Bhatta elected CPN (MC) PP leader in Sudurpaschim Province
CPN (Maoist Center) leader Khagraj Bhatta has been elected as the party’s Parliamentary Party leader in Sudurpaschim Province. A meeting held at the Parliamentary Party Office of the Province on Sunday morning unanimously appointed Bhatta to the post. The Maoist Center said that Bhatta, who is also a Standing Committee member and an in-charge of the Maoist Center Sudurpaschim Province, was elected as the party’s Parliamentary Party leader in the province.
Gold price increases by Rs 300 per tola on Sunday
The price of gold has increased by Rs 300 per tola in the domestic market on Sunday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 101, 700 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 101, 400 on Friday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 101, 200 per tola. Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 5 and is being traded at Rs 1, 400 per tola today.
China appoints Xi’s trusted aide Qin Gang as new foreign minister
China has appointed Qin Gang, a trusted aide of President Xi Jinping, as its new foreign minister, state radio reported on Friday, Reuters reported.
Qin, 56, and currently China’s ambassador to the United States, replaces Wang Yi, who has been foreign minister for the past decade. Wang, 69, was promoted to the politburo of the Chinese Communist Party in October and is expected to play a bigger role in foreign policy.
A rising star in the foreign ministry, Qin rose through various positions including as the ministry’s spokesman and postings at the Chinese embassy in Britain, according to Reuters.
He served as Xi’s chief protocol officer between 2014 and 2018.
Following his appointment, Qin will return to Beijing from Washington after 17 months as China’s 11th ambassador to the United States.
In an essay published in American bi-monthly magazine the National Interest this week, Qin gave an overview of China’s position on foreign policy and reiterated that China-U.S. relations were not a zero-sum game.
Indian Ambassador pays courtesy call on PM Dahal
Indian Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Friday. During the meeting held at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar, the duo insisted on further consolidating the Nepal-India ties, according to the Prime Minister’s Secretariat. On the occasion, the ambassador handed a letter of congratulations to Dahal sent by his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.
Home and Finance Ministry join hands to control revenue leakages
With the country's revenue administration falling far behind to meet the revenue collection target in the current fiscal year, the new leadership at the Ministry of Finance has started to get into action. The Central Revenue Leakage Control Committee (CRLCC) on Wednesday directed the bodies concerned to put maximum efforts to control revenue leakages. Official statistics show overall revenue collection has a stark shortfall of Rs 138 billion of the target in the first five months of the current fiscal year. The government in the federal budget targeted to raise Rs 1,403 billion in revenue for the fiscal year. However, after the first five months, only less than a quarter of the annual target (about 23 percent) has been collected. Similarly, the government had set a target of collecting Rs 464 billion in revenue from mid-July to mid-December this year. But the FCGO data shows a total of Rs 326 billion in revenue has been collected by mid-December. Given the current state of the revenue collection, it is likely that it will be difficult for the government to meet its recurrent and development expenditure targets. Wednesday's meeting, therefore, was a crucial one. The CRLCC meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel and Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane. The ministers took stock of the present condition of revenue collection and the measures taken to check revenue leakages. Minister Poudel asked all the bodies to put maximum effort to control all types of revenue leakage. Minister Poudel assured that the government is ready to provide all types of support required to control revenue leakage. Similarly, minister Lamichhane said the home administration would actively work to control revenue leakage taking place at the border checkpoints of the country. According to Ananda Kafle, spokesperson of the Finance Ministry, the meeting was held to tackle the challenges seen in revenue collection and possible actions that can be taken to control smuggling. Senior government officials including the Nepal Rastra Bank governor, finance secretary, home secretary, chiefs of security bodies, and the director general of the Inland Revenue Department, among others, were present in the meeting. With the country's imports decreasing by 20.71 percent, the customs revenue has also declined in the first five months of the current fiscal year. The new foreign trade statistics released by the Department of Customs (DoC) on Thursday show the government's custom revenue has shrunk by 29 percent. The department collected revenue worth Rs 154.13 billion in the first five months of FY 2022/23 compared to Rs 217.33 billion in the first five months of FY 2021/22. The customs revenue has been affected due to the import restrictions on four-wheelers and motorcycles above 150 cc as vehicles imported into the country have long been a major revenue source for the government. The government's internal revenue collection has also taken a beating this fiscal year as economic activities in the country go through a sharp slowdown. The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) which is responsible for the administration of value-added tax (VAT), income tax, excise duties, health service tax, and education service fees in the country, has missed the revenue collection target in the first five months of the current fiscal year. The department missed the target by 14 percent as it collected revenue worth Rs 150 billion till mid-December against the target of Rs 155 billion. IRD's revenue collection in the first five months of this fiscal is lower than that of the same period of the last fiscal; in FY 2021/22, the department collected Rs 155 billion in revenue in the first five months. Revenue administration officials attribute multiple factors to the decline in the collection of revenues. According to them, import restrictions, and slackness in the financial market, weaker demands in the market have affected economic activities.
