SAN opposes hoarding board removal

Kathmandu, Dec. 28

The Signage Association Nepal (SAN) has strongly opposed the decision of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City to remove hoarding boards from the major thoroughfares of the city.

Issuing a statement on Saturday it claimed it would be counterproductive and demanded that the government should withdraw the decision immediately.

"SAN is an organisation that has long been involved in the management of advertisement market. It has created employment opportunity for about 75,000 youths," read the statement.

It has complained that the obscure advertising policy of the government might cause entrepreneurs giving up their business venture in advertising sector. The signage sector has about Rs. 7 billion investment from about 3,500 entrepreneurs.

The SAN said that it was not against the government decision but it was against the practice of of taking decisions without consulting with the concerned business sector.

"Hoarding boards and signage have become a major part of business promotion and advertising around the world. The decision to remove it would have severe repercussion on the business and government revenue as well," read the statement.

Saying that the hoarding bords would be a major promotion component during the Visit Nepal Year 2020, the association urged the government to rethink about its decision.

It also demanded a separate Hoarding Board Policy to manage the sector.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 29 December 2019. 

Create public opinion on national integrity, Prachanda asks media

Kathmandu, Dec. 28

Chairman of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has urged the media persons to help create public opinions on national integrity and prosperity.

"We are working for the national integrity and prosperity and you should help the government in achieving these goals," he said while addressing the national assembly of the Press Organisation and oath taking of its newly elected working committee at Baluwatar on Saturday.

He said that the success of political party depends on good political ideology and timely decision as the erstwhile CPN (UML) and UCPN-Maoists did while making the merger.

"Many forces had tried to disturb the coalition that we forged during the national election and tried to damage the party unification process but we tirelessly worked to make the things happen," he said.

Prachanda also said that the party unification had given the nation a stable government which was working to make the country developed and the people prosperous.

The former Prime Minister said that pro-people journalists' role would be crucial in creating favourable public opinion nationally and internationally.

According to him, the party central committee had decided to conclude the party unification process within 15 days and General Assembly of the CPN will happen by mid-April 2020.

Journalists were awarded on the occasion. Nirmala Sharma received Hridaya Chandra Sing Pradhan Journalism Award, and Pramod Dahal received Agni Shikha Journalism Prize.

Likewise, Active Youth Journalism award was given to Raju Adhikari of Jhapa, Basanta Pratap Singh of Bajhang and Subhadra Pyakurel of Sunsari district.

Similarly, Dekendra Thapa Memorial Journalism Award was jointly given to Meena Budhathoki of Salyan, Sushil Aryal of Gorkha and Dipak Rijal of Dhading district.

 Padma Laxmi Sabitri Journalism Award was given to Daman Rai of Kkhotang, Unique Bifa Ghishing of Ramechhap and Rabin Bohara of Baglung.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 29 December 2019. 

NC for ratifying MCC from Parliament, says Dr. Mahat

Kathmandu, Dec. 28

Former Foreign Affairs Minister and Nepali Congress leader Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat said on Saturday that the parliament must ratify MCC as soon as possible and urged one and all not to doubt and debate about it.

He said that NC was in favour of ratifying it from the parliament.

"The agreement on the programme was made in the initiation of the Nepali Congress," he said in an interaction at the Reporters Club, "It is one of the largest grant support in infrastructure development in the country which will be spent on transmission lines and road infrastructure."

He said that the country could lose the money due to dillydallying in making decision about the programme and maintained that the government must ratify the programme and move ahead.

Dr. Mahat said that although the issue should not have been taken to the parliament but since the step was incorporated in the agreement, it should be immediately ratified by the congress.

He also said that the discussion about whether to accept the support if it was the part of the Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) was useless. "I have also heard the debates about the programme but the IPS is not a military alliance."

“Nepal has lots of benefits from MCC support. I was the foreign affairs minister when the agreement was signed,” he said.

"We have also signed the agreement on Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). We have signed and should sign every agreement that can fulfil our development need and help in fulfilling the national interest," said Dr. Mahat.

He tried to clarify that Nepal did not accept the grant support to make the country a military base for the USA. “We have to think about our national interest and programmes that favour our national development goal, however we must be aware that it should not harm our neighbours,” he maintained.

Dr. Mahat linked the dispute about the MCC with the Arun III Hydroelectricity in the past.

When Nepal was planning to manage loan from the World Bank for the development of the energy project, nation-wide protests had contributed in cancelling the 900 MW project which however started after more than two decades later.

