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The Supreme Court has issued a temporary interim order directing the Election Commission not to take action against the operators of No, Not Again Facebook page and group. A single bench of justice Hari Prasad Phuyal on Sunday issued the order not to take head the process to take action against them. Senior advocate Dinesh Tripathi and Anil Acharya had filed a writ at the apex court arguing that the operators of the No, Not Again Facebook page and group should not be punished. Earlier, the Election Commission had issued a directive to close the No, Not Again Facebook page and group. The Supreme Court has called both sides—plaintiffs and defendants—for a discussion on November 10.        

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 43.20 points to close at 1,965.36 points on Sunday. Similarly, the sensitive index plunged by 8. 09 points to close at 387. 52 points. Meanwhile, a total of 3,913,573 unit shares of 228 companies were traded for Rs 1. 54 billion. In today’s market, all sub-indices saw green except for Mutual Fund. Microfinance topped the chart with 196. 2 points. Meanwhile, Manushi Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited, Jalpa Samudayik Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited, NESDO Sambridha Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited and Upakar Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited were the top gainers today, with their price surging by 10. 00 percent. Nabil Equity Fund was the top loser as its price fell by 2. 48 percent. At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 2. 82 trillion.

About Muktinath Bikas Bank Muktinath Bikas Bank Limited was established in 2007 and has a ‘B’ class national-level financial institution license. The bank envisions being a robust financial institution while uplifting the socio-economic status of Nepalis. ApEx interview with Pradyuman Pokharel, CEO What is the roadmap behind the success of Muktinath Bikas Bank? It is because our bank has not forgotten the place where we belong. Our bank was established out of need, not with desire. This is one of the major differences between us and other banks. Though it was a development bank, we took a different path by helping eradicate poverty in rural parts of Syangja, the place from where we started our operation. Initially, we were licensed to operate in three districts as a development bank. We eventually became a national-level development bank. In 2016, we came to Kathmandu to operate the head office from here. But throughout all these upgrades, we didn’t lose our initial vision. The underlying policies that support our vision were planned with appropriate strategies. We believe there are two ways to be the best bank: either you should be the biggest bank or you should be different. We are not the biggest among the banks but we have always strived to be different. How often does your bank launch new products? We always try to keep ourselves updated in the best practice, so we periodically launch our products by understanding the needs of our customers. Recently we launched a deposit product called ‘Ashirwad Bachat’ and I am very proud to say that it has the highest insurance coverage of over Rs 10m. Many commercial banks are going for a merger. Does this hamper development banks? In the last fiscal year, the average return on equity of commercial banks was about 13.97 percent. But of the national level development banks, it was 14.16 percent. So, it is a fact that development banks are more profitable than commercial ones. If commercial banks merge, it becomes bigger and, in the process, the small customers are left behind. To pick them up, the development banks are always there. So, the merger is good for us. What is the situation of our national economy? Our total foreign trade in a year is about Rs 2.12trn. Out of this, 91 percent is for import and only nine percent for export. We are having a big issue of import dependency. In mid-July 2022, the balance of payment stood at an all-time high of about Rs 255bn but our foreign exchange reserve stands at $9.42bn. This is an external side of the economy that relates to the international scenario. Talking about the internal side, our inflation rate is 8.26 percent, which is very high. To cut this, the Nepal Rastra Bank raised its bank rate from 5 percent to 8.5 percent and its Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) from 3 percent to 4 percent. So, the interest rate of commercial banks increased to 9.72 percent from 8.42 percent. With all these numbers, we can assume that we are not in good condition and the World Bank reports also say that the coming year will be much harder economically—especially for import-based countries like us. What is your opinion on the central bank hiking the interest rate? The World Bank has recently come up with a study that says the interest rate has not risen in Nepal only but the whole of South Asia. In Pakistan, the policy rate is above 15 percent, it is 14 percent in Sri Lanka. But in our case, it is only 8.5 percent. We are not in that much of a miserable state compared to others. The interest rate has been hiked all over the world and Nepal is no exception. CEO’s profile Pradyuman Pokharel has banking experience of over three decades. At present, he is also the president of Development Bankers Association Nepal and Executive Member of Management Association of Nepal. Before joining Muktinath Bikas Bank in 2016, he was associated with Mega Bank and Nabil Bank in leadership roles.  Under his leadership, Muktinath Bikas Bank became the recipient of various international and national awards including European Microfinance Award 2020. MNBBL at a glance Balance Sheet Size: Rs 121.502bn Deposits: Rs 105.567bn Total loans and advances: Rs 91.412bn Clients: 1,330,655+ Branch: 178 Staff: 1,549

Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal among three communist parties have made public protest programs to thwart the upcoming elections. Organizing a press conference in the Capital on Sunday, Communist Party of Nepal, Nepal Communist Party led by Rishi Kattel and Baigyanik Samajbadi Communist Party-Nepal led by Ahuti made public a joint protest program against the elections. Saying that they would boycott the upcoming elections, they urged all the people to participate in their protest programs. The three parties have decided to hold political assemblies in Kathmandu, Butwal, Itahari, Bardibas, Pokhara, Surkhet, and Dhangadhi from November 10-16 against the elections. Baigyanik Samajbadi Communist Party-Nepal General Secretary Ahuti said that corner assemblies and demonstrations will be held in various parts of the country from November 12-16. He claimed that their struggle was against the current system and for the beginning of a new system. Communist Party of Nepal spokesperson Khadga Bahadur Bishwokarma said that their protest was against the current system and corruption. Nepal Communist Party Chairman Rishi Kattel said that they would boycott the elections and continue their protests.  

Shaheen Afridi's four-wicket haul and a calm hand from the Shan Masood helped Pakistan beat Bangladesh by five wickets and qualify for the semi-finals, Hindustan Times reported. South Africa's stunning loss to the Netherlands earlier in the day made this game a virtual quarter-finals, with both Bangladesh and Pakistan having a chance to finish in the top two. It was Pakistan who prevailed in a nervy chase in which both sides made a lot of mistakes. Bangladesh have finished fifth in the group, below the Netherlands.

The price of gold has increased by Rs 1, 400 per tola in the domestic market on Sunday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 94, 500 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 93, 100 per tola on Friday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 94, 000 per tola. It was traded at Rs 92, 000 per tola on Friday. Similarly, the price of silver is being traded at Rs 1, 275 per tola today.

Although the dependence on food is increasing, agriculture is still not in the priority list of the political parties. Former Executive Director of the Nepal Rastra Bank Nara Bahadur Thapa said that the government and the political parties have not been able to come up with a program for self-sufficiency in agriculture. “An issue related to the people’s livelihood does not seem to be an election issue. This is unfortunate,” he said. Nepal Bank Chairman Pawan Golyan said that Nepal will be self-reliant on food within a few years if agriculture is given priority. It has been learnt that 67 percent of Nepal’s population is dependent on agriculture. But the issues of agriculture included in the election manifesto of the political parties are limited only in paper. Establishment of land bank: UML It has been mentioned in the manifesto of the CPN-UML that the land bank will be established. The party said that the land will be scientifically managed and used based on its nature. It has also been mentioned in the manifesto that the party will stop the encroachment of agricultural land. Similarly, the party has committed to mobilize the cooperative sector in the modernization of agriculture and for the development of entrepreneurship. The party has also promised to develop agriculture as the backbone of the economy and double the investment in the agriculture sector. The party said that it will provide fertilizers and improved seeds to farmers at reasonable prices on time. Likewise, the party has committed to provide sizable loan to the farmers for the development of agribusiness. Modernization and commercialization: NC The Nepali Congress has mentioned in its manifesto that it will modernize and commercialize the agriculture within five years. The party said that it will form a cluster of agricultural land at each level, test food elements and prepare a production plan by drawing of the quality of the soil. The party has promised to increase the small and solar irrigation and manage large irrigation systems in a scientific way, open factories of chemical fertilizers and announced to give priority to the agriculture loan and interest subsidy to farmers and entrepreneurs. Transform agriculture sector: CPN (Maoist Center) The CPN (Maoist Center) through its election manifesto said that it will transform the agriculture sector. The party has committed to modernize and commercialize the agriculture sector for the farmers. The party also said that it will make the country self-reliant on foods, vegetables, fish, meat, eggs and milk within five years. The party has also mentioned in its manifesto that the fertilizers will be delivered on time and rice cultivation program will be taken ahead. Establishment of fertilizer factories: CPN (US) The CPN (Unified Socialist) said that it will increase the investment in agriculture infrastructure. The party has vowed to provide agricultural machineries, seeds and fertilizers on time. The party said that it will establish chemical and organic chemical fertilizer factories across the country. The party has committed to make the country self-reliant on foods, vegetables, fish, meat, eggs and milk within two years and export food within five years.                                    

Foreign tourist arrivals in Nepal have more than tripled in the first 10 months of 2022 than the whole year of 2021, show government figures released on Friday, Xinhua reported. The South Asian country received 473,563 foreign tourists by the end of October, a sharp rise from 150,962 recorded in 2021, according to the Nepal Tourism Board data. "It is clear that we're on the path to recovery," Binayak Shah, first vice-president of Hotel Association Nepal, told Xinhua. "We have received growing inquiries from foreign travel agencies about their clients' visit plans to Nepal," he added. Nepal's tourism sector, hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, has a long way to go before it can repeat the feat of having as many as 1.19 million foreign tourists in 2019, according to Xinhua. Amid rising tourist arrivals, the hotel occupancy rate has climbed to an average of 25 percent nationwide from almost nil last year, according to Shah.