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The Nepali Congress has decided to support Upendra Yadav in Bara-2. Party Joint General Secretary Badri Pandey said that a Central Work Execution Committee held on Sunday has decided to make Yadav a common candidate in the by-election slated for April 23. In the meeting, the leaders discussed the by-election. Earlier, the Congress had decided to field Govinda Bhattarai in Tanahun-1 and Jit Narayan Shrestha in Chitwan-2.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 600 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, 600 per tola today. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 109, 200 per tola on Friday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 108, 100 per tola. It was traded at Rs 108, 700. The price of silver, however, has increased by Rs 10 and is being traded at Rs 1, 410.

The Nepal Student Union cadres staged a demonstration at the central office of the Nepali Congress on Sunday. Expressing dissatisfaction over the working style of NSU President Dujang Sherpa, they staged a hunger strike. They staged the hunger strike prior to the Central Work Execution Committee scheduled for today at the party office. They have also tied black bands on their heads. The disgruntled side has demanded that the decision made by Sherpa arbitrarily be scrapped at the earliest. They said that all the letters written by the unconstitutional president should be scrapped and also demanded that the 12th general convention be ensured. Ansul KC, who has been staging the strike at the party office in Sanepa, has demanded the formation of a new committee.  

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal visited Maharajgunj-based Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) to inquire about the health condition of President Ram Chandra Paudel. The Prime Minister’s Secretariat said that PM Dahal visited the hospital this morning. President Paudel was admitted to the TUTH on Saturday evening after he complained of persistent abdominal pain. During the visit, PM Dahal inquired about his health. President Paudel is currently under doctors’ observation.

After issuing a global tender for the construction of transmission lines in November 2022, the Millennium Challenge Accounts, Nepal (MCA-Nepal), the special purpose vehicle (SPV) formed to implement the MCC Nepal Compact, has also issued a global tender for constructing sub-stations. A year after the parliamentary ratification, the MCC Nepal Compact has gained momentum with the MCA-Nepal expediting works related to transmission lines and substations construction. As the Entry into Force of the compact program has been scheduled for August this year, the SPV has expedited these works. On March 24, MCA Nepal invited global bids for the construction of three substations of 400 KV capacity under the MCC project. Earlier, on 28 November 2022, the SPV called for global tenders for the construction of four transmission lines. The MCC implementing agency has called tenders for three 400 kV substations to be constructed at Ratmate, New Damauli, and New Butwal. It has invited tenders to build on design, supply, delivery, installation, testing, and commissioning model. As per the tender notice, firms interested in constructing the substation are required to submit bid security of  $425,000 for the first lot (Ratmate Substation), and $260,000 for the second lot (New Damauli Substation), and $270,000 for the third lot (New Butwal Substation). Meanwhile, MCA Nepal has extended the deadline for the tender called for the construction of the transmission lines. Earlier, it was said that the bids should be submitted by March 27. Now, the deadline for bid submission has been extended to April 17. MCA Nepal is constructing four transmission lines of 400 KV double circuit capacity and invited tenders in three packages. Under the first package, Lapsiphedi-Ratmate-New Hetauda (117 km) will be built while Ratmate-New Damauli (90 km) will be constructed under the second package. Under the third package, New Damauli-New Butwal (108 km) will be constructed. The 315 km long transmission line will have 856 towers. Currently, the work of purchasing the land required for this is underway. The construction of the project under the MCC is bound to be completed within five years of its commencement, i.e. within 2028 August. With both sides agreeing to start entry into force of the agreement in August this year, the MCA Nepal is facing a race against time to complete the preparatory works. Following the entry into force, all implementation activities must be completed within five years, as there are no provisions for time extension or cost increase. Otherwise, funds allocated for Nepal will be returned to the US.

Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal and Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Chan Song held a meeting in Singha Durbar on Friday. During the meeting, they discussed various matters related to bilateral cooperation and other issues of mutual interests, a source at the Foreign Ministry said. The source claimed that preparations are being made for a high-level visit between the two countries in the near future and the duo held the meeting to discuss the same. Earlier on Thursday, the Chinese Ambassador had met CPN-UML senior Vice-Chairman Ishwor Pokharel. Though China had invited Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to take part in the Boao conference, he did not participate in the meeting citing internal reasons.  

