Submit your Article

Korean food is one of the most popular cuisines in Nepal right now. It has been for a while, thanks to K-pop and K-dramas. People want to sample a piece of Korean culture through their food or indulge in what they see their favorite stars eat on television. Though it’s mostly youths who visit various Korean establishments, restaurateurs say that they regularly bring in their parents and relatives too. This week, we decided to try out the Korean BBQ Restaurant in Ekantakuna, Lalitpur, a relatively new place in an area that’s burgeoning with restaurants serving all types of cuisines, from Chinese to Turkish. It looks bright and beckoning, making you want to take some time and step right in when you are in the area. Spread across two floors, with ample space, Korean BBQ Restaurant can also be the perfect spot for a large gathering. Upon arrival, you are welcomed with Korean tea. It’s complementary, and you can choose to have it before or after your meal. The menu has a lot and can feel a little overwhelming, especially if you are new to Korean cuisine. But there are small explanations of what goes into each dish, making the process of ordering food a little simpler. You can also ask the staff and they will explain it quite well. We recommend the Budae Jjigae. It’s made with a variety of ingredients such as sliced meat (usually pork), seafood, ramen noodles, green onions, mushrooms, and kimchi, and it’s all served together in a large pot. The dish is traditionally shared among a group of people because you can’t have a lot of it at once so make sure you inquire about the portion size before you place the order. The dish is savory, spicy, and an absolute delight. The Kimbap here is also really good. Cooked rice, meat, fish, eggs, and vegetables are rolled together in a sheet of dried seaweed (gim). The rolls are then cut into bite-sized pieces and can be eaten as is, or with a dipping sauce made of soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil. It’s healthy, light, and the portion they serve at Korean BBQ Restaurant is just right for one. You can also try Korean BBQ for the main course. One of the main attractions of Korean cuisine is the experience of cooking your food or grilling the meat at your table. By ordering this dish, you can do that. Table-top cooking is a common practice of serving and eating in Korean cuisine. Mostly it involves grilling thin slices of marinated meat, at the table on a gas or charcoal grill. For the Korean BBQ, the meat is marinated in advance in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic, and other seasonings. It’s accompanied by side dishes, such as kimchi, which is pickled or fermented vegetables, and a Korean sauce. Order this when you are at the restaurant with a group of people rather than just two people and it can be a really fun activity of sorts, kind of like a picnic. There are plenty of other dishes for you to try as well. We spoke to some of the regulars at the restaurant who vouched that you can’t go wrong with the food, no matter what you order. The ambience makes it ever better. The restaurant features a modern and minimalist design, with clean lines and a neutral color palette. The elements of traditional Korean architecture, such as curved roofs, sliding paper doors, and wooden stairs lend the place a Korean vibe, just like they show in one of those wildly popular K-dramas on Netflix. They also offer traditional Korean attire for both men and women. You can put one on and take a few pictures. There’s no extra charge for it. Though there are many equally good Korean eateries in the valley, we recommend you try Korean BBQ Restaurant when you’re in Lalitpur as it feels very authentic and nice. The food is prepared with utmost care and the servers are polite and friendly. It will definitely be an experience you are unlikely to forget. Korean BBQ Restaurant Ekantakuna, Lalitpur Opening hours: 11am – 10pm Meal for two: Rs 2,000 Online payment: Accepted Call: 01-5523334 Parking: Available

