🇳🇵CIAA makes history, banks flush with deposits, and TPS extensions

Reading Time: 5 minutes~ [June 18 - June 24, 2024 ]

Hey There!

Have you heard? Former US President Donald Trump promised green cards to foreign students graduating from US universities. If that sounds too good to be true, it is. During his term, his administration aggressively restricted H-1B visas, with denial rates rising from 6% in 2015 to 24% in 2018. Unsurprisingly, his campaign immediately clarified that the proposal would not be as straightforward.

So why did he even say it? Simple: To get funding from tech leaders who want skilled immigrants.

Now, on to this week’s newsletter:

• CIAA arrests sitting Chief Secretary Baikuntha Aryal

• Banks are flush with money, but who is borrowing?

• USCIS extends TPS permits until March 2025

• Miss Nepal North America finalists announced

• Amrit Gurung doesn’t want schools to pay royalties

• Watch: YouTuber rescues snake in lakeside Pokhara

Politics & Society

CIAA Makes History: Sitting Chief Secretary charged with embezzling Rs. 386 Million (USD 2.89 million)

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a historic case against Chief Secretary Dr. Baikuntha Aryal and eleven others on corruption charges. 

This is the first time in CIAA’s history that a sitting Chief Secretary was accused of corruption.

What’s the accusation?

• On September 20, 2022, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology called for a tender for printing excise duty sticker

• Three months later, Print Cell Pvt. Ltd wins the contract to print an estimated 433 million pieces of excise stickers.

• Print Cell quoted 89 paisa per piece — nearly four times the normal cost of printing a sticker.

CIAA alleges Baikuntha Aryal facilitated the transaction, pocketed the difference, and distributed it among various officials.

Aryal was suspended immediately after the case was filed and has now been transferred to the National Planning Commission.

Quick Hits:

🚧 Bato Banau: Kathmandu MPs are piling pressure on the government to finish the expansion of Ring Road from Kalanki to Maharajgunj. Originally planned to be completed within two years, the project is now in its fifth year.

🛫 Plane Udauna Deu: President Ram Chandra Paudel pushed the German President to resume the service of Lufthansa Airlines in Nepal and lift the ban on European Airspace. Nepali airlines haven’t been permitted to fly in European airspace since…wait for it…14 years 🤯

👮🏻‍♀️ Buddha Boy Arrested: Ram Bahadur Bomjan, known as the ‘Buddha Boy’, has been convicted of sexually abusing a minor. Bomjam became famous after allegedly mediating for months without food, water, or sleep.

🚠 Manakama Banda: Starting mid-July, the Manakamana Cable Car will be closed for two months to install upgrades. You can still visit the temple by car or by walking.

👎 No Thanks: Sushil Pyakurel, a former National Human Rights Commission member, has requested the government to withdraw his nomination as Ambassador to South Korea. He declined the role, stating he wasn’t consulted about the decision.

Economy & Business

Nepal’s Banks: Flush with money, but who is borrowing?

Deposits in banks and financial institutions have reached Rs. 6.3 Trillion (USD 47 Billion), the highest ever recorded for Nepal.

This all-time record came about due to the following reasons:

👉 Government Spending: As the fiscal year ends, the government has ramped up spending. Instead of reinvesting the revenue in the economy, recipients park it in savings accounts.

👉 Remittance Inflow: Nepal received Rs. 1.2 trillion (USD 9 Billion) in the first 10 months of this fiscal year. A significant amount was deposited into savings or fixed deposit accounts.

👉 Excessive Interests: Due to super-high interest rates on fixed deposits and savings accounts, most people save their money in banks rather than invest it in businesses.

If you can get super-high interest by parking the money in a bank, why would anyone risk investing in a new venture or expanding their business? 

Thankfully, the NRB has taken steps to fix this issue.

NRB introduced a ‘standing deposit facility,’ which allows banks to deposit excess cash at the central bank at a three percent interest rate.

Also, most commercial banks have been reducing the interest rate on fixed deposits and have indicated that they will continue to do so in the coming months.

Other News:

🛬 Airport Closure: Starting November 8th, Tribhuvan International Airport will reduce operating hours by 6. Normally, the TIA is open from 6 AM to 2 AM (20 hours). The new operating hours will be 8 AM to 10 PM (14 hours). According to the airport office, the daily closure will last five months.

🚔 Crypto Mining: Police have arrested two people from Thimi, Bhaktapur, for allegedly mining cryptocurrency. Crypto mining has been banned in Nepal since 2019 when the government implemented the Foreign Exchange (Regulation) Act. This law also applies to Nepali citizens worldwide.

