Tourist flow to eastern hills rises

With the beginning of the new tourist season, the inflow of tourists to the eastern hills has increased. The number of tourists heading towards Kumbhakarna, Makalu, and Kanchanjunga mountain base camps has increased significantly in recent days, thanks to the improvement in weather after the rainy season. Compared to the previous year, tourist arrival here had delayed for the long rainy season. Bansatapur, which is the main route to the Kumbhakarna, Makalu, and Kanchanjunga base camps started to witness the entry of foreign and domestic tourists from last week. With this, the local tourism business has also boomed. Hotels and guest houses of Mudeshanischare, Chauki, Mangalbare and Gufabazaar are crowed, while all big hotels are packed. “Arrival of foreign tourists too is growing,” said Pemba Bhotia, proprietor of Yak Hotel. Foreign tourists are coming from countries like Germany, Nigeria, Norway, UK, USA, India, Portugal and Australia. Similarly, domestic tourists come from places like Ilam, Jhapa, Kathmandu, Makawanpur, Chitwan, Butwal, Biratnagar and Dharan. Nepal Tourism Board has included this area as one of the top five tourist destinations of the country. It is famous for having 28 types of rhododendron flower. The area is witnessing a growth in the number of visitors for the last two years. It has emerged a destination for educational tour, observation tour to farmers for agriculture and animal husbandry, and biodiversity and rhododendron study. “We are seeing the arrival of foreigners every day,” said Prakash Shrestha, member of the Tourism Development and Promotion Committee, Terhathum. He said with the number of tourists increasing, there is a need for developing infrastructure by local tourism entrepreneurs to hold tourists for a longer time. After the availability facilities such as electricity, telephone, internet and drinking water, tourists have started to visit even remote villages. According to Govinda Dhungana of the committee, 28 types of rhododendron, Gupha Pokhari, Tinjure Hill, rear bids and culture of communities like Yakkha, Tamang, Magar, Newar, Gurung, Sherpa, Newar and Limbu are among the major attraction of the place. The area is witnessing a growth in the number of visitors for the last two years

Ncell festive scheme

Ncell has launched a new promotional campaign named “Khusiko Bahar, Ncell ko Upahar”, under which Ncell customers can receive various gifts. The campaign comes into effect from October 30 and both existing and new Ncell customers can subscribe to it for free. Upon subscribing, the customers will receive a guaranteed gift, which range from internet package to bonus balance to night talk time to SMS and MMS, Ncell said in a statement. All they need to do is dial 17100. The volume of gift would vary from customer to customer, and subscribers need to use thus received facility within a day, that is until 12 midnight. After midnight, the previous day’s gift will collapse, but they will again get the same gift valid for another 24 hours. Customers will continue to get the gift every day throughout the campaign period. The campaign will run for 30 days and all pre- and post-paid subscribers can take part. (PR)

Discount for Visa cardholders

People possessing Visa cards will enjoy shopping at discounted prices at all Bhat-bhateni Superstores during this festival season. The Superstore, in association with Visa Worldwide Pte Limited, will provide a discount of 5 percent to customers. This offer will be effective from November 1 to January 31, 2014. Visa cardholders will get the discount at all six outlets of Bhatbhateni Superstores. There are five Bhat-Bhateni stores in Kathmandu and one in Pokhara.

Qatar Airways joins oneworld grouping

Qatar Airways has become a part of the oneworld, adding one of the world’s fastest growing and most highly rated airlines to the world’s fastest growing and most highly rated global airline alliance. From its first flights since Wednesday morning Qatar Airways will be offering oneworld’s full range of services and benefits. It joins oneworld just one year after receiving its invitation to join, which makes its induction into oneworld one of the fastest in the alliance’s history. A more typical timeline for an airline to comply with the many membership requirements of oneworld is 18-24 months. (PR)

