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More than 500 savings and credit cooperatives across the country are not in a position to return depositors’ money, say cooperative victims.

Harish Chandra Shrestha, coordinator of the National Campaign for the Protection of Cooperative Depositors, said these cooperatives have embezzled hard-earned savings worth Rs 65bn from hundreds and thousands of depositors.

According to the Department of Cooperatives, there are more than 32,000 cooperative organizations across the country. These organizations have mobilized deposits from 7.3 million members and have a combined share capital of Rs 94bn. Likewise, they have mobilized Rs 478bn in deposits and invested Rs 426bn in loans.

“Many of those who embezzled people’s money parked in cooperatives are now affiliated with different political parties. Some have fled the country,” Shrestha said. “Most of the promoters of cooperatives are affiliated with one party or another. They become lawmakers and formulate laws that suit them. That is why the voices of cooperative victims go unheard.”

16 cooperatives ‘troubled’, Rs 13.5bn at risk

Dozens of cooperatives across the country have run into trouble. The government has declared 16 of them as ‘troubled’ institutions. Deposits worth Rs 13.14bn of 272 members are stuck in 15 out of these 16 cooperatives, according to the department.

The government, for the first time in 2018, declared 19 cooperatives—Standard, Standard Multipurpose, Kuber, Pacific, Prabhu, Chartered, Consumer, Kohinoor Hill, and Vegas—as troubled. Societal, Lunibha, Oriental, Pashupati, Tulsi Multipurpose, Shiva Shikhar, and Hamro Naya Krishi were added to the list later on. Of them, Oriental alone has mobilized Rs 3.19bn from 259 members. More than 600 depositors of Oriental have complained to the government, stating that they deposited the money for apartment units developed by Oriental chairman Sudhir Basnet.

The government declared Oriental ‘troubled’ a year ago.

Cooperative institutions that are unable to conduct financial transactions are declared as ‘troubled’ on the recommendation of the department.

Kashi Raj Dahal, chairman of the Troubled Cooperatives Management Committee, said cooperatives doing financial transactions and those based in urban areas have run into trouble. “About 500 cooperatives are in a situation of trouble. Of them, 145 come under the ambit of the federal government and 16 of them have been declared as ‘troubled’ institutions,” he added.

According to Dahal, the committee has already cleared all the liabilities of three ‘troubled’ cooperatives—Standard Multipurpose, Kuber, and Chartered. Likewise, the committee is in the process of clearing liabilities of two more cooperatives—Societal and Lunibha, he added. “As for other troubled cooperatives, the committee is searching for assets of their promoters and lenders. Frozen assets of these people are in the process of being auctioned off,” Dahal said.

According to the department, more cooperatives are being added to the list of troubled institutions. “We are investigating the financial transactions of six cooperatives. We will seek clarification from the promoters after the study is complete. If their clarification is not satisfactory, we will declare them as troubled,” Tol Raj Upadhyaya, the information officer of the department, said.

Why did cooperatives fail?

The committee has said that most of the cooperatives that have been declared as troubled institutions were facing a shortage of resources, means, and workforce. Many promoters are found to have used money collected as deposits to buy fixed assets and pledging them as collateral to take bank loans.

“Many cooperatives are found to have violated the norms. Some promoters lacked the expertise to run institutions that mobilize people’s money,” Dahal said. “Some promoters had the bad intention of misusing depositors’ money for personal gains. Those misusing people’s money must be brought to book.”

Dahal also said promoters got free rein over cooperatives due to lack of effective monitoring and regulation by state agencies.

According to the committee, it is facing difficulty in clearing liabilities of troubled cooperatives as assets of promoters are already frozen by the court after investigation by the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police.

Committee chair Dahal said there is a need to give direction to state agencies to facilitate unfreezing of assets of cooperative promoters so that their liabilities can be settled.

Coordinator of the campaign Shrestha said the government did nothing even though a single individual went on to open as many as six or seven cooperatives. “Their motive was never questioned. This is mainly due to a lapse in regulation by state agencies,” Shrestha said. “The lack of monitoring of cooperatives conducting transactions worth billions of rupees speaks volumes.”

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that he is effortful to provide justice to victims of cooperatives and microfinances' mismanagement.

