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The Election Commission (EC) has provided election symbols to 18 political parties for the Chitwan-2 by-election slated for April 23. Nepal Workers and Peasants' Party, Mongol National Organization, Rastriya Nagarik Party, Nepali Congress, Rastriya Janamukti Party, Rastriya Janamorcha, CPN-UML, CPN (Maoist Centre), Rastriya Swatantra Party, CPN (Unified Socialist), Nagarik Unmukti Party, Hamro Nepali Party, Puna Jagaran Party Nepal, Maulik Jarokilo Party, Rastriya Mukti Andolan Nepal, Nepali Congress (BP), Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Jaya Janmabhumi Party Nepal were provided with the election symbols. The constituency became vacant after the Supreme Court invalidated Rastriya Swatantra Party President Rabi Lamichhane’s election to the House of Representatives over citizenship issue.  

In what could be termed an eventful year for the domestic power sector, a total of 351.24 MW of electricity has been connected to the national grid in the current fiscal year. With electricity generated from 20 power projects being connected to the national transmission system, the total installed capacity in the country has reached 2,619.24 MW by the first week of March 2023. The fiscal year 2022/23 saw Nepal's largest private sector-developed project Solukhola (Dudhkoshi) Hydroelectric Project starting its commercial operation. The Solukhola (Dudhkoshi) Project is the country's largest power project developed by the private sector to date. Developed by Sahas Urja Limited, the 86 MW Solukhola Project began commercial operation on March 1. Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Spokesperson Suresh Bhattarai said that the number of projects to be connected to the national system has been increasing in recent times. NEA has projected an additional 811 MW of electricity will be added to the national grid in the current fiscal year. The state-owned power utility expects the 111 MW Rasuwagadhi, 57.3 MW Sanjen and Upper Sanjen, 102 MW Madhya Bhotekoshi, and 54 MW Super Dordi to come online by the end of this fiscal year. With the start of commercial operation, the Solukhola (Dhudkoshi) is the third largest hydroelectric project currently in operation in Nepal. The largest hydropower project in operation in Nepal is Upper Tamakoshi with an installed capacity of 456 MW. The second largest project, Kaligandaki Hydropower A, has a capacity of 144 MW. However, both are government-owned projects. Sahas Energy Limited received a license to develop Solukhola (Dhudkoshi) from the Department of Electricity Development (DoED) on September 17, 2014 and started construction of the run-of-river project in February 2018. The total cost of the project was Rs 11.86 billion. A consortium of 10 banks and financial institutions headed by the Nepal Investment Bank (now Nepal Investment Mega Bank) disbursed loans amounting to Rs 8.65 billion to the project. The company's promoters' equity was Rs 2.45 billion while Rs 1.05 billion was raised from the capital market. The commencement of commercial operation of Solukhola (Dudhkoshi) has been termed a milestone by the independent power producers. Krishna Prasad Acharya, Chairman of the Independent Power Producers' Association Nepal (IPPAN), said that the construction of the 86 MW project by the private sector is a significant achievement. "At a time when the private sector was struggling to develop a 5-10 MW project, Sahas Urja attempted a big hydroelectric project which has now started commercial production," said Acharya, adding, "The private sector's contribution to electricity generation in Nepal is significant. Therefore, the government needs to further support the private sector." Him Prasad Pathak, President of Sahas Urja said that the project has been brought to completion overcoming many challenges. "We succeeded in bringing the project into commercial operation despite challenges. This has encouraged us to develop large projects up to 500 MW with domestic investments in the future," he said. Power Project connected to national grid in this fiscal