Koirala inaugurates meat mart

Balkhu Meat Mart, a one-stop shopping destination for meat items, has opened at Balkhu in Kathmandu. Minister for Finance Shankar Prasad Koirala inaugurated the store amid a function. The Rs 40-million meat mart occupies an area of 8 ropanis. It stocks chicken, duck, goat and ostrich meat, among others. The store also sells eggs and a wide variety of sea food. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Minister Koirala lauded the initiative of the private sector for extending a hand in uplifting the agro sector. “This is a lesson for government agencies, local administrations and financial institutions. Apart from promoting the agro business, it will also benefit consumers with the health factor,” said Koirala. The minister added that the shift in focus of banks and financial institution towards the agro sector too had contributed to the opening of farmbased businesses. “The central bank has made it mandatory for commercial and development banks to direct at least 12 percent of their total loan investment to the agriculture sector,” said Koirala. This was also crucial in promoting such businesses, he added. Newly opened Balkhu Meat Mart at Balkhu vegetable market in Kathmandu on Tuesday. POST PHOTO

Barred from office, DDC GM resigns

Dairy Development Corporation (DDC) General Manager Siya Ram Prasad Singh, who has been barred by the DDC’s four employees’ unions from entering his office for the last one month, resigned from his position on Tuesday. The unions have accused him of embezzling a large amount of the public enterprise’s money. Singh said he submitted his resignation to the Ministry of Agriculture Development. “I am compelled to resign from my current position due to the obstruction by the unions for the last one month,” he said. Singh accused the employees of violating the court’s order. “Although the Appellate Court on October 3 had issued an order to the unions to allow me to work as the DDC chief, the workers defied the order,” he said. Singh said the workers even disobeyed the MoAD’s order. “Following the court’s order, the ministry also asked the workers to allow me to resume official work. But they violated the ministry’s order too,” he said. The employees have charging Singh with trying to embezzle a huge amount of money by overvaluing costs for the construction of a production plant in Khumaltar, and overvaluing the cost of a powdered milk plant to be purchased from Chitwan Milk. Singh has also been accused of approving Rs 320 million in contrast to the proposed Rs 80 million for the construction of the Khumaltar plant, attempting to purchase the Chitwan Milk plant for Rs 1.12 billion although the cost estimated four years ago was just Rs 560 million. The unions have also charged Singh with approving a consultancy fee of Rs 14.4 million to the National Engineering Consultancy in Jwagal, Lalitpur, without taking the opinion of the technical management. But Singh said he had taken the decisions with consent from the DDC board and staff concerned. “In almost all the decisions, I took the recommendation of the concerned DDC bodies,” said Singh, terming the employees’ accusations baseless. The unions also accused Singh of bribing high-level officials at the Ministry of Agriculture Development to continue in his position even after his retirement age. Singh was supposed to retire on April 16. The employees had also filed complaints at the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority, the National Vigilance Centre and the Prime Minister’s Office.

Govt undertakings told to ease supply

The government has directed the chiefs of the government undertakings concerned to make supply management effective targeting the upcoming festivals — Tihar and Chhath — and the Constituent Assembly (CA) election. The instruction has come at a time when the price of daily commodities is skyrocketing. Tihar is staring within a week, while the CA election is schedule for November 4. Krishna Hari Baskota, secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office, directed Salt Trading Corporation (STC), National Trading Limited (NTL), Nepal Food Corporation (NFC) and Dairy Development Corporation (DDC) to make supply effective after monitoring fair price shops operated by them focusing the festivals. Baskota, along with Ministry of Commerce and Supplies Secretary Madhav Prasad Regmi, Director General of the Department of Commerce and Supply Management Narayan Prasad Bidari and other government officials had inspected temporary fare price shops opened at Surya Binayak, Koteshwor, Jawalakhel, Balkhu, Kalimati, Teku and Ramshahapath. The shops were opened with a target to sell daily commodities at cheaper rates during the festival period. STC General Manager Urmila Shrestha said the supply of sugar and salt is smooth. “STC has a stock of 20,000 metric tonnes of sugar and 80,000 metric tonnes of salt,” said Shrestha. NFC General Manager Shiva Hari Shrestha also said they have stock of 164,000 quintal of rice. Through the fair price outlets, government enterprises are selling commodities like rice, edible oil, sugar, ghee, lentils, spices, LPG gas, beaten rice, while the NTL is also selling electronic appliances. The outlets are selling ghee with a discount of Rs 10 per kg, rice with a discount Rs 2 per kg and sugar with a discount of Rs 5 per kg. NTL General Manager Narayan Narayan Mehta said they would continue the fair price shops after Chhath too. NTL is selling rice cookers, irons, garment, and solar equipment apart from foodstuffs. Through the fair price shops, NTL has recorded Rs 13.5 million transactions this season. Among the four government undertakings, STC made the highest business of Rs 60 million, while NFC recorded Rs 20 million and DDC Rs 4 million. STC has 24 fair price outlets across the country. After the monitoring, Regmi assured to open shops even during public holidays. He said the government would also consider running such shops round the year. The instruction has come at a time when the prices of daily commodities are skyrocketing ahead of the Tihar festival

