BIZ BRIEFS

TRPAP programmes

KATHMANDU: Programmes under the Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation Programme (TRPAP) has been extended till next June. The programme, underway for five years since 2001 with the cooperation of the government, UNDP, DfID and Dutch Development Agency-SNV, has been extended for eight more months. The programme is being implemented in 715 settlements of 48 VDCs of Taplejung, Solukhumbu, Rasuwa, Chitwan, Rupandehi and Dolpa districts overshadowed in spite of abundant tourism heritages. — RSS

Chilling centre urged

DHADING: Pashupati Milk Producers’ Cooperatives affiliated to several milk-producing farmers of Nilkantha, Sunaula Bazar, Sangkosh and Murali Bhajyang has demanded establishment of chilling centre in Dhading Besi, the district headquarters of Dhanding. At the district level workshop organised by the district livestock service office on Tuesday, Ram Prasad Rijal, secretary of the cooperatives discussed problems faced by the farmers, who have been compelled to sell their milks from house to house at much reduced price due to lack of chilling centre, near four VDCs. — RSS

B’deshi exports rise

DHAKA: Bangladesh exports grew a record 31.5 per cent to $3.25 billion in the first quarter of the 2006-2007 financial year amid a boom in the textile industry. The growth was powered by a 33.5 per cent year-on-year growth of textile shipments such as t-shirts, jeans and other clothing items. It is the biggest ever quarterly expansion in the exports. Garments once again led the way as it contributed some 77 per cent of the exports. — AFP

Delhi traders on strike

NEW DELHI: Traders in the Indian capital on Wednesday began a relay hunger strike to put pressure on the government to take up the issue of sealing of shops in residential areas when winter session opens next week. “We have started a hunger stri-ke to ensure that the government do-es not sleep over this issue and forget to raise it in parliament. We want an answer to the promises. It is time they come out with a plan to provide some help to the traders,” said Ramesh Khanna, vice-president of the Confederation of All India Traders. — HNS

Luxury tax planned

BEIJING: China is planning to expand a consumption tax on luxury items and adjust upward other taxes in an effort to even out income distribution and reduce poverty. Ongoing tax reforms should include adjustments to the personal income tax, property tax, and consumption tax in an effort to ‘strengthen the role of taxation in reducing poverty’. — AFP