Much more than Nasi Goreng: Malaysian food frenzy

KATHMANDU, Sept 3: Soaltee Crowne Plaza Kathmandu has joined hands with Tourism Malaysia in organizing their Malaysian Food Festival and Culture Promotion.
Starting from September 2, the festival lasts for eight days and is being held at the Garden Terrace – All Day Dining Restaurant in the hotel.

“To make it a memorable experience for the visitors, Chefs Mohammed Fairvs Bin Rastam Nizar and Mohammed Jasmin Bin Mohamad Zon from the InterContinental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur will present many traditional Malaysian dishes,” said Keshar Gurung, Senior Captain, Food and Beverage.

Those attending the festival can choose from Ketupat Nasi Impit Dengan Serunding Ayam (Rice Cake with Dried Shredded Chicken), Cencaluk and Budu (Shrimp Sauce with Garlic and Chilli), Ayam Goreng Berempah (Fried Chicken with Malaysian Spices), Udang Berlada (Spicy Prawn with Red Chili), Ketam Masak Lemak Cili Api Dengan Nenas (Fish Cooked in Coconut Milk with Bird Eye Chili and Pineapple), Lamb Shoulder Curry with Potato, Kari Ikan Dengan Tomato Dan Terung (Fish Curry with Tomato and Eggplant), Kambing Percik (Roasted Lamb with Percik Sauce Carving), Pengat Pisang Bersama Sago (Banana with Coconut Milk and Sago), and much more.

Visitors can also enjoy live cultural performances by Malaysian artists, and can participate in the Lucky Draw contest whose result will be announced on the concluding date of the festival, September 9.

Malaysian Airlines will present the lucky person with a ticket for Kathmandu–Kuala Lumour–Kathmandu. It costs Rs 1,500 to sample the delicious Malaysian lunch, and for dinner, diners need to pay Rs 1,700.

Drinks and other taxes are not included in the price.

Partial budget affects Literacy Day campaign

KATHMANDU, Sept 3: The introduction of ´one-third´ budget by the government in the current fiscal year instead of the full-fledged budget is likely to affect the management of the International Literacy Day program.
The International Literacy Day program is to be marked on September 8 coinciding with the National Education Day.

The Ministry of Education has been looking after the management of the National Education Day programs while the Non-formal Education Centre under the Ministry looks after the management of the International Literacy Day programs.

Director at the Centre, Baburam Paudel, said it would be difficult to spend the entire budget required for the program as the government has only brought the one-third budget for this fiscal year and there is no room for spending more than the one-third budget allocated under the heading.
According to Paudel, last year the international literacy day was celebrated at a cost of approximately Rs 400,000. But this year the Centre is not authorized to spend equivalent amount. He said neither the Centre can cancel the celebration program which has been already fixed.
Paudel said the Ministry has been requested to devise a way out from this technical problem.

Precision note counting machine in market

KATHMANDU, Sept 2: Mama Vanja Traders has launched two models of Precision currency counting machines in the domestic market. Issuing a press statement, the company said it is giving loose not counting machine free with every purchase of bundle currency counting machine. This offer will last till September 4. The newly introduced machines are priced between Rs 100,000 and Rs 125,000.

"These machines have been introduced targeting commercial banks and financial institutions," the statement said. According to the company, these machines can be repaired locally as its spare parts are easily available in the domestic market

Liquor makers blast tax hike

KATHMANDU, SEP 03 -
Liquor manufacturers have complained that hiking the excise duty on liquor on a yearly basis has seriously harmed the country’s liquor industry. Stakeholders said at a programme organised by liquor manufacturers that the government was apathetic to the sector which was a big contributor to the country’s economy.
“The government’s way of looking at the liquor industry is fully negative. This has promoted manufacturing of counterfeit and home made alcoholic beverages,” said Ravi KC, president of the Nepal Liquor Manufacturers Association (NELMA).
KC added that the government should ban the export of molasses, one of the raw materials used in liquor production. “Molasses is being exported to India in large quantities,” he said. “Due to this practice, domestic manufacturers are compelled to buy spirit made in India from Nepali molasses at a higher cost.”

