Foodgrain scarcity felt

ILAM:

Northern VDCs of Ilam and Panchthar districts in Mechi zone have been hit by the scarcity of food grains. Transportation of food grains to the remote areas has been stalled since the last seven months, grumble the locals. The irregularity in food delivery to the area is attributed to the ongoing conflict. The VDCs hit hard by the scarcity include Maimjhuwa, Maipokhari, Mabu and Jamuna VDCs in Ilam and Siddin, Memeng, Prangbung and Lungruppa in Panchthar. — RSS

Goodwill tour to Gorkha

GORKHA:

A team of journalists made a goodwill excursion to Gorkha aiming at promoting tourism in the district and wishing for the restoration of peace. Some 50 journalists belonging to different local and national dailies went on tour sponsored jointly by Nepal Tourism Board, Gorakha Tourism Development Committee, Gorakha District Committee and Manakamana Darshan Pvt Ltd. The excursion lasted for three days. — RSS

HK mulls new sales tax

HONG KONG:

Hong Kong’s government plans to propose a new sales tax in the next few months as a way to raise revenues to help plug the territory’s budget deficit. Henry Tang, financial secretary will reveal details of the new tax in his March budget and the government will begin consulting the public in April or May. — AP

Infosys net profit jumps

BANGALORE:

Infosys Technologies posted a net profit of Rs 4.97 billion IC for the third quarter in the current fiscal 2004-05, recording a whopping 51.39 per cent jump over the same period in 2003-04. — HNS

BSNL’s broadband service

SHIMLA:

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) plans to launch next month broadband services in Himachal Pradesh that will make Internet access easier. Rajinder Singh, chief general manager of BSNL’s Himachal unit, said the service would be first offered in Shimla, Solan, Parwanoo, Baddi, Dharamsala, Mcleod Gunj, Kullu and Manali. — HNS

Indo-Bangladesh trade hit

Guwahati:

Security issues are creating a bottleneck in trade between India’s northeastern states and Bangladesh, believe business leaders and authorities in both countries. “Too much confusion in the border is a cause of revenue loss to both countries,” said CM Shafi Sami, a former Bangladeshi high commissioner to India. — HNS