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A memorandum of understanding has been signed between Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) and the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) to formulate the comprehensive economic policy and enhance the industrial and business environment.

In the presence of Governor of the central bank Maha Prasad Adhikari and the FNCCI President Chandra Prasad Dhakal, the MoU was signed by Dr Prakash Kumar Shrestha, executive director of the bank's research department, and the FNCCI Director-General Gokarna Raj Awasthi amid a function here today.

According to the agreement, the bank and FNCCI will conduct a fact-based study on various issues. On the occasion, saying that the agreement had created an opportunity for the two institutions to go ahead hand-in-hand, Governor Adhikari expressed the hope that it would help increase the participation of the private sector in policy-making in the days to come.

Similarly, thanking the central bank for its cooperation with the private sector, the FNCCI President Dhakal offered his confidence that the MoU would help in formulating a reality-based policy in the future apart from helping disseminate right information.

According to the MoU, the FNCCI and member organizations will provide required information for the bank to carry out a study while the bank is required to provide required technical assistance for the FNCCI to conduct a study.

Joint research will also be carried out in need.

A facilitation cell will be created to implement the agreement that will be valid for five years.

Rastra Bank Deputy Governor Dr Nilam Dhungana, the FNCCI senior vice president Anjan Shrestha, and vice presidents Surkrishna Baidhya, Hemraj Dhakal and Jyotsana Shrestha among others were present on the occasion.

Nepal recorded a significant tourism milestone in October, as it welcomed 117,306 foreign tourists by air, marking the highest monthly arrivals since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. This brings the total tourist arrivals in Nepal for the year to over 800,000.

 The arrival figures so far this year shows that Nepal’s tourist numbers will be near the pre-covid levels this year. Nepal welcomed 1.19m foreign tourists via air in 2019 before the covid pandemic hit the tourism industry out of gear throughout the world.

International tourism has continued to recover from the worst crisis in its history as arrival numbers reached 84 percent of pre-pandemic levels between Jan and July 2023, according to the latest data from UNWTO.

October’s remarkable performance outstripped the total foreign tourist count for Oct 2019, when Nepal hosted 113,816 visitors. In stark contrast, Oct 2022 saw only 52,121 foreign tourists visiting Nepal.

According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), Europe emerged as the largest source market for Nepal in October, contributing 36,653 arrivals. However, this figure represents an 8.2 percent decrease compared to the arrival numbers for the same month in 2019 when Nepal welcomed 39,941 European tourists.

Arrivals from the SAARC region saw a remarkable increase of 37.4 percent in October compared to Oct 2019. Nepal received 26,772 visitors in October, compared to 19,455 in the same month four years ago. Conversely, arrivals from other Asian nations in October declined when compared to the same month in 2019, with Nepal receiving 16,084 tourists from Asian nations, as opposed to 22,267 in Oct 2019.

In October, arrivals from Oceania and the Americas showed improvements compared to October 2019, but arrivals from the Middle East declined by more than 50 percent, with only 1,043 tourists compared to 2,122 four years ago.

India remained the largest source market for Nepal in October, contributing 18,480 visitors, followed by the United States with 14,879, the United Kingdom with 8,219, China with 6,880, Australia with 6,075, Germany with 5,916, France with 5,271, and Bangladesh with 4,292 visitors.

The autumn season, which spans from September to December, is considered Nepal’s peak tourist season, as trekkers get to savor the best views after the monsoon rains. In the first ten months of 2023, Nepal has welcomed a total of 809,372 tourists via air. The highest influx of tourists was recorded in October, with 117,306 foreign tourists, while the lowest was in July, with 57,726 arrivals.

Nepal and China have agreed to promote collaboration and cooperation in the field of judiciary, though the two countries have entirely different judicial systems.

Chief Justice Bishowambhar Prasad Shrestha, who is currently on a visit to the northern neighbor, held bilateral talks with Zhang Jun, the Chief Justice and President of the Supreme People's Court, China.

During the meeting, various matters within the realm of judicial services were discussed. Expressing satisfaction over the longstanding bilateral relations happily existing between Nepal and China, both parties agreed to further strengthen this relationship by promoting cooperation and collaboration in the field of judiciary, the Nepali side stated in a press statement.

Shrestha commended China for its noteworthy accomplishments in the application of information and communications technology in the field of judicial services and underlined the need for exchange of knowledge, experiences and best practices between the two countries. 

Newly appointed Secretary General of SAARC Golam Sarwar paid a courtesy call on Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal at the latter’s office on Friday.

During the meeting, matters relating to giving further impetus to the SAARC process were discussed.

