Submit your Article

With the beginning of monsoon in the country, 28 people have lost their lives, one is missing and 25 others have been injured in the monsoon disaster.

In today's meeting of the National Assembly, the Minister of Labor, Employment and Social Security, Dol Prasad Aryal, while responding to the questions raised during the discussion under the Appropriation Bill, 2081, said that 46 houses were completely damaged and 36 houses were partially damaged due to the monsoon disaster.  Minister Aryal informed the upper house of the federal Parliament about the loss details, responding on behalf of the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane.

Presenting the details of the monsoon disasters so far in the current fiscal year, he informed that 24 people died from landslides, 19 people were injured and four people died from floods, one person went missing and two people were injured. Four people were injured due to heavy rain. In 93 incidents of lightning, 19 people died and 35 were injured.

Minister Aryal informed that 32 districts have been affected by lightning so far. One hundred and seventy-one quadrupeds have died from all the disasters. He further informed that Monsoon Preparedness and Response National Action Plan, 2081 has been prepared and implemented for disaster management.

He informed that after assessing the risks that may occur due to monsoon disasters, organizational responsibilities have been assigned in various areas to protect the vulnerable areas.

Giving information that preparations have been made under the convenorship of the District Disaster Management Committee chaired by the Chief District Officer, he said that according to the Monsoon Preparedness and Response National Action Plan prepared in collaboration with the relevant agencies, a program is being carried out to protect people from disasters by setting up a 'command post'.

According to him, Rs 500, 000 have been given to the family of the deceased from the district disaster management fund, Rs 300 thousand received from the state government, daily consumables including rice, pulses, oil, sugar, soap have been provided.

In addition, Rs 15,000, tents, blankets and utensils were immediately provided to the family of the deceased, he shared.

The CPN-UML has officially informed the federal Parliament Secretariat about its withdrawal of support to the CPN (Maoist Center)-led government.

According to party Chief Whip Mahesh Kumar Bartaula, the party conveyed via a letter to the Parliament Secretariat today that it withdrew its support to the government led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

In the letter, the party states that the support was withdrawn on July 3 given the efforts to form a new government of national consensus to establish political stability in the country.

The Prime Minister has been duly informed of this development and the CPN-UML will be assuming the role of opposition in the Parliament, the party said in the letter.

The price of gold has increased by Rs 100 per tola in the domestic market on Friday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 144, 400 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 144, 300 per tola on Thursday.

Similarly, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 143, 700 per tola.

Meanwhile, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,870 per tola today. 

Police have recovered 169 kg marijuana in an abandoned state in Biratnagar on Thursday.

DSP Gyanendra Bahadur Basnet of the District Police Office, Morang said that the marijuana was found at Gujar Tole in Biratnagar Metropolitan City-17.

According to him, a joint team of the District Police Office, Morang and the Area Police Office, Rani recovered the marijuana at around 11 pm yesterday.

The contraband drug has been kept at the Area PolicE Office, Rani for necessary investigation.

Home Secretary Eaknarayan Aryal has directed the chief district officers (CDOs) across the country to work in a coordinated manner by giving top priority to the disaster response.

Addressing the CDOs of all 77 districts, and the coordinators and members of command posts on Thursday through the virtual medium, the Home Secretary directed the officials to collaborate and coordinate with the local levels for the management of the disaster-related incidents that could happen in the monsoon season.

In the event attended by the security officials, Secretary Aryal asked the participants to work in the areas of disaster preparedness and response plans.

He asked the officials to coordinate with the province governments, private sector, community-based organizations and other stakeholders, and also to mobilize sufficient human resources and equipment along the major highways, the Home Ministry said.

Likewise, Home Secretary Aryal directed the key officials not to leave their duty station during the time of the disasters.

Furthermore, Aryal called for further effectiveness of the weather forecasting agency and promptness of means and resources including helicopters for the immediate rescue and relief operations after the disasters from the concerned agencies.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 15.46 points to close at 2,119.69 points on Thursday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 1.84 points to close at 374. 70 points.

A total of 22,167,678-unit shares of 313 companies were traded for Rs 6. 48 billion.

Meanwhile, Ankhu Khola Jalvidhyut Company Ltd (AKJCL) was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 10. 00 percent. Likewise, Dordi Khola Jal Bidyut Company Limited (DORDI) was the top loser as its price fell by 4.75 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 36 trillion.

Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa has advised Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to step down and pave the way for forming a new government.

Talking to the media in Biratnagar today, the leader said it would be appropriate for the Prime Minister to resign from the post and pave the way for forming the new government when the government's major coalition partner has already withdrawn its support and left the government.

Claiming that the Nepali Congress' significant contribution to the establishment of a federal democratic republic system, the lawmaker spoke of the need for a constitutional amendment.  The NC is committed to making it happen through the all-sides participation, he added.

"An amendment to the Constitution seems essential to have political stability," he said, adding that the two largest parties in the Parliament - the NC and the CPN UML - are progressing towards the formation of a national consensus government in a special situation.

Banks and financial institutions, and other entities reported suspicious transactions amounting to Rs 40bn to the NRB in 2023, a recent report of the central bank states.

The report unveiled recently by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the central bank shows banks and financial institutions, stock brokers, remittances companies, life insurance companies, cooperatives and merchant bankers flagged transactions worth Rs 40bn as suspicious in 2023. 

Most of these transactions were handled by commercial banks. According to the FIU, transactions worth Rs 38.72bn handled by Class ‘A’ banks in 2023 were found to be suspicious. This involved 5,282 transactions. Likewise, 330 transactions worth Rs 472.22m handled by development banks were flagged as suspicious during the year. 

The report also shows the involvement of black money in the securities market. According to the FIU’s report, stockbrokers reported 62 transactions worth Rs 429.6m as suspicious during the year. Likewise, finance companies and remittance companies reported 99 transactions worth Rs 265.16m and 156 transactions worth Rs 111.31m, respectively, as suspicious.

According to the report, life insurance companies reported 26 transactions worth Rs 36.18m as suspicious, while cooperatives, merchant bankers and microfinance companies flagged transactions worth Rs 4.85m, Rs 4.1m and Rs 2.2m as suspicious.

A total of 6,255 transactions were reported as suspicious to the FIU in 2023. The number was more than 50 percent higher compared to 2023 when 3,979 such transactions were reported. The number of such transactions were 2,021 in 2021 and 1,103 in 2020.

The highest number of suspicious transactions appear to be related to money laundering. In 2023 alone, there were 3,199 such transactions. This mainly includes assets with undisclosed sources. Similarly, 1,863 transactions were found suspicious in tax evasion/smuggling/tax crimes. Likewise, 1,040 suspicious transactions were seen in banking, finance, and foreign currency.

Similarly, there were 565 fraudulent transactions, and 405 suspicious transactions related to casino and gaming activities. Also, 288 activities related to firms, partnerships, companies, and associations were found suspicious. Besides these, 70 cases in education, health, medicine, and foreign employment also appeared to be suspicious. In one year, 47 corruption activities and 26 forgery activities were found. Likewise, 20 real estate and property-related transactions were also found suspicious.

Eighty cases related to citizenship, immigration and passport were found suspicious in the review period. Similarly, other suspicious cases were related to human trafficking, smuggling, insider trading/market manipulation, counterfeit currencies, robbery or theft, participation in organized criminal groups/racketeering, counterfeiting and piracy of products/IPR violations, communication, broadcasting, advertising related, election related, kidnapping, illegal control and hostage-taking activities.

Apart from these, incidents of sexual exploitation, narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, murder and serious physical injury, theft and illegal transportation of other goods, and ransom incidents have also been found.

As many as 1.78m threshold transaction reporting (TTR) were made in 2023. This report of transactions exceeding the specified limit appears to have decreased slightly compared to 2022. It was around 1.85m in 2033 and even higher at 2.68m in 2021.

The Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2008, and its regulations require bank and financial institutions and other entities to report any suspicious transactions and activities to the FUI. “No person shall perform or cause to perform any act contrary to law. It is wrong to convert or transfer illicit property in any way, knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe that it is property obtained from crime, with the intention of concealing or evading the illegal source of property (illicit origin) or assisting a person involved in the crime to avoid legal action,” the act states.

The Financial Intelligence Unit has been working as the central focal point of Nepal’s anti-money laundering regime to combat money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing. 

Nepal recently underwent the third round of mutual evaluation by the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) in 2022/23. The APG published Nepal’s Mutual Evaluation Report in September 2023.