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The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 18. 14 points to close at 2,635.09 points on Thursday.

Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 2. 97 points to close at 448. 54 points.

A total of 15,723,379-unit shares of 308 companies were traded for Rs 7. 30 billion.

Meanwhile, Barahi Hydropower Public Limited (BHPL) and Himalayan Power Partner Ltd. (HPPL) were the top gainer today with their price surging by 10. 00 percent. Likewise, Saptakoshi Development Bank Ltd (SAPDBL) was the top loser with its price dropped by 9. 23 percent.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 4. 37 trillion.

The Koshi Province government Cabinet meeting held today decided to organize the province investment summit in May.

The meeting held at the office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers under chairmanship of Chief Minister Hikmat Kumar Karki at Biratnagar took the decision to organize the two-day investment summit from May 1.

Similarly, a decision was taken to present the bill designed to manage the Province Mass Communication in the Law, Justice and Province Affairs Committee and to hold discussion on it, said Spokesperson of the Koshi government and Minister for Internal Affairs and Law, Rewati Raman Bhandari.

The meeting took the decision to present in the Koshi Province Assembly the bill designed to regulate pesticides as well as the bill designed to amend the Chief Attorney's functions, duties, powers and other conditions of services Act-2075, as revised by the Law, Justice and Province Affairs Committee, he mentioned.

In some local levels, farmers receive double the price for their produce when it is not immediately sold in a warehouse. A prime example is the ginger storage house in Tansen-13, Palpa, where 34 farmers benefited in the first year of the trial period.

One of them, Yagya Basyal, a farmer from Palpa, did not sell the 152 kilograms of ginger he produced last year at the price of about Rs 95 per kilogram. Instead, he paid rent and stored the ginger at the Tansen-13 storage house, even though it was some distance from his home. After four months of storage, he sold it for almost double the price—Rs 180 per kilogram. According to his calculations, he earned a total of Rs 24,900, making an additional profit of about Rs 8,000.

Farmer Basyal says, “The storage house made it very easy when the produce was not sold immediately or was priced low. Moreover, there is no need to find a trader because they come directly to the warehouse.” He also learned that when storing agricultural products, ‘C’ grade should not be kept in storage, while ‘A’ and ‘B’ quality should be prioritized. Basyal shared this insight at a workshop organized by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Nepal in the capital on pilot learning of the Inclusive Warehouse Receipt Financing Model.

Palpa, a region known for its high-quality ginger production, was targeted for the warehouse, says Prachanda Kattel of CRS Nepal. The warehouse was built in collaboration with Tansen Municipality in the first phase, and infrastructure development took place in the second phase. The municipality invested Rs 40m in the construction, while CRS Nepal contributed Rs 20m. The warehouse has a storage capacity of 25,000 kilograms.

Kamala Bhandari, chairperson of the Friendly Social Entrepreneur Women’s Cooperative Society Limited, which operates the warehouse, shared that 4,900 kilograms of ginger from 34 farmers were stored during the first year. She also mentioned plans to increase storage to 20,000 kilograms in the second year. The facility, which targets small farmers, allows each farmer to store up to five quintals of ginger. Bhandari explained that small farmers benefit more from storing smaller quantities.

The cooperative charges Rs 2 per kilogram as a service fee for storage. Tansen Municipality Deputy Mayor Pratiksha Sinjali informed that the municipality encourages farmers by providing a subsidy of Rs 5 per kilogram for storage. The total investment in the warehouse is Rs 4m, with Tansen Municipality contributing Rs 1m. Sinjali added that the municipality has also supported the building’s structure and has ensured the provision of services like electricity and water. This year, a Rs 5 per kilogram subsidy is available for farmers, even though no federal regulations for the warehouse have been enacted.

Under Section 102, Sub-section 2 of the Local Government Act 2017, the municipality has been empowered to operate the ginger storage house, according to Deputy Mayor Sinjali.

Swiss Contact Nepal representative Padmalal Bhandari emphasized that farmers need credit and insurance facilities to invest in production and protect stored goods. He urged Nepal Rastra Bank to adjust its monetary policy to allow farmers to take loans using storage receipts as collateral. While NGOs and INGOs have shown the way, Bhandari believes it is now up to the government to take action. Nepal Rastra Bank is reportedly studying potential policy changes on this issue.

A representative from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supplies advised caution in expanding warehouses, noting that over 300 warehouses exist in Nepal, yet half are non-operational, and those that are functioning operate at only 35 percent capacity. However, agriculture expert Jeevnath Sharma pointed out that Nepal loses 89 kilograms of produce per capita per year, underscoring the need for improved warehouse operations.

The Ministry of Health and Population has said that the Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) spread in China is a common virus and there was no need to panic about it.  

Issuing a press statement on Wednesday, the Ministry has said that its attention was drawn to the false information spread in different media outlets and social networking sites, urging all not to have trust on such rumors.

