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KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 15 The royal mountaineering team of Bahrain led by Prince Mohamed Hamad Mohamed Al Khalifa has successfully scaled Mt Manaslu (8,163 metres) this morning — the first summit made after mountaineering activities were halted since March to stem the spread of the coronavirus in the country. This is also the first summit for this autumn season. Along with this, the prince has also become the first ever Bahraini national to climb a peak of 8,000 metres. The royal mountaineering team of Bahrain scaling Mount Manaslu, on Thursday, October 15, 2020. According to Mira Acharya, director of the mountaineering division of the Department of Tourism (DoT), the team scaled Mt Manaslu at 7:10am. Mt Manaslu is the world’s eighth highest mountain. Earlier, the team had also climbed Mt Lobuche on October 3 before heading towards Mt Manaslu. The team now has plans to summit Mt Everest in 2021. According to Thaneswar Guragai, manager at Seven Summit Treks, members of the Bahrain R...

Foreign channels likely to be ad free post Oct 23 KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 14 The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has rejected the proposal of the private sector to extend the deadline for implementation of clean feed. After the Parliament’s Development and Technology Committee directed the government to implement the clean feed policy by October 23 (as stated in the Advertising Regulating Act), the private sector urged the government to extend the deadline. Indian Broadcasters Forum, Discovery Networks, BBC News and Federation of Nepal Cable Television and other such associations had met Communications Secretary Hari Prasad Basyal separately to urge him to extend the deadline. However, the ministry has turned down the private sector’s proposals. Issuing a notice today, it directed all the stakeholders to implement the clean feed policy by October 23, failing which the government will take action against them. “Considering the preparation period, the government ha...

KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 11 Agriculture Minister Ghanashyam Bhusal has stated that unless farmers can set aside some savings from their earnings for their survival agriculture development is uncertain. For the agriculture sector to develop farmers have to feel secure about their future while being involved in it where they can earn and save some money, he said while addressing a week-long event organised by the Alliance of Agriculture for Food (AAF) on the occasion of the 40th World Food Day. “Saving for farmers does not mean they have to earn a lot of money. What it means is that they have to earn enough for their survival by being involved in agriculture,” the minister said, adding, “If the agriculture profession cannot provide a secure future to farmers then development of the sector is not possible.” Minister Bhusal further said that the ministry is working on policies and regulations for the betterment of the sector. “We are preparing agriculture act and policy as well as collecting...

KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 8 Nepal’s economy is projected to grow by only 0.6 per cent in 2020-21, inching up from an estimated 0.2 per cent in 2019-20 as lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 crisis disrupt economic activity, especially tourism, says the World Bank’s latest South Asia Economic Focus. While the change for fiscal 2019-20 is 6.2 percentage points, the downward revision for the current fiscal is 5.9 percentage points compared to the forecast made in October last year. REAL GDP AT MARKET PRICES IN PER CENT REVISION OF FORECASTS FROM OCTOBER 2019 IN PER CENT Country Fiscal year 2019 (e) 2020 (f) 2021 (f) 2022 (f) 2019 (e) 2020 (f) 2021 (f) Afghanistan December to December 3.9 -5.5 2.5 3.3 1.4 -8.5 Bangladesh July to June 8.1 2 1.6 3.4 0 -5.2 Bhutan July to June 3.8 1.5 1.8 2 -1.2 -5.9 India April to March 6.1 4.2 -9.6 5.4 -0.7 -1.8 -16.8 Maldives January to December 5.9 -19.5 9.5 12.5 0.7 -25 Nepal mid-July to ...

KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 29 The mandatory seven-day quarantine rule that tourists need to follow upon their arrival in Nepal will prove to be a deterrence for majority of travellers, say tourism sector stakeholders. The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has issued protocols for tourists travelling to the country for mountaineering and trekking. As per the protocols issued today, foreigners have to stay in quarantine for seven days. However, stakeholders have demanded that the protocols be amended. “Tourists travelling over long distances will avoid staying in quarantine for seven days. Moreover, not all of them may be able to afford the seven-day hotel quarantine,” said Khum Subedi, president of Trekking Agencies’ Association Nepal. He added that if the government wanted tourists, then protocols should be convenient for them. “Three-day quarantine can be considered, but a week-long quarantine is too lengthy and bothersome,” Subedi added. He said the government should all...