During his meeting with a delegation from the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) at the Prime Minister's official residence in Baluwatar today, the Prime Minister assured of addressing the concerns of those affected by the mismanagement of cooperatives and microfinances soon.

On the occassion, the delegation comprising party President Rabi Lamichhane, Vice President Dr Swarnim Wagle and others submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister seeking the government effective intervention to resolve the problem. 

"I am highly serious about this matter. A large number of depositors have been subjugated to fraud in cooperatives and microfinances," he said, adding that he was committed to ensuring justice to them. The Prime Minister sought the party's support to sort out the matter.

Cooking meals every day can sometimes feel as burdensome as having to do the laundry by hand because the washing machine has decided to stop spinning. If you have children and need to cook multiple meals in a day, it might feel like you spend more time in the kitchen than you do in any other room of the house. While we can’t provide you with the (house)help you need, we can give you some simple hacks that will make cooking a little less (soul-sucking and) time-consuming.

Cut your veggies

Admit it, you go out grocery shopping and come home and shove everything in the fridge or the freezer. Most of us tend to shop in bulk and then put them away till we need them. It’s a great idea to take a few minutes to sort through your veggies, chop them up, put them in resealable bags or plastic bags, and then store them in the fridge. It’s an idea we got from one of our mothers who takes mere minutes to whip up a dish because everything is chopped and ready. You just have to toss everything in the pot over a flame to cook a meal when you have readied your veggies. You will thank us for this one.

Get your spices ready

Nepali food is full of condiments and spices. You need onion, ginger, garlic, chilies, etc. to cook most, if not all, of your meals. Set aside 20 minutes, once a week, and get your masala mix ready. Wash and puree some tomatoes. Peel and chop onions, coriander, garlic, and ginger, and keep them in airtight containers in the fridge. You can also make a puree of onion, ginger, and garlic and use this paste when cooking. Trust us, this one trick will cut your cooking time by half. Not only does this tip save time, it will also keep your counters clean while cooking.

Meal prep once a week

If you plan what you want to eat, say, for a week, it will save valuable time. You don’t have to decide what to make when it’s time for lunch or dinner. So, get out a notepad, or better still buy a weekly planner and plan out your meals. Write what you will be having on which day and for which meal. Once you have that down, get the basic ingredients ready—chopped and all. Pack it in separate containers and put it in the fridge or freezer. When it’s time for a meal, all you have to do is pull out the designated box and cook what’s in it. Alternatively, you can also batch-cook your meals and freeze them.

Have some handy recipes ready

It helps to have an arsenal of simple recipes that you can rely on when you are too lazy to cook an elaborate meal. Write them down on index cards and keep them in a box on the kitchen counter or write recipes out on an A4 paper and put it up on the fridge. It helps if you can see what you can whip up in minutes. Google some simple snacks or one-pot meals and write down their recipes. BuzzFeed Tasty and YouTube also have a lot of under-15-minute recipes.

Try some tricks

Chopping, peeling, mincing, and all can take a lot of time and make cooking tedious. Use a cooling rack to quickly dice hard-boiled eggs and avocados. Put the rack over a large bowl and use a large flat metal spatula to push the food through. To peel garlic, break the head into cloves, and place them all in a metal bowl. Cover with a second bowl and shake vigorously and the garlic skins will come right off. Use tongs to juice a lemon. Slice potatoes with an apple slicer. Keep a wooden spatula over the pot while boiling pasta to keep the water from spilling over. There are many such neat tricks that you can use to make your cooking experience simpler and shorter.

A team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has found an investment-friendly environment in the energy infrastructure sector in Nepal albeit various challenges in the country's economy.

The IMF staff team, led by Tidiane Kinda, conducted a staff visit to Nepal from February 5-12, 2024, to discuss recent macroeconomic developments and the implementation of the Fund-supported program.

“Nepal’s external position continues to strengthen on the back of buoyant remittances, increasing tourism activity, subdued imports, and inflation is decreasing. Weak domestic demand, large outward migration, and low credit growth despite monetary relaxation continue to weigh on near-term economic growth. Enhancing domestic revenue mobilization and accelerating the execution of capital expenditure will provide needed support to growth while securing fiscal sustainability. Increased vigilance on banks’ asset quality and stepped-up supervisory efforts are important to preserve financial stability in view of growing non-performing loans," team leader Kinda said in a press note issued at the conclusion of their visit on Monday.

