The Kathmandu Post - 31 Aug, 2024 (2024)

Kathmandu,
The Millennium Challenge Corporation Nepal Compact, which stirred huge political controversy in the run-up-to its parliamentary ratification in February 2022, has completed a year of its entry into force.
The compact involves building a 315-km 400kV transmission line and upgrading a section of the East-West Highway with $500 million in funding from the MCC and a $197 billion contribution from the Nepal government.
The five-year American aid programme, which faced much controversy in Nepal, is now under pressure to complete the twin tasks within the stipulated five years by awarding the remaining transmission line tender.
On August 22, US Ambassador to Nepal Dean Thompson, MCC Resident Country Director Coordinator Diane L Francisco, and Khadga Bahadur Bisht, executive director of Millennium Challenge Account-Nepal (MCA-Nepal), expressed satisfaction with the achievements and expressed hope that the project would be completed within the stipulated time.
To mark the first anniversary of the MCC Nepal Compact’s entry into force, MCA-Nepal, a special purpose vehicle set up to implement the MCC projects, signed a contract for the crucial 18-km cross-border transmission line in Kathmandu on Friday.
This line is a key component of the broader Electricity Transmission Project funded by the governments of Nepal and the US. The next big hurdle is opening the bid and awarding the tender for the remaining 297 kilometres of the transmission line.
MCA-Nepal said in a statement on Friday preparations are on track to launch the bid before the end of this year.
“As MCA-Nepal marks the one-year anniversary of the compact’s Entry-Into-Force, this new milestone reflects the unwavering commitment from all stakeholders to enhancing regional energy trade between Nepal and India. The contract, valued at $12.36 million, has been awarded to Transrail Lighting Ltd., which will construct the transmission line from the 400 kV New Butwal Substation in Nawalparasi-Bardaghat-Susta West to the Nepal-India border within the contract duration of 21 months,” the statement said.
A senior government official told the Post that land acquisition is the most critical component of this project, as it is in most cases in Nepal.
“If we fail to acquire the necessary land and the project is not completed within four years, the remaining MCC investment will be returned,” the official said, requesting anonymity.
The MCC has committed $500 million, while the government of Nepal will contribute $197 million.
On Friday, Khadga Bahadur Bisht, executive director of MCA-Nepal, and Amol Wankhede, representative of Transrail Lighting Ltd, signed the contract for the cross-border transmission line.
During the press conference on August 22, US Ambassador Thompson, MCC Resident Country Director Francisco, and Bisht assured that the remaining work would be completed soon as the Nepal government has declared the projects as among “national pride projects” and there is a strong political and administrative commitment in Nepal.
Speaking at Friday’s event, Ram Prasad Ghimire, secretary at the Ministry of Finance and MCA-Nepal board chair, said, “Along with the signing of contracts worth $126 million for three substations, this 18 km transmission line project is set to play an important role in helping Nepal achieve its domestic power goals and reinforcing its position in the regional energy market.”
In recent years, large-scale projects in Nepal have been facing various challenges including delays in land acquisition, procurement hurdles, protests by locals and affected communities, environmental concerns, difficulties in coordination among government agencies, managing public perception about projects, issues of social impact, financial management, and transparency, among others.
“Today marks the first anniversary of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Nepal Compact. Over the past year, we have celebrated significant milestones, including the signing of contracts for three substations across Nepal and the completion of a two-year livelihood restoration project to empower communities affected by the project,” Ambassador Thomposn wrote on X on Friday.
“Today, we added to these achievements with the signing of the 18 km cross-border transmission line construction contract worth $12.36 million. The MCC Nepal Compact is a vital part of the 77 years of friendship between the United States of America and Nepal. We are excited about the progress we have made together and look forward to [ literally] paving the way to powering a brighter [and greener] energy and transportation future of 21st century Nepal,” the US ambassador wrote.
According to MCA Nepal, in the past year, it awarded and signed contracts worth approximately $126 million for constructing three 400 kV GIS substations at three locations—in Nawalparasi West, Nuwakot, and Tanahun—from May to July 2024. The New Damauli Substation and the Ratmate Substation will each have a capacity of 1,000 MVA, making them the largest substations in the country.
Similarly, a two-year $1 million livelihood restoration programme for 270 project-affected people by Ratmate Substation concluded on 30 May.
NEA Managing Director Kul Man Ghising, speaking at the contract signing event, stated that this 18-km segment is not just a construction project; it’s a critical link that will enhance Nepal’s energy infrastructure and deepen cross-border energy cooperation with India. He said this accomplishment reflects the strategic foresight and dedication of all involved.
Besides expanding the cross-border and domestic transmission lines, another project under the MCC is road maintenance, whose initial environmental examination (IEE) report for works on the 40 km road segment from Dhan Khola to Lamahi on the East-West Highway has been approved.
The MCA-Nepal plans to launch the procurement of road maintenance works using Full Depth Reclamation (FDR) technology as soon as possible this year, MCA-Nepal said.
MCC Resident Country Director Francisco said, “The successful contracting of the 18 km cross-border transmission line marks a major milestone in our shared journey to transform Nepal’s energy landscape and economic future. This achievement is one of many successes of the MCC Nepal Compact in the past year, but it is particularly significant as it paves the way for the larger 297 km transmission line project.”

