NRA to extend grant distribution in 10 more districts

The government is all set to provide house reconstruction grant to the quake-affected families of 10 more districts.

The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) launched enrollment process for housing reconstruction assistance with the households displaced by the devastating earthquake in April and May last year in Singati of Dolakha district a couple of weeks ago.

Dr. Chandra Bahadur Shrestha, executive director of the NRA informed that multiple teams would leave for other 10 districts severely hit by the tremors by the next week.

He said that the Authority was putting all strings together to set ground to launch the Mega Reconstruction Campaign on April 24^th, the 12^th day of Baisakh of Nepali calendar when the devastating quake rocked the nation.

The reconstruction body began distributing the first installment of grants (Rs. 50,000 of Rs. 200,000 package) to the families who lost their houses in the quake from Laduk VDC-8 two weeks ago.

NRA spokesperson Ram Prasad Thapaliya informed that the authority so far signed agreements with about 600 families in Laduk and Lamidanda VDCs of Dolakha.  

After the mobilization of teams in 10 more districts, distribution of housing grant will formally begin in all the districts severely hit by the quake excluding the districts in the Kathmandu Valley.

The signing would be a tedious process as the government has to sign agreements as about 500,000 houses were completely damaged while more than 250,000 houses were partially damaged by the tremors.

As per the earthquake damaged private house reconstruction grant distribution work procedure, 2072, the households will receive the grant in three installments in their bank accounts.

The first installments will be given after signing the agreement while second installment, Rs. 80,000, will be disbursed after people complete the construction of plinth of their house and it is confirmed by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD).

People can ask technician at the District Programme Implementation Unit under the MoUD.   

The third installment, Rs. 70,000, will be paid after the construction of walls of the house.

Meanwhile, the reconstruction body informed that the technical team had completed the geological study of Singati area.

“The team has submitted its study report to the Authority. We will soon make public the findings of the study,” informed Dr. Shrestha.

A technical team, led by geologists from the Department of Mines and Geology having representatives from the Department of Water Induced Disaster Prevention and Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management, studied the geological conditions of Singati and other critical settlements in Dolakha.

The findings of the study were said to help the government to make decision about the relocation of the communities at risks.

  

Downward trajectory of public debt, a positive sign

Thanks to strong revenue growth and poor capital budget spending, the size of Nepal’s public debt has been continuously getting smaller – from more than 50 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2006 to about 26 per cent in 2015.

“We had budget surplus every year during the last decade. Because we couldn’t spend it in development projects, the money was used for repaying the loans,” said Dr. Govinda Nepal, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s economic advisor Tuesday.

He said that the downward trajectory of public debt was a good indicator since it testified the country’s increased capacity to pay loans it obtained from various institutions at home and abroad.

Macroeconomic indicators released today by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) showed that Nepal’s public debt was much lower in comparison to other low-income countries.

The low-income countries – altogether 45 nations – have on average public debt equal to 47 per cent of their GDP.

Economist Dr. Dilli Raj Khanal stated that from sustainable development point of view Nepal was in a comfortable position. “As the size of our public debt is small, we can have the luxury to obtain international loans to finance large development projects.”

He informed that the loan size of all low-income countries had shot up after the World Bank and IMF-led financial adjustment initiatives in the mid 80s. “Nepal also included the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper of those institutions in the 10^th Periodic Plan. It increased the loan component until they revised their policies in the late 90s.”

Dr. Nepal said that although the budget surplus indicated the inefficiency of government and public development agencies in spending the capital budget, it improved the public debt indicator as the excess fund was used to repay the loan.

Former Finance Minister Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat presented this indicator as an achievement of the country in the last one-and-a-half decades.

Meanwhile, development budget expenditure still remains poor so far in this Fiscal Year.

“Budget execution rates for the 2015/16 budget remain lower than in the previous years; despite huge reconstruction needs Rs. 62 billion (2.2 per cent of GDP) has accumulated in the government account so far this fiscal year,” said IMF in its report.

The IMF said that though the more than four month long trade disruption hampered government revenue collection, there had been a recovery and over the past three months, revenue collection was at par with the figures a year ago.

In its report, IMF said that the outflow of migrant workers declined in recent months, possibly due to the weaker growth in oil-exporting host countries like Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. In contrast, remittances rose markedly following the earthquakes in April and May last year.

“Remittance inflow in February this year was 4 per cent higher than in the same month last year.”

Nepal received 455 million US dollars in February last year while the inflow rose to 474 million US dollars in the same period this year.

The remittance inflow increased by 9 per cent in the first seven months of the current fiscal year as compared to the same period of the last fiscal.

About 3,258 million US dollars came to Nepal in the form of remittance in the first seven months of the last fiscal compared to 3,554 million US dollars this year.

According to the experts, once the reconstruction process is expedited, the country will receive even higher amount of remittances. 

AAN to solicit Crity nominations

The Advertising Association of Nepal (AAN) Sunday informed that the 9^th Crity Awards, the sole honour conferred on the best advertisement and advertising professionals in the country, would be given out in September this year.

AAN president Santosh Shrestha said that the umbrella organization of ad agencies in Nepal would call for nominations soon.

“We are planning to wrap up the nominations by the end of April and best five will be declared by the end of July. Hopefully, the final ceremony will be organized around the first week of September,” Shrestha said speaking in a pre-event of Krity Awards.

