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Newly appointed Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Chen Song arrived in Nepal on Sunday. Acting Ambassador to Nepal Wang Xin among others officials of the Chinese Embassy welcomed him at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China appointed Chen Song as the new ambassador to Nepal after Hou Yanqi returned to China after completing her four-year tenure in October. He is known as the expert on Asian affairs. Chen Song is the deputy director general at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is considered to be an expert on Nepal affairs. That is why Beijing appointed Chen Song as the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal among the five deputy director generals who are experts on Nepal affairs. Ambassador Chen Song came to Nepal around two weeks later than the scheduled date due to his health problems. He was scheduled to come to Nepal on December 27. According to an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he will stay in quarantine for some days.  

Madeline Miller, an American novelist, is the author of ‘The Song of Achilles’ and ‘Circe’—retellings of Greek mythologies—both of which have been bestsellers and critically acclaimed as well. Miller spent 10 years writing The Song of Achilles while she was a teacher of Greek and Latin. It’s rated 4.37 on Good Reads. I gave it a straight-up five stars. All my friends, who have read the book, love it. We still talk about it wistfully. I have yet to meet someone who has anything bad to say about the book. Circe, on the other hand, has got mixed reviews. People have either hated it or they have loved it. Unlike with The Song of Achilles, there is no in-between. I put off reading Circe for a long time, even when my best friend was adamant that I read it straight away after she had finished. She even wanted to loan me her copy as I wasn’t very enthused about the cover of mine and she’s not someone who shares her books. It was that good, she said. Having read it now, I have to agree with her even while she smirks and tells me I should listen to her more often. Circe, which came out in 2018, tells the story of the daughter of Helios, the god of the sun, in a refreshing light. Here, Circe isn’t just a figure with uncertain powers or a witch. The first-person narrative format that Miller has decided to stick to in this book too gives Circe a powerful voice, allowing her to tell her story in a way that’s never been told before. For those of us familiar with the mythology, we know Circe has had a somewhat traumatic childhood.  She’s the eldest and least cherished of Perse’s children by Helios. She is mocked for her shrill voice and lack of godly powers. She is exiled to Aiaia for her use of witchcraft to turn nymph Scylla into a sea monster that will terrorize sailors for generations. She does this when Glaucos, whom she is in love with and turns into a god, spurns her for Scylla. It is here, on Aiaia, that Odysseus finds her. The Song of Achilles presented the homosexual love story of the Ilaid and Circe is the feminist side of the Odyssey. Here, we don’t fault her actions as much as listen to the reasonings behind them. Though there have been criticisms about historical inaccuracies in both of Miller’s books, there’s no denying that Miller has once again made these stories widely popular. Circe is an empowering book that finally does justice to a female character that was once portrayed as weak by male narrators. Fiction/Mythology Circe Madeline Miller Published: 2018 Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Pages: 336, Paperback

I had no intention whatsoever of watching ‘Qala’ on Netflix anytime soon. It’s not that I don’t like the genre. With the winter gloom around, I was just not ready for a psychological drama. But I was literally peer-pressured into watching the Hindi-language movie, especially with my friends rating it a ‘must watch,’ as I do for some movies. Written and directed by Anvita Dutta, Qala explores multiple psychological themes surrounding its main character Qala Manjushree (Tripti Dimri). Qala is a complex and multi-dimensional character, and the film depicts her struggles towards self-discovery, success, fame, and the despair that gets to her. It is the 1940s in Calcutta, India, and Qala Manjushree is at the top of the rising movie industry. She has just won the ‘Golden Vinyl’ and is making headlines in the local newspapers. But some flashbacks show the audience the dark reality behind Qala’s serenading voice and her mesmerizing smile. Qala’s estranged relationship with her mother Urmila began the day she was born. When the doctor tells Urmila that her other child—a son—did not survive because its twin Qala was stronger and took up all the nourishment from her womb, Urmila looks at her newborn in disgust and almost smothers her. The mother-daughter relationship is tumultuous throughout the entire movie. While Qala tries her best to impress her mother and ignite any emotion for herself, Urmila’s nonchalance in raising her only child is unemphatic and cruel. Urmila, a retired singer herself, always wanted a boy so that she could groom him to become a maestro like her late husband. With Qala, Urmila does teach her music, but is never appreciative of her and doesn’t want her to sing for the movie industry. Qala struggles with abandonment issues and her mother’s constant scrutiny causes her to doubt her own skills. She is struggling with imposter syndrome when Urmila brings home Jagan—an orphan with immense singing talent. Despite Qala desperately fighting for it, Urmila give all her attention to Jagan and focuses entirely on building his career. To Urmila, Jagan becomes the son she lost