R&D Economic Research & Business Development
Date: August 4, 2009 Highlights
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The Council of Ministers has named Dr Shankar Sharma, former vicechairman of National Planning Commission, as the ambassador to the USA and Rukma Shumsher Rana, former president of Nepal Olympic Committee, as the ambassador to India Monday. The cabinet meeting also allocated portfolios to 24 secretaries promoted recently and transferred 11 others.
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Umesh Mainali Monday resigned from the post of secretary, expressing dissatisfaction over the recent cabinet decision to send him to the President’s office. However, it was not clear whether he was promoted or only transferred.
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Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal met President Dr Ram Baran Yadav at the latter's office, Shital Niwas, Monday afternoon, discussing the Maoist ultimatum to the government to address the issue of 'civilian supremacy', among other things.
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The Nepali Congress, one of major constituent in the ruling coalition sees the Maoists’ three day ultimatum served to the government on Sunday Monday 3, 2009, to meet their demands as a great conspiracy to derail the peace process.
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Chairman of the CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal has termed the Maoist decision to protest in the streets and in parliament an empty threat.
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Sources at Inland Revenue Department (IRD), which recently finalized the PAN (permanent account number) enforcement plan, said they would initiate the program by registering PM and other cabinet members at PAN and issuing them with the electronic tax ID card.
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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Monday agreed to provide a grant assistance of 25.60 million U.S. dollars to the Government of Nepal for the implementation of the Emergency Flood Damage Rehabilitation Project, staterun newspaper, The Rising Nepal reported on Tuesday.
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The Ministry of General Administration (MoGA) is mulling over introducing a new system for evaluating civil servants.The system will have multiple bases of assessment while the existing evaluation system has a single basis that is appraisal by the senior officer. Under the new system, even service-seekers and general citizens will contribute to the judgment system.
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The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday said that there was no need to give a stay order on the reinstatement of Nepal Rastra Bank governor Bijaya Nath Bhattarai. A division bench comprising Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha and Prakash Chandra Wosti took a decision to this effect after hearing the writ petition filed by the previous governor Dipendra Bahadur Kshetry.
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Amid skyrocketing prices, consumer rights activists have demanded with the government to fix maximum retail prices of daily essential commodities in the market.
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South Korea reopened its manufacturing sector for migrant labourers from August 1, the Employment Permit System (EPS) office said. EPS, a government body which hires foreign workers for South Korean industries, had stopped hiring Nepalis workers in manufacturing industries since June.
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The downslide on all fronts of the country has left the Nepali garment industry in a shambles. Thanks to lack of security and proper facilities from the government, Nepali Readymade Garment (RMG) industry that used to be one of the most exportable products to the US is on the verge of extinction.
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Exports of readymade garment to the US has plunged by more than half over the first seven months of 2009 than what the country exported during the same period last year.
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A survey has shown that 75 percent of mobile phone users think that the quality of mobile service in the country is bad.
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Chinese Mountaineering Association (CMA) has appointed HIMALAYA Expeditions as its direct expedition agent in Nepal.
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The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) Monday fell 4.55 points. The sensitive index also declined by 2.12 points. Most NEPSE sub-indices took a tumble too. The banking sector lost the most with a drop of 10.23 points.
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As many as 74,858 applicants for ordinary shares of Prime Bank have been allotted shares. Three million units of shares went on sale from May 24-27 which attracted 335,448 applicants including the bank's 155 employees.
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Inland Revenue Department has slapped a penalty of Rs 5.1 million to Commodity and Mercantile Exchange of Nepal (CoMEN), a company trading on future markets, for not complying with tax laws. “The company, going by its transactions, should have registered with value added tax (VAT), but it had not,” said an IRD source.
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The UN World Food Programme (WFP) and World Health Organization (WHO) deny the allegations made by President Subodh Raj Pyakurel of the Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC) that WFP rice, edible oils and lentils have caused the cholera outbreak in the Mid West of Nepal.
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Hundreds of people are still living in displacement in Dang district as the UCPN (Maoist) has not return their seized properties despite the party’s often repeated commitment to do so.
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Some alarming findings have emerged in connection with the growing small arms menace in the capital Valley after a racket was busted at a shopping mall 2
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last week, police sources say. The group, from who police extracted three pistols and 36 rounds of ammunition, has named some political leaders and cadres of student and youth wings as their clients.