AAN announced the panel of judges in the event. “In a closed session the advertising professionals interact with the judges regarding the categories and other aspects of the Crity Awards,” stated Shrestha.

Crity Awards were not given out last year owing to the devastating earthquakes in April and May 2015 and five-month long Indian blockade.

The awards are given in various categories like television, radio, print, others. The Crity Awards recognizes the best creative agency and best commercial campaign.

In the eighth Crity Awards, 335 entries of 32 advertising agencies contested for 23 categories. Television advertising categories were best television commercial (TVC), TVC director, cameraperson, scriptwriter and editor, male and female model and best animated TVC.

Likewise, radio advertising categories were best radio spot, sound recordist, jingle, jingle composer and lyricist while the print advertising had awards in best copywriter, photographer, art director and best print ad categories.

Similarly, best social ad, best billboard, best event manager, commercial campaign, most popular TVC were also recognized.

AAN initiated the Crity Awards in 2004 and the first edition of the event saw the participation of 17 agencies contesting in five different categories.

According to AAN, the awards aim at hounouring and recognising the creative excellence of Nepali advertising, highlighting the advertising corporate community and creating awareness among general public about advertising.

Meanwhile, Miss Nepal 2016 contestants interacted with the judging committee of the Crity Awards. “The Miss Nepal contest makes young girls to feel proud of being Nepalese women. They learn various things related to personality, presentation skills and develop themselves in to more confident human being,” said Subeksha Khadka, event coordinator of Miss Nepal 2016.

There are about 400 advertising agencies in Nepal and 298 of them are AAN members.

According to rough estimates, Nepalese ad industry sees a turnover of about Rs. 5 billion annually and provides employment to approximately 10,000 people. .8 per cent in 2017. 

ADB mulling to invest in Upper Karnali

Visiting Asian Development Bank (ADB)'s vice president Wencai Zhang informed that the multilateral financing body was mulling to invest in the Upper Karnali Hydroelectricity Project.

Speaking to the journalists at a press meet orgainsed on the sideline of the 'Envisioning Nepal 2020' seminar here Monday, Zhang said that the ADB's Private Sector Investment Department was studying the possibility to make an investment in the 900 megawatt Upper Karnali Project jointly with the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank group.

He also informed that the Bank might invest in the second phase of Melamchi Drinking Water Project and 25 megawatt solar energy project.

"The government of Nepal and ADB are discussing about the Melamchi and solar project. But its early to announce anything because our primary focus is to complete the first phase of Melamchi," Zhang said.

"ADB will build on its existing support in the energy sector and will extend assistance for 25 MW grid solar power plants and two major storage hydropower projects – the 300 mw Dudhkoshi and 410 mw Nalsing Gadh."

He noted the government's intent to graduate from the Least Developed Country status by 2022 and become a middle income country by 2030 while achieving the sustainable development goals.

ADB's Nepal country director Kenichi Yokoyama said that the Ministry of Energy had requested the bank to finance 25 mw solar energy project. "The government urged us to find the location and manage financing for the solar project," he informed.

Zhang met Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel and National Planning Commission vice president Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada.

During the meetings, he welcomed the finalization of the Reconstruction Policy and National Reconstruction Authority's grant guidelines, and progress towards the formulation of Post Disaster Risk Recovery Framework, following the recent establishment of the NRA.

ADB forecasted that Nepal's economy would grow 1.5 per cent in 2016 due to the devastating earthquakes in April and May last year. It expected that the growth would pick up to 4.8 per cent in 2017. 

Nepal needs policy reorientation: PM

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli Monday said that the country needed strategic reorientation of existing development policies, plans and implementation mechanism.

Addressing the 'Envisioning Nepal 2030' seminar PM Oli said, "The main challenge before us is to economically and socially empower the people through the expedited implementation of the economic and social agenda enshrined in the constitution. This would be possible through structural transformation of existing economic and social institutions, production relations and social values."

He stated that Nepal needed a long term development strategy to guide development required for the prosperity of people.

According to the Prime Minister, the country was facing challenge of accelerating economic growth and making the progress equitable, employment intensive and sustainable.

He expressed his readiness to implement programmes designed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through periodic plans and annual budgets, and urged for more global cooperation for financing the development programs and building national capacity to deliver.

"This will definitely require a convincing and credible long term development strategy based on the SDGs and our collective efforts to mobilize all available resources, including the knowledge resources," said PM Oli while mentioning that the conference would provide a platform to share such resources.

However, the Prime Minister maintained that Nepal had not yet been able to fully address exclusion, deprivation, and inequality across various social groups, gender and geographical regions.

He also noted that the new development plans needed inclusive approach for economic progress and social justice.

"The long term development strategy should now embrace inclusive development to ensure that those who have been excluded from the development mainstream are no more so," said PM Oli. "This is extremely necessary to avoid conflict, strengthen peace process and to achieve inclusive economic development with social justice."

As the country aspires to graduate to the developing nation from its current Least Developed Country (LDC) status, its annual investment must at least to be doubled in order to build infrastructure like transportation, communication and electricity.

In this context, PM Oli urged the international business community to make investment in Nepal.

Saying Nepal had tremendous potential in high value agriculture and agro-industries, hydropower and tourism, he said that Nepal's liberal taxation, trade, investment, and foreign exchange regimes provided vast opportunities for foreign investment.