Fuel prices go up again

KATHMANDU, SEP 03 -
Nepal Oil Corporation on Sunday raised the prices of petroleum products.
The new rates that followed a board meeting on Sunday night will come into effect on Monday. The state-owned oil monopoly has raised Rs 5 on a litre of petrol, Rs 4 on a litre of diesel and kerosene and Rs 55 on a cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). With the revised prices, petrol will now cost Rs 125 per litre and diesel/kerosene Rs 97 per litre. The price of an LPG cylinder will cost 1,470.
According to a source at the NOC, the rise in prices of oil in the international market compelled the NOC to effect the hike.
The monthly projected loss of the NOC balloned three folds to Rs 1.17 billion as per the oil tariff sent by the Indian Oil Corporation on Saturday.
NOC’s loans to the government and banks and financial institutions currently stand over Rs 26 billion. The last time NOC revised fuel prices was on June 20.

Bernanke lifts Wall Street, keeps stimulus in play

Stocks rose on Friday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, expressing "grave concern" for the stagnating U.S. job market, said the central bank was prepared to take further steps to strengthen the economy if necessary.

Though Bernanke, speaking in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, dashed some hopes for a signal of quick action, his comments bolstered bets that the central bank was closer to providing more stimulus for an economy that is close to stalling.

Stocks had been flat for much of the week ahead of Bernanke's speech, though expectations of additional stimulus from the Fed helped the market this month. All three indexes posted gains for August.

"I think the debate is how strong growth is and how aggressive the Fed is going to be," said Giri Cherukuri, head trader at OakBrook Investments LLC, in Lisle, Illinois.

"Hopefully the economy will just get better on its own, but I think the Fed is saying they're going to be there and is trying to tell the market that they have some power to help things along."

Energy and materials shares were among the best performers, with the S&P energy index (.GSPE) up 0.9 percent and the S&P materials index (.GSPM) up 1.1 percent.

The Fed's next policy meeting is in mid-September, and many analysts are looking to it for a decision on a third round of quantitative easing.

The Dow Jones industrial average  was up 90.13 points, or 0.69 percent, at 13,090.84. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index) was up 7.10 points, or 0.51 percent, at 1,406.58. The Nasdaq Composite Index ) was up 18.25 points, or 0.60 percent, at 3,066.96.

Even with the advance, each of the major indexes posted a second straight weekly decline. The Dow was down 0.5 percent for the week, while the S&P 500 was down 0.3 percent and the Nasdaq was down 0.1 percent.

For the month, the Dow rose 0.6 percent, the S&P 500 gained 2 percent and the Nasdaq climbed 4.3 percent, its best monthly performance since February.

Volume was light but above the low levels of earlier in week. The four other days this week were among the five lowest for volume all year.

The day's volume traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the Amex, was about 5.3 billion shares. The year-to-date average is about 6.6 billion.

Investors are looking ahead to the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday that is expected to take pressure off highly indebted countries. Comments from ECB Executive Board member Benoit Coeure rekindled expectations for central bank action.

Among the day's best performing stocks, SAIC Inc (SAI) was up 3.4 percent at $12.21 after the computer contractor reported a drop in second-quarter profit and said it would split its business into two independent public companies.

On the data front, consumer sentiment climbed more than expected to a three-month high, while the Institute for Supply Management-Chicago's index of Midwest business activity fell in August to 53.0 from 53.7 in July.

Advancers outpaced decliners on the NYSE by about 5 to 2 and on the Nasdaq by about 5 to 3.

Bullion price reaches all-time high in Nepali market

KATHMANDU, Sept 2: Price of gold has reached all- time high in the Nepali market on Sunday. The yellow metal was traded at Rs. 59,900 per tola (11.66 grams) in the Nepali market today.

The gold price is on the bull run for the past few weeks. According to the Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association, the price of hallmark gold has increased by Rs. 706 as compared to last week. It was traded at Rs. 59194 last week.

Meanwhile, the price of worked gold has reached Rs. 59,650 per tola today. Likewise, the price of silver has slightly increased as compared to last week. It was traded at Rs. 1,145 per tola in the market on Sunday.

According to Association Secretary Deshratna Shakya, the price of gold is on the bull run in the international market as well due to weak market of the US dollar and high stock of gold in the east European banks.