Kathmandu is Lonely Planet’s new 5th top city

Kathmandu is one of the top 5 travel destinations, according to Travel Guidebook Lonely Planet.
The Travel Guidebook listed Kathmandu as the 5th top travel destination among the ‘ten cities primed to capture travelers’ imaginations' in 2019. The Lonely Planet has revealed its ten picks for the best travel destinations and experiences for the next year.
Capital of Denmark Copenhagen is the top destination, followed by Shenzhèn of China, Novi Sad of Serbia and Miami of Florida tops the list. Kathmandu is the fifth top travel destination, according to the Lonely Planet that lists Mexico City of Mexico, Dakar of Senegal, Seattle of Washington, Zadar of Croatia and Meknès of Morocco are also in the top 10. Seville, the capital of Spain’s southern Andalucía region, was the global travel guidebook’s top destination for 2018.
"In the aftermath of the 2015 earthquake, news reports from Kathmandu showed a city broken and in mourning, but today the narrative is all about reconstruction and rejuvenation," Lonely Planet describes, adding, "Sure, there’s work to do restoring the magnificent monuments that crumbled during the disaster, but historic sites are being returned to their former glory, and moves to calm the city’s infamous traffic, smog and noise have made Kathmandu more liveable than it has been in decades."
There’s even reliable electricity and wi-fi as bonus creature comforts in the atmospheric and maze-like alleyways of the old city, the description further reads.
According to Lonely Planet, Sri Lanka, Germany and Zimbabwe are the top 10 countries to visit in 2019, whereas Egypt’s Southern Nile Valley is the best value destination.

Kathmandu third most polluted city in the world

Kathmandu is the third most polluted city in the world, according to Pollution Index 2016.
The annual report published by Serbia-based research website Numbeo.com has ranked Nepal’s capital city at the third position with a score of 96.66. Last year, Kathmandu was ranked at the fifth position on the index in the beginning of 2015. Kathmandu has slipped two places to third in the middle of last year.
The rankings are based on visitors’ perceptions to the website that also include some relevant data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other institutions, the Numbeo.com reads, adding that the index is an estimation of the overall pollution in the city with the biggest weight given to air and water pollution.
According to the report, Tetovo city of Macedonia is the most polluted city, followed by Egyptian capital Cairo, whereas Philippines’ capital Manila, Noida and Delhi of India, Guangzhou of China, Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam and Egypt’s Alexandria complete the list of the 10 most polluted cities.
Likewise, Nepal is ranked 17th on the Pollution Index for Country 2016, with Egypt being the world’s most polluted country.

Kathmandu features in TripAdvisor's top destinations list

TripAdvisor – world's largest travel site – has listed Kathmandu in the list of 25 destinations in its 'Travelers' Choice Destinations 2015'.
The site has listed Kathmandu at the 19th position. Kathmandu – the only South Asian city in the list – is surrounded by a valley full of historic sites, ancient temples, shrines, and fascinating villages," TripAdvisor has written. The site has also suggested tourists to visit Durbar Square's monuments, enjoy mountain trekking, and explore Thamel area and shops for exquisite work by local artisans. "Kathmandu Valley is rich in its cultural and historical heritage."
"These world-class destinations chosen by our community are rich in history, culture and beauty and offer endless sights to explore," chief marketing officer for TripAdvisor Barbara Messing said in the statement. "TripAdvisor has surfaced value hotel options that can be booked from the site, along with fantastic places to eat and play to help travelers discover these cities."
TripAdvisor lists the top 25 destinations using an algorithm that took into account the quantity and quality of reviews and ratings for hotels, restaurants and attractions in destinations worldwide, gathered over a 12-month perio, by the travelers.
Marrakech – a city of Morocco – has topped of the list, climbing five steps compared to last year, according to the TripAdvisor.
Similarly, Siem Reap (Cambodia), Istanbul (Turkey), Hanoi (Vietnam), Prague (Czech Republic), London (England), Rome (Italy) Buenos Aires (Argentina), Paris (France), Cape Town (South Africa), New York (United States), Zermatt (Switzerland), Barcelona (Spain), Goreme (Turkey), Ubud (Indonesia), Cuso (Peru), St. Petersburg (Russia), Bangkok (Thailand), Athens (Greece), Budapest (Hungary), Queenstown (New Zealand), Hong Kong, Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and Sydney (Australia) are in the top destinations to visit in 2015, stated the TripAdvisor that has more than 200 million reviews and opinions covering more than 4.5 million accommodations, restaurants and tourist attractions.

