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The government is working on bringing a policy to shut down the ‘sick’ projects that have not seen any meaningful physical progress for a long time. According to government sources, the federal budget for the fiscal year 2023/24 is introducing a policy to close down such projects. While billions of rupees are being spent every year to complete the projects, not much progress has been achieved which has resulted in an additional financial burden on the government. With the government currently battling with a severe resource crunch, it is not in a situation to allocate budgets for such projects. “The government has been spending huge resources in the name of sick projects. However, such projects have not been completed,” said a senior official of the National Planning Commission (NPC). “Now there is no rationale to continue such projects. We are bringing a policy to end such projects.” Government officials said that a separate study will be initiated after the federal budget about the need for such projects. While construction of some projects will be taken forward based on priority, the majority of sick projects will be shut down. The government plans to close sick projects by shifting the human resources and machinery to other projects. Currently, many projects in the sectors such as road, irrigation, and hydropower are in ‘sick’ condition. There are a lot of sick projects, especially in the road sector. The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport had recently identified 264 contracts as being in a bad state. While the government is yet to release the latest data on ‘sick’ projects, the number of such projects is estimated to be over 1,200. The report of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) three years ago, had stated that as many as 1,202 projects with a combined value of Rs 86.44bn are in a bad state. These projects—some of which were signed in 2009—are related to seven development-focused ministries. Following this discovery, the anti-graft body has repeatedly instructed the government agencies to either ensure that the works in sick projects are accelerated or terminate their contracts. One of the reasons why so many contracts have remained sick is the trend of awarding a large number of contracts to a small number of contractors. After the Covid-19 pandemic, the government extended the deadline for such projects amending the Public Procurement Regulation. Starting construction work without preparing a detailed project report (DPR), no clarity in the project implementation modality, land acquisition, and compensation disputes, and lack of inter-agency coordination in the transfer of utility services have plagued the development of the projects and billions of rupees go to waste. According to the CIAA report, the highest number of 'sick' projects are related to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, followed by the Ministry of Urban Development (442), and the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, according to the report. The CIAA also studied the projects under the Ministry of Urban Development, the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, the Ministry of Tourism, and the Ministry of Water Supply.  

Dr Himani Vyas is the youngest doctor of Nepal. The 22-year-old got her bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery (MBBS) degree from All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), and is now looking forward to pursuing a postgraduate degree. She received the 55th all India rank and the first rank for foreign national category in the Institute of National Importance Combined Entrance Test (INICET), an entrance test  conducted by AIIMS for post-graduate degree enrolment program in India. Born in Biratnagar, Vyas spent most of her life in Kathmandu. She did her schooling from Little Angels’ School and DAV Sushil Kedia Vishwa Bharati School in Lalitpur, and completed her high school from Nasa International College. But never did she once think that she would be choosing a medical career in the future. As is common in case of most Nepali students, Vyas elected to study science because she had a good score. “I took biology because I received good grades on my school days,” she says. “Although there came a time when I wanted to switch to math, my teachers convinced me to continue with biology, and so I did.” Vyas says she was never into botany, but she was very much interested in zoology, which encouraged her to study medicine. “I liked knowing about human and animal anatomy, but plants were not my thing.” Vyas studied out of sheer curiosity, rather than with an intent of acing her test. “My curiosity and the habit of doing an in-depth study on the subject of my interest helped me in my exams,” she says. This habit was fostered by her parents, both of them teachers. Vyas’ brother, Dhurv is also a brilliant student in his own right. He discovered an asteroid at the age of 11, while participating in the All-Nepal Asteroid Search Campaign. Her habit of studying different topics to satisfy my curiosity led her to pass the entrance test to pursue MBBS. The same can be said for the ranks she received in INICET. “I honestly never thought I would do MBBS, but somehow I ended up becoming a doctor,” says Vyas, whose interest was engineering. She says while she was still doing her MBBS, she even thought about becoming a researcher. But she is happy that she decided to stick with the study of medicine. But studying to be a doctor and actually working in the field is quite different. This, she learned during her internship in AIIMS, which she completed in Jan 2023. During her internship period, Vyas and her fellow medicine students visited different parts of India to treat patients. “We had no supervisors, and it was up to us to treat all these patients,” says Vyas. “It could be overwhelming at times.” Sometimes, some patients would not make it, and Vyas says confronting their family members was the most difficult part. “We were always told by our teachers that sometimes patients die, that we have to be objective. But when it happens before you and you have to be the bearer of bad news, it isn’t easy.” “It will never get easy,” adds Vyas, “but then you have to stay strong because you have other patients to look after.” Currently, Vyas is looking forward to getting her PG at AIIMS. “It’s a three-year course, and I hope it’ll be fun and I’ll get to learn a lot,” she says. Vyas doesn’t have a specific plan on where she will practice her discipline after getting her degree. She wants to return to Nepal, but at the same time, fears that she won’t be able to do her job effectively due to the lack of proper healthcare facilities in the country. She can only hope that Nepal’s healthcare sector would have developed a lot in terms of infrastructure and resources by the time she completes her studies. “No matter where I start my career, I will eventually come back to Nepal,” says Vyas. “This is my home and this is where I want to be.”

