Submit your Article

Nagarik Unmukti Party lawmaker Arun Chaudhary’s suspension has been lifted. Speaker Devraj Ghimire had read out a letter of amnesty sent by the President’s office during the Parliament meeting today. With this, Chaudhary’s suspension was lifted. Chaudhary was apprehended from Kohalpur of Banke on February 2. Following his arrest, he was suspended as a lawmaker. He was produced before the court on February 3. Around 12 years ago, the Kailali District Court had sentenced Chaudhary to six months in jail for torching a tractor. He was elected as a member of the House of Representatives from Kailali-2 by securing 21, 871 votes. Police had said that Chaudhary was nabbed as he has yet to serve the jail term associated with a 12-year-old arson case.

With Indian assurance of allowing power export from Nepal to Bangladesh, the Nepali authority is planning to export the electricity generated from Likhu-4 Hydropower Project to Bangladesh. According to a senior official at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, preparations have begun for project selection after the Indian government agreed to allow Nepal to use its transmission infrastructure to export 50 megawatts of electricity to Bangladesh. During the 10th joint secretary-level Joint Working Group and the secretary-level Joint Steering Committee meeting held in Jaipur, India on February 17-18, India agreed to grant its approval once Nepal submits the proposal along with the project whose power will be sold to Bangladesh. According to Energy Ministry officials, India promised to give approval according to the Indian government's Electricity Import-Export Directive. The Nepali side has proposed that the electricity from the Likhu-4 project could be exported to Bangladesh. According to Madhu Bhetuwal, spokesperson of the Energy Ministry, Indian assurance is very important symbolically. The Indian decision, according to Nepali officials will be a milestone for opening the door for trilateral cooperation in energy trade among Nepal, India, and Bangladesh as well as regional trade in the long run. Nepal and Bangladesh in August last year had decided to request the southern neighbor to allow the export of 40-50MW of Nepali electricity to Bangladesh in the initial phase by using the high-voltage Baharampur-Bheramara cross-border power transmission link. Earlier, in December last year, the Indian side had told Nepali officials that electricity export from Nepal to Bangladesh through the Baharampur-Bheramara cross-border power transmission line was not immediately possible. Nepali officials were told that there was a transmission constraint in the Baharampur-Bheramara transmission line. India's cooperation is vital for power trade between Nepal and Bangladesh, as there is no separate dedicated transmission line to export electricity between Nepal and Bangladesh. According to Nepali officials, since the Likhu-4 project is a joint venture between Nepali and Indian companies and an Indian contractor was involved in the construction, the southern neighbor will give the green signal to export power from this project. The Likhu-4 Project was developed by Nepal's Triveni Group and India's Bhilwara Energy. Located on the border of Okhaldhunga and Ramechhap districts, the project started its commercial production last year. Bangladesh has been keen on importing electricity from Nepal as well as developing hydropower projects in Nepal on a joint-venture model in recent years. The 683 MW Sunkoshi 3 hydropower project is one such project that Bangladesh is looking to develop under a joint venture arrangement.

The meeting between Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli ended inconclusively on Wednesday. During the meeting held in Baluwatar, Dahal and Oli discussed the presidential candidate. The meeting ended without making a concrete decision after both of them refused to budge from their stance. Oli has been saying that the UML candidate should be appointed as the next President as per the previous agreement. Ruling coalition parties—Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Rastriya Swatantra Party—have also been saying that the UML’s candidate should be made the President as per the past agreement. PM Dahal, however, has been seeking a candidate of national consensus for the post of President. The politics took a new turn after the Nepali Congress gave a vote of confidence to Prime Minister Dahal. After he got the vote of confidence, PM Dahal has inclined to the Nepali Congress of late.

Indian officials have raised concern over the Supreme Court's decision to issue an interim order staying the government’s decision to extend the deadline for GMR Energy to complete the financial closure of the 900-megawatt Upper Karnali Hydropower Project. The interim order has thrown the project’s future into uncertainty as GMR won’t be able to work towards financial closure now. Financial closure means ensuring enough resources to implement the project. GMR in mid-November last year had filed a petition to vacate the stay order, arguing that the court’s decision would further delay the project works. In response Supreme Court justice duo Kumar Regmi and Til Prasad Shrestha on Jan 3 forwarded the dispute of the Upper Karnali Hydropower Project to the constitutional bench, citing concerns about constitutional interpretation. With the license of the major hydropower project funded by a leading Indian company hanging in the balance, the Indian officials are concerned about the situation. During his recent Nepal visit, Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra had also raised the issue with the Nepali officials. “When he met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Rajendra Lingden on February 14, he had asked about what was happening with the Upper Karnali project,” said a senior official at the Energy Ministry. “We notified the Indian foreign secretary that the Nepal government has owned up the issue and already demanded the court to vacate its interim order.” The official said that they also notified the Indian foreign secretary that the government has responded to the court, saying that as the Indian company was preparing to sign a power purchase agreement with Bangladesh, the deadline extension for financial closure was necessary. Indian government officials also raised the issue during the 10th joint secretary-level Joint Working Group and the secretary-level Joint Steering Committee held in Jaipur, India on February 17-18. They were concerned about the investment climate for India-invested projects in Nepal, according to one Nepali delegation member. “While they didn’t specifically focus on the Upper Karnali project, it was clear to understand that they were  hinting at the problem faced by GMR Energy,” said the delegation member. Citing a number of reasons, a single bench of Justice Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada had issued the interim order not to implement the decision until the final verdict on the matter. The Supreme Court’s interim order came at a time when the Indian company was preparing to sign a trilateral power sales agreement with the Bangladesh Power Development Board and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN). Bangladesh signed a memorandum of understanding with India’s NVVN to import electricity from the Upper Karnali project via India during Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to New Delhi in April 2017. Bangladesh has already issued a letter of intent to GMR Group expressing its interest to enter into a contract to purchase 500 MW of electricity from Upper Karnali. The power purchase agreement rate was also agreed upon between GMR Energy and the Bangladeshi authority at 7.712 cents per unit for a period of 25 years. However, the court issued an interim order based on the lack of the continuation of deadline extension since its deadline was last extended on November 10, 2017, for one year. “After the expiry of the deadline, no decision was taken to continue the agreement,” the court observed. “In the context where the last deadline expired three years ago and there has been no other extension, there is no logical justification to extend the deadline by two years from July 15 this year.” Officials at the Investment Board Nepal admit that indecision on the part of the board on extending the deadline as demanded by the Indian company was the main reason why the issue reached the Supreme Court. “The Indian company failed to accomplish the financial closure in time,” a lawyer with knowledge of the matter said. “The Investment Board also failed to take timely decisions on the extension which has now cast doubt on the future of the project.”

The Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) has urged the Nepali Congress to support its Chairman Mahantha Thakur as the country's new President. A team including Chairman Thakur met Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba on Wednesday and urged him to make Thakur the President on the basis of national consensus. Earlier on Tuesday, the DSP had decided to lobby all the political parties to make Thakur the President. The team of Thakur held separate meetings with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli on Tuesday afternoon. As the time to file candidacy for the presidential election is approaching nearer, senior leaders of the major political parties have intensified meetings and behind-the-curtain negotiations. The DSP had participated in the alliance of the Nepali Congress in the elections to the House of Representatives and Province Assembly. Rajendra Mahato, Anil Jha, Sarbendra Shukla and Sharad Singh Bhandari were present in the meeting.      

Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Chen Song paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Wednesday. During the meeting held in Baluwatar, the duo discussed the presidential election. With the date of the presidential election approaching nearer, the meeting between Prime Minister Dahal and Chinese Ambassador Chen is seen as meaningful. Prior to this meeting, the Chinese Ambassador had also met CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba. According to a Baluwatar source, Chinese Ambassador Chen had discussed implementation of the BRI project, Nepal’s infrastructure development, Nepal-China relations and mutual interest with Prime Minister Dahal on February 16. On the occasion, Prime Minister Dahal said that the agreements signed earlier with China will be implemented effectively. Ambassador Song said that China will always be with Nepal on the path of stability, development and prosperity. China, India, America and the European Union have been showing interest in the presidential election.

An excellent batting from skipper Rohit Paudel helped Nepal register a two-wicket victory over Scotland in the final match of the tri-nation ODI series under the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 on Tuesday. In the match played at the TU cricket ground today, Scotland set a target of 213 runs for Nepal. Paudel, who came in number four, played an important innings scoring unbeaten 95 runs of 101 balls hitting seven fours and four sixes. Nepal reached the target losing eight wickets in 44.1 overs. Paudel and Karan KC shared a historic partnership of 75 runs for the ninth wicket to steer Nepal to victory. This is the highest partnership in the history of Nepal for the ninth wicket. Earlier, this record was held by Sompal Kami and Sandeep Lamichhane. They had shared a partnership of 41 runs against New Zealand in 2018. Similarly, KC scored 31 runs off 37 balls hitting two fours and one six. Nepal’s opener Asif Sheikh contributed 12 runs and Gyanendra Malla returned to the pavilion scoring 21 runs. Likewise, Kushal Malla made 17 runs while other players failed to score in double digits. Mark Watt claimed the highest three wickets for Scotland. Chris Greaves took two wickets while McMullen, Safyaan Sharif and Michael Leaask took one wicket each. Scotland’s Matthew Cross scored 42 runs off 62 balls hitting one six, Brandon McMullen contributed 31 runs while opener Kyle Coetzer and Christopher McBride made 22 runs each. Sandeep Lamichhane took four wickets for Nepal. Similarly, Karan KC claimed three wickets and Lalit Rajbansi and Kushal Malla took one wicket each. Earlier on Friday, Nepal thrashed Scotland in the first match by achieving the target of 275 runs. Nepal, who had defeated Namibia in both the matches, won all the four games of this series. Nepal is under pressure to win all the remaining eight matches to reach the global qualification of the World Cup. After this series, Nepal will play against UAE and another series against Papua New Guinea (PNG). Later, Nepal will play against UAE and PNG at the TU cricket stadium. Nepal have to win five out of the remaining eight matches to save the ODI status.

An Armed Police Force Constable has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering an Assistant Sub-Inspector. A single bench of District Judge Nabin Kumar Joshi sentenced APF Police Constable Home Bahadur Khatri (39) to life imprisonment on Monday. He had murdered ASI Satya Narayan Yadav (45) working at the Border Outpost (BOP) of the Armed Police Force in Mohanpur, Chinnamasta Rural Municipality-3. A single bench of District Judge Shyam Bihari Morya on November 8 passed the order to send him to jail. The Court on Monday sentenced the convict to life in prison and slapped a fine of Rs 300,000. The Court also issued the verdict to deposit Rs 200, 000 in the Relief Fund. ASI Yadav of Naraha, Bhagwanpur Rural Municipality-2, Siraha District and Khatri of Khijidemba Rural Municipality-2, Okhaldhunga were stationed at the Border Outpost in Mohanpur, Chinnamasta Rural Municipality-3. During the interrogation, Khatri admitted that he killed Yadav on October 5. Khatri said that he attacked Yadav with a stick on his head under the influence of alcohol. The body was Yadav was found in a river at Jiroga Punarbas in Madhubani district, India. The deceased family members said that others are also involved in the murder. Khatri was nabbed on October 12, a week after the body was recovered.