R&D Economic Research & Business Development
Date: October 5, 2009
Highlights
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President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa is scheduled to visit Nepal in October-end.
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Nepali Congress (NC) president Girija Prasad Koirala and Unified CPN (Maoist) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal have held secret talks at former chief secretary Lok Man Singh Karki's residence in Baneshwar, Sunday.
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Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai has said that until the unconstitutional steps of President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav to reinstate erstwhile Army Chief Rukmangad Katawal was not corrected; consensus between political parties will just be a cry in the wilderness.
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Nepali Congress (NC) President Girija Prasad Koirala on Sunday expressed confidence that the stalled Legislature-Parliament proceedings would resume from Wednesday.
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Matrika Yadav, who rebelled from the Maoist party to form another party, which goes by the same name, has said his party is going to float its own army.
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The World Bank has floated a proposal under its regional package to support the construction of the 400 KV direct current Dhalkhebar-Muzaffarpur crossborder transmission line between Nepal and India.
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The World Bank (WB) is keen to provide additional financial assistance to support Nepal's development endeavors.
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A writ petition has been filed at the Supreme Court today seeking its action against senior officials of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) and the Government of Nepal for creating shortage of higher denominations currency notes ahead of the Dashain.
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The construction of 400-KV Nepal-India transmission lines has stalled due to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)’s reluctance to approve Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) rates proposed by Power Trading Corporation (PTC) of India.
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Laxmi Bank, one of the leading commercial banks of the country, Sunday launched mobile payments in Nepal under the brand Mobile Money, which according to the bank, is a complete mobile banking.
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Nearly three-week long cash shortage in the banking system has eased down remarkably, as hard cash started coming back to banking channel after the end of Dashain festival.
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Even though there are over a dozen of banks operating in Mahendranagar, the district headquarters of Kanchanpur, the rural areas of the district are deprived of basic banking services.
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A bank manager of the Bhairahawa branch of Himalayan Bank was killed in an accident when his car hit a mango tree on the side of the road at Passari 5, Lakhan Chowk, Rupandehi on Saturday.
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The government has opened the country's 17th land port in Feni district hoping to boost export to seven northeast Indian states including Tripura.
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Bangladesh raised the issue for inclusion of Nepal and Bhutan in the transit during the talks with India on different occasions in the past.
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The government is soon importing 5,000 tons of sugar from India instead of Thailand.
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Banepa, the district headquarters of Kavre, has become a business hub in the east of Kathmandu offering every business facility people enjoy in Kathmandu valley.
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Ridi Hydropower Development Company — a subsidiary of Arun valley Hrdropower — is planning to float shares among the public. It has started trial production of 2.4 megawatt (MW) power from September 6.
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Gold and silver transactions even could not glitter during this Dashain festival due to increasing prices and shortage of currency notes.
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The wealthiest Americans are getting poorer, losing 300 billion dollars of their net worth over the past 12 months, according to an annual Forbes magazine ranking released.
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A man of Saramujawa in Rautahat died on Sunday following the alleged torture by the Indian border security force, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), personnel on Saturday.
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Police statistics show that currently, 48 percent of the crimes reported have been committed by youngsters. Of the 250 people arrested for various crimes in Kathmandu Valley last year, 122 people were aged between 17 and 25 years.
POLITICS: Sri Lankan Prez to visit Nepal President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa is scheduled to visit Nepal in October-end.
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Rajapaksa, who is also current Chair of the SAARC, is mainly visiting Nepal to make a pilgrimage to Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, it is learnt. He could not make a trip to Lumbini during his earlier visit in Nepal in March this year as he had to cut short his stay after gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan. Source: www.nepalnews.com Date: October 5, 2009 Koirala, Dahal hold secret talks at former royal aide's house Nepali Congress (NC) president Girija Prasad Koirala and Unified CPN (Maoist) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal have held secret talks at former chief secretary Lok Man Singh Karki's residence in Baneshwar, Sunday. Koirala and Dahal reached Karki's residence to attend the closing of Mahapuran organised there. However, both the leaders went straight to Karki's living room and spent over half an hour in seclusion. The only other person present there was Dahal's son Prakash, according to Kantipur daily. Reports say, the meeting was focused on changing the present coalition. At the meeting, Maoist supremo Dahal proposed Koirala to become the Prime Minister again, it is understood. Both leaders had attended a tea reception hosted by CPN (UML) a few hours ago. Other leaders and journalists were unaware of Dahal and Koirala's plan to meet at Karki's residence. The meeting was arranged within short notice, reports say. NC leaders have criticised Koirala for attending a former royal aide's function, while skipping most meetings of the party citing health reasons. Karki, who entered civil service by a royal decree, was promoted to the post of chief secretary by former king Gyanendra Shah overtaking other senior bureaucrats during the royal regime. The high-level judicial probe commission headed by former Supreme Court Justice Krishna Jung Rayamajhi had established Karki's involvement in suppressing peaceful protests during the second people's movement. The erstwhile cabinet led by Girija Prasad Koirala had suspended Karki from his post based on the commission's report. Source: www.nepalnews.com Date: October 5, 2009 No Consensus until Nepal Prez Steps Corrected: Dr. Bhattarai Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai has said that until the unconstitutional steps of President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav to reinstate erstwhile Army Chief Rukmangad Katawal was not corrected; consensus between political parties will just be a cry in the wilderness.