KATHMANDU, SEPT 20 The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development has decided to allow the import of fertilisers through China, realising that importing fertilisers from India alone would not suffice. Agriculture Inputs Company Ltd has called a global tender for the import of fertilisers through the Chinese border. Issuing a notice on Saturday, AICL called a tender to import 50,000 tonnes of fertilisers from Bangladesh. Recently, the government had decided to buy fertilisers from Bangladesh for which AICL called the tender. Interested bidders have been requested to submit requisite documents by September 25. Bids will open on September 27. AICL claimed that they were giving top priority to the tender process so that fertilisers would arrive within 35 days of completing all the processes. The ministry also allowed import of fertilisers ordered from other destinations through the country’s border with China. According to the ministry, it has also started the process of allo...

KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 15 Onion price in the domestic market has seen a steep hike just a day after India banned its export. The Indian government banned export of all varieties of onions yesterday, citing drop in production in the southern states due to excessive rainfall. Traders in the domestic market hiked onion price by Rs 15 per kg in the wholesale market today. According to the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetable Market Development Committee, the price of onion reached Rs 75 per kg today from Rs 60 a kg yesterday in the wholesale market. The surge in onion price was even more pronounced in the retail markets. Saraswati Shrestha, a retail vegetable vendor from Lubhu, was selling onion at Rs 90 per kg today, while yesterday she was charging Rs 70 a kg. “I bought onions at Rs 80 per kg today at the wholesale market, so after keeping a margin of Rs 10 I am selling them at Rs 90 per kg,” she said, adding, “But I have heard that some vendors in Lubhu are charging up to Rs 100 a kg.” On...

KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 10 The government is preparing to increase the number of international flights considering the high demand from Nepali migrant workers. Deputy Prime Minister Ishwar Pokhrel, Foreign Minister Pradip Gyawali, Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai and Labour Minister Rameshwor Raya Yadav met today and decided to increase the number of regular international flights. “There are still many migrants who want to return home. Most of them have lost their jobs. Taking that into consideration we have decided to increase the number of flights, along with easing the limitations on the number of passengers who can return every day,” said Tourism Minister Bhattarai. According to him, 2,500 to 3,000 passengers will be allowed to come daily. A new schedule will be published soon after holding needful discussions with concerned stakeholders, he added. The meeting has also decided to allow airline companies that have been operating flights from countries that have polymerase chain re...

KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 10 The government is preparing to extend the suspension of domestic flights, ignoring requests of the private sector and public demand. Considering the critical situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, the government is holding discussions to extend the suspension of domestic flights, revealed Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai. “The government is aware of the situation of the tourism industry and wishes to express its gratitude to tourism stakeholders for their patience,” he said, adding, “However, human life is above all. To save lives sometimes we have to take harsh decisions and that’s what the government is doing.” The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has submitted a proposal to the Cabinet to extend the suspension of domestic flights. “We have proposed to the Cabinet to extend the suspension of domestic flights till October 1,” Bhattarai added. Earlier, the government had announced it would allow resumption of both domes...

Revised Q2 GDP falls annualised 28.1% vs prelim -27.8% Fall mainly blamed on capex, which falls 4.7% vs prelim -1.5% Household spending, wages sink in sign of COVID-19 pain Data suggest rebound in Japan’s economy likely modest TOKYO: Japan’s economy sank deeper into its worst postwar contraction in the second quarter as the coronavirus jolted businesses more than initially thought, underscoring the daunting task the new prime minister faces in averting a steeper recession. Other data put that challenge in perspective, with household spending and wages falling in July as the broadening impact of the pandemic kept consumption frail even after lock-down measures were lifted in May. The world’s third-largest economy shrank an annualised 28.1% in April-June, more than a preliminary reading of a 27.8% contraction, revised gross domestic product (GDP) data showed on Tuesday, suffering its worst postwar contraction. The record drop roughly matched a median market forecast of a 28.6%...

KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 4 The Department of Tourism (DoT), today, issued the first expedition permit for this autumn season. Even though tourism activities have been halted for almost six months, the government has permitted expeditions in the autumn season. DoT has issued an expedition permit for Mount Barunste (7,129 metres) to a Nepali team of six members. The team will be led by Dawa Steven Sherpa. “The past few months have been very difficult due to the pandemic and we want to overcome this deteriorating situation. It will help boost our optimism in mountain tourism,” said Mira Acharya, director of mountaineering division of DoT. She further added that the department is ready to operate expeditions this autumn season by following all health safety protocols. The mountaineering sector is hoping that the autumn season will provide some relief and help revive it from the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier, the government had given permission for a chartered flight with a team of high-pro...

KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 4 Farmers in the country were pinning their hopes on a good harvest this year due to the favourable monsoon. But in lack of fertilisers, they are helplessly watching their hopes fade away, while the concerned authorities seem busy blaming one another for the delay in distribution. On one hand, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development cited the negligence of the contractor and COVID-19 pandemic as the reasons for the delayed import of fertilisers. On the other hand, Salt Trading Corporation (STC) and Agriculture Inputs Company Ltd (AICL) have blamed the lengthy bureaucratic process to get their proposals approved for the delay in import. In the last fiscal year, the government had targeted to bring 450,000 tonnes of fertilisers, of which only half has been imported till date. Meanwhile, for the current fiscal year, MoALD has allocated budget for the first quarter to both STC and AICL. Of the last fiscal’s target, AICL has imported 276,000 tonnes of ...

KATHMANDU, AUGUST 26 Under the fifth phase of repatriation, a total of 367 Nepalis returned home today. As per Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), 63 passengers returned from Malaysia via Malaysian Air. The Malaysian Air also transported 41 Nepali migrant workers from Kathmandu to Kuala Lumpur today. Etihad Airways evacuated 139 passengers from Abu Dhabi today, while flydubai repatriated 165 passengers from Dubai. Three flights have been scheduled on Thursday for repatriation. As per TIA, NAC will be evacuating Nepalis from Saudi Arabia, while Cathay Dragon Airways will bring stranded Nepalis from Hong Kong. As the government has capped the number of passengers that can be evacuated per day to 500, less number of flights are being conducted. Amid this, five domestic flights were also conducted today. According to TIA, Summit Air departed for Simikot with 17 passengers, Simrik Heli departed for Gorkha with one passenger and Manang Air took off for Bhairahawa with three passen...

KATHMANDU, AUGUST 25 The recently conducted due diligence audit (DDA) of the national flag carrier has revealed that Nepal Airlines Corporation has total assets worth Rs 54.17 billion, while it still has debt of Rs 45.94 billion. This was the first ever DDA of the corporation conducted by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai revealed the aforementioned data during a virtual press meet conducted today to publish the annual progress report of MoCTCA for fiscal year 2019-20. Of the total debt, around Rs 40 billion is the money borrowed by NAC for the purchase of the two wide-body aircraft and two narrow-body aircraft. Meanwhile, the remaining debt includes overdraft loan and money acquired for the Chinese aircraft, among other miscellaneous loans, said Sushil Ghimire, executive chairperson of NAC. According to him, NAC has been paying the loan instalments of the wide-body and narrow-body aircraft. “So far, we have paid the instalment...

KATHMANDU, AUGUST 24 More than 90 per cent of the victims of the 2015 earthquake have already rebuilt their houses while a few are still reconstructing their houses. Speaking during the opening session of the National Symposium on Nepal’s Reconstruction (NSNR) organised by Nepal Reconstruction Authority (NRA), the authority’s CEO, Sushil Gyawali, said that a total of 603,000 victims among the 790,000 victims who have signed an agreement with the government for house reconstruction grant have already availed the third instalment. Among the total number of victims, more than 500,000 have already reconstructed their house, Gyawali said. “The NRA has achieved huge success in reconstruction of private houses, schools and colleges, among others in the last five years. The overall progress report is currently under documentation phase,” he said, expressing his belief on timely completion of reconstruction of all private houses. Meanwhile, addressing the opening session NRA Secretary, Ram ...

