DEATH TOLLIN SUNSARI BUS COLLISION JUMPS TO 11

ONE MORE DEAD IN ITAHARI BUS COLLISIONS

Kathmandu, 5 April: Sujana Chaudhary died Tuesday while
Being rushed to hospital across the border for emergency
treatment.
She was injured in Monday’s collision of two buses near Itahari in Sunsari, police said.
The death toll has increased to 11 with the fresh death.
Nine bodies have been identified, police added.
Eleven injured are still serious.
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APA SHERPA TO ATTEMPT RECORD 21ST ASCENT OF EVEREST

Kathmandu, 5 April: Apa Sherpa leaves for Everest base camp Wednesday
to break a personal world record 20 ascents of the 8848 meters high Mount Everest, the world’s tallest peak, and climb it for the 21st time in May.
He’s climbing with the Eco Everest Expedition 2011.
Apa lives in USA.
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DRUNKEN BRAWL KILLS ONE OF TWO BROTHERS

Kathmandu, 5 April: Two brothers were stabbed and injured in drunken brawl at Ganabahal in the city Monday while Rujen Shahi, 25, died while being treated a hospital.
Sujan Shahi, 23, is undergoing treatment at hospital after irate
locals thrashed him.
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INFLATION 10.2 PERCENT

Kathmandu, 5 April: Inflation in mid-February fell to 10.2 percent compared to 10.9 percent in the same month the previous year, Nepal Rashtra Bank (NRB) said.
But vegetable prices soared 73.1 percent.
‘During the first seven months of the current fiscal year, food and beverage
prices increased by 16.6 percent and non-food and service prices
jumped only 5 percent,” the central bank said.
The balance of payment widened to Rs 12.57 billion in
mid-February 2011 compared to Rs. 4.34 billion the previous month.
Gross foreign exchange fell 2 percent to $ 3.54 billion compared to $3.61 billion in mid-July 2010.
Exports in the first seven months of the current fiscal year jumped 6.6 percent to Rs. 37.19 billion and imports fell 0.1 percent to Rs. 218.59 billion.
Trade deficit fell 1.4 percent to Rs.180 billion.
Remittances increased 11.7 percent to Rs. 138.9 billion during
the review period.
Foreign direct investment jumped to Rs. 4, 84 billion.
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SRI LANKA SOCCER SQUAD ARRIVES

Kathmandu, 5 April: Sri Lanka will play North Korea Thursday in
the AFC Challenge Group D Qualifier.
A 20-member Sri Lankan squad arrived Monday before playing two preparatory matches in Tajikistan.
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MEDIA GOOGLE

“Maoist have proved their inefficiency after nine months in
office. Right now, Jhalanath Khanal also is unable to work.”

(Madhav Kumar Nepal pushing KP Ol’s candidacy as prime minister, Nagarik, 5 April)
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INDIA ENFORCING ONE-TIME LOCK FROM JULY

Kathmandu, 5 April: India is preparing to unilaterally impose additional one-time lock in containers passing through Kolkata port from July. Under the new system, Indian authorities can open seal of containers carrying consignments to Nepal, Prabhakar Ghimere writes in Republica.

After holding consultations with business people, Nepal had formally agreed the Indian proposal of introducing additional lock system for containers passing through Vishakhapatnam port, which boasts of modern infrastructure and fast clearance service, during the Inter-Governmental Sub-Committee (IGSC) meeting held recently in New Delhi.

“Despite our protest, India is unilaterally enforcing additional one-lock for containers passing through Kolkata, where clearance service and infrastructure is poor. If it materializes, Nepali importers will need to pay huge demurrage charge and face unnecessary hassles,” said a source at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS).

Unfortunately, officials concerned have yet to initiate any step to request India to stop implementation of one-lock system.

According to traders, they will have to go through at least 33 steps to complete clearance process in Kolkata port. Clearance process at Vishakhapatnam port, however, is far shorter than Kolkata.

Nepali officials have been opposing the proposal of the southern neighbor to introduce additional lock system in Kolkata port.

“There is no reason why we should accept additional lock in import of goods through Kolkata port where Nepali traders are already facing different hassles,” the source added.

Administrative hassles, congestion and low draft berth for mother ship are the major obstacles being faced by Nepali traders while clearing goods from Kolkata port.
“As Kolkata port can’t accommodate large ships, Nepali consignments are offloaded from mother shop at Visakhapatnam and taken to Kolkata in small ships,” the source added.

Nepal had been making extensive efforts to start third country trade via the Visakhapatnam port for the past few years. Nepal had secured right to use Visakhapatnam port last year. An understanding to this effect was signed during India visit of then prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal in August 2009. The formal agreement was signed during the India’s commerce minister visit to Kathmandu two months later.