KATHMANDU,
The Supreme Court has cleared the deck for the government to retire police officers who have served for 30 years.
After a two-day hearing on a petition from the Ministry of Home Affairs asking the court to vacate its earlier decision, a division bench of the top court on Friday scrapped the interim order issued by a single bench that had allowed police officers to remain in service even after completing three decades.
Twenty-one senior officers of Nepal Police led by Senior Superintendent Jeevan Kumar Shrestha had filed a petition at the Supreme Court to allow them to continue their service even after completing 30 years.
The petition was lodged against the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Nepal Police Headquarters, and the Police Record Management Department, seeking to halt their scheduled retirement on September 1 due to the 30-year service rule. Rule 127 of the Police Regulations mandates that police personnel retire after 30 years of service, even if they have not reached the maximum retirement age of 58.
On August 22, Justice Hari Prasad Phuyal ordered the relevant government authorities to halt the enforcement of the 30-year provision and instructed the Nepal Police to correct its record books. By then, the police had already issued retirement letters.
Following the interim order, Nepal Police Headquarters had directed its provincial offices not to implement the earlier decision on retirement.
Seeing the court’s order as an overreach into the executive’s turf, the home ministry appealed to the court on August 27 demanding that the order be vacated.
Filing the petition through the Office of the Attorney General, the ministry demanded that the interim order be scrapped to allow the retirement of the police officers.
After hearings on Thursday and Friday, a division bench of justices Binod Sharma and Sharanga Subedi scrapped the interim order issued by Phuyal’s bench.
“The order has been passed as requested in the petition,” reads a brief order by the Sharma-led bench. The court will release a detailed verdict later.
With the decision, 91 police officers including a deputy inspector general, who joined the police service in 1994, will retire on Sunday.
Lawyers representing the police officers had boycotted the bench after Subedi refused to recuse herself. They had claimed that she should not hear the case since she had previously heard similar petitions filed by officials from the Armed Police Force. Although Phuyal’s bench had issued an interim order, Subedi had declined to do the same even though the petitions were of similar nature.
As 22 lawyers defending the police officers boycotted the hearing, the verdict was issued based solely on the petitioner’s [government] arguments. Police personnel have time and again been lobbying to scrap the 30-year retirement provision.
However, the government is moving forward with plans to include the provision, which is only in the regulations currently, in the Acts of both the police forces.
The KP Sharma Oli government faced two setbacks from the top court in just over a month since its formation. First, the court halted the police retirement process, and second, it directed the government to adjust the salaries of government officials, a move that will add billions of rupees to the state’s financial burden annually.
On August 15, a division bench of justices Manoj Kumar Sharma and Sunil Kumar Pokhrel had ordered that the salaries of section officers, under-secretaries, and joint-secretaries be adjusted in accordance with national standards, effective from July 16.
Unhappy with these orders, the Oli government filed two separate petitions to overturn both orders. The hearing on the petition challenging the salary adjustment order has yet to commence.

Dolakha,
Pavitra Pahari, a resident of ward 3 in Doramba Shailung Rural Municipality, Ramechhap, is facing the toughest challenge of her life just a month after giving birth. Displaced by a devastating landslide, she now finds herself crammed into a shelter, worrying not just about herself but about how to protect her newborn from the cold and the continuous rain.
Pavitra, along with 180 other villagers, are living in temporary shelters for the past five days, when a landslide on Saturday night ripped through their village, displacing 63 families and claiming eight lives. Two people are still missing. The landslide swept away six houses, forcing the survivors to seek refuge in an old school building and a house arranged by the local government.
The conditions in these shelters are harsh. “The rural municipality has provided us with a place to stay, but it’s very crowded,” said Pahari. “There are 43 of us living together, and whatever food is prepared, we all share it.” She said all the women from the village are staying together in one house, while the men are sleeping in an old school building. The victims are trying to make the best of a bad situation, but the cold and dampness make it difficult.
Pavitra expressed her concern about her newborn son, saying, “I can somehow manage to get through the night, but I can’t keep my baby warm. There are seven other new mothers in the same situation as me, and we’re all struggling.”
The elderly are also having a hard time. Dan Bahadur Pahari, 91, said, “My hands and feet are numb from the cold. It’s not as warm as home here, and the mattresses provided by the municipality aren’t enough to keep out the dampness of the monsoon.”
The victims were initially housed in a new school building, but to make space for students, they were later moved to an eight-room private house and the old school building. The municipality has provided mattresses for sleeping, but the cold remains a significant issue.
Shanta Bahadur Pahari, another victim, shared the daily routine. “In the morning, we go back to the village to feed the cattle that survived the landslide. The village is in ruins, with cracks everywhere, and the rain won’t let up. We don’t know how long we’ll have to live like this,” said Shanta Bahadur.
The local government has arranged food and shelter for the time being, but he mentioned that the situation has become stressful as they cannot return to their village. “How long can the local government provide support? They’ve said we can’t go back to the village,” he added.
It takes an hour and a half to reach Lekharka village from the shelter. They climb uphill to the village, feed the cattle, and then return to the same place. “Relatives of those who died or went missing in the landslide are currently in Lekharka for funeral rituals,” Shanta Bahadur said.
“They will return soon, and the local government has promised to set up temporary shelters for them in the playground.”
The landslide not only displaced 63 families but also levelled six houses in the village, he said. The rural municipality has arranged for 20 to 22 children from displaced families to continue their education at the school they’re currently staying in. To manage meals, the victims have formed three to four cooking teams. “We cook for 63 families on a single stove, taking turns,” said Shanta Bahadur. “There’s no special food for the newborns and their mothers; whatever is cooked is shared by everyone.”
The municipality on Thursday called an emergency meeting of the disaster management committee, where it was decided to construct temporary shelters on a nearby playground for the displaced families.
“For now, we’re providing food and shelter to all the victims,” said Mankumar Moktan, chairperson of the rural municipality. “Managing everything during a disaster is very challenging, but we’ll make sure that the new mothers and their babies get the nutrition they need.”
Moktan explained that transporting supplies has been difficult due to the floods that washed away the main motorable bridge connecting the area with the rest of the district.
The municipality has also requested the federal government for help in relocating the displaced families permanently.
“The landslide has made it unsafe to live in the village, so we’re looking for a new location to relocate them,” he said.
The landslide has also caused damage in other wards of the rural municipality. The authorities are working to collect detailed information on the damage and to clear the rural roads affected by the disaster.

PARIS,
The investigation into Telegram boss Pavel Durov that has fired a warning shot to global tech titans was started by a small cybercrime unit within the Paris prosecutor’s office, led by 38-year-old Johanna Brousse.
The arrest of Durov, 39, last Saturday marks a significant shift in how some global authorities may seek to deal with tech chiefs reluctant to police illegal content on their platforms.
The arrest signalled the mettle of the J3 cybercrime unit, but the true test of its ambitions will be whether Brousse can secure a conviction based on a largely untested legal argument, lawyers said.
In an unprecedented move against a major tech CEO, prosecutors argued Durov bears responsibility for the alleged illegality on his platform, placing him under formal investigation on organised crime charges. He is suspected of complicity in running an online platform that allows the posting of child sex abuse images, drug trafficking and fraud.
Durov’s lawyer said on Thursday it was “absurd” for him to be held responsible and that the app abided by European laws, echoing an earlier statement by Telegram itself. Being placed under formal investigation in France does not imply guilt or necessarily lead to trial, but indicates judges consider there is enough evidence to proceed with the probe. Investigations can last years before being sent to trial or dropped. Durov is out on bail, but barred from leaving France.
Brousse’s unit began investigating Durov earlier this year after seeing his app being used for countless alleged crimes, and growing frustrated by the “almost total lack of response from Telegram to judicial requests”, Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said on Wednesday.
Brousse declined to comment.
In an interview with newspaper Liberation in January, Brousse said her office was overseeing a growing number of probes involving Telegram and rival messaging app Discord, adding that tackling crime on them was “one of my battles”.

