VAN ACCIDENT INJURES 16 IN SIRAHA Kathmandu, 8 Oct. At least 16 people were injured when a van loaded with vegetables overturned on the East-West Highway at Rampur Birta-2 Monday morning, RSS reports from Golbazzar, Siraha. Among the injured, three are said to be in critical condition, police said. The van (registration number Ja 1 Cha 753) was going towards the east when it overturned. The name and address of those injured in the mishap is not yet ascertained. They are all believed to be vegetable traders and are being treated at various hospitals in Mirchaiya, police said. nnnn MORE DETAILS OF LEOPARD TERROR IN BAITADI Kathmandu, 8 Oct : A leopard has been terrorizing the people at Giregada village in Baitadi district, RSS reportsfrom Khalanga, Baitadi.. In the latest incident related to the leopard terror, the wild beast attacked seven-year-old Santosh Chand near his house at 8 p.m. on Sunday. The leopard vanished in the bush nearby the village after attacking the boy. The whereabouts of the seven-year-old is still not known. As many as 13 people in the district have died due to the attack by leopard in the last one year alone and three people have been killed in a week´s time, according to police. Seven children have been killed by leopard since mid-August. A police team with sharp-shooters has been sent to the village for hunting down the killer beast. nnnn CHINA’S EXIM BANK POSITIVE ON FINANCING POKHARA AIRPORT PROJECT Kathmandu, 8 Oct: China based EXIM (Export-Import) Bank has asked the Nepal government to speed up the process to select the bidder for the construction of proposed Pokhara Regional International Airport (PRIA) amid delay to implement the much touted project over the controversy on project cost, Sakimsha Koirala writes in Republica. . A Nepali delegation that visited China recently in a bid to resolve the problems, briefed Tourism Ministry and Finance Ministries about the outcome of visit stating that the Chinese officials were positive to construct the airport irrespective of the high cost of the project. The works on the project was halted after the lowest bidder quoted more than 85 percent higher than the government´s earlier estimation. China CAMC, the lowest bidder had quoted US $ 305 million for PRIA against the government estimation of US $ 165 million. The delegation led by Yagya Gautam, Tourism Secretary, had left for the northern neighbor to resolve the issue of high cost and procedural complexities on the implementation of the project. The delegation had, among other high ranking Chinese officials, met one of the vice-presidents of EXIM Bank during the visit. “The EXIM Bank is positive about the construction and has shown flexibility to work in line with the legal requirement of Nepal.” Gautam. Gautam, however, said that the government is soon going to sign an agreement with Chinese officials to pave the way to implement the project which would be acceptable to both sides. “The visit was very fruitful and the remaining issues on procedures will be resolved once the pact is signed soon,” he added. According to a Tourism Ministry official, the Chinese officials also said they would not object to any decision of Nepal government to award contract to any bidder. “Construction process will begin once we sign the pact,” said Gautam. Tourism Ministry officials said a bidder is selected before the formal signing of the loan agreement, under Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) model that has been proposed by the Chinese side for the execution of the project. However, as per the Public Procurement Act in Nepal, the selection process can begin only after the loan agreement. “Existing confusion on which model to be followed in the proposed project will be resolved once the pact is inked,” he added. Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) had invited bid for the execution of the project on February 9, 2012. Although the government was schedule to sign loan agreement with EXIM Bank by August after selection a contractor, the controversy of the high cost halted the project. Angered by the project delay, locals of Pokhara have been staging protests from mid-August to exert the pressure for timely construction of the airport. Nnnn KUMARI, SIDDHARTHA BANKS BEGIN MERGER EFFORTS Kathmandu, 8 Oct.: Kumari Bank has initiated merger talks with Siddhartha Bank as it aims to create a viable category ´A´ financial institution that ranks among the largest in terms of capital and has the capacity to absorb greater shocks, Rupak D. Sharma writes in Republica.. The merger deal, if completed, would be the second among commercial banks after the consolidation of NIC Bank and Bank of Asia Nepal which has reached final stage. “Yes, we have seriously entered into merger talks with Siddhartha Bank,” a very reliable source of Kumari Bank told Republica. “The deal is being negotiated by a four-member merger committee headed by Rishi Agarwal (a board director of Kumari Bank).” Surender Bhandari, CEO of Siddhartha Bank, also confirmed that preliminary talks on consolidation were being held with Kumari Bank. “But it´s still premature,” Bhandari told Republica. “In fact, we are holding talks with couple of other banks as well in this regard.” Although the talks between the two would reach the stage of ´maturity´ only after they sign a memorandum of understanding, the deal has high chances of taking off because the position of CEO is still vacant at Kumari. This provides leverage to Siddhartha Bank CEO Bhandari, who can play a vital role in consolidation of the two banks, as he has high chances of retaining his current position at the combined unit. It is said chief executives usually play an important role in taking mergers of