Chinese company monopolises printing of Nepal’s banknotes for nearly three years

Chinese company monopolises printing of Nepal’s banknotes for nearly three years (Photo: @yicaichina/X/IANS)

Kathmandu, (IANS) China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation appears to be monopolising the printing of Nepal’s banknotes, with the Chinese state-owned company winning bids seven times consecutively over the past three years.

On Friday, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank of the country, issued a letter of intent to award a contract to the Chinese company for the design, printing, supply, and delivery of 430 million pieces of NPR 1,000 denomination banknotes worth US$16.985 million.

According to the NRB’s notice, the Chinese company was selected as the substantially responsive, lowest evaluated bidder.

In nearly past three years, NRB has issued seven separate tenders for the design, printing, supply, and delivery of various denominations of banknotes. In each case, the Beijing-based company, located in the Xicheng District, emerged as the winning bidder.

Based on the contracts awarded during this period, the Chinese company is expected to earn around US$63 million from Nepal for printing approximately 2.38 billion pieces of banknotes.

The Chinese company does not have a long history of printing Nepal’s currency notes. In 2016, the Chinese company had secured the contract to print Nepal’s banknotes for the first time, according to the NRB.

On October 15 this year, NRB issued a letter of intent to print and supply 420 million pieces of NPR 50 denomination banknotes and related services. Its bid price of US$10.422 million was accepted as the lowest evaluated bid, according to the central bank’s notice.

Earlier, on June 22 this year, the same company was awarded a contract for the design, printing, supply, and delivery of 230 million pieces of NPR 500 denomination banknotes and related services. Its bid price of US$9.66 million was accepted as the substantially responsive, lowest evaluated bid.

On October 27 last year, the Chinese company won another bid to print Nepal’s banknotes. It was awarded the contract for printing and supplying 300 million pieces of NPR 100 denomination notes for US$8.996 million.

Similarly, on October 8 last year, the company won the bid to design, print, and supply 340 million pieces of NPR 10 denomination banknotes. It was awarded the contract for US$7.117 million as the lowest evaluated bidder.

Earlier, on July 10 last year, the company secured the contract for the design, printing, supply, and delivery of 350 million pieces of NPR 5 denomination banknotes at a bid price of US$5.158 million, which was also accepted as the lowest evaluated bid.

Likewise, on February 12, 2023, NRB issued a letter of intent to award the company a contract for the design, printing, supply, and delivery of 310 million pieces of NPR 20 denomination banknotes for US$4.698 million.

The last time an Indian company received a similar contract was on January 10, 2023, when NRB issued a letter of intent to award the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited a contract for the design, printing, supply, and delivery of 300 million pieces of NPR 50 denomination banknotes for US$5.048 million.

Earlier, on November 30, 2022, the same Indian company had been awarded a contract to print and supply 430 million pieces of NPR 1,000 denomination circulation banknotes for US$11.134 million.

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Singapore’s national identity excludes those who don’t look like a ‘regular family’

Pavan Mano, King's College London

Nationalism usually works on the basis that a nation should imagine itself as a “we”, with a common identity, history and culture. But it doesn’t always clearly say who the “we” are. Instead, it often works by saying who doesn’t belong – frequently by characterising these people in racialised ways.

Singapore is an interesting case study. Since independence in 1965, the small city-state has explicitly committed to a policy of multiracialism and multiculturalism. This principle is enshrined in its constitution, is widely accepted by Singaporeans and has become a firm pillar of national discourse.

Given this commitment, how does nationalism create exclusion in Singapore and what other forms could this take? In my March 2025 book, Straight Nation, I analyse Singapore’s version of a national identity to show how, while avoiding overtly racialised rhetoric and discrimination, it can define belonging in other ways.

Singaporean nationalism excludes some sections of society mainly through maintaining a set of heterosexual familial norms. This is one reason for the book’s title – it calls attention to how straightness sits at the heart of Singaporean identity. A certain kind of straight life is taken to be the model behaviour of a “normal” citizen.

Some of the things one is expected to do include starting a family – by meeting a member of the opposite sex, getting married and having children. This very specific version of heterosexuality is taken as the default in Singapore, and it ends up excluding a whole range of people.

Family and the nation

Heterosexuality being taken as normal and the expectations placed on the nuclear family are not uniquely Singaporean issues. But because of Singapore’s small size, the state has an outsize capacity to influence both how the “normal” Singaporean ought to live and the consequences that follow.

One of the most visible ways people are affected is through the public housing system. Almost 80% of Singaporean residents live in flats built by the country’s public housing authority, the Housing and Development Board (HDB). These flats are so ubiquitous that Singapore’s former prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, referred to them as “national housing” in 2018.

The catch is that, with some small exceptions, one has to be married to buy a HDB flat. And because same-sex marriage is not recognised in Singapore, heterosexual marriage becomes a condition of access to this national symbol.

This obviously affects LGBTQ+ people, limiting their ability to access public housing and live independently. But the link between heterosexual marriage and public housing affects a whole range of other people. These include single people and parents, those who choose not to get married and people who are divorced.