"Some people want to make the fate of MCC as that of the Arun III. They must understand that the project is not against India or China but in the interest of Nepal," he said.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 29 December 2019. 

Samudayik announces 32 pc bonus shares

Kathmandu, Dec. 28

Samudayik Laghubitta Microfinance Limited has announced 32 per cent bonus shares to its shareholders.

The Banepa-14, Sanga based company has announced the bonus share from its sixth Annual General Assembly on Friday.

It also approved 1.68 per cent cash dividend for tax purposes.

The general assembly also passed the financial reports of the last fiscal year 2018/19.

Similarly, the microfinance also announced 2:1 right share in the paid-up capital as well.

It was established in 2013 and received the Class 'D' bank license from the Nepal Rastra Bank in 2014.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 29 December 2019. 

Obscure sources cause NRA fund to go unspent

Kathmandu, Dec. 27

The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) has continuously failed to utilise the budget allocated for the post-quake reconstruction owing to the lack of clarity in securing the money from the specified sources.

It has utilised only 57.5 per cent of the total budget allocated for reconstruction in the last four years.

Rs. 483.6 billion was allocated to the NRA from the fiscal year 2015/16 to 2018/19, but the reconstruction body could use up only Rs. 276.39 billion during the same period.

FY 2017/18 witnessed the highest use of budget with 78.65 per cent. It spent Rs. 114.7 billion from Rs. 145.9 billion budget.

The NRA said that the Ministry of Finance had allocated budget to post-quake rebuilding without resource assurance which raised the questions about the performance of the reconstruction body.

"In reality, it was not the inefficiency of the NRA, but the unavailability of the budget," said Shiva Hari Sharma, Secretary of the NRA. "Initial two years were spent in preparation of various policies, procedures and modalities. However, the reconstruction took speed from 2017/18."

The large part of the reconstruction is covered by the rebuilding of the private houses. The government provided Rs. 300,000 in grant to each family that lost their house in the 2015 earthquake.

About 482,323 houses damaged in the were rebuilt while more than 189,000 are under construction, and 69,973 houses were retrofitted.

"We are in a sort of technical trap since the MoF has done its job by announcing the budget while we failed not get the money since it is from the difficult sources," said Sharma.

While the NRA's tenure is coming to end in December next year, it has abundance of works to perform in the current fiscal year so it has demanded the Ministry of Finance to ensure the availability of funds as per the budget allocation. Finance Minister Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada had allocated Rs. 141 billion to reconstruction for the current fiscal.

Of the Rs. 141 billion budget, source of about Rs. 38 billion is not ensured. The money which is not going to the NRA includes Rs. 34 billion from the Indian Exim Bank announced as the line of credit during the International Conference on Nepal's reconstruction in 2015, Rs. 5 billion from the Opec Fund for International Development and Rs. 2 billion from the World Bank.

The Indian funds can't be used due to its condition of spending in projects larger than Rs. 1 billion, using Indian contractor and construction materials since the reconstruction involves many small-size projects such as schools and health facilities while the OFID and WB cancelled their pledges.

However, the MoF said that it was trying to manage funds for reconstruction from other possible sources.

Budget allocation and Utilisation (Rs. in billion)

Fiscal Year	Allocated Budget	Budget Utilisation
2015/16	74.0	22.47
2016/17	112.58	49.69
2017/18	145.93	114.78
2018/19	151.08	89.43
2019/20	141.0	16.86
Total	624.60	293.25

Source: NRA

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 28 December 2019. 

Dhakal announces his candidacy for senior VP in FNCCI

Kathmandu, Dec. 27

Incumbent Vice-President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Chandra Prasad Dhakal has announced his candidacy for the post of Senior VP of the organisation.

He announced his candidacy for the post from his home district Baglung. The district Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Baglung has proposed Dhakal as the Senior VP during the sixth Baglung Festival.

The FNCCI Statute has a provision to elect the Senior VP to the post of the president automatically, without contesting the election. Elections will be held in April 2020 to choose the new working committee of the organisation.

Speaking at the festival, Dhakal said that he was eligible candidate for the post as he had served as the vice-president for two tenures.

He was born in Baglung Municipality, Ward-12, Amalachaur. "We have proposed him as the future president of the FNCCI. Many presidents of district and province committees of the organisation have supported him," said Basanta Kumar Shrestha, former President of Baglung Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

As per the FNCCI Statute, Shekhar Golchha will be the next president succeeding Bhawani Rana.

