Radio TV Nepal

Nov 28, 2015- As many as 82 fuel tankers, including 23 liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) bullets, entered Nepal through the Jogbani border point in the eastern region in the last two days.

On Friday, 23 LPG bullet trucks, 33 diesel and 14 petrol tankers entered Nepal through the point, said Krishna Bahadur Basnet, chief of the Biratnagar Customs Office. On Saturday, eight diesel and 4 petrol tankers entered Nepal.

The office said that it was the biggest LPG bullet consignments made from India in a single day since the unofficial trade embargo of India on Nepal. “Lately, flow of goods through the Jogbani border point has been eased. Moreover, there are many petroleum tankers waiting clearance to enter Nepal,” said Basnet.

According to Trade and Export Promotion Centre figure, fuel imports from India that were recorded at Rs 6.86 billion and Rs 4.99 in the first and second month of the current fiscal year respectively had dropped to Rs 1.53 billion in the third month after the Tarai unrest.

Nov 11, 2015- Twenty-six petrol-loaded tankers have arrived from China on Wednesday.

The tankers carried 270,066 liters of Chinese grant petrol. With today’s arrival, 374,300 liters of petrol remains to be hauled from China.

The Chinese government has pledged 1,000 tonnes of fuel as subsidy to Nepal as the country is reeling through acute fuel shortage due to India’s undeclared blockade.

A total of 97 tankers have transported the fuel via the Rawuagadhi-Kerung border point.

Kukur Tihar observed, Laxmi Puja today
Kukur Tihar, second day of the five-day-long Tihar festival, was observed today by worshipping, garlanding and feeding dogs.

According to a Hindu myth, dogs are regarded as guards of Yamaraj, the god of death. Tihar is considered to be of great importance as it shows reverence to not only humans and gods, but also to animals like crows, cows and dogs, who maintain an intense relationship with humans.

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Kukur Tihar being observed across the nation
Nepal Police celebrated Kukur Tihar in Central Dog Training School, Maharajgunj amid a special function. The dogs in the school were offered garlands, tika and foods to acknowledge the cherished relationship with humans.

Dog service in Nepal Police was started by sending some police officers to Malaysia for dog training in 2026 BS, when the officers brought back four trained dogs from there. Nepal Police boasts a total of 65 trained dogs.

Meanwhile, tomorrow is Laxmi Puja, the third day of Tihar, when people worship Goddess Laxmi wishing for prosperity in personal life as well as business.

People also start playing deusi-bhailo in the neighbouring houses following the puja. Government has announced a three-day public holiday for the festival.

Nepal Airlines Corporation's Boeing 757 has airlifted 66 tons of aviation fuel from Kolkata

NAC Boeing brings fuel to boost NOC reserves
- Post Report, Kathmandu
Oct 8, 2015- Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) on Thursday dispatched its Boeing 757 to Kolkata to pick up aviation turbine fuel to recharge the depleted reserves of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) amid worries that continued shortages due to the blockade by India could ground domestic carriers.

NAC officials said that the Boeing made two roundtrips to Kolkata. The first flight landed at 4:15pm at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) on Thursday. In 1989 too, the then Royal Nepal Airlines had made a similar airlift from Bangladesh to keep the kitchen fires burning after the southern neighbour sealed the border.

NAC spokesperson Ram Hari Sharma said that after the Boeing was defueled, it would be sent back to conduct its regular services on the Kuala Lumpur and Doha sectors on Thursday night. He said that a Boeing 757 could carry 33 tonnes of fuel in the tanks in its wings. Kathmandu to Kolkata is a 45-minute flight. “The jet requires 7.5 tonnes of fuel for the roundtrip,” he said.

“Defueling the aircraft will yield at least 20 tonnes after leaving enough in its tanks to conduct its regular flights,” he added. “This will help NOC to boost its reserves. We can airlift more fuel as per the government’s order and need.” The daily fuel requirement of domestic carriers amounts to 50 tonnes. Sharma said that NAC planes would not be transporting other fuels like petrol, liquefied petroleum gas and diesel.