NAWALPARASI EAST: Three labourers involved in the constructing of a septic tank in ward 7 of Binayi Tribeni Rural Municipality died on Friday, likely due to asphyxiation from poisonous gas. They were found unconscious while working inside the septic tank at the new under construction house belonging to local Bhola Singh Chhetri. They were rushed to the hospital, but were pronounced dead during treatment. According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Bed Bahadur Paudel of the District Police Office, Nawalparasi East, the deceased are Prakash Singh Chhetri, 38, Ganesh Bogati, 19, and Mohammad Raja, 28. All the three youths were from ward 7 of the rural municipality. The men were rushed to Bhairahawa Medical College, Rupandehi, where doctors pronounced them dead. Two of the bodies are currently at Bhim Hospital in Bhairahawa, Rupandehi, while the third is at Prithvi Chandra District Hospital, Nawalparasi West for post-mortem, according to DSP Paudel. Further investigation into the incident is ongoing. Lack of
oxygen or poisonous gas often poses risks in confined spaces, according to doctors.

KATHMANDU: The government has decided to drop the statute of limitations from corruption law amendment following public outcry. Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak on Friday told the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the House of Representatives that the government was ready to remove the provision. The minister was attending a meeting of the House committee which is working to finalise the bill to amend the Corruption Prevention Act 2002. Also, Ramhari Khatiwada, chair of the lower house committee, said that it has now become certain that the five-year statute of limitations on corruption cases will be removed. The proposed provision in the bill said, “A corruption case must be prosecuted within five years from the date when the misconduct is discovered.” However, there would be no time limit for filing a case if the state directly suffers losses. Lawmakers supported removing the provision after it caused public controversy.

PANCHTHAR,
Two children, who were seriously injured on Thursday afternoon in an explosion at Dadagaun of Phalelung Rural Municipality-5 in Panchthar district, died last night.
The eleven-year-old son Dipsan and two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Princa of Dilip Sanwa succumbed to their injuries. They were seriously hurt when a stray grenade went off while the kids were playing near the house of a Maoist cadre, Aitaraj Kerung.
Princa breathed her last at 10 pm Thursday in Ilam while being rushed to a hospital in Jhapa and Dipsan was pronounced dead at 1 am at the B & C Hospital Jhapa, according to District Police Office, Panchthar.
Immediately after the explosion, the three children were rushed to Panchthar Hospital, which referred them to Jhapa for further
treatment.
The other injured child Pawan, a 9-year-old son of Gyan Bahadur Rai, is undergoing treatment at Panchthar Hospital. His health is stable, according to Dr Kiran Gautam, who is involved in his treatment.
According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Hemanta Bhandari, police, based on their preliminary investigation, have drawn a conclusion that the children were injured in a grenade explosion. Locals have suspected that the bomb might have been hidden during the decade-long Maoist insurgency that ended in 2006.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak has said the bomb that exploded in Panchthar was a remnant of the Maoist war.
As the grenade went off near the home of a Maoist cadre, the police suspected it to have been planted during the insurgency period and they took the matter to the higher authorities.
“The explosive that went off there was a grenade. I asked police officials about the incident in detail as I talked to them at length,” Home Minister Lekhak told journalists at the ministry in Singha Durbar on Friday.
“Based on the information received so far, we have concluded that the device is a grenade. A tragic incident has occurred due to the explosion of an insurgency-era grenade.”
The home minister noted that the incident came days after the political parties resolved disputes over peace process-related issues and amended the law governing the transitional justice process. “It shows that conflict-era issues are still alive in our country. People are still losing lives in bomb explosions,” he said.
According to him, another bomb was found hidden in a shrub in the same area and a Nepal Army team later disposed it.
The National Human Rights Commission has said it could be an explosive left negligently by one of the warring sides of the time. The constitutional body said that it was unfortunate that such incidents occurred 18 years after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord in 2006 even as the political forces agreed to clear the remnants of the explosives within two months.
Point 5.1.4 of the Accord states that “both sides shall assist each other to mark landmines and booby-traps used during the time of armed conflict by providing necessary information within 30 days and defuse and excavate them within 60 days.”
The commission has demanded compensation for the bereaved families and the injured persons. “The commission directs the government to diffuse such explosives left negligently in the past and prevent such incidents in future,” the rights body said in a statement issued on Friday.

KATHMANDU,
Minister for Education, Science and Technology Bidya Bhattarai has pointed out the need for revising the age-old policies and restructure the curriculum in the education, science and technology sector.
She said that the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT) was established 36 years ago, but the country was still using the same old policies without revision.
“If we make an effort to revise the curriculum and restructure CTEVT, we can also make suggestions for policy level change,” she said, addressing the National Seminar on Education and Employment Linkage, jointly organised by the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN), and the Nepal Automobiles Dealers’ Association (NADA) in Lalitpur.
The participants underscored the need to strengthen the synergy between education and employment to equip Nepalese youth with employable skills.
Professor Ursula Reynolds, chair of Education Systems at ETH Zurich, delivered a keynote speech, saying that industry partnership is important to ensure that the education system produces the human resource that industries want.
CNI Vice President Birendra Raj Pandey pointed out a significant shortage of skilled labour in the country.
“Industries are struggling to find qualified human resources, while youth are searching for employment opportunities,” he said. “As a result, industries are compelled to hire skilled workers from neighbouring country India.”
Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of Embassy of Switzerland in Nepal Matthias Meier said that they have the hard scientific evidence that dual VET apprenticeships approach is indeed a win-win proposition for both, the apprentices and the industries that employ them.
CTEVT Member Secretary Mahesh Bhattarai, HAN President Binayak Shah, and NADA President Karan Chaudhary, emphasised the importance of linking education with employment to better prepare the youth.