Dhakal is chairman of IME Group, Global IME Bank and Chandragiri Hills Limited, and promoter of Dish Home.

He had started his business with cargo business and has invested in hydroelectricity, tourism, information technology, travels and tours, automobiles and cable car. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 28 December 2019.  

Chinese investors show interest in pharmaceutical industry

Kathmandu, Dec. 27

Chinese investors have shown interest to invest in Nepal's pharmaceutical industry.

A 7-member team led by Wang Zhirong, Vice-Chairman of Yunnan Provincial Federation of Industry and Commerce, is in the capital to find out the potential of the sector in Nepal.

The visiting investors held a discussion with the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) on Friday to have understanding and possibility of investment in pharmaceutical sector. However, the FNCCI said that it has urged the Chinese investors also to invest in cement, agriculture, infrastructure like roads, bridges, tunnels and airports, tourism, energy, information technology and manufacturing industries.

Nepali businesspersons said that both the countries would be benefitted if Nepal received Chinese investment in the health sectors like pharmaceuticals and hospitals.

The visiting Chinese delegation said that it was interested in making investments in the medicine industry and the visit was especially focused for the purpose.

Nepali delegation was led by FNCCI Vice-President Kishor Kumar Pradhan.

The two teams discussed about Nepal-China economic relations, expansion of joint-investments and policy provisions for Foreign Direct Investment in Nepal.

Pradhan urged the visiting investors that it was appropriate time to make investment in the country due to political stability and favourable investment climate.

Stating that China was the largest source of investment in Nepal, he expected more from the northern neighbour.

Wang said that Chinese investors were interested to come to Nepal and project would come soon after another round of discussion.

He said that Nepal could learn from Yunnan's development experience, use of latest technology and capital mobilisation for development.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 28 December 2019. 

NRA begins working on 'exit strategy'

Spends Rs. 293b, rebuilds 83% quake damaged houses in 4 years

Kathmandu, Dec. 26

The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), a body created for the post-quake rebuilding with a five-year mandate, has started working for its exit strategy.

The reconstruction body was officially launched on December 26, 2015, eight months after a quake of 7.6 on Richter scale devastated the central and eastern hills in the country, killing about 9,000 people and damaging about a million houses, as well as schools, health facilities and infrastructure.

The NRA has only a year to wrap up the work since its five-year tenure is expiring in December next year. 

Presenting the achievements of the NRA in the past four years at a press meet on Thursday, its Chief Executive Officer Sushil Gyawali said that about 83 per cent progress was made in the reconstruction of private houses in the 32 quake-hit districts.

"A major part of the reconstruction of private houses, health facilities, offices of the government and security agencies, heritage and local infrastructure has been completed while the remaining are in rebuilding process," he said.

He maintained that the reconstruction of the private houses would be completed by the end of 2020. The responsibility would be handed over to the local levels in case the works remain incomplete.

The reconstruction body has enhanced cooperation and coordination with the recently formed National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority so that the exercise of the NRA, statistics and organisational memory could be institutionalised.

The NRA has also initiated work to hand over the existing information system to the federal, state and local governments in order to enable the central as well as sub-national governments with reliable and effective disaster information system.

"Risk mapping of each local unit will be done, and it will be used as the foundation in land use planning, periodic planning and house-standards making," said Gyawali.

The local units' capacity would be enhanced in terms of implementing national building code to create quake-resilient houses.

Likewise, the remaining responsibility of heritage reconstruction will be given to the Department of Archaeology and respective local bodies. Of the damaged 891 heritages, 387 have been rebuilt and 123 are under construction while the reconstruction of 381 is yet to begin. Monastery rehabilitation is lagging with a handful being reconstructed out of damaged 1320 monasteries.

Similarly, remaining works of rural roads and water supply will come under the responsibility of the local bodies. All the damaged roads and water supply infrastructure are either reconstructed or in the process to be rehabilitated.

Knowledge sharing with int'l community

The NRA is planning for an international conference on the post-quake reconstruction in November next year. The conference will be a platform where Nepal will share the knowledge, skills and learning acquired from the rescue, relief and reconstruction work after the 2015 earthquake.

However, the NRA seconded that it was organising a conference to raise the money unmet amount for the post-quake reconstruction. Gyawali said that various workshops and symposiums would be organised throughout the year in 2020 so that the knowledge could be handed over to the future generations.

