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Posts tagged as “Nepal”

Cross-border transmission line with China to use MCC-funded substation

by Prithvi Man Shrestha in The Kathmandu Post, Dec 29, 2022The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has shelved its plan to set up a substation at Trishuli Bazaar for the Nepal-China Cross-border Transmission Line as it plans to connect the power line with a Ratmate-based substation to be built with the assistance of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a US aid agency. When the controversy over the MCC assistance was at its height before its eventual…

China reopens Kerung-Rasuwagadhi border to Nepali exports

report in The Kathmandu Post, Dec 29, 2022Beijing on Wednesday allowed Nepal’s exports to pass into China through the Kerung-Rasuwagadhi border after keeping it shut to two-way traffic for three years. Chinese goods have been entering Nepal intermittently through Kerung, one of the two international border points on the Nepal-China border, but it was no go in the other direction. “The two-way trade through the Kerung/Rasuwagadhi border port has been resumed today. After a ceremony,…

India’s policy hurts power export prospects of Nepal

by Prithvi Man Shrestha in The Kathmandu Post, Dec 28, 2022In a move that will make hydroelectricity generated by Indian projects cheaper than that produced by Nepal, India’s power ministry starting earlier this month removed the inter-state transmission charges for new Indian hydropower projects. The ministry on December 2 issued the order to waive Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) charges on the transmission of electricity generated by new hydropower projects. The waiver is already available to…

Chinese arrive for rail feasibility study

by Anil Giri in The Kathmandu Post, Dec 28, 2022A day after Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s assumption of office, a six-member Chinese technical team landed in Kathmandu on Tuesday to carry out a feasibility study of the Nepal-China cross-border railway. Dahal, the CPN (Maoist Centre) chairman, heads a coalition of two biggest leftist parties and others. The China Railway First Survey and Design Institute Group will carry out the feasibility study via a Chinese…

Nepal-China ties get a ‘happy’ boost with new leftist PM, but India and US wary

by Kunal Purohit in SCMP, 28 Dec 2022The rise of a veteran Maoist leader to become Nepal’s new prime minister is likely to inject “more momentum” into the country’s China ties while also checking American influence in the region, analysts said, after communist parties came together on Sunday to oust the previous US-aligned government. Pushpa Kamal Dahal, more popularly known as Prachanda – meaning fearless – ditched his alliance partner the Nepali Congress (NC) to…

Two Chinese charged with trafficking Nepali girls to Laos sent to judicial custody

report in The Himalayan Time, Dec 23, 2022Two Chinese nationals who had been living in Nepal in the guise of tourists have been sent to judicial custody on the charge of trafficking Nepali girls aged between 19 and 22 in Laos and forcing them to indulge in illegal cyber businesses. Kathmandu District Court issuing an order sent Chen Yang, 30, a permanent resident of Sichuan, China and Ruan Chaohong, 33, of Fujian China to prison…

Kerung-Kathmandu rail: China offers feasibility deal, Nepal stalls

by Anil Giri in The Kathmandu Post, Dec 18, 2022 China has officially proposed that Nepal sign a letter of exchange in order to carry out a feasibility study of the Nepal-China cross-border railway. The Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu sent a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the third week of November—a letter also addressed to the Ministry of Finance—and sought the government’s approval for the accord’s signing. But officials said that as…

Nepal: New parties keen on joining government, but with caveats

by Nishan Khatiwada in The Kathmandu Post, Dec 17, 2022Of the 12 parties elected to the House of Representatives in the recently-concluded polls, as many as three made it to the lower house in their first attempt at parliamentary politics. The Rastriya Swatantra Party, the Janamat Party and the Nagarik Unmukti Party have not only entered Parliament in their first bid in major elections, they have also become kingmakers—with the potential to shape the power…

Foreign powers weigh in as new faces join President race

by Anil Giri & Binod Ghimire in The Kathmandu Post, Dec 16, 2022With the Election Commission submitting the election results to President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Thursday, parties have stepped up discussions on a new government and candidate for new President. The post of President is among key positions the ruling coalition will include in its power-sharing deal, which the member parties are yet to agree upon. Other positions to be shared among the parties…

Investment pledges plunge amid global economic slowdown

by Krishana Prasain in The Kathmandu Post, Dec 14, 2022Foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments to Nepal plunged by more than half in the first four months of the current fiscal year, which officials attributed to a slowdown in the global economy. An economic slump in China is the key reason behind the fall in FDI pledges, insiders said. China’s economy is decelerating after it adopted a zero-Covid strategy. According to the Department of Industry which…

Accusations aplenty against foreign meddling, but no proof on offer

by Purushottam Poudel in The Kathmandu Post, Dec 13, 2022.Nepali politicians often accuse foreign powers of meddling in the country’s internal affairs, but they seldom bother to furnish substantive evidence to back their allegations. This buttresses the public perception that such provocative statements are made just to divert public attention to cover up their own failures. CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Sunday accused foreign powers of meddling in federal and provincial elections…