"On the other hand, large markets across the border offer huge export potentials for the agro and manufacturing products. The potentials for tourism are even higher with large and growing middle class across," he said.

Speaking in line with the Prime Minister, Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel stated that in order to guarantee the availability of development outputs to all citizens, we need to start formulating a plan with due priority to inclusive growth and social justice.

He said that the country aimed at attaining high and sustainable economic growth through modern and commercial agriculture, competitive industrial outputs and efficient and quality service sector development.

Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC) Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada informed that the seminar was organized to discuss the solutions for the new constitution and state restructuring, post-quake reconstruction, economic shocks from the trade blockade at the southern border, and Nepal's LDC graduation strategy 2022.

He said that public service delivery, public financial management, and good governance at all levels of the state were the prerequisite for the inclusive economic growth other than knowledge and technology, innovation, skill development and social inclusion.

"Nepal aims to increase the Per Capita Income from 772 US dollars in 2014 to 2500 dollars in 2020. Likewise, the multidimensional poverty will be reduced to 11 percent by 2020 from 44.2 per cent of 2014," he informed.

Former member of the NPC Dr. Swarnim Wagle introduced five-point formula for economic progress – launch next wave of reform, engineer big push in infrastructure, manage private saving and public expenditure, reorient production and exchange, and introduce smart social security.

Economist and member of Niti Aayog of India Dr. Bibek Debroy suggested the government move from subsidy to public investment in order to achieve the faster development results.

Professor Justin Yifu Lin, director of Center for New Structural Economics at Peking University, said that the industry policy of the country should try to reduce the transaction cost to help the entrepreneurs to grow.

Asian Development Bank's vice president Dr. Wencai Zhang, president of Korea Development Institute Dr. Joon-Kyung Kim, global head of Climate Change Policy at Centennial Group, USA Dr. Bindu Nath Lohani, former member of NPC and former lawmaker Dr. Dilli Raj Khanal, director and head of UNESCAP's South and South-West Asia Office Dr. Nagesh Kumar and other national and international economists, development and planning experts and engineers expressed their views in the seminar. 

Prime bags Int'l Award

Prime Commercial Bank Limited has won the ‘Best Bank in the Asia-Pacific Region’ award, an international award given away by the Europe Business Assembly (EBA) of the United Kingdom.

Likewise, the banks’s Chief Executive Officer Narayan Das Manandhar received the Best Manager Award.

EBA conferred the award to Manandhar amidst
a function organized in London Wednesday.

EBA awards organisations and personalities – politicians, entrepreneurs, scientists and artistes - that contribute to the economic, scientific, social and cultural development of society. EBA had established the awards in 2000.

According to EBA, the award was given to the Prime Bank because of its best management practices along with better service and facilities to employees and customers.

“The awards were given to the bank because of its efficiency in handling customer service, effectiveness, clear vision, creativity and innovation, professionalism and Corporate Social Responsibility,” read a press release issued by the bank.

Chairman of the bank’s Board of Directors Umesh Lal Shrestha, former chairman duo Narendra Bajracharya and Rajendra Das Shrestha were present in the award ceremony.

The bank has invested in hydroelectricity, cement, industry and other sectors.

Prime’s paid up capital is Rs. 3.79 billion and by the end of first eight months of this Fiscal Year, the bank has mobilised Rs. 42.3 billion deposits and Rs. 34.11 billion. 

HR Meet concluded

The 9^th annual HR Meet, a conference of human resource managers in the country, concluded here Saturday.

The 2-day jamboree of human resource professionals in Nepal titled 'productivity through employee motivation' was organised by Growth Sellers in association with the DAV College of Management and Access World Tech Pvt. Ltd.

More than 250 participants from different institutions and professions participated in the meet.

The meet featured Deepak Babu Tiwari, joint president of Reliance Spinning Mills Ltd, Dr. Malavika Desai, a doctorate in Organisational Behaviour and Ananda Munshi, one of the top motivational speakers in India.

The resource persons provided general tips and mantras to the participants in order to help them self-motivate and motivate others.

The participants dwelt on the issues such as understanding market reality and moving along with it, focusing more on soft skills while recruitment and providing training on required aspects to prepare them for better challenges, fair treatment to employee, focusing on work ethics, employee engagement and factual evidences.

Mohan Ojha, chairman of the HR Meet Coordination Committee, said that the conference successfully met the objective to spread awareness about human resources. 

NRA authorises reconstruction budget

Eleven months after the devastating earthquakes in April and May last year, the government has granted permission to the concerned authorities to use essential funds for the reconstruction of private homes, schools and other structures damaged by the tremors.

The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) Friday authorised the reconstruction budget to the Central Programme Implementation Units (CPIUs) at the ministries and other agencies.

The reconstruction body has authorised the concerned agencies to use the funds from Rs. 65 billion out of Rs. 91 billion that the Ministry of Finance had allotted for the reconstruction works.

Now the concerned authorities can carry out the reconstruction of private houses and other structures.

According to a press release issued by the NRA, it authorised Rs. 600 million budget to the CPIU under the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development (MoFALD), Rs. 2.195 billion to the Ministry of Education (MoE) and Rs. 396 million to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA).

