Good morning!
Here’s a quick summary of important, ignored and interesting stories from Sunday to kickstart your Monday.
Important
Board approves Rs 85 billion investment
The Investment Board Nepal on Sunday approved investment proposals worth Rs 85 billion. A single meeting of the board held yesterday made the decision.
The investment proposals for three hydropower projects were approved yesterday. Of them, Upper Trishuli-I has received Rs 65 billion and Rs 50 billion of it is sourced abroad, the board’s spokesperson Bala Ram Rijal informs.
This is the biggest amount of foreign investment that a hydro project meant for domestic consumption has received so far. The investors include Asian Infrastructure Bank Limited, International Finance Corporation under the World Bank, Korean Export-Import Bank, and Commonwealth Development Corporation among others.
Committee tightens provision on social media use
When the government proposed hefty penalties for social media misuse in the Information Technology Bill, it received criticisms from stakeholders, media and the public. However, notwithstanding that, the Development and Technology Committee in Parliament even increased the amount of penalty. Whereas the original bill has proposed three years’ imprisonment, or Rs 1.5 million fine or both in case of posting something on social media that would mock someone or jeopardise national unity and independence, the committee revised the provision to five years’ imprisonment while endorsing the bill to forward to the full House on Sunday.
Ignored
How much tourists spend is more important than how many of them will come: Joshi
Recently retired chief executive officer of Nepal Tourism Board, the government authority to promote the country’s tourism industry, Deepak Raj Joshi, has suggested that the government focus more on the amount of foreign tourists’ spending than the number of arrivals. Joshi’s suggestion comes on the eve of the opening of the Visit Nepal Year 2020 campaign, for which the government has set an ambitious target of bringing in at least two million tourists.
In an interview with Onlinekhabar, Joshi also claimed that the board under his leadership did a commendable job in preparing for the mega campaign.
Families of Dhanusha explosion victims to get compensation
The Province 2 Council of Ministers has decided to provide Rs 300,000 to each of the families whose family members were killed in an explosion in Kshireshwarnath municipality of Dhanusha district on December 13. Local Rajesh Sah, his son Ananda Sah and police inspector Amir Dahal were killed in the tragedy.
Meanwhile, the government also decided to provide Rs 150,000 to each of the injured for their treatment. Three members of the Sah family and a police constable are undergoing treatment after the incident.
Interesting
Dahal’s new ‘positioning’ in NCP meeting hall
The Nepal Communist Party’s ‘executive’ chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has got a new place to sit during the party’s standing committee meeting on Sunday. When another chairman of the party, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, chaired the meeting in the past, Dahal would sit along with other members of the committee on the chairing PM’s side. On Monday, however, there was a chair for Dahal beside Oli and both the chairmen faced other members directly.
