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Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal held separate meetings with the ruling and opposition parties on Monday. 

Prime Minister Dahal held separate meetings with the ruling and opposition parties after the task force formed to form a parliamentary probe committee to investigate cooperative fraud scam failed to forge consensus on the terms of reference (ToR).

The main opposition Nepali Congress Deputy General Secretary Jeevan Pariyar said that he informed the Prime Minister about the party’s stance and demand.

Though the Prime Minister is positive on finalizing the ToR, an agreement has not been reached among the parties about whether to mention the name of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane, who is accused of embezzling millions of rupees from a cooperative, he said.

“A joint meeting was held between the ruling and opposition parties and separate meetings with the Prime Minister but could not yield any fruit,” Pariyar said, adding, “We put our views. The meeting ended on a positive note but the ruling coalition is not ready to mention the name of Lamichhane.”

There is a mandatory provision in the Constitution that the budget must be unveiled on May 27.

The government is scheduled to unveil the budget at 1 pm tomorrow.

The Congress has warned that it would obstruct tomorrow’s meeting as well if consensus is not forged among the parties.

The price of gold has increased by Rs 300 per tola in the domestic market on Monday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 137, 200 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 136, 900 per tola on Sunday.

Similarly, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 136, 550 per tola. It was traded at Rs 136, 250 per tola.

Meanwhile, the price of silver has increased by Rs 25 and is being traded at Rs 1,880 per tola today.

A marauding gang of looters plundered Dolphu Village of Mugum Karmarong Rural Municipality-1 in Mugu district, taking advantage of the absence of villagers on Saturday.

The villagers had left their homes to collect the precious herb, yarshagumba.

The armed looters ransacked houses and decamped with cash and jeweleries among others, according to Chairman of Karmarong Rural Municipality, Chhiring Kyapne Lama.

"There were only elderly and children in the village in which the armed gang took advantage of. Of 50 houses, the gang plundered assets from 23 houses," he informed, adding that even a priest at a shrine was beaten by the gang.

The gang did not spare even the dogs guarding the houses.

Meanwhile, Chief District Officer Topendra KC informed that a police team was deputed from Pulu Police Post, a five-hour trek from the village, immediately after receiving the information.

Mugum Karmarong-1 Chairman Tunduk Lama had informed police about the looting spree. The assailants had come with guns, scimitars and khukuris. They robbed jeweleries, ancient pots, medicinal herbs, and clothes, he added.

Deputy Superintendent of Police, Birendra Thapa, informed that the incident site had no access to communications, so it was difficult to contact police personnel mobilized there.

Ward no 1, 3 and 4 of Mugum Karmarong rural municipality fall in the Tse Phoksundo National Park.

After the local level gave permission to collect yarshagumba for this season, the locals had left villages since May 23.

A person died and 22 others were injured when four vehicles collided with each other at Satrakilo in Bharatpur Metropolitan City-29 in Chitwan along the Narayangadh-Mugling road section on Sunday.

The identity of the deceased is yet to be ascertained, police said.

Bhesraj Rijal, spokesperson at the District Police Office, Chitwan, said that three buses and a truck had collided with each other last night.

The road remained obstructed for some hours after the incident. However, two-way traffic resumed this morning, Rijal added.

Eighteen injured passengers are undergoing treatment at a local hospital, Kurintar, while four others at Chitwan Medical College.

Is love out of the blue?

Yes, indeed love comes unexpectedly, seemingly out of the blue.

Like a comet streaking across the midnight sky.

Mhmm but still, 

I wonder how the stranger of yesterday is suddenly so dear today.

It feels like rekindling a soul from a past life. 

As if destiny has guided two spirits to reunite once more in this epoch.

I wonder how Every dream is filled with their presence, 

Every thought is consumed by its essence.

As if memories from another time and place echo softly in the background, 

Whispering a bond that has transcended the bounds of time.

You know them so well, 

Yet there are still many parts of them waiting to be unveiled.

It feels like weaving together the threads of past, 

Present, and future into a beautiful tapestry of shared existence.

Is love out of the blue?

Pratikshya Aganja

IMBA students at Herald College conduct weekly events to get hands-on learning experience that develops a diverse range of skills applicable in various professional contexts. “The Price Puzzle: Solving the Pricing Mystery” is the title for one such event.

The event is divided into three segments:

• Drama: “The decoy effect: The illusion of choices”
• Panel discussion: “The Price Puzzle: Solving the pricing mystery”
• Bid and blitz: “Marketing Mastermind Auction”

With these segments the event tries to dive into the topics of pricing strategies in marketing for a business. The learning of such topics is described below.