POLITICS:
Cabinet names envoys to US, India; allocates portfolios to secys The Council of Ministers has named Dr Shankar Sharma, former vice-chairman of National Planning Commission, as the ambassador to the USA and Rukma Shumsher Rana, former president of Nepal Olympic Committee, as the ambassador to India Monday. A cabinet meeting held Monday evening picked Sharma and Rana as the ambassadors based on recommendations by second largest coalition partner Nepali Congress (NC). The cabinet meeting also allocated portfolios to 24 secretaries promoted recently and transferred 11 others. Some secretaries have been retained at the ministries they were serving earlier. Sudha Sharma and Prabin Mishra have been retained at the health ministry. Although, the government had decided earlier not to deploy secretaries in temporary commissions and committees, it has transferred secretaries to four such offices, Administrative Reform Commission, Office of Cantonment Management, Freed Kamaiya Rehabilitation Committee and Land Reform Commission. The position of secretaries at three regional administration offices, Nepal Trust Office and office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers is still vacant. The Council of Ministers has approved the special package proposed by the government in diarrhea affected regions. According to information minister Shankar Pokhrel, the package includes forming a joint mechanism of political parties, deploying cadres of different political parties as volunteers in the affected area and make special arrangement for the upkeep and education of children who have lost both their parents due to the epidemic.
Madhav Prasad Secretary)
Ghimire
(Chief Prime Minister’s Office
Baman Prasad Neupane
Office of President
Nathu Prasad Chaudhary
Office of the Vice President
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Ram Chandra Man Singh Lila Mani Poudel
Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers
Dhruba Sharma Trilochan Upreti Madan Kumar Bhattarai Rameshwar Khanal
Ministry of Finance
Krishna Hari Baskota Pratap Kumar Pathak
Ministry of Industry
Shankar Koirala
Ministry of Energy
Baburam Acharya
Ministry of Labour and Transportation Management
Madahv Paudel
Ministry of Law and Justice
Bajra Kishor Prasad Sah
Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives
Govind Prasad Kusum
Ministry of Home Affairs
Nagendra Ghimire
Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation
Gyan Chandra Acharya
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Yubraj Bhusal
Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation
Chhabi Raj Panta
Ministry of Management
Purna Kumar Kadaria
Ministry of Physical Planning and Works
Land
Reform
and
Dip Basnet Binda Hada
Ministry of Women Children and Social Welfare
Shushil Jung Bahadur Rana
Ministry of Youth and Sports
Nabin Ghimire
Ministry of Defence
Purushottam Ojha
Ministry of Commerce and Supply
Udaya Raj Sharma
Ministry of Environment
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Ram Hari Aryal
Ministry of Scence and Technology
Shyam Mainali
Ministry of Local Development
Krishna Gyawali
Ministry of Local Development (Metropolitan Management)
Sudha Sharma
Ministry of Health and Population
Prabin Mishra
Pramod Karki
Ministry of Federal Affairs, Constituent Assembly, Parliamentary Affairs and Culture
Bala Nanda Paudel
Ministry of General Administration
Uma Kant Jha
Ministry of Irrigation
Shushil Ghimire
Ministry of Communication
Punya Neupane
Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction
Dipendra Thapa
Ministry of Education
Mod Raj Dotel
Information
and
Ram Shwarup Sinha Bhagabati Kafle
Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority
Keshav Bhattarai
Public Service Commission
Yagya Gautam
Election Commission
Yuvraj Pande
Secretariat of Commission
Kishor Thapa
Water and Energy Commission
Mohan Banjade
Nepal Law Reform Council
Tana Gautam
National Vigilance Centre
Shankar Prasad Pandey
Public Purchase Monitoring Office
Niranjan Baral
Kathmandu Metropolitan
Rudra Kumar Shrestha
Regional Administration Office, Pokhara
Dhana Raj Ratala (acting secretary)
Regional Administration Office, Surkhet
National
Planning
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Dinesh Hari Adhikari
Administration Commission
Restructuring
Binod Gyawali
Office of Central Coordinator Cantonment Management
Ganesh Raj Joshi
High Level Land Reform Commission
Shriram Panta
Freed Kamaiya Rehabilitation Implementation Committee
Abanindra Kumar Shrestha
Office of Auditor General
of
Source: www.nepalnews.com Date: August 04, 2009
Mainali resigns KATHMANDU: Umesh Mainali Monday resigned from the post of secretary, expressing dissatisfaction over the recent cabinet decision to send him to the President’s office. However, it was not clear whether he was promoted or only transferred. Mainali told The Himalayan Times that he waited in vain for 10 days for the government’s letter to know his status. He added that it was an extreme form of humiliation of a high-level government officer who had many years of service behind him. He tendered his resignation to Chief Secretary Madhav Prasad Ghimire. Cabinet meeting had agreed to give him all facilities that a chief secretary enjoys. Mainali was expecting chief secretary’s post and felt slighted when Ghimire was appointed to the post.Meanwhile, the government has approved the resignation of Secretary Janak Raj Joshi, who had resigned expressing dissatisfaction over the cabinet decision to appoint Ghimire as the chief secretary. Joshi claims that he is senior to Ghimire. Source: The Himalayan Times Date: 08/04/2009
PM discusses Maoist ultimatum with President Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal met President Dr Ram Baran Yadav at the latter's office, Shital Niwas, Monday afternoon, discussing the Maoist ultimatum to the government to address the issue of 'civilian supremacy', among other things.