Newly appointed ministers took the oath of office and secrecy on Friday. President Ram Chandra Paudel administered the oath of office and secrecy to 10 newly appointed ministers amidst a function this afternoon. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal today appointed 10 ministers from the 10-party alliance. Purna Bahadur Khadka has been appointed as the Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister, Prakash Sharan Mahat as the Finance Minister, Ramesh Rijal as the Industry, Commerce and Supplies Minister and Sita Gurung as the Urban Development Minister from the Nepali Congress. Similarly, Shakti Bahadur Basnet has been appointed as the Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation from the CPN (Maoist Center). Deputy Prime Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha was given the responsibility of Home Ministry while the posts of other Maoist ministers have been kept intact. Likewise, Beduram Bhusal has been appointed as the Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development and Prakash Jwala as the Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport from the CPN (Unified Socialist). Similarly, Ashok Rai has been appointed as the Minister for Education, Science and Technology from the Janata Samajbadi Party, Sharad Singh Bhandari as the Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security from the Democratic Socialist Party, Mahendra Raya as the Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens from the Nepal Samajbadi and Ranjita Shrestha as the Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation from the Nagarik Unmukti Party. Meanwhile, Drinking Water Minister Abdul Khan submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Dahal. Khan, who is also the Vice-Chairman of the Janamat Party, tendered his resignation after he did not get the Ministry of Industry. Dahal was appointed as the Prime Minister on December 25. The CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Dahal, who had forged an alliance with the CPN-UML, took the oath of office and secrecy on December 26. The UML quit the government by withdrawing the support extended to Dahal on March 27 after the Maoist decided to support Nepal Congress in the presidential and vice-presidential elections. Prime Minister Dahal, who had led the 10-party alliance, secured a vote of confidence for the second time on March 20.  

There has been a big increase in the country's foreign currency earnings from international students coming to study in Nepal in the current fiscal year. The latest macroeconomic report published by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) shows the country earned Rs 2.02bn in the first seven of FY 2022/23 from foreign students, an increase of 125.51 percent from Rs 897.3m in the same period of the last fiscal year. The country earned Rs 1.51bn from foreign students in FY 2021/22. According to NRB, such earning was Rs 1.04bn in FY 2020/21 and Rs 2.23bn in FY 2019/20. The foreign currency earnings from education declined in the last two fiscal years due to the Covid-19 pandemic as foreign students could not come to Nepal. However, with the easing of international travel, there has been a surge in the number of foreign students studying in the country lately. Apart from subjects such as history and language, the majority of foreign students come to Nepal for medical education. According to the Medical Education Commission, 265 foreign students were enrolled in medical colleges in the last fiscal year. According to the commission, students from Bhutan, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, and other countries come to Nepal for medical education. Currently, about 500 foreign students are studying at different medical colleges in Nepal. Similarly, foreigners also come to study language, history, law, and other subjects. But there is no integrated data on the number of foreign students studying in Nepal. As per the Medical Education Commission rule, 8.25 percent of seats in public medical colleges, 33 percent of seats in private medical colleges, and 50 percent of seats in private medical colleges run by foreign management have been allotted for foreign students. When foreign students study in Nepal, a large amount of money is spent on educational fees, housing expenses, etc. Education experts say that if the standard of the country’s education system is improved, Nepal can attract more foreign students as well as earn more foreign currency. While there has been growth in the foreign exchange earnings from international students coming to Nepal, the country is spending a much higher amount to pay the bills of Nepali students who’re studying abroad. As more Nepalis have been going abroad to study in recent years, more money is going outside the country for the purpose. The NRB report shows Nepalis have spent Rs 43.74bn in the first seven months of the current fiscal year for foreign education. Such spending amounted to Rs 67.70bn for education abroad in the last fiscal year 2021/22 which had surged due to the suppressed number of outgoing Nepali students in the previous two fiscal years due to Covid-related restrictions. In FY 2020/21 and FY 2019/20, spending for education decreased to Rs 24.95bn and Rs 25.81bn, according to NRB.