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Nepal’s state-owned oil company has hiked the retail prices for fuels, including petrol and cooking gas, by up to 12.5% because of rising global oil prices, an official said on Monday, stoking concerns consumer inflation will be further pushed up, Reuters reported.

State monopoly Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) said in a statement that the price for one litre of petrol was raised 5.8% to 180 Nepali rupees ($1.45) from 170 rupees a week earlier.

The price for a 15.4 kg cylinder of cooking gas was increased 12.5% to 1,800 Nepali rupees from 1,600 rupees earlier, it said.

Nepali people are facing a surge in food and energy prices as annual retail inflation accelerated to a five-year high of 7.28% in the month through mid-April and could further rise this month after fuel prices were revised twice within two weeks, according to Reuters.

Spiralling inflation in the poor Himalayan nation of 29 million raises the risk of social unrest as imports of goods like fuel, coal and edible oil become costlier.

“This comes very hard on us,” said Geeta Pokharel,38, a Kathmandu housewife. “Those who have can pay but what about those who can’t,” she asked.

Unlike Sri Lanka, Nepal has sufficient foreign exchange reserves to cover about six months of imports, but it could slide into difficulties if global oil and food prices remain high for a prolonged period due to the war in Ukraine.

Retail petrol prices have surged nearly 30%, and diesel and kerosene by 33% this year, while cooking gas prices have risen 14%, according to data on NOC website.

The government has banned luxury goods imports and raised fuel prices several times this year to curb the capital flows amid dwindling forex reserves – down 18.2% to $9.61 billion as of mid-April from mid-July, Reuters reported.

Deependra Bahadur Kshetry, a former central bank governor, said if prices continued to rise, inflation could rise into double-digits by mid-July this year.

“If the government wants to give some respite to the poor people it should open mobile fair price shops and supply essential goods to consumers at reasonable prices.” ($1 = 124.2100 Nepalese rupees)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India is committed to a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. He said believes that deepening economic engagement among partners is crucial for continued growth, peace, and prosperity.

India is keen to collaborate with partner countries under the IPEF and work towards advancing regional economic connectivity, integration, and boosting trade and investment within the region, Modi said.

Speaker in the event organized to launch Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, Modi said  India is keen to collaborate with partner countries under the IPEF and work towards advancing regional economic connectivity, integration, and boosting trade and investment within the region.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said that China unequivocally rejects any attempt to introduce military blocs and block confrontation in the Asia-Pacific region. Addressing the opening ceremony of the 78^th session of the UN Economic and social commission for the Asia and the Pacific, the Chinese foreign minister: “We should adhere to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and should not pursue one's own security at the cost of others' security.”

 We should stay committed to the peaceful settlement of disputes through dialogue and consultation, and opposes all words and deeds that highlight tensions and provoke confrontation in the region, he said.

Nepali social worker Anuradha Koirala said that human trafficking will be controlled in Nepal one day.

She said so during a program organized by the Annapurna Express to honor the contribution of 100 outstanding personalities at Hotel Yak &  Yeti on Monday.

"I want a society free of human trafficking,” Anuradha Koirala, the founder of Maiti Nepal, said.

An event--Salute--organized by Annapurna Express to honor the contribution of 100 outstanding personalities has commenced at Hotel Yak & Yeti on Monday.

The 50 visionaries were presented with medals of honor while a new roster of 50 pioneers were also welcomed today.

The Annapurna Express picked 50 eminent personalities from different walks of life as a part of ‘My Vision for Nepal’, the signature initiative of The Annapurna Express. The list of 50 visions has now been compiled in a coffee-table book.

In keeping with the spirit of constant innovation ApEx has championed over the years, it now brings to you ‘ApEx Pioneers’. This feature honors another 50 personalities—one each week—who have revolutionized their fields and helped change Nepal for the better.

Who are our pioneers in business, bureaucracy, entertainment and politics? And who has done pioneering work in agriculture, linguistics and aviation? We try to cover a broad swath of national life. What, really, makes these pioneers tick and what can we learn from them?  

