YETI AIRLINES SPONSORS HIMALAYAN SHERPA FOR ONE MORE YEAR IN MOST EXPENSIVE SPONSORSHIP AGREEMENT Kathmandu, 10 July: Private carrier Yeti Airlines signed an increased Rs 2 million sponsorship with leading A division Himalayan Sherpa Club Monday. The money will sponsor the club’s participation in national and international tournaments for one more year. The sponsorship agreement was signed by Club President Karma Chhiring Sherpa and Deputy Managing Director of Yeti Airlines Norbu Sherpa. Yeti Airlines contribution was increased Rs,500,000 in the most expensive sponsorship deal in Nepali sports. Golcha Organization contributed Rs 1.8 million to Himalayan Club of Jawalakhel. nnnn TEACHERS UNFIT TO TEACH Kathmandu, 10 July: Only 37 per cent primary-level teachers have passed the special exam of Grade XII, The Himalayan Times reports. Of the 6,782 regular examinees, 2,287 examinees (37 per cent) passed the Higher Secondary Education Board conducted exam, as the result published today shows. The special exam conducted on November 3-9, 2011 was for SLC graduates teaching at the primary level for years and meant to provide them certificates on a par with the intermediate level. The HSEB had conducted the exam for the first time in January, 2010 and published the result next year. Only those teachers, who participated in a 10-month training of the National Centre for Education Development (NCED), were allowed to sit for the exam. The teachers, who received the 10-month training, can sit for special exam of Grade XII without studying Grade XI. The teachers sitting for the special exam have to study a special course of Grade XII, which the Tribhuvan University’s Faculty of Education has designed in coordination with HSEB and NCED. The course includes Compulsory English and Compulsory Nepali of 200 marks and Compulsory Education (100 marks). They have to study one optional subject with the weightage of 100 marks out of nine subjects such as English, Mathematics, Science and Health. Durga Prasad Aryal, examination controller at the HSEB, said teachers get practical marks from the practical subjects they had chosen. Deepak Sharma, NCED deputy director, said, “The course is designed to find out what the teachers have learnt and what else is needed to provide teachers with certificate level accreditation.” “Ninety-eight per cent primary teachers have already received this training.” Nnnn ENTREPRENEURS DEMAND HIKE IN VAT THRESHOLD Kathmandu, 10 July: Entrepreneurs today demanded to raise the current Value Added Tax (VAT) threshold, The Himalayan Times reports. “Government should hike the threshold from current Rs 2 million to Rs 8 million, said president of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Suraj Vaidya in a programme organised by Finance Ministry to release report prepared by Revenue Advisory Committee, today. The current VAT Act has made it mandatory for VAT registration for those firms whose annual transaction exceeds Rs 2 million. But it is voluntary for those, whose annual turnover is below the threshold. The threshold amendment will help control VAT fraud, he claimed, also asking the government to create an independent Revenue Board to effective revenue mobilisation. “An independent board is a must to solve dispute between the government and the entrepreneurs,” Vaidya added. In its report, the Revenue Advisory Committee has suggested the government to create conducive environment for the domestic and foreign investment and to adjust the customs tariff according to global and regional trade agreements like WTO, SAFTA and BIMSTEC compliance. It has also suggested to expand tax and non-tax revenue base and bring a separate policy to reduce energy crisis and address problem in capital market. Meanwhile, caretaker finance minister Barshaman Pun said the government is preparing four different types of budget draft for the fiscal year 2012-13 due to political uncertainty and lack of consensus. The UCPN-Maoist leader Pun — whose party had manhandled the then finance minister Surendra Pandey and snatched the budget briefcase while he was presenting the budget in the Parliament in 2010 — said that the economy will suffer, if political parties will fail to forge consensus to bring full-fledged budget. He claimed that he is bring the budget keeping in mind the long term development of the country, rather than short term gain and popularity. “Everyone can check my credibility after announcement of budget,” he claimed, adding that neither he nor his party has any intention to do politics in budget. Finance secretary Krishna Hari Baskota, on the occasion, said that the revenue mobilisation trend has been shifted in the latest years. “The primary source of revenue was customs duty until some years back,” he said, “But the trend has been changed now and VAT and Income Tax has surpassed customs duty as the largest contributors to the government coffer.” “VAT and Income Tax has contributed 31 per cent and 21 per cent to the total revenue mobilisation, respectively,” he added. nnnn