SHARE PRICES CONTINEDTO RALLY CROSSING MAGIC 500 POINTS Kathmandu, 20 Nov.; Share prices continued to rally as Nepse index crossed the magic 500 point mark for the first time in more than two yearssss. The market gained another 8.37 points just before closure Before closing, Nepse index stood at 501.17 points even amid political fluidity. Altogether 168,645 shares were traded for Rs.56.661 million in 696 transactions. Nnnn POLICE POST BEING ESTABLISHED AT BELDANGHI BHUTANESE REFUGEE CAMP Kathmandu, 20 Nov.: Security is being reinforced at Beldanghi Bhutanese refigee ramp in Jhapa following a murder last week and increased crime. A meeting Monday decided to establish a police post inside the camp. Nnnn DR. THAKUR NATH PANTH DEAD Kathmandu, 20 Nov.: Dr.Thakur Nath Panth died 8 November, an announcement said. He was 80. Dr. Panth was a former finance secretary. nnnn. ONE DOZEN INJURED IN JHAPA ROAD ACCIDENT Kathmandu, 20 Nov : One dozen persons were injured when a jeep and bus collided at Satasidham-8 along the East-West highway in Jhapa district on Tuesday RSS reports .from Jhapa. Of the injured, condition of Manju Poddhar, 42, Niraj Poddhar, 27, and Gopal Khadka, 22, of Satasidham is critical, according to the District Traffic Office, Birtamod. Critically injured are undergoing treatment at Biratnagar-based Neuro Hospital and 10 other passengers including jeep driver are undergoing treatment at Damak-based Lifeline Hospital. The accident took place after a bus (Ga 1 Kha 3918) and jeep (Me 1 Ja 197) from opposite directions collided with each other. nnnn. SAUDI DOWNSIZING OF FOREIGN WORKERS WILL HIT NEPAL Kathmandu, 20 Nov.: Saudi Arabia — the third most preferred job destination for Nepali migrant workers — has adopted a plan to reduce foreign workers dependency, The Himalayan Times reports. According to the plan, Saudi companies hiring more foreign workers than the locals have to pay cash fine. The new policy will affect workers sending countries like Nepal. The plan will decrease Nepali workers migration to Saudi Arabia to almost half. Saudi Arab has been hiring an average of 10,664 Nepali migrant workers per month in current fiscal year. Last year, Nepalis migration to the destination stood at 80,445. Some 492,896 Nepalis have joined Saudi jobs since the fiscal year 1993-94. The plan brought last week mulls to lower domestic youth unemployment, the official Saudi Press Agency reported today. Unemployment among youth in Saudi Arabia has reached 10.5 per cent in January, it reported, adding that the plan aims at targeting three million jobs creation for Saudi people by 2015 and six million by 2030. Saudi Arabia has a population of 27 million including 9 million foreign workers. According to an estimate, Saudi private firms have been employing more foreign workers than the locals. “Nine out of 10 private sector employees are foreigners,” it added. The Ministry of Labour is trying to change the private sector’s culture from one of ‘importing cheap labour from abroad to developing national talent’, Saudi Arabian deputy minister of labour for planning and development Moufarrej Haqbani was quoted as saying in the statement. The new provision will fine $640 (Rs 56,415) a year for each excess foreign workers employed by the private firms. However, the plan will not cover for those foreigners with Saudi mothers, citizens of other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries — the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain — or a household help. In order to press private firms to hire more locals, the government last year introduced a quota system that diktats a mandatory minimum number of Saudi employees depending on companies’ size and sector. Firms which do not comply face restrictions on obtaining visas for their foreign workers. MWPS seek compensation Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS) has launched a campaign to pressure the Saudi government to provide compensation to migrant workers following the deaths of two Asian workers a week ago due to explosives. The society has been lobbying for a proper compensation scheme that cover worksite accidents and labour accommodation tragedies. According to Labour Ministry figures, there were 25 work-related deaths in Bahrain last year, just over two months. Officials recorded a total of 145 worksite accidents in 2012 — which is one every two-and-a-half-days — in which 143 workers were injured, 63 of them seriously. nnnn