The government’s strong response comes on the heels of the WHO’s statement that Nepal is at high risk of the new virus.

So far, Nepal has no case of coronavirus infection, and even the 4 suspected cases tested negative. But the government has been implementing stringent measures as the country lacks the minimum healthcare facilities and procedures to combat the coronavirus infection if it enters the nation.

Coronavirus Preventive Steps by Nepal

• A new ‘Coronavirus Help Desk’ at Chandragadhi Airport
• ‘Health Screening’ at 37 Nepal-India border entry points
• Postponed all sports events across the country
• Urged public to not participate or organize assemblies, functions, get-togethers, fairs and festivals including Holi
• Increased number of health workers at TIA

Meanwhile, the Nepali Government has urged the local food authorities to restrict the food export to other countries to prevent possible food crisis in the nation due to coronavirus outbreak.

The Nepal Government fears that the nation may witness a food crisis if the neighboring countries including India impose a ban on food exports to Nepal.

The Indian and Chinese Government have already restricted the supply of medicines and other essentials to Nepal.

Nepal is on high alert as the most of the 11 countries in the South-East Asia Region have confirmed coronavirus cases – Thailand 47, India 30, Indonesia 2 and Sri Lanka 1.

READ MORE:

• WHOAlert! South-East Asia Region Confirms More ‘COVID-19’ Cases
• COVID-19 Outbreak Threatens Nepal’s Construction Projects
• Asia to Lose USD 115 Billion Tourism Revenue
• Nepal Restricts 50 Nepalis Leaving for South Korea
• 175 Nepali Evacuees Test ‘Negative’ for Coronavirus
• Nepal – A Coronavirus Free Zone: Minister Bhattarai
• 175 Nepali Evacuees to Undergo Health Screening
• COVID-19 Impacts Nepal’s Inflation Rate

So far, the coronavirus has spread to at least 85 countries across the world killing 3,386 people and infecting 98,424 people.

China, the epicenter of coronavirus outbreak, has reported 3,042 death cases and 80,552 infection cases.

Other Major Coronavirus-hit Countries include

• South Korea – 6,284 cases, 40 deaths
• Italy – 3,858 cases, 148 deaths
• Iran – 3,513 cases, 108 deaths
• USA – 226 cases, 13 deaths

Stay tuned to NepaliSansar for live Coronavirus news updates!

The post Covid-19: Nepal Furthers Preventive Measures appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

He confirmed that the 175 Nepali evacuees airlifted from coronavirus-hit China, who have been isolated in Kharipati, tested negative for the coronavirus.

He added that high alert with stringent health screening has been maintained at Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA) as well as at border points to restrict the spread of coronavirus infection.

The Minister’s response comes amid the fear that the nation will struggle to reach the target of 2 million tourist arrivals due to the coronavirus outbreak in China.

So far, only one coronavirus case has been confirmed in Nepal. A Nepali student, who had returned from China, tested positive for coronavirus. However, he is totally cured now.

Even though there have been no other reported cases so far, tourist influx has decreased significantly in Nepal.

The tourist arrivals from China has dropped drastically in February even though the first month of 2020 had recorded small growth. Even the tourists from Europe and India have canceled their trips to Nepal.

Steps to Aid Nepali Tourism

In a bid to minimize the impact of coronavirus outbreak on tourism sector, the Nepali Government has decided to promote Nepal as ‘Coronavirus Free Zone‘ across the world.

Minister Bhattarai has ordered the concerned authorities to create and spread promotional materials with ‘Nepal is a Coronavirus Free Zone’ message in English, Chinese and Hindi languages within three days.

The message will be promoted at

• Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) premises
• Visit Nepal Year 2020 Secretariat
• Websites of travel trade entrepreneurs
• Nepali Ministries
• Nepali Embassies in foreign countries
• All social media platforms

The Nepali Government has already imposed restrictions on the arrival of Chinese tourists into the nation.

Moreover, the government has instructed NTB to deploy 12 desks to look for possibilities to attract visitors from Europe, America and the Middle East.

The Nepali government is aiming to attract 2 million foreign tourists during the ‘Visit Nepal year 2020’ campaign.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Update Worldwide

Date: February 19, 2020

The post Visit Nepal 2020: Nepal – A Coronavirus Free Zone: Minister Bhattarai appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

The meeting was held at the PM’s residence in Baluwatar on February 4, 2020.

He asserted that the three-member committee will submit a report on the Compact within a week.

Later, when asked about his health, PM Oli said that he will soon undergo kidney transplantation.

“MCC Compact offers a valuable opportunity to Nepal and there is no reason for the country to reject the USD 500 million grant,” PM Oli said.