Nepal's forests under threat over fuel crisis
- Navin Singh Khadka/ BBC
Trucks are parked up near the Indian border with Nepal due to the blockade
Oct 8, 2015- Nepal's world-renowned community forests are under threat from a sudden rise in demand for firewood because of a fuel crisis, officials say.

A blockade on the Himalayan nation's border with India has halted imports.
Ethnic communities in the southern plain bordering India are protesting against the new constitution, saying it does not adequately represent them.
At least 40 people have died and hundreds of trucks have been stuck across the border in India.
Nepal is a landlocked country and totally reliant on India for all its fuel, food and medicine imports.
Supplies have been disrupted for over two weeks.
Conservationists say people have been left with no choice but to cut down trees for firewood despite having a tradition of protecting their forests.
"With no cooking gas and kerosene for their kitchens, the demand for firewood has suddenly jumped and our forests are under pressure," said Ganesh Karki, chairman of Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal, an umbrella organisation of community forests across the country.
"We have received information from our different member community forests that people are now entering forests to collect firewood and in several areas trees have been chopped down."
Nepal has been a global leader in community forestry where local people become custodians of the forests and are supposed to utilise the resource sustainably.
There are more than 15,000 community forests in the country, as well as 20 national parks and protected areas.



Nepal has been a global leader in protecting its community forests

The government says community members in Rautahat, a district in southern Nepal, have seized more than 150 bicycles which were being used to illegally collect firewood.
Illegal logging
And the forestry department has also started making contingency plans if the fuel crisis does not end soon.
"We have assessed our stocks across the country and have found that we can supply firewood to the capital Kathmandu for six weeks," said Department of Forest Director General Resham Dangi.
"We have no choice but to make such a plan because people will need fuel to survive and if the supply chain does not return to normal, the government will have to do what it can."
The government will release stocks of firewood in the first phase but then look at felling trees in a second phase.
Its priority is to supply firewood to the capital Kathmandu which is home to three million residents but has no forests nearby.
Mr. Dangi confirmed that forests in other parts of the country were already coming under pressure in the wake of the fuel crisis.
He said there had been an increase in illegal logging as the authorities are unable to patrol the forest due to the fuel shortage.
"Because we have no mobility, timber smuggling has increased, mainly from the forests of Tarai near the Indian border," he said.
Conservationists were already concerned after several communities cut down trees to rebuild shelters in the aftermath of April's earthquake.
Nepal has abundant water resources which could generate hydroelectricity. However, because of its political instability, not even 1% of its hydropower potential has been tapped, leaving people increasingly dependent on fuel imports from India.



Life in Kathmandu is coming to a standstill due to the petrol shortage

The country is already crippled with severe power cuts lasting as long as 20 hours a day during the dry season when the water level in snow-fed rivers is quite low.
Nepal Oil Corporation officials say 700 tonnes of cooking gas entered Nepal from India every day before the blockade but this has now collapsed.
"Some 250 of our tankers loaded with cooking gas have been on standby at the Raxaul bordering town of India for 22 days but the Indian authorities are not releasing them," said Mukunda Ghimire, director of Nepal Oil Corporation.
"We used to import 4,500 kilolitres of petroleum products other than cooking gas from India every day and now we are getting not even five percent of that.
"At some border trading posts, the Indian side has even refused to refill our tankers."
Political dispute
India rejects this accusation and says the disrupted supplies are due to unrest on the Nepalese side of the border.
"We had repeatedly cautioned the political leadership of Nepal to take urgent steps to defuse the tension in these regions," its foreign ministry said in a statement.
"This, if done in a timely manner, could have avoided these serious developments."
As the two sides trade charges, conservationists are worried that Nepal's forest resources are becoming a casualty.
"The reputation we earned with years of hard work is at stake because of this crisis," said Mr. Karki of the Federation of Community Forests.
"And so is the future of our forests."

