Submit your Article

The Socialist Front Nepal is to organize a massive rally in Kathmandu on March 28.

A meeting of the Socialist Front, which comprises four opposition parties, held on Friday morning made the decision to this effect.

Leader Khadga Bahadur Bishwokarma aka Prakand, who participated in the meeting, informed that the Front has decided to hold a massive rally in Kathmandu on March 28.

"The massive rally to be held on March 28 will be made grand. The decision has been made to ensure the participation of thousands of people," he said.

According to him, an interaction and consultation program will be held with intellectuals and civil society from 11 am tomorrow.

He said that the information about the massive rally will be provided at a press conference at 2:30 pm on Saturday.

Similarly, the meeting has concluded that the demonstration of the royalist held recently is to push the country into a full-blown crisis.

CPN (Maoist Center), CPN (Unified Socialist), Netra Bikram Chand-led Nepal Communist Party and Mahendra Raya Yadav-led Nepal Samajbadi Party are in the Socialist Front.

Gold price has set a new record in the domestic market today.

According to the Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the price of precious yellow metal has increased by Rs 4, 000 per tola and is being traded at Rs 174, 500 per tola. It was traded at Rs 170, 500 per tola on Thursday.

Likewise, the silver is being traded at Rs 2, 050 per tola.

The Holi festival is being observed in Tarai districts today. Mutual harmony and happiness is shared with Holi greetings.

The festival revelers smear colors on each other's face in a jovial manner. The Holi festival was observed in the hilly districts yesterday.

Observed with the onset of Spring Season, the Holi festival is regarded as the symbol of victory of good over evil.

Literary writer Lil Bahadur Kshetri has passed away at the age of 92.

Kshetri, a permanent resident of Assam, India, breathed his last at Guwahati on Thursday night, chief editor of literary magazine 'Shabdapath', Murari Sigdel said.

Kshetri was honored with the Jagadambashree Award in recognition of his contribution to the enrichment of Nepali language and literature through literary writing.

He had penned novels such as 'Basain' and 'Atripta Ra Bahmaputrako Chheuchhau', and a collection of prose 'Assam Ma Nepali Bhashiko Sahrogahro' as well as short fiction, essays and plays.

Kshetri who had received various awards, including Bhanu Award was feted with the Padma Shri, India's highest civilian award, by the Government of India.

The country now has partial impacts of westerly winds with local winds. The Weather Forecasting Division said the weather will largely remain fair with partly to generally cloudy in the hilly region.

According to the Division, the weather will be partly to generally cloudy in the hilly regions of the country, including Sudurpaschim Province while it will be mainly fair in the rest of the country this afternoon.

Light snowfall is likely to occur at a few places of the high hilly and mountainous region.

Light rain with thunder and lightning is likely to occur at one or two places in the hilly region of the country.

Similarly, the weather will be partly to generally cloudy in the hilly regions of the country, including Sudurpaschim and Karnali Provinces tonight.

As informed, one or two places of the high hilly and mountainous regions of Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces will have light snowfall.

There will be light snowfall at one or two places in the high hilly and mountainous regions in the next 24 hours.

The Division has urged all to place cautionary measures in view of partial impact of weather conditions on daily life, health, road and aviation.

How effective, innovative and imaginative is our diplomacy, in this day and age of a rapidly changing world?

Let us do a fact check on the basis of a key test case. 

On 07 Oct 2023, Hamas launched an attack on Gaza Strip, killing more than 1100 people, including 10 Nepali students, and capturing 250, including a young Nepali student from Kanchanpur, Bipin Joshi, who was studying agriculture in Israel along with his friends.

It will be wrong to say that the government has been doing nothing to secure the release of the youth, bring him home and bring cheers to his family and the country. It has been making frantic efforts that have failed to yield a result.

Let’s revisit some of those efforts.    

On 24 Sept 2024, for instance, Minister for Foreign Affairs Arzu Rana Deuba, addressing the Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement during the 79th United Nations General Assembly, urged the global community to take initiatives for the safe release of Joshi.

On 08 Jan 2025, Minister Deuba requested the Israeli government, through Ambassador Shmulik Arie Bass, to secure the release of Joshi.

On Jan 15, in the wake of reports that Hamas was releasing some hostages, Minister Deuba called up Qatar’s Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh al-Khulaifi, who serves as Qatar’s chief negotiator and mediator in peace talks with Hamas, and appealed for special intervention to secure Joshi’s release.

During a meeting with Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad bin Sultan Al Muraikhi in Doha on Feb 16. Minister Deuba sought the latter’s good offices in securing Joshi’s release.

Adding to these efforts, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli recently called upon Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi,  the president of Egypt, which played a key role in mediating the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, renewing Nepal’s request for Egypt’s assistance in securing the release of Joshi.

Nepal has been playing a key role in the UN peacekeeping missions around the world for about 70 years and its involvement in securing peace in the Mideast is as long. It has served twice in the UN Security Council as an elected non-permanent member, in 1969-70 and in 1988-1989. In 2018-20, Nepal served as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Nepal was the first country in South Asia to recognize Israel after its birth as a state on 14 May 1948. The country has excellent relations with Qatar, which is a popular employment destination for Nepali workers. And the enduring ties between Nepal and Egypt, a key NAM member, go a long time back.

Despite these positives and efforts from our side, the release of Joshi has not materialized even as freedom comes calling for many of the hostages.

This debacle reminds one of Henry Kissinger’s famous quote: Behind the slogans lay an intellectual vacuum.

And a razor-sharp Chanakya goes: In diplomacy, the tongue is mightier than the sword. 

In the words of Chanakya, diplomacy is the art of winning the war without bloodshed.

Delays in securing the release of Joshi perhaps call for learning lessons from past failures and adopting a subtler, quieter approach, keeping in mind that this is an acid test for our “art of the impossible”.

