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Xiaomi Nepal has launched the featherweight Xiaomi 13 Lite. The flagship smartphone offers a flagship camera system with a dual front camera for masterpiece photos. The silky-smooth curved edges and immersive curved display add comfort to its featherweight slim design. The Xiaomi 13 Lite continues to have one of the slimmest and lightest smartphone designs in the industry. Its 6.55" curved display has a large viewing area, and much like Xiaomi 13 Pro, the display offers a premium and immersive visual experience. The 3D curved body design also provides a comfortable and pleasant hand grip, making the smartphone both look and feel slimmer. The Xiaomi 13 Lite is equipped with the Snapdragon® 7 Gen 1 mobile platform, the strongest Snapdragon® 7 processor to date with a 20 percent improved GPU performance and a 30 percent increase in Al performance. It also comes with a dedicated Lite-style heat dissipation solution, with improved cooling capacity and extra cooling for the dual front cameras. Equally powerful is its large 4,500mAh battery and 67W wired turbocharging, which can get power-hungry users through the most demanding days. “Keeping our philosophy alive, we at Xiaomi are focused on bringing top-notch technology innovations, coupled with supreme performance and incredible design for anyone who is looking to own an innovative product. Working around the idea, we have launched our Xiaomi 13Lite aiming to provide flagship capabilities packaged in an iconic design that is light and comfortable for the users pocket,” said Amit Panda, the country general manager of Xiaomi Nepal. The Xiaomi 13 Lite has a 50MP triple camera setup with the main camera sporting a flagship IMX766 sensor. The smartphone's strong computational photography capabilities powered by Xiaomi Imaging Engine, allow the phone to automatically focus on subjects in motion with eye-tracking focus and motion capture. The powerful operation efficiency also significantly enhances the responsiveness of the camera, snapping multiple shots through Lightning Burst with extreme speeds so you don't miss a moment. In addition to the powerful flagship-level rear camera setup, the phone also comes with a set of dual front cameras. The 32MP front camera captures crystal-clear selfies, while the 8MP front camera works as a depth sensor to provide additional depth information for natural looks in self-portraits. The Xiaomi 13 Lite also offers Dynamic Framing, which smartly detects the number of people in the frame, auto-adjusts the field of view, and zoom in or zoom out as appropriate, thus minimizing selfie distortion. The phone is also equipped with useful and fun features such as Selfie zoom, Pocket mirror, and Xiaomi Selfie Glow - all designed to enable taking high-quality selfies and video calls with ease. Selfie zoom enables the capturing of close-up details of up to 2x zoom. Pocket mirror comes in handy when you want to quickly check your natural look without carrying a real mirror around. Xiaomi Selfie Glow brightens up your shots and video calls, ensuring your face is seen even in dim environments. The phone has a curved 6.55" AMOLED display and features both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, presenting users with a highly-immersive visual and audio experience. With a screen refresh rate of up to 120Hz and a touch sampling rate of 240Hz, the display offers flagship-level smoothness for content consumption and gaming.= The Xiaomi 13 Lite comes in two colors – Lite Blue and Lite Pink in two variants 8+128GB and 8+256GB. The 8+128GB and 8+256GB variants are priced at Rs 54,999 and Rs 57,999 respectively.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has emphasized the need to develop a sense of responsibility and unity among citizens for national security. Addressing the concluding ceremony of the National Security Training organized by Nepal Army  on Tuesday, he said that the traditional concept of national security solely relying on military power has now become broader. "It is equally important to address sovereignty, national integrity, as well as the social, economic, cultural, environmental, and humanitarian aspects when it comes to national security," said Dahal. The prime minister emphasized that national security is crucial and sensitive, especially in the present context of Nepal. "The national security of every nation is directly affected by incidents occurring in the global context. This fact is even more significant for nations like Nepal," he added. Prime Minister Dahal said Nepal's political situation, increased military power of powerful nations in international and regional forums, competition and influence, climate change, and internal political complexities are security challenges for the country. “Global economic recession and its impact, extremist and separatist ideologies that threaten national unity and security, scarcity of skilled human resources, open borders, and potential cross-border offenses continue to be our challenges." According to Dahal, national security requires a gradual development and adaptation to changing circumstances, including the emergence of powerful countries on the international and regional stage, the rapid and complex development of information technology, and the evolving political, social, cultural, and economic sectors within the country. To develop a comprehensive national security system, the prime minister emphasized the importance of maintaining mutual harmony, tolerance, and solidarity among diverse caste, language, culture, and community within the country, while also protecting sovereignty, freedom, territorial integrity, and national unity. Dahal also stated that the National Security Policy, 2075 BS, has been implemented with the aim of strengthening the security bodies and promoting their competency, professionalism, and efficiency. He further stressed the need to timely assess challenges related to international and external security and to formulate and implement necessary policies such as defense policy, international security and public information policy, foreign policy, and finance policy. The prime minister also said that the Nepali Army has the capability to enhance its political, economic, diplomatic, communication, and military power through cooperation and coordination to address challenges and promote national interests.

