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The Supreme Court has summoned Yuvaraj Kandel, publisher of sidhakura.com, and Navin Dhungana, executive editor, to respond to allegations of contempt of court. 

The case stems from the publication of fake audiovisual news reports defaming a sitting justice, senior advocates, and media personalities. Justices Nahkul Subedi and Tek Prasad Dhungana on Monday ordered Kandel and Dhungana to appear before the court on May 2 at 10 am to justify their dissemination of fake content undermining the independent judiciary.

The Supreme Court initiated a suo moto contempt case against Kandel and Dhungana following fraudulent news reports published on sidhakura.com and its YouTube channel. The reports accused  Justice Ananda Mohan Bhattarai, Chairperson of Annapurna Media Network Capt Rameshwar Thapa, and Chairperson of Kantipur Media Group Kailash Sirohiya, special correspondent of Annapurna Post Surendra Kafle, and senior advocates Hari Upreti and Kishor Bista, among others, of organizing a clandestine meeting to dismiss more than 400 corruption cases.

The apex court has also directed Nepal Police to investigate the matter.

Thapa and Sirohiya have denounced the fake contents, labeling them premeditated and malicious. The press fraternity and regulatory bodies have also expressed concerns over the contents published by sidhakura.com.

Govinda Ghimire, deputy registrar at the Supreme Court, filed a petition on behalf of the Supreme Court on Sunday as per Article 128(4) of the Constitution of Nepal, section 17(1) of the Judicial Administration Act and Supreme Court regulations. The petition demands maximum punishment for the defendants under relevant laws. 

The Supreme Court said that the prima facie finding of the contents published by sidhakura.com suggest that they were created to scandalize the court.     

Meanwhile, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has also urged the authorities concerned to investigate and take action against sidhakura.com.

Issuing a statement on Monday, the anti-graft body said that it is inconceivable for the commission to be involved in any other activities other than following the decision of the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court and investigating and prosecuting complaints within its jurisdiction.

The CIAA also refuted any involvement in misleading activities, as claimed by sidhakura.com.

In response to the contempt case, sidhakura.com has removed the fake videos from its platforms. This move comes after initially refusing to comply with instructions from the Press Council Nepal. 

Press Council Chairman Balkrishna Basnet said they ordered sidhakura.com to take down the audiovisual contents within 24 hours. The contents were suspicious at a first glance, they were clearly biased, not based on any facts, and in violation of the journalistic code of ethics, he added.

The Third Investment Summit concluded in Kathmandu on Monday, approving investments for various projects. The two-day event resulted in the Department of Industry approving investments totaling Rs 9.13bn across four projects.

The breakdown of these investments includes Rs 6bn for establishing an investment company in Bhaktapur, Rs 3bn for a business complex in Kathmandu, Rs 76.6m for a 200 KW hydropower project in Kailali, and Rs 62.5m for hotels and restaurants in the Lalitpur district. This information was provided by Shankar Singh Dhami, Director of the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Unit at the Department of Industry.

Additionally, the department has implemented a new system for approving foreign investments through an automatic route. This system allows foreign investors to apply for establishing a new company with 100 percent ownership, a joint venture, or capital investment in an existing company via an automated process. Investors can apply starting today and receive a foreign investment approval letter immediately upon application. Notably, no minimum investment limit has been set for foreign investment through the automatic route for information technology-based industries. This streamlined process is expected to save investors time and money when investing in Nepal.

The Federation of Nepalese Industries and Commerce (FNIC) and the Indian Industries Association (IIA) also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote bilateral cooperation. The MoU was signed by FNIC President Khimlal Bhandari and IIA Chairperson Anuj Kumar Garg. According to FNIC General Secretary Khim Narayan Parajuli, the agreement aims to encourage cooperation and shared interests in investment, trade, and industrial development. This collaboration between private sector organizations from both countries is expected to facilitate trade.

On the same day, FNIC signed another MoU with China’s Dongguan Jinyang Lighting Co, Ltd. to establish cooperation for investment facilitation in Nepal. Additionally, Australian investment has been secured to open a luxury resort near Rara Lake in Mugu. The agreement was reached with the Expert Group of Australia, with Badri Aryal and Sanjeev Sharma signing on behalf of the Expert Group and Abhisek Bikram Shah representing Rara Holdings Resort Pvt. Ltd. The resort, to be constructed on 80 ropanis (approximately 10 acres) in Murmatop of Chhayanath Rara Municipality-9, will have an initial investment of about Rs 700m in the first phase and around Rs 400m in the second phase, according to Shah.

Finance Minister Barshaman Pun stated that the Third Investment Summit was a grand success, attributing the achievement to the strong participation of development partners and the interest shown by investors in the presented projects.