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CoAS Katwal was sacked by Maoist government on May 3, 2009 and the same late evening President Yadav reinstated the sacked Nepal Army Chief. The Unified Maoists’ Arghakhanchi District Chapter had organized a mass meet wherein Dr. Bhattarai even claimed that President Yadav’s unconstitutional decision had harmed the notion of Civilian Supremacy. Dr. Yadav said Bhattarai, had taken an anti-people decision as per the instructions served by Rukmangad Katawal-the then Nepal Army Chief. Dr. Bhattarai reprimanding the United Marxist Leninists’ Party said “the UML had taken dubious stance and has only been flaring up the crisis plaguing the nation of late”. “If the anti-people decision of the President is not corrected”, said Bhattarai serving warning to the parties in the government that the “forthcoming protest programs will wipe-out the anti-people forces from the current political scene.” Bhattarai nevertheless, claimed that if the current dispute was not solved through dialogue, the country will fall into an abyss. “We want peace and prosperity”, he said adding, “the parliamentary parties are serving their foreign masters and inviting conflict in the country.” However, Dr. Bhattarai did not name the foreign countries the Nepalese leaders were serving? Reportedly, Dr. Bhattarai had held four hour long secret talks with the Indian Foreign Secretary Mrs. Nirupama Rao when she visited Nepal last month. Dr. Bhattarai who was on a trip to the remote areas of the country was airlifted to Kathmandu to meet the Indian Diplomat. The Chopper charge to airlift Dr. Bhattarai was, as the rumours then had it, pleasingly paid by the Indian embassy. Source: www.telegraphnepal.com Date: October 5, 2009
Stalemate will end Wednesday: Koirala Kathmandu - Nepali Congress (NC) President Girija Prasad Koirala on Sunday expressed confidence that the stalled Legislature-Parliament proceedings would resume from Wednesday, even as UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal said parties must make sacrifices to end the impasse. “As per the schedule, the House will sit on Oct.7 and I’m sure we will be able to forge a consensus beforehand,” said NC President Girija Prasad Koirala at a tea party
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hosted by the CPN-UML at its headquarters in Balkhu on Sunday to mark the end of Dashain. Koirala expressed hope that the High-Level Political Mechanism (HLPC) would take shape in a day or two. The NC president said the HLPC was a must to prevent possible split of the NC, UCPN (Maoist) and the UML due to intra-party feuds. “The high-level mechanism is crucial for the resolution of all existing problems and there should be no delay in its formation,” said Koirala. Maoist Chairman Dahal said the high-level mechanism had not taken shape because parties were yet to deal with some issues. “We should resolve the current impasse first for a smooth functioning of the mechanism,” said Dahal. Attempts for a consensus are moving in a positive direction, the Maoist chief said, expressing hope that parties might find a way out by Wednesday. “We have made sacrifices. A new agreement is possible by Oct. 7 if other parties are ready to yield ground,” Dahal said. UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal appealed to the parties to get their acts together to draft the Constitution within the deadline of May 2010. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal noted that Dashain had helped create a conductive environment for consensus. Asking the leaders to form the HLPC soon, Nepal said it would be great if the House impasse ended by Wednesday. The tea reception saw a bevy of senior bureaucrats, diplomats, politicians, party cadre and commoners. Guests, including Chief of Army Staff Chhatra Man Singh Gurung, were finding it hard to get a seat. Gurung’s predecessor Rookmangud Katawal was also present. Source: www.ekantipur.com Date: October 5, 2009 Matrika to form army Matrika Yadav, who rebelled from the Maoist party to form another party, which goes by the same name, has said his party is going to float its own army. Organising a press conference in Malangawa, Sarlahi, on Sunday, Yadav said no political force could complete revolution without its own army and that his party was going to float its armed force soon. Yadav said his party would not possess weapons, but would be forced to capture state's arms and launch armed revolt if the state tried to crush the movement. Yadav also refuted reports that Indian police had seized a consignment of weapons imported by his party and that his group was planning an armed war. Source: www.nepalnews.com Date: October 5, 2009
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POLICY:
WB proposes support for Dhalkhebar-Muzaffarpur TL The World Bank has floated a proposal under its regional package to support the construction of the 400 KV direct current Dhalkhebar-Muzaffarpur cross-border transmission line between Nepal and India. The World Bank team is set to hold a preliminary talk with the government at the Ministry of Energy (MoE) in this regard on Monday. “The WB is interested in supporting the construction of the main DalkhebarMuzafurpur line. We are positive in this regard,” Minister for Energy Dr Prakash Saran Mahat told myrepublica.com. He, however, added that any agreement in this regard is contingent on India´s nod as it involves approval from both the governments. “Any deal with the bank needs India´s agreement as well. We are hoping to strike a deal with the Indian side as well,” Mahat said. Minister Mahat also informed that the WB had evinced such an interest also during the video conferencing held between the Nepal government and the bank officials last month. He said the loan assistance will be decided upon the agreement on the modality of the project. “First we have to agree on the modality of involving the multilateral institution, following which the details will be decided,” the Minister said. The total length of the project is 145 km with 45 km in Nepal and another 100 km in India which would have a capacity to carry about 1400-1500 MW power. The WB some four months back had agreed to only provide technical assistance to support the synchronous operation of the project