Lawmakers have demanded that the government remove the provision of statute of limitation for rape, especially in the case of minors.

Saying that the incidents of heinous crimes have increased in the society, National Assembly lawmaker Bimala Rai Paudel has demanded removal of such provision.

She said that though government has formulated women-friendly laws, the cases of violence against women have not been decreased in the society.

"The provision of statute limitation was brought to get justice. This provision should be removed in the case of minors, rape and violence against women," Paudel said.

She demanded that the provision of statute limitation should be removed through an ordinance.

Similarly, Binda Pandey urged the government to amend the law to remove the provision of statute limitation.

The lawmakers have demanded the removal of such provision after a girl last week girl came out with a series of videos on TikTok claiming that she was drugged and raped in 2014 when she was16-year-old.

American President Biden launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) with a dozen initial partners: Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Together, we represent 40% of world GDP. 

Here is the full text issued by the White House : 

Today in Tokyo, Japan, President Biden launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) with a dozen initial partners: Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Together, we represent 40% of world GDP.  

The United States is an Indo-Pacific economic power, and expanding U.S. economic leadership in the region is good for American workers and businesses — as well as for the people of the region. IPEF will enable the United States and our allies to decide on rules of the road that ensure American workers, small businesses, and ranchers can compete in the Indo-Pacific. As the President has said, tackling inflation is a top economic priority, and this framework will help lower costs by making our supply chains more resilient in the long term, protecting us against costly disruptions that lead to higher prices for consumers.

U.S. foreign direct investment in the region totaled more than $969 billion in 2020 and has nearly doubled in the last decade, and we are the leading exporter of services to the region, helping fuel regional growth. Trade with the Indo-Pacific supports more than three million American jobs and is the source of nearly $900 billion in foreign direct investment in the United States. With 60 percent of the world’s population, the Indo‑Pacific is projected to be the largest contributor to global growth over the next 30 years.  

The United States and our partners in the region believe that much of our success in the coming decades will depend on how well governments harness innovation — especially the transformations afoot in the clean energy, digital, and technology sectors — while fortifying our economies against a range of threats, from fragile supply chains to corruption to tax havens. The past models of economic engagement did not address these challenges, leaving our workers, businesses, and consumers vulnerable. The framework will focus on four key pillars to establish high-standard commitments that will deepen our economic engagement in the region:

• Connected Economy: On trade, we will engage comprehensively with our partners on a wide range of issues. We will pursue high-standard rules of the road in the digital economy, including standards on cross-border data flows and data localization. We will work with our partners to seize opportunities and address concerns in the digital economy, in order to ensure small and medium sized enterprises can benefit from the region’s rapidly growing e-commerce sector, while addressing issues is such as online privacy and discriminatory and unethical use of Artificial Intelligence. We will also seek strong labor and environment standards and corporate accountability provisions that promote a race to the top for workers through trade. 
• Resilient Economy: We will seek first-of-their-kind supply chain commitments that better anticipate and prevent disruptions in supply chains to create a more resilient economy and guard against price spikes that increase costs for American families. We intend to do this by establishing an early warning system, mapping critical mineral supply chains, improving traceability in key sectors, and coordinating on diversification efforts.
• Clean Economy: We will seek first-of-their-kind commitments on clean energy, decarbonization, and infrastructure that promote good-paying jobs. We will pursue concrete, high-ambition targets that will accelerate efforts to tackle the climate crisis, including in the areas of renewable energy, carbon removal, energy efficiency standards, and new measures to combat methane emissions. 
• Fair Economy: We will seek commitments to enact and enforce effective tax, anti-money laundering, and anti-bribery regimes that are in line with our existing multilateral obligations to promote a fair economy. These will include provisions on the exchange of tax information, criminalization of bribery in accordance with UN standards, and effective implementation of beneficial ownership recommendations to strengthen our efforts to crack down on corruption.