Govt announces Fertiliser Policy

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KATHMANDU, March 7 : With an aim to boost agriculture productivity through an increment in the use of good quality fertiliser by ensuring its uninterrupted supply, the government today made public National Fertiliser Policy 2002.

The new policy, which was approved be a recently held cabinet meeting, among others, has reiterated that the government will stick to its current anti-subsidy policy on fertiliser imports, ruling out the possibility of reintroducing subsidy in fertiliser.

However, the policy has said that the fertiliser would be made available at discounted rates for the farmers of the hilly regions that still does not have motorways. Similarly, such fertiliser would also be made available to poorest of the poor and marginal farmers through special agriculture production programmes.

Speaking at a program organised here today to inform on the policy, Mahesh Acharya, Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives, highlighted various programmes and polices that the government would adapt to boost agricultural productivity.

He also said that ensuring the availability of quality fertiliser in the joint public-private partnership is the main aim of the new policy.

He also said that the past policy of granting subsidy on fertiliser import had put constraits on the import and distribution of fertiliser, thereby, resulting in low consumption. "The consumption and import of fertiliser has increased after the private sector was ushered into fertiliser business by withdrawing subsidy on it," he said.

In the newly released policy, the government has expressed its commitment to encourage the participation of the private sector and co-operatives in fertiliser transaction. "The government will abet and take necessary measures to encourage domestic production and make the import and distribution network more transparent, competitive and reliable," states the policy.

The policy has emphasised on the proper use of all types of fertilisers, including organic compost manure and chemical fertiliser, since unbalanced use of fertilisers actually erodes the productivity of the arable land.

Among others, the new policy has also sketched a provision to keep 20 per cent of the possible national consumption in stock so as to make necessary intervention in the market to curb artificial shortages and ensure smooth supply of one of the major agricultural inputs.

"Past experiences has taught us that due intervention sometime becomes necessary to make the market stable. The stock would be built up from the fertilisers received in grants from donor countries and agencies," Archarya said.

He also said that apart from the fertiliser stock, agriculture production and marketing, quality and enhancing the use of fertiliser and strengthening the capacity of sellers are some of the issues addressed by the policy.

According to the statistics given at the program, the consumption of the fertiliser has increased impressively after the private sectors were allowed to engage in the fertiliser import business.

FNCCI puts AIDS on business agenda

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KATHMANDU, March 7 : Based on an ILO analysis, in the year 2020, there will be at least 23 million fewer workers in the age group of 15 to 49 years, as a result of AIDS. The study warns of catastrophic consequences of HIV/AIDS for workers and employers worldwide.

Deeply concerned about the threat that HIV/AIDS presents to development and human security, the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) has joined hands with the government in putting HIV/AIDS on the business agenda.

"In order to find an effective response to the threat of HIV/AIDS in Nepal, we have incorporated AIDS into the broader development goals of FNCCI," said Suraj Vaidya, vice president of FNCCI at a consultative meeting on the "Corporate Sector Response to HIV/AIDS in Nepal."

Binod Bahadur Shrestha, acting president of the FNCCI, said that there is an urgent need to take action as the age group that contributes greatly to the economy is being affected with the disease.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Health Sharad Singh Bhandari said that the parliamentary committee for AIDS that is soon to be formed has also accepted FNCCI as one of its member committee.

Business executives, health experts from the public and the private sector took part at the programme.

Importance of tourism highlighted

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KATHMANDU, March 7 : Member of the central committee of CPN(UML) and former Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Bhim Rawal said that violence, kidnapping, killing and lack of security are the causes for a decline in tourists arrivals into Nepal.

He was speaking at an interaction program on "Tourism Promotion in Nepal: Possibility and Challenges," organised here by the Democratic National Youth Federation-Nepal (DNYF-Nepal) on Thursday.

"Lack of proper planning and irresponsibility of the government towards the tourism sectors has heralded the industry into crisis. We will not be able to uplift the industry unless peace and stability is restored," he said.

"Since many people depend on the tourism industry for livelihood, we need to seriously think for its revival," added the former minister.

Similarly, speaking at the same programme, mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Keshab Sthapit highlighted the importance of tourism in Nepal. "Foreign tourists like to visit Nepal, but they afraid of the ongoing violence."