Reconstruction budget

About Rs. 293 billion has been spent in the post-quake reconstruction in the country in the past four years. The government has allocated Rs. 141 billion in the current fiscal year 2019/20, but the source of Rs. 34 billion is unknown so far. Ministry of Finance has said that it would manage the missing resources for reconstruction.

The revised Post-Disaster Reconstruction Framework (PDRF) had estimated that Rs. 630 billion would need to complete the remaining reconstruction work. The country raised about Rs. 410 billion in the International Conference on Nepal's Reconstruction in 2015.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 27 December 2019. 

We move ahead with the MCC: Gyawali

Kathmandu, Dec. 25

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said there was no dilemma about ratifying the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) – a programme of the United States of America extended to Nepal to develop a powerful cross-border electricity transmission line and rehabilitation of strategic roads.

"The government has decided to move forward with the agreement. Therefore, the lawmakers need not to be confused about the implementation of the development project," he said while speaking at the National Concern and Coordination Committee of the National Assembly on Wednesday.

He reiterated that the MCA was not the part of the Indo-Pacific Strategy of the US government and the programme would be audited by the Nepal government. The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) was announced in 2004 while the IPS just a couple of years ago.

"When the country signed the agreement, it was witnessing political instability, governments were not stable. Therefore, the donor might have sought the parliament's ratification as the guarantee for the programme implementation," said FM Gyawali. "Situation might have been different if we had assured the US government that there wouldn't any decision against the programme," he added.

According to him, the government is firm on executing the programme and that's the final decision.

He stated that the implementation of the project like MCA would give a huge message to the world. "MCA should also be taken as the culmination of the political transition in Nepal. When the country should have facilitated the project that is in the national interest, disputes on it will breed questions on the credibility of the country itself," he said.

As per our foreign policy, we won't be associated with any alliance of any country, he said.

He said that all political partied had agreed on MCA. The agreement was signed when Nepali Congress was leading the government, its Finance Minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki had signed the agreement in Washington DC. The ruling partner during that period was the erstwhile Maoist Centre, which is in the present government after the merger with the CPN-UML.

FM Gyawali said that some preliminary works as per the conditions set by the programme had been performed. The government had formed an independent mechanism, declared it as a national pride project.

The committee members drew the attention of the government about deciding about the programme at the earliest. Lawmaker Ramprit Paswan said that the MCC and IPS were not related with each other. Another lawmaker Jiban Budha recommended implementing the programme in a way that it would be a precedent for other projects in the days to come.

As the USD 630 million programme that included $500 million grant from the USA pushed into the controversy after some parliamentarians raised questions on it as being the part of the IPS, the MCA Nepal this week had organised a press meet to clear the confusion.

It had appealed to the parliament for the timely ratification of the MCC as the delay in approving it from the legislature might delay the commencement of the project set for 30 June next year.

Parliament's ratification is needed as per the Vienna Convention on Law on Treaties between the States according to the agreement signed between the governments of Nepal and the United States of America.

"When the parliament ratifies it, the programme will be implemented as a law which ensures smooth development," Khadga Bahadur Bisht, Executive Director of MCA-Nepal had said at the press meet.

As per the agreement between the government of Nepal and MCC – an agency of the United States of America, in September this year, the programme must be completed within five years from the date of its implementation and in case of inability to use up the budget, the remaining money would go back to the US government.

 Published in The Rising Nepal Daily on 26 December 2019.

Rs. 600 bn mobilised in post-quake rebuilding of houses

Kathmandu, Dec. 25

More than Rs. 600 billion has been mobilised in the post-quake reconstruction of the private houses in the last four years.

About 482,323 houses damaged in the devastating 2015 earthquake were rebuilt while more than 189,000 are under construction.

Approximately Rs. 200 billion, Rs. 300, 00 each, has been given to the families who lost their houses in the disaster. Similarly, Rs. 100,000 each was given to about 69,973 families for retrofitting.

"According to our estimates, each family has added at least two third money from their side to build houses which put the total housing investment at Rs. 600 billion," said Sushil Gyawali, Chief Executive Officer of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), speaking at a programme organised to publish a result of the study on construction sector impact on expanding the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the country in the post-quake scenario.

He said that the reconstruction had had strong forward and backward linkages as almost all the construction materials were produced in the country.

Former Member of the National Planning Commission, Prof. Dr. Govinda Prasad Nepal said that the reconstruction hugely contributed to employment creation and women empowerment in the rural areas.