The government has decided to recommend the President’s Office to pardon the jail sentence of Resham Chaudhary, who is serving a life term in Dillibazaar Prison after being convicted of masterminding the 2015 Tikapur massacre. Making public the decisions of the Cabinet meeting held on Sunday morning, government spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma said that the government has decided to recommend the President’s Office to pardon the sentence of Chaudhary. Earlier, President Ram Chandra Paudel had withdrawn the proposal to pardon Chaudhary. Minister Sharma said that the government has recommended the President's Office to pardon Chaudhary on the occasion of Republic Day. Nagarik Unmukti Party leader Chaudhary will be released on the Republic Day if the President’s Office implements the recommendation of the government. Meanwhile, the Cabinet meeting to be held on Monday will decide on the agenda of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's India visit. Prime Minister Dahal will pay an official visit to India from May 31 to June 3 at the invitation of his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.        

Prime Minister of Nepal Pushpa Kamal Dahal will pay an official visit to India from May 31 to June 3 at the invitation of his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. This will be the first bilateral visit abroad by the Prime Minister of Nepal after assuming office in December 2022. He will be accompanied by a high-level delegation. During the visit, the Prime Minister of Nepal will call on the President and Vice-President and will hold extensive talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the diverse areas of the bilateral partnership between India and Nepal. Other Indian dignitaries will call on the Prime Minister of Nepal, reads a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs of India. In addition to the official engagements, the Prime Minister of Nepal will also be visiting Ujjain and Indore as part of his visit. The visit continues the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between India and Nepal in furtherance of our ‘Neighborhood First’ policy. The bilateral relations between the two countries have significantly strengthened in the last few years in all areas of cooperation. This visit underscores the importance given by both sides in adding further momentum to the bilateral partnership.  

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 200 per tola in the domestic market on Sunday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 108, 100 per tola today. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 108, 300 per tola on Friday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 107, 600 per tola. It was traded at Rs 107, 800. Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,360 per tola today.

The public transport fare has decreased in Bagmati Province, including in the Kathmandu Valley. The Ministry of Labor, Employment and Transport has reduced the fare, nine days after Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) slashed the price of diesel. The Ministry has decreased the fare of public transport vehicles operating on short routes within the Bagmati Province. The reduced transport fare has been published in the Nepal Gazette. According to the public transport latest fare determined by the Ministry, the fare has been decreased by 5.9 percent in the Kathmandu Valley, and by 4.18 percent in public vehicles and by 5.69 percent in goods-carrier vehicles operating in short routes in places outside the Valley, said Asman Tamang, Secretary at the Ministry. "The reduced public transport fare would come into effect from today itself as it has already been published in the Gazette," he said. The transport entrepreneurs had determined the fare on their own before this as the public transport fare of vehicles operating on short routes was not increased even as the price of diesel went up. The public transport fare of only vehicles operating on long routes was increased at that time. NOC had reduced the price of diesel effective from Wednesday last week. Immediately after this, the government had increased the public transport fare on vehicles operating on long routes. The transport fare of long route or inter-province is determined by the federal government while that of the short route or inter-municipality is fixed by the province government. The NOC on April 3 slashed the price of diesel and kerosene by Rs 10 each per liter and petrol by Rs 3 per liter. It reduced the price of diesel and petrol by Rs 10 each per liter effective from last Wednesday. As per the reduced fuel price, diesel costs Rs 155 per liter. The transport fare of public transport vehicles operated in short route within the province was increased last year. As per the increased transport fare, passengers are charged Rs 20 upon boarding the public bus in Kathmandu Valley.  