banks and financial institutions to a logical conclusion, since they hold power to convince promoters. “But at times they also play vital role in ruining such deals because of fear of losing their positions,” a high-ranking official of Nepal Rastra Bank said on condition of anonymity. “In the case of Kumari and Siddhartha, this pretext, at least, is non-existent.” As this factor throws support to the budding deal, other financial indicators also suggest the negotiations have high chances of yielding positive results. For instance, the capital base of the two - with Kumari´s Rs 1.60 billion and Siddhartha´s Rs 1.62 billion - is almost identical. Both banks are also not heavily exposed to bad debts. Non-performing loans at Kumari stand at 2.24 percent of the credit portfolio, while meager 1.52 percent of Siddhartha´s loans have turned bad. Capital adequacy ratio, a measure of capital reserves against assets at risk, of both banks is also higher than the central bank´s requirement of 10 percent. “These are also factors why we are pursuing merger talks with Siddhartha,” the source from Kumari Bank said. Success in this regard will not only create one of the top five banks in terms of paid-up capital but a stronger unit which has the capacity to lend extra amount and absorb greater shocks. Experts say many banks, ultimately, will have to follow this path of merger as the central bank is mulling over raising capital base of commercial banks to Rs 5 billion, soon after they meet the capital requirement of Rs 2 billion by mid-July 2013. Nnnn ________________________________________ ________________________________________ CHAVEZ WINS ANOTHER TERM Kathamandu, 8 Oct : President Hugo Chavez won re-election Sunday, defeating challenger Henrique Capriles and gaining six more years to cement his legacy and press ahead with his crusade for socialism in Venezuela, AP reports from Caracas. . With about 90 percent of votes counted, Chavez had more than 54 percent of the vote, and Capriles had 45 percent, National Electoral Council president Tibisay Lucena said. She said 81 percent of the nearly 19 million registered voters cast ballots, one of the largest turnouts in years. It was Chavez´s third re-election victory in nearly 14 years in office, though by a smaller margin than in 2006, when he won 63 percent of the votes. Fireworks exploded in downtown Caracas, and Chavez´s supporters celebrated waving flags and jumping for joy outside the presidential palace. Chavez won more than 7.4 million votes, beating Capriles by more than 1.2 million votes, Lucena said. Capriles congratulated Chavez and told his supporters not to feel defeated. "We have planted many seeds across Venezuela and I know that these seeds are going to produce many trees," he told supporters in a speech late Sunday. Chavez spent heavily in the months before the vote, building public housing and bankrolling expanded social programs providing benefits to poor families. Capriles, a youthful state governor, became a strong challenger after winning a February primary and rallied an opposition that grew more united and better organized than in the past. But in the end, it was no match for Chavez´s electoral prowess. Just as polls closed on Sunday night, hundreds of young red-shirted Chavistas took to the streets on motorcycles and said they were ready to begin celebrating. "Let them accept defeat," Kleiver Gutierrez said of the opposition. People holding posters of Chavez shouted to passing cars outside the Miraflores presidential palace. One pro-Chavez voter, private bodyguard Carlos Julio Silva, said that whatever his faults, Chavez deserved to win for spreading the nation´s oil wealth to the poor with free medical care, public housing and other government largess. The country has the world´s largest proven oil reserves. "There is corruption, there´s plenty of bureaucracy, but the people have never had a leader who cared about this country," Silva said after voting for Chavez at a school in the Caracas slum of Petare. "That´s why the people are going to re-elect Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias." At many polling places, voters began lining up hours before polls opened at dawn, some snaking for blocks in the baking Caribbean sun. Some shaded themselves with umbrellas. Vendors grilled meat and some people drank beer. Maria Leonis was selling CDs of Chavez´s campaign theme music on a sidewalk next to a polling center. "Today I´ve sold about 100 CDs, just Chavez´s song," Leonis said, adding that she supported Chavez because "I want to keep seeing change." Chavez´s critics say the president has inflamed divisions by labeling his opponents "fascists," ´´Yankees" and "neo-Nazis," and it´s likely hard for many of his opponents to stomach another six years of the loquacious and conflictive leader. Some said before the vote that they´d consider leaving the country if Chavez won. Gino Caso, an auto mechanic, said Chavez is power-hungry and out of touch with problems such as crime. He said his son had been robbed, as had neighboring shops. "I don´t know what planet he lives on," Caso said, gesturing with hands blackened with grease. "He wants to be like Fidel Castro — end up with everything, take control of the country." The 40-year-old Capriles, a wiry former governor affectionately called "Skinny" by supporters, infused the opposition with new optimism, and opinion polls pointed to him giving Chavez his closest election contest ever. Chavez spoke little during the campaign about his fight with cancer, which since June 2011 has included surgery to remove tumors from his pelvic region as well as chemotherapy and radiation treatment. He has said his most recent tests showed no sign of illness. nnnn