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The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 15.13 points to close at 1,920.12 points on Wednesday. Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 2.85 points to close at 365. 90 points. A total of 2,579,325-unit shares of 273 companies were traded for Rs 872 billion. Meanwhile, Kalinchowk Darshan Limited and Molung Hydropower Company Limited were the top gainers today, with their price surging by 9. 99 percent. Likewise, Adarsha Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the top loser as its price fell by 10.00 percent. At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 2. 79 trillion.

Saraswati Pratikshya is a well-known Nepali author. Her novel ‘Nathiya’, published in 2018, delves into the issues faced by the Badi people (Dalit community across the Hilly and upper Tarai region of Nepal). Apart from that, she has published three other poetry books, ‘Yadhyapi Prashnaharu’, ‘Bimbaharuko Kathaghara’, and ‘Bagi Sarangi’. Anushka Nepal from ApEx talked to Pratikshya to find out what drives her to write. What made you pursue writing as a career?  There’s nothing else that gives me more happiness than playing with words. I think writing is something that has helped me find myself and attain inner peace. Every time I write, it’s like I’m inventing something new and nothing is more blissful than that. Writing is my passion and that passion gives me happiness. Sometimes, people ask me, ‘What did you get from writing?’ To them, I say, ‘What haven’t I gotten from writing?’ If I were to ever stop doing what I do best, I don’t think I would be doing justice to my true self. I will be left with nothing. Has the journey been difficult?  I chose to be a writer so I guess I shouldn’t be complaining. But, in a country like Nepal, being a writer comes with a fair share of struggles. You have to give up a lot when it comes to money and success in this field. There is no certainty. Being a woman writer is another challenge. There are family issues and other obstacles. Rather than judging me based on my professional skills, people would often comment on my character. When that’s the case, it’s difficult to stay focused on your goal unless you have a strong will, motivation, and self-confidence. I’ve overcome every one of those obstacles to get to where I am today. Could you please walk us through your writing process?  Writing feels like meditation to me. I’m fully involved in whatever I’m writing at the moment. Currently, I’m working on a novel. The process of writing a novel is very entertaining. One, there are actual characters, and two, there are characters that I have created, living in my imaginary world. As a writer, I get to live in both of these worlds which is such a fascinating experience. Some authors refrain from reading other writings, fearing that their work might somehow get influenced by someone else’s writing style. I’m the exact opposite. I like to read as many books as I can when I’m writing. It lets me think about what new information I can offer my readers through my work. The happiness I feel when my books get published is only half of it. The best part is how I feel when I’m in the process of writing a book. Some people prefer to write at a cafe or someplace where there is a crowd. But I prefer a secluded environment. I like to play some music on low volume and light-up some incense sticks before I sit down to write. It creates a peaceful environment for me to concentrate and let my thoughts flow smoothly. Do you get writer’s block?  Luckily, I have never experienced writer’s block. But life doesn’t always turn out to be the way you think it will or the way you want it to be. So there have been times when I have been quite detached from writing. One was during my pregnancy. Maybe it was the hormonal changes I was going through, I didn’t feel like writing at all. As my child grew up, I was finally able to get back to my normal self. Soon after that, I lost my brother. I took a break from writing for around two years after that. I was dealing with a lot of mental and emotional trauma. I have finally gotten back on my feet and have started writing again. What are the books you would recommend people to read? I think everyone’s reading preferences are different. It depends on people’s personalities and what they want to perceive from the writings they read. Two people might not like the same book. So, it’s quite difficult to recommend books in that sense. But there are some books that I have loved that I’d love for people to read as well. They are ‘Bichar Bigyan’ by Khaptad Baba, ‘The Prophet’ by Kahlil Gibran, ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ by Gabriel García Márquez, ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ by Maya Angelou, and ‘The Color Purple’ by Alice Walker. Pratikshya’s picks Bichar Bigyan by Khaptad Baba This book, written by Khaptad Baba, one of the masters of spirituality, is all about the science behind thoughts. The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran The Prophet is a book of 26 prose poetry fables written in English. It’s considered to be one of Gibran’s best works. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez This book tells the story of the Buendía family, whose family head, José Arcadio Buendía, founded the fictitious town of Macondo. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou This is an autobiography, describing the early years of the American writer, Maya Angelou.  