and also agreed to pay for the technicians hired for the purpose. Although the proposal may be lucrative to the government, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) officials project a lot of problems in reaching an agreement because of the presence of two separate companies in the project. The two countries have in place two joint-venture companies formed for the implementation in the respective territories. The CPTC (Cross Border Power Transmission Company) for the Indian side was set up in December 2006 (100% owned subsidiary of IL&FS, the Indian infrastructure developing company, with a provision for equity participation from NEA 26%, power grid 26%, Power Trading Corporation of India 11% and others) and PTCN (Power Transmission Company Nepal) for Nepal side was set-up in September 2007 (50:50 JV company of NEA and IL&FS with a provision to divest 24% of IL&FS equity to foreign investments and banks of Nepal). “How the WB can grant a direct loan for the project is a difficult proposition. Also, the Indian Power Ministry has already sanctioned $13.4 million soft loan for the
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construction of the line in Nepal´s side,” a NEA official said. The source added that in India there is no system of granting easy loan and that is the main problem faced by the private sector there, which is now asking for ´special´ consideration from the central government in India. “And ultimately the project can advance only on the basis of conformity from the system planning as the World Bank too will seek the Power Purchase Agreement if it has to grant loan for the project. It would be better if the loan is directed at strengthening the internal grid instead,” he added. The World Bank gives two types of loan. One directly to the states and the other as private loans given to the private companies. Source: www.myrepublica.com Date: 2009-10-05 WB bares generous soul The World Bank (WB) is keen to provide additional financial assistance to support Nepal's development endeavors. Isabel Gurrero, WB Vice President for South Asia Region, disclosed this on Saturday during a meeting with Finance Minister Surendra Pandey on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the WB and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Turkey. According to a Finance Ministry statement, the WB aid Nepal to implement some region-based programmes and schemes on a priority basis. Pandey held a meeting with IMF deputy managing director, and the meeting dwelt on IMF's support areas, read the release. Finance Secretary Rameshwore Prasad Khanal and Nepal Rastra Bank Governor Bijaya Nath Bhattarai were also present in the meetings. Source: www.ekantipur.com Date: October 5, 2009 Writ petition filed in SC against government, central bank officials A writ petition has been filed at the Supreme Court today seeking its action against senior officials of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) and the Government of Nepal for creating shortage of higher denominations currency notes ahead of the Dashain. Advocate Hemmani Subedi registered the petition demanding mandamus order against Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, Finance Minister Surendra Pandey, Acting Chief Commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) Lalit Bahadur Limbu, NRB Governor Bijaya Nath Bhattarai and Currency Management Department Chief Ashwini Kumar Thakur for creating shortage of currency notes. The petitioner also sought the apex court order to NRB to recollect the defect notes supplied. The central bank has been accused of covering-up the crisis through the supply of the defect notes and Indian currency notes.
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Stating that the NRB tactic to cover-up the crisis was against the welfare of the common people, the apex court directive has been demanded to take action against the top officials of the central bank who have their hands in the irregularities. The petitioner accused the government and the CIAA for their inaction against those responsible for the currency notes shortage. The advocate also claimed that the NRB violated the rights of the commoners to earn, deposit and withdraw money as and when they needed. The apex court’s order to set up an inquiry panel is also sought. Source: The Himalayan Times Date: 2009-10-04 Power transmission project in limbo Kathmandu - The construction of 400-KV Nepal-India transmission lines has stalled due to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)’s reluctance to approve Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) rates proposed by Power Trading Corporation (PTC) of India. As per the agreement signed between NEA and IL & FS, an Indian Company, in 2007, construction of the 400-KV transmission lines linking Nepal’s Dhalkebar with India’s Muzzafarpur should complete by this December. However, differences on PPA rates between the two parties have halted the construction work. According to a source, “IL & FS can take loan from financial institutions in India only after PPA is signed between the two countries.” Construction of the 105-kilometer transmission lines in the Indian side will cost around five billion rupees. The Indian companies proposed PPA rates per unit are IRs 4.80 (Rs 7.78) and IRs 3.25 (Rs 5.20) for short and long terms respectively. An NEA source preferring anonymity said, “Approval of PPA rates will cause a big loss to the NEA,” adding, “NEA will have to increase electricity tariff to compensate the loss. “ However, officials from the Indian side do not buy this argument. They say construction of the transmission lines is crucial for sustainable development of hydro sector in both the countries and none of the parties will face loss. An IL &FS representative said both the NEA and the Indian company are holding talks on required modalities for the construction of the transmission lines. The Indian side is hopeful that the NEA will okay the proposed rates by the end of October. The NEA stated works like survey and environment impact assessment and energy evacuation studies on the Nepalese side have already been completed. Nepal and India had opened a Nepal-based joint venture company in 2007 to install the transmission lines linking the two nations.