JOMSOM,
People from the Thakali community of Thini village in lower Mustang have geared up for the traditional ‘falo’ celebration, which is set to start on Saturday.
Hundreds of locals from the Thakali and other communities and tourists will attend the two-day ‘falo’ celebration, also known as Thini Bhadau.
“Falo is one of the major festivals of our community,” said Niraj Thakali, a local from Gharapjhong Rural Municipality-5, Mustang. “This festival marks the end of the cultivation season and the start of winter.”
Thakali is one of the oldest cultures having its own traditions, festivals, language, literature and cuisine, among others.
According to Aaita Bahadur Thakali, the village head, the festival starts after the youths worship the god with pure flowers plucked from Mesokhando hill, which is close to Nilgiri mountain.
Young boys and girls will perform traditional yak dance, jhankri dance, Tamang-shya, yoddha dance and Tungna dance during the celebrations. Local singers and artists will perform musical concerts in the evening.
They also play traditional archery games, which used to be an important skill for Thakali people in Mustang for hunting and safety.
The festival is being organised jointly by the community and local governments. Local communities have set up funds to organise the celebration. Thakalis are one of the indigenous communities mostly from the Tibeto-Burman group. Locals say that the festival is organised every year during the August-September period.
“By continuing the celebration, we want to protect local culture, and keep traditions alive for new generations,” said Thakali. The festival draws not only domestic tourists but also foreign travellers.

KYIV, Ukraine,
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired the commander
of the country's air force on Friday, four days after an F-16 warplane that Ukraine received from its Western partners crashed during a Russian bombardment.
The order to dismiss Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleshchuk was published on the presidential website.
"We need to protect people. Protect personnel. Take care of all our soldiers," Zelenskyy said in an address minutes after the order was published. He said Ukraine needs to strengthen its army on the command level.
U.S. experts have joined the Ukrainian investigation into the crash, the air force said.
Meanwhile, a Russian attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv using powerful plane-launched glide bombs killed five people, including a 14-year-old girl on a playground, and wounded 47 others, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said.
The bombs struck five locations across the city, which had a prewar population of around 1.4 million people, the governor said.
One of the bombs hit a 12-story apartment block, setting the building ablaze and trapping at least one person on an upper floor. Emergency crews searching for survivors feared the building could collapse.
Zelenskyy pointed to the Kharkiv strikes as further evidence that Western partners should scrap restrictions on what the Ukrainian military can target with donated weapons.
The Kharkiv strike "wouldn't have happened if our defense forces had the capability to destroy Russian military aviation at its bases. We need strong decisions from our partners to stop this terror," Zelenskyy said.
F-16s are one of the weapons that could be used to hit Russian bases behind the front line.
Oleshchuk said on Telegram that "a detailed analysis" was already being conducted into why the F-16 jet went down Monday, when Russia launched a major missile and drone barrage at Ukraine.
"We must carefully understand what happened, what the circ*mstances are, and whose responsibility it is," Oleshchuk wrote in the post.
The crash was the first reported loss of an F-16 in Ukraine, where the warplanes arrived at the end of last month. At least six are believed to have been delivered by European countries.
Military analysts say the planes will not be a game-changer in the war, given Russia's massive air force and sophisticated air defense systems.

ZABABDEH, West Bank,
Israeli forces killed a local commander of the Islamist movement Hamas in the flashpoint city of Jenin on Friday as they pressed a major operation in the occupied West Bank for a third day, the Israeli military said.
The military said Border Police forces had killed Wassem Hazem, who it said was the head of Hamas in Jenin and was involved in shooting and bombing attacks in the Palestinian territory.
Two other Hamas gunmen who tried to escape the car they were all travelling in were killed by a drone, it said, adding that weapons, explosives and large sums of cash were found in the vehicle.
Hamas confirmed the death of all three men, who it said were members of its Al-Qassam Brigades armed wing.
In the village of Zababdeh, just outside Jenin, a burnt-out car riddled with bullet holes stood against a wall where the vehicle came to a halt after being pursued by an Israeli special forces unit, residents said.
Villager Saif Ghannam, 25, said one of the two other men who escaped from the vehicle was killed just outside his house by a small drone strike that shattered the windows, while a second man was killed a short distance away.
Ghannam said Israeli forces had removed the bodies but large pools of blood lay on the ground where he said the men were killed.
The incident occurred as Israeli forces kept up a large-scale operation involving hundreds of troops and police that was launched in the early hours of Wednesday morning in Jenin and Tulkarm, another volatile city in the northern West Bank, as well as the Jordan Valley.
Israeli armoured personnel carriers backed by helicopters and drones pushed into Jenin and Tulkarm on Friday while armoured bulldozers ploughed up roads to destroy roadside bombs planted by the militant groups.
The escalation in hostilities in the West Bank takes place as fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas militants still rages in the Gaza Strip nearly 11 months since it began, and clashes with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in the Israel-Lebanon border area have intensified.
In the first two days of the West Bank operation, at least 17 Palestinians were killed, including the local commander of the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad forces in Tulkarm.
Israel’s military, in a summary of its operations, said: “So far, the forces have eliminated 20 terrorists in exchanges of fire and airstrikes and apprehended 17 suspects linked to terrorist activities.”
Since the Hamas attack on Israel last October that triggered the Gaza war, more than 660 Palestinians—combatants and civilians—have been killed in the West Bank, according to Palestinian tallies, some by Israeli troops and some by Jewish settlers who have carried out frequent attacks on West Bank Palestinian communities.
Israel says Iran provides weapons and support to militant factions in the West Bank—under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Middle East war—and the military has as a result cranked up its operations there.
The British government said on Friday it was “deeply concerned” by Israel’s operation in the West Bank and said there was an urgent need for de-escalation.