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The hour-long meeting dwelled mainly on the Maoist demands and the controversy over the Supreme Court verdict against Vice President Parmananda Jha's oath in Hindi. According to PM's political advisor Raghuji Panta, the PM and the President concluded that no parliamentary debate can take place on the President's move, as demanded by the Maoists. On the Vice President's oath dispute, PM Nepal told the President that the government would find a 'legal solution' to it. The diarrhea epidemic in mid and far western district also figured during the meeting, it is learnt. The meeting between the PM and the President came hours after the Unified CPN (Maoist) decided to wage a month-long protest movement if the Prime Minister failed to fulfill his commitment to address the issues raised by the party. The Maoist party also decided to boycott public functions attended by the Prime Minister and the President. Source: www.nepalnews.com Date: August 03, 2009 Maoists want Nepal Peace Process Derailed: Dr. Mahat The Nepali Congress, one of major constituent in the ruling coalition sees the Maoists’ three day ultimatum served to the government on Sunday Monday 3, 2009, to meet their demands as a great conspiracy to derail the peace process. Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat, a former finance minister and a senior leader of the Nepali Congress Party making a speech at the Consistent Assembly, Monday August 3, 2009, said that the Maoists demand for unilateral declaration of the formation of autonomous federal states was a Himalayan conspiracy to derail the peace process. “The Maoists’ Central Committee decision to form a government on their own leadership or else capture the government from the streets is highly deplorable, opined Dr.Mahat. Dr. Mahat also criticized the UN Mission in Nepal for turning deaf ear towards the verified Militias roaming freely equipped with UNMIN tagged weapons across the country. On the other hand, the Maoists’ Constituent Assembly members speaking at the CA on Monday, August 3, 2009, alleged that the NC-UML led coalition was totally against the ongoing peace process. Agni Prasad Sapkota, the Maoists’ CA member said that the import of weapons from India was a move of the government to intensify conflict in the country.
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Source: telegraphnepal.com/news
Maoist threat poses no danger Chairman of the CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal has termed the Maoist decision to protest in the streets and in parliament an empty threat. "It makes no sense just to issue threats of protests, people have already seen so many protests," said Khanal while talking to reporters at Biratnagar airport on Monday. He was there to attend a function in Biratnagar. "Of course, past agreements should be implemented. No one will cower down just because of empty threats," he said. Stating that a national unity government is the need of the hour, the UML chairman urged the Maoists to join the government. He said the proposed high-level political mechanism will be the basis for the political process and that the political parties are working on the formation of such a mechanism. Dahal also claimed that the newly introduced special security plan will enable the government to curb the growing instances of crime. Source: www.myrepublica.com Date: 08/04/2009 POLICY: IRD gears up to distribute PAN ID card Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal is going to be the first person to get tax identification (ID) number and tax ID card, which the government is issuing to all income earners within a couple of months. Sources at Inland Revenue Department (IRD), which recently finalized the PAN (permanent account number) enforcement plan, said they would initiate the program by registering PM and other cabinet members at PAN and issuing them with the electronic tax ID card. The PAN ID card will bear ID code of the cardholder and one can easily get income details and tax clearance statements from the Inland Revenue Offices (IROs) by producing it. The card is being issued as a part of the government´s program, which made registration at PAN mandatory for all income groups from 2009/10, irrespective of whether they pay tax or not. Under the program, IRD will maintain electronic details of all income earning groups at the tax offices -- a move that will not only widen tax base, but also plug leakage of tax from multiple jobholders and service providers. The government believes enforcement of the program will bring in additional 200,000 taxpayers under PAN net by the end of this fiscal year. It also believes that the program will raise the incidence of tax compliance.