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Source: www.ekantipur.com Date: October 5, 2009 BANKING: Laxmi Bank launches mobile payments Laxmi Bank, one of the leading commercial banks of the country, Sunday launched mobile payments in Nepal under the brand Mobile Money, which according to the bank, is a complete mobile banking. The new system, which is available only to account holders of the bank, enables people to transfer money to 10 chosen customers of the Laxmi Bank or pay phone bills by using mobile phones. According to a press statement issued by the bank, launch of Mobile Money marks an evolution for basic information-oriented SMS service, focused mainly on nonfinancial transactions such as balance checking and transaction alerts to actual financial transactions such as fund transfers and bill payments. The launch of Mobile Money by the bank, which is in its seventh year of operation and the leader of electronic banking in Nepal, is sure to bring a major change on ways of services that Nepali banks are providing to their customers, said Suman Joshi, CEO of the bank. "The true anytime-anywhere service conducted through mobile phones will enable customers to conduct major banking activities without visiting a branch, ATM kiosk or logging to the internet," Joshi added. Answering queries raised by pressmen, CEO Joshi said the latest mobile banking technology has been put into implementation after a yearlong study conducted in different markets with similar infrastructures and that the security of the system has been properly tested. Joshi further informed that cost of the transfer of funds from and to personal accounts will be Rs 10 per transaction, whereas the facility of paying phone bills will be available free of cost to the bank´s account holders. "We believe that as the penetration of mobile phone increases, the newly-launched service can be developed as the most economical and convincing tools of making payments," Joshi emphasized. Source: www.myrepublica.com Date: 2009-10-04 Cash shortage almost over: NRB Nearly three-week long cash shortage in the banking system has eased down remarkably, as hard cash started coming back to banking channel after the end of Dashain festival. Most of the capital-based leading banks are of unanimity that the flow of notes into the system has almost come to normalcy. 9
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“Almost 90 percent of the cash shortage problem has been solved and the remaining 10 percent will disappear once the central bank receives fresh supplies of notes, which is expected by the by the end of this week," Sashin Joshi, president of Nepal Bankers´ Association told Republica. Intra-bank transfer of surplus funds, which was put in place before the festival, will continue for some more time as it greatly helped to deal with the crisis, Joshi added. According to bankers, some of the banks in emerging cities outside the capital, however, are still facing mild pressure of higher withdrawals but overall situation is within manageable limit. The net inflow of hard cash was more than the outflow in most of the banks on Sunday that greatly helped them to regain the hard cash balance, said the banker. "This indicates the improve confidence of depositors toward banks," the banker said. A senior officer of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) also expressed confidence that the ongoing mismatch between the demand and supply of bank notes will end by the end of this week. “The present mismatch that is estimated to be around Rs 4 billion will be sorted out once the central bank receives a record new 500-rupee notes amounting Rs 15.5 billion," the officer said. If things go as planned, the fresh notes will be loaded on 6 October to transport to Nepal from Kolkotta and will enter the county on 8 October, said the official. Though the official admitted that there were some weaknesses with the management of fresh notes, he maintained that the stock of fresh notes will attain normal level to face any expected demand of notes when the central bank receives a huge amount of new 100-rupee notes printed by an Indonesian company by the end of 2009. Meanwhile, Nepal Rastra Bank called the chief executive officers of all the 26 commercial bank at its office on Sunday and assured that the central bank has managed enough stock of notes. According to a banker who attended the meeting, NRB governor Bijaya Nath Bhattarai told bankers that along with the new deposits that the banks have started receiving, the NRB will also get a fresh supply of notes, most probably, by Thursday. "As the shortage of notes will completely end by the end of this week, there is no reason to panic," the banker quoted governor Bhattarai as saying. Source: www.myrepublica.com Date: 2009-10-05 Banks ignore rural areas in Kanchanpur Kanchanpur - Even though there are over a dozen of banks operating in Mahendranagar, the district headquarters of Kanchanpur, the rural areas of the district are deprived of basic banking services.