at birth. A dispassionate mother, a sexist society, and her own inners demons—Qala conquers all to find the success she has been looking for. But her goal leads her to a path of loneliness and abandonment, while also being constantly haunted by a ghost from the past. The movie doesn’t shy away from the harsh realities of Qala’s situation, and the acting by lead actress Dimri is absolutely superb. Her performance is raw and emotional, and she expertly captures the fear, desperation, and resilience of a woman trapped in extreme relationships. The portrayal of her character makes for an emotional and thought-provoking movie. Dimri, who was impressive in her previous lead role in Bullbul (2020), outshines her previous performances as Qala. The actor embodies her layered character and lives every bit of her life on screen. Swastika Mukherjee, as Qala’s mother Urmila, is detestable at times yet some glimpses of her backstory do manage to raise empathy for her. Debutant Babil Khan, son of the late Irrfan Khan, also makes his mark in the movie in his short but important role as Jagan. The cinematography by Siddharth Diwan captures every emotion of the people, time, and space Qala is placed in. And not to forget the music by Amit Trivedi which has already gathered a separate base of fan following. The tracks in the movie are hauntingly beautiful and feel fresh at a time when poorly made remixes are ruling Bollywood. Overall, Qala is a powerful and poignant movie that tackles difficult themes with grace and sensitivity. Writer and director Dutta’s portrayal of sexism in the society and movie industry is particularly noteworthy. She has styled the film in a vintage passion and used a female character to be representative of the women in our society who are forced to face similar situations even in the present times. Who should watch it? ‘Qala’ is a beautifully crafted and emotionally powerful movie that is sure to leave a lasting impression on the audience. It’s a must-see for anyone who enjoys thought-provoking dramas with strong performances and breathtaking cinematography. Rating: 4 stars Genre: Psychological drama Director: Anvita Dutta Actors: Tripti Dimri, Babil Khan, Swastika Mukherjee Run time: 1hr 59mins

The newly established Budhi Gandaki Jalbidhyut Public Limited has failed to come into operation with the finance ministry not providing the required Rs 10 million to the company. The company established in early September last year to develop the 1200MW Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project is awaiting a budget release by the ministry so that it would get a permit from the Office of Company Registrar to commence operations. “Citing the code of conduct implemented by the Election Commission for the recently held elections, the finance ministry denied releasing the fund immediately,” said a board member of the company under the condition of anonymity. “It is not clear when the fund will be disbursed as the new government has just been formed.” The director of the company said that the ministry should have released the budget after the November 20 elections as the implementation of the code of conduct also expired. “It is not a matter that requires the cabinet approval,” the board member said. Budhi Gandaki is a ready-to-go project as its detailed project report (DPR) has already been prepared. Compensation distribution to the residents of the project-affected areas for the acquired land has also reached close to completion, according to the officials of the company. The mega project which envisages ensuring energy security for Nepal for the next decades has been in limbo due to uncertainty over the modality of its development. The project will be Nepal's largest reservoir-type hydropower project and its development has been estimated at $2.6 billion. The project area is situated at the boundary between the districts of Gorkha and Dhading. For the government, generating resources and closing the project's budget gap will be a difficult undertaking. “As it is a ready-to-go project following the completion of DPR and almost complete compensation distribution process, the next challenge is to generate funds to develop this project,” the board member said. “Once the company comes into operation, our focus will be to complete the financial closure.” The government’s plan so far has been to develop this project with domestic resources based on the recommendation of a committee headed by former National Planning Commission Vice-chairperson Swarnim Wagle. The committee in a 2017 report had suggested that the government should develop the project on its own by providing viability gap funding, covering around one-third of the project development cost. As per the report, the government could cover the cost of land acquisition and resettlement of displaced families which could total as high as Rs 94 billion. According to the report, a significant chunk of resources can be generated from government institutions. An infrastructure tax being imposed on imported fuel could be an important source of revenue that can be used to develop the project. “Based on an average increase in petroleum consumption by 10 percent a year, as much as Rs164 billion can be collected from taxes imposed on fuel alone by the fiscal year 2026-27," reads the report. This estimated tax collection was calculated based on Rs 5 per liter infrastructure/carbon tax that the government has been imposing since 2015. In May 2015, the government decided to levy a Rs 5 tax per liter of petroleum products (barring cooking gas) on consumers to develop the Budhi Gandaki project with its own resources. From the fiscal year 2018-19, the government started charging taxes under the name of ‘infrastructure development tax.’ The tax was also raised to Rs 10 per liter of petroleum products. According to the report, the extra fund can also be generated from government-owned entities like Nepal Electricity Authority, Employees Provident Fund, Nepal Telecom, Rastriya Beema Sansthan, Hydroelectric Investment and Development Company, Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Company, Chilime Hydropower Company, Nepal Army, Nepal Police, and the general public could be tapped for the project. The report also stated the resources could also be generated from international donor agencies or by the issuance of project-specific bonds and credits from the project’s suppliers. However, the company’s board member said that the government has not yet discussed with the donor agencies about potential funding from them. “This is the option that can be explored once the company comes into operation,” the board member said. Massive sums of money have already been spent by the government to compensate the residents of the project affected areas for the acquisition of their lands. According to the project's Environment, Compensation Distribution, Resettlement, and Rehabilitation Unit, it has already spent almost Rs 41 billion toward that end. For developing the project, an estimated 58,000 ropanis of land needs to be acquired. For this project, hardly any difficulty in acquiring land has been experienced. There is also broader political support for the development of this project. Prime Minister Puspa Kamal Dahal pledged to develop this project during his election campaigns in Gorkha before the general elections on November 20. Budhi Gandaki, which has been one of the country's most talked about projects for a long time, has been a victim of policy inconsistency despite facing hardly any problem in land acquisition and completing the DPR. In 2017, the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government awarded a contract to build the project without competitive bidding to China Gezhouba Group Corporation under the engineering, procurement, construction, and financing (EPCF) modality. The ruling was overturned by the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led administration in November 2017. A high-level group led by Wagle was then established by that administration, and it made the suggestion that the project could also be developed using domestic resources. Again, in September 2018, the then KP Sharma Oli administration decided in favor of the Chinese company, reversing the decision of the Deuba-led government. In April of last year, the Sher Bahadur Deuba administration once more chose to terminate the license granted to the Chinese company since it was not making any progress on the project. After construction work starts, the government anticipates finishing the project in eight years. “Even if we can develop it in 10 years, that will be a huge achievement,” the board member said, adding, “The project is vital for Nepal as it can generate enough electricity for domestic consumption in the winter.”  

With the government’s revenue insufficient even to meet the recurrent expenditure, the revenue administration and other government agencies have started to work aggressively to revive the faltering revenue collection as well as control the revenue leakages. After his appointment as the new Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel has already held two meetings with the top officials of the ministry, following which the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) has intensified market monitoring, and the Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) has filed cases in court against revenue evaders.  On the other hand, the Department of Customs has intensified monitoring of low invoicing and customs evasion. These three key government agencies responsible for revenue administration have drawn an action plan to control revenue leakages. On Wednesday, the Department of Customs (DoC) held a meeting with the representatives of the NADA Automobiles Association of Nepal urging them to clear thousands of imported four-wheelers that have remained parked at the yards of the various customs offices across the country. “There are around 2,800 four wheelers including cars and passenger buses at the yards of customs offices. The clearance of these vehicles would help us to generate a significant amount in revenue,” said a senior DoC official. “That's why we invited the representatives of the NADA to tell them to convey a message to their members that these vehicles could not be parked at yards of customs offices indefinitely.” According to the official, these four-wheelers were imported in recent months based on the letters of credit (LCs) opened by the respective importers before the government restricted the import of vehicles in April last year. Amid depleting foreign exchange reserves due to massive imports that led to fears that the country could face the situation of Sri Lanka, the government imposed a ban on the import of different types of 'luxury' goods along with many other respective measures to control imports. But the move hit the government’s revenue hard and the country failed to make a significant improvement in the foreign exchange reserves. So, the government lifted the ban on imports starting from mid-December last year. But customs officials said that automobile importers have been refusing to take their vehicles by completing the customs clearance procedure. “They are demanding further concession such as the mandatory provision of maintaining a certain margin at the banks to open LCs to import vehicles,” said the official. For a long, the import of vehicles has been one of the biggest sources of revenue for the government as the