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“We have already sent a team to IROs across the country and District Treasury Offices to demonstrate procedures for maintaining taxpayers´ records and issuing ID cards,” said the source. He elaborated that the department has, for now, dropped the idea of issuing electronically readable card because of time and money required to harmonize the system. “The card will be of a standard format and look like Visa or MasterCard, but won´t be readable,” he added. Going by its implementation plan, IRD will also bring in all the Constituent Assembly members in the tax net in the second lot. Wider dissemination of the card among general people, however, could start only in September. The introduction of the card will initiate a new revenue regime, wherein all the taxpayers of the country will be known by their tax ID numbers and not their names. All the firms and individuals will need to cite ID number of persons or firms from whom they procure service and goods. When revenue offices enter income details in the spreadsheet, it will record all incomes and transactions of a PAN ID cardholder in a single window. This will enable the tax office to consolidate everyone´s income and establish tax liability accordingly at the end of every fiscal year, which will help to control revenue leakage from professionals and service providers engaged in multiple firms. The government believes that the effective enforcement of the new system will generate additional revenue of Rs 1.50 billion. The new system will also enable taxpayers to get tax clearance report instantly. Source: www.myrepublica.com Date: 08/04/2009 ADB provides $25 mln to Nepal for flood victims KATHMANDU, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Monday agreed to provide a grant assistance of 25.60 million U.S. dollars to the Government of Nepal for the implementation of the Emergency Flood Damage Rehabilitation Project, state-run newspaper, The Rising Nepal reported on Tuesday. Rameshwor Prasad Khanal, Secretary of the Ministry of Finance of Nepal and Zhao Xiaoyu, Vice-President of ADB, signed the grant agreement, on behalf of the Government of Nepal and the ADB respectively, in Nepali capital Kathmandu. This grant assistance will be utilized in rehabilitating and restoring the damage caused by the 2008 monsoon floods in the eastern development region and far western development region of Nepal. The main components of the project consist of agriculture, irrigation, water supply and sanitation, roads and project management.
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Speaking at the signing agreement ceremony, Zhao said that the ADB was stuck by the flood damage in different parts of Nepal and took the initiative toward the emergency flood control measures that would benefit the people and the Government of Nepal. He expressed the hope that development partners would continue extending support to Nepal's socio-economic development and stressed the need for better implementation of the project. Source: news.xinhuanet.com
New evaluation system for civil servants in offing The Ministry of General Administration (MoGA) is mulling over introducing a new system for evaluating civil servants. The system will have multiple bases of assessment while the existing evaluation system has a single basis that is appraisal by the senior officer. Under the new system, even service-seekers and general citizens will contribute to the judgment system. Under the existing system, the immediate senior officer can give 100 marks to the staffers or give less marks if the supervisor is not pleased with his/her subordinate, said Minister for General Administration Ravindra Shrestha. "Therefore we found the policy inappropriate and felt the necessity for adopting new system under which recommendations by service-seekers, general citizen and by the employee´s senior as well as junior staffers will matter," Shrestha told lawmakers. He was briefing on the new initiatives taken by the ministry in a meeting called by the State Affairs Committee in the parliament. The ministry is holding discussions with experts on this matter. Shrestha also informed that the ministry is planning to introduce a concept to post officers at the front desks of all government offices. Under the existing system, usually assistant-level staff man the front desk staffers with assistant level are deputed in such desks. Plans are also under way to convert the MoGA into Ministry of Human Resources Management. In other plans, Shrestha said the ministry will in future give priority to management auditing while the government so far has been more focused only on financial auditing. Likewise, the ministry is also mulling over providing scholarships to the children of civil servants and establishing residential schools for them. The concept was proposed with a view to attract more youths to the sector. ´Stop politicization of bureaucracy´