TOKYO,
Japan’s Defense Ministry on Friday sought a record 8.5 trillion yen ($59 billion) budget for the next year to fortify its deterrence on southwestern islands against China’s increasing threat.
Defense officials were also focusing on unmanned weapons and artificial intelligence to make up for the declining number of servicemembers as a result of the country’s shrinking population.
The ministry’s request for 2025 marks the third year of Japan’s rapid five-year military buildup plan under the government’s ongoing security strategy. Japan aims to spend 43 trillion yen ($297 billion) through 2027 to double its annual military spending to around 10 trillion yen, making it the world’s No. 3 military spender after the United States and China.
The budget request was approved at the Defense Ministry meeting on Friday before a submission to the Finance Ministry for negotiations through December.
Japan has been rapidly building up the defense of the southwestern region in recent years amid China’s growing military threats and tension in the regional seas.
China has escalated clashes with the Philippine coast guards in disputed waters in the South China Sea and sent a fleet of coast guard boats to routinely violate territorial waters around Japanese-controlled disputed islands in the East China Sea that Beijing also claims.
A hefty 970 billion yen ($6.7 billion) of the budget request for 2025 covers the cost of bolstering strike-back capability with the development and purchases of long-range missiles and equipment for their launch, including from an Aegis-class destroyer. About one-third of it goes to a satellite constellation aimed at bolstering the capability to detect missile-related activity, as North Korea, China and Russia develop hypersonic missiles that are harder to detect and track.
While pushing military buildup, Japan must deal with shrinking troop numbers and is focusing on developing and buying more drones for surveillance and combat, requesting 103 billion yen ($710 million). It also seeks 314 billion yen ($2.17 billion) to build three new multi-purpose compact destroyers that require 90 crew members, less than half the crew size currently needed.
Japanese defense officials say combat drones are “game changers” that can be on hourslong missions and lower human losses in combat, and they consider it a main pillar of Japan’s ongoing military buildup. The unmanned weapons can also help a country struggling with its aging and shrinking population.
Japan has been struggling to fulfill Self-Defense Force, or SDF, troop levels at 247,000 people.
The SDF has faced difficulty attracting young applicants in recent years and fulfilled only half of its recruiting target of 19,598 last year, making it the lowest in the 70 years of its history. Last year, 6,258 mid-career personnel left, the highest number in 30 years.
“Due to declining childbirths and working age population, it is inevitable that Japan will face a society of serious labor shortage,” the ministry said in an interim report on human resources, also released on Friday. “We need to build an organization that can fight in new ways while strengthening defense power.”
Shrinking younger population and private companies that offer better salaries and benefits make “the environment surrounding recruiting servicemembers the worst since the end of World War II,” the ministry report said. It requested 18 billion yen ($124 million) to introduce an AI surveillance system at 40 SDF bases across Japan, aiming to free up 1,000 service personnel. It is also asking 4.3 billion ($29.7 million) for automated supply storage for launch in 2027 in Okinawa.
In the interim report released on Friday, the ministry called for reforms to improve salary, working environment, more training and learning opportunities, as well as support for working mothers to attract more women.
The ministry has been hit by a series of revelations of sexual assaults, harassment and abuse of power in recent years. Its internal investigation last year criticized cover-up attempts and a lack of sense of responsibility among supervisors. It came under fire in July over the leak of classified information and corruption scandals.

TAIPEI,
China lacks the ability to “fully” invade Taiwan as it does not have the equipment, but is bringing on line advanced new weapons and has other options to threaten Taiwan, such as inspecting foreign cargo ships, the island’s defence ministry said.
China, which views democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory, has ramped up military and political pressure over the past five years to assert its claims, which Taipei strongly rejects.
China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. The government of the defeated Republic of China fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong’s communists, and no peace treaty or armistice has ever been signed. In an annual threat assessment of China sent to lawmakers on Friday, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters, Taiwan’s defence ministry said Beijing continues to hone skills such as joint command operations.
“However, the use of tactics and strategies against Taiwan is still limited by the natural geographical environment of the Taiwan Strait and insufficient landing equipment and logistic capabilities,” it said. China “is not yet fully possessed of the formal combat capabilities for a comprehensive invasion of Taiwan”.
But China is speeding up development of a slew of new weapons, such as the H-20 bomber and hypersonic missiles and beefing up the number of nuclear warheads, while trialling new tactics, the ministry said. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday said his country had resumed sending flights of Afghan citizens convicted of crimes back to their home country.
The report said that in May, when China staged war games around Taiwan shortly after Lai Ching-te took office as the new president, Chinese coast guard ships were sent for the first time on interception and inspection drills off the east coast. China’s aim with the drills was to practice cutting off communication with the outside world and blockade Taiwan, and boarding foreign cargo ships is an option China could take, short of open conflict, the ministry said.

KATHMANDU,
Nepal’s foreign direct investment (FDI) stock rose 11.8 percent to Rs295.50 billion at the end of 2022-23, according to a new survey report.
The Survey Report on FDI in Nepal, published by Nepal Rastra Bank, the country’s central bank, on Friday shows that India ranks top with Rs103.5 billion in FDI stock in Nepal, followed by China with Rs35.5 billion, Ireland with Rs22.6 billion, Australia with Rs19.1 billion, and Singapore with Rs18.8 billion.
FDI stock is the value of the share of capital and reserves, including retained profits of the foreign investors in a particular country.
Regarding paid-up capital, the primary component in FDI stock, India tops the chart with Rs.52.6 billion, followed by China with Rs28.5 billion, South Korea with Rs13.9 billion, and Ireland with Rs10.7 billion.
Nepal has received foreign investment from 58 countries as of mid-July 2023.
The survey covers 238 of the 754 active enterprises that obtained FDI approvals from the central bank between 2022 and 2023.
The survey covered 87.5 percent of large-size enterprises, 77.3 percent of medium-size enterprises, and 23.7 percent of small-size firms.
The FDI stock was valued using the company’s value appearing in the statement of financial position as shareholders’ equity and debt as well as payables (except trade credits) from foreign direct investors.
The report said that paid-up capital accounted for 52.8 percent of total FDI stock, whereas reserves and loans accounted for 33.7 percent and 13.5 percent, respectively.
The electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning sector accounts for 30 percent of total FDI stock, followed by the manufacturing sector with 29.4 percent. Both are included in the industrial sector, which accounts for 59.7 percent of total FDI stock.
About 40.2 percent of total FDI stock is in the service sector.
Of this, the financial and insurance services sector constitutes 26 percent, the information and communication sector 6.7 percent, and the accommodation and food services sector 6.3 percent. Bagmati Province has the highest share of FDI stock (59.7 percent), whereas Lumbini, Karnali,
and Sudurpaschim provinces account for less than 1.0 percent of the total FDI stock.
The central bank conducts a survey among FDI enterprises annually to update and compile Nepal’s FDI stock by counterpart economies and economic activities. These surveys also compile the liabilities component of Nepal’s International Investment Position (IIP) statement. The capacity utilisation of surveyed FDI enterprises in manufacturing stands at 60.69 percent, whereas the profitability of surveyed FDI enterprises remains at 11.61 percent in 2022-23, the central bank said.
A central bank report said gross FDI inflows decreased 59.6 percent to Rs7.8 billion in 2022-23.
According to the survey report, the divestment of foreign investment (repatriation of investment) during 2022-23 remained at Rs1,807.3 million, around 23.3 percent of gross FDI inflows. The net FDI inflows to Nepal decreased 67.9 percent to Rs6.0 billion in 2022-23.
There is a significant gap between approved FDI and actual net FDI inflows into Nepal. Between 1995-96 and 2022-23, the total net FDI inflow stood at around 35 percent of total FDI approval. Nepal received an FDI pledge of Rs30.69 billion in 2022-23.
The FDI approval may simply indicate an intended investment (the approved investment may not take place, or there may be significant time lags between approval and actual investments).
According to the report, realising the approved investment may take several years in some instances, as is usually the case with projects with longer gestation periods. As a result, a gap exists between FDI approval and actual net FDI inflows.
Nepal’s net international investment position (IIP) remained negative at Rs74.9 billion in 2022-23, compared to Rs271.3 billion in the previous year.
The IIP is a statistical statement that shows the value and composition of residents’ financial assets at a point in time, which are claims on non-residents and liabilities of residents of an economy to non-residents.