"The budget authorised to the MoE will be used in the reconstruction of schools damaged by the earthquake while the MoTCA will use the budget in reconstruction of historical and cultural heritages and tourism infrastructure," said Ram Prasad Thapaliya, spokesperson of the NRA.

Likewise, CPIU at the Ministry of Urban Development has got approval to spend Rs. 365 million while Ministry of Agricultural Development and Department of Roads got Rs. 51 million and Rs. 665 million budget respectively.

Earlier, the Authority had approved Rs. 265 million budget for the MoFALD required for the reconstruction of private houses. 

In the first phase, the ministry has been signing agreements with the households affected by the quake at Singati of Dolakha district to distribute reconstruction grant.

The reconstruction body had decided to execute the reconstruction and rehabilitation works through the line ministries as the Authority did not have administrative structure required to implement the task. 

Sajha Yatayat to buy 30 Ashok Leyland buses

Sajha Yatayat Thursday concluded an agreement with Indian bus manufacturer Ashok Leyland for the purchase of 30 public transport buses.

According to a press release issued by Sajha, the purchase is based on Rs. 100 million worth of share investment by Kathmandu Metropolitan City in the bus cooperative.
"It represents a new phase in the collaboration between the municipal authority and Sajha Yatayat to serve the urban public of the Kathmandu Valley," read the release.

 The new buses will have 40-plus seat capacity with significant gangway space for strap handing passengers.

"The buses will be capable of transporting up to 100 passengers with extra wide rear doors to aid passenger movement. They will also have wheelchair facility, CCTV, external LED display, internal television screen, and will meet Euro Three emission standards," informed the company.

Chairman of Sajha Yatayat Kanak Mani Dixit said that it was the first significant investment by local urban government in public transport and the company highly appreciated the social commitment of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City for improving urban transportation in the valley.

Likewise, assistant manager of Ashok Leyland for Nepal Gaurav Kumar said, "We are delighted to supply buses to Sajha Yatayat. These buses will be both fuel efficient and environment friendly."

Sajha currently operates 16 public busses in two routes – Kalanki to Airport and Chakrapath to Saat Dobato. 

Seminar to support Nepal India on Koshi River Basin

In an effort to provide policy support to the governments of Nepal and India about water in the context of socioeconomic and livelihoods in the Koshi River Basin, a two days workshop kicked off here Thursday.

“The workshop aims to act as a platform for knowledge sharing, improved communication and networking on science-based policy, and coordination on the water-livelihoods-gender nexus,” informed Dr. David Molden, director general of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

He said that policy recommendations would be developed based on co-learning among the stakeholders.   

The workshop on ‘Water-livelihoods-gender nexus to advance Koshi Basin management’ is being organised by the Department of Agriculture (DoA) and Department of Irrigation (DoI) in collaboration with the ICIMOD and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) with the support of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) of Australia.

Dr. S. M. Wahid, coordinator of the Koshi Basin Initiative said that the Koshi river basin – a transboundary basin shared by China, Nepal and India – provided water for irrigation and domestic use that supports the livelihoods nearly 40 million people and has a large potential for hydropower development.

“This workshop has brought together national and international partners and stakeholders involved in water-livelihoods-gender related knowledge and capacity development initiatives in Koshi basin. It will create a platform for knowledge sharing and improved communication for evidence based policy support,” said Dr. Wahid.

Dr. Bharat Pokharel, country director of Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation, stated that the local policy making should be linked with national and international policy making processes.

The DoA is responsible for the overall growth and development of the agriculture sector while the DoI has a mandate to manage and monitor different modes of environmentally sustainable and socially acceptable irrigation and drainage system. DoI also intervenes in the river basin to protect the floodways, floodplains and agricultural lands in the form of river bank protection to minimize the damage of properties from flood disaster.

Over 80 participants are attending the workshop, including senior government officials, academic scholars, and development professionals from China, India and Nepal who have specialized in water management, livelihood, food security, agronomy, biodiversity, disaster preparedness, and policy making and economy. 

Pakistan celebrated 76th National Day

Pakistan Wednesday celebrated its 76^th National Day.

On the occasion, ambassador of Pakistan to Nepal Mazhar Javed hoisted the national flag of Pakistan amidst a ceremony held at the Embassy of Pakistan in Kathmandu.

Special messages of President and Prime Minister of Pakistan Mamnoon Hussain and Muhammad Nawaz Sharif respectively were also read out at the function.

Officials of the embassy and Pakistani community in Kathmandu and other guests participated in the ceremony.

Meanwhile, Vice-President Nanda Bahadur Pun attended Pakistan Day reception organized by the embassy at Hyatt Regency hotel.

The reception was attended by diplomats, Nepalese dignitaries, including Chief of the Army Staff, government officials, political leaders, Pakistani community members, academicians, businessmen, bankers, media persons and members of civil society.

Pakistan Day also called Republic Day is celebrated to commemorate the Lahore Resolution of 23 March 1940 when the Muslim League drafted the political resolution that called for creating an independent federation of four provinces located in north-western region. 

Sakuma new JICA Nepal chief

Japan Wednesday appointed Jun Sakuma as the Chief Representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency Nepal (JICA) Nepal office.

Sakuma has taken over the job of Tsutomu Shimizu.

Before joining to Nepal office, Sakuma was working as executive advisor to the director general and deputy DG for planning and ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) Partnership, Southeast Asia and Pacific Department in JICA.

