NEPSE INDEX STABLE

NEPSE INDEX STABLE

Kathmandu, 21 Aug.: Nepse index was stable after four-day weekly trading Thursday.
The market closed one day.
The market opened at 353.54 points Monday and closed at 352.54 points Thursday.
Market capitalization was stable at Rs.314.30 billion.
Bank of Kathmandu shares were traded during the week for Rs.20.5 million.
Altogether 92,500 shares of Paschimanchal Development Bank were traded.
Shares totaling 568, 760 were traded for Rs.129.7 million.
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JHAMAK GHIMERE AWARDED MADAN PURASKJAR





Kathmandu, Aug. 20, Jhamak Kumari Ghimire ,was awarded the Madan Puraskar 2067 for her work Jeeban Kanda Ki Phul.
Ghimere is the second recipient of the award; Parijat is the first.
Jagadamba Shree Puraskar has been awarded to Durga Lal Shrestha for enriching literature through lyrics, poetry and children’s literature.
Each award carries a Rs. 200,000 purse.
Sajha Prakashan has awarded Shaja Purashkar 2067 to Dr. Dubasu Chhetri for his work Aswomedh Yagyaka Ghodaharu.
The Prakashan board Friday took the decision to give the award with a Rs. 200,000 purse.
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NEPALI STUDENTS GOING ABROAD DECLINING





Kathmandu, 21 Aug.: A sharp drop in the number of students seeking no-objection letters at the Ministry of Education shows the declining trend of Nepalese students going abroad for higher studies, Manjima Dhakal writes in The Rising Nepal.
Requests for such letters from the ministry by those aspiring to go abroad for studies decreased by more than fifty per cent in the fiscal year 2010/11 as compared to the previous fiscal year, said Laxmi Khadka, chief of the scholarship section of the Ministry of Education.
This trend, however, has nothing to do with the declining interests of the students. Changing policies and stricter regulations in the destination countries have discouraged the students to go abroad for studies, Khadka said.
As government authorities have no exact data on the number of students going abroad for studies, they have used the number of students seeking no-objection letters from the education ministry as an indicator.
Some 26,948 students had obtained no-objection letters from the ministry during the fiscal year 2009/2010 whereas the number came down to 11,912 in 2010/2011. The decrease is by more than 15 thousand.
The decline in the number of those seeking no-objection letters has not only caused a loss in government revenue but negatively affected the business of the mushrooming educational consultancies.
In fiscal year 2007/08, only 587 students had received no-objection letters from the ministry. There was a dramatic surge in the fiscal year 2008/09 as a total of 24,824 student sought no-objection letters from the ministry.
The latest decrease is the result of tightened visa policy adopted by Britain, United States of America and Australia. These are the most preferred destinations by the Nepalese students.
In the fiscal year 2009/2010, some 19,068 students acquired no-objection letters for the UK while this number came down to 3,075 in the fiscal year 2010-11.
The past trend was that most of the students applied for student visas to have jobs for money. However, as the destination countries tightened their working permissions for students, it has controlled the flow of students.
The recent trend is that students with genuine study plans and eligibility are getting visas.
Rajendra Baral, general secretary of Education Consultancies Association Nepal (ECAN), said that the number of Nepalese students going abroad for studies has decreased due to stricter policies of the destination countries.
Most of the Nepali people cannot afford education in western universities. When they are restricted to have jobs, the number of students naturally goes down. The economic crisis in the destination countries has played its part, said Baral.
Baral said that more Nepalese students turned their attention to go India and China for higher studies.
The Education Ministry collected Rs. 53,800,000 revenue by issuing no-objection letters in the fiscal year 2009/10. However, in the fiscal year 2010/11, it collected only 23,800,000 rupees.
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