The government has urged the people infected with Covid-19 to stay in isolation for seven days. Dr Samir Kumar Adhikari, joint spokesperson at the Ministry of Health and Population, said that the isolation for seven days is mandatory if one has fever and breathing complications. In case of asymptomatic infection, isolation is not mandatory, he said. Likewise, a person who has already spent five days or more than five days in isolation and has no fever in the past 24 hours does not have to stay in isolation. Any infected upon the completion of the seven-day isolation is recommended for maintaining physical distance with others for some days and those in isolation are urged to use a well-ventilated separate room and a separate toilet as much as possible, to wear a mask appropriately and manage it properly after use and to wash hands time and again with soap and water. The cases of COVID-19 are soaring lately. On Tuesday, Nepal reported 171 new Covid-19 cases and two deaths. As of today, there are 397 active cases in the country, the Ministry of Health and Population said.

The garbage of Singha Durbar, the country’s administrative hub, has not been collected for the past 12 days following the directive of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balen Shah. The waste of Singha Durbar, the President’s residence and the Speaker’s residence has not been collected for the past 12 days. Saying that the central government has been expressing its reluctance to coordinate with the local level, Mayor Shah had announced a halt in garbage collection from these places. The metropolis has been saying that the garbage would not be collected unless the government showed readiness to hold talks. Mayor Shah said that the decision to not collect garbage from Singha Durbar was an outcome of neglect, lack of responsibility and carelessness on part of the federal government. Earlier on Monday, a writ has been filed at the Supreme Court against the decision of Mayor Shah not to collect waste of Singha Durbar, Baluwatar and Sheetal Niwas.

While Nepal received the highest foreign direct investment (FDI) pledge of the year in Falgun, the overall FDI commitment is still down by 18.20 percent in FY 2022/23. The Department of Industry (DoI) has registered around 200 industries/firms that committed to investing Rs 28.129 billion in the nine months of the current fiscal year. FDI commitments worth Rs 34.388 billion were registered in the same period of FY 2021/22. According to the department, a total of 192 companies and firms have been registered in the first nine months of this fiscal. The department has also approved 53 technology transfer agreements. The majority of industries approved by the department are small-scale industries. The DoI approved 166 small-scale industries, 22 medium-level, and four large-scale industries in the current fiscal year. The service sector topped the chart in terms of FDI pledges. According to DoI, 45 percent of the registered industries are in the service sector category. The tourism sector is the second most preferred sector with 36 percent of industries registered in this category. Government officials point out the global economic downturn and the tightening of visa rules for foreign investors by the Nepal government for the decline in FDI pledges. "The FDI flow has decreased not only in Nepal but globally," said a DoI official. Nepal falls among the countries that receive the lowest FDI in the world. Despite many talks on attracting FDI in the country, the country has failed to attract foreign investors as expected. In November last year, the government lowered the minimum threshold for FDI to Rs 20 million from Rs 50 million to attract even the small foreign investors in the country. While the decision is expected to encourage FDI in the information and communication sector which does not need big investments in physical infrastructure, not many foreign investors have pledged to invest in this sector so far. FDI inflow declined this fiscal mainly due to a slowdown in investment commitment from China. The investors from the northern neighbor have been committing the largest amount of FDI in the last several years to Nepal. With China facing economic problems due to renewed Covid-19 crisis, and supply chain disruptions, investment pledges from the northern neighbor have also been affected. Tightening the visa rules for foreign investors, DoI in November last year, decided to recommend business visas for foreign investors only for three months at a time. As per the new rules, the department now recommends a business visa for three months by which time the investor has to submit a certificate of company registration. After the registration certificate has been received, DoI will recommend an extension of the business visa for another three months. Within this period, investors need to submit proof of having registered at the tax office and opened a bank account. However, DoI officials claim the new provision has helped in the screening of genuine foreign investors and that the results have been seen as reduced FDI pledges. Month wise FDI commitment