ADB to provide $1.5b to Nepal under new partnership plan

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) with Nepal that will anchor its assistance over the next five years. Under the new CPS, the ADB proposes to provide funding to Nepal in the amount of under US$ 1.5 billion over the next five years. The ADB expects to raise double this amount from other partners from both the private and public sectors. The ADB, one of Nepal’s largest donors, will extend long-term public and private sector finance for capital investment in the areas of transport, energy, water and other basic public services such as education and skills development. “The government and the ADB worked very closely together to define a strategic framework that will allow the ADB and others to join up in funding the type of investments that can transform Nepal. The strategic work was done in close consultation with key public agencies and private enterprises, as well as with civil society and other development partners. What we now need is to convert this into projects that ensure value for money and deliver development effectiveness,” said Juan Miranda, director general of the ADB’s South Asia Department. The ADB’s five-year strategy will tackle critical constraints such as power shortages, poor connectivity and water supply, among others, through high-priority energy sector investments to strengthen domestic energy security and promote exports through public-private partnerships. Integrating Nepal with the regional and world economy by expanding its airports and trans-boundary road networks and modernizing customs will also be a focus of the ADB’s assistance in the next five years, said the ADB in a press statement. According to the ADB, improving urban infrastructure such as water supply and sanitation in centres such as Kathmandu is another critical activity. The ADB will also help with irrigation and watershed improvement to boost productivity and commercialization. The new CPS has set the target of completing the much-talked about Melamchi Tunnel by 2016. The new strategy also places significant focus on governance, financial management, climate change, reforms for private sector investment and sustainability, institutional development and better project implementation performance; but it will have the flexibility to respond to emerging needs in the business environment during the political transition. New Country Partnership Strategy ð. To support the Strategic Road Network in rural and urban areas and upgrade key airports. ð. To complete the Melamchi Tunnel and connecting distribution systems by 2016. ð. To support implementation of the Agriculture Development Strategy. ð. To boost private sector development by helping selected public-private partnership energy projects and improving the environment for private and foreign direct investment.