I’m a 17-year-old student who is frequently body shamed because of my weight. Everyone makes fun of me, be it in school or at home. I struggle with low self-esteem, an eating disorder, and a negative body image. What should I do?—IW Answered by Tashi Gurung, counseling psychologist, Happy Minds Body shaming can be difficult and heartbreaking. But you must remember that it’s not your fault. Everyone has a certain body type and you shouldn’t be ashamed of how you are built. The problem lies in those who have made fun of you. So don’t let other peoples’ opinions define you and who you are. You are worthy regardless of what you weigh.  Our society’s beauty standards are one of the many things that promote and fuel body shaming. Many people face it. But our society’s beauty standard is toxic, and you don’t have to change a single thing about yourself to fit in. Like I said before, you aren’t the problem. You never were.  It’s important to take care of your health, both physically and mentally. This means making healthy choices about what you eat and how you exercise, as well as finding ways to reduce stress. For some, investing time in their hobbies, listening to music, and hanging out with people who support and understand them are some of the ways of reducing stress. You need to find something like that for yourself too. Remember to be kind to yourself, and don’t compare yourself to others. I understand that even when you try to stay positive about your body image, peoples’ opinions might bring you down. So addressing that is important. It can be difficult but having a conversation with your relatives and friends about body shaming and how it affects you is one way to start. You can be direct, provide examples, stay calm, and seek support if needed. Remember, you deserve to be treated with respect and kindness, and it’s important to set boundaries with those who don’t understand or refuse to change their behavior. You can also use the butterfly hug method as a way of checking in with yourself and your emotions. It simply means to hug yourself. When you are feeling stressed, anxious, or down, you can use the butterfly hug to ground yourself and reconnect with your body. It can help you to feel more present and in tune with your emotions.  Another way to cope with body shaming is to surround yourself with positive influences. This can include friends and family members who support and accept you for who you are, as well as online communities of people with experiences similar to yours. Additionally, practicing self-care and self-compassion can be helpful in building a positive body image. Coping with body shaming and an eating disorder can be challenging, and if necessary, you need to seek some professional help. They can provide proper guidelines for dealing with your eating disorder and improving your self-esteem. Know that healing from body shaming and an eating disorder is a gradual process. It takes time but, with the right support, it’s possible. 

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 4.62 points to close at 2,100.70 points on Monday. Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 1.89 points to close at 402. 15 points. A total of 3,922,216 unit shares of 259 companies were traded for Rs 1. 47 billion. Meanwhile, Adarsha Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 10. 00 percent. Laxmi Bank Debenture was the top loser as its price fell by 9.58 percent. At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 03 trillion.

The Investment Board Nepal (IBN) has again called for an Expression of Interest (EoI) from interested firms to conduct a feasibility study for the development, operation, and management of the Electric Bus Rapid Transit (eBRT) in Ring Road of Kathmandu valley. According to IBN, the objective of the proposed feasibility study is to examine the technical, economic, financial, social, and environmental viability of the proposed eBRT system. The notice reads that any single firm or a joint-venture company can apply at the IBN office. The selected firm will have to complete the feasibility study of the eBRT project in 18 months from the date of signing a contract. The firm will have to carry out a feasibility study for the BRT corridor along Kathmandu Ring Road, including the service and operations plan, physical and operational design of the BRT system, traffic engineering improvements, application of ITS technologies, and fare collection mechanisms. Similarly, it has to estimate the scale of environmental benefit while adopting an electric BRT System as well as evaluate the PPP investment modality about the feasibility of the BRT System and recommend the appropriate modality that makes the project attractive and feasible to the investors. The board had earlier issued EoI to study the feasibility of eBRT on November 6, 2022. The deadline for applying for the EoI was December 12, 2022. And, 13 companies from Nepal and abroad submitted proposals. However, it was canceled after the procurement process was found to be inconsistent at the evaluation stage. A senior official of the IBN said that the new EoI was called, canceling the earlier one. The IBN has planned to construct the project under the public-private partnership model. The pre-feasibility study has estimated a cost of USD 153 million (Rs 20.11 billion) to build the infrastructure that will be built under the build-operate-own-transfer (BOOT) model. The government has planned to allocate a lane of Ring Road street for the operation of electric buses. The private sector company will construct modern bus-stop and terminals and smart ticketing, among others. Under the plan, an average of 75 electric buses will be operated on the ring road.