Getting started with pricing strategies

Price, which is one of the 4 ‘Ps’ of marketing, refers to the cost of product or service that business offers. Pricing strategy is the process to determine this price. It involves understanding consumer behavior, market dynamics, and strategic decision-making. A good pricing strategy can enable a business in one or more ways such as:

Enter new markets

• Maximize Profits
• Get competitive advantage
• Set customer’s perception of product/service and brand
• Set market position
• Boost revenue

Various pricing strategies

There are many pricing strategies implemented in real markets by businesses to cater different market conditions, customer behaviors, product or service attributes, and business goals. This event tries to highlight following three strategies:

1. Penetration pricing: Set the price low for a new product or service to capture a large share of the market and increase price over time. This strategy aims to target customers who look for value for their money and are willing to try out new products or services. The examples of implementation of this strategy are: 

• Jio, an Indian telecom company, used this strategy when it first launched by offering low prices for its data and voice plans in order to attract customers and gain market share.
• Xiaomi, a Chinese smartphone company, uses this strategy to get market share in the new markets such as Nepal. The company introduced its smartphones with low prices and high-end features, which helped it to attract customers and gain market share in the highly competitive Nepali smartphone market.

2. Psychological pricing: Humans’ decisions are always driven by psychological factors such as perception, emotions, and cognitive biases. Businesses use various tactics to leverage consumer psychology to influence purchasing decisions, often by manipulating perceptions of value, affordability, and quality. Examples of such tactics are:

• Odd/even pricing: Price the products just below round number i.e Rs 99 (odd price) instead of Rs 100 (even price) to create a perception of significantly lower price. We have seen this implementation on e-commerces such as Daraz’s products very often.
• Decoys: Introduce a decoy which is a slightly less attractive option to make the target option seem more appealing in comparison. Cinemas offering small popcorn for Rs 50 and large for Rs 80 might not attract many. That’s why they introduce a medium for Rs 75, and for us the large seems like a better deal.
• Price bundling: We often see offers where multiple products or services are offered together as a package at a lower price than if they were purchased separately. Combo deals in fast food meals, Internet packages offering TV packages, schemes such as “Bike kinda TV upahaar” in Dashain, Tihaar festive seasons are examples of price bundling.

3. Competitive pricing: Within this strategy businesses price products based on the price of competitive products or services, rather than cost or target profit; usually cheaper than competitors. In price sensitive markets such as Nepal this strategy is often used by small to big businesses. The examples of local businesses in Nepal using this strategy are:

• At the lakeside market in Pokhara, we can see salesmen of lodges pitching the lower price for their rooms and services than their competitors with commuting customers.
• In the local vegetable market, we often ask prices of those products from multiple vendors in hope the vendor owners lower the price than its customers and they do.
• Internet services, TV services, Telecom services, often bringing new lower priced subscription deals to cater the price of their competitors for the new customers.

Pricing and market positioning

Pricing and marketing positioning are intricately linked in a company's overall strategy. The price positioning strategies set a perception among customers regarding its brand and its product or service. It directly influences how consumers perceive the value and quality of a brand. Some effectively used price positioning strategies are:

• Premium pricing: Brands use premium pricing strategy to set a perception of luxury, exclusivity and quality of their product or services and brand as a whole. This strategy works well when a brand has unique offerings and high brand equity. Apple is the prominent example of using this strategy effectively. The brand’s equity, innovative features, and the prestige associated with owning an Apple product all contribute to Apple’s successful implementation of the premium pricing strategy.
• Value-based pricing: In this strategy, businesses set the price points of their product or service based on their perceived value rather than its historical price. Chinese phone brands segment their products in different categories such as budget. Example of this is Goldstar and Caliber brand, setting a perception of best value product for customer spending against the international brands such as Nike, Adidas, Erke etc.

Adapting prices to market changes

Market has several dynamic factors such as demand & supply fluctuations, consumer behavior, seasonality and trends, competitor pricing, inflations, government policies etc which influence business to tailor the price of product or services they offer. Examples of businesses adapting price according to market changes are:

• Businesses offer discounts on festive seasons which helps them increase revenue and cash flow, and clear stocks.
• We see petroleum and gas prices fluctuate in Nepal because of global demand and supply of such products.

The 61st report of the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) has been submitted to President Ram Chandra Paudel.

Auditor General Toyam Raya submitted the report to President Paudel amidst a special function organized at the President's Office, Sheetal Niwas on Sunday.

On the occasion, President Paudel expressed belief that OAG would further investigate whether the government funds and properties are utilized or not. He viewed there was growing relevance of OAG.

The findings in the report would help hold those in power accountable in terms of economic procedure and financial responsibilities. It will further contribute to enhancing accountability and transparency in public agencies, thereby building good governance and national image, President Paudel added.

The main opposition Nepali Congress took to the streets against Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane on Sunday.

Congress lawmakers and leaders of the party’s sister organizations staged a protest in the Capital this afternoon demanding formation of a parliamentary probe committee to investigate Lamichhane’s alleged involvement in the misappropriation of cooperative funds.

The Nepali Congress, which has been protesting against Home Minister Lamichhane in the Parliament, launched street protests against him from today.

Congress General Secretary duo Gagan Thapa and Bishwo Prakash Sharma, Chief Whip Ramesh Lekhak and lawmaker Ram Hari Khatiwada among others attended the protest program organized at the Exhibition Road in Kathmandu.