Nepali businessmen have been pushing for trade via Vishakhapatnam port as it supports direct operation of larger vessels, enabling Nepal to reap multiple business benefits from third country trade.

Visakhapatnam is one of the fastest growing ports in India and is located at a distance of about 1,300 km from Birgunj dry port.
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CARELESSNESS KILLED NOT DRUGS SAYS GOVT. REPORT
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Kathmandu, 5 April:Untrained volunteers and carelessness while following procedures are to blame for the deaths and illnesses that surfaced after the administration of anti-elephantiasis drugs to 14.5 million people last week, a government report said Monday,
according to The Kathmandu Post. on Monday.

The report prepared by experts’ teams from the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) and the World Health Organisation said “recklessness” caused the deaths and illnesses and not the drugs themselves as reported in the media.

Citing the report, which is likely to be released on Tuesday, Director of Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD) Dr Saroj Prasad Rajendra said, “The deaths perhaps were linked to the medication administered by untrained volunteers where they did not follow the recommended procedures.”

At least seven people died and around 700 took “seriously ill” after the free anti-elephantiasis drugs started showing side effects. Following the report, the government had sent two separate study teams to the affected districts. The members of the team said they submitted the report to the Director General of the Department of Health Services Dr. Yashobarden Pradhan. According to Dr. Rajendra, the volunteers were unaware of the precautions and directions to be followed when using the drugs. For instance, it was suggested that the drugs not be given to infants below two years of age, pregnant women and patients with chronic illnesses like heart and renal diseases, epilepsy and jaundice, among others. “However, the volunteers distributed the drugs to everyone, simply by counting the number of family members,” Dr. Rajendra said.

She said Banke and Bardiya saw an unprecedented number of patients mainly because the volunteers in the districts were unable to get adequate training before the drive and that there was no coordination among the actors. The government had administered two different drugs—Diethylcarbamazine (DEC) and Albendazole—to 14.5 million people aged above 2 years in 36 districts on March 26 and 27. Until Saturday, Banke, Bardiya, Saptari, Dang and Okhaldhunga districts reported a high rate of deaths and illness.

“In the report, we have recommended the government to do adequate homework before launching such campaigns,” said Dr. Yadu Chandra Ghimire, one of the coordinators of the study teams. “The volunteers should be trained on the proper medication procedures, and be made aware of the side effects of the drugs, among other things,” he said.



Volunteers ‘threatened’

Health volunteers involved in the anti-elephantiasis drive in Banke on Monday complained that they have been receiving death threats from relatives of those who died and fell ill after consuming the drugs. Mankumari Silwal of Swasthya Sevika Sangh said volunteers are being harassed. She claimed that the drugs were administered as per the direction of the District Public Health Office (DPHO), and that the volunteers were not to be blamed for the deaths and the illnesses. The DPHO had deployed 1,700 volunteers for the drive in Banke.
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RATION CARDS AS PRICE CONTROL MEASURE
Kathmandu, 5 April:The government is preparing to introduce a Food and Price Control Policy which proposes to remove VAT on essential goods besides issuing ration cards to people living below the poverty line, The Kathmandu Post repprts.


The Department of Commerce is finalising a draft of the policy which is designed to check unwarranted price hikes in essential commodities and regulate the market. The draft will be sent to the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies for final approval by mid-May.

The department has held consultations with traders, consumer rights activists and experts for their input.

The policy aims to set the criteria for storage of goods to discourage hoarding, cartelling and artificial price hikes, expand the role of Nepal Food Corporation and Salt Trading for effective distribution of goods, identify local and international reasons behind price rises and act accordingly and review the customs duty on imported food stuffs, among others. Director general of the department Anil Thakur said that they had prepared the draft based on experience, existing laws and market studies after seeing the immediate need for a mechanism to check market prices and ensure smooth supply of essential goods.

“There have been irregularities on the supply side and pricing of goods in the name of free market. The proposed policy will help to better regulate the market with a proper price control mechanism,” he added.

The government moved to create a price control policy in response to public complaints about increasing prices of essential goods and instances of cartelling and hoarding. The government has classified 29

commodities including rice, edible oil, lentils, vegetables, fruits, sugar, salt and milk as essential goods.

Thakur said that the proposed policy had planned to reduce the number of essential goods and fix their maximum retail price based on production and transportation costs and profit margin for traders.

“The ministry might update the draft policy with a wider perspective and seek the cabinet’s approval,” he added.

As per the government’s plan to control commodity prices, it will create a provision for a public distribution system and provide goods from cooperative shops at lower rates to stabilise the market.

There will also be a provision for providing subsidies to traders wanting to operate cooperatives to sell goods at lower prices.

Although the Consumer Rights Protection Act 1998 mentions the possibility of formulating policies related to quality, price and supply of consumer goods and services, it has not happened despite occurrences of irregularities like hoarding and unnatural price hikes.
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