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The State Affairs Committee directed the ministry to stop politicizing the bureaucracy to promote professionalism in the administration. Ram Nath Dhakal, chairman of the committee, instructed the minister to make the administration that is considered as the permanent government of a country more dynamic, up to date, democratic and accountable to the people. The committee directed the ministry to submit the report of management audit to the government and the parliamentary committee. Source: www.myrepublica.com Date: 08/04/2009
BANKING: SC refuses stay order KATHMANDU, Aug 3 - The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday said that there was no need to give a stay order on the reinstatement of Nepal Rastra Bank governor Bijaya Nath Bhattarai. A division bench comprising Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha and Prakash Chandra Wosti took a decision to this effect after hearing the writ petition filed by the previous governor Dipendra Bahadur Kshetry. Kshetry had moved the court two weeks ago questioning his removal and subsequent reinstatement of Bhattarai who was suspended on an alleged corruption charge. After the court acquitted Bhattarai of the corruption charge about a month ago, the government had reappointed Bhattarai on the basis of the court verdict. The Maoistled government had appointed Kshetry last January during Bhattarai's suspension. Source: www.kantipuronline.com
BUSINESS & ECONOMY: Govt urged to fix maximum retail price of essential commodities Amid skyrocketing prices, consumer rights activists have demanded with the government to fix maximum retail prices of daily essential commodities in the market. Submitting a memorandum to Minister for Commerce and Supplies Rajendra Mahato on Monday, Jyoti Baniya, general secretary of Consumers Rights Protection Forum,
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asked the government to make the central and district level market monitoring committees active and more effective. Baniya also demanded the government to formulate price fixation policy and related guidelines along with ensuring quality of supplies. The forum also suggested to the government to intervene into the market by supplying essential commodities at cheaper rates and effectively monitoring the consumers´ cooperatives. The delegation also drew the government attention to continue the market monitoring and set up Consumers Court at central level and Consumers Commissioner at district level. Receiving the memorandum, minister Mahato assured the delegation that the government would continue the recently initiated market monitoring so as to discourage black marketeering, artificial price hike and hoarding of essential commodities. Responding to the abnormal hike in the price of essential commodities in the market, the government had recently raided four big warehouses in the capital. Mahato also said the preparation was at the final stage to establish the Department of Consumer Interests and Supplies Management to ensure smooth supply of essential commodities, speed up market monitoring and control spiraling prices in the market. He also said other food commodities in addition to rice, edible oil, refined flour and sugar will be distributed through Nepal Food Corporation, Salt Trading Corporation and National Trading Corporation Source: www.myrepublica.com Date: 08/04/2009 SKorea reopens EPS sector South Korea reopened its manufacturing sector for migrant labourers from August 1, the Employment Permit System (EPS) office said. EPS, a government body which hires foreign workers for South Korean industries, had stopped hiring Nepalis workers in manufacturing industries since June. EPS system started on July 22, 2007 on the basis of a bilateral agreement between Nepal and South Korea.Around 2,850 Nepalis are working in South Korean industries — manufacturing, agriculture and fisheries — since August 2008. Nepali migrant workers working in South Korea are contributing Rs 2 billion annually in remittance. “The Human Resource Department (HRD) of South Korea reopened the manufacturing sector a month earlier,” the EPS Nepal website read. Earlier on June 10, HRD South Korea had notified stopping EPS process for the manufacturing sector till August 30.