NTcommitted royalty issue resurfaces

The issue of committed royalty and third generation (3G) frequency fee of Nepal Telecom (NT) has resurfaced with the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) issuing it another order to clear outstanding royalty payments and frequency fees. The state-owned telecom giant owes Rs 3.27 billion in committed royalty, around Rs 951 million in 3G spectrum fee and an unspecified sum in VSAT spectrum charge, said the NTA. The NTA has no idea how much NT must pay in VSAT frequency fee as the government had waived the charges 14 years ago for spreading telecom services to rural areas. According to NTA Spokesperson Kailash Prasad Neupane, they told NT to pay the remaining committed royalty after consulting with legal advisers following a board decision. “NT had paid only 4 percent of its total income as royalty even though it should have paid the committed royalty like Ncell,” he said. The NTA should have collected the committed royalty by 2008, but NT had been refusing to pay it citing legal reasons. As per the licence issued to NT, it is required to pay the committed royalty like Ncell and United Telecom Limited (UTL). However; it had paid only 4 percent of its annual income as royalty for the first 10 years of operations (1998-99 to 2007-08). “We have paid the royalty as per the provision of the Telecommunications Act,” said NT Spokesperson Guna Keshari Pradhan. She added that with the committed royalty issue requiring indepth consultation, they would reach a decision after a necessary study of government provisions. Of the total payable royalty, NT has paid the government Rs 635.19 million under the 4 percent plan. An NT official said that they were insisting on the 4 percent royalty deal as revenues from its mobile service was little in the early years and technology was expensive. NT earned Rs 15 billion from its mobile service in the first 10 years. When NT obtained a licence for GSM mobile service in 1999, it had agreed to pay the licence fee, licence renewal fee and the royalty amount to be pledged by future mobile service operators. Hence, NT has to pay a total of Rs 3.90 billion (as committed by Ncell) for the fiscal years 1998-99 to 2007-08. NT started paying the licence renewal fee of Rs 2.13 billion in instalments from the last fiscal year as per the cabinet’s decision. Similarly, the government had renewed UTL’s licence last year by allowing it to pay the committed royalty in instalments. The NTA revived NT’s committed royalty issue as its adhoc committee received legal backing to make policy decisions in the absence of its chairman. NT owes Rs 3.27b in committed royalty, around Rs 951m in 3G spectrum fee and an unspecified sum in VSAT spectrum charge

Nepal crawls up 3 spots in Doing Business Index

Nepal has crawled up the Doing Business Index by reducing the hassles involved in registering a company. According to the Doing Business Index (DBI) 2014 released by the World Bank and International Finance Corporation on Tuesday, the country rose three places to the 105th position among 189 global economies. Nepal ranked 108th in 2013 and 107th in 2012. Among the 10 indicators under which global economies are evaluated, Nepal did better on two fronts—starting a business and getting electricity. DBI 2013 shows that starting a business in Nepal has become easier over the last year due to a reduction of the administrative processing time at the company registrar and the establishment of a data link between agencies involved in the incorporation process. Nepal introduced electronic filing of documents, reducing registration time from 15 days to seven, the report said. Potential investors now have to complete seven procedures and spend 17 days to register their company before starting a business. In South Asia, it takes an average of 17.2 days to register a company. “We are inspired to know that our ranking has gone up. This shows that even a single reform can actually make a big difference,” said Krishna Gyawali, secretary at the Ministry of Industry. “However, sustainability of the system will be a challenge for us.” According to Shankar Aryal, registrar of the Office of the Company Registrar, the office has registered 337 companies and 1,200 companies have been approved for online registration since online registration started in February. “The office has made it mandatory for new companies to be registered online from Oct 20.” Likewise, Nepal has made a slight improvement in terms of providing electricity. The country scored 98 in this category, up from 99 in 2013. Potential investors have to spend at least 70 days to complete the five procedures necessary to get electricity. In South Asia, the average is 145 days and six procedures. However, obtaining a construction permit has become more difficult with Nepal slipping to the 105th position from the 97th position previously. Potential investors have to spend 115 days and complete 13 procedures to get a construction permit. This is still a little better than the South Asian average of 193.3 days and 16 procedures to get a building licence. According to DBI 2013, Nepal has not made any reforms with regard to paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. Nepal slipped to 177 in the trading across borders indicator in DBI 2014 from 173 earlier. Exporting a standard container requires 11 documents, takes 42 days and costs US$ 2,295. In South Asia, investors need an average of eight documents, have to spend 33 days and pay US$ 1,787 per container. For imports, a container requires 11 documents, takes 39 days and costs US$ 2,400, the report said. The country has remained unchanged at the 80th position in protecting investors. However, Nepal slipped to 126 from 121 with regard to paying taxes. “An improvement in the starting business index has contributed to a better overall doing business environment in Nepal. But the report has pointed out that the situation is poor compared to last year,” said Chief Secretary Lilamani Poudel. According to him, Nepal has started e-bidding to make obtaining construction permits easier, but that has not been mentioned in the report. Similarly, access to finance is 80 percent in Nepal, nearly double the South Asian average; but according to the report, Nepal shows poor performance in issuing credit. “However, as the transit treaty has remained pending, we should admit that we have not done well in providing transit facilities,” Poudel said. “As other countries have done far better than us, we have to find out what went wrong. We need to compare what we did and what the others did.” Among the region’s economies, Nepal ranks third among the eight surveyed, ahead of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Singapore tops the global ranking, and following it in the list of the top 10 economies are Hong Kong, New Zealand, the US, Denmark, Malaysia, South Korea, Georgia, Norway and the UK. Among the 10 indicators, Nepal did better on two fronts—starting a business and getting electricity