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There are at least six private banks and four government banks providing their services in Mahendranagar. However, they are not interested to expand their reach to the villages where they could invest to uplift the livelihood of the poor and backward families. Even the banks which had branches in the rural areas before the conflict have not shown initiative to reestablish the branches. While the Rastriya Banijya Naml, Agriculture Development Bank, Nepal Bank Limited and Rural Development Bank have been focusing their services in the urban areas the private sector's Makila Development Bank, Mahakali Development Bank, Kanchanpur Development Bank, NCC Bank, Siddhartha Bank and Nabil Bank are also shying to reach to the rural areas. Kist, NIC, Everest and SBI banks are also planning to open their branches in Mahendranagar soon. Besides, the banks are investing mainly on industrial sector, vehicles, housing and businesses, neglecting the agriculture and cottage industry Source: www.ekantipur.com Date: October 5, 2009 Bank manager dies in accident A bank manager of the Bhairahawa branch of Himalayan Bank was killed in an accident when his car hit a mango tree on the side of the road at Passari 5, Lakhan Chowk, Rupandehi on Saturday at approximately 11 pm. The deceased has been identified as Binaya Kumar Joshi, a local resident of Ranibari, Kathmandu. Along with him two others have been seriously injured. The injured are Dependra Kumar Bhatta and Kumar Lama, local residents of Ranibari, Kathmandu. Dependra is undergoing treatment at Bhairahawa Medical College and Kumar has been brought to Kathmandu for treatment. According to the police, Binaya was undergoing treatment in Bhairahawa Medical College when he breathed his last. Describing the accident he said that the car which was heading to Birahawa from Butwal on Siddhartha Highway, suddenly lost control and hit a tree. Source: The Himalayan Times Date: 2009-10-04 BUSINESS & ECONOMY: New land port launched to expand export to India Feni, Oct 4 (bdnews24.com)—The government has opened the country's 17th land port in Feni district hoping to boost export to seven northeast Indian states including Tripura.
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Shipping minister Shahjahan Khan formally inaugurated the Bilonia Land Port, which had been a tax station, in Porshuram Upazila on Sunday. Indian state Tripura's commerce minister Gitendra Chowdhury, Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, shipping secretary Masud Elahi, India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Matlub Ahmed, among others, attended the inaugural ceremony. The minister said the new land port meant to fulfill another electoral pledge of the Awami League- government. He also expressed the hope to expand trade with Nepal and Bhutan. Gitendra Chowdhury said over 100 years ago goods were transported to Tripura through Feni. The new land port has resumed the trade in a new form. He said it would be cost effective for his government if it can import construction materials from Bangladesh. He also said, "We have plenty of rubber and fruits, you (Bangladeshi authorities) may make use of them." Matlub Ahmed at a news conference in the capital on Saturday said, "With the inauguration of the new land port Bangladesh will be able to increase export to northeast Indian states (Seven Sisters), further closing the trade gap." According to the Export Promotion Bureau figure, Bangladesh had a trade gap with India worth $ 158.70 crore (2.59 billion) in the 2008-09 fiscal year. The exporters and importers from Chittagong, Noakhali and Feni areas will be able to transport their goods at very low costs through the new port, he had said. "We have estimated that the cost of transporting goods using the other land ports is around 20,000 taka. Transporting goods using the Bilonia-Feni port lowers it to around 5,000 taka," the IBCCI chief told the media. "We are hoping that Bangladesh will export goods worth 1 billion dollar to India by 2011," Ahmed added. Source: www.bdnews24.com Date: October 4, 2009 Dhaka wants Nepal, Bhutan in transit talk Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh wants to include Nepal and Bhutan in establishing the transit with India. Bangladesh raised the issue for inclusion of Nepal and Bhutan in the transit during the talks with India on different occasions in the past. The PM said this when visiting Economic Affairs Minister of Bhutan Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk paid a call on her at her office in the capital yesterday morning.
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PM's Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad briefed the newsmen after the meeting. During the meeting, they discussed issues on bilateral interests, including expansion of trade and people-to-people contact between the two countries, and facing global warming and climate change. The premier said Bangladesh attaches importance to its relationship with Bhutan as this South Asian neighbor was the first country to recognize Bangladesh after its independence in 1971. Referring to her meeting with US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, Hasina informed the Bhutanese minister that she had brought the issue of climate change for which the developing countries are not responsible. "I told the US president that developed countries are mainly responsible for the current global warming. So, they have to take major responsibilities to tackle the situation." Mentioning the scenic beauty of Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh, the PM said the three countries can launch a package programme to attract tourists as Bhutan and Nepal have hills while Bangladesh has the world's longest sea beach. Laying emphasis on expanding the people-to-people contact between the two countries, she observed that both the countries would be benefited with exchange of visits. Hasina also expressed hope that the two countries are pledged-bound to extend cooperation in establishing world peace. The Bhutanese minister congratulated Hasina on her assumption of office as the Prime Minister after her party's overwhelming victory in the last general election. The victory will give democracy a firm footing in Bangladesh, Wangchuk added. He widely acclaimed Hasina for her address on climate change issue in the recently concluded UNGA, saying this will help tackle challenges of global warming for which least developed countries are the worst victims. In this context, Wangchuk said Bhutan is facing natural disasters due to global climate change and sought Bangladesh's cooperation in the disaster management process. Referring to excellent bilateral relations between the two countries, he expressed hope that the relations would be further expedited in the days to come. About the PM's upcoming visit to Bhutan, he said the people of his country are eagerly waiting to welcome the Bangladesh premier in their country on November 6. The Bhutanese minister also informed the PM that Bhutan is going to set up a medical college where Bangladeshi doctors would be recruited.