Kathmandu third cheapest city in the world

Kathmandu is the third cheapest city in the world, according to an annual survey released today.
Mumbai in India and Karachi in Pakistan were the joint cheapest locations in the survey followed by New Delhi, Kathmandu and Algerian capital of Algiers, revealed the Economist Intelligence Unit’s worldwide cost of living index.

Rounding out the bottom 10 were Bucharest in Romania, Colombo in Sri Lanka, Panama City, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, and Iranian capital Tehran, added the survey that is based on costs of over 160 items ranging from food and clothing, to domestic help, transport and utilities.
Tokyo, Osaka, Sydney, Oslo and Melbourne are the top five most expensive cities, whereas Canadian city of Vancouver remains the most expensive location in North America, ranked 21st in the index. But while Asia and Australasia are home to 11 of the 20 most expensive cities, the region is also home to six of the 10 cheapest. 

Asia and Australasia account for 11 of the world’s top 20 most expensive cities, with eight from Europe and one from South America, no North American cities featured in the top 20, it added.
This compared to a decade ago when there were six Asian cities, 10 European cities and four US cities in the top 20 of the list that calculates living costs in 131 cities in 93 countries and is used by companies for costings when relocating staff, according to the survey.
In the 2013 survey, Tokyo reclaimed the title as the world’s most expensive city.
Jon Copestake, editor of the EIU Worldwide Cost of Living Index, said the return of Tokyo to top of the list came as no great surprise as the Japanese capital had steep real estate costs and rents, as well as high wages fuelling prices.
Since 1992 Tokyo has been the top-ranking city in every year bar six when Zurich, Paris and Oslo claimed the No 1 spot. Currency swings pushed Zurich into the No 1 position last year but government exchange rate controls have driven the Swiss city back to No 7 in the list.
Copestake said one of the most notable changes was the rising costs in Australia, with Sydney third in the list and Melbourne fifth.
“Ten years ago there were no Australian cities in the top 50 most expensive cities and I have not seen this sort of climb with any other cities,” he said, adding that economic growth has, however, supported inflation and the strength of the Australian dollar against other currencies besides the US dollar has driven up costs. "Visitors will certainly feel the difference and people living there will have noticed prices have crept up.”
Also featured in the 2013 top 10 were Singapore, Zurich, Paris, the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and Geneva.
Although no North American cities feature in the top 20, the EIU said the cost of living in New York had risen relative to other places in the US. It shares 27th position as the most expensive US city with Los Angeles.