The medium-term economic outlook remains favorable, as strategic investments in infrastructure, especially in the energy sector, are expected to support potential growth. The upcoming Investment Summit presents an opportunity to showcase Nepal’s economic potential. Timely reforms to durably improve the investment climate will help take full advantage of the Summit and pave the way to stronger growth in the future.

The authorities’ ongoing efforts in meeting key commitments under the Fund-supported program, with the support of IMF’s technical assistance, are welcome. Performance under the programme will be formally assessed in the context of the fourth review of the Extended Credit Facility, which is expected to take place in the middle of the year, states the press note.

Gulde-Wolf, Deputy Director in the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department, attended key meetings.

The IMF team held meetings with the Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat, the Nepal Rastra Bank Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari, the National Planning Commission Vice-Chairman Dr Min Bahadur Shrestha, and other senior government and central bank officials. The IMF team also met with representatives from the private sector and development partners.

Prashant Tamrakar has been turning heads in the fashion world for three decades. He isn’t just a model but also a choreographer, actor, and founder of Big Bell Edutainment and Fashion Network Nepal (FNN), which is an e-commerce and fashion business platform. Tamrakar is a trendsetter whose ingenious ideas continue to shape the fashion industry in Nepal. He is determined to make the fashion space a viable one for the younger generation.

“Fashion is a lifestyle. It’s not just about putting on nice clothes. It’s about expressing your desires, being inventive, and figuring out how to use what you have to your advantage. When basic needs turn into something luxurious, that’s when you’ve got fashion,” he says. Talking about his style, he says it reflects the confidence and ease he feels within.

Tamrakar was just 17 when he started modeling. It was a largely unexplored territory in Nepal back then. There were little to no opportunities. The decision to audition was a bold one, he confesses, one that he is now glad he took. But it wasn’t easy to make a name for himself. Connecting with the media, both national and international, was challenging. 

It also didn’t help that he didn’t have anyone to look up to during those early days. “We made lots of mistakes and learned things the hard way. I’m proud of how far I’ve come. I’m in a good place and I want my work to inspire the younger generation,” he says.  

In 1994, he made history by becoming the first male model to represent Nepal on the international stage at Manhunt International in Singapore and Graviera in India. The international exposure introduced him to various professions like makeup artistry, event management, and fashion design. His foray into fashion choreography, however, came as a detour when he was training as a model under a Norwegian choreographer. 

Leveraging these global experiences, he officially ventured into the event management business and choreography afterward. His company, he claims, was perhaps the first event management company to get registered in Nepal at that time.

Tamrakar says when he started, 30 years ago, the fashion industry was more like a small club. There weren’t many people involved in it. But now Tamrakar, who is in his 50s, says everything is big-scale now. It takes a village to put up a show. From makeup artists, choreographers, and event managers to stylists and fashion designers, a lot of people are involved in the making of a fashion extravaganza. He sees this change as a huge win in life. 

As an entrepreneur, he is determined to take things even further and make the fashion industry in Nepal a big, booming business. He says he wants to give a platform to those with the skills and talent to take fashion forward. 

But Tamrakar doesn’t believe in limiting himself to just one thing which is perhaps why he took up acting as well. During his modeling days, he was offered quite a few movies. But due to his focus on his business, he decided not to take them up. When things were a lot more settled, he decided to give it a shot. 

In 2017, he took up the role of the villain in the movie ‘Aishwarya’. The movie was a hit and people took notice of Tamrakar. He could act and act well. That much was evident. Following that, he bagged roles in other movies like ‘Captain’ and ‘Ranveer’. As of now, he’s working on a few South Indian projects, including one titled ‘Hitman’, which will be out soon. 

The versatile actor, model, and choreographer is also busy with his reality show projects like Nepali Beauty Star and Nepal Fashion Festival. He is also the official choreographer of Miss Universe Nepal. “I focus on teaching good habits, building a strong work ethic, and emphasizing the importance of dedication,” he says. Working with his team, he aims to bring out the best in each young individual, emphasizing their uniqueness. 