Chaos Around MCC Compact

There are many speculations and criticism about the Compact among the Nepali citizens and political leaders, saying that the conditions in the Compact are against the spirit of the Nepali Constitution.

They exclaimed that MCC is a part of Indo-Pacific Strategy or linked to a military alliance.

Later, the US Embassy in Nepal has published 10 key facts about MCC Compact to clear the confusion about the Compact on January 17, 2020.

The US Government has committed to invest USD 500 million under MCC Compact to fortify Nepal’s economic growth and stability.

Nepal Government has proposed and decided the Electricity Transmission Project and the Transportation Project for MCC program.

The post Nepali Parliament will Ratify MCC ASAP: PM Oli appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

He said this to the NCP (Nepal Communist Party) lawmakers during a meeting in the National Assembly on January 20, 2020.

Gyawali ruled out the suspicions of the NCP lawmakers and leaders, who exclaimed that MCC  is a part of Indo-Pacific Strategy or linked to a military alliance.

He told that MCC agreement is aimed at increasing investments and accelerating infrastructure development in the country.

Earlier, in view of the suspicions raised by the Nepali leaders and citizens about MCC, the US Embassy in Nepal has published 10 key facts about MCC compact.

The Embassy said that MCC focuses mainly on the economic development of Nepal through transparency and true partnership.

Here’s the key facts on MCC:

The Embassy has published the Key facts about MCC in its official website, https://np.usembassy.gov on January 17, 2020.

Nepal Government has proposed and decided Electricity Transmission Project and Transportation Project for MCC program. The US Government has committed to invest USD 500 million under MCC compact to fortify Nepal’s economic growth and stability.

Related Stories:

• Nepal Tourist Visa for US Citizens: Requirements, Checklist and Documents
• US Most-Preferred Choice for Nepali Students
• Nepal Announces Multiple-Entry Visas to US Citizens

The post No Military Component in Millennium Challenge Compact: Gyawali appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

Yes, Nepal’s prestigious campaign is all set for launch on January 01, 2020 across all the seven provinces of the country.

The campaign will go live simultaneously in all provinces from Dasarath Stadium in Kathmandu.

Addressing the VNY 2020 Main Program Committee on November 25, 2019, the Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Kumar Bhattarai said all states will set up offices in one week to support the VNY 2020 Secretariat.

As part of promotional activities, the Nepal Government will be working with the Non-Resident Nepali (NRN) communities to get the VNY 2020 logo displayed across skyscrapers across the world.

Bhattarai informed that the international launch of VNY 2020 will happen in Nepali embassies and diplomacy missions globally, on January 07, 2020, and will also be promoted across international media outlets.

ALSO READ: 40 Countries’ Ministers to Attend Visit Nepal Year 2020 Inauguration Event

Preparations on Full Swing

The year-long campaign will begin with a formal inaugural to be done by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari followed by Prime Minister KP Oli’s special address to the nation.

All the promotional material for VNY 2020 will be available at the Tribhuvan International Airport for students, volunteers and migrant Nepali workers, who will further submit to their respective organizational heads.

Tourism ministers from around 40 nations are scheduled to attend the Visit Nepal 2020 campaign inaugural function.

“We have also invited popular celebrities and athletes to attend the inauguration ceremony,” adds Bhattarai.

Ishwar Raj Paudel, Director General of Department of Immigration, informed about their preparations to play promotional videos of VNY 2020 campaign within the flights 15 minutes ahead of their landing at TIA.

Related Article:

• Special Discount Offers of ‘Visit Nepal 2020’

The post Visit Nepal 2020 Campaign: Live from Jan 2020, Preparations on Full Swing! appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

The Nepal Finance Ministry lowered the projection following the Nepal budget 2019-20 implementation trend in the first three months of the ongoing fiscal.

According to the Ministry officials, the revised economic growth projection was based on the anticipation of low agricultural growth throughout 2019-20 and the slow pace of government expenditure.

The government has a projected a drop in paddy production this year, owing to faulty Garima seeds. Due to the drop in paddy production, the government is also anticipating an overall drop in Nepal’ agriculture output as paddy makes up for a major part of the country’s overall agricultural production.

In FY 2018-19, Nepal’s economy grew by 7 percent due to a major contribution the agricultural sector, especially paddy production.

The drop in agriculture is further likely to impact Nepal’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as agriculture alone makes up for 28.5 percent of it.

Likewise, the Nepal Government has not been able to increase the pace of its capital expenditure spending. This is due to the low pace of development and economic activities in the country. In the first three months, the government spent only 5.8 percent which is NPR 23.97 billion of the total allocated NPR 408 billion under capital expenditure of the current fiscal.

