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The farmers in Sigana village in Baglung Municipality–8 have made a decent income from orange production and the production is also on the rise year on year.

Ananta Khadka, an orange farmer, sold oranges worth Rs 500,000 to traders last year but his income this year increased to Rs 750,000. 

Khadka and other farmers sold their production directly to the traders in lump sum from their gardens. 

The local people shared that the village received nearly Rs 40 million from orange sales this year, while such amount was Rs 35 million last year.

More than 100 farmers in Sigana village have earned from Rs 100,000 to Rs 700,000 from the same of orange and there are many other families making income from orange farming. 

The Ganesh Agricultural Cooperative in the village has maintained the record of the orange production and sales. 

The farmers shared that the oranges from there are sold to the cities including Pokhara, Kathmandu, Chitwan and others. 

The villagers there had switched to commercial farming of oranges nearly three decades ago and have rapidly expanded the orange cultivation area. 

Leading farmer Shiva Kumar Khadka in Sigana shared that the cooperative has been constructed to expand the areas for orange farming and the farmers are provided with the orange saplings at a subsidized rate.

This year, the production of oranges has increased due to favorable weather coupled with the absence of diseases, Chairman of Ganesh Agricultural Cooperative Ram Bahadur Khadka stated.

The stakeholders and local community have commenced their initiatives to ensure a tourism-friendly environment in the lakeside of Pokhara. 

The Pokhara Tourism Council has partnered with different agencies and local communities to create a favorable environment, ensure safety and security to the tourists and tourism-friendly situation in the Lakeside area.  

Council's Chairman Taranath Pahari shared that the Ward Police Office, Tourism Police, Metropolitan Police, ward officials, tourism related organizations have joined hands together to materialize the initiative. 

The representatives shared that any sort of unwanted activities would be curbed in the lakeside area.

Likewise, onsite monitoring of the lakeside area would be carried by the representatives of the team in the evening, Pahari said. 

Furthermore, hygiene, cleanliness, sanitation, street vendors, and activities causing disturbance to the tourists would be controlled in the lakeside area.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 1. 53 points to close at 2, 695. 73 points on Monday. 

The sensitive index, however, dropped by 0. 75 points to close at 459. 16 points.

A total of 23,618,186-unit shares of 334 companies were traded for Rs 1. 56 billion.

Meanwhile, SY Panel Nepal Limited (SYPNL), Shreenagar Agritech Industries Limited (SAIL) and Him Star Urja Company Limited (HIMSTAR) were the top gainers today, with their price surging by 10. 00 percent. 

Likewise, Mithila LaghuBitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (MLBBL) was the top loser as its price fell by 10. 00 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 4. 52 trillion.

Nepal marked a milestone in its geospatial journey in April 2025 with the successful completion of the country’s first-ever Inclusive Mapping Week, held at Kathmandu University. Led by a single national coordinator, the week-long initiative aimed to empower students, professionals, and communities through the use of open geospatial technologies, while strengthening Nepal’s open mapping ecosystem. 

Supported by mentorship from Kiran Ahire, Asia Pacific Community Manager at TomTom, and backed by a dedicated team of volunteers including Usha Dhakal and Lokendra Yadav, the event reached more than 400 participants and set a new benchmark for open mapping initiatives in the country. Sponsored by TomTom, the programme combined education, collaboration, and humanitarian response, making it a turning point in Nepal’s geospatial history.

The seven-day event featured intensive training sessions on OpenStreetMap, remote sensing, spatial data management, biodiversity mapping, crisis mapping, advanced visualization tools, and ground-truth mapping, offering participants both theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience. 

Beyond training, Mapping Week 2025 actively contributed to disaster response efforts through weekly mapathons supporting earthquake-affected areas in Nepal and Myanmar. Mapping teams focused on identifying damaged infrastructure, evacuation routes, and essential services in Koshi Rural Municipality, while also contributing critical spatial data following the 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Myanmar on 28 March 2025, helping humanitarian agencies improve logistics and aid delivery.

The initiative also broke new ground in inclusivity, with women making up 57 percent of participants, highlighting a growing female leadership presence in Nepal’s geospatial sector. Organizers described the event not just as a training programme, but as a movement to bridge knowledge gaps, foster inclusive participation, and strengthen Nepal’s contribution to global geospatial science. 

With strong collaboration among trainers, speakers, volunteers, and participants, Mapping Week 2025 laid the foundation for future data-driven and open mapping solutions in the country, reinforcing the idea that while maps are tools, it is the mappers who drive lasting change.