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Nepal and South Korea are struggling to renew the agreement which expired on July 22, 2009. On July 13, the government had decided to send Minister for Labour and Transport Management Mohamed Aftab Alam to South Korea for renewing the agreement but the date is not fixed yet. South Korea is a lucrative destination for Nepali migrant workers where EPS workers are getting monthly salary of $970 to $1,000 — five times more than in Gulf countries and Malaysia. Around 1,91,592 foreign nationals including Nepalis are working in South Korea under EPS. Despite recession, South Korea has been hiring Nepali job-seekers under the 2008 quota. Around 38 Nepalis left for South Korea on Monday whereas 23 Nepalis — 18 men and five women — will go there on August 10. According to EPS Nepal, those 23 workers will work in 16 different companies of Seoul and other cities. The break-up Top EPS countries Vietnam Thailand The Philippines Indonesia Mongolia
Workers 50,869 31,170 30,328 23,574 18,267
Source: The Himalayan Times Date: 08/04/2009 RMG sector on verge of folding up, says GAN The downslide on all fronts of the country has left the Nepali garment industry in a shambles. Thanks to lack of security and proper facilities from the government, Nepali Readymade Garment (RMG) industry that used to be one of the most exportable products to the US is on the verge of extinction. “We are still getting orders but we are unable to execute these,” said Garment Association of Nepal (GAN) president Prashant Kumar Pokharel. Due to high production costs and hostile labour laws, only 12 RMG industries were surviving till recently. However, the top five of these 12 industries are shutting down one by one or running at marginal capacity. RMG export has fallen steeply. In July, the total export of Nepali RMG was worth $560,000 that is an increment of eight per cent compared to the same period last year, according to GAN data. In June, total export was worth $188,000 — a fall of 80 per cent compared to last June. In May, total export was worth $571,000, a decrease by 49 per cent compared to last May. While April saw total export worth $529,000 it still was a fall of 58 per cent compared to last April. March went the same way, seeing a fall of 31 per cent with total export worth $682,000. In February, there was a fall of 65 per cent compared to
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last February with total export this February worth $915,000. During January RMG export was worth $706,000 — a drop by 73 per cent compared to last January. “We are left with no solution to problems,” said Pokharel. The top five industries surviving were J D Apparels, Momento Apparels, Ami Apparels, Surya Nepal and Cotton Comfort. Of these five, three are located in the Tarai. Due to insecurity, labour problems, strikes and bandhs, J D Apparels closed last month. Momento Apparels and Ami Apparels are operational at only 20 per cent of capacity. Cotton Comfort closed a year ago Source: The Himalayan Times Date: 08/04/2009 Garment export drops by 55pc Exports of readymade garment to the US has plunged by more than half over the first seven months of 2009 than what the country exported during the same period last year. As buyers in the largest apparel market shift to the cheaper suppliers, Nepal could export garment worth mere $4.16 million to the US. Exports for the period stood at 7 percent of what Nepal exported in 2004. Since the elimination of quota in the global apparel trading in 2005, Nepal has witnessed a sharp drop in exports due to reasons such as eroding competitiveness in international market, increasing labor problems and incidents of bandas, which subsequently affected productions as well as timely delivery of orders. While the problems of the industry still remain the same, exports in July dropped by 8 percent as compared to the exports recorded in the same period last year. According to the statistics of Garment Association Nepal (GAN), the export of readymade garment to the US in July stood at $560,000. In July 2004, Nepal had exported garments worth $ 5.69 million in the US market. Exporters said the present global economic slowdown and decline in consumption by the US consumers mainly hit the exports in recent months. However, it is not the sole reason behind the downfall of the industry, which was once the largest foreign currency spinning sector. The industry first suffered in 2002, when the US pledged duty-free market access to Nepal´s competitors in sub-Saharan and Caribbean countries. The facility made the productions of those countries cheaper than Nepal´s by over 17 percent. Phase out of quota system from January 2005 landed another axe to the business, while industrial insecurity, labor stir and general strikes, which increased significantly in the following years, caused massive closure of manufacturing units, shrinking the number of industry to about a dozen from over 250 units.
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Still, the exporters believe that the industry could bounce back if the US government pledged duty-free entry facility to Nepal and the government here developed garment processing zone in the vicinity of Birgunj, which could reduce transit transportation cost by some 20 percent. Source: www.myrepublica.com Date: 08/04/2009 75 percent say mobile service bad KATHMANDU, Aug 3 - A survey has shown that 75 percent of mobile phone users think that the quality of mobile service in the country is bad. Only 7 percent of the respondents said that the service was good in a study carried out by the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA), the regulatory body of telecom service in Nepal. The NTA had started the survey three months ago through its website after users complained that service quality was deteriorating. The survey is still going on and the above figure is based on the responses as of Monday evening. The survey asked mobile users to state whether they thought service was "good", "bad", "satisfactory" or "can't say". Among the respondents, 75.51 percent termed the service bad, 7.14 percent said good, 13.27 percent satisfactory and 4.08 percent were undecided. NTA spokesman Kailash Prasad Neupane said the survey showed that people were not happy with the quality of the country's mobile service. "We will talk to the service providers after the finalization of the survey and direct them to improve quality," he said. The biggest telecom service provider Nepal Telecom has, however, claimed that its service quality had improved in recent days. "Based on our internal evaluation, we have found that service quality has improved in recent days," said Surendra Prasad Thike, spokesman of NT. According to the NTA, there are 4.65 million mobile users in the country with NT counting 2.78 million subscribers and Mero Mobile 1.86 million subscribers. Source: www.kantipuronline.com