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Bhutanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Dasho Bap Kesang, PM's Principal Secretary M A Karim, Office Secretary Mollah Waheeduzzaman and Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad were present on the occasion Source: www.thedailystar.net
Govt to import 5k tons of sugar from India The government is soon importing 5,000 tons of sugar from India instead of Thailand. State-owned entities Salt Trading Corporation (STC) and National Trading Ltd (NTL) are importing 2,500 tons each from the southern neighbor at one percent customs, keeping in view the increasing demand of sugar during the festive season. For private importers, the customs duty has been fixed at 15 percent. Initially, the government had planned to import 5,000 tons and 45,000 tons sugar from Thailand and Brazil respectively. “We aborted the plan to import sugar from Thailand as India is willing to sell sugar to us,� Urmila Shrestha, the general manager of STC, told myrepublica.com. Letter of Credit has already been issued to import sugar from Brazil. STC and NTL are importing 30,000 and 20,000 tons of sugar respectively. The domestic market has been experiencing sharp rise in sugar price for the last few months for the last few months due to decline in sugarcane production. Price of sugar in the domestic market shot to Rs 60 to 65 per kg amid supply deficit due to drop in domestic production of sugarcane and rising price in international market. In a bid to intervene the market and discourage cartel, the government is selling sugar at Rs 53 per kg from the outlets of STC, NTL and Nepal Food Corporation (NFC). Officials said domestic production of sugar hovers around 110,000 tons per year against the domestic demand of 150,000 tons. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, the production of sugarcane reduced to 2.48 million tons in fiscal year 2008/09 from 2.6 million tons a year earlier. Source: www.myrepublica.com Date: 2009-10-04 Banepa becomes business hub KAVRE - Banepa, the district headquarters of Kavre, has become a business hub in the east of Kathmandu offering every business facility people enjoy in Kathmandu valley.
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The traders of Banepa are involved in wholesale trading of goods for people of Sindhupalchowk, Ramechhap, Dolakha and Sindhuli. The traders from these districts come to Banepa to purchase goods and items of daily use. "It is cheaper and easier for traders from eastern Nepal purchase goods in Banepa instead of Kathmandu," said Bishwo Ram Luitel, a trader of Banepa. "The businessmen here give goods at cheaper price as most of them are local resident and they should not pay for rent." According to him, even the traders from Bhaktapur and Lalitpur come to Banepa to purchase goods. The businessmen said the goods imported through Khasa, Tibet are also found at cheaper prices compared to Kathmandu as transportation cost is lower for Banepa. Bishnu Bhakta Karmacharya said Banepa offers all facilities available in Kathmandu. "Banking facilities, transportation and real estate’s are helping the city become a business hub," he said. Mankaji Pradhan, a wholesaler of textiles for the last three decades, has been selling his goods to the traders of four districts. His assessment is that both business activities and volumes have gone up here. The trading of food items, textiles and home appliance has boosted in the recent days. President of Kavre Chambers of Commerce and Industry Laxmi Lal Bhandari said that the B.P. Highway, which is under construction and connects Kathmandu to Sindhuli through Banepa, has also contributed greatly to boosting the business in Banepa. According to him, Banepa witnesses the business transactions of more than Rs. 20 million daily. He however lamented that the city was still lagging behind in infrastructure development although business activities were going up. "We have failed to manage the vegetable and wholesale market," he said. Source: www.ekantipur.com Date: October 5, 2009 MARKET: Ridhi Hydro starts power generation Ridi Hydropower Development Company — a subsidiary of Arun valley Hrdropower — is planning to float shares among the public. It has started trial production of 2.4 megawatt (MW) power from September 6. Though it was supposed to get fund from World Bank Power Development Fund, due to some technical problems it did not and was developed through consortium lending from three commercial banks — Bank of Kathmandu (BoK), Machhapuchchhre Bank Ltd (MBL) and Nepal SBI Bank. 15
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The consortium — with Bank of Kathmandu as the lead bank — has lent 69.5 per cent of the total cost of Rs 400 million. According to project manager of Ridi Hydropower Development Company Kubermani Nepal, the remaining 31.5 per cent was invested by shareholders of the project that has also local investors. The project was supposed to start generating power last September but could not meet the deadline due to strikes, bandhs and lack of construction materials. “The power generation got delayed by a year, he added.The project has its dam site in Digaam VDC of Gulmi district and Siddheshwor VDC in Palpa district’s Saatmurey. The Hydropower company made a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) on August 24, 2006. Source: The Himalayan Times Date: 2009-10-04 Dashain brings no glitter to bullion trade Gold and silver transactions even could not glitter during this Dashain festival due to increasing prices and shortage of currency notes. According to Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association (NEGOSIDA), the bullion market saw the transaction of the precious yellow metal during this Dashain at less than 10kg on an average while the volume of trade of the same during last Dashain was 13kg. During the days of the festival the gold was traded at Rs 29,300 per tola (11.66 gram). The amount is Rs 400 less than what it closed at on September 24 - before the Dashain holiday started. The gold price in the international market was $1001 per ounce and it surged to $1010 on September 24 - the last closing in the domestic market. International market price determines the trend of domestic bullion market. The international gold price is now hovering around $1,000. Source: www.nepalnews.com Date: October 4, 2009 GENERAL: US superrich get poorer by $300bn: Forbes Agence France-Presse NEW YORK, Oct 1: The wealthiest Americans are getting poorer, losing 300 billion dollars of their net worth over the past 12 months, according to an annual Forbes magazine ranking released.