House rental tax drive to hit tenants hard

The government's drive to widen the house rent tax net that is starting from Wednesday is expected to hit the millions of tenants in the valley in absence of weak regulatory mechanism and lack of protection of their rights.
"A natural person will have to pay 10 per cent of the rent as tax," said Inland Revenue Department's director general Tank Mani Sharma here today.
Most of the commercial buildings have already come into the tax net — though reducing the rent to escape tax compliance is high among them — but residential houses are yet to come into the net, he said, adding that the department is planning to bring some 25,500 more houses across the country into the house rent tax net within this fiscal year. "For commercial buildings, the department is planning to bring floor price soon."
"The department is planning to bring some 20,500 more houses into the net in the Kathmandu Valley and the remaining from across the country."
However neither the department nor the Kathmandu metropolis has fixed any rent for the residential purpose that might push the rent up by 10 per cent as soon as the drive starts as the house owner will be responsible to pay the tax now onwards.
"In Kathmandu district, the department will start the House Rent Tax card distribution to the house owners from Wednesday," Sharma added.
"The 35 ward offices in Kathmandu metropolis and 13 tax payers service offices will help distribute the cards in Kathmandu district and two places each in Bhaktapur and Lalitpur will help distribute the cards in the valley whereas there will be around 100 places to distribute the cards across the country."
"The metropolis will start collecting all the data of the houses and maintain the database within the current fiscal year," said chief executive of Kathmandu metropolis Kedar Bahadur Adhikari. "The database will be shared with Inland Revenue Department making revenue mobilisation of both the department and metropolis easier," he said, adding that the drive will also boost the local tax mobilisation.
The department has already mobilised Rs 1.90 billion tax under house rent by the end of the ninth month of the current fiscal year that has set a target of Rs 1.35 billion.
"Kathmandu Metropolis alone houses over one million population," according to Population Census 2011 that has revealed that some 119 families live in some 100 houses across the country. But the ratio is higher in Kathmandu as it has seen a huge influx from outside the Valley not only for higher education but also for employment and security.
However, finance minister Barshaman Pun opined that the government needs to mobilise more resources to serve the rising expectation of the people. "The current resources are not enough even to meet the recurrent expenses," he said, adding that the government is trying to prepare the environment of making people aware of their responsibility towards the nation.
"A country can be sovereign only if it can mobilise its local resources," finance secretary Krishnahari Baskota said, adding that the widening of tax net is a must for the country to stand on its own without foreign aid.

Price starts looking up

Price hike has become a serious concern as it has not seen cooling down.

According to the central bank, the year on year (y-o-y) inflation -- as measured by the consumer price index -- recorded an increase of 12 per cent in Mid-February (seventh month of the current fiscal year) compared with the 13.7 per cent increase in the same period last year. It had recorded 11.8 per cent increase in mid-January (sixth month of the current fiscal year).

Propelled by the items in the food and beverage group, price indices of sugar and sugar related products -- that saw almost double and the highest increase of 77.6 per cent compared with an increase of 46.7 per cent in the same period last year -- the price hike continued to look upward, said the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).

Similarly, some of the items saw four fold increase in a year. "The price indices of spices, pulses, meat, fish and eggs as well as vegetables and fruits sub-groups increased in reviewed period by 36.7 per cent, 36.4 per cent, 22.7 per cent and 18.8 per cent respectively compared to an increase of 9.4 per cent, 26.5 per cent, 22.9 per cent and 19.4 per cent in the same period last year," the report added.

However, the grains and cereal products prices came a little down. "The index of grains and cereal products subgroup also witnessed an increment of 13 per cent compared to 14.7 per cent increase in the corresponding period of last year," according to the central bank's monthly price index. "Similarly, the price index of food and beverages group increased by 17.8 per cent whereas the index of non-food and services group rose only by 5.3 per cent. The index of food and beverages and non-food and services group had risen by 18.1 per cent and 9.1 per cent respectively in the same period last year."

Region-wise, the price index of Hills rose by 13 per cent and followed by 12.3 per cent in Terai and 10.8 per cent in Kathmandu Valley compared with 13.2 per cent, 13.8 per cent and 13.9 per cent same period last year.

Though the y-o-y wholesale price inflation increased by 14.2 per cent compared to 15 per cent a year ago, the indices of agricultural commodities and domestic manufactured commodities increased by 25 per cent and 11.2 per cent against to 18.8 per cent and 11.2 per cent a year ago. "Within the agricultural commodities group, the price index of pulses, livestock production and spices increased by 36.4 per cent, 35.2 per cent and 33.8 per cent compared with an increase of 19 per cent, 24 per cent and 10.3 per cent during the same period last year," it said.

Surprisingly, the price index of imported commodities declined by 0.5 per cent in the review period whereas it had increased by 11.8 per cent during the same period of last year.