The current account remained at a surplus of Rs.166.80 billion in the review period compared to a surplus of Rs.162.52 billion in the same period of the previous year, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) stated in its 'Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation of Nepal (Based on Seven Months Data Ending Mid-February, 2024/25) Report'.

In the US Dollar terms, the current account registered a surplus of 1.24 billion in the review period against a surplus of 1.22 billion in the same period last year. In the review period, net capital transfer amounted to Rs.5.83 billion.

In the same period of the previous year, such transfer amounted to Rs.3.80 billion. Similarly, in the review period, Rs.7.45 billion foreign direct investment (equity only) was received.

In the same period of the previous year, foreign direct investment inflow (equity only) amounted to Rs.5.19 billion.

Balance of Payments (BOP) remained at a surplus of Rs.284.41 billion in the review period compared to a surplus of Rs.297.72 billion in the same period of the previous year.

In the US Dollar terms, the BOP remained at a surplus of 2.11 billion in the review period compared to a surplus of 2.24 billion in the same period of the previous year.

Foreign Exchange Reserves Gross foreign exchange reserves increased 16.1 percent to Rs.2369.08 billion in mid-February 2025 from Rs.2041.10 billion in mid-July 2024.

In the US dollar terms, the gross foreign exchange reserves increased 11.7 percent to 17.05 billion in mid-February 2025 from 15.27 billion in mid-July 2024.

Of the total foreign exchange reserves, the reserves held by NRB increased 13.9 percent to Rs.2105.14 billion in mid-February 2025 from Rs.1848.55 billion in mid-July 2024.

Reserves held by banks and financial institutions (except NRB) increased 37.1 percent to Rs.263.93 billion in mid-February 2025 from Rs.192.55 billion in mid-July 2024.

The share of Indian currency in total reserves stood at 22.0 percent in mid-February 2025.

Foreign Exchange Adequacy Indicators Based on the imports of seven months of 2024/25, the foreign exchange reserves of the banking sector is sufficient to cover the prospective merchandise imports of 17.2 months, and merchandise and services imports of 14.4 months.

The ratio of reserves-to-GDP, reserves-to-imports and reserves-to-M2 stood at 41.5 percent, 120.3 percent and 32.5 percent respectively in mid-February 2025.

Such ratios were 35.8 percent, 108.6 percent and 29.3 percent respectively in mid-July 2024.

 President Donald Trumpon Thursday threatened a 200% tariff on European wine, Champagne and spirits if the European Union goes forward with a planned tariff on American whiskey.

The European tariff, which was unveiled in response to steel and aluminum tariffs by the U.S. administration, is expected to go into effect on April 1, just ahead of separate reciprocal tariffs that Trump plans to place on the EU.

But Trump, in a morning social media post, vowed a new escalation in his trade war if the EU goes forward with the planned 50% tariff on American whiskey.

“If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES,” Trump wrote. “This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S."

The U.S. president has defined his opening weeks in the White House with near daily drama regarding tariffs, saying that taxing imports might cause some economic pain but would eventually lead to more domestic manufacturing and greater respect for America.

As of now, Europe seems unwilling to back down.

“Trump is escalating the trade war he has chosen,” Laurent Saint-Martin, the French delegate minister for foreign trade, said on X. “France, together with the European Commission and our partners, is determined to fight back. We will not give in to threats and will always protect our industries.”

Trump’s latest tariff threats suggested that even companies that have publicly stood by him could be collateral damage, raising questions about whether the wider business community would be willing to openly challenge a series of trade wars that have hurt the stock market and scared consumers who worry about inflation worsening.

Bernard Arnault, the CEO of French luxury goods company LVMH, attended Trump’s inauguration in January. His company’s wine and spirits brands, which include Moët & Chandon, Krug, Veuve Clicquot and Hennessy, could be subject to the retaliatory tariffs the U.S. president is seeking. The Italian company Campari could also be hurt, after the White House highlighted it at Tuesday’s press briefing for possibly opening a U.S. factory.

The Republican president on Wednesday had signaled that he intended to take the tariffs action.

“Of course I will respond,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office exchange with reporters.

Trump, in announcing the new steel and aluminum tariffs on Wednesday, openly challenged U.S. allies and vowed to take back wealth “stolen” by other countries, and he drew quick retaliation.

He has separate tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, with plans to also tax imports from the European Union, Brazil and South Korea by charging “reciprocal” rates starting on April 2.

The EU announced its own countermeasures. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that as the United States was “applying tariffs worth 28 billion dollars, we are responding with countermeasures worth 26 billion euros,” or about $28 billion.

Those measures cover not just steel and aluminum products but also textiles, home appliances and agricultural goods.

European Commission spokesman Olof Gill said Thursday shortly before Trump’s announcement that the EU was “prepared for whatever might come, and we have been preparing for over a year.”

“We call on the U.S. to immediately revoke the tariffs imposed yesterday, and we want to negotiate to avoid tariffs in the future,” Gill added. “They bring nothing but lose-lose outcomes, and we want to focus on win-win outcomes.”

U.S. whiskey makers, meanwhile, urged Trump to broker a deal. 

“The US-EU spirits sector is the model for fair and reciprocal trade, having zero-for-zero tariffs since 1997,” Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council, said in a statement. “We urge President Trump to secure a spirits agreement with the EU to get us back to zero-for-zero tariffs, which will create U.S. jobs and increase manufacturing and exports for the American hospitality sector. We want toasts not tariffs.”

When Europe responded to Trump’s 2018 tariffs with a 25% tax on U.S. whiskey, exports to the EU fell by 20% through 2021, according to the Distilled Spirits Council. Trump’s separate 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico could put 31,000 jobs at risk in the sector. AP