Nepse crosses 2000 mark for the first time in four months
The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index has surged past the 2000 mark for the first time in four months. The benchmark index had dropped below 2000 points on August 27 amid a bearish run that began over a year ago. 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 161.82 points in the last four trading days. On Thursday, the Nepse index surged by 56.87 points to close at 2,029.03 points. Shares of 257 listed companies were traded and the total turnover stood at Rs 2.86 billion. The confidence of stock investors seems to have 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. Thursday's gain in Nepse has been attributed to the further easing of liquidity in the financial system with the Nepal Rastra Bank issuing a repo of Rs 50 billion for liquidity management of banks and financial institutions. All the subgroups recorded gains on Thursday. The banking subindices rose by 24 points, development bank by 116 points, finance by 87 points, hotel and tourism by 76 points, hydropower by 105 points, life insurance by 385 points, manufacturing by 112 points, microfinance by 113 points, non-life insurance by 348 points, and trading by 47 points. On Thursday's trading, the share price of 208 companies increased while 6 companies saw their share prices decrease. The price of 8 companies increased by around 10 percent hitting the circuit breaker. Himalayan Distillery Limited (HDL) had the highest turnover of Rs 121.4 million while the shares of Himal Dolakha Hydropower Company Limited (HDHPC) traded the most. The share prices of Himalaya Energy Development, Sanima Life Insurance, Srijanshil Microfinance increased by 10 percent on Thursday. Similarly, the share prices of Dhaulagiri Microfinance, Azod Insurance, Prabhu Life Insurance, Swetaganga Hydropower, and Reliance Life Insurance surged by 9.9 percent. Nepse after the formation of the new government
| Date Nepse Index Growth Daily Turnover Dec 29 56.87 points Rs 2.83bn Dec 28 -11.80 points Rs 2.13bn Dec 27 59.86 points Rs 3.77bn Dec 26 56.87 points Rs 2.08bn |
PM Dahal and UML Chair Oli hold meeting in Baluwatar
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli held a meeting in Baluwatar on Friday. Oli reached Baluwatar to discuss the Common Minimum Program (CMP) of the government, distribution of ministries among the coalition partners and contemporary political issues. The first meeting of the ruling coalition has decided to make former prime minister Oli the coordinator of the ruling coalition parties. UML General Secretary Shankar Pokharel said that a high-level mechanism was formed under the headship of Oli to coordinate with the government. Senior leaders of the new ruling coalition will be in the mechanism. The mechanism will prepare a draft of the CMP of the government within five days. Pokharel said that a committee has been formed under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel to fix the CMP of the government. Barshaman Pun of the CPN (Maoist Center), Dr Mukul Dhakal of the Rastriya Swatantra Party and Dr Dhawal Shumsher Rana of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party will be in the committee. Members from Janata Samajbadi Party, Janamat Party, and Nagarik Unmukti Party will also be added to the committee. Dahal became prime minister for the third time with the support of seven political parties including the CPN-UML.
Pelé, Brazil’s mighty king of ‘beautiful game,’ has died
Pelé, the Brazilian king of soccer who won a record three World Cups and became one of the most commanding sports figures of the last century, died Thursday. He was 82, Associated Press reported.
The standard-bearer of “the beautiful game” had undergone treatment for colon cancer since 2021. The medical center where he had been hospitalized for the last month said he died of multiple organ failure as a result of the cancer.
“Pelé changed everything. He transformed football into art, entertainment,” Neymar, a fellow Brazilian soccer star, said on Instagram. “Football and Brazil elevated their standing thanks to the King! He is gone, but his magic will endure. Pelé is eternal!”
A funeral was planned for Monday and Tuesday, with his casket to be carried through the streets of Santos, the coastal city where his storied career began, before burial.
Widely regarded as one of soccer’s greatest players, Pelé spent nearly two decades enchanting fans and dazzling opponents as the game’s most prolific scorer with Brazilian club Santos and the Brazil national team.
His grace, athleticism and mesmerizing moves transfixed players and fans. He orchestrated a fast, fluid style that revolutionized the sport — a samba-like flair that personified his country’s elegance on the field.
He carried Brazil to soccer’s heights and became a global ambassador for his sport in a journey that began on the streets of Sao Paulo state, where he would kick a sock stuffed with newspapers or rags.
In the conversation about soccer’s greatest players, only the late Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are mentioned alongside Pelé.
Different sources, counting different sets of games, list Pelé’s goal totals anywhere between 650 (league matches) and 1,281 (all senior matches, some against low-level competition.)
