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As lockdown restrictions begin to ease, Coca-Cola in Nepal has announced plans to support grocery and shop owners to bounce back from the pandemic. This includes initiatives to protect the safety of shop owners.

The objective is to assist the food and beverage sector get back on its feet, recover and thrive in the post-covid era, the company says.

Under the scheme, retailers will be able to directly place orders with distributors through WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Viber. Coca-Cola will also provide hygiene and PPE kits and install counter shields at over 1,000 stores.

Out and about already: Kathmandu’s iconic marker, Dharahara, which stands again after being destroyed in the 2015 earthquakes, as seen on a clear day from the Swayambhunath monastery premises. As restrictions ease in Kathmandu, valley's denizens are taking this as an opportunity to go sightseeing. Infection rates, however, are still troubling | Pratik Rayamajhi

Caritas Nepal, in collaboration with Catholic Relief Services (CRS), has initiated a COVID-19 emergency response effort.

The three-month emergency humanitarian support project from July to September aims to facilitate and assist 22 hospitals from 12 districts with oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators, pulse oximeters, Ventura face masks, PPE SETs including isolation gowns, face shields, shoe covers, safety goggles, surgical head caps, heavy duty gloves, surgical masks, surgical gloves and hand sanitizers.

On July 8, Caritas Nepal handed over medical items to Paropakar Maternity and Women's Hospital. “These equipment will be utilized by our frontline workers while providing service to the mothers and babies who are fighting for their life in Covid section of our hospital,” says Dr. Sunil Sharma Acharya, Physician, Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital.

“We appreciate this effort of Caritas and its member organization for showing this gesture of kindness during this unprecedented situation”

Similarly, Mechi Hospital of Jhapa also received medical items. Says Devendra Pokharel, Regional Manager of Caritas Nepal, Damak Office: “The second wave of corona infections had spread rapidly, with high rate of infection and many patients suffering from low oxygen levels and severe respiratory problems. These equipment will help them.”

Due to a glitch in its electronic payment system, Siddhartha Bank, an ‘A’ class commercial bank, has lost around Rs 4.2 million. Two thieves apparently used an ATM card which had no balance in it to withdraw the said amount. Police have arrested Jagat Gurung, 57, and Sabitri Tamang, 30, in connection with the incident. The police have also recovered over Rs 3 million in cash from their rented room. The duo is said to have used a foreign ATM card to withdraw money from Siddhartha Bank’s various ATM counters. The two are currently in custody and being investigated.

The series of cash withdrawal began on June 27, when one of the accused thieves tried to withdraw money from one of Siddhartha Bank’s ATM counters in Kathmandu using an expired ATM card. The attempt worked and from then on, the duo went around withdrawing cash from the bank’s ATM booths across the city, with the bank having no idea of these illegal transactions. Only after the duo had withdrawn over Rs 4.2 million cash in under two weeks did the bank discover the hanky-panky.

Starting from Rs 6000, the duo has allegedly withdrawn different amounts in the said period. The police see this as a problem between Siddhartha Bank and Nepal Electronic Payment System (NEPS), its service provider for cards related transactions. According to the police, NEPS did not know of the theft until the bank informed it. This is not the first time NEPS’ faulty system has allowed financial frauds. Previously, too, Chinese criminals had hacked into the NEPS’s system to withdraw millions of rupees.

The reason behind the system’s malfunction is not known. Also unknown is whether this is an isolated event or if glitches like these have happened and went unnoticed in the past as well. This ultimately puts Siddhartha Bank’s customers at risk. The ‘A’ grade commercial bank, which also advertises itself as one of the biggest in the country, needs to fortify its software and reconsider its membership with NEPS to win back the trust of its customers.

After spending nearly double the estimated time and money, the 456MW Upper Tamakoshi hydropower project, Nepal’s biggest so far, is finally complete. The electricity it generates will be more than enough to meet the country’s wet season demand, and it will significantly reduce power imports from India in the dry season. Perhaps the best part of the project is that it was financed entirely by domestic investors.

Inaugurating it on July 6, Prime Minister KP Oli said Upper Tamakoshi had given the country greater confidence to undertake projects of national importance by utilizing its own human and financial resources. That is certainly so. Yet the project also offers some cautionary lessons. Its developers seem to have overlooked future hikes in the exchange rate for dollars—used to pay foreign suppliers and consultants—when coming up with the estimate of Rs 35 billion. If interest on the revised additional cost is to be factored in, the eventual bill would come to Rs 85 million.

