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A bridge project over Tamor River to link Panchthar and Terhathum districts has yet to be completed even after 12 years of contract signing.

In the absence of the bridge, the people of Kummayak Rural Municipality in Panchthar have to walk seven to eight hours to reach Myanglung in Terhathum to attend the weekly market.
Villagers usually travel to Myanglung weekly market carrying goods on their backs so that they could sell them. They return home carrying daily supplies, such as salt, oil, soap bars and clothes. It is an arduous journey that many villagers take every Friday  

Ramesh Thapa, who had come to Myanglung to sell almonds from Bijuwapani of Kummayak, said, “We were excited about the bridge project because we would not have to carry heavy loads along steep hill trails. But now we don’t know if the bridge will ever be constructed.”

If one has to reach the city of Dharan, one has no option but to walk all the way to Myanglung and from there cover the distance of 116 kilometers through Basantapur, Sidhuwa, Hile and Dhankuta. Locals say with the bridge in place, Dharan can be reached directly through Tamor corridor, and the travel duration would be cut by half. 

A contract was signed with Swachchhanda Contractor Company in June 2011 for the construction of the bridge at a cost of Rs 130m. As per the agreement, the bridge was to be completed by July 2018. 

Ram Kumar Dev, chief of the Road Division Office, Dhankuta, said only 50 percent of the work has been completed so far. “Out of the five pillars, only four have been constructed. We are extending the construction deadline till mid-July 2024,”he added. 

Ajay Lamichhane, a representative of Swachchhanda Contractor Company, said that the project was delayed because there was no road leading to the bridge from Myanglung. “Before we could start building the bridge, we had to build the road first,” he said. 

Following the project delay, Arjan Dhungana of Myanglung and Dik Bahadur Karki of Laligurans Municipality had lodged a complaint with the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). Local residents of Myanglung too have been putting pressure on the Myanglung Municipality and the District Administration Office, Tehrathum, to complete the bridge project.

The price of gold has increased by Rs 200 per tola in the domestic market on Tuesday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 118, 000 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 117, 800 per tola on Monday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 117, 450 per tola. It was traded at Rs 117, 250 per tola.

Similarly, the price of silver has dropped by Rs 5 and is being traded at Rs 1,450 per tola today.

Trade measures introduced by G20 economies have become more restrictive in recent months, according to the 30th WTO Trade Monitoring Report on G20 trade measures issued on 18 December. The report shows that between mid-May and mid-October 2023, G20 economies introduced more trade-restrictive than trade-facilitating measures on goods, although the value of traded merchandise covered by facilitating measures continued to exceed that covered by restrictions. Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called on the G20 to show leadership and contribute to economic stability and growth by unwinding recent and longstanding restrictions on trade.

The report is set against a backdrop of continued slow growth in world trade. The WTO's latest forecast (5 October 2023) estimated merchandise trade volume growth of 0.8% in 2023 (down from the previous estimate of 1.7%) and 3.3% in 2024 (nearly unchanged from 3.2% previously). In the first half of 2023, the volume of world merchandise trade was down 0.5% year-on-year, as high inflation and rising interest rates weighed on trade and output in advanced economies, and as property market strains prevented a stronger post-pandemic recovery in China.

The Trade Monitoring Report indicates that although the trade coverage of import-facilitating measures still exceeded that of restrictive ones during the review period, this gap has narrowed considerably. During the review period, trade-facilitating measures were estimated at USD 318.8 billion (down from USD 691.9 billion in the last report, issued in July 2023) and trade-restrictive ones at USD 246 billion (up from USD 88 billion). 

For the first time since 2015, the monthly average of 9.8 new trade restrictions introduced by G20 economies during the review period outpaced that of trade-facilitating measures (8.8). In addition, the longstanding stockpile of G20 import restrictions in force showed no sign of any meaningful roll back of existing measures. By mid-October 2023, USD 2,287 billion worth of traded goods (representing 11.8% of G20 imports) were affected by import restrictions implemented by G20 economies since 2009. 

Export restrictions have become more prominent since 2020, with a series of measures introduced first in the context of COVID-19 and more recently of the war in Ukraine and the food security crisis. Although some of these export restrictions have been rolled back, as of mid-October 2023, 75 export restrictions on food, feed and fertilizers were still in place globally. 

The implementation of new COVID-19 trade-related measures by G20 economies decelerated further over the past five months, with the number of new COVID-19-related support measures falling sharply. As of mid-October 2023, 82.9% of G20 COVID-19 trade restrictions had been repealed, leaving 11 export restrictions in place. The trade coverage of the pandemic-related trade restrictions still in place was estimated at USD 15.1 billion (down from USD 16.2 billion).

The review period saw a significant increase in the introduction of new general economic support measures by G20 economies. These included environmental impact reduction programmes, renewable-energy production schemes, support for energy efficiency and decarbonization and for clean- and renewable-energy projects. Other measures included various support programmes for the agricultural sector, tourism, aviation and transport.

The report also shows that the succession of crises and the uncertain economic environment continue to weigh on international investment and in particular on foreign direct investment (FDI). This sustained weakness in FDI makes it more challenging to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This concern is amplified by the SDG investment gap in developing countries, the deficit in investment needed to help developing economies achieve the SDG targets. This has alarmingly widened from USD 2.5 trillion to about USD 4 trillion per year, leading up to 2030, according to data by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The WTO trade monitoring reports have been prepared by the WTO Secretariat since 2009. G20 members are Argentina; Australia; Brazil; Canada; China; the European Union; France; Germany; India; Indonesia; Italy; Japan; the Republic of Korea; Mexico; the Russian Federation; Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; South Africa; Türkiye; the United Kingdom; and the United States.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 38.14 points to close at 2,060.49 points on Monday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 9.56 points to close at 390. 63 points.

A total of 21,497,619-unit shares of 305 companies were traded for Rs 6. 86 billion.

Meanwhile, Bottlers Nepal (Balaju) Limited, SuryaJyoti Life Insurance Company Limited, Swarojgar Laghu Bitta Bikas Bank Ltd., Jeevan Bikas Laghubitta Bittya Sanstha Ltd and BPW Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited were the top gainers today, with their price surging by 10. 00 percent. Similarly, Himalayan Power Partner Ltd. was the top loser as its price fell by 7.86 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 17 trillion.