"It is common to have a higher infection rate of respiratory illness in the winter season. HMPV is not a new virus. This is just a virus causing a cold and was observed in Nepal in the past too. Nepal has already prepared for the test, monitoring and recovery measures for this virus," read the statement.

The Ministry has also stated that the risk of serious health issues from this virus was low and normally the virus is spread on the people having poor immunity, children and senior citizens.

Likewise, the Ministry has said that monitoring and alertness have been intensified by the Ministry, Department of Health Services, hospitals and laboratories.

Some local levels in Kanchanpur district in the Sudurpaschim Province have decided to halt classes of schools for four days with the biting cold following the cold wave in the district.

The district has witnessed a cold wave for a week. The local levels have announced the winter holiday for four days beginning today.

Shuklaphanta Municipality, Punarbas Municipality and Krishnapur Municipality decided to grant the winter holiday in view of adverse impacts on students' health due to the rising cold and have also asked all the concerned schools to halt classroom-based teaching and learning in the private and community schools.

Chief Administrative Officer of Shuklaphanta Municipality, Khemraj Bista, said the decision was taken as the regular classroom activities were affected and the students had adverse effects on their health from the cold wave.

Progress on the Mid Hill Pushpalal Highway, the project of national pride, has reached a significant milestone with 193 kilometers of the road along the Kaski-Parbat-Baglung section blacktopped so far.

Out of the total 250 kilometers, only 38 kilometers from Bhainse in Madi Rural Municipality to Yamdi in Pokhara Metropolitan City in Kaski, and 13 kilometers from Upallachaur to Ghodabandhe in Baglung district, are yet to be blacktopped.

According to the project officials, preparatory works for infrastructure development to upgrade the road in 51 kilometers are going on.

Shambhu Prasad Acharya, the Chief of the Project Office in Parbat, said that the development of the Upallachaur to Ghodabandhe section has begun under a new contract after terminating the previous contract due to delayed progress. Additionally, the construction of the 99 kilometers of road from Ghodabandhe to Patihalne, bordering Rukum Purba to Baglung districts, has been completed.

Likewise, maintenance works of the roads in some areas have also been initiated. 

Construction of several bridges along the Kaski-Baglung section is underway, with designs for some bridges awaiting approval after contract management.

A total of Rs 204 million has been spent in the first five months of the current fiscal year out of the total Rs 768 million allocated for road and bridges along the Kaski-Parbat-Baglung road section.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate has contracted to 3.4 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year 2024/25, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said.

The economic growth rate has contracted due to the landslide and flooding occurred on September 27-29 and the negative growth in the construction sector. 

The NSO said the government has set the target of 6 percent economic growth rate in the current fiscal year and only 3.4 per cent GDP growth rate has been achieved in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

The growth rate of 17 out of the 18 various sectors contributing to the economy is in the positive while that of the construction sector is in the negative.

Among them, electricity and gas-related activities have the highest growth rate of 21.4 percent, while the transportation and storage sector are the second fastest-growing industrial sector with a growth rate of 6.7 per cent. Similarly, the value addition of the accommodation and food service activities sector is estimated to grow by 6.3 per cent.

According to the preliminary estimate, the growth rate of the financial and insurance sector will be 5.7 per cent, the growth rate of the administrative support service sector will be 5.4 percent and the growth rate of professional scientific and technical services will be 5.1 per cent in the current fiscal year.

It is estimated that the construction sector is shrinking slightly due to the decline in import of construction goods in the first quarter of the current fiscal year. The construction sector is negative by 0.3 per cent.

The value-added growth rate of the agriculture, forests and fishery sector, which share the largest space in the country's economy, is estimated to be three per cent. There is a positive impact on total value addition of this sector following an increase in production of summer crops including paddy as well as vegetables, cash crops and poultry products, it is said. 

 Though agro products were expected to be increased following availability of chemical fertilizer, improved seed and sufficient monsoon rain, the total value-added growth rate of the agro sector could not increase sufficiently due to landslides and floods. 

The wholesale and retail trade sector are estimated to grow by 0.5 per cent in the first quarter. According to the office, it is expected to increase the value-added growth rate of the industrial goods production sector by 2.3 per cent, education sector by 0.4 per cent, health sector by 4.1 per cent and real estate sector by 3.1 per cent during the review period.

Country's overall economy is towards positive growth due to increase in agro-production, power production and distribution, and the flow of tourists, reads the report.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 6.38 points to close at 2,653.23 points on Wednesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 1.02 points to close at 451. 51 points.

A total of 15,502,751-unit shares of 305 companies were traded for Rs 6. 40 billion.

Meanwhile, Samriddhi Finance Company Limited (SFCL) was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 10. 00 percent. Likewise, Samudayik Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (SLBSL) was the top loser as its price fell by 10.00 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 4. 40 trillion.