Kathmandu, December 28, 2005

At least seven soldiers and two civilians were injured when an MI -17 helicopter of the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) crashed at Namche of Solukhumbu district this morning. The chopper, which had left Kathmandu at 8.05 am, crashed when it was forced to land due to some technical problems at around 9:00 am. “The helicopter caught fire after the emergency landing,” said a press statement issued by the RNA’s Directorate of Public Relations. The soldiers stationed at the Bhavani Prasad Company at Namche put out the fire. Fourteen passengers, including two Russian technicians, were on board when the ill-fated helicopter crashed. “Four persons seriously injured in the accident were airlifted by a Dynasty helicopter and others were rescued by RNA’s airplane,” the RNA said. All the injured are undergoing treatment at the Birendra Military Hospital in Kathmandu. The ill-fated helicopter was carrying a technical team and spare parts to repair another MI-17 helicopter, which has been grounded in Namche for a few months. Meanwhile, security forces gunned down a Maoist, Bivash Thapa alias ‘Bibash’, in a retaliatory action at Shree Gaon of Dang district. The troops killed him when he threw a hand grenade at the patrolling forces. The DPR said a group of Maoists seized a jeep carrying a team of Care Nepal and local development forum workers in Kalagaudi, Kanchanpur.

SAARC eyes uniform accounting system

Kathmandu, December 28, 2005

Chartered accountants from South Asian countries assembled here on Wednesday have expressed confidence that they would make accounting system in the region uniform in due course of time. They said this in the light of implementing the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) beginning from January 1, 2006. A decision to this effect was taken at the 59th Assembly of the South Asia Federation of Accountants (SAFA) held in the capital today. Eight accounting bodies of the SAARC nations took part in the conference. Speaking to journalists, president elect of SAFA, Sunil Goyal said that the meeting has decided to take up the issue with Maldives and Bhutan governments for constituting an accounting body to make accounting and financial reports transparent. Goyal said that these countries are yet to be included in SAFA, due to a lack of accounting bodies in their countries. As per the SAARC summit held earlier in Dhaka, there is a need to make the accounting system more accountable and standardise it to help each other in the region. “While opting for an uniform accounting system in the region, tax laws, foreign exchange laws and other legislative procedures are needed to be reviewed,” said SAFA assembly participants. Goyal said that the government accounting system in the whole SAARC region needs to be more effective to lure foreign investment in the region.