BIMSTEC taskforce meet:

KATHMANDU: The final round of BIMSTEC taskforce meeting is scheduled to take place in Bangkok, the capital of Rhailand on January 30-31. The meeting is expected to review the sectors and sub-sectors and submit recommendations for economic cooperation under BIMSTEC, according to FNCCI. Yadav Khanal, charge d’ affaires at Nepali embassy Bangkok and Badri Prasad Ojha, FNCCI director general will be representing Nepal and the private sector respectively in the meeting. Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand are the founding members of BIMSTEC, while Nepal and Bhutan have become members in 2004. — HNS

Rally on tax awareness:

KATHMANDU: With view to raise awareness on tax payment, the Inland Revenue Department in association with United Youth is organising a weeklong awareness rally throughout the major cities of the country from January 30 to February 4. The rally entitled Permanent Account Number-(PAN Week) is scheduled to start from Jawalakhel on Sunday. The cities to be covered in the awareness rally include Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Biratnagar, Pokhara, Birgunj, Bharatpur, Hetauda, Simara, Janakpur, Lahan, Dharan, Bhadrapur, Bhairahawa, Krishnanagar, Nepalgunj, Dang, Mahendranagar and Dhangadhi. — HNS

Alternative energy meet :

BHAKTAPUR: A day seminar on alternative energy held here yesterday by the Environment and Children Protection Forum Nepal, Gundu, Bhaktapur. Chief district office Gehanath Bhandari stressed the need of developing alternative energy for environment protection as well as poverty alleviation. Former chairman of Bhaktapur DDC Surendra Pratap Shah said alternative energy is indispensable for the sustainable development of the rural areas.— RSS

Saplings distributed:

MUGU: District agriculture development office, Mugu has disbursed saplings of fruits to farmers. Some 1,500 saplings of peach, apple and pear were given away to farmers of Jima, Rowa, Rugha, Rara and Pina village development committees. The office aims at providing saplings and seeds of fruits and vegetables to farmers of the district aiming at encouraging them towards commercial cultivation of fruits and vegetables, according to the office. — RSS

Yuan to be floated freely:

Davos: Chinese vice-premier Huang Ju told global business leaders on Saturday that China would allow the yuan to float freely on foreign exchange markets at some point, but that structural improvements and banking reform were needed first. “We’ll have a phased or step-by-step method to relax the restraints on the cross border trade of currency and gradually realize the convertibility of the renmimbi yuan,” he told the World Economic Forum at this ski resort. —AFP