebels of committing war crimes by forcing minors to join military activities in contravention of national as well as international human rights laws. Constitutional law expert Ananta Raj Luitel says the court can initiate legal action against the defendants if they fail to come clean on the charges. On May 30, the apex court administration had refused to entertain the former child soldiers’ petition, pointing out that transitional justice mechanisms overseeing war-era cases are supposed to look into this case also. But a single bench of Justice Anand Mohan Bhattarai had ordered the court staff to register the petition against Dahal and Bhattarai. The verification of former PLA combatants, which the United Nations Mission in Nepal had conducted in 2007 for integrating former rebel soldiers into the Nepali Army, had disqualified thousands of Maoist combatants, including Bista, for being minors. Of the 4,008 disqualified combatants, 2,973 turned out to be minors while the remaining 1,035 were found to have joined the Maoist ‘People’s Liberation Army’ after the first ceasefire of 26 May 2006—six months before the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the government of Nepal and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) in 2006. The government had provided Rs 500,000-Rs 800,000 each to combatants opting for voluntary retirement, whereas the child soldiers had received token assistance from the United Nations.  

The World Blood Donor Day is being observed in Nepal by organizing various public awareness programs today. Countries around the world celebrate June 14 every year as the World Blood Donor Day. On the occasion, various programs are being organized to raise public awareness on the need for safe blood and blood products and to thank voluntary, unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood. This year the World Blood Donor Day is being celebrated with a theme 'Give blood, give plasma, share life, share often'. The slogan underlines the role that every single person can play a vital role in saving human lives by donating blood and plasma to the needy people. It also highlights the significance of sustainable and secured supply of blood and plasma through regular donation. On the same occasion, various organizations and hospitals are organizing public sensitization, donor motivation and blood donation programs throughout the country today. The Blood Donors Association Nepal has been organizing several programs on the occasion. The Association has organized a week long sensitization program, including bi-cycle rally, blood donor felicitation, orientation and art exhibition, its general-secretary Keshab Maharjan said. June 14 is celebrated as the World Blood Donor Day every year coinciding with the birthday of scientist Dr Karl Landsteiner who discovered the group of human blood. The first Blood Donor Day was observed in 2004.