Oct 6, 2015- Around 100 trucks, including a few petroleum tankers, entered Nepal through Rupaidiha-Jamunaha and Jogbani-Biratnagar border points on Monday.
Although India has eased supply of other goods, it has continued to be stringent in clearing petroleum tankers, Nepali customs officials said.
India’s Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) has stopped petroleum tankers at Rupaidiha while allowing a few trucks carrying potatoes and cement to enter Nepal. About one and half dozen trucks carrying potatoes, cements and other goods, and two diesel tankers and two cooking gas bullets entered Nepal, according to the Area Police Office, Jamunaha. Not a single tanker of petroleum product was allowed on Sunday.
“India has been relatively flexible on opening the route for other goods. But they are still stringent as far as petroleum tankers are concerned,” said a police officer at Jamunaha.
During talks between security officials of the two countries on Monday, Nepali officials insisted that since India has announced ending the embargo, goods carriers and petroleum tankers should be allowed to enter Nepal. After the meeting, at around 4:00 pm, two petroleum tankers and two gas bullets were allowed to cross the border.
Banke Chief District Officer Bed Prakas Lekhak said the Indian decision to lift the blockade has not been implemented at the Rupaidiha border point.
Meanwhile, the Biratngar-Jogbani trade route was opened since early morning until 2:00pm. A total of 73 trucks, including 12 oil tankers and 13 LPG bullets, entered Nepal. Only four goods carriers entered after 2:00pm.
After the agitating Madhesi Morcha cadres pressured the Indian side to discontinue the clearance of Nepal-bound goods, it was halted after 2:00 pm.
Meanwhile, six NOC tankers were refilled at IOC’s Silgudhi Terminal Depot on Monday, according to Kamalesh Aryal, chief of NOC for Mechi Zone. “We have been informed 52kl diesel, 32kl petrol and 20kl aviation fuel was given, but the tankers have not arrived Nepal until Monday evening,” said Aryal. Silgudhi Depot Chief GP Singh said they have not received instruction from New Delhi to refill the tankers, but he refilled at his own risk.

NEW DELHI: Congress today expressed concern over India's ties with Nepal in the wake of recent statements made by its Ambassador amidst growing unease over framing of its Constitution, and said that the crisis could "compel" it to drift towards China.

"Indian National Congress expresses deep concern over the recent developments and statements questioning the time honoured Indo-Nepalese relationship with little initiative being seen on part of Government of India towards corrective action.

"Prime Minister Modi needs to take stock of the evolving situation and take immediate steps for restoration of this treasured relationship and protection of India's interests," Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said.

He said that the Nepalese Ambassador Deep Kumar Upadhyay has asked India not to "push it to the wall" by choking petroleum and other essential supplies, which could compel it to turn to China despite logistical difficulties.

Tiwari said Nepal was a key neighbour of India and has maintained good ties which need to be carried forward.

He also recalled that Nepal was one of the first ones to be visited by Prime Minister Modi, who has visited the country many times.

Congress had earlier made a strong pitch for the PM to step in to urgently resolve the problems with the "important" neighbour in the wake of growing unease over the issue of Nepal's Constitution.

KATHMANDU, Oct 5: India's recent undeclared blockade has had serious effects in the country as political leaderships never took substantial initiatives to improve trade connectivity with China, according to experts and senior government officials.

They said that every successive government and political leadership announced to improve trade connectivity with China but they always held back from making any important decision for improving trade with China just to appease India.


Officials said the leaders never took action-oriented initiatives fearing that Indian establishment might consider their actions against the interest of the southern neighbor and that it could create hurdle for them to ascend to power.

"Leaders make big promise in public. But they never work as per their announcements because they always want to get blessings from Indian leadership instead of working for the national interest," former Chief Secretary Leela Mani Paudyal told Republica. "Had the leaders worked sincerely as per their commitments, the trade connectivity with the northern neighbor would have been improved years ago."

Nepal has not learnt lessons from history is evident from the fact that it has been over 25 years since India first imposed trade blockade along Nepal-India border but none of the governments formed since then did anything remarkable for improving trade connectivity with China.

"It is really unfortunate that our political leaderships never showed the willpower and seriousness to protect and promote national interests," said Paudyal, "If any action favored national interest, political leadership should have gone for it at any cost instead of wasting time on what other countries would think of the decision," added Paudyal.