The main opposition CPN-UML lawmakers obstructed a meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR) on Friday. The lawmakers stood from their seats in protest and obstructed the meeting, saying that the Parliament could not start its business until the government clarified whether the 'jalahari' installed at the sanctum sanctorum of the Pashupatinath Temple is made of gold or brass. Following the protest, Speaker Devraj Ghimire gave time to the UML's Chief Whip Padam Giri to speak. Giri said that the House could not proceed ahead with its business until the government responded to the allegation made by Lekhnath Dahal, a ruling party lawmaker, that the 'jalahari' installed at the Temple when UML Chair KP Sharma Oli was the Prime Minister was not gold but brass. He reiterated that the House session could not proceed with its business until the government investigated whether the 'jalahari' in Pashupatinath Temple is made of gold or brass, and responded to the allegation. Similarly, UML Parliamentary Party deputy leader Subas Chandra Nembang said that it was not for the sake of fun that the main opposition party has obstructed the meeting, but for the seriousness of the false allegation that a 'responsible' lawmaker from a 'responsible' party has leveled against the former prime minister. The UML lawmakers expressed regret, stating that the ruling party lawmakers made a serious accusation against them that they had committed corruption by offering the 'jalahari' made of brass instead of gold. They demanded that an investigation be made to find out the truth. Speaker Ghimire time and again requested the UML lawmakers to take seats and cooperate in allowing the House meeting to proceed ahead as per the parliamentary process. Despite the Speaker's repeated requests, the UML lawmakers picketed the rostrum, shouting slogans. The Speaker then adjourned the meeting for 20 minutes after his requests went unheeded even after the sloganeering that lasted for about five minutes.  

While non-life insurance companies saw their business grow by single digits in the nine months of the current fiscal year, the profits of the insurers have increased by double digits. The financial reports for the third quarter of non-life insurance companies show their profits have increased by 26.68 percent. Of the 17 non-life insurance companies operating in Nepal, all have published their third-quarter reports except for National Insurance. In the review period, the 16 non-life insurance companies earned a net profit totaling Rs 4.43bn, up Rs 933.9m from Rs 3.5bn in the same period of FY 2021/22. As the country grapples with the economic slowdown, the insurance business has taken a beating in the current fiscal year. Both life and non-life insurance business grew in single digits in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. According to the Nepal Insurance Authority (NIA), the premium collection of non-life insurance companies stood at Rs 30bn in the nine months of the current fiscal year compared to Rs 28.70 billion during the same period of the last fiscal year. The premium collection of non-life insurance companies has grown by only 4.58 percent. Insurers say their profits improved mainly due to the high-interest rates on deposits of banks and financial institutions. Insurance companies keep most of their investable capital in fixed deposits of commercial banks. Over the past year, institutional depositors such as insurance companies have benefitted from high deposit rates as banks struggled with a prolonged liquidity crunch. According to insurers, their profits may increase further after the actuarial valuation. However, such an assessment will be done after the completion of the fiscal year, during which up to 10 percent of the insurance fund can be transferred to the profit and loss account. According to Sunil Ballabh Pant, CEO of NLG Insurance, the expenses of companies have also declined following the mergers. Among the non-life insurance companies, the government-owned Rastriya Beema Company recorded the highest profit of Rs 686.43m. Siddharth Insurance (now Siddhartha Premier Insurance) posted the second highest net profit at Rs 392.65m followed by Oriental Insurance at Rs 392.24m.