There are other examples that demonstrate how it is taken as common sense that one’s life revolves around the nuclear family in Singapore – even though this might not be the case for everyone.

The opening anecdote in Straight Nation shows how the state treats the heterosexual nuclear family as containing the most important set of social relations. Like many other countries at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Singaporean government imposed a lockdown from April to June 2020. When it ended, restrictions were lifted in stages.

Initially, only some in-person interactions were allowed. Singapore’s then-health minister and current deputy prime minister, Gan Kim Yong, said: “Children or grandchildren can visit their parents or grandparents”. He suggested this would “allow families to spend time and provide support to one another” after eight weeks of isolation.

Until the restrictions were further eased 17 days later, visiting one’s parents or grandparents was the only form of in-person social interaction permitted. There was no mention as to what people without a family or estranged from them were meant to do for support. The same applies to people reliant on extended family, such as those who have no have no surviving parents or grandparents, or even those who depend on a close friend.

Again, this assumption can produce exclusions that go beyond sexual difference. To be clear, not everyone will be affected in the same way. But reading Singapore as a straight nation and identifying how one particular kind of heterosexual expression is reified is helpful.

It allows onlookers to ask how these norms can place different kinds of pressure on different people. And perhaps identifying the way in which so many people are affected by this regime of straightness will also help Singapore imagine a future that is fairer and more liveable for everyone.The Conversation

Pavan Mano, Lecturer in Global Cultures, King's College London

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Smart driving new front in China car wars despite fatal crash


CHINA - Intelligent driving features are the new battleground in China's merciless car market, with competition spurring brands to world-leading advances - but a recent fatal crash has seen the government intervene to put the brakes on runaway enthusiasm.

Advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) help with tasks ranging from cruise control to parking and collision avoidance, with the ultimate aim being a fully self-driving car.

Automakers are pouring investment into their development, especially in the world's biggest car market China, which skews young and tech-savvy.

"Ten years ago, only 15 percent of customers said they would change car because of an intelligent cockpit - today it's 54 percent," Giovanni Lanfranchi of EV firm Zeekr said.

Almost 60 percent of cars sold in China last year had level-two ADAS features - where the driver is still in control but there is continuous assistance - or above, according to an AlixPartners report released last week.

The features "are emerging as a key competitive tool", said the consultancy's Yvette Zhang.

Some firms use their own proprietary technology, like start-up Xpeng and consumer electronics-turned-car company Xiaomi, while others are cooperating with tech giants such as Huawei.

Such software is being developed in Europe and North America too.

AFP | Hector RETAMAL

But in a survey of hundreds of global auto executives surveyed by AlixPartners, two-thirds said they believed China led the world in the field.

"The collection and processing of data, and the availability of software and machine-learning talent" is difficult to replicate, the report said.

The technology is not immune from the price wars that are a key feature of the Chinese market.

In February, domestic EV giant BYD announced it would release its "God's Eye" driving system on nearly all its cars, including on some models priced below $10,000.

- Over-promising? -

Then came a fatal accident in March involving a Xiaomi SU7 that had been in assisted driving mode just before it crashed.

The accident, in which three college students died, raised concerns over safety and the advertising of cars as being capable of "autonomous driving".

The issue is an industry-wide one - Tesla's US-released "Full Self-Driving" capability, for example, is still meant to be used under driver supervision.

AFP | Hector RETAMAL

"The price war has just been so brutal, companies are desperate to find any way to set themselves apart," said Tom Nunlist, associate director for tech and data policy at Trivium China.

"So the question is have they been over-promising on features and releasing things as quickly as possible, for the purposes of fighting this commercial battle."

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology seems to share those concerns.

After the crash, it held a meeting with leading automakers and other key players in which it made clear that safety rules would be more tightly enforced.

It warned automakers to test systems rigorously, "define system functional boundaries... and refrain from exaggerated or false advertising".

Reports said it will also crack down on the practice of improving ADAS via remote software updates.

- 'Sharp U-turn' -

As the massive industry show Auto Shanghai kicked off last week, the shift in gear was obvious.

"In a sharp U-turn from just two months ago, carmakers have taken a low profile in terms of autonomous driving functions, but are emphasising safety instead," said UBS' Paul Gong in a note.

AFP | Hector RETAMAL

"Safety is the ultimate premium of new energy vehicles," a sign at BYD's booth read.

At the bustling Xiaomi booth, information boards touted the SU7's colour choices, chassis and hardware - but AFP saw no mention of ADAS at all.

"The autonomous driving function marketing race seems to have halted, at least temporarily," wrote Gong.

Zhang Yu, managing director of Shanghai-based consultancy Automotive Foresight, told AFP that he thought the crash was "only a setback in marketing terms, which is helpful for a healthy development" of the area.

"This accident was not related to tech or the system itself, it more concerns the ignorance of ADAS and boundary of autonomous driving," he added.

The technology itself continues to progress.

"That's why this is becoming a pressing issue because car companies are going to be wanting to release these features," Trivium's Nunlist said.

However, a truly autonomous car - level five on the scale - is "certainly not imminent", he added, predicting "very hard last-mile problems".

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