PRESIDENT YADAV CONTNUES CONSULTATIONS IN NEW DELHI Kathmandu, 27 Dec. President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav will continue discussions with top Indian leaders and bureaucrats Thursday in the Indian capital where hehelddiscussions with ruling party leaders Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi. He held consultations with his counterpart Pranab Mukherjee and discussed the urrent crisis in Nepal. Dr. Yadav continues Thursday’s discussions and will meet Defence Minister AK Anthony, National Security Advisot Shib Shanker Menon, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai and other leaders and bureaucrats. The president will undergo an eye check-up. The five-day India visit was to receive an honourary degree of law on the 150th establishment day of Baneras Hindu University. But his meetings in New Delhi on a five-day n official visit have overshadowed other activities of the ceremonial head of state during a prolonged government/ constitutional crisis at home. New Delhi has supported through a statement the president’s attempt to install a consensus government. Nnnn PLANS DROPPED FOR LAUNCHING NEW COMPANY TO HANDLE GROUND SERVICE A TIA KATHMANDU: Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has dropped its agenda to introduce a new company through a global tender for ground handling services at Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA), The Himalayan Times reports.. However, TIA still claims that another private firm is necessary to bring competitiveness in ground handling services. “We had informed and requested the board to allow two different operators for ground handling but the board dropped the agenda,” said general manager of TIA Ratish Chandra Lal Suman. The authority earlier was planning to introduce an additional ground handling service to end the existing monopoly and manage air traffic more efficiently. “If we have two operators then there will be competition which will result in enhanced security and quality service at the airport,” he said. However, general manager of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) Madan Kharel said that NAC has an excellent ground handling service with huge experience. “Introducing another private firm might bring in negative competition,” he said. According to Kharel, in the present scenario none of the private firms are secure with their investment, therefore with an additional operator there are more chances of negative competition and less quality. “Since there is no competition, there is no quality in the current ground handling service, and we are compelled to use the only ground handling we have as there is no other option,” Suman said. According to Suman, TIA needs quality ground handling and for it there must be competition along with the introduction of a new private firm through tender. TIA states that under the Civil Aviation Authority Act 1996 and National Civil Aviation Policy 2063, the ground handling service should be competitive. There is also an agreement between NAC and CAAN, which does not restrict CAAN from appointing a private firm to manage ground handling. Agreement will end on February 9, 2014. But currently, CAAN has dropped its agenda to introduce a private firm for ground handling. NAC generates around $2 billion from ground handling and TIA receives 10 per cent royalty. nnnn IFC INVESTING IN PROBIOTECH INDUSTRIES Kathmandu, 27 Dec.: Under its strategic agenda to support agribusiness in Nepal, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) — a lending window of the World Bank Group — is close to making a deal for equity investment in a domestic company, Probiotech Industries, Kuvera Chalise writes in The Himalayan Times. . International Finance Corporation has principally agreed to buy a stake in Probiotech — a sister company of Nimbus Group — and in a couple of weeks will sign a mandate agreement, according to sources at the corporation that has already bought shares worth Rs 30 million of Rural Microfinance Development Corporation (RMDC) at a premium rate of Rs 180 per share making it a total investment of Rs 54 million. After RMDC, International Finance Corporation has been interested in buying equity of Probiotech as it is keen to increase its investment in Nepal. Though both Nimbus and Green Invest — financial consultant of Nimbus — could not be contacted, IFC sources said that Probiotech Industries has a high growth prospect and the agreement with the international lender will provide the company financial access to expand its operations. Earlier, International Finance Corporation had helped small poultry farmers to increase their productivity through better farm management practices. It had supported Avinash Hatchery and Probiotech Industries to strengthen the technical skills of 3,000 poultry farmers, directly impacting 40 per cent of the industry under its SouthAsia Enterprise Development Facility. “The poultry industry of the country contributes around three per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP) with a total investment of $334.26 million,” the Sustainable Energy Financing report of IFC on Nepal’s industry stated, adding that the industry’s performance suffers from low productivity despite its contribution to the national economy. “Probiotech Industries is the leading feed industry and seeing its high growth prospects, the international lender has been interested in supporting it,” according to IFC that is finalising its stake, amount of capital it will pump in, and time bound exit policy in the agreement. There are various modalities of exit policies, which the IFC is considering, and will be finalised in the agreement that will also have broad terms and conditions. After the agreement, the due diligence of Probiotech will finalise the equity per cent and capital the IFC will pump in, the sources claimed, adding that IFC might pump in around $200,000 but it will be finalised only after due diligence that will start from mid-January, if everything goes as planned. According to International Finance Corporation norms, it cannot invest more than 25 per cent equity in a company. The lending arm of the World Bank Group has been engaged with private sector players, multilaterals, government, and other stakeholders to implement an integrated development agenda in Nepal. Besides working on a payment reform project, an advisory team is making important progress by building partnerships between the government and private sector through the Nepal Business Forum. International Finance Corporation is already investing in the country with a committed portfolio of $25 million that includes projects across various sectors like power, air transport, banking, microfinance, and trade finance lines. nnnn INDIA ANNOUNCES GANG RAPE INESTIGATION Kathmandu, 27 Dec.: :India’s government today [Wednesday] ordered a special inquiry into the gang-rape of a student which sparked mass protests, as police announced the arrest of 10 men over another multiple sex assault. While a wave of angry protests over the December 16 assault on the student in New Delhi subsided, news of a Christmas Eve gang-rape in rural Tamil Nadu again shone the spotlight on the frightening levels of violence against women, AFP reports from New Delhi. The victim of the attack in New Delhi is still fighting for her life while an officer who was admitted to hospital while policing the protests died yesterday. Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who is also the government’s top spokesman, said a retired judge, Usha Mehra, had agreed to head a commission of inquiry. The inquiry would “identify the lapses if any on the part of the police, or another authority or person that contributed to the occurrence, and fix responsibility for the lapses or negligence”, he said after a cabinet meeting. Chidambaram also said a separate panel would examine existing legislation and “suggest changes in the laws in order to make punishment for such horrific crimes stiffer”. The panel will submit its report in 30 days, he added. “Whatever we do now is intended to demonstrate the government’s serious intent in the matter that we will apprehend and punish the perpetrators, we will try and find out what went wrong... and fix responsibility and amend the laws.” The Delhi gang-rape victim remains in a critical condition in hospital after suffering horrific injuries during her assault on a bus, which began when she and a male companion were picked up after a night out at the cinema. Police and prosecutors say six men, who were drunk and were joy-riding in an off-duty bus with tinted windows, took turns in raping the student before throwing her off the vehicle. The victim suffered enormous intestinal injuries after being assaulted with an iron rod during the 40-minute attack. All six alleged rapists have now been arrested and remanded in custody. Official figures show that 228,650 of the total 256,329 violent crimes recorded last year were against women, with the number of rapes in the capital rising 17 per cent to 661 this year. Thousands of people have taken to the streets since December 16 to demonstrate both against the levels of violence and also the notoriously slow criminal justice system. Speaking alongside Chidambaram, Information Minister Manish Tiwari appealed for calm and restraint. Despite Tiwari’s appeal, around 200 people took part in a new demonstration today on a boulevard in central Delhi — including women and school children — where they shouted anti-government slogans. “If the government is unable to take the decision, give them to us. We will kill them,” read a placard. Stung by criticism, the government has said it will consider introducing the death penalty for the worst attacks and promised to speed up the trial system. nnnn