KATHMANDU: Nepal Police Club (NPC) ended Day 1 of the Jay Trophy Men’s Elite Cup fixture, trailing Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) by 24 runs at the TU International Cricket Stadium on Friday.

Batting first, NPC declared their innings at 187/8 in the three-day match. In reply, TAC declared at 234/9 with a lead of 47 runs. NPC were 23/1 in their second innings when the stumps were drawn.

Rashid Khan top-scored for the NPC in the first innings, getting 38 off 55 balls. Captain Aarif Sheikh contributed 36 off 41, while opener Kushal Bhurtel added 30 off 73 balls. Dilsad Ali scored 27, Sarwan Yadav 11, and Amit Shrestha 10, with Lalit Rajbanshi remaining unbeaten on 18.

Pawan Karki led the bowling for TAC with four wickets. Aakash Chand, Shahab Alam, Naren Saud, and Basir Ahamad picked up a wicket each.

Although TAC lost openers Trit Raj Das (14) and Imran Sheikh (5) cheaply in the chase, Bhim Sharki played a brilliant innings for TAC, scoring an unbeaten 105 off 113 balls to anchor his team’s reply. He received support at the other end from Pawan Karki (37) and Naren Saud (31).

Sagar Dhakal starred with the ball for NPC, claiming six wickets, while Lalit Rajbanshi took two and Kushal Bhurtel picked up one.

In the second innings, NPC lost opener Amit Shrestha (4). Kushal Bhurtel (12) and Shankar Rana (7) were at the crease when the stumps were drawn.

Aakash Chand picked up one wicket for TAC in the second innings.

Bagmati trail Nepal APF by 31 runs

Bagmati Province trail Nepal APF Club by 31 runs on Day 1 of the Jay Trophy fixture at the Mulpani International Cricket Grounds.

Batting first, Bagmati declared at 207 for the loss of nine wickets. In reply, Nepal APF was all out for 239. Bagmati were 1/1 in the second innings at the end of Day 1.

Bibek Magar top-scored for Bagmati with a 42 off 47 balls. Ashuthosh Ghiraiya and Rijan Dhakal scored 35 each, while Subh Kansakar made 34 and Surya Tamang added 27. Captain Ishan Pandey contributed 16, and Uttam Magar chipped in with 10 runs.

Irshad Ahama picked up three wickets for Nepal APF, while Yubraj Khatri and Rohit Paudel picked up two each, and Amar Routela and Abhishesh Gautam contributed one wicket each.

Captain Rohit Paudel scored an unbeaten 87 off 113 balls to script Nepal APF’s chase. He received support from Sandeep Jora, who made 61 off 48 balls. Deepak Bohora and Aasif Sheikh contributed 38 and 28, respectively.

Rijan Dhakal claimed three wickets for Bagmati, while Bipin Achrya and Syra Tamang picked up two each, and Tilak Bhandari and Captain Pandey had a wicket each to their names.

Paudel removed Bagmati opener Surya Tamang (1) early in the second innings.

KATHMANDU: CPN-UML has accused Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) cadres of burning a flag bearing its election symbol, the Sun, in Tulsipur of Dang on Thursday night.

Issuing a statement on Friday, UML Central Publicity Coordinator Min Bahadur Shahi said chanting of slogans with objectionable words against party Chairperson KP Sharma Oli and the burning of the flag in the hometown of General Secretary Shankar Pokhrel constituted a criminal act against the state, the people, democracy, and the constitution. The party has also demanded legal action against those involved in the incident.

However, RSP’s Dang district Chairperson Binay Ghimire issued a statement on Thursday night denying the involvement of the party and its cadres in the incident. “We have clearly concluded that some infiltrators and undesirable elements created this misleading situation after being rattled by the enthusiastic presence of well-wishers, who had spontaneously gathered along the roadside to welcome our central Chairperson, who was arriving in Dang after concluding a program in Surkhet,” the statement said.

He also urged the security agencies to conduct a factual and impartial investigation into the incident and to bring those responsible to justice immediately.

KATHMANDU: Total trade deficit over the first seven months of 2025/26 widened by 10.91% to Rs 955.34 billion, thanks to slow export growth.

