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The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 32.00 points to close at 2,568.11 points on Thursday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 7.09 points to close at 460. 03 points.

A total of 35,594,868-unit shares of 320 companies were traded for Rs 14. 13 billion.

Meanwhile, Upakar Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (ULBSL) was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 10. 00 percent.

Likewise, Miteri Development Bank Limited (MDB) was the top loser as its price fell by 7.65 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 4. 07 trillion.

The officials of the Finance Ministry on Tuesday briefed Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel about the country’s economic challenges and the measures to resolve those issues.

“Mainly, there are 46 challenges in Nepal’s economy in the observation of the Finance Ministry. Steps are required in 29 sectors to overcome those challenges,” according to a press note issued by the Ministry. 

The ministry’s secretaries and joint secretaries had briefed the minister about the country’s economic status and the ideas to troubleshoot them, according to the ministry.  

In response, Minister Poudel has directed to move ahead by prioritizing the challenges to resolve them. 

The slow growth rate in the economic sector in comparison to the availability of resources; limited growth rate in savings, consumption and investment; poor investment in the productive sector and a sea gap in the import-export ratio have been mentioned as the key challenges of the economy. 

Likewise, unstable and slow economic growth, massive financing gap and limited gross domestic savings and massive internal migration resulting in a decreasing trend of population in mountain, hilly and rural areas have also been identified as challenges of Nepal’s economy. 

Limited contribution of the productive sector in economic growth, limited economic growth rate, poor productivity and the decreasing trend of the industrial sector’s contributions to the country’s economy are also equally alarming as stated by the ministry. 

Similarly, import-based revenue system, poor status of export, massive trade deficit, marginal growth in revenue collection and expenditure, ineffectiveness in capital expenditure, rising debts and massive financial liability for loan repayment have been mentioned as the country’s economic major challenges. 

The ministry has suggested reforms in 29 sectors to resolve the crisis country’s economy is facing. 

According to the ministry, reforms should be achieved by ensuring effective public expenditure along with prioritization, improving capacity to increase capital expenditure, giving emphasis on fiscal strengthening, prioritizing production-based revenue, promoting effective use of debts, reducing financing risks, giving momentum to economic growth by creating a conducive environment for investment growth and investing more on the productive sector.  

The ministry has also explored ideas for accelerating the current economic slowdown. They include clearing the internal obstacles to bring in FDI, stressing the construction of hydropower projects and transmission lines, developing quality road networks, aligning the rural roads with agricultural production and marketing, promoting effectiveness of capital expenditure and applying austerity measures in administrative costs.   

Similarly, the ministry has said government investment should be centered around economic infrastructure development while foreign grants and concessional loans should be mobilized in national priority projects and funds related to climate change should be mobilized.   

Likewise, other measures suggested for solution include maintaining the government’s reserve fund, discouraging non-budgetary demand, ensuring loan disbursement in the productive sector and controlling bad debts. 

The ministry’s officials have asked to apply relaxed monetary tools to reduce the costs of fiscal tools while maintaining stability, providing project-based loans for SMEs, ensuring effective regulations of the fiscal sector and developing a second layer regulatory mechanism to regulate the cooperative sector. 

Other ideas include encouraging the use of remittance in the productive sector, making migration work and devising some policy and legal reforms to increase the inflow of foreign investment in the country.

At least 112 persons died in road accidents in Karnali Province in a year.

The province recorded 1,445 vehicular accidents in the last fiscal year, resulting in the death of 112 people, according to the Karnali Province Police Office.

The Office stated that Surkhet recorded 259 accidents resulting in the death of 28 people, Salyan 130 accidents resulting in 19 deaths and Rukum Paschim 93 accidents with 23 casualties.

Similarly, seven people were killed in 48 road accidents in Kalikot, five in 68 accidents in Jajrkot, 10 in 70 accidents in Dailekh and seven deaths were recorded in 41 accidents in Jumla. During the period, Mugu and Dolpa recorded 12 and 13 road accidents respectively.

More than 2,000 injured

The Province Police Office Surkhet said that 2,077 people were injured in the road accidents throughout the province in the last fiscal year (July 17, 2023 to July 15, 2024). Among the injured, 524 suffered serious injuries and the rest minor injuries.

Surkhet has the highest number of injured at 1,184 followed by Salyan at 271, Rukum Paschim at 156, Dailekh at 138, Kalikot at 96, Jajarkot at 87, Jumla at 60, Mugu at 39, Humla at 26 and Dolpa at 21, the Office said.

Herbs worth around Rs 81 million were exported from Kakarbhitta customs checkpoint in the fiscal year 2023/24.

According to the Quarantine Office, Kakarbhitta, herbs including chiraito, rittha, majitho and satibayer were exported. A total of 160 metric tonnes of chiraito worth Rs 48 million was exported during the period. 

Farmers in Taplejung, Panchthar, Ilam, Tehrathum, Sankhuwasabha, Dhankuta and Bhojpur have been doing commercial farming of chiraito.

