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The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal has quashed its previous decision regarding air flights.

Keeping in view the air safety, the CAAN had decided not to operate flights in the hilly areas after 12 noon.

CAAN spokesperson Gyanendra Bhul said that all the previous decisions have been scrapped and the new system has been implemented.

This rule will be applicable only for the planes and helicopters operating domestic flights.

The authority has backtracked from its earlier decision.

Issuing a statement on Thursday, the authority said that the permission will be granted only after the captain and dispatcher makes written announcement by ensuring the destination, air way and maintaining the VMC (VGBL and Distance from Cloud Minima) of the weather in the alternate airport before operating the flights.

Pradeep Adhikari, Director General of the CAAN, had introduced the new rules pertaining to the flights, putting the air business at risk. But, following widespread criticism, he backtracked from his decision.

The previous decision of the CAAN had allowed airlines to conduct flights to remote areas only within the fixed time.

ALSO READ: People losing lives as new rule affects flight operation

Earlier on Wednesday, Karnali Province stakeholders had held a serious discussion with Tourism Minister Sudan Kiranti and Director General Adhikari.

The Director General was heavily criticized in the meeting.

After hearing the problems of the Karnali folks, Minister Kiranti had expressed his commitment to resolve the issue within three days.

As per his commitment, Minister Kiranti directed Director General Adhikari to scrap the old rules immediately.

The Karki Province stakeholders had also expressed their grievances by meeting Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal earlier.

The CPN-UML had also obstructed the Karnali Province Assembly demanding regular flights.

Not so long ago, the government of Nepal advised the people not to opt for panic buying of grains, stating that there was enough grain stock to outlast the upcoming harvest season. 

But the ‘comfortable situation’ appears to have changed all of a sudden.  

Recently, the government of Nepal wrote to India asking for 155,000 tons of grains and sugar, stating that India's global ban on grain export may affect Nepal too.

Spokesperson at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Radhika Aryal, confirmed that the government had written to the Indian government asking for the supply of 100,000 tons of rice, 50,000 tons of sugar and 5,000 tons of paddy.

“The letter has been sent to the Embassy of India in Nepal via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs but the official reply from the Indian government has not been received yet,” said Aryal.

India has imposed a ban on the export of non-Basmati rice across the globe despite objections from the international community. The export policy of non-Basmati white rice, semi milled or wholly milled rice, whether or not polished or glazed, is amended from “free to prohibited,” reads a notice from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade.

The price of rice, Nepal’s staple food, has been escalating in the domestic market right after India announced a global ban on the export of all varieties of rice, save the Basmati. The Indian ban came after Russia announced its withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Deal in the midst of the Ukraine war, straining a war-hit supply system and aggravating the global food crisis.

The export will be allowed on the basis of permission granted by the Indian government to other countries to meet their food security needs and based on the request of their government.

Before this move, the government had been saying that there was enough gain stock to last three months after which a new harvest season will begin. Despite the government’s assurance, panic buying has been going unabated and the traders have been making hay. As for sugar, the government has said domestic production was not enough to meet the demand.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 8.01 points to close at 2,033.13 points on Thursday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 1.08 points to close at 387. 38 points.

A total of 4,009,263-unit shares of 271 companies were traded for Rs 1. 54 billion.

Meanwhile, Siddhartha Investment Growth Scheme – 2 was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 10. 00 percent. Similarly, Laxmi Equity Fund was the top loser as its price fell by 7.43 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 04 trillion.

The Social Security Fund (SSF) has launched a contribution-based social security scheme for informal sector workers and self-employed. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, on Wednesday, unveiled the program which will now enable Nepalis working in the informal sector and self-employed Nepalis to be part of SSF.

With this, four sectors—formal sector, foreign employment, informal sector, and self-employed have joined the SSF. There is a provision in the Social Security Fund Act that workers in the informal sector and self-employed persons can join the SSF. Workers in the informal sector include those working in the agricultural sector, construction sector, and those whose employer is not fixed.

Launching the new program, Prime Minister Dahal said that the launch of the scheme for informal sector workers has given a message that no one will be left out of the scope of social security in Nepal. “In that sense, he said, this day should be considered an important historical day for the establishment of labor rights,” said Dahal.

According to Dahal, all the workers working in the informal sector will gradually participate in the scheme. Dahal said that the social security scheme would be run as an intensive campaign by integrating it under the integrated concept. “The fund is an important mechanism of the state for neglected, suppressed, and oppressed people of the society,” he said. 

As per the SSF procedure, an agreement can be made through the local level to include workers in the informal sector and self-employed persons in the fund. Based on this arrangement, two local bodies—Phendi Khola Rural Municipality of Syangja and Bhimphedi Rural Municipality of Makwanpur have already started enrolling informal sector workers and self-employed in the SSF. 

According to SSF, informal sector workers and self-employed workers can now apply to join the fund. They have to first produce an identity card from the local level as an informal sector worker and self-employed. And, they (informal sector workers) have to contribute a minimum of Rs 2,024 per month. 

As per the procedure, a total of 20.37 percent will be contributed to the fund, of which 11 percent will be from the workers and 9.37 percent will be the supplementary amount provided by the government. However, self-employed persons will have to contribute 31 percent of the minimum wage.

Workers and self-employed persons in the informal sector who join the fund will be able to participate in all kinds of facilities operated by the fund. Contributors will be able to get medical treatment, health and maternity protection, accident and disability and dependent family protection, and old age protection scheme.

The SSF will pay a maximum of Rs 700,000 for the medical expenses incurred in the hospital to the contributor in case of an accident, under the accident and disability protection scheme. 

After joining the SSF, informal sector workers and self-employed workers will get disability pensions, lifetime pensions, and scholarships for their children. 

The contribution-based social security scheme was launched by the then KP Sharma Oli-led government in Nov 2018 with the objective to provide social security coverage to private sector employees.

Though formal sector workers have been receiving benefits from the social security plan for three years back, the SSF started to incorporate migrant workers and self-employed persons living abroad, as well as workers from the informal sector for the first time.