Foreign trade data over the first seven months of the current fiscal year, released by the Department of Customs on Friday, show Nepal imported goods worth Rs 1,123.48 billion in the review period, up from Rs 988.59 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Exports also posted a strong increase of 32.19%, in the review period reaching Rs 168.15 billion from Rs 127.20 billion a year earlier.

Export growth, however, was slower in the review month compared to previous months of the fiscal year.

Nepal’s total foreign trade was worth Rs 1,291.63 billion in the review period, up 15.76% compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Data show the imports-to-exports ratio improved to 6.68 from 7.77 in the same period of the previous fiscal year, indicating a modest strengthening in export performance relative to imports. The share of exports in total trade increased to 13.02% as of mid-February of the current fiscal year, compared to 11.4% in the same period of the previous fiscal year. Similarly, the share of imports in total foreign trade declined by 1.83% to 86.98%. In the same period of the previous fiscal year, imports constituted 88.6% of total foreign trade.

As usual, crude soybean oil remained Nepal’s largest import item in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, with imports totaling Rs 70.99 billion. Diesel ranked second with imports worth Rs 69.9 billion, followed by petrol (Rs 38.13 billion), liquefied petroleum gas (Rs 31.85 billion), and sponge iron (Rs 31.09 billion).

On the export front, soybean oil continued to dominate Nepal’s outbound trade, generating Rs 66.78 billion in earnings. Large cardamom emerged as the second-biggest export item at Rs 8.61 billion. Next were sunflower oil (Rs 5.78 billion), hand-knotted carpets (Rs 5.71 billion), and jute Rs 4.01 billion.

KATHMANDU: Minister for Finance Rameshore Prasad Khanal has reiterated that there will be no resource shortfall for the upcoming House of Representatives elections scheduled for March 5.

Speaking at the “Nepal Tourism Seminar” in Lalitpur on Friday, the finance minister said the government’s focus is on ensuring the successful completion of the elections.

“The time has come to shift attention toward economic issues. One of the biggest challenges of the government at present is to move beyond debates surrounding political instability,” he said.

Khanal also acknowledged that the previous government’s commitment to provide tourism with facilities equivalent to those given to industries has not been fully implemented.

Stating that the government is making every possible effort to strengthen the country’s economy, he said various policy measures have already been introduced toward that goal.

KATHMANDU: More than two-thirds of total investments of non-life insurance companies by the second quarter of the current fiscal year 2025/26 are concentrated in fixed deposit accounts of banks and financial institutions (BFIs).

According to data released by the Nepal Insurance Authority, the 14 non-life insurance companies in operation had total investments of Rs 64.28 billion as of mid-January. Of this, Rs 46.51 billion, or 72.35% of total investment, was parked in fixed deposits. This shows heavy reliance of non-life insurers on low-risk, fixed-income instruments.

Most of these deposits are concentrated in commercial banks, where non-life insurance companies have invested Rs 41.31 billion. They have also placed Rs 4.19 billion in development banks and Rs 1 billion in finance companies.

Insurers have also diversified smaller portions of their portfolio across other instruments. These investments include Rs 5.36 billion in shares of listed public companies, Rs 3.15 billion in preferred shares, bonds, debentures, and debt instruments issued by banks and financial institutions, and Rs 1.91 billion in bonds and debentures of listed public companies. They have also invested Rs 1.51 billion in the Citizens Investment Trust and mutual funds, Rs 2.74 billion in promoter shares, and smaller amounts in government securities and unlisted public companies.

Similarly, these companies have invested Rs 1.10 billion in sectors such as agriculture, cold storage, tourism, hydropower, solar and renewable energy projects, cable cars, roads, power transmission lines, education, and healthcare. An additional Rs 1.14 billion has been invested in other sectors.

However, heavy reliance on fixed deposits has affected the profitability of non-life insurance companies. With interest rates on fixed deposits at all-time low levels, their interest income has dropped significantly. Similarly, increased claim payouts, particularly for losses linked to property damage during the Gen Z protests, have also hit their profits. As a result, only one of the 14 non-life insurers reported a profit in the second quarter, while five companies posted losses and eight saw their profits decline.