On this occasion, a special programme was organized at Army Pavilion Tundikhel in Kathmandu.

Delegates at the Ceremony are

• President Bidya Devi Bhandari
• Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli
• Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana
• Chairperson of the National Assembly Ganesh Prasad Timilsina
• Speaker of the House of Representatives Agni Prasad Sapkota
• Chief of Army Staff Purna Chandra Thapa

Nepali Ministers, members of the HoR and NA and other high-ranking authorities were also present at the ceremony.

The celebrations featured march-past by security personnel, band performances, cultural dances and music.

A helicopter carrying ’70th National Democracy Day-2076′ banner showered flower petals over the venue premises.

“We have been gathered here today to remember and honor the important day, which was engraved in history as a result of the sacrifices and struggles of the people,” said PM Oli while delivering a speech.

He motivated the youngsters to honor the nation’s civilization, culture, history and the contribution made by their ancestors for the development of the country.

Every year, the National Democracy Day is celebrated on Falgun 7 of the Nepali calendar.

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Nepal welcomes new year based on its Vedic calendar i.e. Bikram Sambat. Also celebrated as ‘Mesh Sankranti’ or ‘Baisakh Sankranti’, the Nepal New Year is marked when the Sun enters into Aries from Pisces as per the Vedic astrology.

Top government officials, diplomats and other higher officials extended their warm wishes to the citizens, while the public celebrated in their own way through exchange of greetings and sweets.

Like every year, 2076 BS also presents a list of important festivals like Dashain, Tihar, Teej, Chhath, Lhosar, Eid, among others celebrated round the year.

‘Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali’

In a special address to the nation, President Bidya Devi Bhandari wished peace and prosperity to all Nepalis around the world.

“I am hopeful that international communities who love Nepal will cooperate to help us realize the motto of ‘Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali’,” President Bidya Devi Bhandari said calling on the global Nepali community.

The President reiterated the government’s strong commitment to achieving the goal of ‘Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali’.

Stating that 2075 BS has been successful for the nation in formulating new laws and strengthening working institutions, she said 2076 BS will help further in achieving sustainable peace and prosperity.

In his address, Vice-president Pun also expressed a strong hope that the country is making positive strides under the ‘Prosperous Nepal: Happy Nepali’ campaign.

Stating that 2075 BS formed a strong foundation for development, Pun said the country will see a further economic and social transformation in 2076 BS.

“We all should be faithful and work for the greater good of the country and national unity by introspecting our weakness of the past,” said the former Nepali King Gyanendra Shah wishing the public on New Year 2076 BS.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli

Marking the occasion, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli launched a special program to ensure social security for all senior Nepali citizens through health and insurance coverage.

“This government is sincere for the well-being of the senior citizens. I assure that the government would increase the social security allowances to senior citizens through the upcoming fiscal year budget,” said Oli, speaking at the program held to launch a national campaign for health insurance cover and opening of bank accounts for all Nepalis.

Stating that the government is committed to health insurance to all senior citizens, Oli added, “in the next couple of years, entire Nepal will be completely healthy. We are working towards this end.”

As part of the event, Oli distributed health insurance cards to some senior citizens.

Nepal New Year At a Glance

New Year is a public holiday in Nepal and holds high religious significance.

The country has 60 different ethnic groups and celebrates 9 different New Year days. But the Bikram Sambat New Year is officially considered as the ‘National New Year’ as a symbol of unity among the different linguistic, cultural and historically diverse communities of the country.

On the New Year Day, public visit temples to observe special prayers and make special offerings to the god.

Special processions are usually held across Kathmandu and other major cities with decorated arches and banners, public dressed in traditional clothing and some playing drums and cultural musical instruments.

A special program at Bhaktapur stands as the highlight of New Year Celebrations, where the chariot of Lord Bhairab is pulled by dozens of public as a tug of war among the pulling sides. Similar events can be seen in Timi or Bode.

Nepal New Year 2076 BS Celebrations

Arrival of the new year brought a joyful environment across the nation with a wide variety of programs held across the nation and hundreds flocking to tourism destinations to celebrate the holiday time.

