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With the country grappling with the economic slowdown, the insurance business has taken a beating in the current fiscal year. Both life and non-life insurance business grew in single digits in the first half of the current fiscal year 2022/23. After growing in double digits in previous years, the insurance business (life and non-life) grew by a meager two percent in the first six months of the current fiscal year compared to a growth of 15 percent in the same period of the last fiscal year. The statistics of the Nepal Insurance Authority (NIA) show life and non-life companies collected insurance premiums totaling Rs 91.73 billion in the first half of FY 2022/23 which was Rs 90.12 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. Similarly, insurance premiums increased by only Rs 1.72 billion in this fiscal year. According to NIA, life insurance companies collected premiums amounting to Rs 71.65 billion in the first six months of the current fiscal year, while it was Rs 20.08 billion for non-life insurance companies. The premium collection of life insurance companies during the same period of the last fiscal stood at Rs 70.91 billion and non-life insurance companies at Rs 19.09 billion. According to NIA Executive Director Raju Raman Poudel, the ongoing economic slowdown has affected the insurance business. "Insurance business is facing challenges due to the high-interest rates, liquidity crunch, and rising inflation. These factors have reduced the common people's purchasing power," he said. Manoj Kumar Lal Karna, CEO of Union Life Insurance, is of the view that the growth of the insurance business has been held back in the current fiscal year due to the economic slowdown. "Currently, we are seeing surrender of life insurance policies in large numbers," he said. According to Karna, insurance premiums of large amounts are generally paid by borrowing money from banks. As banks are struggling with a liquidity crunch, borrowing from them has become difficult in this fiscal year and customers have not been able to pay the premiums. "As a result, there has been a big decline in the growth rate of the insurance business," he said. Insurers say that the rise in the non-renewal and surrendering of insurance policies is dragging the business down. The trend of surrendering the policy before the maturity period is increasing, according to insurance companies. The NIA data shows insurers have surrendered Rs 6.08 billion during this period. 43,715 insurance policies were surrendered in the last six months. Insurance Premium Collection

President Bidya Devi Bhandari has expressed her belief that the federal and provincial governments will work by focusing on the welfare of the country. Addressing both the Houses of federal Parliament, President Bhandari said that the people’s representatives will carry out their works in a way that fulfills the hope, trust and faith of the people. During her address, she congratulated all the newly elected lawmakers of the House of Representatives and wished for successful tenure. In addition to that, President Bhandari thanked Nepal government, Election Commission, civil servants, political parties and voters for conducting the elections to the House of Representatives and Province Assembly in a peaceful way.

The Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) is going to make a new arrangement to allow stock brokerage companies to open branches within 15 days of the application. The stock market regulator is preparing to introduce a new policy by revoking the existing provisions related to the operation of the branch office of the brokerage firms. Sebon is in the process to grant permits to open branches within 15 days of receiving the application. Till now, there is no limit to granting permission for opening branches as the existing rules give discretionary power to Sebon to issue permits. As a result, the applications used to be pending for months and years at the board. According to Sebon Chairman Ramesh Hamal, a policy will be made to grant permission within 15 days of receiving the application for the branch opening. "Now brokerage companies don't have to wait for months and years to get permission to open branches like in the past. We have initiated a process to grant such permission within a short period," said Hamal, adding, "The process is in the final stage." According to Sebon, the branch opening process is being simplified to expand the share trading geographically. In his tenure, Hamal has already issued permits to 10 companies to open 16 branches last year. According to the board, the new provision will encourage brokerage companies to expand their branches to new places which will further expand the capital market in the country. In the current fiscal year, seven branches of four brokerage companies have come into operation outside the Kathmandu valley. The board had permitted the operation of branch offices outside the valley in all seven provinces of the country. As of now, 41 brokerage companies have opened 47 branches outside Kathmandu valley. About two years ago, brokerage companies applied to the board seeking permission to expand branches in about 200 locations in all seven provinces. However, the board has issued permits to only 10 brokerage firms to expand branches in 23 places. "Brokerage firms that have received in-principle approval for branch expansion were given time to prepare the infrastructure and most of the companies have already prepared the infrastructure," said Hamal. As per the third amendment of the Securities Businesspersons (Stock Broker, Securities Dealer and Market Maker) 2020, brokerage firms must ready all their infrastructure before receiving the final approval for branch office operations.  

