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After industrialists of the Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor hit the street seeking a regular and reliable supply of electricity, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) on Sunday accepted that load-shedding has been enforced in the industrial corridors as it struggles to manage power distribution. The state-owned power utility has said that the current supply of electricity is insufficient to meet the demand due to the prolonged dry season. The industrial corridors in different parts of the country have been facing power cuts of up to 12 hours on a daily basis in recent times. According to industrialists, this has hit factory production badly. NEA Executive Director Kulman Ghising said that the current power cut issue is a short-term problem and would be resolved in the next two weeks. "We are working to ensure such problems do not occur in the coming years," said Ghising in a press meet at NEA on Sunday. According to him, due to the lack of transmission infrastructure, NEA has not been able to deliver electricity to the industries even by importing from India. Ghising said it could have imported the necessary electricity from India but there is a lack of infrastructure to supply that electricity from Dhalkebar to eastern Nepal. "The electricity imported from India will come from Dhalkebar from where only 240-240 MW electricity can be sent from Dhalkebar to east and west," he said. "If we send more power, the transmission line will not be able to handle such supply." NEA has said it could not import more than 100 MW of electricity from Bihar. According to the NEA, industries in Biratnagar and eastern Nepal had to face power cuts due to the problem in the Rukmini substation. "The substation has been repaired, and electricity supply has been ensured since Saturday," said Ghising. " However, there is still a compulsion of power cuts during the peak hours in some industries." NEA says power generation this winter plunged more than last winter due to the prolonged dry season and decrease in water levels in the rivers. According to Ghising, there won't be a supply problem from next year. "The 400 KV Inaruwa-Dhalkebar-Hetauda transmission line will be completed in the next one year. Similarly, the 220 kV Hetauda-Bharatpur-Butwal transmission line will be completed in the next few months," he said. "We will be in a comfortable position to supply the electricity in industrial corridors." While NEA has tried to assure the private sector, industrialists from eastern Nepal are demanding that the power utility should publish the schedule of load shedding. Power cuts at manufacturing plants have caused a drop in production besides damaging expensive equipment, they say. Suyesh Pyakurel, President of Chamber of Industries Morang, said that industries in Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor have been forced to close due to the power cut. "We understand that 24-hour electricity cannot be supplied at this time," he said. "However, it has become increasingly difficult for us to operate the industry when the power is cut daily without a schedule." The NEA has been cutting power daily from 6 am to 10 am and from 5 pm to 10 pm in industrial areas. Apart from that, the industrialists complain that there are power cuts at other times as well.

It’s battle royale on a card. In a high-stakes game, the who's who of the Nepali corporate world are in a race to get the license to operate a new stock exchange.   This is turning out to be the most important contest in the Nepali corporate world in recent times. Even before the Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) opened applications for the license, the business head honchos were busy forming their groups to apply for the permit. As the deadline for application submission ends on Sunday, three companies have applied for the license to start a new stock exchange. The Himalayan Stock Exchange is the first one to apply for the permit. Promoted by the major shareholders of Himalayan Reinsurance Company, the company applied for the license on April 21. There was fierce competition among the top corporate houses during the license issuance of the second reinsurance company. While five reinsurance companies sought the licenses, it was Himalayan Reinsurance that came out as the winner. The company is promoted by Nepal's leading business houses, namely Golchha Group, Shanker Group, Lucky Group, Ramesh Corp, Murarka Group, and KL Dugar Group, among others. The major promoters of the Himalayan Stock are Shanker Group and Deepak Bhatta Group. Besides, former FNCCI presidents - Bhawani Rana, Pashupati Murarka, and Shekhar Golchha along with Rajendra Khetan, Saurav Jyoti, Vivek Dugar, Kumud Kumar Dugar and Amit Kumar More are also the promoters of the Himalayan Stock Exchange. On Sunday (April 23), two more companies- National Stock Exchange and Annapurna Stock Exchange- reached the Sebon to file their applications. The National Stock Exchange has been backed by non-resident Nepalis (NRNs) businessmen, Agni Group, Kedia Group, and Reliance Group. The NRN businessmen Upendra Mahato, Jiba Lamichhane, Badri KC, and Kul Acharya are also shareholders of this proposed stock exchange. Deepak Timilsina, Mahesh Kumar Shrestha, Rishi Aggarwal, Ankit Kedia, and Ramji Regmi have been proposed as the board of directors of the National Stock Exchange. The third one—Annapurna Stock Exchange—also submitted its application on Sunday. The Annapurna Stock is led by Surendra Raj Wagle and has seven directors as Ganesh Kumar Shrestha, Mukti Bodh Neupane, Anil Sapkota, Prakash Kumar Shrestha, Shekhar Subedi, and Balram Upreti. Making a second amendment to the Securities Market Operation Regulation 2064 in the second week of September 2022, the Sebon initiated the process to establish the second stock exchange in the country. On September 18, 2022, the Sebon invited applications for a new stock exchange, commodity exchanges, and stock brokerage firms. However, the process stalled for five months after advocate Deepak Bikram Mishra went to the Supreme Court (SC) demanding to stop the licensing process. The licensing process was stalled after the apex court issued an interim order on October 21, 2022. But, the joint bench of Justices Sushma Lata Mathema and Anil Kumar Sinha in the second week of April 2023 dismissed the petition, paving the way for the Sebon to move ahead with the licensing process. Following this, the Sebon on April 13 again invited applications from interested parties for new stock exchange and commodities exchanges. According to Sebon, the new stock exchange should have a paid-up capital of Rs 3 billion, of which 70 percent will be institutional investments. Currently, the Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) is the only stock exchange in the country. The government has a majority stake in the Nepse. While there have been talks of bringing strategic investors into the Nepse, the process has not moved ahead. Sebon is trying to create a competitive environment by adding one more stock exchange. According to Sebon Chairman Ramesh Kumar Hamal, the board will award the license following the necessary process. "Now the evaluation committee will evaluate the companies' application. The license will be awarded based on the recommendations of the evaluation committee," he said. Four companies applied for commodity exchange license According to Sebon, four companies have applied for commodity exchange licenses. The board has called for proposals for granting licenses to two commodity exchanges. Among them are Multi Derivative Exchange Limited, Multi-Asset Derivative Exchange Limited, Himalayan Commodity Derivative Exchange Limited, and Nepal Multi Derivative Stock Exchange Limited.  