The federal government has urged both provincial and local governments to cut their planned spending by 20 percent in a number of areas while discouraging the implementation of development projects that have not been awarded yet to contractors. The federal government sent letters to the sub-national government after the Finance Ministry itself announced cutting the federal government's planned expenses under similar headings last week. Citing the resource crunch with the federal government caused by a decline in revenue, the central government has asked the provincial and local governments to control their spending as well. In a letter sent to the local governments on Friday, the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration asked the local governments to cut their spending in the areas of fuel spending for officer bearers, allowances, procurement of machinery, repair, and maintenance of vehicles, miscellaneous and office materials, notice publication and newspaper subscriptions, staff training, skill development, and awareness training and for organizing various workshops and seminars, monitoring and expenses activities, consultancy, furniture, and structural improvement of built building, among others. The ministry has asked them to cut spending on these headings by 20 percent and adjust accordingly in the Line Ministry Budget Information System(LMBIS), an integrated financial management information system, through which budgets and programs are submitted to the federal government and get approval. According to the letter, if the procurement has already been ordered, the deduction in spending will not be applied. The local governments have been told to suspend new procurements even for the programs that have been included in the budget and programs of the local governments. If the procurement process has not begun to implement any project, the federal government has told the local government to take the approval of the federal government’s finance ministry. As per the letter, the local governments have been told not to create new job vacancies, or new liabilities to make payments within this fiscal year and not to provide any financial assistance except in exceptional cases. Not only the local governments but provincial governments have also been sent similar letters. The federal government said it has been essential to cut expenses under certain headings and suspend implementation of certain projects because of reduced revenue collection. According to the Financial Comptroller General Office, the government’s revenue collection as of February 4, stood at Rs 485 billion, a sharp drop from Rs 581 billion during the same period last fiscal year. "Besides reduced revenue, the previous government’s decision to increase compulsory liabilities by increasing the salary of public officials and lowering the eligibility age to get an elderly allowance to 68 years from 70 years also contributed to the resource crunch," said a finance ministry official. The federal government’s treasury is currently negative by Rs 90 billion. Citing these factors, the federal government called for a reduction of expenses by local and provincial governments too. As both provincial and local governments are heavily reliant on fiscal transfer and revenue sharing from the central government, they are bound to reduce these costs. The central government had promised a fiscal transfer of Rs 129.46 billion for seven provincial governments and Rs 300.37 billion for 554 local governments when the budget for the current fiscal year was presented in May 2022. Sub-national governments receive fiscal transfers in four headings—equalization grants, conditional grants, complementary grants, and special grants. The provinces and local governments are supposed to get an additional Rs 163 billion through a revenue-sharing mechanism as well. “In fact, resources available for the provincial and local governments have already shrunk due to reduced revenue collection,” said an official at FCGO. Various revenues that fall under the concurrent jurisdictions of federal and sub-national governments, should be shared among the different layers of the government. For example, the value-added tax is shared under the formula that the central government receives 70 percent of total VAT collection while provincial and local governments receive 15 percent each, according to the Intergovernmental Fiscal Arrangement Act-2017. Also, the provinces and local units each get 25 percent of the royalties from natural resources such as mountaineering, forestry, electricity generation, mining, and so forth. An official of the Finance Ministry said harsh measures were required to be taken because the central government’s treasury turned negative resources could not be generated as targeted. “We have been making fiscal transfers to the provincial and local governments as per the schedule. So, a lot of resources have been parked in the treasury of sub-national governments. But the central government does not have resources to spend at the moment,” the official said.

Urmila Aryal has been elected unopposed as the Vice-Chairperson of the National Assembly. National Assembly Chairperson Ganesh Timilsina informed the House that Aryal was elected unopposed as the Vice-Chairperson of National Assembly as no one challenged her candidacy. CPN (Maoist Center) leader Aryal was elected unopposed from the ruling coalition after the Nepali Congress did not field its candidate for the post. Maoist Center Vice-Chairman Naryankaji Shrestha proposed Aryal’s candidacy while CPN-UML leader Devendra Dahal and independent lawmaker Khimlal Devkota seconded his proposal. The post has been lying vacant since Shashi Kala Dahal retired on March 5 last year.

The government has started homework to present various bills which are in priority in the Parliament. At a meeting held in Baluwatar on Monday, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal held a consultation with the whips of various parties on the bills to be presented in the Parliament. During the discussion, the parties have agreed to present various bills related to public concerns in the House on the basis of priority. After the meeting, Chief Whip of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party Santosh Pariyar informed that the parties have agreed to finalize the regulations of the House of Representatives within 15 days and agreed to forward the pending bills based on priority. Similarly, CPN (Maoist Center) Chief Whip Hitraj Pandey said that a discussion was held with all the parties to organize the Parliament and to make the bills people oriented. The government is preparing to take the bills on development, good governance, education, health and citizenship among others in the Parliament.

The price of gold has increased by Rs 500 per tola in the domestic market on Monday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 104, 600 per tola today. The gold was traded at Rs 104, 100 per tola on Sunday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 104, 100 per tola. It was traded at Rs 103, 600 per tola on Sunday. Similarly, the price of silver has remained unchanged and is being traded at Rs 1,320 per tola today.