A high-ranking government official said that officials at the Ministry of Commerce and Supply have been working just to increase trade dependency with India instead of preparing serious plans for enhancing trade with China. The official said under the condition of anonymity that a recent agreement by Nepal Oil Corporation with Indian Oil Corporation for implementation of the Raxaul-Amlekhgunj Petroleum Pipeline Project was one of such decisions which only helped increase Indian dependency.

The agreement states that IOC will be the sole distributor of petroleum products for Nepal for another 15 years.

Joint-secretary Kebal Bhandari, who has worked for years overseeing customs-related responsibilities, said that the government should immediately work to construct road infrastructures in the eight customs points along the Nepal-China border. "The government can invest amount allocated for rural road constructions to develop infrastructures in the customs points to lower the dependency with India," he added.

He said that India would have felt pressure had Nepal's government been able to import only petroleum products from China during the recent blockade imposed by India.

According to reports, Nepal's trade dependency on India has constantly been increasing from a minimum of 20 per cent to around 80 per cent at present since the 1989 blockade.

"The more the trade dependency on a single country, the more the dependent country has to give up its national interests," said Paudyal. "So it is high time we took serious initiatives to diversify trade with various countries."

KATHMANDU: The European diplomats in Nepal on Tuesday expressed their concerns over the obstruction in supplies to Nepal and said they would support and encourage for efforts to resolve the current difficulties affecting the supply and distribution of humanitarian supplies in the country, particularly of goods urgently needed for the adaptation of temporary shelters to the coming winter.

Issuing a statement, the European Union delegation, the Heads of Mission of Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Norway and Switzerland said that the ongoing chaos in Nepal has badly affected the poorest segments of the population, including in Tarai.

The lack of basic goods is taking a heavy toll on the economy of Nepal, where recent earthquakes have pushed an additional 3.5 per cent of the population under the poverty line, according to the estimates of the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment, the statement said.

The foreign diplomats expressed their hope for a prompt solution of this situation.

“The ongoing talks represent a unique opportunity to make progress in this direction and the Heads of Mission encourage all involved to take advantage of it in a spirit of responsibility and compromise,” it added.

Oct 5, 2015- The fuel crisis created by the unofficial blockade of Nepal by India has launched a discourse on the country’s energy security. As Nepal is completely dependent on India for petroleum products, a halt in fuel shipments has led to an acute shortage, forcing the government to ration gasoline, implement an odd-even system for vehicular movement and stop providing fuel to private automobiles altogether.

In this context, stakeholders have stressed the need to reduce the dependence on a single supplier and single source of energy. They said that efforts should be made to import fuel from multiple countries, maintain ample stocks and work on boosting self-reliance in energy by promoting hydropower and exploring for oil in the country. They also emphasized the need to learn from history as Nepal has faced frequent blockades by the southern neighbour for one or the other reason.
In 1989, India, which surrounds Nepal on the east, west and south, had imposed an embargo against Nepal that lasted one and a half years. Being a landlocked country, Nepal’s options are limited with regard to its fuel needs and has a hard time when its sole supplier turns off the supply.  
“There have been two blockades by India in the past 25 years. And both the times, tightening the supply of energy has been used as a way of intensifying the impact of the blockade,” said Khadga Bahadur Bisht, president of the Independent Power Producers Association Nepal (Ippan). “The oil shortage has crippled life across the country. This has imparted a lesson that we should increase our capacity and diversify our sources of energy supply.”
Ippan has also proposed that Nepal decrease its dependency on India for petroleum products to 60 percent, establish a trading relationship with China in the proportion of 20 percent and bring 10 percent of the petroleum requirement from each of the two neighbouring countries.
According to Bisht, energy is the main input of a modern economy, and energy security is a key component of national, economic and environmental security. There is a need to diversify energy resources, diversify energy procurement, maintain an appropriate strategic petroleum reserve and try to substitute imported petroleum by hydroelectricity, he added.  
As per Ippan’s data, 87 percent of the Nepali people are dependent on traditional energy resources like biogas and firewood, among others, 9 percent of the energy requirement is fulfilled by petroleum, coal accounts for around 3 percent and alternative energy resources account for 1 percent. One of the major strengths of the country -- hydroelectricity -- meets just 2 percent of its energy needs.
As of now, Nepal has petroleum storage points at 10 places, and they have a capacity to store 70,000 kilolitres of petrol, diesel, kerosene and aviation fuel. Stakeholders say this amount can address the country’s demand for fuel for 17 days only. According to Ippan, Israel maintains fuel reserves enough for 270 days, South Korea 240 days, United States 137 days and Switzerland 137 days.   
“We should do the needful. We should prepare the country in such a way that we can store petroleum for at least three months,” Bisht said. “Also, we should make sure that we do not forget this crisis even after it comes to an end and work hard.”
Expediting development of hydropower projects and solar power, replacing the use of LPG and reinitiating petroleum exploration are some of the things the country needs to do.  
Former water resource secretary Surya Nath Upadhyay stressed the need to translate plans, policies and strategies into action. “We have a tendency of doing much on paper, not on the ground,” Upadhyay said.
“When China offered support to open roadways on the Tatopani border, Nepal said it would do it itself. However, the border region hasn’t been opened even five months after the earthquake. And finally, when there were no other alternatives, I hear the road has been cleared now, and that too in just five days. This is how we tend to do things. We have to change it,” Upadhyay said.
He urged the government to sort out policy-level hurdles, change the licensing regime in the hydropower sector and increase coordination among government agencies to ensure energy security in the days to come.