The study found that of the four major sectors of the economy – agriculture, manufacturing, wholesale and retail, and construction, the share of construction sector expanded while other sectors shrunk.

Contribution of construction sector to GDP remained roughly constant before the earthquake while it increased after the earthquake, according to the report, suggesting the important contribution of the post-earthquake reconstruction to reviving the growth.

This study also showed that housing reconstruction alone created jobs equal to 255 million man-days which is equivalent to 1.42 million people being employed by the end of fiscal 2017/18. Currently, 550,000 people are working in reconstruction of houses with jobs equal to 100 million workdays being created. 

According to the report, the reconstruction process also helped promote financial inclusion by requiring the households to open bank accounts to receive the housing grant. National Reconstruction Authority records show that about 770,000 registered beneficiaries have opened bank accounts, out of which 30 per cent bank accounts belong to women. 

A total of 769,926 households received first tranche of grant. Out of them, as many as 621,449 beneficiaries received the second tranche of assistance and a total of 525,233 received the third installment of government’s assistance. The government has been providing Rs. 300,000 in grant to build a house to a beneficiary whose house was completely damaged and has no other houses.

Likewise, reconstruction of ,5063 public schools, 25,128 school rooms, 665 health institutes, 380 archaeological sites, 311 government buildings and 165 buildings of security agencies has also been completed, according to the authority. 

The study was conducted by the NRA, National Democratic Institute for International Affair (NDI) USAID and SEJON.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 26 December 2019. 

JMC receives quality certificates

Kathmandu, Dec. 25

Janamaitri Multiple Campus, one of the first campuses in the Kathmandu Valley to receive the quality assurance certificate from the University Grant Commission (UGC), has announced that it will support the students from the deprived community in pursuing their higher education.

"Janamairti is a non-profit and community-based higher education institution which aims at developing knowledgeable and skilful human resources," Chief of the campus Bhola Nath Ojha said at a press conference organised to inform about the Quality Assurance and Accreditation (QAA) Certification from the UGC.

The campus has received the quality certification for the quality infrastructure and facilities, and teaching-learning activities, therefore, it is the student who will be ultimately benefitted, he said.

Janamaitri Campus was established about three decades ago and has been offering programmes on social work, mass communication, psychology, management, computer application, ICT and business for graduate and post-graduate level. About 1,500 students from 63 districts are currently pursuing their higher education in the campus.

The campus that had lost all its buildings in the devastating earthquake in 2015 had shown resilience and managed the required teaching-learning infrastructure, including building and labs within four years after the quake.

Chairman of the Campus Management Board Dr. Dilli Raj Khanal said that the campus had proved it best in terms of education policy and process, curriculum, teaching-learning and evaluation, research, consultation and extension, infrastructure and learning resources, physical facilities, student guidelines and information system.

Janamaitri is one of the first two campuses that received the QAA certification in the Kathmandu Valley.

Jana Bhawana Multiple Campus in Lalitpur, Kabhre Multiple Campus in Kavre and Kanchan Bidya Mandir in Kanchanpur have also received the certificate. The UGC had awarded them the certificates in a programme organised at its office in Bhaktapur on Monday.

QAA is a process of quality assurance whereby a programme in an institution is critically apprised at intervals not exceeding five years to verify that the institution or the programme meets the norms and standards prescribe by the QAA Committee.

The UGC said that the QAA provided opportunities for institutions and their programmes to assess their performances and weaknesses.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 26 December 2019. 

First rail comes in a month

Kathmandu, Dec. 24

Missing several deadlines, the first set of trains from India is likely to arrive in Nepal by the end of January next year, said the Department of Railway.

A team of DoR officials led by its Director General Balram Mishra visited the Konkan Railway Corporation Limited, an Indian government-owned rail enterprise in Chennai, last week.

“The rail is under production and the company has said that it can deliver it by the end of next month. But still we are doubtful due to the current political situation in India,” said Aman Chitrakar, senior Divisional Engineer and Spokesperson at the DoR.

But the department is making preparations for the rail operation in Janakpur-Jayanagar section immediately after the arrival of the train.

Nepal is buying two DEMU (Diesel Electric Multiple Unit) trains, with engines at both sides, at the cost of Rs. 846.5 million. The trains will have five to 10 bogies.

The Cabinet had given a positive nod to the train procurement in March this year although the initiatives were made even earlier, the Indian company had delayed the delivery of the locomotives also because Nepal failed in timely communication about the technical requirements of the machines.

If the things go well, the second set of the trains will enter Nepal by February end in 2020.