Besides, there were also notable rush in business and sales across the country.

Here are some highlights of Nepali New Year 2076 Day:

Hundreds Visit Chitwan

Chitwan witnessed the delight of the Nepal 2076 New Year celebrations with hundreds of public, from different parts of the nation, arriving at the tourism destination.

With the New Year falling on the weekend, Chitwan’s special attraction i.e. elephant rides took the center stage for hundreds of tourists.

April 13, 2019 alone saw more than 500 elephant ride bookings.

“Normally, we get around 150 people a day but the number surges drastically during Dashain and Tihar as well as the New Year,” says Ruman Chaudhary, a staff of United Elephant Cooperatives.

Besides elephant rides, many took their short trips to the Chitwan National Park, nearby community forest, boat rides alongside the Rapti River and jeep ride around the conservation area.

“Both the weekend and New Year occurred at same time which also contributed to the surge in number of tourists,” said Ram Mani Khanal, General Secretary of the association.

Hotels around the area were fully booked and due to sudden rise in tourists, “some hotel owners had to turn back guests, citing the lack of rooms,” said Suman Ghimire, president of Regional Hotel Association, Sauraha.

Rush in Stock Market

The arrival of 2076 BS brought a new rush in the country’s stock market, pushing the Nepal Stock Exchange (NSE) 18.82 points further.

With the reported rise in investor buying, NSE closed at 1,184.02 points last week. Investor confidence cited the possibility of further market expansion in Q4 of the current fiscal year.

The rise also reflected in average daily turnover hitting the NPR 598.58 million mark from previous’ NPR 417.92 million.

“Most of the investors believe that there will be an ease in liquidity with the banks as the government offices typically speed up public spending with the arriving fiscal year end. Similarly, the investors might have been lured by the possibility that listed companies will announce fresh dividend at the start of the new fiscal year,” says a local stock broker.

A Grand Way in Colorado

The local Nepali community of Boulder City (northern Colorado) celebrated Nepali New Year in their unique way.

Boulder has been observing the Nepal New Year day as a ‘holiday’ or ‘Nepal Day’ every year since 2004.

On the arrival day of 2076 BS, Nepalis in the city organized a parade through downtown Boulder.

“We’re welcoming the whole year,” said Binaya Dhakal, General Secretary of the Rocky Mountain Friends of Nepal, the event sponsor.

Marking the day, the local Nepali community gathered at bandshell in Central Park in different attires to celebrate the joy.

“We like to remember our culture and teach our kids our culture,” said Dol Bhattarai, a resident of Arvada.

We want to show our pride to be Nepali. We’re all connected. It’s peace and love,” says another Nepali Sarita Shrestha, who left the country in 1988 for education in Boulder.

“It was great to experience the culture in Nepal, and the people are amazing. I’m just happy to be here to support the people here in the Colorado community,” says another participant part of celebrations.

The history of Nepali settlers in Colorado dates back to 1970s, the year that marked the arrival of Nepali immigrants to the region. Adding to that, the US Government called for resettlement of Nepali-speaking Bhutanese from refugee camps starting 2008.

The US 2010 Census recorded around 2,751 Nepali immigrants in Colorado.

List not exhaustive, the Nepal New Year 2076 BS has seen a wide range of celebrations all across locally and globally.

Nepali Sansar Wishes You the Prosperous New Year 2076 BS!

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Surrounded by the mighty Himalayan ranges, landlocked Nepal has been enjoying the status as the world’s only full-Hindu nation standing among the top three countries with the largest Hindu population, followed by India and Mauritius.

Another integral part of Nepal is ‘Buddhism’. As a home to the birthplace of Lord Buddha, the Lumbini, Nepal is majorly known for wide-spread Buddhist culture and tradition that can be seen in every part of the country.

Nepal also has many age-old communities living across its mountainous regions as a symbol of culture and tradition.

Such diverse communities with different cultural backgrounds make Nepal the ‘world’s paradise for culture & tradition’, primarily because of the festivals they celebrate all through the year grabbing world attention.

