Mass promotion in NA

Kathmandu, 14 Aug,: The caretaker government Friday extended the tenure of Major Generals Nepal Bhusan Chand and Netra Bahadur Thapa for another two years.
The cabinet also extended tenures of Brigadier Generals Rabindra Chandra Shah, Shyam Krishna Shrestha, Kiran Bajracharya, Rajendra Chetri, Yagya Bikram Rana, Prem Bahadur Thapa Magar and Baldev Raj Mahat by three years.
Colonels Kishore Jung Rana and Gobinda Bahadur Thapa were promoted to brigadier generals.
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TRADE, COMMERCE, ECONOMY

Heavy reduction customs in sugar

Kathmandu, 14 Aug.: In a bid to provide relief to consumers during the coming festive season, the outgoing cabinet Friday reduced the customs duty on sugar from 15 to on percent.
Government is importing 45,000 tons sugar to meet demand.
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Citizens’ Bank International Dividend

Kathmandu, 14 Aug.: Citizens’ Bank International announced a 12.34 percent cash dividend for its shareholders.
The bank recoded a Rs 193.6 million profit in the fiscal year 2009/10.
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Further developments of lift of ban on workers to Iraq
KATHMANDU, 14 Aug.:: The government on July 28 decided to lift ban for Nepalis to work in Iraq, The Himalayan Times reports.

Nepalis wanting to go to Iraq as migrant workers were but upbeat with the decision — the confirmation of which came soon after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stopped stamping ‘Except Iraq’ on the passports. This led hundreds of youths wanting to go to Iraq to queue at MoFA seeking passports. Every day, about 200 Nepalis stand in queue to get passports to go to Iraq.

But there is a catch.

MoFA has issued a statement saying Iraq is not open for ‘new workers’. This has not been disseminated properly.

According to an estimate of outsourcing agencies, around 100 Nepalis are entering the war-ravaged Iraq in search of greener pastures every day. But unaware of the intricacies, the aspirants generally land in soup.

A youth from Khotang said he wished to go to Iraq and he had already made a down payment of Rs 200,000. “An acquaintance of mine has promised to send me to Iraq where I will earn $ 1,200 a month,” he said requesting anonymity. However, he does not know why his acquaintance wants him to apply for a visa to Kuwait. “After getting the visa for Kuwait, I have to pay him Rs 300,000 more,” he said.

The Ministry of Labour, Transport and Management too has made it clear that the government decision to lift ban for Nepalis in Iraq did not mean Iraq is open for new workers. “Iraq is not open for new workers from Nepal yet,” confirmed MoLTM spokesperson Purna Chandra Bhattarai.

MoLTM is analysing the situation of Iraq before it opens it as a destination for Nepalis. It might take about three months.

The government decision has not gone down well with outsourcing agencies. They blame the government for the rise in illegal migration. “The government lifted the ban without proper groundwork,” said Som Lal Bataju, President of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies. “We welcome the decision for it will save jobs of 30,000 Nepalis in Iraq. But the government has failed to address the problems that we may face in future,” he said.

According to him, human traffickers are sending Nepalis to Iraq via Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar through individual contracts.

“We don’t have official information of any sort,” a top bureaucrat at the ministry said.
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