In a sideline meeting held earlier today with representatives from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and various ambassadors, Minister Pun noted that the event's success reflected Nepal's potential as a key destination for global investment. He highlighted that the enthusiasm and support of these development partners underscored Nepal’s growing appeal to the international investment community.

“The significant presence at this Summit confirms that Nepal is among the most promising emerging destinations for investment,” said Minister Pun. He further expressed his government’s commitment to strengthening ties with development partners in the coming days, aiming to foster an environment that encourages investment.

He emphasized that the participation of major political figures, including opposition leaders, during the Summit signaled a unified effort to create a favorable atmosphere for investment in Nepal. This cross-party cooperation contributes to the stability and predictability that investors seek.

Minister Pun thanked the development partners for their remarkable presence and support, indicating that such involvement played a key role in the Summit’s success. He also noted that the Summit’s projects had garnered significant attention, showing investors’ genuine interest in the investment opportunities in Nepal.

Overall, the Minister expressed satisfaction with the Summit’s outcomes and reiterated his commitment to building stronger partnerships with development partners, ensuring that Nepal continues to be an attractive and conducive location for investment.

Currently, we stand at the crossroads of shifting global alliances, new forms of global power competition, polarity among the traditional and emerging power centers, and the rise of multi-polar world order. The Indo-Pacific region is increasingly becoming the hotspot of the global power contest. South Asia, as one of the growing economic centers, with one-fourth of world population, and the unprecedented rise of China and India, has become the epicenter of global power rivalry.

In this broader geopolitical landscape, Nepal, situated between these two major rivals, is dragged into the power contest of its neighbors. Nepal should carefully navigate the interest of foreign powers and should be able to leverage its geo-political position to realize its agenda of prosperity. Although it is a challenging task, it provides us with ample opportunities.

Formulating proactive foreign policy and smart diplomatic dealing is essential to maximize our national interests. We are clear on isolating ourselves from any strategic, security or military alliances, but we welcome development partnerships that do not undermine our national interests. Now coming to the topic of today’s discussion, we see BRI as an opportunity to materialize our developmental goals, but there are specific issues of concern with the BRI.

China is a long-standing bilateral partner, and one of the countries with strong historic trade, commerce and people-to-people ties. We envision deepening ties with China on mutually beneficial terms. Nepal became a part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in 2017.

The initial motivation for joining BRI was the prospect of trade and connectivity diversification. However, seven years after signing the MoU, there has been no significant progress on BRI. As the chairman of the International Relations and Tourism Committee of the parliament, I advocate partnerships with any countries to realize our investment needs, but the partnership should be transparent and it should not undermine our sovereignty and should be a win-win situation. With the growing pressure for the BRI implementation plan agreement, we should first have a comprehensive discussion on the provisions of the BRI MoU signed in 2017, which is not yet disclosed by both the governments. The MoU should be brought and discussed in the parliament. And then, we can move onward with the discussion on implementation modality of the projects under the BRI. For this there is a need for national consensus and wider discussion on the modality of partnership under BRI. We have a lot to learn from the global experience of the BRI.

We should be clear on the stance of the financial modality to fund the BRI projects. We cannot simply accept the commercial loans with high interest rates from China with shorter payback periods. Our negotiation with China should focus on grants and concessional loans with interest rates at par with other multilateral financial institutions and should not have any strings attached. The selection of projects under the BRI should be based on comprehensive feasibility study and cost benefit analysis. We should refrain from any projects without economic viability.

There are also concerns on procurement process, financial audit of the investments and construction modality of projects. The projects should be open for bidding to all interested companies globally, Nepal should have the right to conduct financial audits of the projects under BRI. Meanwhile, projects should also procure local resources, manpower and should be able to transfer technology to ensure sustainability of the projects. At the same time, we should consider the environmental and social sustainability of the projects. To ensure this, there should be wider consultations with the multiple stakeholders and detailed study to ensure projects are environmentally, socially viable and do not underestimate the rights of local ethnic communities. I am hopeful Nepal could benefit from the partnership under BRI if China is willing to accommodate our concerns and negotiate on mutually favorable terms. I also urge the Nepal government to clarify the current status of negotiation on BRI and developments in the process. 

The author is head of parliament’s international affairs committee

CPN-UML candidate Suhang Nembang has been elected as a member of the House of Representatives from Ilam-2.

He defeated Nepali Congress candidate Dambar Khadka by a wide margin to emerge victorious.

Nembang garnered 27, 772 votes while his closest contender Nepali Congress candidate Khadka obtained 21, 942 votes.

Similarly, independent candidate Dekendra Singh Thegim received 11, 457 votes and Rastriya Swatantra Party’s Milan Limbu got 5, 050 votes.

The by-election was held in Ilam after the demise of Suhang’s father Subash Nembang.