UML WORKERS MEET N JHAPA TO PROMOTE UNITY

UML MEET NATIONAL WORKERS TO BEGIN IN JHAPA

Kathmandu, 13 Jan.: Party Chairman Jhalanath Khanal is launching a national workers meet in Jhapa Friday.
Party unity is the meeting’s agenda with the aim to make the third largest party the biggest
After UCPN (Maoist), the party is also the second communist party.
The party now in the opposition with NC is now divided in three groups led by Khanal, former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and KP Oli, who has been appointed the third ranking leader in the party by the party boss to promote unity.
Maoists ousted the party from government.
Before the incumbent Baburam Bhattarai government, Nepal and then Khanal led two successive coalition governments
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3 FEET SNOW AT DAMAN, SIMBHANJYANG DISRUPTS MOVEMENT OF VEHICLES TO CAPITAL
Kathmandu, 13 Jan.: Snowfall at Daman and Simbhanjyang along the Tribhuvan highway has obstructed public transportation between Hetauda and Kathmandu since early Friday morning, RSS reports from Hetauda.

Snow as high as three feet has accumulated on the roads and snowfall still continues, according to Area Police Office in Palung.

Daily life has also been affected here owing to the heavy snowfall.

Meanwhile, the number of tourists visiting Daman and adjoining areas to observe the snowfall and play with snow has been increasing every day.

A large number of tourists, especially youths are coming from nearby Hetauda, Birgunj and Kathmandu.
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BIG TAX PAYERS ON IRD WATCH
Kathmandu, 13 Jan.:: Inland Revenue Department is all set to bring large taxpayers, who are avoiding tax compliance under its scanner, The Himalayan Times reports.

“The tax offices have still some Rs 24 billion to collect from different taxpayers,” director general at the department Tanka Mani Sharma said.

“Of the total dues, the cases worth Rs 10 billion are undertaking by different judicial bodies after the concerned firms and taxpayers filed cases as they were not satisfied,” he informed, adding that the department can collect the dues only after final verdict from the courts or revenue tribunals.

“But, the remaining Rs 14 billion is still the subject of collection and the department is mulling to collect it at the earliest,” Sharma added. Of the total revenue dues, the department has to collect Rs 20 billion income and excise tax, and Rs 4 billion under Value Added Tax (VAT) and Tax Deducted at Source (TDS), according to the department that promises not to let let even big business firms and large taxpayers to go without paying tax.

“It will freeze bank accounts, stop transaction and even close entire businesses, if they failed to follow tax compliance,” he added. Among large taxpayer, Mt Everest Brewery has to pay Rs 440 million dues and Gorkha Brewery has to pay Rs 350 million dues, according to Sharma.

Similarly, AVCO has also pay significant amount.

Still 1,000 taxpayers have to clear more than Rs 1 million tax, Sharma revealed, adding that the department has targeted those firms whose dues exceed Rs 1 million. The department has given ultimatum till January 15 to pay outstanding dues to all the taxpayers. “It has already listed the names of those firms and business outlets,” according to the department that today directed the concerned offices to start collection of revenue dues from taxpayers.

“It will start taking action from mid-February to those who flout tax laws,” the department chief said, adding that tax evaders have to face charges under Income Tax Act, Value Added Tax (VAT) Act and Excise Act after mid-February.

“There are some firms that have not been following tax liabilities since last eight years,” according to the department.

Currently, there are 600,000 PAN and 104,000 VAT registered taxpayer.

DRI RAID

Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) has seized 15 big packet of readymade garment from its Thankot check-post on Thursday. “The vehicle which was carrying some 35,000 kg of incense-stick was hiding garment items inside the incense-stick,” director general at the department Shanta Bahadur Shrestha said, adding that they are investigating on how the vehicle got a clearance from Birgunj Customs Office. “It is very serious case since vehicle has acquired all legal documents from Birgunj Customs Office,” Shrestha said.
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FORMER MAOIST FIGHERS BEING PAID THROUGHBANK ACCOUNTS
Kathmandu, 13 Jan.: Even though there has been no headway regarding sending Maoist PLA combatants, who have opted voluntary retirement scheme, home, the Secretariat of the Special Committee (for supervision, integration and rehabilitation of Maoist combatants) has started the process to open bank accounts for them for
their payments, The Himalayan Times reports.

As many as 7,500 PLA fighters had chosen voluntary retirement scheme during the regrouping process carried out in November.

At the request of the Secretariat three government banks — Nepal Bank Limited, Rastriya Banijya Bank and Agriculture Development Bank — have started opening bank accounts for the fighters who are supposed to get Rs 5-8 lakh based on their services and ranks in PLA. “Process to open bank accounts has started; we will have fighters’ account numbers soon,” said Secretariat Coordinator Balananda Sharma.