UAE team in Nepal to promote World Expo

A high-level delegation led by the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Labour Minister Sakor Ghobash Saeed Ghobash arrived here on Monday on a three-day official visit. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said Ghobash is in Nepal to promote the World Expo to be held in Dubai in 2020. He is also the UAE’s envoy for the expo. Although his main objective is to promote the expo, he is expected to hold talks with top Nepali officials on the issues of bilateral relations, including the issues related to Nepali migrant workers. The three-member delegation also includes the UAE’s ambassador to Nepal stationed in India. “The UAE minister is scheduled to meet Chairman of Interim Election Government Khil Raj Regmi and other ministers,” said Kali Prasad Pokharel, Chief of Protocol at MoFA. Minister Ghobash is scheduled to hold separate meeting with Foreign Minister Madhav Prasad Ghimire and Labour Minister Chhabi Raj Panta on Tuesday. Minister Ghimire will also host a luncheon on the same day in the honor of the UAE delegation. The Ministry of Labour and Employment has started drafting agendas for the talks between the two labour ministers. Ministry officials said the discussion will be focused on major problems engulfing the foreign employment sector and seeking jobs for more skilled migrant workers. “There will be discussions on a wide range of agendas surrounding the foreign employment sector,” said Suresh Man Shrestha, secretary at teh MoLE. He, however, said the ministry has not planned to sign any agreement as the minister is visiting for a different purpose. Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA) has sent a list of suggestions to be tabled during the meeting between the ministers on Tuesday. The MoLE has urged the recruiting agencies to provide the agendas for the discussion. NAFEA Chairman Bal Bahadur Tamang said there is a need for institutionalised efforts from the government of both countries to end technical difficulties in visa issuance. “The current provision is such that the UAE practices different visa issuance mechanism while issuing employment approval for private companies, government and semi-government sectors and free zone. The provision is even not same in all the provinces of the UAE,” said Tamang. He said he has also suggested the ministry to push the UAE to comply with the minimum wage fixed by the Nepali government and increase the quota for better jobs. The UAE is the fourth largest work destination of the Nepali migrant workers after Malaysia, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, with presence of around 200,000 Nepalis. Although the condition of Nepali workers in the UAE is comparatively better than in other Gulf countries, stakeholders cited the need for a greater coordination between the two governments to protect the minimum rights of the workers, both male and female, working in construction, security, transportation, and entertainment sectors. They said the UAE should do more to protect the human rights, safety and security of Nepali workers. The team is also expected to hold talks with top Nepali officials on issues related to migrant workers