Nepal has its own Hindu Vedic calendar called ‘Bikram Samvat’ based on which the country celebrates all its festivals.

Let’s look at some of the most important festivals of Nepal month-wise, celebrated every year:

• January
• February
• March
• April
• May and June
• August
• September
• October
• November

The post Major Nepali Festivals – A Mixture of Culture & Rich Heritage appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

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Be it in terms of political transformation, participation at global-level events, victories at international-level competitions, 2017 has really been a game changer year for Nepal.

Now, let’s take a closer look at Nepal’s developments and major happenings in 2074 that contributed to the country’s overall progress:

Politics

Politics is one area that Nepal has received a major global traction from in the year 2074.

The country saw its long-awaited political transformation during the year through key local body and provincial and parliamentary elections.

The three-tier local body elections on May 14, June 28 and September 19 and the two-phase most important general elections for provincial and parliamentary seats on November 26 and December 7 brought in various landmark changes in the country’s political scenario.

Local body polls, considered as a first step towards long-awaited political change, was the first such election held in Nepal in the last 20 years. This election witnessed an active participation from all sections of Nepali society including women, youth and elderly, registering a record voter turnout and getting a due response for Nepal from the world governments.

Then, the provincial and parliamentary elections held in two phases really shook the country’s political landscape shifting the power from the then ruling Nepali Congress into the hands of the Communist Alliance (CPM and CPN-UML).

While the first phase of the election was held across 37 constituencies of the House of Representatives and 74 provincial assembly constituencies, the second phase covered a total of 45 districts of the Terai and hill areas for electing a total of 128 seats for the House of Representatives and 256 provincial assembly seats.

Finally, Nepal now has the Communist government led by the Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

Also Read
Oli is Back Again As 41st Nepal PM
Local Polls 2017: An All-round Applause for Nepal
Nepal General Elections 2017: Successful Participation of Citizens, Parties and Voters Observed

Bilateral Ties

Bilateral ties is one key aspect that matters a lot for any country when it comes to dealing with external relations.

Nepal has made many major moves in this regard in 2017, which strengthened the country’s global position in terms of diplomatic ties.

With regard to fresh establishment, Nepal signed diplomatic ties with the State of Eritrea, Uzbekistan, Benin, Uganda, Bahamas, among other countries.

Besides, the country has also gone a step forward in taking ahead the ties with its existing partners.

In 2017, Nepal celebrated decades of its friendship with many countries like US, India, Sri Lanka, among others. Some of the major developments in this regard include:

• Nepal and India celebrated 70 years of friendship in 2017 amid grand celebrations at the Indian Cultural Centre, Embassy of India in Kathmandu on February 10, 2018…Read More
• Nepal and US also completed 70 years of their friendship on December 13, 2017, pledging for strong economic cooperation and enhancement of trade cooperation between the two countries…Read More
• Nepal has also completed 60 years of its friendship with Sri Lanka on December 19, 2017, wherein, both the countries increased collaboration across regional and multilateral platforms…Read More
• The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (AFEC) have also signed a MoU on October 31, 2017 for increased trade and business cooperation between the two nations…Read More
• Nepal and Brazil have also formed the six-member Brazil-Nepal Parliamentary Group on November 29, 2017 for enhancing the diplomatic ties between the two countries…Read More
• The Government of Nepal has also signed an agreement for the formation of a bilateral consultation mechanism with the Government of Morocco…Read More
• Nepal and Pakistan have also discussed strong SAARC and regional cooperation on March 05, 2018…Read More
• Nepal and Zambia have also discussed cooperation for investment in various sectors in a meeting held on February 09, 2018…Read More

Overall, 2074 has been a successful year for Nepal with regard to strengthening its global position through external relations.

Economy

Nepali economy saw a positive trend in 2074 as evident in the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s assessment report that called Nepal as the third fastest-growing economy in the world.

By economic growth projection of 7.5 percent, Nepal ranked third after Ethiopia (8.3 percent) and Uzbekistan (7.6 percent) for the year.

