KATHMANDU: Economic Digest, a daily morning email digest, is basically a relatable summation of important business news from Nepal into easy-to-understand summaries.

Beema Samiti validates private lab’s PCR report for insurance claim

Followed by a lot of conspiracy Beema Samiti- the insurance regulatory authority – has decided to pay the insurance coverage based on a PCR report issued by the private hospitals following protests from all quarters.

Earlier, the insurance company would pay the specified amount to the insured only based on the  PCR report issued by the government hospitals.

A meeting of the Beema Samiti amended the provisions validating the PCR report issued by the labs of private hospitals for insurance coverage.

This provision has been made effective from September 14.

Similarly, in case of staffers associated with the hospitals or laboratories approved by the ministry have to undergo PCR tests at the laboratories or the hospitals other than those established on their own investment to claim insurance coverage.

If the insurance companies have suspicion on the PCR report submitted by the claimant, they can verify it through another laboratory at their own expenses, according to the new provision.

The insurance companies will pay the specified amount within a week upon the completion of all the insurance processes, said Beeman Samiti.

‘Controversial’ firm Omni blacklisted for one year from public procurement

The Public Procurement Monitoring Office has blacklisted the controversial firm Omni Business Corporation International Pvt. Ltd., for one year, the office said in a statement on Monday.

Omni was awarded a contract by the Department of Health Services to bring health supplies used for coronavirus prevention.

The department had recommended blacklisting Omni in March for not bringing health supplies on time as per the terms of the agreement.

A meeting of the Public Procurement Monitoring Office held in September, five months after the department’s recommendation, decided to blacklist Omni for one year.

12 MW electricity connected to national transmission line

Namarjun Hydropower under the Himalayan Hydropower Company has started producing 12 Mega Watts electricity.

The power generated from the project has been connected to the national grid since Thursday.

The production has been delayed for six months due to delay in the completion of hydro-mechanical work by Indian and Chinese engineers.

Abhishek KC, Chief Executive Officer of Himalaya Hydropower said that the company would earn Rs 25 to 30 million annually from the electricity.

The project has been completed at the cost of around 200 million.

Farmers unable to take vegetables to market

Farmers in Banke district have worried after they could not take the vegetables to the market.

The vegetables grown in various villages are not allowed to market due to the prohibitory order for long time. “Prohibitory orders enforced in Nepalgunj, Kohalpur, Khajura and some other villages have badly disrupted the regular marketing of the local produce,” said a farmer from Kohalpur, Laxman Khadka.

He shared the plight that the farmers were worried over the investment they made on vegetable production. In the present season, the vegetable is grown in 1,750 hectares of land in the district.

Some 12,000 metric tons of vegetable is produced here which needs regular marketing. Gourd, squash, okra, beans, cucumber and tomato are grown as major vegetables during this season.

The farmers producing cucumber are worst hit by the prohibitory order, said Chief of Agriculture Knowledge Centre in the district, Sagar Dhakal.

Although the vegetable is reached to retail market around Nepalgunj, the farmers are not able to take the produce in the markets of Kohalpur, Baijanath, Narainapur and Raptisonari.

The farmers need to be provided ‘pass’ for easy transport of their products and the efforts are underway for it, Dhakal added.

Moreover, the farmers are also facing sheer inconvenience to get chemical fertilizers and insecticides.

Nepse ends in green for fourth successive day

The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index traded for only a few minutes in the beginning trading hour.

Thereafter, the market halted its trading till mid-day due to some technical difficulties.

However, after the resumption, the index managed to sustain its positive momentum towards the end of the session.

In the end, the market closed the day at 1537.25 points-up 16.56 points against the session earlier.

With the day’s gain, the bourse has witnessed advances for the fourth consecutive day. The index posted an upbeat turnover in terms of market activity.

Rs. 3.38 billion worth of securities were exchanged. Most of the sectors closed on a positive territory excluding trading, mutual funds and finance sectors.

Their sub-indices decline by 2.83%, 0.76% and 0.43% respectively. On the other hand, Non-Life Insurance stocks saw strength as the group’s sub-index jumped 4.05%.

Similarly, Hotels, Hydropower and Life insurance sub-indices also saw gains and closed 3.79%, 3.64% and 2.98% correspondingly

(Compiled and prepared by Nitish Lal Shrestha)

Nepal Economic Digest is a daily morning email digest, basically relatable summations of the most important business news, happenings from Nepal into easy-to-understand summaries.