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Tension ran high after a person died in police custody in Dhunusha.

The deceased has been identified as Dipa Mandal.

Mandal’s relatives alleged that she died due to police torture. They said that Mandal was taken to hospital after her condition became serious and died during the course of treatment.

Following the incident, a clash ensued between the anguished locals and police personnel when the former tried to picket the police station. A person was injured in the police firing.

A local said that police lobbed dozens of teargas shells to take the situation under control.

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City has provided Rs 3 million in assistance to the Nepal Children's Organization.

The amount would be used for different purposes including managing housing, food and health care to the children residing in the Organization.

Deputy Mayor of KMC Sunita Dangol handed over the amount to Chairperson of Organization Bidya Neupane.

On the occasion, Deputy Mayor Dangol said that the KMC doled out the assistance amount after receiving complaints about the challenges the Organization is facing for the management of food and health care.

In the current fiscal year, the KMC is to provide Rs 5 million to the Organization.

The Election Commission has designated seven polling stations and 14 centers for the National Assembly elections scheduled for January 25.

Election Commission spokesperson Rekha Sharma Paudel said that the Commission has fixed seven polling stations—one in each province and two centers in each polling center—and 14 polling centers.

The Commission has designated polling stations at Province Election Office Biratnagar, Morang for Koshi Province, Mahendra Narayan Nidhi Mithila Cultural Center, Janakpurdham and Dhanush for Madhes Province.

Similarly, the election body has fixed Shree Bhutandevi Technical School, Block ‘F’ technical building Hetauda, Makwanpur for Bagmati Province, Province Election Office, Pokhara, Kaski for Gandaki Province, building of Karmachar Milan Kendra, Ghorahi, Dang for Lumbini Province, Province Election Office, Surkhet for Karnali Province and Province Assembly building, Dhangadhi, Kailali for Sudurpaschim Province.

The Commission said that there will be separate polling centers for the Province Assembly members and chairpersons and deputy chairpersons of the rural municipalities and chiefs and deputy chiefs of the municipalities to cast their votes.

The voting will be held from 9 am to 3 pm.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 32. 77 points to close at 2,109.10 points on Thursday.

Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 6. 00 points to close at 396. 62 points.

A total of 17,172,149-unit shares of 304 companies were traded for Rs 6. 27 billion.

Meanwhile, Bottlers Nepal (Balaju) Limited, Asha Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd, Dhaulagiri Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited, BPW Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited and Chirkhwa Hydropower Limited were the top gainers today with their price surging by 10. 00 percent.

Likewise, SuryaJyoti Life Insurance Company Limited was the top loser with its price dropped by 7. 44 percent.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 27 trillion.

Remittance inflows to Nepal in 2023 are expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels to reach $11bn in 2023.  According to a new report published by the World Bank the growth of 18 percent in 2023 will come on top of remittance growth of 13 percent in 2022. 

 At 27 percent, Nepal continued to have the highest share of remittances relative to GDP in South Asia

The rise in remittances is partly explained by low inflation in the GCC countries, prime destinations for Nepali migrants, which boosted their ability to send remittances. In addition, the sharp deceleration in GDP growth and continuing high inflation, especially high food prices, in Nepal encouraged Nepali migrants to increase remittances, the report says. 

At almost $189bn in 2023, remittance flows to South Asia once again are likely to exceed expectations, outstripping previous forecasts in Migration Development Brief 38 by $13bn. As in 2022, this remarkable increase is attributable entirely to remittance flows to India, which are expected to beat previous forecasts by $14bn and reach $125bn in 2023. 

After growing at 12.2 percent in 2022, growth in remittances to South Asia is likely to decelerate to 7.2 percent in 2023. This regional average is the outcome of high growth in one half of the South Asian countries (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) and declines in the other half (Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives, and Pakistan).

The report further adds that  key drivers of remittance growth in 2023 are a historically tight labor market in the United States, high employment growth in Europe reflecting extensive leveraging of worker retention programs, and a dampening of inflation in high-income countries.

The slackening in remittance growth relative to 2022 is attributable to a near collapse in growth in 2023 in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and the halving of growth in the remaining GCC countries triggered by the drop in oil prices and production cuts in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).  In comparison, remittances as a share of GDP ranged around 7 percent in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, and 5.2 percent in Bangladesh in 2023. In India, the share of remittances in the economy was only 3.4 percent, despite its position as the largest recipient of remittances globally, the report says. 

After two years of double-digit growth, remittance flows to Nepal are projected to moderate and grow at nine percent, reaching $12bn in 2024. While economic conditions in the GCC, the main destination for migrants from Nepal, Bhutan, and Maldives, are projected to be positive, low oil prices will restrain large-scale expansion in new hires, thus curbing growth in remittances. 

Remittances to Bhutan are projected to stabilize at $75m (2023 levels). In Maldives, remittances are expected to fall to the pre-pandemic level of $4m in 2024 due to mounting debt and fiscal challenges that erode migrants’ confidence and lead them to opt for informal channels of money transfer, the report says. 

Foreign Minister NP Saud and his Sri Lankan counterpart M U M Ali Sabry held a meeting on Thursday.

During the meeting, the two leaders discussed Nepal-Sri Lanka relations and potential areas of cooperation, the Foreign Ministry said.

He arrived in Kathmandu to take part in the first meeting of Nepal-Sri Lanka Joint Commission set to be held in Kathmandu on Dec 21-22.

It has been mentioned that the Joint Commission will focus on various areas of bilateral cooperation between Nepal and Sri Lanka including trade and investment, tourism, education, defense, culture, connectivity and public relations.

After the meeting of the Joint Commission, a memorandum of understanding will be signed for cooperation in the fields of science, technology and innovation.

During his stay in Nepal, the Sri Lankan minister is also scheduled to pay courtesy calls on President Ram Chandra Paudel and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal

Sabry will return home on Saturday.

The gold is being traded at Rs 119, 000 per tola in the domestic market on Thursday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 118, 450 per tola.

Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,480 per tola today.  

The Election Commission (EC) has endorsed the voter list in view of the upcoming election to the National Assembly, the upper house of the Federal Parliament, scheduled to take place on January 25. 

As per the endorsed voter list, there are a total of 2,047 voters who include Province Assembly (PA) members, chairs and vice-chairs of rural municipalities and mayors and deputy-mayors of municipalities for the upper house election.

Of them, 549 are PA members and 1,498 are local representatives. Though there should be a total 550 voters from the PA, one member is no more and it has been fixed at 549.

Likewise, names of one rural chair, one vice chair and one deputy mayor are not in the voter list as they have already passed away. Similarly, the names of one rural municipality chair and four mayors have been excluded in the list as they currently remain suspended from the posts, according to a press statement issued by Commission Spokesperson Shaligram Sharma Paudel. 

The total weightage of vote of PA members is 29,097, and it is 28,462 of local representatives: 57,500 in total. The voting weightage of a PA member is 53 followed by 19 of a local people's representative as fixed by the Commission.

The voter’s name list will be available in the election officers' office by January 5 and it could be corrected through a certain procedure if needed. The EC will publish the final list on January 7.