KUMAGAYA (Japan),
Grappling with a rice shortage after extreme weather ravaged last year’s crop, Japan is hoping new heat-resistant varieties of its staple food can help stave off future supply shocks.
Last summer’s high temperatures and dry conditions led to lower rice yields in key growing regions and damaged the quality of grains, contributing to the lowest inventories seen in 25 years, according to official data.
Along with higher demand—partly attributed to record inbound tourism this year—supermarkets across the country have struggled to keep rice shelves stocked in recent months and some have imposed quotas on how much customers can buy.
The local government in Saitama, a prefecture north of Tokyo that is one of the hottest regions in the country, hopes science can avert future shortages and is pushing ahead with one of several nationwide projects to develop more resilient rice.
“It’s going to keep getting hotter, which makes me feel that without varieties that resist high temperatures, this is going to become a very tough job,” said Yosh*taka Funakawa, a 73-year-old farmer who is participating in the trial run for Saitama’s heat-resistant rice called emihokoro or ‘beaming smile’. Japan sweltered in its warmest July on record in 2024.
High heat disrupts the accumulation of starch inside rice grains, causing them to appear more opaque, mottled with white flecks and less desirable for human consumption, impacting the crop’s market value.
“The more this cloudy, white phenomenon there is on rice, the grade of rice decreases, which leads to declines in farmers’ income,” said Naoto Ooka, who oversees rice breeding at Saitama’s Agricultural Technology Research Centre.
At the centre, researchers take seeds from across Japan, cultivate and cross-pollinate them in a drive to create more resistant varieties like emihokoro, which has been planted in 31 fields as a trial this year.
Rice is a source of pride for Japan, renowned for premium grains that are the base for signature dishes like sushi, but it is also a widely consumed food. Rice is also one of the few staples the nation has historically been able to be self-sustainable in producing. The world’s fourth-largest economy imports more than 60 percent of its food resources.
Last year’s poor yields are among the factors that have driven up prices sharply. Private rice inventories in Japan amounted to 1.56 million tonnes in June 2024, the lowest end-of-season volume since 1999 when comparable data was first collected, according to the agriculture ministry.
Inflation data for July released last week showed rice, excluding the famous ‘koshihikari’ premium brand, saw the highest rate of price increase in over 20 years. At a branch of the Akidai supermarket chain in western Tokyo, shelves normally stocked with bags of rice were largely empty.

BEIJING,
Chinese autonomous driving startup CiDi expects to turn profitable next year with its offering of software and services focused on mining and factory applications and is willing to consider an IPO among various funding options, its CEO said.
“We’re willing to explore various financing avenues including an
IPO,” Albert Hu, CEO of CiDi, which was valued at $1.2 billion in its last private funding round in early 2024, told Reuters.
Most Chinese firms are pressing ahead with autonomous driving for open roads by introducing vehicles such as robotaxis.
But CiDi, whose backers include the venture capital unit of Baidu, Sequoia China and Legend Holdings, remains focused on industrial-grade haulage—areas such as mines and factories where the economics of replacing drivers are clearer and rollout is not dependent on wider regulatory approval.
In an open-pit mine owned by Taiwan Cement Corp at Jurong in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, CiDi deploys a fully electric driverless mining fleet that Hu said “has been operating around the clock for 600 days”.
“The labour (cost) savings are probably up to 95 percent,” Hu said, adding an unmanned mining truck could save up to three drivers on an eight-hour shift per day.
The added investment in equipping the mining trucks with an intelligent and autonomous system can pay off in just 18 months, and the return could be much faster in higher-labour cost economies such as Australia, said Ma Wei, co-founder and vice chairman of CiDi.
Forecasting a $100 billion global market in autonomous trucking in closed-loop industrial applications by 2030, the autonomous trucking unicorn, with partners in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, believes it can keep a “double-digit” share of the global market for autonomous mining deployments.
Its competitors include Beijing-based Senior Auto, Hefei-based Tage Idriver and Suzhou Zhito Technology.
Instead of running its own factories, CiDi relies on truck manufacturers such as Sinotruk which license their manufacturing capabilities for CiDi-branded trucks.
While autonomous trucking is growing fast in mining and other hazardous environments due to safety considerations, it faces challenges, including social acceptance, for broader usage.
There are about 17 million truck drivers in the world’s second largest economy where ride-hailing and taxi drivers fret as thousands of robotaxis hit Chinese streets.
CiDi benefits from Chinese regulations that encourage industrial use EVs and intelligent technologies. In a guideline released in September last year, the transport ministry encouraged the adoption of lidar and other sensor technologies as part of a goal to digitise the road transport system by 2035.