The player who would be dubbed “The King” was introduced to the world at 17 at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, the youngest player ever at the tournament. He was carried off the field on teammates’ shoulders after scoring two goals in Brazil’s 5-2 victory over the host country in the final.
Injury limited him to just two games when Brazil retained the world title in 1962, but Pelé was the emblem of his country’s World Cup triumph of 1970 in Mexico. He scored in the final and set up Carlos Alberto with a nonchalant pass for the last goal in a 4-1 victory over Italy, according to Associated Press.
The image of Pelé in a bright, yellow Brazil jersey, with the No. 10 stamped on the back, remains alive with soccer fans everywhere. As does his trademark goal celebration — a leap with a right fist thrust high above his head.
Pelé’s fame was such that in 1967 factions of a civil war in Nigeria agreed to a brief cease-fire so he could play an exhibition match in the country. He was knighted by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in 1997. When he visited Washington to help popularize the game in North America, it was the U.S. president who stuck out his hand first.
“My name is Ronald Reagan, I’m the president of the United States of America,” the host said to his visitor. “But you don’t need to introduce yourself because everyone knows who Pelé is.”
Pelé was Brazil’s first modern Black national hero but rarely spoke about racism in a country where the rich and powerful tend to hail from the white minority.
Opposing fans taunted Pelé with monkey chants at home and all over the world.
“He said that he would never play if he had to stop every time he heard those chants,” said Angelica Basthi, one of Pelé’s biographers. “He is key for Black people’s pride in Brazil, but never wanted to be a flagbearer.”
Pelé’s life after soccer took many forms. He was a politician -- Brazil’s Extraordinary Minister for Sport -- a wealthy businessman, and an ambassador for UNESCO and the United Nations.
He had roles in movies, soap operas and even composed songs and recorded CDs of popular Brazilian music.
As his health deteriorated, his travels and appearances became less frequent. He was often seen in a wheelchair during his final years and did not attend a ceremony to unveil a statue of him representing Brazil’s 1970 World Cup team. Pelé spent his 80th birthday isolated with a few family members at a beach home.
Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, in the small city of Tres Coracoes in the interior of Minas Gerais state on Oct. 23, 1940, Pelé grew up shining shoes to buy his modest soccer gear, Associated Press reported.
Pelé’s talent drew attention when he was 11, and a local professional player brought him to Santos’ youth squads. It didn’t take long for him to make it to the senior squad.
Despite his youth and 5-foot-8 frame, he scored against grown men with the same ease he displayed against friends back home. He debuted with the Brazilian club at 16 in 1956, and the club quickly gained worldwide recognition.
The name Pelé came from him mispronouncing the name of a player called Bilé.
He went to the 1958 World Cup as a reserve but became a key player for his country’s championship team. His first goal, in which he flicked the ball over the head of a defender and raced around him to volley it home, was voted as one of the best in World Cup history.
The 1966 World Cup in England — won by the hosts — was a bitter one for Pelé, by then already considered the world’s top player. Brazil was knocked out in the group stage and Pelé, angry at the rough treatment, swore it was his last World Cup.
He changed his mind and was rejuvenated in the 1970 World Cup. In a game against England, he struck a header for a certain score, but the great goalkeeper Gordon Banks flipped the ball over the bar in an astonishing move. Pelé likened the save — one of the best in World Cup history — to a “salmon climbing up a waterfall.” Later, he scored the opening goal in the final against Italy, his last World Cup match.
In all, Pelé played 114 matches with Brazil, scoring a record 95 goals, including 77 in official matches.
His run with Santos stretched over three decades until he went into semi-retirement after the 1972 season. Wealthy European clubs tried to sign him, but the Brazilian government intervened to keep him from being sold, declaring him a national treasure.
On the field, Pelé’s energy, vision and imagination drove a gifted Brazilian national team with a fast, fluid style of play that exemplified “O Jogo Bonito” -- Portuguese for “The Beautiful Game.” His 1977 autobiography, “My Life and the Beautiful Game,” made the phrase part of soccer’s lexicon.
In 1975, he joined the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League. Although 34 and past his prime, Pelé gave soccer a higher profile in North America. He led the Cosmos to the 1977 league title and scored 64 goals in three seasons, according to Associated Press.
Pelé ended his career on Oct. 1, 1977, in an exhibition between the Cosmos and Santos before a crowd in New Jersey of some 77,000. He played half the game with each club. Among the dignitaries on hand was perhaps the only other athlete whose renown spanned the globe — Muhammad Ali.
Pelé would endure difficult times in his personal life, especially when his son Edinho was arrested on drug-related charges. Pelé had two daughters out of wedlock and five children from his first two marriages, to Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi and Assiria Seixas Lemos. He later married businesswoman Marcia Cibele Aoki.