UAE team in Nepal to promote World Expo

A high-level delegation led by the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Labour Minister Sakor Ghobash Saeed Ghobash arrived here on Monday on a three-day official visit. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said Ghobash is in Nepal to promote the World Expo to be held in Dubai in 2020. He is also the UAE’s envoy for the expo. Although his main objective is to promote the expo, he is expected to hold talks with top Nepali officials on the issues of bilateral relations, including the issues related to Nepali migrant workers. The three-member delegation also includes the UAE’s ambassador to Nepal stationed in India. “The UAE minister is scheduled to meet Chairman of Interim Election Government Khil Raj Regmi and other ministers,” said Kali Prasad Pokharel, Chief of Protocol at MoFA. Minister Ghobash is scheduled to hold separate meeting with Foreign Minister Madhav Prasad Ghimire and Labour Minister Chhabi Raj Panta on Tuesday. Minister Ghimire will also host a luncheon on the same day in the honor of the UAE delegation. The Ministry of Labour and Employment has started drafting agendas for the talks between the two labour ministers. Ministry officials said the discussion will be focused on major problems engulfing the foreign employment sector and seeking jobs for more skilled migrant workers. “There will be discussions on a wide range of agendas surrounding the foreign employment sector,” said Suresh Man Shrestha, secretary at teh MoLE. He, however, said the ministry has not planned to sign any agreement as the minister is visiting for a different purpose. Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA) has sent a list of suggestions to be tabled during the meeting between the ministers on Tuesday. The MoLE has urged the recruiting agencies to provide the agendas for the discussion. NAFEA Chairman Bal Bahadur Tamang said there is a need for institutionalised efforts from the government of both countries to end technical difficulties in visa issuance. “The current provision is such that the UAE practices different visa issuance mechanism while issuing employment approval for private companies, government and semi-government sectors and free zone. The provision is even not same in all the provinces of the UAE,” said Tamang. He said he has also suggested the ministry to push the UAE to comply with the minimum wage fixed by the Nepali government and increase the quota for better jobs. The UAE is the fourth largest work destination of the Nepali migrant workers after Malaysia, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, with presence of around 200,000 Nepalis. Although the condition of Nepali workers in the UAE is comparatively better than in other Gulf countries, stakeholders cited the need for a greater coordination between the two governments to protect the minimum rights of the workers, both male and female, working in construction, security, transportation, and entertainment sectors. They said the UAE should do more to protect the human rights, safety and security of Nepali workers. The team is also expected to hold talks with top Nepali officials on issues related to migrant workers

Lama wins Bajaj scheme

KATHMANDU: Puna Bahadur Lama has become the fifth week’s winner of the Bajaj festive scheme. He has won Rs 1 million. Lama had bought a Bajaj motorcycle from HH Showroom in Teku, Kathmandu. He was selected as the winner through a lucky draw. The campaign selects a lucky winner each week for up to 10 weeks.

Mega, Placid sign pact

Mega Bank and Placid Express-USA have signed “Money Transfer Services Agreement”, under which the bank will process remittance payments sent from Placid. The alliance allows Mega to provide Placid’s services through its 28 branches and more than 1,000 Mega Remit agents across the country, a Mega Bank statement said, adding migrant Nepalis can now send their money back home safely and reliably without any hassles.

BoK offers cash, stock dividend

The 19th annual general meeting of Bank of Kathmandu (BoK) held on Monday decided to provide its shareholders 14 percent bonus shares and 0.73 percent cash dividend. The bank earned operational profit of Rs 890 million and net profit Rs 617 million in last fiscal year. Compared to 2011-12, deposits grew by 10.84 percent to Rs 27.70 billion last year, while lending was up 19.31 percent to 23.05 billion. The bank has 50 branches, 58 ATMs and 8 extension counters.

