SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, OCT 07 -
Dealing a hard blow to farmers, the government on Thursday hiked the price of subsidised chemical fertiliser by 30 percent.
According to the revised rates, Urea, Di-amonium Phosphate (DAP) and Potash will now cost Rs. 18, Rs. 32 and Rs. 20 per kg, respectively, in bordering towns such as Biratnagar, Birgunj and Bhairahawa. The revised price will come into effect from Friday.
Earlier, the government had been selling subsidised Urea, DAP and Potash at Rs. 12.50, Rs. 27.26 and Rs. 14.50, respectively, through Agriculture Inputs Company (AIC). As per the new rate, the price of Urea has been hiked by 44 percent, DAP by 17.39 percent and Potash by 37.93 percent.
Fertiliser price has been increased in line with the price in the international market as well as to increase the bulk of fertilisers for the next fiscal year, said Hari Dahal, spokesman at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC). Inadequate availability of fertilisers has affected agriculture production and has hit paddy plantation this year. The government, in the last fiscal year, had allocated Rs. 1.77 billion to import over 100,000 tons of chemical fertilisers.
“Although, the budget ceiling for subsidised fertilisers in this fiscal year has increased to Rs. 2.30 billion, the price hike in the international market forced the Agriculture Ministry to hike the price,” said Dahal. MoAC will now purchase more quantity of fertilisers with the increased budget.
“We resorted to the move to double the quantity. The Agriculture Ministry will be able to import 200,000 tons of fertiliser this fiscal year,” he said. However, even the doubled quantity of fertiliser will not meet the country’s total demand that stands at 500,000 tons.
The fertiliser price in the international market has increased significantly in the recent days. The price of DAP has gone up to US$ 640 per tonne from US$ 439 per tonne.
Similarly, the price of Urea increased to US$ 415 per tonne from US$ 329 per tonne.
The Cabinet meeting on Sept. 28 had entrusted the responsibility to fix fertiliser price to MoAC.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
100 days to go for Nepal Tourism Year 2011
SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, OCT 07 -
The countdown to Nepal Tourism Year 2011 began on Thursday with 100 days remaining for the big event. The campaign to bring one million tourists during 2011 started the countdown with a clean-up programme.
Although there has not been adequate work in infrastructure and international promotion to bring such a large number of tourists, a noble move was realized on the eve of the campaign to re-establish the country’s brand image “Naturally Nepal, Once is Not Enough”.
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal along with top government officials took part in a cleaning programme at Durbar Square (a World Heritage Site) in Kathmandu.
“We can’t think of developing any big projects within three months, however, a major step we are implementing without any spending is the cleaning campaign,” said Kishore Thapa, secretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation. Thapa said that from east to west and south to north, all land points would be kept clean and urged all the people to support the move.
“The campaign not only aims to celebrate 2011 as a big year, but it is also to develop a road ahead for the envisaged vision Nepal has kept for 2020,” said Prachanda Man Shrestha, chief executive officer of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) addressing a programme at Narayanhiti Museum to mark the 100-day countdown.
He said that Nepal had been established as a premier holiday destination. The increased number of airlines, investment mobilization in hotels, aviation and different other tourism products are a positive indication for the country that has started to move towards socio-economic transformation.
On the same occasion, Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Sharat Singh Bhandari said that government had given priority to five major works to make the NTY 2011 a success. Of which, enhancing Tribhuvan International Airport capacity and facility has been given top priority. “A specific team has been deputed for the programme at TIA,” said Bhandari.
According to the NTY 2011 programme implementation sub-committee, about 75 percent of the runway at TIA has been completed. There are now 1,000 trolleys and visitor’s desk for passengers and TIA committee to form 24-hour airport operation manpower. Currently, there are 27 international airlines serving Nepal.
The second priority is to make the hassle free tourist movement. During the programme, top security officials also promised to make better improvement and urged people to support the police administration. The third priority is to manage the taxis at TIA. According to Bhandari, the fourth priority is to diversify tourists to different village areas to experience rural tradition. The objective of NTY 2011 is also to diversify 30-40 percent of the total arrivals to new areas and destinations. The final priority of the government is to make the community and stakeholders realize that “We are together for tourism”.