Project	Developer	Capacity
Simara Solar Project	Api Power Company	1 MW
Grid Connected Solar PV Project	National Solar Power Co. Pvt. Ltd	5 MW
Dordi Khola HEP	Himalayan Power Partner  Pvt. Ltd	27 MW
Chepe Khola Small	Aashutosh Energy Pvt. Ltd	8.63 MW
Dordi-1 Khola	Dordi Khola Jal Bidhyut Company	12 MW
Upper Balefi A	Balefi Hydropower Company	36 MW
Lower Likhu	Swetganga Hydropower and Construction Ltd	28.1 MW
Dordi-A	Liberty Energy	25 MW
Mayakhola	Mayakhola Hydropower Company	14.9 MW
Solu Dudhkoshi	Sahas Urja Ltd	86 MW
Saiti Khola	Saidi Power	0.99 MW
Som Radhakrishna Solar Farm	Nepal Solar Farm	4 MW
Puwa-2	Peoples Power	4.96 MW
Middle Modi	Middle Modi Hydropower	15.1 MW
Mid Solu Khola	Mid Solu Hydropower	9.5 MW
Kalangagad	Kalanga Hydro Pvt. Ltd	15.33 MW
Upper Kalangagad	Sanigad Hydro	38.46 MW
Upper Machhakhola	Bikas Hydropower Company	4.55 MW
Upper Piluwakhola	Menchhiyam Hydropower	4.72 MW
Makarigad	Makarigad Hydropower	10 MW
Total		351.24 MW

  DOED issues construction licenses to 17 projects The Department of Electricity Development (DoED) has issued construction licenses to 17 hydropower projects with a combined capacity of 519.24 MW till mid-February 2023. Similarly, DOED has issued survey licenses to 14 hydropower companies with a combined capacity of 1,412.07 MW in the current fiscal year. The department has also issued survey licenses to 12 companies that have proposed to generate 236.9 MW of solar electricity.  

Actor-writer-director Satish Kaushik passed away at the age of 66 in Gurugram on March 9. His body will be brought to Mumbai after a postmortem is conducted, The Times of India reported.

His close associate and best friend Anupam Kher took to Twitter to announce the sad news. Kher's Tweet stated, "I know 'death is the ultimate truth of this world' But I never thought in my dreams that I would write this thing about my best friend #SatishKaushik while alive. Such a sudden full stop on friendship of 45 years!! Life will NEVER be the same without you SATISH! Om Shanti!" Kher also shared a black and white photo where he and Kaushik are seen together.

Kangana Ranaut also reacted to the news and shared, "Woke up to this horrible news, he was my biggest cheerleader, a very successful actor and director #SatishKaushik ji personally was also a very kind and genuine man, I loved directing him in Emergency. He will be missed, Om Shanti."

Satish Kaushik was born on April 13, 1956. His breakout role was that of the character Calendar in Shekhar Kapur's Mr India. He had also made an impact with early releases like Jaane Bhi Do Yaro, Mandi and Woh 7 Din.

Kaushik made a transition to direction with Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja. Tere Naam and Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain are some of his popular films as director, according to The Times of India. Reacting to the actor's demise, Subhash Ghai told ETimes, "There are very few actors who are close to me in real life. People who I can call and share happy and sad moments with. Satish was one of them since the time we worked together in 'Ram Lakhan'. I met him last month. We spoke about Karan Razdan's film about the premier of that movie. Satish was very excited as usual. He was speaking about his next film, the next movie he's going to direct. He was a great artiste, whether he was on stage, on the big screen, small screen or whether he was writing. He was great at everything he did."

While Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia are seeing a surge in the number of Chinese visitors since February, Nepali travel trade entrepreneurs are still waiting for the inclusion of Nepal in the Chinese government's list for outbound group tours. Nepal was excluded when China first published the list of outbound destinations for Chinese citizens in January this year after the country abandoned the strict travel measures related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite China not including Nepal in its list of outbound travel destination countries, there has been a growth in the number of Chinese nationals visiting Nepal in February. A total of 2,266 visitors from the northern neighbor came to Nepal in February compared to 1,426 in January. Travel agencies involved in bringing Chinese tourists said they are waiting for the inclusion of Nepal in the Chinese outbound group tours list. According to them, there have been increasing inquiries from Chinese travel agencies of late. While there is growth in the FITs (free independent travelers) in recent months, group travelers from the northern neighbor are yet to visit Nepal. "There are no group tour movements from the northern neighbor," said Bishwesh Shrestha, owner of C&K Travels, which specializes in Chinese tourists. "We are waiting for the Chinese government to include Nepal's name in the list of countries where Chinese can travel." Once China includes Nepal in the list, travel trade entrepreneurs said they can start their preparations in Nepal as well as in China. According to them, travel agencies in China have started their homework about Nepal, especially the new hotels added last year, and the cost part. "The Chinese travel agencies have started collecting information," said Shrestha. When China announced the reopening of outbound travel for its citizens, travel trade entrepreneurs in Nepal were quite hopeful of welcoming a good number of Chinese guests in 2023. The Chinese Ministry for Culture and Tourism on January 20 issued the first list of the 20 countries where Chinese tourists could travel. China had included Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Laos, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Russia, Switzerland, Hungary, New Zealand, Fiji, Cuba, and Argentina as an outbound destination for Chinese citizens. The Global Times, an influential Chinese newspaper, China's outbound travel has reported a rapid rebound in the month since the country resumed cross-border group tours on February 6, with more passenger trips and increased flight capacity. Asian countries and regions are among the most popular tourist destinations, taking more than 80 percent of the growth, with Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia ranking as the top three destinations in terms of outbound passenger trips from mainland China. The missing of Nepal from the list, according to Nepali travel trade entrepreneurs could affect the government's target of welcoming 1 million tourists in 2023. Before the pandemic-related travel restrictions began in early 2020 in Nepal and across the world, China was the second largest source market for Nepal after India as the country welcomed 169,543 tourists from the northern neighbor in 2019. A total of 1.19 million foreign tourists visited Nepal in 2019 before the pandemic disrupted global tourism. According to travel trade entrepreneurs, a significant contribution of Chinese tourists would be required if Nepal wants to meet the target of 1 million in 2023. In 2022, tourist arrivals reached over 600,000 without any significant contribution from China. Nepal welcomed only 9,595 Chinese tourists in 2022. With Chinese airlines also resuming their Nepal operations, travel trade entrepreneurs said air connectivity is no more issue now. While China Southern and Air China are already operating their flights to Kathmandu, Sichuan Airlines is resuming its Kathmandu flights on March 20. “There is no problem for Chinese tourists to visit Nepal,” said a tour operator.

The Rastriya Swatantra Party has decided to vote for Ram Chandra Paudel in the presidential election. A meeting of the party held on Thursday made the decision to this effect. The party, however, did not make the decision public due to the election code of conduct. The RSP Chief Whip Santosh Pariyar said that the party has decided to vote for a person who plays a role to strengthen the democracy and to protect the system. The Rastriya Swatantra Party has 19 lawmakers. Nepali Congress senior leader Ram Chandra Paudel and CPN-UML Vice-Chairman Subash Nembang are vying for the post of President. The voting for the election is underway at the Parliament building in New Baneshwor. The counting of votes will start soon after the completion of voting.