Employees’ unions press management

Employees’ unions of Rastriya Beema Sansthan (RBS) are pressuring its management to make available the “prize allowance” after it was discontinued this year following a directive of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). On Sunday, a delegation of the unions met RBS Administrator Ram Bahadur Khadka, asking the management to respond to the demands within Monday. The employees have been enjoying the facility for the last two decades. The then CPN-UML-led minority government had introduced such a facility in the budget. Terming the facility illegal on ground that the allowance was being given to all employees instead of the best performers, the CIAA had directed the RBS to recover more than Rs 80 million distributed until 2008 from incumbent and retired employees. The amount to be recovered has reached more than Rs 100 million, according to RBS. Khadka said the employees have been asking to find ways to make available the allowance which they have been enjoying for a long. “I have told them that I would put the matter at the board meeting,” he said. An RBS source said the employees are likely to block the RBS’s attempt to split the institution into two bodies — one looking after life insurance and another into non-life businesses.“They have hinted that splitting the RBS and assurance of continuation of prize allowance should go simultaneously,” the source said. “They have also warned of another round of strike if their demands are not addressed within the next few days.” However, the unions said that they have no plans of staging strike at least until the Constituent Assembly election. “We have signed a deal with the management and committed not to hold strike in the near future after we were assured of the fulfillment of many our demands by the Finance Ministry too,” said Tulak Prasad Dhungana, central committee member of the RBS Employees’ Union. He, however, admitted that the unions have requested the management to make arrangement for making available the facility being enjoyed for several years in whatever way possible even if it cannot be provided under current heading. The RBS used to provide the “prize allowance” to the employees ahead of every Dashain. But the management failed to distribute the amount this year after it received letters from both the CIAA and the Finance Ministry against the facility. A board meeting of the RBS on November 1, 2010, had decided to provide the facility in the range of Rs 24,000 to lower-level employees and Rs 28,000 to officerlevel employees. The average prize money the 160 employees of the RBS receive is Rs 4.1 million a year. Putting forward various demands, including the continuation of the prize money, the RBS unions had stopped its administrator from entering into his office for two and half months. Only after the latest agreement, he was allowed to do resume his work just a month ago. rbs prize allowance row Rastriya Beema Sansthan building.

NRB to re-allow dealers to issue car loans

Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) plans to re-allow auto dealers to lend money to customers to buy their automobiles. Motor sellers had been obtaining wholesale loans from banks and financial institutions and using the cash to issue credit to their clients. A year ago, the central bank stopped them from implementing the financing arrangement. A senior NRB official said they were working on a guideline to permit auto dealers to provide financing to their customers after obtaining a licence from the central bank. “We have planned to introduce the guideline before the Tihar festival,” said the official. NRB relented under pressure from auto dealers, private sector bodies and banks to reinstate the financing facility. The central bank had banned the practice claiming that car buyers were being forced to pay more when they obtained auto loans from the dealers themselves. Under the proposed guideline, firms wishing to provide hire purchase financing will have to register themselves as a hire purchase company and have a paid-up capital of Rs 100 million. “Such companies will be allowed to charge a maximum mark-up of 3 percent on the interest they are paying their banks for the bulk loans,” said the central bank official. As such lending was being made without approval from NRB, it had termed the practice illegal. The NRB Act states that the central bank’s okay is required to carry out any kind of banking activity. NRB will issue a licence to the applicant as per clause 76 of the NRB Act which says that its approval is required to accept deposits or lend money. The clause has also given the central bank the right to set conditions and those willing to carry out banking activities have to accept them. “The interest margin and other necessary conditions will be fixed before issuing a licence,” said the official. While car sellers had been miffed when the central bank stopped them from lending money to their customers, banks said that there was less risk in issuing wholesale loans to dealers than to individual borrowers. Banks have complained that they have to spend more time when dealing with individual borrowers despite the small amount of the loan. Moreover, in case of default, the vehicle they seized from their delinquent borrowers had to be sold at scrap value. However, Anal Bhattarai, chief executive officer of Commerz and Trust Bank, said that banks issuing loans to car buyers directly was a good practice as it contributed to making the hire purchase deal cheaper. According to auto dealers, a majority of automobiles are sold under hire purchase arrangement. In the last fiscal year, 208,483 motor vehicles were registered at the Department of Transport Management. Motorcycles made up the largest number with 175,381 units registered followed by tractors and power tillers and cars, jeeps and vans. A total of 1.55 million vehicles have so far been registered at the Department of Transport Management. NRB relented under pressure from auto dealers, private sector bodies and banks to reinstate the financing facility Nepal Rastra Bank.