Within the group of domestic manufactured commodities, the price index of food-related products increased by 18.9 per cent compared with a rise of 11.8 per cent a year ago.

However, the overall y-o-y salary and wage rate index rose by 16.7 per cent compared with a rise of 16.5 per cent a year ago. Similarly, the wage rate index also increased by 17.6 per cent compared with an increase of 16.4 per cent in the same period last year.

The wages of industrial labour increased by almost double. "Wages of agricultural, industrial and construction laborers increased by 20.7 per cent, 13.8 per cent and 12.9 per cent respectively in the review period. These wage rates had increased by 23 per cent, seven per cent and 15.3 per cent respectively in the same period last year," said the central bank.

The rising trend

Seventh month -- 12 per cent

Sixth Month -- 11.8 per cent

Fifth Month -- 11.3 per cent

First six months average -- 10.1 per cent.

Government target -- seven per cent

Nepse starts trading from Pokhara

Nepal Stock Exchange Ltd (Nepse) has started trading from Pokhara also.
"The capital-based secondary market has -- under its policy of diversification -- started trading from a geographically separate district," said Nepse. The centralised system has been diversified through Remote Work Station (RWS).
According to Nepse, Nepal Stock House of Pokhara registered four transactions of three companies' 140-unit of shares worth Rs 1,92,360.
In the first phase, Nepse will start transactions in districts where there is optical fiber connection.
Premium Securities from Pokhara and Nepal Investment and Securities and Pragyan Securities from Biratnagar have got licences to start transactions from their respective districts.
Nepse -- in coordination with securities brokers' association -- has plans to start share trading through remote work stations in Birgunj, Narayangadh, Butwal, and Nepalgunj. The diversification of share trading will help expand the secondary market and allow people across the country opportunity to speculate.
Three brokers from Nepalgunj and four brokers each from Biratnagar, Birgunj, Narayangadh are ready to start share trading from their cities.
Meanwhile, after a week-long trading halt by investors, Nepse started trading today. The investors have been protesting against Nepse, Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) and the Finance Ministry citing lack of concern to develop the capital market.

Nepal-India revised ASA increases air seat capacity by five-fold

There has been a five-fold increase in the weekly seat capacity following the revised Air Services Agreement (ASA) between Nepal and India.
They signed two instruments in New Delhi today, including the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a revised ASA and a technical accord, which is a part of the MoU, and follows the the International Civil Aviation Organisation norms.
The move is likely to boost both tourism and trade. Cumulatively speaking, the seat capacity will be a whopping 60,000. “However, within their overall capacity entitlements, the designated airlines of Nepal shall be entitled to operate not exceeding 10,000 seats per week to/from Mumbai and Bangalore each and not exceeding 15,000 seats per week to/from Delhi. This restriction will become null and void from January 1, 2011,” said Nagendra Prasad Ghimire, secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, who led the Nepali delegation. The Indian delegation was led by M Madhavan Nambiar, secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, India.
The private airlines from both the nations have been pushing for more seat capacity and flying points for a while now. The MoU granted 21 points including three new points — Dehradun, Gorakhpur and Bagdogra — for Nepal. While, Pokhara, Biratnagar, Nepalgunj, Janakpur, Dhangadi and Bhairahawa for India.Barring Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu, the nation doesn’t have any other international airport.
“Hence, Indian airlines can only fly to these points once these airports are upgraded to international standard,” said Ghimire. India, too, faces a similar constraint when it comes to airports in Gorakhpur and Dehradun. Of the new points, only Bagdogra has the facility. According to Ghimire, 30,000 seats are available for six Indian metropolises like New Delhi, Mumbai, Kokata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. But Nepal can operate its flights to 21 other smaller cities in India, Goa, Amritsar, Thiruvanthapuram, Vishakhapatnam and Kochi. Earlier, the nation had got only seven points.
India has also agreed to grant fifth freedom traffic right to Nepal. As per this rule, any third country bound Nepali flights are eligible to take passengers from any of these destinations in India. “In a bid to improve aviation communication in Nepal, India has agreed to install VSAT at TIA. The new understandings will help the government to meet its target to bring in one million tourists for Nepal Tourism Year 2011,” added Ghimire.
Apoorva Srivastav, spokesperson, Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, echoed similar sentiments.
The new arrangement has also opened new vistas for cargo services. "The designated airlines of each country shall be entitled to operate any number of all-cargo services between each other's territory with any type of aircraft with full third, fourth and fifth freedom traffic rights. Such all-cargo services may also be operated under co-operative marketing arrangements such as code sharing blocked space," according to the MoU that was first signed on June 5, 1997.