In its another report- Inclusive Development Index (IDI) 2018 in South Asia, WEF positioned Nepal at the top of the list of South Asian countries in terms of inclusive development. Globally, Nepal stood at the 22^nd position among 74 countries in the survey that analyzed 103 economies by growth and development, inclusion, and inter-generational equity.

With a 4.15 score, Nepal was also featured between slowly-advancing and rapidly-advancing nations in the emerging economies category.

With hope on increasing revenues, the Government of Nepal also has big budget plans for the
FY 2018-19, i.e. at around Rs 1,570 billion.

The Ministry of Revenue, Nepal expects a 30 percent rise in revenue collection in the FY 2018-19 at around Rs 950 billion, which is Rs 220 billion above the current fiscal target. The government is also planning to boost revenue generation through domestic debt to Rs 153 billion.

Besides, the government is also expecting an additional Rs 286 billion in foreign investment.

Entertainment

Entertainment is another interest aspect that brought global attention to Nepal in 2074.

In 2074, Nepali movies performed well at the global-level film festivals and the country has also hosted many film festival events. Some of the related major happenings that drew wide public attention include:

• Nepal-America International Film Festival 2017 for connecting Nepali and American films
• Newari Film Festivalfor the promotion of Newari films
• Nepal Africa Film Festival 2017 featuring films of various languages
• Film Southasia 2017, a festival of South Asian documentaries
• Nepali Indigenous Film Festival in New York
• National Film Development Board (NFDB) Special Film Awards, to name a few.

2074 majorly saw Nepali Director Deepak Rauniyar being featured as one among ‘The 9 New Directors You Need to Watch’ for his films- Highway and White Sun.

Sports

Nepal has always been active in sports and is also unique for Dandi Biyo, the country’s traditional sport and national sport until 2017, a significant period for Nepali sports.

It was in 2017 that the then Government of Nepal took a historic decision of officially declaring Volleyball as Nepal’s national sport replacing the traditional Dandi Biyo.

Though the discussions over volleyball as national sport began long back, the official declaration was made on May 23, 2017.

A major milestone for Nepali sports in 2017 was seen in the form of cricket, wherein, the Nepali teams proved their dashing performance at various international-level cricket tournaments.

Nepali cricket teams (U-19, U-16 and national cricket team) left their special mark at various international-level cricket tournaments.

Some of the key international-level sports events where Nepal made its mark include:

• ACC U16 Cricket Eastern Region Championship – Champion
• ACC U-19 Youth Asia Cup 2017– Moved to semi-finals
• ACPL T20 Trophy – Champion, to name a few
• World Martial Peace Cup 2017 – Won two gold and three silver medals
• International Wheelchair Basketball Tournament – Bagged Men’s title
• World Powerlifting Championship– Bagged Silver and Bronze medals
• International Taekwondo Championship – Six Gold medals
• World Junior Judo Championship – First time participation

Nepal also entered into the world of T20 cricket in 2017. The country organized its first-ever Twenty20 cricket premier league called Everest Premier League (EPL) at the Tribhuvan University (TU) Stadium.

Continuing the success track, Nepali cricket crossed more key milestones in the start of 2018:

• For the first time in its history, Nepal secured ODI status on March 15, 2018 after a dashing win against Papua New Guinea (PNG) in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier play-off match at the Old Hararians Sports Club in Zimbabwe.
• Secured its place in the 2019 cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament
• Sandeep Lamichhane became the country’s first Nepali cricketer in Indian Premier League (IPL) and Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Twenty20 tournaments.
• Nepali Expatriate Football Team made it to semi-finals in the 6^th Asian Non-Resident Football Tournament

Overall, 2074 (2017) was a successful year for Nepal. Let’s hope for more bigger events in 2075.

Culture

As in every year, Nepal celebrated its annual cultural festivals on a grand scale in 2074 as well, in fact, on a bigger scale.

Nepal’s biggest festival season including festivals such as Dashain, Tihar and Chhath stood as the cultural highlight of the year among other unique Nepali festivals like Kanya Puja– The Festival of Young Girls, Gaijatra– The Festival of Cows, Indra Jatra– The Street Festival.