MADRID: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will visit China in September, his office said Friday, as Beijing and the European Union are locked in a trade standoff over Chinese subsidies for electric vehicles. Sanchez’s office did not provide details for the visit, which will run between September 7 and 12, but he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and other officials during his trip.
The Spanish premier met with Xi during his last visit to China in March 2023, and took part in the Boao Forum for Asia—similar
to the World Economic Forum held in Davos—in China’s Hainan province. That visit came as Xi was trying to galvanise support for China’s peace proposal for Ukraine, and Spain—the eurozone’s fourth largest economy—was preparing to hold the rotating presidency of the European Union during the second half of 2023. (AFP)

PARIS: The French economy grew at a slower pace than previously thought in the second quarter, official data showed Friday, while inflation cooled to a three-year low in August. Gross domestic product expanded by 0.2 percent in the April-to-June period compared to the first quarter, according to the INSEE statistics agency. In its July estimate, the agency reported growth of 0.3 percent, similar to the first quarter performance. Inflation slowed to 1.9 percent in August, falling below the European Central Bank’s two-percent target for the first time since August 2021. Full eurozone inflation figures are due later on Friday and could shed light on an expected interest rate cut by the ECB in September. (AFP)

WASHINGTON: iPhone juggernaut Apple is in talks to invest in OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT and the biggest name in generative artificial intelligence, a news report said Thursday. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company founded by Steve Jobs is at the funding table as OpenAI raises more money to help meet the heavy costs of building new technology. Reports said that OpenAI is in talks to reach a valuation of $100 billion in the funding round led by venture capital firm Thrive Capital, which will pump in one billion dollars. For months, news reports have said OpenAI has been in talks to raise the capital that would make it one of the most valuable tech companies in the world. (AFP)

LONDON: Hundreds of Border Force officers at London Heathrow, one of the world’s biggest airports, will go on strike again for four days from Saturday over working conditions, their union confirmed. The long-running dispute concerns the introduction of new rosters the union insists are “inflexible”, with the upcoming industrial action the latest by the officers over the issue. Hundreds staged a similar strike in April. Around 650 members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union working in terminals 2, 3, 4 and 5 will walk out, and then refuse to work overtime for 18 days from September 4. The PCS noted Friday a recent survey of those set to walk out found four in five of them suffer from stress at work and feel pressured to work longer hours. (AFP)

NEW YORK,
Former champions Carlos Alcaraz and Naomi Osaka were knocked out of the US Open on Thursday as the final Grand Slam of the year lost two of its biggest crowd-pullers.
Alcaraz, the world number three and 2022 champion in New York,
was stunned by Dutch world number 74 Botic van de Zandschulp 6-1, 7-5, 6-4.
Osaka, who counts the 2018 and 2020 US Opens amongst her four career majors, slipped to a 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) loss at the hands of 52nd-ranked Czech Karolina Muchova.
Alcaraz had made at least the quarter-finals in his three previous appearances in New York. Thursday’s defeat was his earliest at a Grand Slam since a second round exit at Wimbledon in 2021.
Defeat ended his dream of becoming only the third man in the modern era to win the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open in the same season.
The Dutchman, who had lost his two previous matches with Alcaraz, will next face 25th-seeded Jack Draper.
For Osaka, her comeback from maternity leave remains stalled.
She missed last year’s tournament after giving birth to daughter Shai but made up for that absence in the first round when she brushed aside Jelena Ostapenko for a first top 10 win in four years.
However, on Thursday the 26-year-old went down to a straight sets loss to 2023 semi-finalist Muchova, leaving her without a third round appearance at the majors since the 2022 Australian Open.
Muchova will meet Russia’s Anastasia Potapova for a last 16 spot.
Alcaraz’s defeat removed a major title barrier from the path of top seed Jannik Sinner, who had been scheduled to meet the Spaniard in the semi-finals.
World number one Sinner won his 50th match of the year when he defeated America’s 49th-ranked Alex Michelsen 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 to make the last 32 for a fourth successive year.
The 23-year-old Italian will face Australia’s Christopher O’Connell for a place in the last 16.
Women’s world number one Iga Swiatek charged into the third round, routing 217th-ranked Ena Shibahara of Japan 6-0, 6-1 to record her 55th match win of 2024.
Poland’s Swiatek, the 2022 US Open winner who is seeking to add a second title in New York to her four French Open triumphs, overwhelmed the 26-year-old qualifier, who was in the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time, in just 65 minutes.
She goes on to face 25th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who was a quarter-finalist in New York 13 years ago.
Elena Rybakina withdraw from the tournament citing injuries.

MANCHESTER,
Liverpool boss Arne Slot faces his first major test with a trip to Manchester United, while Newcastle and Tottenham also face off on Sunday hoping to dispel early season doubts over their credentials for a top-four finish.
Slot has made a perfect start to the daunting task of succeeding Jurgen Klopp with two wins from his opening two Premier League games without conceding.
His first chance to seriously impress the Liverpool support comes at one of Klopp’s least favourite grounds as English football’s two most successful clubs face off at Old Trafford.
Despite Liverpool largely enjoying the superior league position during Klopp’s near nine-year reign, he won just two of his 11 away games to United.
That run included a 4-3 FA Cup quarter-final exit and 2-2 Premier League draw last season that precipitated a Liverpool collapse in his final few months in charge.
Yet the pressure is arguably even more on the Dutch manager in the other dugout.
Erik ten Hag was backed by those at the top of United’s new sporting structure at the end of last season despite finishing eighth—the club’s worst ever Premier League performance.
Hope of a new dawn for the Red Devils has been diminished in the opening weeks of the new campaign.
Joshua Zirkzee’s late winner on his debut at least ensured a winning start against Fulham, but a 2-1 defeat to Brighton last weekend had many of the same hallmarks that have seen United struggle previously under Ten Hag.
Another damaging defeat at home to fierce rivals will put the former Ajax boss’ future back on the agenda just three games into the new season.
Tottenham’s last two trips to St James’ Park have resulted in 6-1 and 4-0 thrashings by the Magpies.
Both sides have four points from their opening two games but have a point to prove to further their ambitions of returning to the Champions League next season.
Two of the four sides still with a perfect record meet at the Emirates as Arsenal host Brighton.
The Seagulls have become accustomed to having their best talents picked off by richer rivals in recent years but this time it is Brighton who have been one of the biggest spenders in the division.
New boss Fabian Hurzeler has been backed with a near £200 million ($264 million) spending spree on eight new signings.
That investment has been met with an immediate reward in wins over Everton and United.