Kamal Shrestha is the chairperson of Nepali Club in Bahrain, which used to be involved in official works like renewing passports and addressing the problems of Nepal workers. He is also involved in a few business houses in Bahrain. ApEx caught up with him to talk about the situation of Nepalis in Bahrain. What is Nepali Club? Nepali Club was established in 2000. This club does social service work and helps Nepali workers when they are facing any kind of problem. The club also helps workers with tasks such as renewing passports and preparing travel documents. Besides, it also creates an environment for Nepali delegates for sports and other events. What is the club currently working on?  After the establishment of the embassy in 2013, we started focusing more on social and cultural events. We have been conducting awareness programs, medical camps and cultural programs. I would like to show my immense gratitude towards our Nepali community and all of the Nepali migrants in Bahrain who have directly and indirectly served the club in its endeavors. What are the business opportunities for Nepalis in Bahrain?  The government here has policies for certain foreign-owned businesses like consultancy service companies, tourism, contracting and other service companies where they can get to have 100 percent ownership by fulfilling certain criteria. Within two or three days after fulfilling the governmental requirements you can have full ownership of a business even if you are a Nepali. So, there is a huge potential for Nepalis who would like to do business in Bahrain. In terms of security too Bahrain is a safe place to invest on a business. Fraud cases are very rare here. What is the importance of the Nepal Embassy in Bahrain?  The embassy holds a lot of importance for our Nepali community. It offers guidance and supervision to the workers. It looks after them individually and provides them with necessary guidance, advice and solutions. The embassy has become a major role of supervisory agent and has played a huge role in uplifting the condition of our Nepali community in Bahrain. What type of skills is in high demand that Nepalis can fulfill?  There are various opportunities for Nepali workers in Bahrain. Although the opportunities are endless, they still must have some skill. The Bahraini employers have faith in the Nepali workers. Many Nepalis here are working as welders, pipe fitters, electricians, plumbers, and medical assistants. A normal electrician can save about Rs60,000 to Rs 70,000 a month. If you are a skilled or semi skilled worker, you can find well-paying jobs in Bahrain. But the problem is that most of the recruiting agents and agencies can be careless while sending workers. Corruption in the labor recruitment industry has harmed the workers. What are the problems faced by the Nepalis in Bahrain?  Employers paying wages lower than what was promised is a common complaint among Nepali workers. We try to address these issues through the embassy. Other than that, I would say a lack of direct flight connection between Nepal and Bahrain is the major problem. What advice would you give to the Nepal government to solve the problems of workers and Nepalis who are willing to work in Bahrain?  Firstly, I would like to request the Nepal government to make an environment where Nepalis can have job opportunities in Nepal itself. Working abroad is not a choice but a compulsion for many migrant workers. Secondly, the government must make the process of applying overseas jobs simple and secure through government-to-government labor agreements and by regulating the recruiting agencies to ensure transparency. The government must also establish and open training centers in order to build skilled manpower. As for the workers willing to come to Bahrain, I suggest they bring some skills with them. If they are skilled and qualified, there are opportunities for them here.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 500 per tola in the domestic market on Thursday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 101, 000 per tola today. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 101, 500 per tola on Wednesday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 100, 500 per tola. It was traded at Rs 101, 000. Similarly, the price of silver has dropped by Rs 5 and is being traded at Rs 1,220 per tola today.

On March 5, Simrik Air conducted a daring operation in Langtang, rescuing a renowned Spanish paraglider, who was battling for life after suffering multiple fractures in a crash. The team consisting of pilot-in-command Captain Surendra Paudel, rescue specialist Tshering Pande Bhote, and technician Uttam Chaudhari rescued Xavier Bonet Dalmau from an elevation of 4,560 meters at the north-central Himalayan range. Airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment, Dalmau is on a recovery path. This rescue operation shows the importance of a well-trained and well-equipped team in life-and-death situations like accidents in the rugged rugged terrains of Nepal. This is not the first instance of Simrik Air’s involvement in critical operations. On April 11, 2021, a Simrik Air heli team under the command of Captain Siddartha J Gurung, pilot-in-command Captain Paudel and comprising other experienced crew members doused a raging fire at the Shivapuri national park using the Bambi bucket, thereby averting a loss of life and properties. Equipped with cutting-edge technology and equipment and aware of Nepal’s trying terrains like the Himalayas, Simrik Air is well aware of the importance of well-trained human resources in critical operations. In the first week of February 2023, it conducted a heli-training and orientation for the crew, staff, and medical team to prepare them better for rushing crucial assistance during natural and man-made disasters by enhancing their skills and expertise. Captain Gurung led a Bambi Bucket training session for helicopter pilots Capt Hare Ram Thapa and Capt Rajendra Duwal at Bojinee Dam in Nagarkot. The pilots learned the proper use and operation of this specialized tool. Simrik Air is the sole provider of this water-based firefighting service in Nepal, apart from Long-line operation and Sling operation and Yak Winch. Simrik Air also offered realistic engagement training options such as Recco, Yak Winch, Sling Operation, Long-line Operation, Medical Evacuation, and management training to keep the staff up-to-date and maintain safety, efficiency, and consistency in service. Captain Bimal Sharma and Captain Bhaskar Pokharel were trained on this. Crew members Ang Tashi Sherpa, Tshering Dhenduk Bhote, Tshering Pandey Bhote and Sonam Bhuti also received training during these sessions, conducted under the supervision of instructor and trainer from Germany and Switzerland Bruno Jelk, Daniel Brunner and Beat Marti. This kind of training is crucial for saving lives and properties during natural and manmade disasters like flooding, fires and mountaineering accidents because the state alone is not adequately equipped in dealing with such contingencies.