Other major culture-related highlights of Nepal that made headlines in in 2074 include:

• Nepal got its new living goddess
• Nepal Academy, a national center for promotion of Nepali language, literature, culture and philosophy,held its 32^nd Academic Assembly to formulate policies and regulations for the effective functioning of the organization for promotion of Nepali language and culture
• A group of 36 Nepalis embarked on a two-week-long journey touring India and Nepal towards promoting Indo-Nepal cultural tourism
• Nepal Music Festival – An event to promote Nepali music and culture

Besides, the Government of Nepal has also discussed strengthening of cultural exchanges and ties with foreign nations during various bilateral meetings during the year.

Tourism

Nepal has a special place for tourism as evident in the country’s status as one of the most-sought global tourism destinations.

Some of the key highlights pertaining to Nepali tourism in 2074 include:

• The Nepali Embassy in Sri Lanka organized Nepal Night, a tourism promotion program called ‘Nepal Night’ in Colombo on December 15, 2017 to promote Nepal tourism
• A week-long tourism promotion activity by the Nepal Sales Mission to Colombo (Sri Lanka) and Bangalore (India) during December 14-21, 2017
• World Travel Market (WTM) 2017, global tourism expo held at ExCel London, a London-based exhibition and international convention center, called Nepal as an ‘Exotic Holiday Gateway’
• 7-month long Annapurna Sanctuary Tourism Festival 2074 has been launched on October 11, 2017 with a total planned investment of Rs 15 million
• Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) laid special focus on domestic tourism as part of the country’s tourism season in 2017 (October-November)
• Religious tourism at Pashupati reported a rise during the 2003-17 period
• Nepal Tourism reached nearly 1 million tourist arrival target with 940,218 arrivals at the end of December 2017

Overall, tourism sector saw an upward trend in the current year and is hoping big for the future.

Events & Conferences

Nepal hosted and participated in a good number of international and national level events and conferences that brought a wide global attention to the country in 2074. Some of them include:

• International celebrities such as former US Ambassador to Nepal Scott DeLisi, the legendary mountaineer and TV personality Russell Brice, and national celebrities such as Manisha Koirala joined the Nepal Fire Expedition on November 2017
• Globally-renowned social welfare organization Street Child organized an International Marathon for Social Welfare on November 2017
• Non-Resident Nepalis (NRN) met for the 8^th General Assembly of the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) International General Assembly and Global Conferenceon October 2017
• In a move promoting domestic tourism, Nepal’s most famous annual Elephant Festival 2017 was held in Chitwan on December 2017 with the participation of over 50 elephants
• Two international photo exhibitions namely, ‘Nepal through Australian volunteers’ lens’ and ‘International Photography Competition on Nepal’ were held marking the International Volunteer Day 2017 and to promote Nepal tourism, respectively
• National Women Rights Forum (NWRF) Nepal, ActionAid International and Asmita Women’s Publishing House jointly organized the National Women Conference 2017 in December 2017
• Towards encouraging women participation in local governance across South Asia, the All Nepal Women’s Association organized a two-day South Asian Women’s Conference in Kathmandu in August 2017
• UNSC debate on Women, Peace and Security in New York in October 2017
• Asian Junior Weightlifting Championship in July 2017
• Biggest Online Food Festival in December 2017
• 4-day Global Conference on Climate Change on climate change concerns in Hindu Kush mountain range
• Nepal Chamber Expo 2017 that made a Rs 50 million business
• Nepal raises its key concerns at the 72^nd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and also signs Nuclear Prohibition Treaty

Immigration

As a country with more number of expatriate population, Nepal holds high significance for immigration sector.