He joined JICA in 1989 with his assignment in Expert Assignment Department and worked as deputy director general and group director of Basic Education Group from 2010 to 2013.

Graduated from Waseda University of Japan in Law, he obtained his Masters Degree from School of Education, Stanford University, USA.

Sakuma stated that JICA Nepal would continue to provide maximum support to the Nepali people and the government for peace and prosperity. “Nepal Office will expedite its assistance towards reconstruction and rehabilitation with ‘build back better’ concept and manner to support the earthquake victims,” he said.

CNI welcomes PM in Beijing

The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) in collaboration with the Hongshi Group, China’s largest cement manufacturer, welcomed visiting Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Nepalese delegation in Beijing, China.

According to a press statement issued by the CNI, it organized a ceremony to welcome the PM, Nepalese delegation and Chinese business persons.

Hongshi Group has partnered with Nepali cement industry Shivam Cement and pledged to invest about 210 million US dollars.

“The welcome ceremony was organised to send the message to the Chinese investors that Nepal is safe and suitable for investment. Many Chinese investors have expressed their desire to invest in Nepal,” read the press statement. 

NYEF establishes Butwal Chapter

The Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum (NYEF) Tuesday chartered its Butwal Chapter.

The new executive committee includes Anand Prasad Ojha as president and Sumod Man Sainju, Sandeep Kasaudhan and Akhilesh Gupta as 1^st vice president and 2^nd co vice presidents respectively.

Likewise, Chiranjivi Thaiba, Niraj Lacoul, Adarsh Shrestha, Umesh Amatya and Pradip Shakya are the members of the new committee.

NYEF president Mangesh Lal Shrestha inducted the members.

He highlighted the importance of entrepreneurship in bringing economic prosperity to the country and said that the Butwal Chapter would play an important role in promoting the spirit of entrepreneurship in the region.

Varun Lohia, 1^st vice president of NYEF, emphasized that the new office could carry the ideals of the organisation to promote its vision of empowering positive business thinking.

Ojha stressed that the Butwal Chapter would carry forward the NYEF’s core values nation first, growth with shared vision, make a mark and hunger for learning in all of their activities.

President of Butwal Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mahesh Man Singh, vice president Anil Prasad Shrestha and board member Anup Man Sainju congratulated the new executive committee. 

Nepal Joins SCO

Nepal has officially become a Dialogue Partner of the Sanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Shankar Das Bairagi, secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Dr. Rashid K. Alimov, secretary-general of SCO signed the memorandum on granting Nepal the status of Dialogue partner of the SCO in a ceremony at the organisation’s secretariat in Beijing.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affaris Kamal Thapa, Minister for Commerce Dipak Bohara, Minister for Education Giriraj Mani Pokharel and secretaries were present during the signing ceremony.

Nepal Had applied for the dialogue partner of the SCO in 2007 and the 15^th SCO Summit held in July last year in Ufa, Russia decided to grant Nepal that status.

The SCO is a permanent inter-governmental organization founded in June 2001 by the leaders of Kazakhastan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Currently, Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia have been granted Observer status while Ufa Summit had decided to admit India and Pakistan as full members.

The Summit decided to grant Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey the Dialogue Partner of the organisation. 

NRA expedites reconstruction works

The preparation for the reconstruction of houses damaged by the earthquakes in April and May last year is gaining momentum as the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) has initiated works on multiple fronts.

The reconstruction body has recently launched programme for the distribution of the house-reconstruction grants to the residents of Singati of Dolakha district while a technical team is busy studying the geological condition of the quake ravaged hills there.

At the same time, the NRA is all set to establish its first sub-regional office, one of the seven to be established, in Dolakha. Likewise, the Centre Bureau of Statistics (CBS) is about to finish the collection of data in 11 of the 14 districts severely hit by the quake.

“We have expedited the works to distribute the house reconstruction grants in Dolakha. The house owner and secretaries of respective VDCs are busy in forging contract for the grant disbursement,” informed NRA spokesperson Suresh Adhikari.

The Authority started the contract process from Sunday and 223 contracts have been signed so far.

A technical team, led by geologists from the Department of Mines and Geology having representatives from the Department of Water Induced Disaster Prevention and Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management, is in Singati for the study of the geological conditions of Singati and other critical settlements in Dolakha which will help the government to make decision about the relocation of the communities at risks.

The reconstruction body has been planning to send similar teams to Gorkha and Dhading for similar studies in the first phase. According to Dr. Candra Bahadur Shrestha, executive director of the NRA, said that the technical teams would conduct pilot study which would help to develop a modality for the geological study of all settlements that are at risk.

Meanwhile, the Authority informed that it would establish its first sub-regional office in Dolakha next week.

“Senior divisional engineer Hari Sharma will lead the office in Dolakha,” read a press statement issued by the NRA Thursday.

A sub-regional office of the NRA will have at least 13 employees, including engineers and administrative staff.

Likewise, about 2,600 Resource Centres will be established in the quake hit districts. A Resource Centre will look after the reconstruction works in at least 6 villages.

The Ministry of Urban Development has started the recruiting process for about 2600 technical human resource – engineers, sub-overseers and overseers.

Adhikari informed that the data collection of the households that lost their domicile in the tremors will be completed in 11 districts by next week.

