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Gandaki: The United Nations Secretary-General is scheduled to make an official visit to Nepal, starting tomorrow, Sunday. This visit marks his first trip to Nepal since assuming office in 2017. During the visit, the UN Secretary-General is planning to visit the Annapurna Base Camp (ABC), creating excitement among local tourism entrepreneurs.

Dilip Gurung, the secretary of the Chhomrong Tourism Committee, expressed his pride in the visit, saying, “It is undoubtedly a matter of great pride for all of us that a highly distinguished personality like the UN Secretary-General will be visiting the ABC. We anticipate that his visit will further enhance the global recognition and reputation of Nepal’s mountain tourism, including the Annapurna Base Camp and the entire region.”

The Annapurna Base Camp is currently witnessing a significant influx of domestic tourists during the Dashain holidays, with hotels fully occupied by local visitors.

According to Gurung, tourism in the ABC has faced challenges in recent years due to the 2015 earthquake, a severe storm a few years ago, and the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite these setbacks, the area is now experiencing a resurgence in tourism, with approximately 400 internal tourists visiting the Base Camp on a single day, as reported on Friday.

This region is a renowned tourist destination and can be reached via a three-day trek from Ghandruk in Kaski. Those seeking a more extended trek can choose the route from Naya Pul (New Bridge) along the Pokhara-Baglung Highway.

The Annapurna trekking route, which includes the majestic Annapurna Peak, the tenth highest mountain in the world, is considered one of the most spectacular trekking routes globally, according to Dharmaraj Panthi, the President of the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN) Gandaki.

Traditionally, this area welcomes tourists from various parts of the world, including Europe, the United States of America, Malaysia, China, and Korea. The successful ascent of Annapurna I by French mountaineer Maurice Herzog in 1950 significantly contributed to the global fascination with mountain tourism.

Situated at an elevation of 4,130 meters above sea level, the ABC gained further popularity for trekking tourism after Eric Shipton’s historic trek here in 1966.

Washington: Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, introduced two new subscription plans on Friday (local time), including a Premium+ tier for users willing to pay for an ad-free experience, according to a page detailing the features of the subscription.

Premium+ tier that costs $16 per month and offers the ‘largest reply boost’ and removes ads from the For You and Following feeds.

The second tier launching is called ‘Basic’ and costs $3 per month. The tier doesn’t come with a blue checkmark, but includes basic features like the ability to edit posts and post longer text and videos. It also offers a ‘small reply boost’.

“We’re also launching a new Basic tier for $3/month (when signing up via Web) that gives you access to the most essential Premium features,” posted X.

Since taking over last year, owner Elon Musk has begun searching for ways to monetize the platform and even started making users in New Zealand and the Philippines pay $1 per year to access X.

The latest move by Musk intends to bring in additional revenue. Premium+ tier comes with revenue-sharing, along with access to other creator tools.

Premium Plus builds on the perks that come with X's standard Premium plan (formerly Twitter Blue), which includes a blue checkmark, the ability to edit tweets, longer posts, longer video uploads, encrypted direct messages, and more, reported The Verge.

Meanwhile, ‘Basic’ option plan doesn’t let you pay your way to verification—it doesn’t include a checkmark—and subscribers will only receive a ‘small boost’ to their replies. It also doesn’t include reduced ads or access to X’s media studio.

X is also planning to bundle video and audio calling for some users, in a push to turn the platform into an everything app, reported New York Post.

Musk has been exploring several options to extensively monetize the social media platform, which he acquired for $44bn in Oct 2022.

He added a series of new features to X, including live streaming, video and audio calls, and even plans to incorporate banking. 

ANI

Islamabad: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is on the verge of a shutdown as it canceled over 500 flights in the past 11 days due to the unavailability of fuel, ARY News reported.

PIA is facing its worst crisis in history as Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has cut its fuel supply over unpaid dues. The move forced the airline to cancel 537 flights since Oct 13.

On Thursday, as many as 49 domestic and international flights were canceled from Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Quetta, Multan, Peshawar and other cities after the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) slashed its fuel supply to the PIA, sources said.

The flights include Karachi to Islamabad and Karachi to Turbat, all of which have to be called off.

Meanwhile, PIA’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Amir Hayat has written a ‘motivation letter’ to the employees amid the financial crisis, closure of the flight operations and the ongoing privatization process, as per ARY News.

Hayat asked all employees to maintain a concerted focus on ensuring organizational compliance through closely-knit teamwork ahead of the airline’s privatization.

PIA recently paid PKR 220m (approximately $789,000) to Pakistan State Oil (PSO) for a two-day fuel supply, ARY News reported on Saturday.

The PIA spokesperson said that the airline has paid PKR 500m so far to the PSO for the provision of fuel, adding that the national flag carrier is making payments to PSO daily.

PIA is currently acquiring fuel for profitable routes including Saudi Arabia, Canada, China, Kuala Lumpur and others. 

ANI

Tanahun: The Anbukhareni Rural Municipality in Tanahun district has opted for commercial avocado farming as an intervention to grow more agricultural produces for better livelihood options for the locals.

As part of 'One Ward, One Production', the rural municipality distributed a total of 1,840 avocado plants in its ward no 2 by offering 75 percent in subsidy to the farmers, chief administrative officer of the rural municipality Bishnu Prasad Sharma said. 

The farmers were provided with the avocado plants as it starts yielding in three to five years and is profitable in terms of productions and market as well.       

Likewise, the Agriculture Knowledge Centre in the district said that avocado farming is kept in priority in the district under the fruits areas development programme.

The Centre has also grown avocado saplings from last year.  

The avocado farming could be done from 200 metres to 1,600 metres above the sea level and the district's climate and land's altitude is appropriate for growing avocado. 

Chairman of Anbukhareni Rural Municipality Shukra Chuman said that avocado farming was started in the rural municipality by utilizing the barren land to ensure income of local beneficiaries and grow local productions.

The farmers get competitive price of avocado in the local market and also its demand is still high in the hospitality sector.