🚘 Na Pathao: The Transport Management office issued a notice to stop transporting passengers via ride-sharing apps. Although there are provisions to legalize ride-sharing, there is no set procedure for their regulation. Essentially, ride-sharing will only be allowed after these procedures are established.

🛩️ Visit Nepal: Tourist arrivals increased by 16% this May compared to last year. 90,211 foreign tourists visited the country last month, compared with 77,700 last year.

🧣Visit Pokhara: Pokhara Metropolitan City (PMC) launched the ‘Pokhara for all Seasons’ campaign to attract international and domestic tourists. They aim to attract 1.5 million tourists in 2025.

Around The World

Nepal-America International Film Festival Held in Maryland

The 7th edition of the Nepal-America Film Festival, organized by the Nepal-America Film Society, was held from June 20 to 23 in Silver Spring, Maryland. The festival screened 35 films from 11 countries.

It included films from writer-directors, such as Nabin Subba (Nepal), Iram Parveen Bilal (Pakistan), and Mirabbas Khosravinezhad (Iran).

A Road to a Village (Gaun Aayeko Bato), directed by Nabin Subba and starring Dayahang Rai, opened the festival.

Other News:

🛂 TPS Extension: USCIS extended work permits for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders from various countries, including Nepal. Originally granted in 2015, this extension allows beneficiaries to legally stay in the United States until March 9, 2025.

👨‍🎓👩‍🎓 Daju-Bahini Duo: Brother and sister duo, Nischal and Simran Tamang, two high schoolers originally from Nepal, became Valedictorian (1st Rank) and Salutatorian (2nd Rank) among 488 students at Everett High School, Boston.

🏏 Global T20 Canada: Three Nepali cricketers have been drafted by Canadian teams in the upcoming Global T20 tournament in Canada. Captain Rohit Paudel will play for the Toronto Nationals, and Sandeep Lamichhane and Dipendra Singh Airee will play for the Vancouver Knights. The tournament takes place in Ontario between July 25 to August 11.

🇦🇺 FNCCI courts NRNs: FNCCI President, Chandra Prasad Dhakal, urged Australian NRNs to invest in Nepal. During the same program, the Deputy Governor of Nepal Rastriya Bank (NRB) declared that NRB would facilitate any foreigner or NRN to take profits out of the country.

👸🏻 North American Pagent: 20 finalists will compete to become the next Miss Nepal North America. The event is being organized by Dreams Universal and will be held at the Melrose Ballroom in New York City on August 3, 2024.

Have an inspiring story involving Nepalis? Reply to this email to feature them!

Heads Up

🚨 Mobile Passport Renewal Service: United States

The Nepali Embassy in the USA will be in Los Angeles from July 9th to July 13th, 2024, to facilitate passport renewal.

Interested Nepalis must fill out the e-passport request form and submit the downloaded PDF and photocopies of their passport and citizenship to the embassy’s email address.

For more details, click here.

Around the Web

Creator In Focus: Rohit Giri, Conservationist

Rohit Giri is a snake rescuer and conservationist.

He was recently named a National Geographic Young Explorer by National Geography magazine. He travels across Nepal with his brother Roshan Giri to catch and rescue snakes found in human settlements.

Watch him rescue a snake from Lakeside Pokhara by clicking above or here.

🐟 Kata bata aayo: An invasive armored catfish native to the Amazon has been discovered in eastern Nepal. Experts are divided over whether it swam up from India, where it’s also been recorded, or whether people released it as pets. These fish are called “janitor fish” because they eat algae and keep aquariums clean.

🧑‍🍳 Favorite Chef: Nepali chef Arjun Bahadur Thapa has been nominated among the top five in the ‘Favorite Chef, the American Reality Show’. Thapa started his career in Soaltee Hotel and has spent 17 years in the UK and Switzerland specializing in Asian cuisine.

🎤 Nepal Idol Winner: Karan Pariyar from Bardia has won the title of ‘Nepal Idol - Season 5’ after defeating three other finalists. After finishing first, he received a cash prize of Rs. 2.5 million (USD 18.7K).

🎼 No Royalties Required: Amrit Gurung declared that students and schools that use Nepathya songs as part of school festivities don’t need to pay royalties. This happened after Shiba Music sent a notice to schools notifying them to pay royalties for songs played at school functions.

That’s all for this week!

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See you next Tuesday ✌️

— 5MinsNepal Team