Similarly, 83 metric tonnes of majitho worth Rs 16.5 million, 151 metric tonnes of rittha worth Rs 9.69 million, 24 metric tonnes of chutro worth Rs 1.2 million were exported in the last fiscal year, added the Office.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 2, 400 per tola in the domestic market on Thursday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow metal is being traded at Rs 145, 000 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 147, 400 per tola on Wednesday.

Similarly, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 143, 000 per tola.

Meanwhile, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,750 per tola today.

The Food Technology and Quality Control Division Office has filed cases against 38 industries for selling substandard food items in Tanahun.  

In the fiscal year 2080/81 BS, the office filed cases against 38 industries producing substandard food and beverages against the Food Act.

According to office chief, Jyoti Acharya, 38 industries were found producing substandard products while carrying out sample tests collected after monitoring 77 industries.

As per the Food Act 2023 BS, any business producing and selling contaminated and substandard food items will be jailed for five years or penalized Rs 50,000 in cash or both.

According to the Food Hygiene and Quality Act, 2081 BS, which will come into effect from August 3, anyone producing and selling contaminated food items will be punished with five-year imprisonment or a fine of Rs 500,000 or both.

The office had addressed 21 complaints in the last fiscal year. The office has been requesting people not to keep food in ink newspapers, not to use synthetic color in food products, including meat and not to use banned calcium and carbohydrates to ripen fruits.

The weather will be generally cloudy throughout the country today due to the influence of monsoon wind.

According to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, light to moderate rainfall is occurring at a few places of Bagmati and Gandaki Provinces and at one or two places in the rest of the provinces now.

The weather will be partly to generally cloudy across the country this afternoon. Light to moderate rain with thunder and lightning is likely to occur at a few places of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki, Karnali, Lumbini and Sudurpaschim Provinces. There is a chance of heavy rainfall at one or two places of Koshi, Bagmati, Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces.

It will be partly to generally cloudy throughout the country tonight. Light to moderate rain with thunder and lightning is likely to occur at a few places of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces. Heavy rainfall is likely to occur at one or two places of Bagmati and Sudurpaschim Provinces.

Light to moderate rain with thunder and lightning is likely to occur at a few places of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki, Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces in the next 24 hours. Heavy rainfall is likely to occur at one or two places of Koshi, Bagmati, Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces.

The Department has also urged all concerned to remain alert as there is a possibility of partial impact on daily life, agriculture, health, tourism, mountaineering, road and air transport in these areas.

The Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) has said that it would take three days to conduct the postmortem of those killed in the Saurya Airlines plane crash in Kathmandu.

The bodies were taken to the Maharajgunj-based TUTH following the crash at the Tribhuvan International Teaching Hospital on Wednesday.

According to Executive Director of the hospital Dr Dinesh Kafle, the hospital’s manpower is in a ready position to conduct the autopsy.

Kafle said that the postmortem will start soon after the relatives of the deceased come to the hospital and identify the bodies.

Police spokesperson Dan Bahadur Karki said that some of the bodies are recognizable and some are not.

Dr Kafle informed that the bodies will be handed over to the families after examining the teeth and DNA of the bodies.

Kathmandu Valley Police Office spokesperson Dinesh Raj Mainali said: “The hospital administration will perform the autopsy after police prepare necessary documents.”

A Saurya Airlines passenger plane crashed during takeoff at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Wednesday, resulting in the deaths of 18 people.

The plane, carrying two crew members and 17 others (15 of whom were airline technical staff), was en route to Pokhara for a comprehensive maintenance check known as a “C-check.” This inspection, conducted every 18-24 months or after a specific number of flight hours, involves a thorough examination of an aircraft’s systems, components, and structures, typically taking several weeks.

Among the deceased were four senior officers from Saurya Airlines: Sagar Acharya, Ashwin Niroula, Yagya Prasad Poudyal, and Dilip Verma. Also on board were Priza Khatiwada, wife of Saurya IT officer Manu Raj Sharma, and their four-year-old son, Adhiraj, who all perished in the crash.

The other victims were identified as Sushant Katuwal (co-pilot), Amit Man Maharjan, Sudip Lal Joshi, Sarbesh Marasini, Shyam Bindukar, Navaraj Ale, Rajaram Acharya, Uddhab Puri, Santosh Mahato, Punya Ratna Saahi, and Aref Reda, a Yemeni national. All were staff members of Saurya Airlines. The bodies were recovered by the afternoon and transported to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj for postmortem examinations.

Captain Manish Ratna Shakya, the pilot, was the sole survivor. He was rescued from the wreckage and rushed to a nearby hospital with injuries to his eyes but was reported to be out of danger.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the aircraft (CRJ 200, Registration: 9N-AME) took off from Tribhuvan International Airport at 11:11 am from Runway 02. Moments after takeoff, the plane veered off to the right of the runway, resulting in the crash. Eyewitness accounts and video footage on social media showed the plane catching fire upon impact.