STRANDED INDIAN PLANE FOUND IN DOTI

INDIAN PLANE FOUND IN DOTI

Kathmandu, 11 Feb.: A small weather research plane dispatched from Naini Tal of Uttarakhanda, India, has been found at Lamikhal VDC of Doti district in
Nepal, RSS reports from Doti.

With much hullaballoo over the plane seen some three days ago by cow herders in the jungle of Lamikhal VDC-8 north of Silgadhi of Deepayal, teachers of the local Saraswoti Lower Secondary School had informed the police on Friday.

The plastic container-shaped plane was sent by a weather expert Dr. Naz of Nainital with a written notice ´Please keep it safe if found, as it is sent for measurement and study of weather and Rs.1,000 will be awarded to those thow find it´, said Chief of the District Police Office Doti, Bharat Bahadur Bohara.

The plane is safe in the District Police Office and Dr. Naz was informed about it on Friday, Bohora said.
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FURTHER DETAILS OF SAMUEL TAMRAT MEETING
Kathmandu, 11 Feb.: Senior UN diplomat Samuel Tamrat held discussions with Maoist Chairman Prachanda Saturday.
The Maoist chief briefed the visitor on the current developments, including
the peace process, constitution drafting and integration and resettlement of
former PLA fighters.
Tamrat also consulted NC President Sushil Koirala, his Deputy Ram Chandra Paudel and UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal.
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NRB WILL PUSH CAUTIOUS LENDING RATE SAYS NRB GOVERNOR
Kathmandu, 11 Feb. : Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Dr. Yubraj Khatiwada Friday said that a cautious monetary and lending policy would be adopted for utilizing the current state of liquidity in the banking sector and to encourage investments in the productive sector, The Rising Nepal reports.
Khatiwada stressed the need of investing the liquidity of the banks and financial institutions in the productive sector with priority.
Speaking at a mid-tern review of monetary policy of the current fiscal year 2068/69, Dr. Khatiwada said that the increasing liquidity in the commercial banks and financial institutions should be invested in the energy, agriculture and small and medium enterprises with utmost priority.
He said that such monetary policy would help achieve the economic goals by generating employment through increased investment in the productive sector.
Stating that lending was only half of the deposit collection in the commercial banks, he said that it was necessary to mobilize the deposit in the right sector immediately.
Dr. Khatiwada claimed that pressure of balance of payment, inflation and liquidity and economic growth was good due to the monetary policy and economic policy in the current fiscal year.
"The country had faced problems of balance of payment, inflation and liquidity crunch in previous year," he said.
The balance of payment is at a surplus of Rs. 61.19 billion till date, he said and added that the balance of payment would reach Rs. 40 billion surplus by the end of this fiscal year.
He said that an increase in the remittance and the number of tourist arrivals had contributed to the surplus of balance of payment.
Income form tourism increased by around 37 per cent and remittance increased by 38 per cent during the review period, he said and expected that the balance of payment would increase by around Rs.35 billion more than projected in the monetary policy.
During the review period, the revenue increased by 21.6 per cent whereas the revenue increased by around 14.6 per cent during the same period of last year.
The trade deficit has increased by almost 17 per cent during the review period. The export of the country reached to 11.2 per cent during the review period whereas the export stood at only 9 per cent during the same period last year.
He said that the monetary policy would focus to limit the inflation at 8 per cent over the year. The inflation was at 7.5 per cent during the review period.
A total of Rs.35.13 billion of the government funds was in the NRB, he said and added that the huge amount was in the account as the capital expenditure decreased during the first six months of the current fiscal year.
During the review period, the government received around Rs. 21.21 billion foreign assistance and Rs.2.59 billion foreign loan.
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PEACE, CONSTITUTION WILL BE FINALIZED ON SCHEDULE SAYS PM
Kathmandu, 11 Feb. : Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai Friday said that the twin tasks of drafting the new constitution and completing the peace process would be concluded within the
stipulated time, The Rising Nepal reports..
After the establishment of the current government, significant developments had taken place in terms of constitution writing and peace processes, he said and added that the government under his leadership would lead these tasks to the final stage.
As the political changes alone could not ensure a lasting peace in the country, the present government had also given equal priority for economic prosperity and good governance in the nation, he said while inaugurating the 41st Annual General Meeting of Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) in the capital.
The tendency of political leaders to focus on the party’s interests and factions close to them hampered efforts to lead the country to lasting peace and prosperity, he said adding that strong willpower and positive way of thinking among the politicians and public were needed for building prosperous new Nepal.
For achieving the goal of economic prosperity, the government recently introduced two action plans on Economic Development and Prosperity and Good Governance, he said.
Highlighting tourism sector as one of the main potential sectors with more comparative advantages, Dr. Bhattarai said that the government had given due priority for the development of the sector.
Emphasizing the role of tourism in the development of the country, he said the government was working to declare the sector as a priority industry by offering special facilities, he said.
The tourism sector could help the nation achieve its economic growth based on justice and equity within a short period of time, he said.
Saying that the country could not achieve the goal of sustainable development if it failed to ensure equitable distribution of development benefits, Dr. Bhattarai urged the private sector to help the government in this regard.
The government was working to bring new aircraft to Nepal Airlines, expand and develop airports, improve Tribhuvan International Airport and prepare skilled manpower for the development of the tourism sector, he said.
Radhes Panta, chief executive officer of the Investment Board, stressed the need of aggressive publicity and infrastructure development programmes to utilize immense potentiality in the sector.
As the government had decided to mark the fiscal year 2012/13 as investment year, the tourism sector, including the hotel industry, should come with special investment programmes to make this event a success, he said.
Prasiddha Bahadur Pandey, outgoing president of HAN, pointed out the need of a special labor law for the hotel industry to maintain good labor relations.
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