NAC, AIRBUS SIGN AGREEMENT FOR PIRCHASE OF TWO AIRCRAFT Kathmandu, 28 June: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) signed a purchase agreement in the capital to acquire two A320-200 narrowed bodied aircraft from European aircraft manufacturer Airbus Thursday to operate international flights. NAC earlier took a Rs.10 loan from Employees Provident Fund guaranteed by government for the aircraft purchase. Nnnn SHIVA RAM SHRESTHA DEFENDS SURYA NEPAL CENTRAL OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP Kathmandu, 28 June: Nepal No.! Shiva Ram Shrestha Thursday successfully defended Surya Nepal Central Open Championship at the Royal Nepal Golf Club. Shrestha collected Rs. 95,000 for his 23rd career title. nnnn . EXPORTS DECLINE, TRADE DEFICIT UP Kathmandu, 28 June: A significant decline in the export of major exportable products and increase in the import of petroleum fuels have widened the country’s trade deficit during the last ten months of the current fiscal year, The Rising Nepal reports.. The trade deficit of the country has increased by 24.8 per cent to Rs. 432.24 billion during the ten months of the current fiscal year as compared to the same period last year, according to the preliminary report of the Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC). Total export increased by 1.6 per cent to Rs. 62.71 billion while the import increased by 21.3 per cent to Rs. 494.95 billion during the review period. The contribution of the export and import stood at around 11.2 per cent and 88.8 per cent respectively. The ratio of export and import stood at 1: 7.9 during the review period while the ratio of the export and import was 1:6.6 during the corresponding period last year. The foreign trade increased by 18.7 per cent to Rs.557.66 billion during the ten month of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period last year. The export of carpet and readymade garment sharply decreased by 13.4 per cent and 17.3 per cent to Rs. 4.52 billion and Rs. 3.02 billion during the review period of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period last year respectively. The export of polyester and thread decreased by 10.4 per cent to Rs.4.77 billion during the review period. However, the export of lintel increased by 20.2 per cent to Rs.2.40 billion during the review period, the TEPC said. Similarly, the export of iron and steel goods increased by 4.4 per cent to Rs. 9.90 billion during the 10 months period. The export of cardamom, leather, tea, ginger, herbal products, handicraft and Nepali hand made paper stood at Rs. 3.01 billion, Rs.1.04 billion, Rs.1.57 billion, Rs.1.06 billion, Rs.1.10 billion, Rs. 392 million and 411 million during the ten months of the current fiscal year respectively, TEPC said. Likewise, the import of petroleum products increased by 14.6 per cent to Rs.90.07 billion during the review period as compared to the same period last year. The import of iron and steel products has also increased by 20.2 per cent to Rs. 49.66 billion and transportation and its related products increased by 37.4 per cent to Rs.27.42 billion, TEPC said. The import of gold stood at Rs.21.23 billion during the review period. During the review period, the import of electrical goods, medicines, telecommunications goods and chemical fertilizers stood at Rs. 19.97 billion, Rs.12.63 billion, Rs. 9.95 billion and Rs. 11.92 billion respectively. Nnnn SICK NEPALIS CAN’T DIFFERENTIAE BEWEEN NORTH, SOUTH KOREA Kathmandu, 28 June: A team of journalists from Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) was shocked to find some innocent Nepali patients, who cannot distinguish between South Korean and North Korean hospitals established in Nepal, end in reaching the health institutions set up by NKorea due to the likeness in the name of two Koreas, The Rising Nepal reports.. MBC is one of four major national South Korean television and radio networks, and is the oldest among all commercial broadcasting networks in South Korea. The MBC team during its recent Nepal visit had toured Tanahun, where Ne-Koryo Hospital run by North Korea with commercial motives is situated, to take stock of the situation on the ground. Their jaw dropped open when local people informed that they visited Ne-Koryo Hospital thinking that it is the health institution established by South Korea. The team had visited Nepal following “the death of two pregnant women at Ne-Koryo Hospital reportedly due to the negligence of a North Korean doctor”. Some local people, however, mistook the identity of the doctor who attended to the deceased patients and thought that the surgeon was a South Korean doctor. Their visit follows an appeal made by SKorean doctors to Nepali people to differentiate between South Korean and North Korean hospitals while visiting the health institutions established with the assistance from both the countries. Dr Lim TM, a SKorean surgeon who worked at Bhaktapur-based Nepal Friendship Hospital and is in SKorea now, said that some innocent Nepali patients who cannot distinguish between South Korean and North Korean hospitals are ending up visiting NKorean hospitals due to the likeness in their names. As both the countries use the same basic name 'Korea' despite an unmatched development gap between the two, people around the world sometimes get confused until the real identity is established and this fact is not an exception to common Nepalese people too, Dr Lim said. Among the hospitals run by South Korea are Korea Nepal Friendship Hospital in Thimi, Nepal Korea Dongsan Medical Center in Kathmandu, Doti Soojung Hospital in the Far West and Toto White Clinic Chheplung at the entrance to the Mouth Everest, which are offering affordable and cheerful services as well as free treatment in some cases, he said. SKorean medical experts are working in different parts of Nepal to serve the poor people with the spirit of volunteerism. South Korean hospitals give medical treatments free or in very cheap prices for the poor villagers. A number of South Korean doctors visit Nepal 7-8 times every year to provide sophisticated treatments. Recently, a renowned team (16 staffs of gynecology and surgery) from the Joong Ang medical University and Hospital visited Nepal and organized free medical camps. nnnn