8,000 tourists visit Manang in four months
A total of 8,220 tourists visited the Himalayan district Manang from January to May 7 this year. According to Chief of Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) Lekhnath Gautam, 5,056 men and 3,163 women visited Manang in the first four months of 2023. Tourists from 42 countries had entered the district. In the month of January, 2023, as many as 318 nationals of 42 countries visited Manang. Inflow of tourists has increased in Nepal after the post-Covid situation. Most tourists entering the country especially prefer trekking along the Annapurna route. ACAP Chief Gautam said mostly foreign tourists visited the area for trekking. According to the data, the district drew the highest number of tourists (69) from South Korea in January this year.
Govt collects over Rs 740 million from expedition permits this spring
Spring season is favorable for mountain climbing in Nepal. During this season, the country welcomes a noticeable number of aspiring climbers from across the globe for expeditions to Mount Everest and other various peaks. People from 80 countries including Nepal took permission from the Department of Tourism for climbing Nepal's peaks including Mt Everest this spring season and of them, citizens from 65 countries acquired permits for Everest expedition. The Department's Mountaineering Section said that revenue of over Rs 740 million has been collected so far from the expedition permit fees in this spring. The permission for Mt Everest alone contributes Rs 650 million to the collections followed by Rs 28.3 million from the Lhotse permission and Rs 13.6 from the permission for the Makalu expedition. Section Officer Bigyan Koirala said this time the permissions for Everest climbing are the highest and the revenue collection has also increased. Nepal is home to eight peaks over 8,000 meters. He said till May 8, 467 people of 44 expedition teams obtained permission for climbing Mt Everest. This figure is likely to go up slightly as the Department expects a few permissions by Wednesday. Almost all aspiring climbers have already arrived. They are in the Everest base camp and the second camp waiting for favorable conditions to set out for the journey to the Everest summit. Icefall doctors have already fixed a route to the Everest fourth camp towards the Everest South Col.
NEA focuses on enhancing power distribution in Kathmandu Valley
With the projection that the demand for electricity in Kathmandu Valley will reach 3,100 MW by 2050, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has initiated a survey to strengthen the transmission and distribution system. The state-owned power utility plans to construct a 220 KV capacity ring transmission line to facilitate the supply of electricity in the Kathmandu Valley. According to NEA, the electricity demand of the valley, which currently stands at 350 MW, will reach 3,100 MW by 2050. However, the current transmission, distribution, and substation infrastructure cannot support that equivalent power supply. As the demand for electricity is increasing in Kathmandu, problems have started to arise in the transmission system. Kulman Ghising, Executive Director of NEA said that the survey will focus on all important aspects of power distribution in the capital valley. Similarly, the NEA is also constructing eight high-capacity substations to improve the electricity transmission and distribution system in the valley. According to the NEA, 400, 200, and 132 KV substations are under construction in Kathmandu Valley. According to NEA, substations are under construction at Lapsiphedi, Matatirtha, Chobhar, Futung, Teku, Mulpani and Thimi and Changunarayan in Bhaktapur in Kathmandu. Teku and Changunarayan substations are in the final stage of construction. Both substations are being constructed to be put into operation within this fiscal year. "The electricity demand in Kathmandu Valley did not increase much this winter. Considering the next winter, the construction of these substations should be completed," said Ghising. "After the construction of Teku and Futung substations, the management of electricity demand and supply in Kathmandu is much easier." In order to address the future demand for electricity, the NEA has also advanced the process of construction of transmission and distribution infrastructure in major areas of the valley in a phased manner. For this, the land acquisition process for the construction of additional 20 substations has been started. The improvement of the transmission and distribution system has been advanced with the investment of the Nepal government and concessional loans from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Nepse surges by 10. 66 points on Tuesday
The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 10.66 points to close at 1,844.36 points on Tuesday. Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 1.87 points to close at 354. 25 points. A total of 2,836,139-unit shares of 269 companies were traded for Rs 774 billion. Meanwhile, People’s Power Limited was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 6. 47 percent. Likewise, Unique Nepal Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the top loser as its price fell by 8.68 percent. At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 2. 68 trillion.