Nepalgunj: Political literacy and leadership training has been provided to the women and girls of Banke. A three-day training was conducted in coordination with Nepal Leadership Academy.  Chief guest of the program Lumbini provincial assembly member Sanju Kumari Tharu distributed certificates to the participants of the training. She said that although the constitution has guaranteed women’s representation, women still have to fight for their rights due to patriarchal discriminatory thinking. The event was chaired by the Project leader of Nepal Leadership Academy Pooja Kumari Baishya. CPN-UML Accounts Commission Member Bijaya Dhital, outgoing Deputy Chief of Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolis Uma Thapa Magar, JSP provincial assembly member Sushila Paudel, and RPP district member Urmila Shah among others were the trainees. The project leader Baishya said that the capacity building program was conducted due to the low participation of women in politics. She says, “By developing the capacity of teenagers and women, they will be able to take leadership in various responsibilities of the home, society, party and state.”  25 girls and women from Nepalgunj, Khajura, Janaki and other local areas of Banke participated in the training.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 12.41 points to close at 1, 918.41 points on Tuesday. Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 2.49 points to close at 360. 52 points. A total of 4,077,778-unit shares of 258 companies were traded for Rs 1. 44 billion. Meanwhile, Super Mai Hydropower Limited was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 10. 00 percent. Terhathum Power Company Limited was the top loser as its price fell by 3.17 percent. At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 2. 77 trillion.

The detailed project report (DPR) of the Raxaul-Kathmandu Cross-border Railway will be ready in a month. On Monday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Narayan Kaji Shrestha said that India's Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL), which has been tasked with the preparation of DPR of the railway project connecting Kathmandu with the Indian border town of Raxaul, will submit the report of multi-billion railway project to the government in the next one month. "We have been told that the DPR of the project will be submitted to the government in a month," said Shrestha at a press meet organized at the ministry. As per the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Nepal and India on 8 October  2021, the DPR of the project should be completed within 18 months, by mid-April, 2023. KRCL has already submitted the report of the preliminary engineering and traffic survey of the project to the Nepal government. According to the report, the length of the proposed Raxaul-Kathmandu railway will be 136 km. As per the initial report of the Konkan Railway, a total of Rs 320bn will be required to build the broad-gauge Kathmandu-Raxaul Railway. Once completed, the broad-gauge line will give Nepal's capital a direct connection with the Indian railway network, enabling non-stop train travel to all Indian cities. The initial report of the project has shown that there will be 32 tunnels, with the longest one stretching for eight kilometers. The 136-km-long railway project would have 40 km of tunnelway and 35 small and large bridges. The preliminary study has shown that there will be 13 stations on the railway line. After the DPR is received, the discussion about the modality of construction of the project will begin, according to the ministry officials. Nepal has been requesting India to build the project with a grant. The construction of the project will reduce the transportation cost of goods by a massive amount. Once this railway is constructed, goods can be transported directly to Kathmandu from India and third countries.