Kathmandu,
The Lakhe dance halted after the devastating 1934 earthquake, has been officially restored. Earlier this month, with a formal tantric puja at the Lakhe residence in Bhaktapur’s Changunarayan Municipality, ward no 7, the Ranjitkar community of Bhaktapur revived the 90-year-old Lakhe dance.
Rabi Shakya, a sculptor and samrakshyak of Sampada Samrakshyan Maha Abhiyan, explains, “The 1934 earthquake caused massive destruction in Bhaktapur, making it impossible to recover any remnants of the Lakhe mask, costume, or jewellery.” He added that he created the new Lakhe mask after a month of intensive work and is now the primary teacher of the dance.
Since no references to the old Lakhe mask and dance existed after the earthquake, the sculptor recreated it based on the Goddess Nawa Durga. Shakya explains, “Together with a tantric purohit and a Lakhe gurju, I visited the Lakhe residence at night to visualise the old Lakhe mask. Consequently, using both the Goddess Nawa Durga as a reference and the visual aids, I crafted the new mask.”
He notes that while there are many stories about Lakhe, the actual appearance of the Lakhe is unknown. As a result, people visualised the Lakhe’s face and dance through tantric rituals, and the Lakhe dances were performed in ancient times as well. Lakhe residences are believed to date back to the Kirant period, and the Lakhe dance has been performed since the Malla period. Each step in the Lakhe dance carries its meaning and significance.
According to Sunil Prajapati, president of Sampada Samrakshyan Maha Abhiyan, this Lakhe residence of Bhaktapur is possibly the only place in Nepal with a statue.
The Ranjitkar group was established in 1999, with the Bhaktapur branch starting in 2002. After discovering the lost Lakhe dance, they spent two years researching and gathering more information about it. Ganesh Ram Ranjit, treasurer of Ranjitkar Samaj, states, “It is possible that the Lakhe mask, costumes, and jewellery were destroyed in the 1934 earthquake. However, there are also rumours that those involved in the Lakhe dance might have migrated elsewhere with masks and costumes. While we know the Lakhe dance became extinct after the 1934 earthquake, the exact reasons remain unclear.”
Shakya explains, “Lakhe are considered forms of the Yakshya God and were present in places known as Lakhe khya or khela. They served as protectors of the people, and when infants and children were ill, they were taken to the Lakhe.” He adds, “Historically, people offered food, grains and money to support the Lakhe dancers’ livelihood. However, nowadays, many perform the Lakhe dance primarily to earn money. I believe turning the Lakhe dance into a source of entertainment and income is wrong. On the positive side, the number of Lakhe is increasing as more communities start their own Lakhe dances. In ancient times, there were 32 Lakhe in the Nepal Mandal.”
Shakya notes that he has never witnessed a Lakhe dance in Bhaktapur before and is seeing it for the first time. He has only seen the Nawa Durga Devi’s dance among the masked performances in Bhaktapur.
Shakya says, “When the people from Ranjitkar Samaj came to me about the lost Lakhe dance and asked me to make a Lakhe mask, I was thrilled to hear about their efforts to revive the Ranjitkar Lakhe dance. I was eager to help and didn’t charge anything for making the mask, as I wanted to contribute to this important work.”
Ranjit added that reviving the dance, including teaching the dancers, creating the mask, costumes, jewellery, and organising feasts, cost three lakhs. All expenses were covered by Ranjitkar Samaj, with additional support from individual donations.
On August 4, the Lakhe dance was presented to the public after completing teaching and practice sessions. Proper rituals, offerings, and sacrifices were performed that day. Ranjit explains, “We chose August 4 because these rituals and celebrations are typically held on Sundays or Thursdays. August 4 was particularly auspicious as it was a Sunday, the day after the Ghantakarna festival.” The event featured five Lakhe dancers, a Guru, and two assistants who taught the dance. Currently, the Lakhe mask and costumes are housed at the Ranjitkar Guthi.
Shakya expresses concern that modern silk t-shirts worn by Lakhe dancers compromise the authenticity of Lakhe costumes and culture. “I am completely against modernising Lakhe costumes,” he says. “The original Lakhe attire includes the Cholo (skirt) and Janai (a sacred thread). For the Khwopa Lakhe, we have used traditional costumes and even included a fox skin belt, as a fox frequently visits the Lakhe residence in Bhaktapur.”
The Ranjitkar Samaj is establishing a fund to support the Lakhe dance. An old Lakhe land might also be used to help sustain the dance.
The Lakhe dance will be formally performed during the Indra Jatra festival for two days, on Ashoj 1 and 2. Shakya, the main guru of the Lakhe dance, notes, “We completed the teaching of the Lakhe dance and presented it to the public on August 8. It will now be performed during the Indra Jatra.”

Kathmandu,
Mukam Ranamaidan’, written by Mohan Mainali, has won the Madan Puraskar 2080.
Kunda Dixit, Chairman of the Madan Puraskar Guthi, also announced on X that Professor Yogendra Prasad Yadav will be awarded the Jagadamba Shree 2080.
The Guthi, in its meeting held on Friday, decided to honour Mainali and Yadav with prestigious awards worth Rs400,000.
Mainali is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. ‘Mukam Ranamaidan’ is a book on the Anglo-Nepali War. His other works include ‘Upallo Thalo’ (2015), ‘Mantha Darayeko Guj’ (2015), and ‘Dekheko Desh’ (2018).
“I am extremely delighted that my book has won the Madan Puraskar this year. It has encouraged me to work harder and put in more effort. I am grateful to the Madan Puraskar Guthi and well-wishers,” Mainali posted on X.
Yadav, who will receive the Jagadamba Shree award, is a linguist and former professor at Tribhuvan University.
Earlier, the Guthi had nominated five books for the award: Bhakta Syangtan’s ‘Damphu*ko Atmalap’, Mohan Mainali’s ‘Mukam Ranamaidan’, Jeevan Chhetri’s ‘Nun-Tel’, Bhavesh Bhumari and Pranita Chamling’s ‘Bhavlipi’, and Roshan Thapa Nirav’s ‘Santras ka Sathi Din’.