Price hike rigours has country groaning

Spiralling prices are breaking the fiscal backbone of people throughout the country. Outside Kathmandu Valley, it is the Dhangadhi people that are the worst hit -- facing an average of 21.37 per cent price hike, with rice at 10.5 per cent more, lentils at 45 per cent more, cooking oil at 20 per cent more and vegetables at 10 per cent more compared to July 2008. June-September is usually high pricing time in Nepal but this year's prices are at an all time-high.
According to Nepal Rastra Bank, regionwise the price rise was 14.5 per cent in Kathmandu valley followed by 11.5 per cent in both Tarai and the Hills in mid-June 2009.
Biratnagar, Janakpur, Birgunj, Naryangarh, Pokhara and Bhairanawa have not been spared either. Prices of rice, lentils and edible oils are skyrocketing in these towns. "We are not taking much profit," said Bishnu Prasad Sharma, a retailer at Bhairahawa, "Our profit is not more than 10 per cent." Retailers in other towns agreed that market intervention was a must to curb prices. "Stockists are the culprits," blamed Shankar Man Gurung, owner of Gurung Provisional Store at Chipledhunga, Pokhara, "Some stockists are manipulating the market." Pokhara is experiencing an all-time high price of vegetables -- cauliflower Rs 80/kg, tomato Rs/55 kg and green chilly Rs 90/kg. "I have never seen such high prices in my life," Lakshmi Bastola, 45, a housewife said.
In the towns bordering India, the lowest prices of food grains are seen in Birgunj, a major route of transit to India and abroad. Lentils are the highest priced consumer goods in the town with Rs 130 and Rs 100 for a kg of Rahar and Masuro pulses, respectively.
Interestingly, the price hike has not affected less consumed commodities. "Though the price of lentils has increased by 30-40 per cent the price of beans -- Kerau, Bodi, Bhatmas -- has not risen much," said Shyam Prasad Sah, president of Janakpur Chamber of Commerce.
Price of essentials goods like rice, lentils and cooking oils have become almost double in a year, from July 2008 to July 2009, throughout the country. However, the skyrocketing had begun since early this June. Consumers and retailers are blaming stockists for the price hike and are urging the government to intervene in the market.
Propelled by food and beverages, the year-on-year inflation as calculated by the consumer price index rose to 12.3 per cent in mid-June 2009 from 11 per cent in the same period of the previous year.
The review period's price of sugar and sugar-related products rose by 12 times to a whopping 62.3 per cent in comparison to an increase of 5.5 per cent in the same period the last fiscal year. The price indices of vegetables and fruits increased by 55.5 per cent in sharp contrast to last year's decline of 3.3 per cent.
Similarly, the price indices of meat, fish and eggs as well as pulses' sub-groups in the review period grew by 29.8 per cent and 27.7 per cent as compared to an increase of 12.6 per cent and 11.1 per cent in the same period last year. The subgroup of grains and cereal products also witnessed a price rise of 6.6 per cent compared to an increase of 21.2 per cent in the corresponding period of previous year.