Five security personnel were injured in a clash with protesters in Biratnagar on Tuesday. Province Police Office, Biratnagar said that three Nepal Police personnel and two Armed Police personnel were injured in the clash. The details of the injured police personnel have not been received yet. Police said that preparations are being made to take them to the hospital. It is not clear how many protesters were injured in the clash. The clash broke out after the security personnel tried to contain the demonstration organized to protest the naming of Koshi Province in Biratnagar. The situation became tense after the protesters pelted stones at the security personnel. Police lobbed 31 rounds of teargas canisters to take the situation under control. A source said that police also fired 15 rounds of bullets into the air. The protesters had staged a demonstration near Panchali of Biratnagar demanding that the government roll back its decision to name Province 1 as Koshi Province. Following the incident, a large number of Nepal Police and Armed Police Force personnel have been deployed in the area. DSP Rajan Kumar Dahal, spokesperson at the District Police Office, Morang, said that the situation is under control. The provincial government on March 1 had named the province as Koshi. Padam Limbu Lajehang was critically injured when police baton-charged the people protesting against the naming of the province. He breathed his last during the course of treatment.  

Loan shark victims, who came to Kathmandu on foot from Bardibas seeking justice, staged a demonstration in Maitighar on Tuesday. When they were stopped at Tangal while heading towards the Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar to stage a demonstration, they returned to Maitighar and staged the protest. During the demonstration, the protesters chanted slogans like formulate a law against loan sharks, release the victims arrested on false charges and provide loans at concessional rates among others. After the loan shark victims started staging the protest, leaders of various political parties reached Maitighar to express solidarity to them. In the meantime, they chanted slogans against Rastriya Prajatantra Party lawmaker Gyanendra Bahadur Karki who had reached Maitighar to express solidarity in their protest. The government on Tuesday morning formed a four-member committee to address the demands of the loan shark victims. Joint Secretary at the Home Ministry Rudra Devi Sharma, Under Secretary at the Home Minister Dil Kumar Tamang, Under Secretary at the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers Umakanta Adhikari and Under Secretary at the Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Junga Bahadur Danga are in the committee.

Nepal’s overall imports slumped during the first eight months of the current fiscal year. But the worrying part is the decline in the import of capital goods. Capital goods are used by businesses in the course of production activities. The latest data of the Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC) show imports of machinery, equipment, vehicles, and tools have declined sharply in the eight months of the current fiscal year. The import of these goods slumped along with an overall import decline of 19.1 percent in the review period. According to the TEPC, the import of machinery and parts decreased by 33.8 percent to Rs 66.49bn. The import of steel products plunged by 18 percent to Rs 104.81bn. In the eight months of the current fiscal year, the import of vehicles and parts decreased by 57 percent to Rs 32.66bn. The import of aircraft parts decreased by 26.4 percent to Rs 3.5bn. “The reduction in the import of capital goods means there will be little capital formation in the current fiscal year,” said an economic analyst. “As Nepal largely does not produce most of the capital goods, it should rely on imports. Observers say that the decline in the import of machinery also suggests that construction activities in the country have decreased sharply. “It is also due to the government’s failure to spend the capital budget,” said the analyst. Usually, government spending also encourages the private sector to make new investments. As of March 26, only 24.12 percent of the capital budget has been spent, according to the Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO). The import control measures imposed a year ago were largely aimed at controlling the import of consumer goods. But, a decrease in the import of capital goods also suggests a slump in domestic economic activities. Nepal’s economy grew by just 0.8 percent, hitting a seven-year low in the first quarter of this fiscal year, particularly due to the negative growth in five sectors- construction, mining and quarrying, wholesale and retail, and repair of motor vehicles, transport and storage, and education, according to the National Statistics Office. The office previously known as the Central Bureau of Statistics said mining and quarrying and the construction industry suffered the most, as they reported 29.2 percent and 24 percent negative growth, respectively. The Confederation of Nepalese Industry (CNI), a private sector body, said in its survey report in December last year that overall demand for goods slumped by 28.28 percent during the first quarter of the current fiscal year. According to the report, demand for cement decreased by 40.2 percent and turnover in the engineering and construction sector suffered a decline of 43.7 percent. With the domestic economic activities also decreasing, the government's inland revenue collection has also suffered along with import-based revenue. According to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD), the revenue collection as of March 14 this fiscal year stood at 79.68 percent of the target. The government collected Rs 281.99bn as of May 14 against the target of Rs 353.91bn. The collection is poorer than the total inland revenue collection during the same period last fiscal year 2021/22. IRD collected Rs 284.88bn during the same period last fiscal year.