Tamrakar also champions a few causes like cancer awareness, environment conservation, skill development, and education through his company that he founded 18 years ago. He is involved with a few social organizations and businesses as well. He has a lot on his plate and though juggling it all can sometimes be taxing, he says he wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Tamrakar says he is on a mission to give the fashion industry a makeover. He dreams of having a fashion council in Nepal to take industry issues to the policy level for investment and budget decisions. “We’ve got great talent, but we need a platform for the industry to grow,” he says.

As a staunch supporter of sustainable fashion, he says Nepal needs a fresh business approach that’s economically viable. This, he says, will ensure sustainability and stability in the market. He believes that investment in the textile, handlooms, and handicraft industries can boost the fashion market and thus the economy of the country. “Our old-school trends can integrate with the new fashion and tech trends to boost production,” he says. 

About 68,000 children and their families who survived Nepal’s deadliest quake in eight years need further humanitarian aid to rebuild their lives, UNICEF said on Sunday, 100 days after the tremors that devastated parts of west Nepal.

A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck two districts of Jajarkot and Rukum West in the remote western region of Nepal on Nov 3, killing at least 154 people, more than half of them children.

The tremors, the deadliest in Nepal since two quakes killed about 9,000 people in 2015, flattened more than 26,000 houses and partially damaged 35,000 buildings, rendering them unfit to live, according to official estimates.

UNICEF said about 200,000 people, including 68,000 children, many of whom spent a cold winter in temporary shelters, still need humanitarian assistance to recover from the disaster.

The UN agency said it is appealing for $14.7m funding to support these children.

“Thousands of children affected by the destructive earthquake are still dealing with the trauma of losing loved ones. Their development is at risk as they lost their belongings, homes and schools, among others,” Alice Akunga, UNICEF representative to Nepal, said in a statement.

“Even as temperatures rise, the needs are still high as children require nutritious food, clean water, education and shelter. One of the best ways to rebuild children’s lives and restore a sense of normalcy is to get them back to school and learning, so that they can play with their friends, learn and heal,” Akunga said.

Prime Minister and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that time demands all forces that advocated for and contributed to bring about change to unite.

In his address to a party program on the occasion of the 29th People's War Day here today, leader Dahal was of the view that institutionalization of the political achievements so far is possible only through unity among progressive forces.

He also utilized the moment to call on Maoist leaders and cadres to take responsibility for protecting the achievements of the people's war. Highlighting the challenges faced, he warned that some forces are attempting to reverse the accomplishments made in the areas of socialism, good governance, social justice, and prosperity.

Party Chair Dahal also welcomed newcomers to the party from Dang and Surkhet who formally joined the party.

Party Standing Committee member and Minister for Communication and Information Technology, Rekha Sharma, was also present on the occasion.

The party observed Falgun 1 each year in the Nepali calendar as the People's War Day in commemoration of the formal commencement of the people's war (1996-2005).

Individuals climbing Mt Everest will now have to clean up after themselves, meaning no more disposing of their poo in the mountains. Mingmar Sherpa, chairman of Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality, said climbers will be required to bring back all their waste to the base camp for proper disposal. 

He added that climbers must mandatorily carry poop bags or eco-friendly receptacles along with special chemicals to make sure that their waste is safely contained and odor-free.

The initiative is aimed at mitigating pollution and health hazards posed by human excrement on Mt Everest. There is a lavatory facility at the Everest base camp, but as the climbers make their way up to the world’s highest peak, the only place for them to answer nature’s call is out in the open.

Sherpa had earlier told the BBC about the complaints of visible human stools en route to the summit and some climbers falling sick. “This is not acceptable and erodes our image.”

The decision has also been implemented in Lhotse, Nuptse and Amadablam mountains. According to the new rules,  climbers should now bring back eight kilograms of waste from Everest, Lhotse and Nhuptse and three kilograms from Amadablam. A list of items necessary above the base camp should be prepared and registered. The rural municipality has also made it mandatory to bring back the equipment and ropes used during the expedition.

Additionally, to keep the base camp area clean, every expedition team has to conduct regular cleaning campaigns around the camp.

Other rules for the base camp include a maximum of four toilet tents, two urine toilet tents and two shower tents for a group of 15 people. Each expedition should also ensure a sleeping area of maximum 80 square feet and 10 square feet for dining. Lighting bright lights visible from a long distance have also been discouraged.