customs duties and other taxes levied on vehicles are very high compared to other goods. The government's move to restrict imports of certain items including automobiles affected the customs revenue badly. According to the department, its target of revenue collection till mid-December in the current fiscal year 2022/23 was Rs 257 billion but it has been able to collect only Rs 157 billion, suggesting a massive hole in the revenue. Not only the customs revenue, the collection of island revenue is also lower than the target. According to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD), it has only collected Rs 150 billion as of mid-December of this fiscal year against the target of Rs 174.37 billion which accounts for nearly 87 percent of the target. “Slowing of economic activities is one of the reasons behind sluggish internal revenue collection,” said an IRD official. As a result, the government's revenue has not been enough even to meet the resources for the administrative expenditure of the government. According to the Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO), total revenue collection as of January 3 stood at Rs 360 billion while recurrent expenditure (administrative expenditure) stood at Rs 406 billion. The government has suspected increased revenue leakages which may have contributed to dismal revenue collection. Last week, the Central Revenue Leakage Control Committee directed the bodies concerned to make maximum efforts to control revenue leakage. A meeting of the Committee held last Wednesday in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel and Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane held a discussion regarding the present condition of revenue collection and controlling revenue leakage. According to the officials, Lamichhane had directed the administrations under the home ministry to actively work to control revenue leakage taking place in the checkpoints. The customs official said that based on the instruction of the Central Revenue Leakage Control Committee, the customs department has already issued orders in the name of the customs offices to coordinate with District level revenue league control committees headed by chief district officers to control revenue leakages.  

The average capacity utilization of industries in Bagmati Province has increased by 5 percentage points in FY 2021/22. The 'Bagmati Economic Activities Report', published by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) shows average capacity utilization of industries in the province stood at 47.4 percent in the last fiscal year which was 42.4 percent in FY2020/21. The NRB has been publishing reports on the economic activities of all seven provinces of the country in recent days. The NRB report says the noodle industry had the highest capacity utilization in the last fiscal while it is lowest in the pharmaceutical industry. In FY 2021/22, the production of soft drinks, clothing, paints, medicine, shoes, and electricity increased in the province while the production of milk, animal feed, noodles, cigarettes, garments, bricks, and cement decreased. Major industries in Kathmandu, & Makwanpur According to the report, major industries in the province include footwear, carpets, pashmina, felt goods, animal feed, ready-made garments, decorative goods, noodles, biscuits, beverages, bricks, pharmaceuticals, and cement industries with most of them located in the Kathmandu Valley and Hetauda, Makawanpur.  In FY 2021/22, a total of 131 industries were registered in the province. Of them, 26 were in the manufacturing sector, 9 in agriculture and forestry, 9 in energy, 11 in information and technology, 2 in infrastructure, 1 in mineral products, 38 in services, and 35 in tourism. The report states that no industries were registered in Rasuwa, Ramechhap, and Sindhuli districts in the last fiscal year. BFIs disbursed 842.66 billion in loans to industries According to the NRB report, banks and financial institutions (BFIs) disbursed Rs 842.66 billion in loans to the industries in the last fiscal year. The loan disbursement of the BFIs declined by 6 percent in FY 2021/22. Such disbursement had increased by 25.7 percent in FY 2020/21 to reach Rs 896.42 billion. Of the total loan disbursement, the share of the industrial sector was 32.1 percent. The BFIs disbursed the highest loans to the industries in the Kathmandu district in the last fiscal. A total of Rs 757.05 billion in loans (89.8 percent) were given to the industries operating in the Kathmandu districts. The Rasuwa districts had the lowest loan disbursement of Rs 26 million (0.03 percent). As the central office of most of the industrial establishments is in Kathmandu, it is natural to have the highest loan disbursement in the Kathmandu district. In FY 2021/22, loan disbursement to the mining and production industries increased by 113.1 percent while that of the construction industries decreased by 49 percent. According to the NRB report, loans to the electricity, gas, and water industries surged by 20.2 percent, metal products, machinery, and electronic industries by 10.4 percent, and non-food products production industries by 9.8 percent. Services sector gets the highest loan disbursement As Bagmati Province's economy is dominated by the services sector, the BFIs' loan disbursement to this sector was higher than the industrial sector. Of the total loan disbursed by the BFIs, 39.9 percent was received by services sector businesses. In FY 2021/22, BFIs disbursed loans worth Rs 1,046 billion to the service sector, an increment of 13.5 percent. The NRB report states that loans to wholesalers and retailers increased by 14 percent, transport, storage, and communication by 12.9 percent, and tourism by 6 percent.  