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The annual Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans found legendary investor Warren Buffett had lost the most cash -- 10 billion dollars -- as his holding company Berkshire Hathaway suffered severe losses. Topping the list was Microsoft founder turned disease-battling philanthropist Bill Gates, whose net worth was estimated at 50 billion dollars, down seven billion from last year. Buffett came in second, followed by Oracle Corp founder and CEO Lawrence Ellison, the only person on the top 10 list whose fortune remained unchanged -- at 27 billion. The 400 wealthiest Americans had total net assets of 1.57 trillion dollars, down from 1.27 trillion. It was only the fifth time that the fortunes of members of the Forbes 400 had declined since its inception in 1982. Forbes attributed the loss of wealth to "faltering capital markets and real estate prices, along with fraud and divorce." The losses affected 314 returning members and forced 32 plutocrats to fall off the list, including disgraced and jailed financier Allen Stanford, former chief of troubled Citigroup Sanford Weill and former Google billionaire Omid Kordestani, who faced a costly divorce. Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey came in 141st after losses of 400 million dollars. Only 28 members added to their wealth, among them banker Andrew Beal, who tripled his net worth to 4.5 billion dollars buying cheap loans and assets, coming in 52nd. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is seeking a third term in elections next November, lost 2.5 billion dollars to come in eighth place with 17.5 billion from the massive financial news and data business that bears his name. The price of admission to the Forbes list fell to 950 million from 1.3 billion in 2008. Among the newcomers to the list was a client of jailed Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff. Jeffry Picower, number 371 on the Forbes list and a longtime investor with the former Nasdaq chairman, is alleged to have profited by billions of dollars from Madoff´s fraud, according to a civil lawsuit. Source: www.myrepublica.com Date: 2009-10-01 ‘SSB-tortured’ man dies Kathmandu - A man of Saramujawa in Rautahat died on Sunday following the alleged torture by the Indian border security force, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), personnel on Saturday.
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Makal Raya Yadav was arrested and tortured by SSB men for hours while he was going to the bordering Indian market of Jamuniya Bazaar for a business purpose, according to locals. Seriously injured Yadav, who was released by SSB personnel on Saturday evening, succumbed to his injuries early Sunday morning. Yadav's body bore bruises and injury marks. Meanwhile, Yadav's kin and Saramujawa locals demonstrated at Bankul Bazaar on Sunday protesting the killing and demanding compensation to the victim's family and action against the guilty. They barred the authorities from taking the body for autopsy until the local administration agreed to probe the incident later in the evening. Bara district authorities contacted the District Magistrate of Jamuniya, India, in this regard and dispatched a team led by a police inspector to investigate the incident. Yadav's body has been taken to district headquarters Gaur for post-mortem. Source: www.ekantipur.com Date: October 4, 2009
Feature: Crime rate growing among teens in Nepal KATHMANDU, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- In June, Nepal was rocked by the brutal murder of a 17-year-old high school girl whose body was hacked into pieces and strewn in different districts by a school teacher. The public outrage mounted when police arrested the perpetrator and it was revealed that the murderer, Biren Pradhan, was assisted by another 17-year-old school girl, Merina Shakya, who lured the victim into Pradhan's rented apartment. Now, looking at the crimes committed this year, Nepal's police say there is growing involvement of youngsters. Last month, a 16-year-old boy was arrested along with a 22-year-old man for the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl. Sushma Tamang was raped and killed by her landlord's son, Rajesh Maharjan. Maharjan knew of her fondness for Arjun Lama, 16, a frequent visitor to his house. So he made the teenage boy call the girl to a lonely forested area. Lama, who was arrested with Maharjan soon after the victim's body was found, told police he had also taken part in the rape and helped Maharjan strangle the girl to death when she tried to scream. Two months ago, an 18-year-old boy, Kishor KC, beat a nine-year-old boy to death in the capital Kathmandu's Kapan area.
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Abhishek Gurung, 9, who lived in Kishor's house, was suspected of stealing 10 Nepali rupees and thrashed so severely that he died. After the incident, an alarmed Kishor tried to set up the death as suicide and strung up the dead boy's body from the ceiling. Yet another young man was responsible for six deaths in August in another incident that shocked the nation and triggered protests for two days. Biplab Mansingh Dangol, who celebrated his 21st birthday party drinking with his friends at home, mowed down six people late at night when he drove his guest’s home and over sped while under the influence of alcohol. Besides crimes of passion, youngsters are also increasingly taking part in crimes that require prior planning. One of the most talked-about audacious crimes was the abduction of a businessman, Mahesh Sarada, from his own residence in Thapathali in Kathmandu Valley. The mastermind was 23-year-old Niranjan Khanal whose associates were aged between 23 and 26 years, according to police. Says Birendra Babu Shrestha, chief of Kathmandu Valley police's crime division, "Earlier, young men used to be involved in petty crimes like theft and drug-smuggling as mules. But now they are more and more involved in serious crimes." Police statistics show that currently, 48 percent of the crimes reported have been committed by youngsters. Last year, while 4766 serious crimes were reported to police, this year, the number has already gone up to 5666. They range from murder and abduction to robbery and drug-smuggling. Of the 250 people arrested for various crimes in Kathmandu Valley last year, 122 people were aged between 17 and 25 years. Police say personal enmity, money and impulsiveness are the main reasons for the crimes committed. The tremendous social and political change that Nepal has undergone since the last decade with ensuing political turmoil has also contributed to the rise in young criminals. During the 10-year armed conflict by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and the pro-democracy protests, young men were at the forefront of the movements. But now, three years after the end of the conflict, frustrated by the political impasse, general lawlessness and lack of opportunities, young people are taking to crime more and more.
