UTL extends offer

KATHMANDU: United Telecom Ltd (UTL) has decided to give continuity to its UTL monsoon offer due to the huge response from consumers. UTL started this offer from the first week of July. To provide good service to customers, UTL has reduced the rates of international call charges for three months starting July 16. According to a UTL press release, the charge for calling round the clock in India, United States, Canada, Malaysia and Honkong now has been slashed to Rs 8 per minute while the charge for SAARC countries is Rs 15 per minute. — HNS

MoLD expenditure

LALITPUR: The Ministry of Local Development (MoLD) spent 73 per cent of the appropriated budget in the last fiscal year 2064-65 BS. It had spent only 47 per cent the previous fiscal year 2063- 64 BS. Not even half was spent that year because of lack of mechanisms for running local bodies, said MoLD spokesman Mahesh Dahal. The last fiscal year, a total of Rs 6.42 billion of the allocated Rs 8.85 billion was spent after the budget transfer. — RSS

Cement plant shut

HETAUDA: Production in the Hetauda Cement Factory has ground to a halt since Sunday as petroleum products could not be supplied. The industry closed down because bulldozers, loaders, graders and dumpers could not be operated for want of diesel, said general manager of the industry Ramesh Kumar Aryal. The factory needs 1000 litres of petroleum products daily, he said. Even raw materials could not be supplied because of the shortage of petroleum and students’ agitation. — RSS

Russian inflation up

MOSCOW: Russia has raised its inflation forecast for 2008 from 10.5 per cent to 11.8 per cent, Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Klepach said on Monday, Interfax news agency reported. As in other parts of the world, Russia has seen growing food and energy prices in recent months. Inflation reached 11.9 per cent last year — far higher than the 8.0 per cent forecast by the economic development ministry. In May, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had promised to keep inflation below 10 percent in 2008. — AFP

Emirates’ new fleet

HAMBURG: The Gulf airline Emirates has signed a letter of intent to buy 60 more Airbus planes, comprising 30 A330-300s and 30 A350s, its chief executive Sheikh Ahmed ibn Said al-Maktoum said here on Monday. He was in this northern port city to take delivery of Emirates’ first A380 super jumbo jet. The long-haul aircraft have a catalogue price of about $200 million apiece, which would put the order at about $12 billion though large customers obtain discounts. — AFP