PRESIDENT CONSULTS 19 PARTY LEADERS TUESDAY Kathmandu, 15 Jan. President Dr.. Ram Baran Yadav Tuesday consults leaders of 19 political parties The Big Three and Madeshbadi parties Monday missed a ninth presidential deadline to find a successor of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai. nnnn ARMY CHIEF RETURNS HOME TUESDAY Kathmandu, 15 Jan.: Army Chief Gen. Gaurab Shumshere JB Rana returns hoe from India later Tuesday. He was conferred rank of honourary general of the Indian Army during the visit. Nnnn 2ND NEPAL, KUWAIT FRIENDLY INTRNATIONAL CANCELLED Kathmandu, 15 Jan.: A second friendly international between Nepal and Kuwati women in the emirates scheduled for Tuesday has been postponed without setting a new date. ANFA said injuries led to the cancellation without setting a new date. Nepal beat the Kuwaiti footballers on home turn 8-0 in the first encounter. Nnnn PM TELLS PRESIDENT TO APPROVE ORDINANCES TO OR REINSTATE CA Lathmandu, 15 Jan.: Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has told the president that either the latter should endorse the ordinances forwarded by the government or the dissolved Constituent Assembly (CA) should be reinstated to resolve the constitutional and legal crises, Republica reports.. The prime minister also asked the President Ram Baran Yadav not to extend any longer the deadline issued to the political parties to find consensus prime ministerial candidate saying that extensions have so far remained meaningless. Bhattarai offered the suggestions to the head of state at a meeting between the two at the president´s office on Monday. "The prime minister has suggested to the president to endorse the ordinances or to move toward reinstating the Constituent Assembly because the country cannot remain at the state of constitutional as well as legal deadlock. There is no other way to end the current deadlock than the two options [suggested by prime minister]," the prime minister´s political advisor Devendra Paudel told Republica. The president is sitting on nearly a dozen ordinances saying that he wouldn´t endorse the bills proposed by the caretaker government in the absence of parliament unless the opposition parties support it. Asked about the president´s response, Dahal said, "He didn´t give any clear reply but just listened to the prime minister." Ruling parties to urge prez not to extend deadline Expressing deep dissatisfaction over the repeated deadlines issued by President Ram Baran Yadav to the political parties to find a consensus prime ministerial candidate, the ruling parties have warned that they would not attend meetings called by the head of state if the latter kept extending the deadline in future. A meeting of the top brass of the ruling parties, including UCPN (Maoist), held at the prime minister´s residence in Baluwatar on Monday concluded that it was unnecessary to extend the deadline in the status quo. The ninth deadline given by the president to the political parties for consensus expired on Monday. "If the president continued to extend the deadline, we will not attend the all-party meeting called by him in future," said Minister for Information and Communications Raj Kishor Yadav, who is also the chairman of Madhesi People´s Rights Forum-Republican (MPRF-R). A meeting of the ruling parties. (Photo: Republica) The ruling parties also decided to urge the president at the all-party meeting scheduled for Tuesday not to extend the deadline stating that repeated extensions of the deadline would drag the head of state into ´unnecessary controversy´. "It is the responsibility of the political parties, not of the president, to forge consensus [on formation of national consensus government]," Yadav informed about the conclusion of the meeting. The ruling alliance reiterated that it would not quit the government until the political parties arrive at consensus on all issues. According to leaders present at the meeting, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal proposed to raise the issue of Constituent Assembly (CA) revival saying it was not possible to conduct fresh polls for CA by mid April-May. He also proposed to extend the Federal Democratic Republican Alliance (FDRA), an alliance of about two dozen political parties, to local level. "We will discuss these issues at a meeting of FDRA called for Tuesday," Yadav said. Dahal, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and Chairman of Tarai Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP) Mahantha Thakur, among other top leaders, were present at the meeting. Nnnn BANK DEPOSITS INCREASE Kathmandu,15 Jan.: It looks like depositors, who had started withdrawing money from commercial banks following interest rate cuts, have started acclimatizing themselves to the low-yield climate. This is what bank deposit figures compiled by Nepal Rastra Bank indicate, Republica reports.. Commercial banks began this fiscal year on a low note, particularly in terms of deposit collection, with many depositors withdrawing their funds following reduction