DIESEL, KEROSNE DEARER BY 4 RUPEES Kathmandu, 19 June: Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) Tuesday hiked the prices of diesel and kerosene by Rs 4 per liter. Diesel and kerosene will now cost Rs 93 per liter. Prices of other POL products remain unchained, nnnn. 3 KILLED IN NAWALPARASI ACIDENTS Kathmandu, 19 June:Two people died in separate road accidents in Nawalparasi on Monday night, RSS reports from Kawasoti.. Forty-six year old Hiralal Paudel of Pragatinagar-3 died after his motorcycle hit a truck at Divyapuri on the East-West highway, according to the District Traffic Police Office. In another accident, Sher Bahadur Gurung, 40, of Padsari-1, Rupandehi died after his motorcycle collided with a tractor coming from the opposite direction. Gurung died on the way to hospital. Nnnn GERMAN AMBASSADOR’S LIMOUSINE VANDAKIZED Kathmandu,19 June: German ambassadors limousine was vandalized Monday afternoon by opposition anti-government protestors as the envoy was heading for TIA to see off Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and his entourage going ti Brazil to participate in a UN-sponsored conference on sustainable development. Home ministry confirmed the vehicle was damaged. The ambassador was not hurt. PM Bhattarai took a detour to the airport to avoid the protestors of 27 parties, including UC and UML, on a three-week anti-government and anti-Maoist protest for suddenly calling constituent assembly (CA) without consultations.. Opposition is demanding for power sharing nnnn NEPALI DEPOSITS IN SWISS BANKS FROP Kathmandu, 19 June: The amount of Nepali money stashed away in Swiss banks has declined in 2011. According to ‘Banks of Switzerland 2011’ published by Swiss National Bank (SNB), Nepali deposits were worth Swiss francs 74.66 million (Rs 6.99 billion) in 2011, down from Swiss francs 97.14 million (Rs 9.09 billion) in 2010, Mukul Humagain writes in The Kathmandu Post.. Nepali deposits in Swiss banks hit a 10-year high in 2007, as reported by The Kathmandu Post on May 27, 2009 (see "The Swiss connection"). The stash dropped in 2008 and 2009 before increasing again in 2010. Bankers said stringent conditions in Swiss banks may have prompted depositors to move their deposits to other countries. The Swiss government has relaxed its banking secrecy laws that provided extreme forms of client confidentiality until two years ago. "Now, Swiss banks have to reveal the actual beneficiary of the account," said a CEO of a leading local bank. "Depositors may have transferred their money to safer destinations out of fear that their details might be revealed." Switzerland is currently grappling with a US crackdown on wealthy Americans hiding funds in its banks. It is also seeking to avoid European Union pressure to make its banking system more transparent with a series of withholding tax deals and lump-sum payments. Swiss officials recently pledged a clean-money strategy, and are now seeking to ensure that private bankers do not deal with funds that have not been taxed. As Nepali commercial banks do not usually deposit their foreign currency holdings in banks in Switzerland, bankers assume that the money must have come from affluent Nepalis. Bankers said that typically the money in Swiss banks is largely kickbacks that are paid to politicians for large deals. "In case of kickbacks, the commissions associated with multi-million-dollar contracts of government agencies are settled abroad. The commission money does not enter Nepal, but are settled overseas and generally deposited in offshore accounts," said one banker. The money deposited in Swiss banks is only a small portion of the capital that has gone outside the country illegally. A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report entitled "Illicit Financial Flows from the Least Developed Countries: 1990-2008" has for the first time recorded the extent of capital flight from the country. The report had said US$ 9.1 billion in capital was siphoned out of the country during the period 1990-2008. On an average, US$ 480.4 million went out of the country annually. With traditional havens like Switzerland relaxing their secrecy laws, well-heeled Nepalis are increasingly looking towards the Middle East and Southeast Asian countries to park their money. Bankers said Dubai, Thailand, Hong Kong, Brunei and Singapore were the preferred hiding places for Nepalis with zillions. Nepali laws bar investing abroad or keeping accounts in foreign banks. But that hasn't stopped money from going abroad through illegal channels. Bankers said representatives of leading private banks like HSBC, Credit Suisse, UBS, Duetse, EFG, City and Coutts visit Nepal every year to meet individuals with a high net worth. "There has been decline in the visits of these representatives of