He said that the CBS had completed the collection of more than 80 per cent data under the Earthquake Stricken Settlement Reconstruction Data Collection Programme which started on January 25.

“Data collection in the Kathmandu Valley will start from next month. Preparations are being made swiftly in order to conclude it before the reconstruction body launches mega-reconstruction campaign on April 24,” informed Adhikari.

About 500,000 houses were completely damaged while more than 250,000 houses were partially damaged by the tremors in April and May last year rendering approximately eight million people homeless in the immediate aftermath of the devastating quake.

As per the Post Disaster Need Assessment of the government, there were more than 8,790 casualties and 22,300 injuries in successive tremors.

DoInd mulling to extend Trademark registration deadline

The Department of Industry (DoInd) is mulling to extend the trademark registration deadline allowed to the owner of any trademarks after its expiry.

As per the Patent, Design and Trademark Act, 1965, every trademark registered at the DoInd must be renewed in every seven years, and the respective companies or organizations should renew it within seven months of its expiry.

"The companies, organizations or individuals have 35 days and additional six months to renew their trademarks. After that the same trademark is annulled can also be given to other entities," said Netra Bhattarai, director at the DoInd.

The cancelled trademark cannot be renewed even by paying penalties.

"Therefore, we think that the registration deadline should be extended to at least a year after the expiry of a trademark. This is required so that the concerned entities get enough time to get their trademarks renewed," said Bhattarai.

The DoInd was of the view that there should be a mechanism to inform the owners of the trademarks of the expiry of their intellectual property.

As the department heavily relies on paperwork, it's exhaustive to find an email or address of the trademark owner and inform them accordingly.

Bhattarai stated that computer software could be a solution to it.

The total number of registered trademarks in the country has reached 36,906 by the end of February this year.

The data given by the DoInd shows that 11,466 domestic and 26,440 foreign trademarks were registered in Nepal.

The number of trademarks registration has increased in the past years.

Approximately 1541 trademarks were registered in Nepal in the Fiscal Year 2013/14. The number increased by more than 100 and reached 1650 in the FY 2014/15.

"Its interesting to note that despite the economy was severely hit by the earthquakes and blockade in 2015/16, more than 929 new trademarks were registered in the first eight months of this fiscal," informed Bhattarai.

He said that in the recent years people had started to treat trademarks as an essential intellectual property.

However, registration of patent and design has not gained momentum yet.

About 74 patent and 114 designed have been registered at the DoInd so far.

Fishtail Air's Chopper crash landed

Fishtai Air’s 3B chopper, with the call sign 9N – AJI, crash landed in Langtang, Rasuwa, Thursday afternoon.

The helicopter, carrying iron rods for the reconstruction of the houses damaged by the earthquakes last year, was en route to Dhunche from Kyangen of Rasuwa.

The chopper crash landed after it faced problems in its rotors while taking off from Langtang.

According to the Chief District Officer of Rasuwa Krishna Prasad Adhikari, the chopper experienced some problems with its main rotor while taking off and tilted to its right side on the ground damaging its blades. 

Locals broke the glass of the chopper and immediately rescued the pilot and assistant.

The company sent another helicopter with technicians to Langtang to rescue the pilot and fix the problem.

The helicopter carried iron rods four times Thursday alone.

Established in 1997, Fishtail Air Pvt. Ltd. is a helicopter charter company that operates flights for sightseeing, rescue, medical evacuation, corporate movement, expedition works and project support.

It has a fleet of four helicopters. 

Gionee launches Elife S series phone

Gionee has introduced the newest model of its Elife S Series in Nepal - the Gionee Elife S6.

The newly launched phone is the successor to the Elife S7 which the company introduced in Nepal last year.

Miss Nepal Earth Dibyata Baidhya and Miss Nepal International Medha Koirala jointly launched the smart phone amidst a programme in the capital.

The new Elife S6 has a metallic 6.9 mm thin uni-body design and a shining metal frame with an arched back that provides a good grip.

The S6 has a 5.5  inch 720p Super AMOLED screen  (protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3) and a screen-to-body ratio of 77.8%.  

“As for other specifications, like the SPlus, the S6 has a 1.3 Ghz 64-bit Octa-core processor. The S6 has 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage, and a 13MP rear and a 5MP front camera,” informed the company in a press statement.

The dual-SIM phone runs on Amigo 3.1 based on Android 5.1, and is powered by a 3150 mAh battery.

Unique to the Splus and the S6 is the newest USB type-C connector that provides faster charging and faster data transfer.

The S6 is available in Black, Silver and Gold variants and is available for Rs. 29,999.

FM directs FCOs to maintain professional integrity

Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel Wednesday said that the financial discipline could not be maintained by lip service; it should be handled with professionalism and utmost integrity.

Addressing the first National Seminar of the chiefs of District Treasury Controller Office (DTCO) in the capital, Minister Paudel urged the treasury controllers to adhere to the principles of financial discipline in order to make the government transaction transparent, preserve the government properties and make the accounting system more effective.

“Ballooning arrears have become a big challenge to maintain the financial discipline hence this national gathering should try to find solutions to this,” said Paudel.

He asked the government employees not to approach him with requests for their transfers and upgrade.

“I don’t entertain the requests of transfers. My doors are always closed for those who want their transfers to the convenient places,” he said.