In a volatile trading day that was marked by high volume selling of shares followed by a rapid recovery, Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) recorded a turnover of Rs 5.04 billion on Thursday, the highest daily turnover of the last 11 months. With the investors continuing buying of shares on the back of the Nepal Rastra Bank amending guidelines on working capital loans on Wednesday and hopes that banks will reduce interest rates for the month of Magh, the stock market ended the last trading day of the week with a gain of 18.09 points. The Nepse index opened at 2,135.23 points and went to an intraday high of 2,159.22 points before closing at 2,143.93 points. Buoyancy in the market can be gauged by the fact that the number of traded shares increased by 44 percent on Thursday. Volatility was seen in the market with the market hitting an intra-day low of 2,114.01 as many investors sought profit booking by selling the shares they had purchased in the previous days. A total of 12. 58 million shares were traded on Thursday compared to 8.73 million on Wednesday. Except for banking and other indices, all the other sub-indices turned green on Thursday with the hotel and tourism sub-index recording the highest 5.75 percent gain. Himalayan Distillery Limited recorded the highest turnover of Rs 431.9 million while the shares of Himal Dolakha Hydropower Company Limited (HDHPC) were the most traded. On Thursday, the share prices of five companies hit the positive circuit after increasing by 10 percent. The share price of Chandragiri Hills, Buddha Bhumi Hydropower, Dhaulagiri Microfinance, Khaptad Microfinance, and Srijansheel Microfinance increased by 10 percent. After the new government noted in its first meeting that problems in the country's capital market will be resolved in the coming days, the stock market bounced back 278.29 points in the last two weeks. The confidence of stock investors returned after the new government assured that it would address problems in liquidity management and will work to bring down the persistently higher interest rates. With the liquidity position in the banking sector gradually improving, stock investors said they are now getting phones from the banks and financial institutions (BFIs) requesting them to take margin loans.  

On Jan 3, Sachin Timalsena, a cricket commentator at Nepal T20 league, posted a video on his social media. Timalsena announced his resignation smelling “something fishy” in the tournament. He suspected spot fixing in the matches and offered some examples to prove his point. The same day, the match between Kathmandu Knights and Biratnagar Super Kings was cut short to nine overs because of disputes in the field. The players refused to do the toss for the match scheduled for 8:30 am at the TU Cricket Ground, saying they were not getting paid. Subsequently, the aggrieved parties sat for discussions with officials of Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN). The talks ended with a pledge to pay the teams and match officials through cheque.  After the match, the captain of Kathmandu Knights and former captain of Nepal national team Gyanendra Malla said the organizers and team owners both were out of contact and nobody had taken responsibility for paying them. Malla said members of his team were approached for match fixing, adding that they had reported the matter to the anti-corruption unit of the league. Subsequently, Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane ordered an inquiry and the Central Investigation Bureau has taken up the case.  A number of questions have arisen after this incident.  How did this happen? Why? And who is responsible? Is the Nepali cricket fraternity on a regressive road, again? CAN, in 2020, had entered into a 91-page formal agreement with Indian Seven3Sports. Per the deal, Seven3Sports enjoys strategic, commercial and advisory rights of the Nepal T20 league, the first-ever such tournament organized with direct involvement of CAN. The current mess has raised questions on the credibility of the cricketing body. Some sections of the cricketing fraternity had opposed the deal, pointing that Seven3Sports won’t be able to live up to CAN’s expectations, given its past records.  At that time, neither the National Sports Council nor the Ministry of Sports felt the need to intervene, though the deal was in contravention of laws of Nepal, which state that Nepal Sports Council must get approval from the government of Nepal before entering into any agreement with other international cricketing bodies.  The latest episode has tarnished the image of Nepali cricket. Yet another sad part of this saga is that CAN has not provided a good working environment for international coaches in Nepal.  In 2016, the International Cricket Council had suspended CAN for breach of ICC regulations. After three years, ICC reinstated Nepal as a member of cricket’s governing body on a conditional basis. Restrictions over economic funding were fully lifted in June 2022. This incident comes at a time when Nepali cricket was on the recovery path.  Failure to take action against those responsible for the latest incident of foul play may again lead to ICC action against the Nepali cricket. So, it’s time for responsible authorities like CAN, NSC and the ministry to wake up and take corrective action in the interest of Nepali cricket and its fans.