The tourist arrivals by air in the country, as of September, has jumped by 20.6 percent to 41,331 from 34,281 during the same month last year. In the third quarter of the current year, the growth has been recorded at 40 percent to 266,988 as against 189,566 in the same period last year.
Achievements
• Garnering commitment from 19 political parties not to organize strikes
• Attracting new international airlines
• Visa fee waiver to Mt. Everest and Mt. Dhaulagiri summiteers for 2011
• Commercializing home stay
• NTY 2011 promotion at the Shanghai Expo, Japan, India, Malaysia and EU
• Providing incentives to them who bring over 100 tourists for conference and other purposes
Disappointments
• Budget constraints for international promotion
• Failure to purchase aircraft for Nepal Airlines
• No special packages for tourists from the private sector
• Unclear labour policy fearing unrest in the hospitality sector
• No proper homework and coordination among different stakeholders
• Poor capacity of TIA to handle the aviation rush
KATHMANDU, OCT 07 -
The countdown to Nepal Tourism Year 2011 began on Thursday with 100 days remaining for the big event. The campaign to bring one million tourists during 2011 started the countdown with a clean-up programme.
Although there has not been adequate work in infrastructure and international promotion to bring such a large number of tourists, a noble move was realized on the eve of the campaign to re-establish the country’s brand image “Naturally Nepal, Once is Not Enough”.
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal along with top government officials took part in a cleaning programme at Durbar Square (a World Heritage Site) in Kathmandu.
“We can’t think of developing any big projects within three months, however, a major step we are implementing without any spending is the cleaning campaign,” said Kishore Thapa, secretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation. Thapa said that from east to west and south to north, all land points would be kept clean and urged all the people to support the move.
“The campaign not only aims to celebrate 2011 as a big year, but it is also to develop a road ahead for the envisaged vision Nepal has kept for 2020,” said Prachanda Man Shrestha, chief executive officer of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) addressing a programme at Narayanhiti Museum to mark the 100-day countdown.
He said that Nepal had been established as a premier holiday destination. The increased number of airlines, investment mobilization in hotels, aviation and different other tourism products are a positive indication for the country that has started to move towards socio-economic transformation.
On the same occasion, Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Sharat Singh Bhandari said that government had given priority to five major works to make the NTY 2011 a success. Of which, enhancing Tribhuvan International Airport capacity and facility has been given top priority. “A specific team has been deputed for the programme at TIA,” said Bhandari.
According to the NTY 2011 programme implementation sub-committee, about 75 percent of the runway at TIA has been completed. There are now 1,000 trolleys and visitor’s desk for passengers and TIA committee to form 24-hour airport operation manpower. Currently, there are 27 international airlines serving Nepal.
The second priority is to make the hassle free tourist movement. During the programme, top security officials also promised to make better improvement and urged people to support the police administration. The third priority is to manage the taxis at TIA. According to Bhandari, the fourth priority is to diversify tourists to different village areas to experience rural tradition. The objective of NTY 2011 is also to diversify 30-40 percent of the total arrivals to new areas and destinations. The final priority of the government is to make the community and stakeholders realize that “We are together for tourism”.
The tourist arrivals by air in the country, as of September, has jumped by 20.6 percent to 41,331 from 34,281 during the same month last year. In the third quarter of the current year, the growth has been recorded at 40 percent to 266,988 as against 189,566 in the same period last year.
Achievements
• Garnering commitment from 19 political parties not to organize strikes
• Attracting new international airlines
• Visa fee waiver to Mt. Everest and Mt. Dhaulagiri summiteers for 2011
• Commercializing home stay
• NTY 2011 promotion at the Shanghai Expo, Japan, India, Malaysia and EU
• Providing incentives to them who bring over 100 tourists for conference and other purposes
Disappointments
• Budget constraints for international promotion
• Failure to purchase aircraft for Nepal Airlines
• No special packages for tourists from the private sector
• Unclear labour policy fearing unrest in the hospitality sector
• No proper homework and coordination among different stakeholders
• Poor capacity of TIA to handle the aviation rush
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