According to Energy Secretary Rajendra Kishore Kshatri, rectifying the institutional mechanism is a must for developing the capabilities required to increase the strength of the government in terms of energy security. Kshatri also stressed the need to emphasize each and every energy project in an equal manner and address policy hurdles.
“We have to wait for the Ministry of Forest to give us permission to chop some trees to develop infrastructure for hydropower projects. This is just an example. There are many other similar hurdles.
Hence, the government should have a proper vision, and the political leadership should be able to give impetus to the bureaucracy to carry out the agenda,” Kshatri said.
Kshatri added that the government should focus on all the possible means of energy generation and increase coordination between inter-governmental agencies to get results.
“When we talk about energy-related national pride projects, the Energy Ministry has almost no stake in them. The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is not a department under the ministry but an authority in itself,” Kshatri said, exemplifying the issue that has made it difficult for the ministry to take concrete steps.
Energy Secretary Kshatri also opined that political interference should be reduced for the sake of the national interest.

Govt told to develop energy strategy
The Agriculture and Water Resources Committee (AWRC) of the Legislature-Parliament on Sunday directed the Ministry of Energy to develop a National Energy Security Strategy by incorporating stakeholders like the Water and Energy Commission, Nepal Electricity Authority, Nepal Oil Corporation and Alternative Energy Promotion Centre, among others.
“The unofficial blockade imposed by India has exposed our vulnerability. The absence of alternatives, abundant storage capacity and inefficient management has taught us a lesson.
Hence, the committee has concluded that preparing a National Energy Security Policy envisioning a long-term policy is a must, and we need to do it at the earliest possible,” said AWRC Chairman Gagan Thapa.
Likewise, the committee has directed the government to focus on long-term energy security and treat it as a national priority subject.
During the meeting, AWRC parliamentarians had slammed the government for its
lack of preparedness, and said that it should immediately find an alternative petroleum trading partner besides maintaining alternative plans to make sure that such a situation does not arise in the future.  


Expert suggestion
- Nepal should decrease its dependency on India for petroleum products to 60 percent
- One of the major strengths of the country -- hydroelectricity -- meets just 2 percent of its energy needs. Need to expedite development of hydropower projects
- Need to diversify energy resources, diversify energy procurement, maintain an appropriate strategic petroleum reserve
- Need to expedite development of hydropower projects and solar power, replacing the use of LPG
- Reinitiating petroleum exploration process

India has lifted what was described by Nepal as an unofficial economic blockade.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday instructed its agencies to ease restrictions on freight movement across the Nepal-India border, according to Nepal’s ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhyay.