Chitrakar said that the DoR was acquiring human resources required for the railway operation from the international market, primarily India, since the country does not have railway technicians and staff. The department had tried to revive the erstwhile Nepal Railway Company, the government-agency that operated Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway service in the past, which has been non-functional since 2014, and use it as a human resource development centre.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 25 December 2019. 

MCA waits for parliament’s nod

Kathmandu, Dec. 22

Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) – Nepal has appealed to the parliament for the timely ratification of the Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC) as the delay in approving it from the legislature might delay the commencement of the project set for 30 June 2020.

Parliament's ratification is needed as per the Vienna Convention on Law on Treaties between the States according to the agreement signed between the governments of Nepal and the United States of America.

"When parliament ratifies it, the programme will be implemented as a law which ensures smooth development," said Khadga Bahadur Bisht, Executive Director of MCA-Nepal at an interaction on Sunday.

The USD 630 million ( Rs. 71.19 billion), $500 million from the MCC and $130 million from Nepal – programme, aims at developing large transmission lines, including Butwal-Gorakhpur cross-border transmission facility, and rehabilitate strategic roads.

As per the agreement between the government of Nepal and MCC – an agency of the United States of America, in September this year, the programme must be completed within five years from the date of its implementation and in case of inability to use up the budget, the remaining money would go back to the US government.

Two conditions yet to be met

The compact has outlined six-condition precedents to be achieved as necessary pre-requisites before the entry-into-force, set for June 30 next year.

According to Bisht, out of the six, four have already been met with the October agreement for cross-border line between Nepal and India.

The MCC had set conditions that the MCA programmes should be announced as the national pride project, agreement between Nepal and India for cross-border transmission line, project implementation agreement between the government and MCC, ratification from the parliament and access to the construction site.

Parliamentary ratification and access to site are the two major remaining conditions that will be required to ensure Nepal can access the funds allocated to implement the programme on time.

"MCC Nepal is in the final stage of preparatory works required for the implementation of its projects that aim to increase the availability and reliability of electricity, maintain road quality and facilitate power trade between Nepal and the region to help spur investments and accelerate economic growth," said Bisht.

He said that the legislative's ratification of the programme was not a new phenomenon as 17 countries had ratified the MCA in their respective countries.

The MCC has been expanded to 27 countries and executed in 17 countries while 10 nations are in line to be incorporated in the programme.

"There has been rumours that the MCA will supersede the national law which is not true. The term 'supersede' means that when there were any disputes or challenges while executing the programme, it would be resolved through the Vienna Convention," Bisht tried to respond to the criticism raised by some leaders, including those from the ruling party. Nepal is a signatory of the Vienna Convention.

AG audits the programme

He also said that the Auditor General, the supreme audit institution of Nepal, had been performing audit works of the programme and would continue to do so. "So far as the question of US direct interventions in the project is concerned, there is no direct influence. The Kathmandu-based US Embassy oversees the project, but all the decisions are taken by MCA-Nepal," Bisht said.

As per the programme rules, priority of projects is set by the recipient country and the transmission line and road development in Nepal was not dictated by the MCC, but Nepal has given priority to energy-sector development through its policy and programmes.

The programme is result-oriented and is executed through the institutions developed by the concerned country. Enough time is provided for the project preparedness and deadline is set for the execution and if anything remains for after the deadline, the remaining money goes back.

Energy Expert Gyanendra Lal Pradhan expressed wonders why some politicians were going against the project that would immensely benefit the country.

"We will have surplus energy in a couple of years as 800 MW electricity from the independent power producers and 1000 mw from the government would be connected to the national grid soon," he said, "The project is about creating connectivity network that will support us in cross-border trading of energy."

He also said that without the MCA, Butwal-Gorakhpur transmission line project would not have moved ahead.

MCC Programme in Nepal

The Electricity Transmission Project will build 312 km of 400 kV electricity transmission lines and three substations and provide technical assistance for the power sector in Nepal.

The 312 km of transmission line will pass through 30 municipalities of 10 districts. Altogether 856 towers will be installed to support the transmission lines.

The locations for the three substations are in Ratmate, Damauli and New Butwal.

The Road Maintenance Project aims to enhance current practices in the maintenance of Nepal’s strategic roads network and will provide technical assistance to the Department of Roads (DoR) and Roads Board Nepal.

Maintenance interventions will include pavement improvement techniques and include safety enhancement features. New pavement improvement technology adopted are Full Depth Recycling (FDR) and superpave asphalt concrete which follows the principle of recycling existing pavement material.

