Cabinet declares flood-hit areas of Gorkha, Baglung and Dhading crisis zones

Cabinet declares flood-hit areas crisis zones and sets monthly support for displaced families

The Cabinet declared the flood- and landslide-hit local levels of Gorkha, Baglung and Dhading disaster crisis zones for three months on Friday, Asoj 30, OnlineKhabar reported. The communications minister said the declaration removes procedural hurdles so that relief, rescue and rebuilding can move faster. No page read for this digest names the law it rests on.

The same meeting set cash support for families who stay out of the holding centres and find temporary housing of their own. A household of up to four people gets Rs 15,000 a month. Each extra member adds Rs 2,000. The payment runs for six months at most, according to the list of Cabinet decisions the government spokesperson released on Friday afternoon.

The decisions do not say how families are to register, when payments start or whether the federal or local government pays. Nor do they give the number of households covered.

The meeting also fixed the minimum support price of wheat for FY 2083/84, the current fiscal year, at Rs 4,107 a quintal, on the agriculture ministry's proposal, OnlineKhabar English reported.

Why it matters: Neither the declaration nor the support scheme comes with a cost estimate or a count of the people it reaches, and the reports give no start date for payments.

NEPSE rises for a seventh session before the Dashain break

NEPSE rose 8.23 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,634.17 on Friday, according to Merolagani. It was the seventh straight daily gain, OnlineKhabar reported. Turnover was Rs 4.88 billion.

Of the stocks traded, 174 rose, 91 fell and 12 did not move. Banking led the sectors with a gain of 0.72 percent, OnlineKhabar English reported.

Friday's session closed the trading week. The index ended 42.37 points, or 1.63 percent, above the previous Friday's close of 2,591.80.

Planning commission survey puts Bhotekoshi flood losses at Rs 79.17 billion, Kantipur reports

A preliminary survey by the National Planning Commission puts losses from the Bhotekoshi flood at Rs 79.17 billion, Kantipur reported on Friday. Households lost Rs 69.57 billion and businesses Rs 9.60 billion.

The survey covered 7,316 households and businesses in 15 municipalities of Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading and Gorkha. Of the 3,067 households whose houses were damaged, 797, or about 26 percent, want to stay where they lived before the flood. Kantipur put the cost of building houses at Rs 11.95 billion and the damage to houses on owned land at Rs 13.26 billion.

The figures are preliminary. The full needs assessment has not been published.

Labour department names an investigation officer to probe 25 Malaysia-listed recruiters

The Department of Foreign Employment has appointed an investigation officer, taking its probe of the 25 recruitment firms on Malaysia's FWCMS list to a detailed inquiry under section 61 of the Foreign Employment Act, OnlineKhabar reported.

Why it matters: About 250 associate agencies face only administrative questioning, the report said. The probe of the 25 firms began in September, Ratopati reported then.

Energy minister decides to give private firms letters of intent for cross-border power trade

Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha decided on Friday to issue letters of intent to private companies that want to prepare for cross-border electricity trade, OnlineKhabar English reported. It called this the first time the government has done so.

A letter does not permit trading. Holders may look for buyers and partners at home and abroad, study the market and prepare agreements, but still need licences and approvals before they sell power. A letter is valid for two years at most. Holders must report progress within 15 days of each quarter's end, and the government may suspend or revoke a letter for breach of its conditions.

On Wednesday the minister had said the arrangements were in their final stage, Kantipur reported.

Why it matters: In August, firms including NEPEX, NIFRA Trading and Energy Exchange and Himalayan Trading Electricity were still waiting for a trading licence, The Kathmandu Post reported. No list of companies to receive letters has been published.