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The Nepali Congress must come clean about its intention behind giving the vote of confidence to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Dahal already had 169 aye votes in the 275-member parliament to sail through Tuesday’s floor test, and yet, the NC threw its weight behind Dahal, effectively rendering the House without an opposition party. In a functioning parliamentary system, the presence of the opposition is vital. It acts as an alternative government in waiting and holds the government to account. The NC, which takes pride in calling itself a proponent of democratic values and parliamentary practice, has made a mockery of the very things it says it stands for. The NC, despite winning the most number of seats in the Nov 20 parliamentary election, could not be part of a post-poll ruling alliance because NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba refused to concede the prime minister’s office to Dahal as per their previous agreement. But when the third-placed Maoist Center joined forces with the UML and other fringe forces to form a government, the NC was stunned. The party not only lost its primacy at the center, it also lost its prospect of forming governments in the provinces. This is all Deuba’s doing. His desire to become prime minister for the sixth time led the NC to this situation. Now, by giving the trust vote to Dahal, Deuba is trying to dig out of the hole he has created for himself and his party. There are reports that Deuba is planning to reap political benefits by pitting the Maoists and the UML against each other. Deuba’s aversion to sitting on the opposition aisle is not new. In 2018, after the formation of a powerful government led by the erstwhile Nepal Communist Party (NCP), Deuba had faced criticism for trying to align with KP Sharma Oli of the UML to land some constitutional appointments. His decision to vote for the Dahal government in the recent vote of confidence has not sat well with some NC leaders. As Deuba holds sway in the party, he arm-twisted the disagreeing leaders into towing his line. A series of missteps by Deuba has not only created internal rift within the NC, the party is also at the risk of losing its supporters. Deuba would do well to switch to damage control mode before it’s too late.  

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 41. 04 points to close at 2,149. 39 points on Thursday. Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 7. 89 points to close at 411. 25 points. A total of 14,482,959 unit shares of 252 companies were traded for Rs 5. 47 billion. Meanwhile, Kumari Dhanabriddhi Yojana was the top gainer today with its price surging by 10. 02 percent. Likewise, Gurans Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the top loser with its price dropped by 9. 18 percent. At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 10 trillion.

An office bearers meeting of the Nepali Congress held at party President Sher Bahadur Deuba’s residence in Dhumbarahi on Thursday decided to hold discussions about the election of Speaker with other parties. According to party Deputy General Secretary Badri Pandey, the meeting has decided to discuss the election of the Speaker with other parties representing in the Parliament. “We will reach a decision about the candidacies of Speaker and Deputy Speaker after holding discussions with other parties,” he said after the meeting, adding, “The Province Working Committee will take a decision on the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker in the Provinces.” The meeting has given the responsibility to hold discussions and coordinate with other parties to party President Deuba. The Nepali Congress has started facing widespread criticism after it decided to give a vote of confidence to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Amid criticism, Deuba called the office bearers meeting today. The election of the Speaker is scheduled for January 19.  

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli held a meeting at the former’s official residence in Baluwatar to discuss Cabinet expansion. Though a ruling coalition meeting was called today, it could not be held due to the busy schedule of the leaders, the Prime Minister’s Secretariat said. Home Minister and Rastriya Swatantra Party Chairman Rabi Lamichhane is in Chitwan while leaders of other parties are also busy with their party work. That is why, only two leaders held a meeting today. After winning the vote of confidence, Prime Minister Dahal and UML Chairman Oli are working on sharing the ministries and giving full shape to the Cabinet. The duo had held a meeting in Balkot on Wednesday. They discussed various issues including elections of Speaker, Deputy Speaker, President and Vice-President.