“All these factors show that we will not be able to meet the economic growth target initially projected for 2019-20,” said a source at the Ministry.

According to Economist Raghubir Bista may fail to achieve the targeted growth rate even if it managed to increase public spending.

“Despite increased investment in infrastructure, capital expenditure is far below the level needed to achieve the ambitious growth target,” said Bista.

Projections by World Financial Giants

The World Bank had projected a growth of 7.1 percent for the Nepal economy in the ongoing fiscal, which would be propelled by private investment and consumption. On the other hand, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) also projected a growth of 6.3 percent and said it would grow further if the capital expenditure increases even at the sub-national level and the private sector strengthens its hold.

Economists say that even a growth of 8.5 percent is achievable, however, the government has not done enough to manage infrastructure for the growth of the economy.

“Along with inadequate infrastructure, the government has not managed to expedite project development and budget expenditure, improve project implementation and attract ample investment,” said Biswo Poudel, an economist, adding that achieving the initial economic growth target of 8.5 per cent against this backdrop would have been difficult.

The private sector has also expressed dissatisfaction over the country’s business environment.

The post Nepal Government Revises Economic Growth Rate By 1.49 Percent appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

49,000 traders were registered in the VCTS for cargo trucks and containers until October 2019. Furthermore, Department officials have shared that the system has brought in a total of 1.1 million cargo vehicles.

“The department held goods worth Rs 10 million which the traders were delivering not abiding the law,” said a department official on condition of anonymity.

The Department also said that it increased its vigilance to draw more traders into the system after the end of the first quarter.

“We have increased number of check points to track the traders flouting the government rules,” said Rajiv Pokharel, Department.

Pokharel says that the Department has started educating traders on the usage of the tracking system. He adds that they even got contravening traders to provide their details on spot at checkpoints.

The government is also planning to integrate the VCTS with the ASYCUDA World – the global computerized customs management system, which is being used by major customs offices at Birgunj, Bhairahawa, Mechi and Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).

The DoRI explains that the collaboration of the two systems will help importers track customs clearance procedures at various trading points and clear documentation related work on the consignment tracking system from one platform.

The Nepal Government launched the VCTS to track the location of a consignment carrying containers since July 2019. Since then, the DoRI has probed 81 tax fraud cases and filed cases against 238 individuals for tax evasion.

It has managed to recover NPR 18.32 billion in fines and the perpetrators have been received up to three years of imprisonment.

The post Department of Revenue Investigation Registers 49,000 Traders in VCTS in Five Months appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

According to the Ministry’s data records, the Nepal Government has spent NPR 235 million on Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and President Bidya Devi Bhandari’s foreign visits.

NPR 153.9 million alone was spent on PM Oli’s trips and NPR 79.3 million on Prez. Bhandari’s trips since their reelection to the top posts in March 2019. These expenses exclude the PM’s recent trip to Azerbaijan and his two visits to Singapore and Bhandari’s recent visits to Myanmar and Japan.

The ministry claims that the government did not spend a penny during these trips as they were set aside for the PM’s treatment.

The Nepal Government had prepared certain spending guidelines for before, during and after official’s trips. However, government officials including the Prime Minister and President have not been complying with the guidelines.

The post Nepal Govt. Records Spend Worth NRP 235 Mn on Prime Minister, President’s Foreign Visits appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

The scenario in Nepal is such that Nepalis with a foreign degree are preferred over a Nepali student with a national degree.

This throws light on the existing curriculum and teaching methodology in the country. An overview of the past few generations knowledge gaining shows that the younger has not learned anything new than the older generations.

The Nepali education system has failed to provide the same educational standards that the global industry demands.

The current knowledge trend in Nepal is such that students are pursuing degrees not for the sake of knowledge gaining but for the sake of earning an undergraduate certification.

This in turn is creating a generation of individuals lacking self-confidence. Their lack of satisfaction in the jobs they take up in line with their stream of education is resulting in a lot of educated unemployment in Nepal.

While this trend is on the rise, Nepali employers are finding it equally difficult to find qualitative candidates who own problem solving and critical thinking skills.

Nepal Vs International Education System

Looking at what foreign universities have to offer, courses in foreign countries are research based, training students to be problem solvers. Research propels knowledge gaining and problem solving. The credit for such courses and curriculum goes to experts who design them after a lot of research and insight into the future and the current job industry requirements.

With this research-based approach, students who study at a foreign university are motivated to look for two or more references, enabling them to come up with unique documentation, supported with substantial proof.

On the other hand, the curriculum in Nepal doesn’t promote research and most of the knowledge gaining is done through model papers, referring to old Q&As and other learning material. Nepali students who produce material based on research are given lower grades in Nepal, when compared to their valuation in international universities.