Energy sector stakeholders at the Power Summit 2023 have called on India to provide Nepal an opportunity to sell its electricity in different kinds of Indian power markets. The southern neighbor so far has allowed Nepal to sell the power in the day-ahead market. The stakeholders also asked for more flexible guidelines on providing market access to Nepal’s power to the Indian market. Currently, India provides market access on a project-to-project basis and the export of electricity has to go through several approval processes with Indian authorities. Nepali officials say that a long-term inter-government agreement would help to end the existing red tape in the approval process. The day-ahead market is the type of market where the price of electricity is fixed a day before the trading of power. Ever since the southern neighbor allowed Nepal to sell its power in India’s power market starting in November 2021, Nepal has only been selling its power in this market. Speaking at the Power Summit 2023, organized by the Independent Power Producers' Nepal (IPPAN), government officials said real-time trading and long-term markets are other options that Nepal wants to guarantee from India to sell its electricity. “It is necessary to have every type of market available for selling Nepal’s power in India,” said Dinesh Ghimire, Secretary at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, at one of the discussion sessions during the summit. “India has also assured us that it will provide access to all types of markets.” He said that the government was also seeking to sign a long-term inter-government agreement of trading of power between the two neighbors. Nepal is seeking a 25-year-long inter-governmental agreement with India on selling Nepal’s surplus power. During the 10th Joint Steering Committee meeting held in India in February, Indian officials had notified Nepal that it was working to allow Nepal to participate in real-time trading of power in the Indian market. Access to the real-time market would allow Nepal to sell power anytime and prevent power from being spilled. Nepal sold electricity worth over Rs 11 billion in the last wet season (June-November 2022) in the Indian day-ahead market. Kul Man Ghising, Managing Director of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) also expressed hope that the real-time trading market and long-term market would be opened very soon by the Indian regulator for Nepal’s power. “There is a very optimistic scenario for the export market,” he said. “If we cannot be confident about the domestic and export market, we cannot attract investment in Nepal’s hydropower sector.” Nepal is seeking access to all types of India’s power market as the country is seeking to become a net exporter of power in the next few years. Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the two-day summit that began on Tuesday, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said Nepal could be a net power exporter by 2025. “Due to the accelerated pace of development of hydropower projects both from Independent Power Producers ( IPPs) and state utilities, we anticipate to be a net exporter of electricity by 2025 without any need to import even in the dry season,” he said. He said that even though Nepal’s key priority was to ensure high domestic consumption of electricity, Nepal is seeking to export power to protect the huge amount of money already invested in power generation until enough infrastructure is built in Nepal to utilize the generated electricity internally. “It is of equal importance, for economic reasons, to engage ourselves in the cross-border power trade in view of utilizing cheap and diverse resources existing in the region and sub-region,” he said. Bhupinder Singh, Director of Energy of Confederation of Indian Industries said that Nepal’s export to India would help the Indian market to be more competitive. “Indian consumers want a cheaper market and efforts should be made to make the price of electricity cheaper,” he mentioned. However, Nepali officials said that Nepal’s hydropower has continued to remain cheaper. Energy Secretary Ghimire said that the prices of Nepal’s hydropower should not be compared with that of the solar and wind energy in India. “Nepal’s hydropower will play a balancing role in India’s energy market,” he said.

The price of gold has increased by Rs 300 per tola in the domestic market on Wednesday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 110, 300 per tola today. The gold was traded at Rs 110, 000 per tola on Tuesday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 109, 750 per tola. It was traded at Rs 109, 500 per tola. Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 10 and is being traded at Rs 1,445 per tola today.

President Ram Chandra Paudel has left for New Delhi, India on Wednesday for further treatment. He was taken to India by an air ambulance of Shree Airlines this morning, said President Paudel’s press advisor Kiran Paudel. Earlier on Tuesday evening, President Paudel was admitted to the Maharajgunj-based Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital after he complained of health problems. President Paudel will be treated at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi. The President had returned home after receiving treatment of stomach-related ailments at the same hospital on April 1.