ENLUST

ESSENTIAL FOOD PRICE UP
Kathmandu, 21 Aug.: The daily consumptive food items have remained shortage in the central and  easernt parts of the district due to road disruption caused by incessant rainfall and landslide, RSS reports..
Daily essential goods such as salt, cooking oil, sugar and rice are on shortage and their prices have increased, said Tulasiong Khadka, a local.
However the local traders said that the prices have gone up ue to lack of transport facility.
The price of very essential goods has upped at local markets of Bojeri, Dhaunebazaar, Rukumkot, Pwang, Naygad and Kankri, said locals. The price hike has hit hard the locals. Nnnn
VOTERS BEING ENLISTED
Kathmandu, 20 Aug.: Number of people registering their names in biometric voters' list with photograph has been increasing at the three District Election Offices of the Kathmandu valley every day, RSS reports..
People have been registering their names in voters' list by queuing up since  morning.
Chief of the District Election Office, Kathmandu, Shambhu Chalise, said that more computers and human resources have been managed to register names of all the voters who visit the office to register their names.
The office had collected names of 3,600 voters on Sunday. It also has a target to register names of around 6,000 voters today.
Chalise said that the office has made necessary arrangement with an objective that all could register their names in the voters' list.
Similarly, Lalitpur District Election Office Chief, Shanta Nepal (Marasini), said that registering of names of voters in the bio-metric voters' list is going on at the District Election Office and the District Administration Office for the convenience to voters.
She said that a total of 1,500 voters registered their names so far since August 17. Likewise, more than 7,000 voters registered their names in the voters' list at the District Election Office, Bhaktapur, said Office Chief Chudamani Panthi.
The Election Commission has again started a special programme to register names of voters in bio-metric voters' list from August 17.
The EC launched the name registering programme at the District Election Offices in all the 75 districts targeting those who are missed out in the previous voters' list. The programme will continue till August 23. RSS
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HEALTH SERVICE UNDER TENT IN DARCHULA
Kathmandu, 21 Aug.: Darchula District Hospital has been providing its health services under a tent for the past couple of months after a flood-fed  Mahakali River recently swept away the hospital building, RSS reports from Darchula..
All the health services are being provided from a makeshift constructed under tent after theJune 16  flood took away the building, said Dr. Bir Bahadur Thapa, assistant chief of the hospital.
The emergency, OPD, delivery and laboratory services are being delivered after shifting of medical equipments and accessories to a under-construction building of a local, Dr Thapa added.
The unexpected natural disaster has put the patients and doctors in a difficult situation, said the hospital sources.
Moreover, the entire district is in a vulnerable condition due to recurring flood and landslide so an effective alternative health facility should be set up, locals said.
The District Hospital is run by a contract doctor for a long time after the chief at the hospital Dr. Rameshwor Devkota went abroad for training, it is learnt.
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TINE TO RECONSIDER FIXED EXCHANGE RATE WITH INDIA
Kathmandu, 21 Aug.: Considering the negative effect of the devaluation of Indian Currency in the national economy, experts Tuesday said that it was time to reconsider the existing fixed exchange rate of domestic currency with Indian
Currency, Laxman Kafle writes in The Rising Nepal..

Currently Nepalese currency has been pegged with Indian currency and its exchange rates with other convertible currencies automatically change in line with Indian currency.

Due to the continuous devaluation of the Indian currency owing to alarming disinvestment from the foreign investors in India and its stagnant economy, its negative effects have started to surface in Nepalese economy.
However, intellectuals, during discussions, looked divided with some favouring such a review and others opposing it.

Trilochan Pangeni, executive director at NRB said, “We have to decide on reviewing the exchange rate of Nepali currency with Indian currency without delay because the Nepalese economy would be affected more by the rising exchange rate of US dollar.”

He said that the Central bank has to decide alternative to fixed rates as soon as possible.

Fixed exchange rates with Indian currency has invited trouble to Nepalese economy at present, he said, adding the country has never thought about reviewing the exchange rates and no research was done about possible  crisis like this in the past.

“Nepalese economy was in slow down at present with the Indian economy as rising dollar exchange rates. We are facing such problems due to unable to adopt another exchange rates against fixed,” he said.

There was no ways of Nepal without see further steps of the Indian government regarding to control the rising dollar exchanges rates due to Nepal depend with India, he said.

He, however, said that there was no chance to review exchange rates in short time but it was possible to review in long term which would save Nepalese economy from such types of problems in future.
 
According to him, trade with Indian has been growing significantly due to fixed exchange rates because the traders and investors were wanted stable exchanges rates for trading and investment in other countries where the fixed exchanges rates provided such facilities.

Nepal trade with India stood more than at 60 per cent alone.

Earlier, Nepal has failed to take benefit from India even fixed exchange rates, he said and added that import trade has been increasing significantly against export trade which affected the Nepalese economy right now.

He said that fixed exchanges rates would be good if succeed to increase the export trade.

“Improving economy of the world is a key indicator to increase exchange rates of dollar which affected the India’s economy because out flows of huge amount of dollar as foreign investors are returning their home country or other countries as secured investment as compared to the India,” he said.

With outflow of dollar form Indian created pressure its balance of payment where the Indian government could not keep in grip such tendency, he said.

He said, “We are able to protect exchange rates of Nepalese currency with foreign currencies. We could not control the exchanges rates of dollar even we have sufficient dollar due to depend with India.”

The cost of the private sector would be increased as taken loan in dollar, he said.

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