Lumbini Province Chief Minister Lila Giri failed to secure a vote of confidence on Monday. The proposal of vote of confidence tabled by Chief Minister Giri was rejected by a majority of lawmakers in a meeting of the Province Assembly held this afternoon. A total of 33 votes were cast in favor of Giri while 53 votes were cast against him. There are 87 lawmakers in Lumbini Province. Giri was appointed as the Chief Minister with the support of 58 lawmakers on January 11. Nepali Congress has 27 lawmakers in Lumbini Province while CPN-UML has 29, CPN (Maoist Center) has 10 and Nagarik Unmukti Party and Rastriya Prajatantra Party have four lawmakers each. Similarly, Janata Samajbadi Party and Democratic Socialist Party have three lawmakers each and CPN (Unified Socialist) and Rastriya Janamorcha have one lawmaker each. There are two independent lawmakers in the province.  

The counting of votes cast in the by-election held in Chitwan-2 on Sunday will begin from 1 am today. District Election Officer Bhimsen Karksi said that the counting of votes will start from 1 pm. Preparations are being made to count the votes at the International Exhibition Center of Chitwan Industry Association. An all-party meeting is underway at present. The counting of votes was delayed after the representatives of the Nepali Congress said that the counting should not be started until the case of violation of code of conduct filed against Rastriya Swatantra Party President Rabi Lamichhane is heard. The Election Commission had decided to hold the by-election in Chitwan-2 after the Supreme Court scrapped Lamichhane’s lawmaker post saying that he had never applied to reclaim his Nepali citizenship after renouncing his American citizenship. CPN-UML’s Ram Prasad Neupane, Nepali Congress’s Jit Narayan Shrestha and Rastriya Swatantra Party’s Lamichhane among other candidates are in the fray in Chitwan.  

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 200 per tola in the domestic market on Monday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 109, 100 per tola today. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 109, 300 per tola on Sunday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 108, 600 per tola. It was traded at Rs 108, 800. Similarly, the price of silver has dropped by Rs 20 and is being traded at Rs 1,420 per tola today.

Nepali security officials deputed as the United Nations peacekeepers in conflict-ridden Sudan are reported to be safe. Two officials of Nepali Army, three of the Nepal Police and one of the Armed Police Force have been sent to Sudan as the peacekeepers, and they all are safe, according to NA Spokesperson Krishna Prasad Bhandari.  

Property worth millions of rupees was destroyed when a fire destroyed five houses at Chiyabari in Kamalamai Municipality-2 of Sindhuli on Sunday. Houses belonging to Santosh Kaji Thapa, Ambika Budhathoki, Sitaram Thapa, Kailash Thapa, Prem Kumari Thapa and Raj Kumar Shrestha were destroyed in the fire that broke out last night. Police said that Rs 1.1 million in cash and various gold ornaments of Kaji Thapa were gutted in the flame while gold ornaments worth around Rs 300, 000 and Rs 60, 000 in cash among others of Kailash Thapa were also engulfed in fire. Similarly, police said that Rs 300, 000 in cash and various gold ornaments of Prem Kumari Thapa were also reduced to cinders. Ambika Thapa’s five tola gold, Rs 100, 000 in cash among others were completely destroyed in the blaze. Local Talak Bikram Thapa said that the fire had started from the house of Ambika Thapa. Mayor Upendra Kumar Pokharel said that the fire victims will be provided relief materials soon. The reason behind the fire is yet to be established.  

The counting of votes for the by-election held in Bara-2 on Sunday will begin from 11 am today. Chief Election Officer Mukesh Upadhyay said that an all-party meeting held this morning at the Education Training Center in Gangapur, Kalaiya has decided to start the counting of votes at 11 am. UML leader and former minister Jwala Sah said that the parties have agreed to allow two representatives each of 34 candidates to sit in the room where the votes will be counted. The Election Commission said that 68, 887 votes were cast in the election held in Bara-2 on Sunday.