Ministry speeds up pact signing process for the ailing Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC)

The Finance Ministry has fasttracked the process of signing loan and grant agreements with China to procure airplanes for the ailing Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC). The Finance Ministry’s move follows the request from the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to proceed ahead with the deal after the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) issued type-certificate to Chinese-made MA60 aircraft last week, allowing the plane to enter the Nepali skies for the first time for civilian transport. China has pledged a 19-seater Harbin Y-12e and a 58-seater MA60 (Modern Ark 60) turboprop planes in grant, and the government plans to buy four more aircraft — three Harbin Y-12e and an MA60 — taking soft loans from the China EXIM Bank. “We have to sign two separate agreements for loan and grant. We have sent the drafts of the two agreements to the tourism and the law ministries for their comments and language to be used in the draft,” said Finance Secretary Shanta Raj Subedi. He said the exact amount of the loan to be taken from the Chinese bank and the interest rate are yet to be fixed. Tourism Ministry officials estimate that the four aircraft could cost $35 million for a combined package that includes spare parts and pilot training, among other facilities. The Type Certification Board of the CAAN after a two-week China visit had submitted its report to its Director General Ratish Chandra Lal Suman in mid-September, recommending that the MA60 aircraft’s technical and other capabilities compliances “are reliable”. “We decided to proceed ahead with the pact after the CAAN confirmation that the proposed Chinese jets are fit for the Nepali skies,” Subedi said. Some analysts, however, have raised questions over the MA60’s airworthyness as it has not yet been certified by the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR). Sources said the Nepal government needs to finalise the deal before the end of the Chinese fiscal year. China’s fiscal year begins from January 1 and ends on December 31. On November 29, 2012, the NAC had signed a commercial agreement with the AVIC International Holdings, a Chinese government undertaking, to procure the six aircraft. An understanding was reached that the NAC will receive two aircraft in grant within two months after finalising the loan agreement, and the rest after five months of the first delivery. China has in principle agreed to the proposal of the Nepali side to provide a five-year grace period for the loan and interest repayment. The Nepali side had also proposed a 30-year payback period for the loans. On August 7, 2011, NAC had written to the Finance Ministry, requesting it to purchase eight aircraft in foreign grants. In November 2011, the ministry requested China to provide the aircraft either in grant or under soft loans. The Chinese side responded positively, expressing their readiness to provide some aircraft in grant and some under soft loans. Subsequently in December 2011, the Chinese government formally informed the Finance Ministry that three aircraft would be provided to the NAC in grant and the others under soft loans. However, the plan was revised, with the Chinese government deciding to gift only two aircraft in grant. An NAC technical team then were sent to China for the inspection of the aircraft, which reported that the airplanes were fit for the Nepali skies. However, the process landed in controversy, with the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority being called to probe alleged irregularities. The government revived the plan on October 17, 2012, under its Immediate Governance and Economy Reform Action Plan 2012. The Canadian International Development Agency had donated seven Twin Otters to NAC from 1972 to 1979. However, the corporation dœs not have a single plane to serve its domestic sector now. According to the NAC, two Twin Otters can be put back in service after maintenance. It says if it gets the Chinese aircraft, it will be able to compete with private airlines and expand its services. chinese aircraft for nac Y12E aircraft. MA60 aircraft. The Finance Ministry’s move follows the request from the Tourism Ministry to proceed ahead with the deal after CAAN issued type-certificate to Chinese-made MA60 aircraft last week

Asian Life’s new scheme

Asian Life Insurance has launched “Dampati Surakshya Jeevan Beema Yojana” which offers life insurance facilities to married couples aged over 18 years through a single policy. The new policy provides the whole insurance payment to a person in case of the spouse’s death. Similarly, the alive insured, who will not have to pay the remaining premium after the death of the spouse, will receive additional insurance payment after the maturity. Under the scheme, the company has fixed the maximum age limit of the insured at 50 years and the maturity age limit at 65 years. As of 2012-13, Asian Life has collected premium of Rs 4.77 billion, read the company’s statement.

Yamaha ‘Exchange Mela’ concludes

The “Yamaha Scooter Exchange Mela” concluded on Sunday. The four-day exchange fair organised by Morang Auto Works (MAW) witnessed 1,500 visitors and total sales of more than 345 scooters, read a company statement.