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Manang, Jan 13: Snowfall has occurred in Manang, a mountainous district, bringing joy to the locals.

This marks the first snowfall of the winter season, which had been expected since the month of Mangsir (November-December). Kishan Mukhiya Gurung of Nesyang Rural Municipality-1, shared that the hills are now blanketed in snow.

He added that winter snowfall is good for crops as it keeps the soil moist and fertile.

He added that snowfall is favourable for the cultivation of medicinal plants, including Yarsagumba (Ophiocordyceps sinensis), Panchaule (Dactylorhiza hatagirea), and Chiraito (Swertia chirayita).

Yagya Ghale from Tachai of Naso Rural Municipality-8, stated that the delayed snowfall had adversely affected Manang's tourism sector, with potential visitors postponing their trips due to the lack of snow.

"We hope tourist arrivals will increase now with the beginning of snowfall though it is not significant." However, Naso Rural Municipality-5 Ward Chair, Thuten Lama, said that there is no indication of snowfall in the lower Manang. Snowfall serves as a crucial source of irrigation for winter crops such as potatoes, buckwheat, and barley in these areas.

The government has paved the legal way for Nepali Information Technology (IT) companies to invest abroad by amending existing laws through an ordinance. An ordinance to amend some Nepal acts—one of the three ordinances that the government has recommended to the President to issue—enables Nepali IT companies to invest abroad, open their branch offices abroad and bring their earnings back to Nepal.

According to an official at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MoCIT), interested companies must submit applications to the MoCIT to avail the facilities. “After studying the application and assessing the company’s capability, the central bank will provide foreign exchange facility to the company on the recommendation of the ministry,” the official said.

While the government is drawing flak for bypassing parliament to amend laws, industry people say the provisions introduced through the ordinance are crucial for the growth of Nepali IT industry.  They say the government’s fresh moves align with the policies and programs that the government brought for the IT sector through its policies and programs for the fiscal year 2024/25. While recognizing IT as a crucial sector for economic transformation, the budget speech stated that the government aims to achieve IT exports worth Rs 3 trillion and create 500,000 direct jobs over the next decade. 

Nepal exported $515m worth of software and IT services in 2002—a growth of 64.2 percent compared to the previous year, according to a study conducted by the IIDS. As many as 14,728 independent software developers, over 106 companies and more than 50,000 freelancers are involved in the IT service export industry, the report states.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said that the legal reforms brought through the ordinance will allow Nepali IT companies to invest abroad, open branch offices and legally repatriate their earnings home. “There were some legal hurdles in the IT sector, which the government has addressed through this ordinance,” Oli said in a social media post on Saturday. “We facilitate bringing IT earnings back to the country. We believe this will develop IT as a foreign currency-earning industry.”

Classes have been suspended in 93 community schools in Solukhumbu district due to extreme cold. 

Seven local governments have announced winter holidays for the community schools in their area after it became difficult to run classes due to the excessive cold.

Prakanda Neupane, Information Officer of the Education Development and Coordination Unit, Solukhumbu, said the schools have been gradually closing down since last November.

There are 289 community schools in the district and of these, 93 have been closed for the winter holiday.

Out of the eight local levels in the district, all the local levels except Sotang Rural Municipality have given winter holidays.

Nawaraj Parajuli, an employee at the Weather Station at Salleri, said that the temperature has reached minus 20 degrees Celsius in the upper region of the district. The temperature has dropped to minus even in the Salleri region.

The Shree Swasthani Bratakatha, a popular month-long ritual of fasting and recitation of Swasthani script observed by the Hindus since Poush Shuklapurnima, kicked off today. The month-long festival is observed from the full moon day of one month to the next full moon day.

Going by the tradition, Nepalis, especially the Hindu women, observe the festival by worshiping Goddess Swasthani and observing fasting and reading out the holy story book-Swasthani -which mainly narrates the stories of those of Goddess Swasthani, God Shiva and other deities.

Devotees- married and unmarried alike- take a holy bath to begin with the ritual and wear clean clothes, trim nails and perform worship rituals in the morning thereafter reading out the stories and take austere meals in the afternoon throughout the month.

Devotees also observe fasting and involve in extensive worship during the period to appease Goddess Swasthani described in the Skanda Purana, a holy text, as the Goddess having four-handed with Chakra, Trident, Lotus and Sword in each hand, hindu scripts mentioned.

It is believed that the married women who observe the fast would be blessed with longevity for their spouses while unmarried ones are bestowed with suitable marriage partners. Women wear red clothes and bangles during the one-month period, as it is believed that red colour brings them good luck.

The rituals associated with the Swasthani Katha takes place on the bank of rivers in various Hindu shrines across the country including the Shalinadi situated in Shankhu, the north-east outskirt of the Kathmandu Valley.

Devotees from various parts have reached the banks of Shalinadi River, on the first day of the month-long festival today.