Nepal defeated the UAE to qualify for the T20 World Cup.

In the match played at the Mulpani Cricket Ground under the T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier on Friday, Nepal thrashed the UAE by eight wickets to secure a berth at the T20 World Cup to be held in the US and West Indies next year.

Asif Sheikh scored unbeaten World 63 runs off 50 runs hitting six boundaries and sixes to guide Nepal to the World Cup.

Similarly, Captain Rohit Paudel made unbeaten 35 runs of 21 balls with three fours and one six.

Likewise, Kushan Bhurtel added 11 runs to the scoreboard and Gulsan Jha returned to the pavilion by scoring 22 runs.

Electing to bat first after winning the toss, the UAE scored 134 runs in allotted 20 overs losing nine wickets.

Vritiya Aravind scored 64 runs off 51 balls with eight boundaries and two sixes for the UAE.

Similarly, Captain Muhammad Waseem made 26 runs while Alishan Sharafu and Asif Khan contributed 16 and 13 runs respectively.

Kushal Malla took three wickets for Nepal. Likewise, Sandeep Lamichhane claimed two wickets and Sompal Kami and Rohit Paudel took one wicket each.

Earlier, Nepal had played the T20 World Cup in 2014.

In the tournament held in Bangladesh, Nepal defeated Afghanistan and Hong Kong before losing to the hosts.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has suspended the license of two pilots.

CAAN spokesperson and Deputy Director General Jagannath Niraula said the license of Senior Captain Santosh Shah and Captain Sanjib Shrestha have been suspended as the two pilots of the Tara Air engaged in a physical fight in the premises of the airport at Manthali, Ramechhap this morning.

"The license of the two senior captains have been suspended until further notice due to the breach of the national security standard. Their license will be revoked or other action as per the law might be taken against them after detailed investigation," Niraula added.

CAAN stated that the reason behind the two pilots belonging to the same company resorting to physical fight is not known yet.

Nepal government and the World Bank today exchanged the digitally-signed financing agreements for a $100m concessional loan from the International Development Association and a $3.84m grant from the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Trust Fund to strengthen the quality, coverage, and resilience of Nepal’s health system. 

These agreements were digitally signed on 27 Oct 2023. This is the first World Bank-financed project in Nepal that was digitally signed. The agreements for the Nepal Quality Health Systems Program Operation were signed by Finance Secretary, Krishna Hari Pushkar and the World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, Faris Hadad-Zervos.

The agreements were exchanged in the presence of Honorable Minister of Finance, Prakash Sharan Mahat, World Bank Managing Director for Operations, Anna Bjerde, and World Bank Vice-president for South Asia, Martin Raiser. The program will be implemented by the Ministry of Health and Population in coordination with the Health Insurance Board at the federal level, and selected provincial and local levels in Koshi and Gandaki provinces.

The program emphasizes improving the readiness of the health system for delivery of quality healthcare, enhancing coverage of health insurance, and strengthening health emergency preparedness and response capacity at the selected provincial and local levels.

“Quality healthcare serves as the cornerstone of human capital development. The comprehensive reform agenda set forth by the Nepal Quality Health Systems Program Operation will be pivotal in enhancing access to high-quality healthcare services,” said Krishna Hari Pushkar, Finance Secretary.

“We are committed to work with the government to build a resilient and inclusive public health system in Nepal that protects vulnerable populations and contributes to improved productivity and strong human capital development, which is fundamental to sustainable economic growth,” said Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

The District Police Office, Banke has presented Yog Raj Dhakal aka Regal before the Banke District Court on Friday.

DSP Narayan Dangi, spokesperson at the District Police Office, informed that Regal has been produced before the court.

Now, the court will send him to prison.

The Supreme Court on Thursday revoked the decision of the President to grant amnesty to Regal, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Chetan Manandhar of Nepalgunj.

He turned himself in to police immediately after the apex court issued an order to arrest him.

A full bench of judges Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada, Sapana Malla Pradhan and Kumar Chudal overruled the leniency granted to Regal, arguing that the decision to spare Regal the rest of his jail term was in violation of the rights of his victims and ordering government authorities to send him to prison immediately for serving the rest of his term.

President Ramchandra Paudel, acting on a recommendation from the Council of Ministers, had pardoned Regal on the occasion of the Constitution Day, sparing him the remaining term of 11 years, 11 months and five days.

On 24 April 2018, a bench of Banke district court judge Bishnu Subedi had convicted Regal as the mastermind behind the 13 July 2015 murder of Manandhar at a hotel in Surkhet Road area and sentenced him to 20 years behind bars.