In agreement with the DoR, the project has selected Bhalubang-Lamahi (27 KM) section of the East-West Highway as a pilot.

After the success of this pilot, MCA-Nepal will exercise the technology along Chandrauta-Bhalubang (35Km) followed by Lamahi-Shivakhola (37Km) sections of the East-West Highway.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 23 December 2019. 

Don’t help fraudulent companies to flourish, FM asks auditors

Kathmandu, Dec. 22

Finance Minister Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada on Sunday said that the auditors should be more aware while performing audit of companies and organisations as the IT-based financial frauds and corruption activities had been increasing recently.

"There are fraudulent companies that are developed through fake documents and have fake financial reports and balance sheets. Auditors must not help such companies to flourish," he said while addressing an interaction on 'Professional integrity for combating corruption and fraud' organised by Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal (ICAN).

He said that there were fake companies and the auditors are preparing sham balance sheets and financial reports of such firms. "Auditors must not play roles in approving the fraudulent activities of such institutions," said Dr. Khatiwada.

He urged the auditors to keep them updated about the latest financial technology and instruments to support in combating economic crimes.  He also said that every professional ranging from chartered accountant to lawyers must try to uphold the professional integrity and follow the professional code of conduct.

"The government is spearheaded to maintain good governance and transparency with zero-tolerance to corruption. We are enacting many laws for the same," said the Finance Minister.

Chief Commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) Nabin Kumar Ghimire stated that no auditor should work with an intent to cover financial crime and misappropriation.

Auditor General Tanka Mani Sharma Dangal said that while fighting with corruption, it was necessary that every professional was performing within the professional values and norms.

According to him, tax evasion, financial misappropriation and decentralisation of corruption were the major challenges of the present day.

"The global trend show that the private sector is focused in cheating and the public sector is trying to hide corruption," he said. He urged the concerned agencies and professionals like auditors to be cautions as the issue of money laundering was being raised at the international level.

Chairman of ICAN Krishna Prasad Acharya said that the public had felt that there was erosion of integrity in different profession and business. "We want to promote good practice and help the government in curbing corruption," he said.

Spokesperson of CIAA Pradip Koirala said that investigating agencies had less confidence that the audit reports of companies were fair and true. He expressed concerns over the increasing trend of corruption at the local bodies.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 23 December 2019. 

NMB offers 100 per cent education financing

Kathmandu, Dec. 22

NMB Bank has offered education loan 100 per cent financing with up to 15 years tenure and up to four years’ moratorium period.

The bank said on Sunday that it had rejuvenated its Education Loan offering by introducing a series of attractive features.

"We have made key additions with the objective to ensure that customers/students do not face financial setbacks in their aspirations to study abroad and are able to avail education loan with minimum hassle and enhanced value proposition," it said in a statement.

The bank shall provide financing up to 100 per cent of education cost, living and travel expenses.

To provide flexibility to students regarding sponsorship for abroad study, the bank has widened scope of sponsors covering both paternal and maternal grandparents, immediate in-laws family members- father/mother-in-law and uncle/aunt.

Accordingly, the loan tenure has been increased up to 15 years, whereas the criterion for moratorium period has been set at minimum 4 years or entire course duration.

NMB Bank currently has a network of 163 branches, 128 ATMs and 5 extension counters across the country.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 23 December 2019. 

Cement manufacturers seek subsidy in electricity tariff

Kathmandu, Dec. 21

Stressing that the country would be self-reliant by the end of 2020, Cement manufacturers have urged the government to subsidise the electricity charges and set standards of the product at the earliest.

They want the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to supply electricity to the cement industries at the rates similar to the charges imposed while exporting energy to India.

Similarly, setting standards for 33, 43 and 53 grade cement is also in the demand which is required to penetrate in the Indian market.

“We are paying Rs. 13-14 per unit electricity charges currently and it needs 100 unit energy to produce 1 metric tons of cement which has increased the production cost,” said Pashupati Murarka, promoter of Arghakhanchi Cement who is also the immediate past President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).

He said that the NEA should charge cement producers with the rate at which energy is exported to India in future. “I think there wouldn’t be any problem if the electricity authority supplies the exporting energy to the domestic industries. It will contribute to employment generation and economic growth,” said Murarka.

However, cement manufacturers’ demand is not likely to be met soon as the NEA has just energy banking with India and it will take more than a couple of years for energy trade between the two countries.