Minister Paudel also criticized the government officers for giving priority to the petty issues like transfers in the meetings and conventions rather than policy and institutional development of their respective agencies.

He said that transparent, scientific and just transfer system should be developed at the earliers.

Acting chief secretary Kedar Bahadur Adhikari directed the treasury controllers to conclude the accounting report in time. “Make sure that every ministry, department and offices submit their accounting report in every six months,” he said.

Rajendra Prasad Nepal, financial comptroller general said that Nepal had achieved international level standards in Treasury Single Account system.

He expressed his hope that the meeting would suggest practical solutions for better financial management.

Deputy Comptroller General Jagannath Koirala said that the ever increasing non-budgetary expenditure was worrisome.

“Our internal control system weak and there is no adequate investment for capacity building of human resources,” he said.

The 3-day seminar will conclude on Friday.

There are 79 FCGOs in 75 districts where about 5027 employees are working. 

JICA starts reconstruction work

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Wednesday officially launched reconstruction work from Chautara of Sindhupalchowk.

As a part of support to earthquake recovery, JICA provided Rs. 9.5 million for the reconstruction of women and children office which was heavily damaged by the earthquakes in April and May last year, read a press release issued by the JICA.

“This is one of the projects under quick impact projects that JICA started to support earthquake victims with and immediate impact,” said the Agency.

Local Development Officer of Sindhupalchowk Krishna Bahadur Shahi, Chief Representative of JICA Nepal Tsutomu Shimizu and Divisional Chief of Department of Urban Development and Building Construction Tanka Prasad Gautam jointly laid the foundation stone of the building.

“JICA believes that the reconstruction of the building will benefit women and children in Sindhupalchowk through providing a training space with quake resistant structure as well as user-friendly facility. The construction of building includes training rooms, offices and toilets and reinforcement of retaining wall,” informed JICA.

Besides this, JICA plans to reconstruct other six public facilities in Sindhupalchowk, including District Agricultural Development Office. 

MoIC directed to manage music royalty payment

The Legislature-Parliament's Development Committee Tuesday directed the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) and all related government and non-government agencies along with the Ministry of Culture, tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) to make all necessary arrangements to raise royalty of music from the user companies and hand it over to the lyricists, musicians, singers and writers – within one month.

The Committee chairman Rabindra Adhikari asked the concerned authorities to provide the royalty to the artistes as per the Copyright Act, 2002, and submit the progress report to the Development Committee in every three months.

The parliament body in November 2014 had directed the MoIC to form a mechanism for effective implementation of royalty provisions made in the Copyright Act, 2002.

In response, the Ministry had constituted a special task force which drafted standards for royalty distribution, 2072 and submitted to the MoTCA.

The MoTCA has formed the Royalty Direction and Monitoring Committee while the MoIC has been preparing a draft for artistes' identity card.

"The MoTCA is directed to activate the Monitoring Committee and submit the progress report to the committee," read the decision of the committee.

Adhikari issued a special direction to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers to make provisions to set penalties and punishments for individuals, organizations and companies who did not adhere to the existing legal provisions.

The committee also directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to form a Copyright Police Cell.

Speaking at the committee meeting, Minister for Information and Communications Sherdhan Rai informed that the ministry would immediately work to make necessary arrangements required for the collection and distribution of music royalty.

"I would like to announce before the parliament body that the ministry will get down to works immediately to implement the legal provisions related to the royalty collection and distribution," he said.

He informed that the Ministry had completed the working procedure for artistes' identity card distribution and it was drafted in close coordination with the MoTCA.

Artistes present in the meeting lambasted the government for its inefficiency to implement the Copyright Act effectively even after 14 years of its promulgation.

They criticised Nepal Telecom and Ncell as the two largest telecommunication companies in the country did not follow the legal provision to pay the music royalties even though they earned huge profit.

Yadav Kharel, chairman of Music Royalty Collection Society, said that the commercial companies in Nepal had long been exploiting the music artistes.

"They have violated both economic and moral rights of the artistes. It's happening because the concerned government authorities have turned a blind eye to our concerns," he said.

Musician and singer Suresh Adhikari said that failure in royalty collection had not only victimised the artistes but it meant the state was also losing revenue.

“If any company or organisation liable to pay the music royalty doesn’t pay the due amount, there should be a provision not to renew such entity,” he demanded.

Singer and media person Komal Oli urged the government to keep music and film under the same ministry in order not to make any discriminate between the two disciplines. Currently, music and film fall under MoIC and MoTCA respectively.

Ninth HR Meet on 25th and 26th March

The ninth edition of HR Meet 2016 will be held in Kathmandu on March 25^th and 26^th  with the theme 'Productivity through employee motivation', informed the organiser, Growth Sellers Pvt. Ltd.

Growth Sellers is organizing the jamboree of human resource personnel in collaboration with the DAV College of Management and Access World Tech.

Managing director of the company and chairman of HR Meet Coordination Committee Mohan Ojha informed in a press conference Sunday that the Meet would feature Deepak Babu Tiwari, joint president of Reliance Spilling Mills, Dr. Malavika Desai, expert of organizational behaviour and psychologist, and Ananda Munshi, Indian motivational speaker.

According to the organiser, the resource persons will interact with over 250 participants from different sectors including manufacturing industries, financial institutions, non-government organizations and INGOs, corporate houses, and government agencies.