The government has suspended Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) General Manager Premnath Thakur. Thakur was suspended as per the ministerial level decision after he was found asking for bribes with the representatives of the Thai Smile Airlines. The Tourism Ministry spokesperson Rajendra Kumar KC said that Thakur was suspended after he was found taking bribes during the investigation. “A letter has been sent to the Director General of the Nepal Civil Aviation Authority as per the ministerial level decision to suspend Thakur from the post of General Manager,” read a statement issued by the Tourism Ministry on Friday. “The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority has been urged to carry out further investigation on the matter.”    

A meeting of the high-level political mechanism held on Friday discussed contemporary political issues among others. During the meeting held in Baluwatar this morning, the leaders discussed contemporary political issues, giving full shape to the government and presidential election to be held on March 9. On the occasion, the leaders of the mechanism urged the Rastriya Swatantra Party President Rabi Lamichhane to join the government again. Albeit the RSP has left the government, it has not withdrawn the support extended to the government. CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli, Rastriya Swatantra Party President Rabi Lamichhane and Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chairman Rajendra Lingden were present in the meeting. Leaders of Janata Samajbadi Party, Nagarik Unmukti Party and Janamat Party, who are in the mechanism, did not take part in the meeting. The exit of Rastriya Swatantra Party from the government and the Nagarik Unmukti Party not giving a vote of confidence to the Sudurpaschim Province government shows that there is a dispute within the ruling coalition. The senior leaders also discussed the ways to resolve the issue.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 1, 300 per tola in the domestic market on Friday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 103, 600 per tola today. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 104, 900 per tola on Thursday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 103, 100 per tola. It was traded at Rs 104, 400 per tola. Similarly, the price of silver has dropped by Rs 30 and is being traded at Rs 1,290 per tola today.

Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra is arriving in Kathmandu on a two-day official visit to Nepal on Monday. He is visiting Nepal at the invitation of Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal. According to a source, Kwatra, India's former envoy to Nepal, is visiting Nepal to fix the date and agenda of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s India visit. This will be the first stand alone visit of the Foreign Secretary to Nepal since he assumed charge. "The visit is in keeping with the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries and the priority India attaches to its relations with Nepal under its 'Neighbourhood First' Policy," read a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs of Government of India. During the visit, the two Foreign Secretaries will hold discussions on the entire range of multifaceted cooperation between India and Nepal. India has historical and civilizational linkages with Nepal and bilateral cooperation between the two countries has strengthened in the recent years, with several major infrastructure and cross-border connectivity projects completed with India's assistance, the statement read. "This will be an opportunity to further advance out bilateral ties," the statement further read.

The rabble-rousing press conference by Rabi Lamichhane earlier this week has created a schism in Nepali society regarding its perception of the media. On one side are those who are lapping up Lamichhane’s claim that mainstream media is the enemy of the state, that publishers, editors and journalists are guided by corporate greed and are deep in corruption. And then there are others who see his boisterous condemnation of the press as a mere temper tantrum. It was clear that the leader of Rastriya Swatantra Party was angry at the media for covering the story about the validity of the citizenship he furnished to contest the election of Nov 20 last year. The case landed in the Supreme Court and Lamichhane went on to lose his status as Home Minister and Member of Parliament. It was also clear that his ad hominem diatribe filled with personal gripes and insults was aimed at pandering to his supporters. In doing so, he has sown a seed of distrust against the press. This could have a far-reaching impact on democracy, giving rise to politics of populism, where serious journalism is supplanted by misinformation and disinformation, which is taking hold in different parts of the world. In the age of social media, it is far too easy to distort the truth and bend the narrative. The role of traditional media is to bring out the truth, to report and to scrutinize those in power. Nepali mainstream media has been doing just that, and ever so proudly. If anyone, Lamichhane should know this better as a former member of the media fraternity. His TV show was based on the very concept of scrutinizing the powers that be. He should also know that the very media houses, publishers and journalists that he tried to discredit have always played a role of a bulwark to defend democracy and the rule of law. By delegitimizing the press in a Trumpian fashion, Lamichhane has put democracy in peril. He has also betrayed his own supporters, who, disenchanted by old political parties, voted him to power. People who voted for Lamichhane certainly did not want him to act in such a vindictive and bitter manner. That he had presented invalid citizenship to contest the election is true, and the Supreme Court passed down its judgment accordingly. Meanwhile, the media simply did its job and reported the story. Losing the home ministry and parliament seat should have been least of his concern, what with his widespread support base. But his anger and ego got in the way. Rather than fessing up to his transgression, he went on to play the victim card and portrayed the press as his cruel persecutor. Lamichhane’s attempt at incitement and intimidation is thoroughly condemnable. When a leader tries to undermine the credibility of the press, it creates space for propagandists and authoritarians.