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Nepal’s attempt to take its airlines out of the EU’s ban has again hit a roadblock. The European Commission has recently published the EU Air Safety List, a list of airlines that are subject to an operating ban or operational restrictions within the European Union (EU) airspace for not meeting international safety standards. The commission has continued its ban on Nepali airlines as well. The Department for Mobility and Transport of the EU, making public its latest report on the air safety list, has continued the blacklisting of 20 Nepali airline companies including the national flag carrier Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), private airlines, and helicopter companies. European airspace has been barred for Nepali airlines for the last 10 years though Nepal has been maintaining that it has ‘improved its air safety status’. However, the Yeti Airlines crash in Pokhara on Jan 15, in which all 72 people died again raised the question of air safety in Nepal. The European Commission, in Dec 2013, imposed a ban on Nepali airlines from flying into the EU after the September 2012 crash of Sita Air Flight 601 at the Manohara River bank in Kathmandu. The other reason behind Nepal continuing to be on the blacklist, is the Nepal government’s failure to endorse two pending aviation bills which would split the country’s aviation entity into two separate bodies. The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal Bill and Air Service Authority of Nepal Bill envisage two separate bodies—one as a service provider and the other as a regulator. Had Nepal expedited the endorsement of these two bills, it would have made Nepal’s case stronger. The EU has long been urging Nepal to split CAAN into regulation and operational bodies as the main condition to remove Nepali airlines from the list. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) of the EU carried out a safety audit of Nepali airline companies last year. Although the EU agency stood positive in the beginning, it was reportedly unsatisfied with the government’s slow process of unbundling the CAAN. CAAN Spokesperson Jagannath Niraula said that he expects Nepal to be removed from the blacklist from the EU’s review meeting in November. “As we understand, due to the air accident in Pokhara, the EU immediately postponed the audit report that was to be published in February. However, even after that, we are in constant communication with the EU,” said Niraula. “There may be some technical errors in the Pokhara incident. The entire airspace cannot be evaluated based on that,” he further said. According to Niraula, the EU has said that it will soon publish the on-site audit report of Nepal. “After that report comes, it is believed that Nepal will be removed from the EU’s blacklist from the review meeting in November,” he said. After the Jan 15 Pokhara crash, the EU, which was planning to visit Nepal to conduct an ‘on-site assessment’ of Nepal’s aviation security, postponed the visit.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 100 per tola in the domestic market on Monday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 112, 400 per tola today. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 112, 500 per tola on Sunday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 111, 850 per tola. It was traded at Rs 111, 950 per tola. Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,455 per tola today.

The gold is being traded at Rs 112, 500 per tola in the domestic market on Sunday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 111, 950 per tola. Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,455 per tola today.

The government has decided to introduce a new law to allow the private sector to engage in power trading. The Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation was granted permission to present a bill on power trading to the parliament. Once the bill receives endorsement from the parliament and is enacted, it will open the doors for private-sector companies to engage in power trading. This signifies a significant shift in the power sector, allowing private entities to actively participate in buying and selling electricity. The proposed law aims to create a framework that enables private sector involvement and facilitates competition in the power trading market. According to a senior official from the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, the proposed bill encompasses provisions to permit the private sector to engage in power trading both domestically and internationally. Currently, in Nepal, the private sector is solely granted the right to generate electricity, while power trading remains under the monopoly of the government-owned Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). The Nepali private sector, including independent power producers, has been advocating for their involvement in power trading. This demand stems from the fact that the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) currently holds a monopoly on power purchase agreements (PPAs), leaving no other entity in the country authorized to sign such agreements. The Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government did make efforts to facilitate the entry of the private sector into power trading by introducing an ordinance last year. The Deuba government withdrew the long-pending Electricity Bill at the National Assembly and opted for an ordinance instead. In October 2022, the Deuba government passed an ordinance to ratify the Electricity Act 1991 to give licenses to the private sector for power trade. However, the then President Bidya Devi Bhandari did not endorse the ordinance sent by the government for authentication. The bill had provisions for the developers to sell their electricity in the market after taking approval from the ministry and the private sector can also obtain a license to trade power in the international market. The private power developers have welcomed the government's move to table the bill in the parliament. "This is a welcome move. We've been demanding this for long," said Krishna Prasad Acharya, president of the Independent Power Producers' Association Nepal (IPPAN). The Nepali power producers have been gearing up for power trading licenses by establishing power trade companies. According to the Department of Electricity Development (DoED), Nepal Power Exchange Ltd (NEPEX) and Power Trading and Energy Exchange Ltd (PTEEL) have applied for power trading licenses. Similarly, Nepal Infrastructure Bank has applied to the Ministry of Energy, on behalf of the Power Trading Company (PTC) Ltd, and the Himalayan Trading Company is also preparing to register an application for the license. While the private sector in Nepal is still awaiting the trading license to sell electricity in both domestic and foreign markets, some private entities have already signed the memorandum of understanding (MoUs) with Indian companies for cross-border power trading. The Nepal Power Exchange Limited (NPEL), subsidiary of IPPAN has already signed an agreement with Manikaran Power Limited, India to carry out cross-border electricity trade. As per the MoU, the Indian company will buy 500MW of electricity from the Nepal Power Exchange Limited besides investing in the Nepali company itself. During the Power Summit 2023, Nepali and Indian companies signed initial deals for selling 2,200 MW of electricity to India. Manikaran Power Limited signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to purchase around 200MW of electricity directly from the hydropower projects. Vedanta Resources, a sister company of Vedanta Limited, also initiated the process to buy 2,000MW of hydropower from Nepal in the next five years.