Brown trims growth

WASHINGTON: Gordon Brown, the British chancellor and finance minister was on Friday forced into a politically embarrassing admission that UK growth this year will fail to meet his forecast as he blamed a 1970s-style oil shock for blowing the economy off course. Six months after he publicly lambasted the IMF for doubting his confidence that Britain would grow by 3-3.5 per cent in 2005. — The Guardian

Brazilian economy

SAO PAULO: The popularity of Brazil’s market-friendly president is plunging as politicians step down one after the other in a mammoth corruption scandal that has paralysed government. But investors don’t care: they keep pouring money into South America’s largest economy, sending stocks to record highs. — AP

Set back for oil firms

NEW YORK: The US oil industry, still reeling from Hurricane Katrina, was bracing itself for a second blow to production and refinery capacity. Energy firms were ordering staff to evacuate

offshore platforms and refineries thought to be in Hurricane Rita’s path. — The Guardian

Award constituted

KATHMANDU: Samana Banking Award Guthi (SBAG) amounting to Rs 1 million has been set up with a view to boost the moral of writers in the financial and banking sectors. The prize will be awarded to the writers in every two years. The award carries a purse of Rs 50,000. Rewat Bahadur Karki, who has worked in Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the United States, solely donated the fund for the award. According to a press release, Samana Banking Award Guthi will also award Banking Scholarship worth Rs 10,000. — HNS

Talk on usage of rebar

KATHMANDU: Hama Iron and Steel Industries Pvt Ltd and Structural Engineers’ Association Nepal (SEAN) jointly organised a one-day long workshop on rebar in civil construction in Kathmandu on Friday. Usage of rebar and its test, TMT high strength of rebar and structure

design were discussed in the workshop, states a press release issued here on Saturday. — HNS

Tourists in Rasuwa

RASUWA: Over 4,000 tourists have visited the Langtang National Park (LNP) during the last fiscal year. According to the office of National Park, the park has raised Rs 21, 60,000 revenue from the 4,122 tourists visiting the region. Tourism entrepreneurs are expecting 15,000 tourist arrivals in the region this year. Known as the third popular tourist destination in the country, the tourists are also likely to visit other adjoining areas of the Lamtang region such as Nagthali, Tatopani and historic Rasuwagadhi, said the office of the National Park. — RSS