Dr Chalise bereaved

KATHMANDU: Tula Kumari Chalise, mother of Dr Bhola Chalise passed away on Friday evening at her home in Kapan. She was suffering from kidney ailments and lung infection. Late Chalise, 87, is survived by two sons and two daughters though she had three sons including late Dr Chalise who was finance secretary. — HNS

Royal branches out

KATHMANDU: Royal Merchant Banking and Finance Ltd opened its first branch office at Kamalnagar Chowk in Narayangarh on the occasion of its eighth anniversary. The financial institution has posted Rs 10 million profit in the first half of this fiscal year, said a press relaese. It will distribute 1:1 rights shares soon. — HNS

Bank posts profits

NEPALGUNJ: Mid-Western Regional Rural Development Bank has invested loans of Rs 1.83 billion by mid-December in the current Nepali fiscal year. According to bank chairman Rabindra Prasad Pandey, it made a loan recovery of Rs 1.58 billion. In the same period, it collected a total deposit of Rs 40.9 million. The bank made a profit of Rs 3.5 million in the past five months, said Pandey. Established in 2052 BS, the bank has 30 branches in 15 districts of Bheri, Rapti and Karnali zones. — RSS

Obama package on

WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives on Friday approved president Barack Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus package. The plan was approved by a vote of 246-83 but with no Republican support. Once the bill is passed by the Senate, it would be sent to the president to be signed into law. Obama has set a February 16 deadline for the bill. The final version on the ‘American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Conference Report’ was completed just before 11 pm on Thursday night. In addition to the roughly $286 billion in tax cuts and the $54 billion for cash-strapped states, the package contains $311 billion, including $120 billion in infrastructure and $105.9 billion for education and training. — HNS

‘Deep recession’

ROME: International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn told reporters on Friday that the world was in a ‘serious’ and ‘deep recession’, ahead of the crisis talks with G7 finance ministers. — AFP