HIMALAYA appointed agent KATHMANDU, Aug 3 - Chinese Mountaineering Association (CMA) has appointed HIMALAYA Expeditions as its direct expedition agent in Nepal. With this appointment, the CMA will issue the necessary expedition permits/documents and be responsible for all logistical services of foreign expedition
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groups organized by HIMALAYA Expeditions. In the letter issued by the CMA, Li Zhixin, deputy president, expressed that their relation would be further strengthened. Source: www.kantipuronline.com
MARKET:
NEPSE falls again KATHMANDU, Aug 3 - The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) Monday fell 4.55 points. The sensitive index also declined by 2.12 points. Most NEPSE sub-indices took a tumble too. The banking sector lost the most with a drop of 10.23 points followed by development bank, insurance and finance which shed 1.3 points, 0.19 point and 0.06 point respectively. The hydropower and trading sectors were the only ones to post a rise. The share market witnessed a total turnover of Rs. 79.655 million with 134,350 shares being traded. Shares of 65 companies changed hands on NEPSE. Among the 18 commercial banks listed on NEPSE, Laxmi Bank posted the biggest growth with its stock rising by 7 points. Similarly, among the 15 development banks whose shares were traded on NEPSE on Monday, Malika Bikas Bank witnessed the highest increase of 27 points. Among the 23 finance companies on NEPSE, Lumbini Finance Limited was the highest gainer among finance companies with an increase of 49 points. The top five winners on NEPSE were Lumbini Finance with a 9.96 percent rise in its stock price followed by National Hydropower Company, Malika Bikas Bank, Shikhar Bittiya Sanstha and Lord Buddha Financial Institution. Similarly, the top five losers on Monday were Kumari Bank which fell by 4.35 percent followed by DCBL Bank, ICFC Bittiya Sanstha, United Finance and Nepal Credit and Commerce Bank. Citizens Bank International topped the chart in terms of turnover with Rs. 12.756 million. Source: www.kantipuronline.com
Prime’s shares allotted
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KATHMANDU, Aug 3 - As many as 74,858 applicants for ordinary shares of Prime Bank have been allotted shares. Three million units of shares went on sale from May 24-27 which attracted 335,448 applicants including the bank's 155 employees. The per share value of the ordinary shares stands at Rs. 100. According to a press release of the bank, the results of the allotment can be viewed on Prime Bank's website www.primebank.com.np and its issue manager Citizen Investment Trust's website www.nlkosh.org.np. Source: www.kantipuronline.com
IRD slaps Rs 5.1m penalty to CoMEN Inland Revenue Department has slapped a penalty of Rs 5.1 million to Commodity and Mercantile Exchange of Nepal (CoMEN), a company trading on future markets, for not complying with tax laws. “The company, going by its transactions, should have registered with value added tax (VAT), but it had not,” said an IRD source, elaborating that the department´s team, after investigating the case, assessed the liability on Sunday. The amount includes VAT assessment amount and fine slapped for non-compliance. IRD had initiated investigation against CoMEN on the ground that there is no specific regulatory authority to govern the future markets operations. Citing similar statement, the government in the budget speech for current fiscal year has announced to make arrangements to regulate the future markets trading. Source: www.myrepublica.com Date: 08/04/2009
GENERAL:
WFP refutes INSEC allegations on food quality The United Nations World Food Programme has refuted allegations made by Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC) about the quality of food supplied in the mid western region. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) and World Health Organization (WHO) deny the allegations made by President Subodh Raj Pyakurel of the Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC) that WFP rice, edible oils and lentils have caused the cholera
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outbreak in the Mid West of Nepal, UNWFP country representative Richard Ragan and WHO representative Dr. Alexander Andjaparidze said in a joint statement issued Monday. This is an unscientifically proven statement that could further endanger the lives of people who may decide to skip or reduce needed food in a misguided attempt to protect themselves from this outbreak. Spreading false information that food is the source of cholera contamination will only put more lives at risk, the statement says. INSEC had alleged the food material provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) was responsible for the outbreak of cholera and diarrhea in the mid-western region of the country, at a press meet organised in Nepalgunj on Sunday, according to reports. We have found the rice rotten and molded, said INSEC president Pyakurel claiming the substandard quality of rice distributed by the WFP was a reason for spreading of diarrhea epidemic in Mid-Western region. Pyakurel demanded for a quality test of the WFP food aid. According to UNWFP and WHO, cholera can only be transmitted through contaminated water or lack of adequate hygiene practices and not through rice, lentils or oil. Source: www.nepalnews.com Date: August 03, 2009
Homecoming still a far cry for Maoist displaced DANG, Aug 3 - Hundreds of people are still living in displacement in Dang district as the UCPN (Maoist) has not return their seized properties despite the party’s often repeated commitment to do so. According to the Maoist Victims’ Association, Dang, more than 800 displaced people have not returned home as their captured properties are still in Maoist control. “Maoists had looted all my belongings, captured my land and dismantled my house during the insurgency. How can I return when I have nothing in the village?” Janardan Sharma of Shrigaun asked. Sharma, the district vice chairman of Nepali Congress, has been staying in Tulsipur since the Maoists tore down his house and captured his land some eight years ago. He claimed he could not use his property even though the Maoists announced they had returned all seized properties to the rightful owners. “We are deprived of property rights and have no income source. In such a situation, how can I return to build my house?” he asked.