The logistics services provider Upaya has announced an investment closure of Rs 60 million from Nepal Infrastructures Investment Fund Limited (NIIF). Managed by Global Equity Fund (GEF), the NIFF is a capital venture jointly promoted by Global Equity Fund (GEF), Prime Life Insurance and Himalayan Everest Insurance. According to Upaya Managing Director Suman Rayamajhi, the funding from NIIF will be utilized for the business expansion and growth of Upaya 2.0. "Upaya is committed to making investments in two key areas of infrastructure and technology to uplift and collaborate the entire logistics sector of Nepal involving driver/rider partners, franchise partners, business partners, and alliance partners," he said.Dr. Manish Thapa, Managing Director of GEF said that with new investment, NIIF is confident that Upaya will continue to revolutionize the logistics industry and drive growth in the coming years through its use of advanced technology and innovative approaches to solving common challenges. In 2021, Upaya successfully closed funding worth Rs 180 million from Dolma Impact which was used for the expansion of the company along with the introduction of various logistics solutions across the country. Issuing a press statement Upaya said that the company has been successful in integrating all aspects of logistics involving market aggregation operations and end-to-end delivery operations. Currently, Upaya has a network of five branches, 10 regional hubs, and 100 plus last-mile delivery locations across the country. Established in 2018, Upaya has been providing technology-enabled logistics services to its clients. The company says it has been providing logistics services across four verticals targeted toward the needs of different types of businesses and individuals in Nepal. "The Series B closing target of Upaya is Rs 400 million for the successful completion of Upaya 2.0 and the company expects to close its funding target by end of 2023," reads the statement. According to the statement, the major areas of focus of Upaya 2.0 are building automated warehouses for the 3PL base of operation, Upaya Station - truckers resting hub across the country, Upaya-Nagar - transporters hub along with a multi-transport system in east, central and west Nepal for inter-city synchronization under Upaya Alliance. "Along with this, Upaya 2.0 targets to have 300 plus pin codes delivery points for catering to customer’s easy delivery across Nepal," says the company.

The price of gold has increased by Rs 200 per tola in the domestic market on Thursday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 103, 400 per tola today. The gold was traded at Rs 103, 200 per tola on Wednesday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 102, 900 per tola. Similarly, the price of silver has dropped by Rs 5 and is being traded at Rs 1,360 per tola today.

German Ambassador to Nepal Thomas Prinz paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Thursday. During the meeting held this morning, the two discussed issues relating to bilateral relations, mutual interests and common concerns, according to the Prime Minister’s Secretariat. On the occasion, the German envoy congratulated Dahal on his appointment as the Prime Minister of Nepal and wished him a successful term.

Nepal Investment Bank (NIB) and Mega Bank on Wednesday started the unified business, completing their seven-month-long merger process. With the merger coming to a logical conclusion, NIB's long effort of becoming a larger bank has finally materialized. The merged entity is named Nepal Investment Mega Bank (NIMB). NIB approached the Himalayan Bank last year for the union and the two institutions even struck a merger deal in May 2021. However, the merger was aborted after seven months in January 2022. The annual general meeting of the Himalayan Bank rejected the bank's merger with NIBL after the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and a group of investors led by Manoj Bahadur Shrestha refused to go ahead with the merger. Following the failed attempt, NIB approached Mega Bank and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on June 10, 2022, agreeing on a swap ratio of 100:90 and that the entity formed after the merger will use the core banking system of NIB. The new entity NIMB has a seven-member board led by Chairman Prithvi Bahadur Pande, while Prajanaya Rajbhandary, Kabi Kumar Tibrewala, Gopal Khanal, Madan Kumar Acharya, Mukti Ram Pandey and Manju Basnett are the directors. NIB CEO Jyoti Prakash Pandey has been named the CEO of NIMB. Post-merger, the bank's paid-up capital has reached Rs 34.43 billion while deposits and extension of loans stood at Rs 360 billion and Rs 329 billion, respectively. The bank's total capital now stood at Rs 58 billion and its customer base has increased to 3 million. NIB is one of the country's oldest commercial banks, established in 1986 as Nepal Indosuez Bank. It is Nepal's second private sector bank which was established as a joint venture between Nepali and French partners. In 2002, a group of Nepali investors led by Pande acquired the 50 percent shareholding of the French partner Credit Agricole Indosuez in Nepal Indosuez Bank, and named the bank Nepal Investment Bank Ltd. Mega Bank started its operations on July 23, 2010 and had completed 12 years of operation in the banking sector.