late," said a banker. "It may also indicate that this market (Nepal) may be exhausted." The UN report stated that trade mis-pricing accounted for the bulk (65-70 percent) of illicit outflows from the LDCs, and the propensity for mis-pricing has increased along with increasing external trade. This holds true for Nepal too. Sources said businessmen associated with dealership of international products generally keep some part of their commissions in foreign banks. Even when many countries are seriously working to curb the outflow of illicit capital, there has not been serious attempts by the government to control capital flight. Two weeks ago, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), had asked Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun to allow Nepalis to invest abroad legally. Finance Minister Pun said that the government was thinking of letting Nepalis do so. Four years ago, an attempt was made to initiate a process for Nepali entrepreneurs to invest abroad. The Finance Ministry started work on amending the Ban on Nepali Investment in Foreign Countries Act 1964. The idea then was to allow investment in certain sectors where Nepali companies have competency. Nepali money in Swiss banks (in millions of Swiss francs) 2002 34.356 2003 33.245 2004 30.347 2005 24.759 2006 89.672 2007 108.492 2008 86.221 2009 68.885 2010 97.148 2011 74.662 Source: Swiss National Bank nnnn AIR FARES SOAR WIH HUJE IN ORICE OF AVIATION FUEL Kathmandu, 19 June: International airlines connecting Nepal have hiked airfares prompted by mounting fuel costs and strong demand. According to travel agents, foreign carriers serving the Middle East, Malaysia and Indian cities have jacked up ticket prices due to increased movement of Indian vacationers and Nepali migrant workers. However, airfares on other sectors have not changed, Sangam Parsain writes in The Kathmandu Post.. One-way tickets for the Delhi-Kathmandu flight have more than doubled from Rs 6,000-7,000 one and a half months ago to Rs 13,000-14,000 presently. Travel agencies said that all Indian carriers flying on the route recorded full occupancy in May and are fully booked for June and July. Similarly, ticket prices have soared for the Kathmandu-Mumbai flight. “Planes arriving from Delhi and Mumbai were full in May and will remain crowded until July due to the Indian holiday season,” said Joy Dewan, group managing director of Zenith Travels. May-July is regarded as the main season when large numbers of Indian tourists visit the country to escape the heat in the Indian plains. “It’s a routine fare hike for Indian carriers during May-July as this three-month rush sustains them for the rest of the year,” Dewan said. Currently, five Indian carriers fly on the Kathmandu-Delhi route. According to him, the price of air tickets normally goes down when the season ends. “Airfares are determined by market forces—demand and supply—and these seasons are boom times for them.” Similarly, fares on the Middle East and Malaysia sectors, where Nepali migrant workers make up 80 percent of the passengers, have jumped. “With Malaysia opening its doors to Nepali migrant workers since mid-April, airfares has increased along with rising demand,” said Shyam Raj Thapaliya, managing director of Osho World Travel Nepal. Travel agents said that one-way ticket prices on the Kathmandu-Malaysia sector have soared to Rs 23,000-24,000 from Rs 15,000-16,000 in February. Kumud Khanal, vice-president of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies, said that increased ticket prices for Gulf destinations and Malaysia have affected their business too. “The amount of fees that agencies can charge from migrant workers which include the price of the ticket has been fixed by the government, so the rise in airfares has made things difficult for us,” Khanal said. He added that workers were unwilling to pay more than the amount fixed by the government. “The government should revise the pre-departure charges,” he said. The government has fixed the maximum pre-departure charge including the airfare at Rs 80,000 per person for Malaysia and Rs 70,000 for the Gulf. Meanwhile, travel agencies said that airfares to London, Australia, Japan, Korea, China and Bangkok have remained unchanged. They added that tickets for the Kathmandu-London sector could rise during the Summer Olympics. ONE-WAY AIRFARES SECTOR CURRENTLY BEFORE Kathmandu-Delhi Rs 13,000-Rs 14,000 Rs 6,000-Rs 7,000 Kathmandu-Malaysia Rs 23,000-Rs 24,000 Rs 15,000-Rs 16,000 Kathmandu-Mumbai Rs 21,000-Rs 22,000 Rs 14,000-Rs 15,000 Kathmandu-Doha Rs 25,000-Rs 26,000 Rs 16,000-Rs 17,000 Kathmandu-Dubai Rs 19,000-Rs 20,000 Rs 15,000-Rs 16,000 Kathmandu-Saudi Arabia Rs 16,000-Rs 17,000 Rs 22,000-Rs 23,000 Kathmandu-US Rs 72,000-Rs 73,000 Rs 65,000-Rs 67,000 nnnn