Ojha said that the main objective of the meet was to spread awareness about human resources.

"It also aims at helping unleash the potential of individuals and organizations, providing a common platform to learn, experience sharing and introducing new trends in HR. We would like to celebrate human resources as the greatest form of capital and assets."

Meanwhile, Ojha informed that the company has donated Rs. 25,000 to the Society of Economic Journalists as an annual commitment which started four years ago. 

e-Government Procurement to be launched from mid-April

The government is all set to launch full-fledged e-Government Procurement (e-GP) system from mid-April this year, coinciding with the new year of the Nepali calendar, informed the Public Procurement Monitoring Office (PPMO) Sunday.

"The making of the software has been completed and the PPMO is now conducting training for capacity building, installation of necessary hardware and development of other infrastructure," Ramesh Kumar Sharma, secretary at the PPMO, said in a function organized to sign Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with the commercial banks in the country.

The procurement monitoring body is preparing to launch the software for piloting in the first phase.

"In the first phase, we will launch it in Department of Roads, Department of Irrigation, Department of Water Supply and Sewerage and Department of Local Infrastructure Development and Agriculture Roads (DOLIDAR). The e-GP will be tested in 50 model projects before launching it in all sectors," informed Sharma.

Currently, the government is using e-submission system, launched in 2007, which is an isolated system used separately by the respective government departments. As the e-submission system led to duplication of efforts and costs, the government had decided to upgrade it into the full fledged e-GP system. 

In e-GP, the governments use information technology system in conducting their procurement relationships with suppliers and contractors for the procurement of works, goods, consulting services and other services required by the public sector.

As the e-GP is considered safe, transparent and competitive service for public procurement works, stakeholders have long been demanding the electronic system to end various irregularities, muscle power and misappropriation in government procurement.

The PPMO said that it would completely discourage cartel and fixing deals among the bidders.

Nepal Rastra Bank Governor Dr. Chiranjivi Nepal said that the tender process in Nepal was very complex and as the muscle power was exercised by some of the contractors, both bidders and employees experienced massive pressure during the procurement process.

"I believe that with the implementation of e-GP system, the country will witness the growth in capital expenditure. The complex tender process has hindered the optimum utilization of development budget," he stated.

Initially used by Canada in 1991, the e-GP is the application of an efficient high quality management framework to public sector procurement, facilitated through online information and processes, read a PPMO document.

In Nepal, the electronic procurement system was applied in 2007 in the Department of Roads.

"e-GP has the potential to strengthen accountability, transparency, efficiency and effectiveness of this sensitive high value government function," said Sharma.

The government has developed a single portal for the public procurement works in technical assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The project to develop the single portal was completed in four years.

 "Public procurement includes 15 to 20 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product. Therefore, it should be transparent, easy and safe," said Tika Limbu, portfolio management specialist at the ADB.

The PPMO Sunday signed MoU with all 29 'A' class commercial banks which would facilitate the banks to use the full fledged e-GP single portal. The portal has a separate dashboard for the commercial banks.

The PPMO has already trained two employees each from all commercial banks on the use of e-GP portal.

Nepal Bankers' Association president Upendra Poudyal appreciated the government for involving the banking sector as the major stakeholders in the public procurement process.

"The new system will inspire good bidders and contractors to participate in the public procurement process," he said.

He suggested the government to apply all security measures to make the e-GP safe from the hackers and crackers, and also to establish help desk at the PPMO for a couple of months to facilitate the stakeholders who might need further orientation and technical assistance while using the new technology.  

NRA to send team for geological study of Singati

The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) is all set to dispatch a technical team to Singati of Dolakha district for the geological study of the quake ravaged settlements at high risk, with an aim of assisting the government to make decision about relocation of the communities at risks.

The team, comprised of two geologists from the Department of Mines and Geology (DMG) and one representative each from the Department of Water Induced Disaster Prevention (DWIDP) and Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management (DSCWM), will leave for Singati Sunday.

Although the NRA earlier decided to send multiple teams to all the districts severely hit by the devastating earthquakes in April and May last year, it is sending a team to Dolakha for pilot study.

Dr. Chandra Bahadur Shrestha, executive member of the NRA, informed that the team would study the geological conditions of Singati and other critical settlements in Dolakha for a week.

“We have decided to conduct a pilot study so that a modality for the geological study of all settlements that are risks could be developed. The team will work swiftly and will submit its report by Friday,” he said.

The NRA is set to conduct similar studies in Gorkha and Dhading before it fields technical teams in other districts.

The team will have the authority to mobilize the human resources at the district offices of the DWIDP and DSCWM.

It aims at completing the study of all locations by mid-April along with creation of site-map.

The Act Related to Reconstruction of the Earthquake Affected Structures, 2015, has assigned NRA to develop norms for development of integrated settlement, rehabilitation and translocation, identify appropriate sites for relocation of communities, among others.

The geological study team will decide whether the settlements are safe, needed pre-cautionary measures or demanded urgent relocation.

An earlier observation, in the aftermath of the major tremors, by a team of geologists, chief district officers and lawmakers of respective districts found at least 193 settlements needed immediate relocation.

Gorkha, Nuwakot, Rasuwa, Dolakha, Dhading and Singhupalchowk had many settlements vulnerable to post-quake hazards.

The new study will be based on the findings of the earlier study and make further investigations, informed the NRA.