Local branches of the banks have reached Maoist PLA cantonments across the country for the purpose.

The Secretariat has asked the government to release approximately Rs 2 billion for the first installment of the money the fighters are entitled to receive and their travel allowances. The fighters will get their second installment next fiscal. However, the government is yet to provide the money and Secretariat members attribute the delay to stalled constitution-drafting process. The Secretariat has also deputed government officials and other technical staff to carry out the job of bidding farewell to the fighters. “We are ready to play our part; we are waiting for the funds and a green signal from the Special Committee,” said Sharma. Due to differences among the major parties over several issues, the retiring fighters are waiting for a decision to be made.
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NEW MUSK DEER SPECIES DISCOVERED IN NEPAL
Kathmandu, 13 Jan.:- A new species of endangered Musk deer--differed from all three species found in the country--has been discovered in Mustang district, Pragati Shahi writes in The Kathmandu Post..
Interestingly, the genetic testing (DNA test) conducted to identify the new species found that the gene sequence significantly differed from all other musk deer gene sequences in the global genetic database, indicating that the newfound member of Musk deer family is a unique species discovered so far.
Two independent studies carried out in 2009 and 2011 by Paras Singh and Priya Joshi respectively have confirmed the presence of a unique species of musk deer near Lupra village in Mustang.
“The new species has brown body part with white portion towards the lower side and legs,” said Joshi, the researcher who used genetic tools on the pellets and tissue samples collected from Lupra village as a part of her Master thesis.
The other three Musk deer species found in Nepal are Moschus chrysogaster, Moschus leucogaster and Moschus fuscus. The musk deer are found in Nepal, China and India, Pakistan, Tibet and Mongolia.
According to Joshi, the collected samples were used during the lab test in Center for Molecular Dynamics- Nepal (CDMN) in Kathmandu while the photograph taken by Singh were analysed by Dr Colin Groves, a leading taxonomist in Australia, who identified this unique species as the 'pepper-and-salt' variety alias 'Kulu-form' of musk deer.
“This is the first time that genetic tools have been used to identify a new species in Nepal,” she said. “We will now try to find out whether this new species matches the Kulu-form of musk deer found in Uttarkhand, India."
“I am really excited to come across the new discovery. Though I sought to genetically identify the species of musk deer and their habitats in Mustang, the discovery of new species is something I had not expected to come across during the research work,” Joshi said.
Studies have also found that musk deer populations in Mustang face considerable threat from poaching as well as competition and habitat degradation from livestock, climate change and forest fires.
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NEPAL-INDIA TO DISCUSS SIMPLIFIED IMPORT PRPCEDURES
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Kathmandu, 13 Jan.: :High level officials from Nepal and India are all set to hold a ‘significant’ deliberation on Monday which is aimed at simplifying procedures for trade and Nepal-bound transit cargo at the Kolkata port, Mahesh Acharya reports in The Kathmandu Post from New Delhi..
The simplified procedures, which are expected to evolve during this talk, will also apply to other routes agreed by the two countries.
Nepali stakeholders have been complaining of various hassles in Kolkata/Haldia, which is the nearest and the only Indian port that Nepal has been allowed to use so far.
A four-member Nepali delegation led by Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies Ngaindra Upadhyay arrived in Kolkata on Thursday to participate in the talk.
Ahead of the talk, the Nepali officials are scheduled to make a trip to Vishakapatnam Port in Andhra Pradesh. Although India agreed to allow Nepal-bound cargo to use this port in 2009, it has not been opened as various technicalities are yet to be sorted out. The opening of this port will not only end the monopoly of Kolkata port over Nepal-bound cargo, but also provide ample opportunities for Nepali traders to import in deeper vessels while offering more automated process, reducing the time and costs.
The talk will also dwell on the issue of additional lock system imposed by Indian authorities on Nepal-bound cargo coming from Kolkata/Haldia with effect from August 1, 2011. The Nepali side has been requesting to discontinue this practice as this goes beyond the framework of the Treaty of Transit between the two countries.
An overtly reluctant India on this issue, has however agreed to discuss the simplification of procedures for trade/transit cargo with Nepal during the commerce secretary-level meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee held in New Delhi on December 5-6. Following the agreement, high level officials from both the countries are scheduled to hold talks on Monday.
India has been turning down Nepal’s request to discontinue the additional lock system as it argues that Nepal-bound containers have been found tampered with and the one-time locks are broken quite often.
However, Nepali stakeholders have been opposing the very Indian argument saying that the enforcement of additional lock will make the entire process cumbersome, resulting delay on delivery of goods and additional transportation costs, among others. According to recent data, around 42,000 Nepal-bound containers are cleared from Kolkata/Haldia port annually.
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