of average one-year interest rate from as high as 12 percent to around seven percent, owing to liquidity surplus. The impact of rate cuts was immediately seen as deposit collection grew by mere 0.2 percent in the first month of the current fiscal year. The situation further worsened in the second month and deposit base of banks shrunk by 0.1 percent. Then for the next two months deposit growth rate at commercial banks remained static at 1.7 percent. Amidst this situation, the five-month figure shows some improvement, as deposit growth rate stood at 3.2 percent in the period--the highest recorded so far this financial year. Although deposit expansion rate posted in the period is nowhere near 10.3 percent reported in the same period last fiscal year, bankers have taken the hike positively, as it shows growing confidence of depositors in commercial banks--albeit they are not in a mood to hike deposits rates any time soon due to persisting surplus of liquidity. “One of the reasons behind the deposit hike is rise in remittance channeled by Nepalis working abroad,” Anal Bhattarai, CEO of Commerz and Trust Bank, told Republica. Nepal received Rs 163.49 billion in remittance from overseas workers in the five-month period of the current fiscal year to mid-December, up 22.7 percent than in the same period last fiscal year. Although the remittance growth rate recorded this year is lower than 37.9 percent registered in the five-month period last year, the volume went up from last year´s Rs 133.19 billion. Higher inflow of remittance, much of which remained at commercial bank accounts, pushed up bank deposits to Rs 889.55 billion rupees in the five-month period from Rs 861.69 billion registered in mid-July, when the fiscal year began. Another reason for deposit growth, according to Bhattarai, is migration of depositors from other financial institutions to commercial banks. Although this is not taking place at a rapid pace, many depositors have started moving base to banks after governance-related problems started cropping up in development banks, finance companies and cooperatives, Bhattarai said. “Another reason for deposits growth is the natural factor as well,” Bhattarai said, referring to the common banking practice of making periodic interest payment to depositors, which subsequently coverts into deposits. Currently, average one-year deposit rate at commercial banks hovers at seven percent, which means deposit growth rate would automatically stand at around seven percent at the end of the year. "Considering this, deposits should have gone up automatically by around 2.9 percent in the five-month period," Bhattarai said. Nnnn MAJOR EXPORTS DROPS Kathmandu, 15 Jan.: Export of Hand knotted Carpet, Readymade Garments and Woolen/ Pashmina Shawls, the major exportable products of the country have plunged down during the first four months of the current fiscal year, The Himalayan Times reports.. According to the recent statistics of the Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC), the export figures of carpet, garment and Pashmina has declined by 19.5 per cent, 30.9 per cent and 11.7 per cent respectively. “We are still lagging behind in the export of Chyangra Pashmina,” said an official at the Nepal Pashmina Industries Association (NPIA). According to the association, it is still waiting for the remaining financial support from the government. Nepal Pashmina Industries Association was granted Rs 1.6 million by the government to accomplish its brand registration process in the international market and the association has been successful in registering the Pashmina brand in 41 countries. “There are still five more countries where we have to register our brand but due to budget constrains we are unable to register the brand,” the official said. During the first four months of the current fiscal year, the pashmina products worth Rs 709.808 million was exported to the international market, which is a fall of 11.7 per cent, states the TEPC statistics. The export of was worth Rs 803.453 million during the same period last year. Meanwhile, Nepali readymade garment exporters said that they are looking for a recovery in the total export of garment in the next six months but if the export figures fails to recover then it might cause serious problem to overall export. Export of Nepali Readymade Garments was worth Rs 1.30 billion during the first four months, which was worth Rs 1.89 billion during same period last year. The expectations of the Nepali readymade garment sector to make neighbouring India its next prime destination was also shattered after an unexpected decrease in exports in 2011-12. Garments, carpets and pashmina, which are major exportable products of the country, observed an unexpected decline in the first four months of the current fiscal year which has created an alarming situation for export based industries. During the first four months, carpet worth Rs 1.80 billion was exported which was worth Rs 2.23 billion during same period last year, shows the data available