Here are some of Nepal’s major immigration updates in 2074:

• In a move supporting Nepali migrants in Jordan, the Governments of Nepal and Jordan agreed to form a joint technical committee to implement the Bilateral Labor Agreement (BLA), the pact that ensures protection Nepali migrant labor in Jordan
• Towards addressing health concerns of migrants, the Nepali Ministry of Health, UN Migration Agency and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) discussed implementation of the National Migration Health Policy (NMHP) in October 2017
• US Government invited applications for the United States’ 2019 electronic Diversity Visa (DV) program from Nepali immigrants in October 2017
• The Government of Nepal, on September 11, 2017, decided to issue native passports to the Nepali children born in foreign nations
• United Nations’ first-ever study of a 10-year trend in migration and remittance flows over the 2007-2016 period named Nepal named as the top remittance-dependent nation; Remittances make up 32 percent of GDP
• Nepalese travelling to Japan for employment on rise, form the largest South Asian and the sixth largest foreign populace living in Japan
• Nepalese form the fastest growing community in Australia with an annual growth of around 27 percent
• Nepali Labor Ministry pitches for skill development among migrants at the 331^st governing board meeting of ILO in Geneva, in November 2017
• Nepal and Bahrain discussed labor cooperation at a bilateral meeting in Bahraini capital, Manama in December 2017

Besides, there is an increasing trend of more number of Nepali youth preferring foreign destinations for career opportunities. On the other hand, the Government of Nepal is also under plans to generate more opportunities, locally.

Technology

In the fast-growing digital world, technology is one key aspect for the development of any society.

Nepal is also majorly catching up this trend as evident in some of technology-driven initiatives in the country in 2074, which include:

• To ensure next-generation air traffic control at the airports, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) introduced an advanced radar system at Bhatte Danda of Lalitpur district to monitor Nepal’s Air Traffic Control (ATC)
• Digital Nepal: Nepal Goes Digital in TV Broadcasting
• A group of Nepali engineers introduced the country’s first-of-its-kind smart wheelchair to help physically challenged
• Nepal’s first electronic Intensive Care Unit (e-ICU) facility was inaugurated at the Vayodha Hospital
• Reputed banks express their willingness to play a vital role in revolutionizing Nepali eCommerce sector through new technology-driven digital platforms
• Nepal’s first IT Park in Banepa resurges after years of inactivity
• Ministry of Health announces technology-driven health apps, mHealth and eHealth, services to the public
• Nepal gets STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) laboratory in Kanjirowa National Secondary School at Koteshwor

Besides, these Nepal has been welcoming many technology giants and has also gone to a far extent in internet and mobile adoption, thus turning as a fast-emerging market for technology adoption.

The End Note

Overall, 2074 has really been a year of transformation for Nepal in all the aforementioned aspects adding to the country’s future progress. Hope the country would reach much greater heights in the years to come!

Also Read:
Nepal 2017 Highlights: Politics and Bilateral Relations
Nepal 2017 Highlights: Culture And Tourism Highlights
Nepal 2017 Highlights: Immigration and Other Major Updates
Nepal 2017 Highlights: Hydropower Potential Grows Three-fold with 16 New Projects

The post 2074 – A Year of Transformation for Nepal appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

The festival that begins with the start of full moon in the month of Poush, the ninth month according to Nepali calendar, commenced on January 03, 2018 this year.

As part of the tradition, devotees take dips in holy waters during the festival as a tribute to Goddess Swasthani.

Marking the commencement of the festival, a large number of Hindu devotees thronged at Hanumante River in Bhaktapur on January 03, 2018.

As part of a special custom, young boys dressed in traditional attire take part in a long procession around the town with oil lamps on head, hands and shoulders.

Devotees also recite holy scriptures and also sing songs dedicated to Hindu deities Shiva and Swasthani.

As part of the rituals, women pray for the longevity of their husbands by observing fasts all through the month. ‘

The 30-day-long fast is called Brata in Newari and Nepali languages, and only involves a combination of grains used for the festival.

Finally, the festival concludes with the Ashwamegha Yagya, where devotees offer prayers to Lord Shiva throughout the night.

On this special day, offerings such as sweets and flowers, among others are presented in 108 pieces and distributed among male members of the family or immersed in holy waters.

Also known as the Swasthani Brata Katha festival, the festival usually falls during January-February and ends on the full moon day.

This month-long annual Nepali festival is dedicated to Lord Madhav Narayan or Goddess Shree Swasthani.

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