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Of the total 875 displaced people in the district, the houses and properties of 473 people have not yet been returned. Moreover, the houses of more than 100 displaced people are in ruins. District chairman of the association, Lokmani Giri, said that local Maoist activists refused to return captured lands and properties on various pretexts. “They even prevented the owners from selling properties claiming that those properties were ‘disputed’,” said Giri. The Maoist district committee had earlier announced that it had returned all seized properties except those of 15 families. They, however, urged the displaced people to return home in coordination with farmers who had been using their properties. “The problem is with the farmers. The conviction of our party is that those farmers who have been tilling the land since long should get their share,” said Maoist district assistant in-charge Sagar, adding, “We cannot leave those farmers landless anymore.” Source: www.kantipuronline.com
Small arms racket names political clients Some alarming findings have emerged in connection with the growing small arms menace in the capital Valley after a racket was busted at a shopping mall last week, police sources say. The group, from who police extracted three pistols and 36 rounds of ammunition, has named some political leaders and cadres of student and youth wings as their clients, investigation officers tell myrepublica.com. The group is said to have mentioned the names of political individuals who allegedly pulled pistols during the Free Students Union elections and recent student scuffles. "We know the political individuals possessing illegal arms in good numbers. But this is the first time that a suppliers´ group has made such claims," officers say. Metropolitan Police had arrested four persons including an Indian national, in possession of arms and ammunition, from the underground parking of Kathmandu Mall. "They were about to negotiate a deal when we busted them," an officer said. "It seems they chose the secluded place for their transaction." Members of the gang - Indian national Sanjay Raut, Bishwa Nath Mahato (Mahottari), Kamal Adhikari (Nawalparasi) and Arbin Raut (Sarlahi)--had apparently been engaged in the scrap business. This is the second time over four months that police have busted arm suppliers in the capital. The Tinku Singh group, which was arrested with two SMGs, one silencer pistol and three branded pistols on March 17, 2009, was allegedly involved in dispatching arms from India to Nepal. Police then described the seizure of lethal
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weapons as a timely crackdown on a dreadful design against the political or diplomatic community. Tinku Singh was even described as an associate of the internationally most-wanted Indian, Chote Rajan. Police officers say the latter racket is found to have been active in the capital since the time racketeering in red sandalwood became rife. "They, basically, sold weapons to groups that moved sandalwood through the Valley," a senior investigation official said. "The group seems to have been supplying weapons to several types of clients for five years. We are looking at the linkages and will then take action," said Navaraj Silwal, Chief of Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu. Silwal admits that the group´s ties to seemingly non-criminal individuals show a need for a new approach to law and order concerns and says it is too early to offer further elaborations. That political individuals possess illegal weapons is no longer a matter of mere suspicion among security agencies. Last year, a leader of the Sadbhawana Party (Anandidevi), Bikash Kumar Tiwari, was arrested with a pistol but was awarded bail by the District Administration Office, Kathmandu. Similarly, Ain Bahadur Magar, Valley in-charge of UML-affiliated Youth Force, is now in detention for allegedly opening fire at Tri-Chandra College last month. Records for the last two fiscal years show the pervasive use of small arms in the country. Over fiscal year 2064/65, some 125 arms were confiscated from different individuals or groups. Fiscal year 2065/66 saw an increase to more than 150. The first half of 2009 saw the seizure of 18 arms in the capital alone. Source: www.myrepublica.com Date: 08/04/2009
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