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Police also say that once a youngster commits a crime and is convicted, the harsh prison life and lack of opportunities when realised drives him back to crime. There are rare instances of a released prisoner reforming. Source: news.xinhuanet.com Date: October 4, 2009
OPINION: Nepal’s trade with India Preferential treatment overview The Nepal-India Trade Treaty of 1996 came into limelight in the wake of the periodical review of the treaty recently. The treaty marked a milestone in Nepal-India trade ties leading virtually to free trade between the two countries. Nepal has several reasons to applaud this accord, the most important being the treaty relaxing the preferential rules of origin for Nepalese products exported to India. Since then the stringent material content requirement to Nepalese goods was substituted by the provisions of a certificate of origin for the duty preference in India. For a few products, not applicable to such treatment in India, a negative list was introduced. The immediate consequence of the 1996 trade agreement was, thus, the growth of Nepal’s industrial sector, producing goods with a modest value addition largely concentrated to Indian markets. That resulted in a speedy growth of Nepal’s export to India and a steady cut in its trade deficit ratio, which had been on an increasing trend. But, Nepal could not benefit much with the improved trade balance as the export to India could not grow proportionately to keep the pace. The reasons behind this could be revision of product origin rules (determining the minimum value addition for Nepalese products to qualify for the Indian preference) and imposition of tariff quotas (on selected Nepalese products) since 2003. The market access barriers were, as usual, embraced by the latest bilateral trade agreement, but the value of the preferential market access and the preference utilization for Nepal have often been raised. It took a great deal of time and efforts to relax the rules of origin for Nepal to maximize the preference utilization. However, the process of simplifying the rules of origin took place only as India reduced the MFN (most favored nation) tariff rates that apply to its other trading partners. The latest trend in India’s tariff reform demonstrates that the further reduction of MFN rates is inevitable. There are two main reasons for India’s vigorous involvement in cutting the existing rates. First, it seeks active engagement in the multilateral tariff reduction negotiations, under the World Trade Organization (WTO), to enhance access for India’s exports in international markets and second, for them to serve as “bulwark” against regionalism to reduce the risk of the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) or other regional agreements causing trade diversion rather than trade creation. These are evidently revealed in India’s initiation towards trade liberalization, rapidly reducing average and high tariffs, including removing the 20
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licensing system, primarily between the second half of the nineties and the mid-2000. During that period, not only have basic duty rates been abolished, but also the rates have been made more uniform within the sectors. While the maximum tariff has been slashed by almost half, the simple average MFN applied rate has already been reduced by more than 60% in the case of agriculture products and 80% for industrial goods. Compared to agriculture products the tariffs have been significantly reduced for nonagricultural products. If this is any indication, Nepal is certain to lose the preference margins it enjoyed with India more rapidly as the Indian preferential tariff for almost every Nepalese product is already zero. Between 1995/96 and 2005/06, the average Indian tariff rates for selected products, which secured a prominent place in Nepal’s export to India, has been reduced by 40% to 70%, indicating, ceteris parius, the same ratio of preference margins loss for Nepalese exports. That tends to erode Nepal’s competitive edge, ultimately affecting its exports to India unless it improves the supply capacity or it enjoys some of the increase in India’s overall exports following its trade reform and the economic growth stimulus. Following that there are two major policy implications for Nepal. One is to materialize simplification of the stringent compliance rules and eliminate NTBs to maximize the effectiveness of the existing trade preferences, so that it can enhance product coverage and product diversification. The Indian preferential treatment is still valid for Nepal as it enjoys higher preference margins. Remember that the Indian average tariff rates are still relatively high and the preferential rates for Nepal are already zero, creating a substantial margin of preferences for Nepal. The Nepalese experience shows that preferential treatment has supported the rapid growth of manufacturing industries in Nepal, particularly aimed at the Indian market. Secondly, there is a need to improve trade capacity, without any delay, to diversify into more dynamic sectors concentrated to Indian markets. This is important to help Nepal raise a competitive edge, contributing not only to the industrial development but also maintaining the trade balance with India, even if the preference margins erode in the future. After all, the erosion of preferential treatment is imminent! Source: www.thehimalayantimes.com Date: October 5, 2009
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