However, this scenario is slowly changing and there is a steady rise of Nepali education institutions affiliated with foreign universities. The demand for students studying in such universities is very high as they are in a position to compete nationally and internationally.

International degrees challenge the intellect of students by getting them to work on a particular project or work area and gain a hands-on experience well in advance.

Even if students fail to secure higher grades, they at least have the knowledge, confidence and skill to tackle and manage complex situations at the work front.

Factors Challenging Nepal’s Education System

The following factors pose a challenge to Nepal’s education system:

1) Political Instability and bureaucracy

Nepal has witnessed a series of political upheavals in the last three decades. This has impacted the education system and has held it back from working independently.

Government support and the freedom for the education system to make critical decisions pertaining to the sector can majorly uplift the education system in Nepal.

2) Lack of Practical learning approach

Although the curriculum of Nepal is not completely backward, it lacks a practical approach to learning, where students are motivated to research, create and learn from their own experience.

Additionally, the education system is not strict with plagiarism and encourages students to rely and study only from limited material. Students in Nepal should be made to conduct research, gain hand-on experience and be given the choice to make their own decisions.

3) Job-driven knowledge gaining

Many Nepali graduates are educating themselves only to get jobs. Instead, the education system in Nepal should encourage students to develop entrepreneurial skills and critical thinking skills and enable to become free thinkers.

Nepal’s education system should enable students to develop entrepreneurial skills and others to help them become more proactive in self-growth and national building in the larger picture.

4) Nepalis Permanently Settling Abroad

The situation in Nepal is such that the society is divided into well-to do students whose families are financially sound and they go to foreign countries only to study a particular course and come back to run family businesses. However, this is a smaller majority.

On the other hand, there are a number of students who go abroad to seek permanent residence and then take up jobs in those destinations to payback their loans.

Students should come back to Nepal to help support the development of the nation. Foreign destinations are highly developed due to the knowledge and skill individuals receive in their respective nations’ educational institutions. These skills in return are utilized in the development of their countries.

Conclusion
It’s high time that Nepal considered a review of its curriculum and teaching methodologies. Only then will it be at par with the international education standards and provide a generation of capable, self-confident and knowledgeable individuals.

For more Nepal education news, visit NepaliSansar’s Education page.

Related Articles:-

• Nepal Medical Education Commission Increases Scholarship Quota by 65 Percent
• The World University Rankings 2020: Nepal’s TU Enters Top World Universities
• Nepal Education Loan – Eligibility & Documents for Student Loan

The post Nepal Education System – An Overview of Challenges and Opportunities appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari presented Dr. Ruit with a cash prize of NPR 500,000 in a special ceremony at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers on Monday.

The award was presented to Dr. Ruit for his contribution to the field of Ophthalmology in Nepal.

Praising the Senior Ophthalmologist, Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari said that he is a shining star in the field of Ophthalmology. Bhandari said that she wishes to see him engage in more research projects and inventions in the days ahead, earning himself more fame.

Dr. Ruit established Tilganga Eye Hospital on his own 30 years ago. The hospital currently serves three countries besides Nepal – Bhutan, China and India.

Speaking on the occasion, the Tilganga Hospital founder said that the hospital has come up with a new technology that will be extended to Asia, Africa and South America.

Besides Dr. Ruit, prominent persons such as Radi Miya and Bikalpa Dhungana were also honored at the event.

President Bhandari presented the Prime Minister National Talent Grant-2075 to Miya and Dhungana. Both the Nepali inventors were presented with a cash prize of NPR 250,000, respectively.

Young Inventor Miya was honored for his contributions to the field of agriculture, with inventions including agricultural tools and technology.

Likewise, Dhungana was honored for his inventions – a solar scooter and smart traffic mask.

The Nepal Government came up with the idea to present the Prime Minister National Talent Award and the Prime Minister National Talent Grant to honor and recognize the efforts of Nepali talents, who make a difference to the country and establish a revolving fund of NPR 22 million in the process.

Speaking about Nepal’s talent, President Bhandari said that Nepal is a fertile land of talents. She added that Nepal is home to many world-famous personalities including Buddha – the precursor of world peace, Bed Byas – creator of the Vedas and Purans, Rhishi Yagyawalkya and Balmiki – composers of the Ramayana.

She assured that the government is committed to encouraging and recognizing people’s contribution to research, innovation, peace, good governance, exploration and development.

“The government has started the culture of honouring genius Nepali citizens. I want to thank the government for its noble initiative,” said President Bhandari.

The post Nepal Sr. Ophthalmologist Dr. Ruit Receives ‘Prime Minister National Talent Award 2075’ appeared first on Nepali Sansar.