KATHMANDU: The average annual inflation in the fiscal 2019-20 quickened to 6.14 per cent from 4.64 per cent in fiscal 2018-19, according to the annual macroeconomic update unveiled by Nepal Rastra Bank on Monday. The government had set the target of taming the inflation rate in the last fiscal to six per cent. The year-on-year consumer price inflation, however, stood at 4.78 per cent in mid-July 2020 compared to 6.02 per cent a year ago. A version of this article appears in e-paper on August 25, 2020, of The Himalayan Times. The post Average annual inflation quickens to 6.14pc appeared first on The Himalayan Times . from Business – The Himalayan Times https://ift.tt/3hsCUhU

KATHMANDU, AUGUST 24 The months-long lockdown that began in the third quarter of the last fiscal to curb the spread of coronavirus disrupted trade and life in general. This, in turn, resulted in the country’s balance of payments in the fiscal year 2019-20 to record a surplus of Rs 282.41 billion, reveals the annual macroeconomic update of fiscal year 2019-20, which was unveiled by Nepal Rastra Bank today. BoP, which is the difference between the money flowing into Nepal and the outflow of money to the rest of the world, was at a deficit of Rs 67.4 billion in the previous year. According to the NRB report, the current account deficit — a measurement of a country’s trade where the value of the goods and services it imports exceeds the value of the products it exports — decreased 87.9 per cent to Rs 32.06 billion in the review year from Rs 265.36 billion in the previous year. In the external sector, merchandise exports inched up by 0.6 per cent to Rs 97.71 billion in fiscal 2019-20 co...

KATHMANDU, AUGUST 20 Thousands of migrant workers stranded in various labour destinations have slammed the recent decision of the government to halt the evacuation flights on the very first day of the fifth phase of repatriation as ‘irresponsible’. Taking to the social media sites, the migrant workers hoping to be rescued from their work destinations have expressed their dissatisfaction with the government. The government had earlier announced that the fifth phase of repatriation would begin from August 17. Although a repatriation flight had taken off on the first day, the COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre (CCMC) later directed the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) along with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs not to issue any permission for repatriation flights and cancel the previously scheduled flights citing lack of preparations for quarantine. Due to this decision, an aircraft of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) that had reached Dubai on August 18 had to re...

Over the years, Viber has developed to become one of the most preferred messaging platforms in Nepal. Recently, Viber also released a Nepali version of its app to facilitate the use of the platform among Nepali users. Similarly, it recently cut off its ties with Facebook too. Sujan Dhungana of The Himalayan Times caught up with Djamel Agaoua , CEO at Rakuten Viber, to get an insight about Viber’s market in Nepal, its recent decision related to Facebook and other details: Excerpts: ‘We plan to make Viber the No 1 messaging app in Nepal’ Over the years, Viber has developed to become one of the most preferred messaging platforms in Nepal. Recently, Viber also released a Nepali version of its app to facilitate the use of the platform among Nepali users. Similarly, it recently cut off its ties with Facebook too. Sujan Dhungana of The Himalayan Times caught up with Djamel Agaoua, CEO at Rakuten Viber, to get an insight about Viber’s market in Nepal, its recent decision related to Facebo...

KATHMANDU, AUGUST 12 Airline Operators Association of Nepal (AOAN) has threatened to protest if the government does not resume flights even on September 1. Earlier, the government had announced that domestic and international flights would be resumed from August 17. However, a Cabinet meeting on Monday decided to postpone the date of flight resumption to September 1 citing increasing number of COVID-19 cases. AOAN has opposed the government’s decision citing that most of the countries have already resumed domestic flight operations. “Most of the COVID-19-affected countries have resumed at least domestic flights by adopting health safety protocols. Following the direction of Nepal government, Nepali airline operators were also prepared to resume flights from August 17 as per the protocols prescribed by World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO),” said Rameshwor Thapa, president of AOAN. However, the decision of postponing flight resumption ...