“We hope that another 1000 MW would be added to the national grid by next year. But even then energy will not be surplus in dry season,” said Prabal Adhikari, NEA Spokesperson. “Reducing electricity charges is a good thing and we favour it but first we have to bring down the electricity tariff.”

Meanwhile, the responsibility to set electricity tariff is given to the Electricity Regulatory Commission. Adhikari said that government energy subsidy to cement exporting industries can be an alternative.

Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) has projected that the country would be self-reliant in cement by next year. Meanwhile, entry of large players like Hongshi Shivam has caused price adjustment of cement recently.

Another glitches in cement export is the standard measures. Indian market seeks Grade 53 cement but so far Nepali cement don’t have any standards even though the producers have long been demanding that.

However, some cement producers themselves do not want the grades which is creating challenges, said a producer.

Murarka said that although they had urged the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology multiple times to create standards for cement, it has not made any homework in this regard.

“Our standard is better than the Grade 53 cement but there are no provisions to substantiate the claim,” he said.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 22 December 2019. 

Bangladesh to buy power from Nepal

Kathmandu, Dec. 20

Bangladesh government has decided to purchase electricity from Nepal. 

The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase (CCPP) has approved a proposal for importing about 500 MW electricity from GMR Upper Karnali Hydroelectricity Project. 

Dhaka Tribune reported that the committee meeting chaired by Finance Minister Mustafa Kamal had given approval to the proposal on Wednesday. 

Energy from Nepal will be exported to Bangladesh through NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited, an Indian-government owned company, following the terms and conditions of the Indian regulatory commission. 

The 900-MW GMR Upper Karnali Hydropower Ltd. termed it as a historical event for Nepal and the region as well. 

“It has opened the way for energy trading in the South Asian sub-region which will benefit all the countries in the future,” said K.K. Mishra, Project Head of the company.

According to him, positive nod from the purchase committee of the Bangladesh government was critical for the initiative as it would clear the way for the approval of the power trade proposal. 

Now GMR has to show a bank guarantee of US$ 5 million, and there will be the exchange of the letter of intent (LoI) within 5 weeks. 

Located in Surkhet, Achham and Dailekh districts, Upper Karnali was awarded to GMR in 2008 as an export-oriented project aimed at the Indian market, but the developer has gone an extra mile to sell the energy in the third country market. 

The Dhaka Tribune also reported that the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board and the NVVNL signed a non-bonding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), and power sales agreement between the two would be signed soon. 

Nepal’s energy export to the third countries was made possible after India amended its cross-border power trading regulation in December last year, paving the way for power producers in Nepal to sell energy not only to India but to other countries as well. 

India’s Cross-Border Trade of Electricity Regulations, 2019 has a provision that ‘the Transmission Planning Agency of India in consultation with the transmission planning agency of the neighbouring country shall grant access to the participating entities to use cross-border transmission link for cross-border trade of electricity’.

Bangladesh has also shown interest in investing in Nepal’s hydropower projects. It has been urging the government to provide opportunity to invest about USD 1 billion in such project and export electricity to Bangladesh. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 21 December 2019. 

Govt concocts plan to reduce accidents

Kathmandu, Dec. 20

Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Basanta Kumar Nembang has said that the government has prepared a plan to reduce and prevent road accidents. 

“Preventing road accidents has become a priority of the government. President Bidya Devi Bhandari has also shown serious concerns about the increasing cases of road accidents,” he said while speaking at a meeting of the Parliament’s Development and Technology Committee on Friday. 

He said that the President had directed the concerned agencies to take proactive steps against the increasing incidents of road accidents and the ministry had prepared a report on the issue after consultation with all the stakeholders including the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport and other government and private sector agencies.

The report has analysed and assessed the reasons behind accidents, current status, past scenario and statistics of the first four-month of the current fiscal year 2019/20. 

“We have identified the methods to minimise the accidents and presented them points by points. The report has also recommended policy measures, and short-term, medium-term and long term legal frameworks for the same,” he said. “The ministry wants to move it forward as a bill.”

The House panel has expressed serious concerns over the growing incidents of road accidents and directed the government and MoPIT to immediately apply measures to curb them. 

The committee has also formed a 5-member sub-committee to conduct a study into the matter. The committee is led by lawmaker Ganesh Pahadi and members include Yagya Raj Sunuwar, Durga Poudel, Rangamati Shahi and Gauri Shankar Chaudhary as members. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 21 December 2019.