new currency; Prime Minister of Nepal Balendra Shah
The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the country’s central bank, announced on Saturday that it will mint a new one-rupee note that includes a controversial map showing Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani districts disputed with India.Kathmandu claims these lands as its own, while New Delhi asserts that these lands are part of the state of Uttarakhand and said that the issue should be addressed through bilateral dialogue.“NRB has not officially received the new design of the coin, but we are sure it will feature the map,” spokesman Guru Prasad Poudel said, according to PTI.“We will issue the new one-rupee currency. However, its size and metal will be changed, making it smaller and lighter than the previous currency,” Poudel added.
On July 20, the government of Nepal, led by Prime Minister Balindra Shah, a rapper-turned-politician, agreed to replace the map of Nepal on the currency with an image of a monastery.However, the government later decided to keep the map, after pressure from the opposition and the public.As part of the redesign, the controversial political map was to be removed from the coin and replaced with an image of the Lo Ghiakar Monastery in Marang Village, Mustang District. The monastery is considered one of the oldest Buddhist monasteries in Nepal.The then Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sharma Oli-led government included the territory in the official map of Nepal in May 2020.(with PTI inputs)