Talking to Nepali Times over phone from New Delhi, Upadhyay said: “Indian officials have agreed to allow all the stranded containers to enter Nepal.”

He added: “Nepal’s customs officials now need to work day and night to bring the stranded cargo.”

The blockade was lifted after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to India from the UN General Assembly and Nepal undertook efforts to amend the recently-promulgated constitution to address demands of the dissenting Madhesi parties.

Apparently after Nepal’s top political parties ignored India’s request to postpone the constitution writing process and promulgate the new charter only after ‘a broad-based agreement’ with the Madhesi dissenters, supply of essential commodities to Nepal was cut off two weeks ago.

India, however, had denied imposing a blockade against Nepal. Vikas Swarup, Spokesperson for Ministry of External Affairs of India, told the International New York Times: ‘there is no blockade from our side.”

India had claimed that disruption in the freight movement was caused by the political unrest over the new constitution in Nepal’s plains region.

Nepal had started rationing fuel after the blockade. Private vehicle owners cannot buy fuel, and only limited amounts of petrol and diesel are being sold to public vehicles. Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) has also stopped providing aviation fuel for international aircrafts.

The blockade sparked off protests in Nepal. Modi had won hearts of Nepalis during his two back-to-back visits to Kathmandu last year, but he faced criticism for his ‘intervention’ in Nepal’s internal affairs after the blockade.

Oct 3, 2015- The track up to the Tatopani border with China, which was obstructed after the earthquake, was opened on Friday. The 26-km Barhabise-Tatopani section was obstructed in several places due to the landslides triggered by the Gorkha Earthquake and its aftershocks. “It will take one or two days to resume vehicular movement on the road,” said engineer Ram Bahadur Gurung at the Road Division Office in Charikot. The Araniko Highway is now linked with the Miteri
Bridge between Nepal and China. Nine bulldozers and excavators were used to clear the debris.

Morang ma Petrol Khane
Nepal Oil Corporation regional depot in Nepalgunj has run out of stock fuel due to the continuous blockade imposed by India on petroleum products. NOC regional chief Shree Chandra Shrestha informed that the depot has run out of petroleum stock. He said that small amount of petroleum has been stored for emergency purposes.

Shrestha informed that on Sunday the Indian Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) released 6 diesel tankers that were cleared by the Indian customs last Thursday.The Indian SSB has halted 13 petrol tankers, 23 diesel tankers, 4 aircraft fuel tankers and 20 LP gas bullets at Rupaidiya.Meanwhile, a dozen truck hauling potato and vegetables have been allowed to enter Nepal, according to Jamunaha Police Office

Why the unemployment rate is so misleading?
It’s hard to completely trust any government that reserves the right to assassinate me (or you) with a robot airplane. So it’s no wonder that many people are skeptical about the government’s economic data.

There’s a lot of money riding on the accuracy and credibility of U.S. economic data. A lot of that faith is misplaced, but it’s not because the government is actively fudging the numbers or lying to us. Unlike a lot of people in Washington, the statisticians who crunch the numbers are a professional bunch who want to get things right.

MarketWatch
The two alternative measures of unemployment have risen and fallen in tandem.
We know that because we can verify much of what they produce from other independent sources. By and large, the government data are consistent with numbers produced by the private sector.


Of course statistics, by their very nature, can never be perfect or pure, no matter how well-meaning their creators.

Frequently we make it even tougher on ourselves by misinterpreting what the data could tell us with a bit of certainty. Too often we pay attention to the wrong numbers and ignore a more useful alternative. Those problems in understanding the data are compounded when we try to use them to make political points.

In recent years, the unemployment rate has become one of the most politicized economic numbers. Which means it’s also become one of the most misunderstood numbers. I have a partial solution for that, as you’ll see.

In theory, the jobless rate should be noncontroversial. It’s simply the percentage of people who want a job who can’t find one. However, it’s more complicated in practice. What does it mean to look for work? How hard do you have to try? How often do you have to try? What does it mean to have a job? Does it have to be a full-time job to count? What if it’s irregular work?

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