By contrast, the delay in completing the project was less under their control. Supplies were hindered for many months after the 2015 earthquakes and the subsequent border blockade. Frequent floods and landslides also slowed down the project. Then came Covid-19 and the lockdowns. But, yes, more thought could have gone into choosing the contractors. For instance, the Indian contractor that was initially chosen did not have the expertise to carry out a key task. The developers had to appoint another contractor when 95 percent of the work had already been done. Domestic investors will feel confident, just as the prime minister said, only when their investment yields timely and expected returns.

The completion of Upper Tamakoshi is a huge milestone towards Nepal’s energy sufficiency. Soon, the country may discontinue importing electricity, and instead, export some, all-year-round. We hope Upper Tamakoshi is the final nail in the coffin of the dreaded load-shedding, and cheaper and more reliable electricity will spur economic growth. If we could also learn from its construction and better manage our future projects, the country will be well on its way to achieving its much-vaunted hydropower potential.

Cross-border trade through the Korala border crossing in Nepal’s Upper Mustang, which abuts China’s autonomous region of Tibet, remains halted amid the second wave of Covid-19 in Nepal. This has affected the export of pashmina, a local product of Upper Mustang, to Tibet, rue the locals.

Chinese authorities organize a cross-border trade fair twice a year, in June and August, for residents of Mustang to sell their products such as pashmina and yarsagumba. But the fairs, which were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic last year, have also been put off this year.

“Before the corona crisis, we could sell a kilo of pashmina fiber for Rs 7,000. Last year, it was difficult to sell it even at Rs 2,000. The situation is the same this year, but the state will not compensate us,” says Wangel Gurung, a resident of Choser.

The livestock business is the main source of income for most farmers in Lomanthang and Loghekar Damodarkund villages of Upper Mustang located at an altitude of 4,200 m above the sea level. Farmers of Upper Mustang have been rearing sheep and goats for centuries as the crop yields are not enough to sustain their livelihood throughout the year.

The people of Upper Mustang move to lower altitudes during the winter to trade their produce and involve themselves in animal husbandry in the rainy season.

Narbu Gurung, a livestock farmer of Lomanthang, says all trade has come to a standstill since the border was closed following the Covid-19 outbreak last year.

Upper Mustang farmers used to export around 10 truckloads of pashmina a year to Tibet.

However, with the border closure, they don’t have any other place to send their produce, which is used to make various garments by processing and extracting yarn. 

The Chinese side is closely monitoring the border checkpoint of Mustang due to the fear of importing Covid-19 from Nepal. It has urged its citizens not to go to border areas and Nepali border residents not to visit Korala.

Following the border closure, residents have been forced to ferry essentials via the Beni-Jomsom road. This is more expensive than buying essential items from Korala, they say, hoping the border crossing would be opened as soon as Covid-19 cases go down in Nepal.

Smart Telecom Private limited has recently filed a petition with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology seeking a further extension on the Rs 6 billion in arrears it has to pay to the government. The private mobile network service provider, which has been unable to establish itself in the Nepali market, is asking for a further one-year extension. Smart Telecom has also submitted the same request to the Nepal Telecommunication Authority.

This is not the first time the company has failed to clear its arrears and got the payment deadline extended through lobbying. The NTA had decided to cancel Smart Telecom’s license two years ago for repeatedly failing to pay up. Despite the NTA’s decision, the Council of Ministers had stepped in to protect the company and decided to extend the payment deadline while also giving Smart Telecom the option of clearing its dues in installments.

In a September 2020 Cabinet decision, the deadline was extended by six more months. Back then, the NEA was given a three-point directive by the Ministry of Communications, which stated that if the company failed to pay its arrears in the next six months, the NTA could revoke its license and also confiscate its properties and assets.

“In case of non-payment of dues within the stipulated period, the authority will take necessary legal action to revoke the license and make appropriate arrangements for the continuity of service for the company’s customers,” the letter sent by the ministry to the NTA read. However, come February 2021, the Council of Ministers again extended the deadline till the end of the current fiscal year, i.e mid-July.

It has been learnt that despite repeated extensions and installment facility, Smart Telecom has failed to pay its liabilities to the government, accrued under various headings such as frequency fee and license renewal. According to the NTA payment plans, the company had to pay a frequency fee of Rs 598.86 million in the first installment, Rs 832.3 million in the second, Rs 774 million in the third, Rs 715.6 million in the fourth, and Rs 657.2 million in the fifth. Besides the set installments, Smart Telecom also has to pay another Rs 1.25 billion in license renewal fees.

Family time: A group of rhesus monkeys minding their own business inside the Pashupatinath Temple premises in Kathmandu. The Hindu temple, home to hundreds of these monkeys, has been shut down for visitors for the past couple of months due to Covid-19 restrictions. As a result, the primates who usually depend on visitors for food are starving. The locals are also complaining of frequent monkey attacks as they get desperate for food | Pratik Rayamajhi