NRB helpless before price hike

The price hike remains uncontrolled, with the latest level recorded at 13.7 per cent in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, according to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central authority.
"Driven by both the significant rise in price of food and beverages as well as rise in price of non-food and services group, inflation rose to 13.7 per cent in mid-February from 6.4 per cent in the corresponding period the previous fiscal year," said the central bank's current macroeconomic situation report based on the first seven months' data of 2008-09.
The year-on-year inflation is still above the central bank's revised target of 11 per cent. Unable to crack the whip at the growing price hike, NRB governor Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri has urged the government to intervene in the market.
"In the first seven months of 2008-09, the price rise in Kathmandu valley, the Terai and Hills remained above 13 per cent -- double than that in the correspomnding period the last fiscal," the NRB report said.
However, revenue mobilisation grew by 32.5 per cent to Rs 72.3 billion compared to an increase of 29 per cent in the corresponding period the previous year. "The government's commitment to revenue leakage control, administrative reforms and implementation of Voluntary Declaration of Income Source programme contributed to such impressive growth," said the central bank.
Similarly, the budget also remained at a surplus of Rs 8.8 billion in contrast to a deficit of Rs 6.2 billion in the corresponding period the previous fiscal year. In the first seven months of this fiscal year, the overall Balance of Payment recorded a significant surplus of Rs 25.68 billion in comparison to a surplus of Rs 251.1 million in the corresponding period last fiscal year.
The huge surplus is due to government's failure in spending on development works that will ultimately hit the economy hard.
Remittance has came down by six per cent though the report says that it soared by 58.6 per cent in comparison to a growth of 23.2 per cent in the same period last fiscal year. This fiscal, it had increased by 65.3 per cent in the first six months.

The seventh month for the fiscal year 2008-09 has
* Gross foreign exchange reserves aggregated Rs 251.79 billion -- an upsurge by 18.4 per cent compared to the level as in mid-July 2008.
* On the basis of the US dollar, gross foreign exchange reserves rose by 4.4 per cent to $3.24 billion in mid-February 2009 against an increase of 3.6 per cent in the same period last fiscal year
* Overall exports rose by 19.5 per cent in contrast to a decline by 3.3 per cent in the same period last fiscal year.
* Exports to India rose by 2.3 per cent against a decline by 5.5 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year
* Total imports went up by 25.5 per cent as compared to an increase of 18.5 per cent in the corresponding period last fiscal year
* Imports from India increased by 12.5 per cent in comparison to a growth of 24.5 per cent in the corresponding period of last fiscal year.

Security to escort petroleum products in the Valley

Security agencies will escort the tankers bringing petroleum products from Raxaul to Kathmandu tomorrow.
A meeting of government agencies, Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) and representatives of security agencies in Hetauda today decided to rush the oil tankers to the capital under police escort, said NOC deputy managing director Bachhu Kumar Kafle from Hetauda, where he -- alongwith Digambar Jha, managing director of NOC -- is attending the meeting.
Due to the ongoing Terai bandh called by the Tharuhat Joint Struggle Committee since the last 11 days, the valley has run out of petroleum products -- especially petrol -- leaving the government no option but bring in the oil tankers under police escort. "To ensure smooth supply of petroleum products in the capital, we have decided to escort the oil tankers that are ready to move from Raxual," he said adding that the tankers will start tomorrow evening and reach the valley the day after.
According to NOC, the current of stock of diesel is sufficient for another 15 days, kerosene for a month but stock of petrol is diminishing by the day.
While the stock of other petroleum products -- cooking gas and diesel -- is also diminishing, the petrol scarcity has become acute. Only the institutional petrol pumps -- like those of Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Sajha Yatayat -- are distributing petrol in the capital. The result: long queues can seen in front of these 10 petrol pumps. Altogether, there are 114 retail dealers in the valley. The nationwide count stands at 2,403.
The state-run oil supply monopoly has halted the distribution of petroleum products to private petrol pumps since Monday due to low stock.
NOC boasts of a cumulative storage capacity of 71,742.3 kl of petroleum products that last for a month only. It has a storage capacity of 6,300 kl of diesel and kerosene each and 7,640 ATFs in the capital.