from Trade and Export Promotion Centre. Nnnn REASON FOR AG’S US VISIT CANCELLATION Kathmandu, 15 Jan.:: The Deputy Attorney General has claimed that the US visit of Attorney General Mukti Pradhan was postponed owing to inappropriate situation due to deepening crisis in the nation, The Himalayan Times reports, The Himalayan Times reports.. “The visit was postponed owing to the current crisis in the nation, and we are attempting to request them to reschedule the programme,” said Deputy Attorney General Prem Raj Karki. Attorney General Pradhan informed that his visit has been postponed by 10 days. The conference that was scheduled to start today and end on January 19 was to be attended by Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General along with two section officers from Nepal. Media reports on Monday had claimed that the AG cancelled his scheduled visit to US fearing arrest. Nnnn NEPAL, INDIA TO DISCUSS REGULAR ISSUES Kathmandu, 15 Jan.: - Officials from Nepal and India will be meeting in the Indian Capital of New Delhi to dwell on bilateral security issues, including strengthening border management and enhancing the bilateral mechanisms already set-up by the two countries, The Kathaamandu Post writes.. The 10th series of the two-day joint secretary-level meeting, set to kick off on Wednesday, will take up regular agendas like effective border management to curb criminal elements and trans-boundary security issues, said Nepali officials. Shanker Koirala, joint-secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs, will be leading a nine-member Nepali team while his counterpart, R Singh, will lead the Indian side. Besides regular security issues, India will once again raise the issue of the modernisation, up-gradation and revamping of the immigration system at the Tribhuvan International Airport, which has been on the check-list for more than a decade. As always, the Indian side will also bring up the circulation of fake Indian currency notes and the construction of the Nepal Police Academy in Kavre, Panauti. The meeting will pave the way for Home Secretary level-talks to be held in March so they do not expect much to happen, said officials. "However, on crucial issues like immigration and the Nepal Police Academy to be constructed with Indian assistance, we will convey our stance. We have identified a few areas of cooperation where we can take Indian assistance. According to that, we will put forth our positions," said a senior Nepali government official, preparing to leave for New Delhi on Tuesday. During last year's meeting in Kathmandu, both sides decided to hold quarterly meetings of the Border District Coordination Committee, set up at the local level. They also agreed to exchange information on cross-border criminal activities. Nnnn TB COUNT Kathmandu, 15 Jan.:- The National Tuberculosis Centre is preparing to conduct a tuberculosis prevalence survey across the country, The Kathmandu Post writes. According to NTC Director Dr Rajendra Pant, the survey will be conducted among 55,500 randomly selected people, above the age of 15, from across the country. An NTC team will conduct interviews and chest x-rays scanning for TB symptoms. Those suspected of having the disease will need to provide a sputum specimen to confirm the case. The NTC will be holding talks with representatives of the Research Institute of Tuberculosis (RIT), the Japan Anti-tuberculosis Association, on January 17. RIT, which has conducted similar surveys in other South Asian countries, will provide technical assistance, said Pant. "This prevalence survey will use relatively new tools. We will receive almost accurate data. After the survey, we will know the areas in the country, along with the group, with high TB prevalence rate. Also, we will gain an insight into the measures people take after they start showing the symptoms," said Dr Pant. "This will help us devise the best possible measure for fighting TB." The World Health Organization estimates that there are currently around 74,000 people infected with TB in Nepal, which makes 243 people per 100,000 estimated to have the disease. The NTC has managed to detect 71 percent (35,954) cases. The WHO estimates the occurrence of approximately 50,000 new TB cases each year. In 2011, a total of 35,954 TB cases were reported in the country. People diagnosed with TB undergo six months of medication provided by the government free of cost while those not responding to drugs in the period and those diagnosed as drug-resistant TB cases need a 20-month course of treatment. Under the National Tuberculosis Programme conducted by the NTC, a total of 4,221 health institutions, including 1,118 Treatment Centres and 3,103 Sub-treatment Centres, are offering the six-month Directly Observed Treatment Short course (DOTS). According to Dr Pant, the overall cost for the survey will be around $2 million, $1.4 million of which will be borne by the Global Fund while the rest will be managed by the NTC with support from various agencies working in the field. nnnn