"Lack of proper planning has hindered the growth of the sector," stated Mayor Sthapit. There is a need to advertise Nepal’s natural heritage through electronic media and Information Technology so that more tourists would be attracted, he added.

Deputy Mayor of Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City, Buddhi Raj Bajracharya pointed out the government’s weakness in providing security to tourists who travel to various villages in the length and breadth of the country.

Chairman of the DNYF-Nepal, Gokarna Raj Bista said that the international media has highlighted the recent upheavals in Nepal thereby distracting tourist inflow into the country. "Policy makers should give due priority to the tourism industry and peaceful environment should be maintained to accelerate the growth of the industry," stressed Bista.

Programmes for destination Nepal year formulated

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KATHMANDU, March 7 : In a bid to organise the Destination Nepal Campaign 2002/03 successfully, a joint meeting of six sub-committees under the main committee of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) prepared programmes and policies and forwarded it to the main committee for final approval.

According to press release issued by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), the meeting also finalised the logo for the campaign and asked for approval from the main committee that is headed by Tourism Minister Bal Bahadur KC.

As per its decision taken on January 8, 2002, the government had declared to celebrate "Destination Nepal Campaign" for the two years from January 2002 to December 2003 as a national program with an objective of promoting Nepal’s tourism sector in the regional and international arena.

The meeting also decided to display several pamphlets, banners, stickers, and approach for the issuance of new postal stamps and coins to mark the campaign. Also, it has decided to invite several journalists from different countries.

"The meeting has proposed to honour all the Mount Everest conquerors and invite the chief of international airline companies and multinational companies," states the release. Several athletic competitions would be organised during the occasion along with the establishment of a Tourism Heritage School.

The campaign has an objective of revising tourism policies for the sustainable, integrated and co-ordinated development through effective means of international publicity and promotion, creating extensive tourism awareness within the country thereby establishing Nepal’s image as a safe, secure and enchanting destination.

The campaign will include the successful launching of Mount Everest Golden Jubilee Celebration from June 2002 to May 2003 as a major fascination. Likewise, International Mountain Year 2002 and International Tourism Year 2002 will also be celebrated as a part and parcel of the said campaign. It has also been decided to perpetuate the program as per the necessity after the evaluation of effectiveness and the outcome in the post completion of this Campaign.

Proper utilisation of water resources stressed

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KATHMANDU, March 7 : Stephen E Dachi, an American expert on globalisation, today said that Nepal has to utilise its abundant water resources to join hand with the globally interdependent world that runs on competitive advantage.

Dachi, who is the Chairman of South Asia Areas Studies Seminars, Foreign Service Institute, Department of State of the USA, was talking at a lecture programme on Current and Future Directions in the Global Economy.

"Though Nepal has a huge potential on hydro energy, it can be explored up to the potential only with the import of the more technology and more foreign investment," he said.

All the traditional economic systems have become obsolete because of the revolutions brought by three important changes: exploration of new forms of energy, development of communication and change in technology, he said. And therefore, concept of globalisation emerged to ensure the mutual benefits of the countries though the use of natural resources from all around the world, he added.

He further said that any country in this globalised context should have a functioning democracy, strong rule and order condition with much transparency, good environmental factors and posses fair security conditions for being competitive. "With the attainment of these factors, a sound infrastructure must be developed especially in terms of energy generation, telecommunication and transportation," he added.

New venture to begin cosmetic production

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KATHMANDU, March 7 : Everest Herb Processing Pvt Ltd, a new venture of the Himalayan Group, is going to produce various types of herbal cosmetics in the near future. According to the company, it is going to produce herbal toothpaste, shampoo, soap, tea, health food and herbal oil.

Inaugurating the newly constructed laboratory of the company in the capital Thursday, G D Kelkar, managing Director of Kelkar Company, India, said that Nepal is a suitable place for producing herbal products as various herb are abundant here.

Speaking on the occasion, G D Shrestha, Chairman of Himalayan Group, said that the company would produce quality herbal products that would be exported making use of the plenty of herb thereby helping the local farmers to raise their income.

Executive Chairman of the company Rana Bahadur Rawal said that the company aims to sell its products at home and abroad.