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			'id' => '2811',
			'article_category_id' => '48',
			'title' => 'Zoo Model Of Economy',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Madan Lamsal</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Despite the efforts of seven decades to catch the bus of development, Nepal has not been able to do so. What may be the reasons? Before 1951, Nepal&rsquo;s economy stood on a single leg only. As a result, the country&rsquo;s development would limp on the Chandra Shumsher-path or Tribhuvan-path as and when the Palace so wished. Otherwise, it would stand still. A decade later, the economy acquired another leg to become two-legged and development started treading the Mahendra-path. The two-legged economy was named mixed economy wherein the public and private sectors were supposed to work as partners of development.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	It was the time when a number of European, Russian, American, Chinese and Indian bipeds were brought in for the sake of Nepal&rsquo;s development. However, the country&rsquo;s development wagon could not gather the desired pace. Rather, Nepali revolutionaries got a chance to learn and copy the Russian and Chinese ways of doing things. The effects of this learning are evident even today.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	After the political change of 1990, attempts were made to amputate the older leg of the two-legged economy arguing that the private sector would lead the economy from now onwards. The economy got another name &ndash; free market economy. But in essence, the economy started following the path shown by a handful of people from the private sector. The economy was free to few privileged people only.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Therefore, another revolution took place in 2006 and the resultant government vowed to make the economy three-legged - the third leg being the cooperatives. The performance of this three-legged economic model, too, hasn&rsquo;t been satisfactory. But the new third leg or cooperatives has proved very beneficial for one of the political parties and is working as one of its own legs. However the economy is still limping. These experiments with one-legged, two-legged and three-legged economy have convinced this scribe that the country needs a four-legged economy for the development process to gallop. The simple reason is a four-legged thing is always stronger than one-, two- or three-legged ones. Examples abound &ndash; tables, chairs or quadrupeds like oxen, tigers or elephants.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In fact, it is evident everywhere that quadrupeds standing on their two legs are running this country. In doing so they burn taxies and motorbikes, demolish houses and buildings and take the entire country a hostage whenever they like to do so. They seem to be hell-bent on torching petrol and diesel vehicles in order to reduce noise pollution in the cities! Going for a four-legged economy is vital also for clearing the confusion created by the mixture of these two- and four-legged creatures. In the past, there were three organs of the state &ndash; executive, legislative and judiciary. Later, somebody suggested adding a fourth organ &ndash; the media. And all the media industry became so happy. But what would be the fourth leg of the economy? The question is natural as well as tricky. You may argue that a four-legged economy sounds too animal-like, not human. However, I don&rsquo;t think we should worry about that. In fact, I say we should have the economy like that &ndash; animal like.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	To prove my point let me draw your attention to &lsquo;the animal spirit&rsquo; that renowned British economist John Maynard Keynes had mentioned way back in the 1930s as the major motivator to the entrepreneurs to work with enthusiasm. By extrapolation, this means we need the economy to be as agile and strong as animals. All of us have seen how the western countries have developed after Keynes made that remark.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Therefore, it is very much necessary to have an animal spirit in the economy and that naturally demands the economy to be a four-legged one. And it is a humble proposal of this scribe that the NGOs and INGOs that claim to be dedicated for the country&rsquo;s development should be made the fourth leg of the economy! Afterall the INGOs are already running the show in Nepal. It is said that they have also already drafted the new constitution that now needs just endorsement of the Constituent Assembly.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Or, alternatively, shall the remittance sector be made the fourth leg of the economy? But does remittance really stand a chance in front of the mighty INGOs?</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Whatever! The main thing is we should give the country a four-legged economy and push the development process forward on Prachanda-path, Baidya-path or other similar paths. After all, the way of thinking and activities of many Nepali citizens, businessmen, and especially politicians, resemble those of the quadrupeds! &nbsp; Moreover, the economy is in danger of turning into a zoo. If it happens and when one visits the monkey section of the economic zoo she/he may start laughing at seeing their behaviours. Therefore, we should adopt the four legged economic policy or you may call it a &#39;zoo model of economy&#39; before it&rsquo;s too late.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2015-06-01',
			'modified' => '2015-07-31',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Despite the efforts of seven decades to catch the bus of development, Nepal has not been able to do so. What may be the reasons? Before 1951, Nepal’s economy stood on a single leg only. As a result, the country’s development would limp on the Chandra Shumsher-path or Tribhuvan-path as and when the Palace so wished. Otherwise, it would stand still.',
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			'id' => '2813',
			'article_category_id' => '167',
			'title' => 'Oli’s Climb, Prachanda’s Fall',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<div>
		<em><span style="font-size: 14px;">By the magnitude of his &lsquo;flexibility&rsquo; shown in recent days including the withdrawal of the three-day Nepal bandh after the first day and taking the constitution writing process forward, it would appear that Prachanda has greater things in store for the New Year.</span></em></div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>--By Akhilesh Tripathi&nbsp;</strong></div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Bikram Samvat 2072, the new Nepali year which started about two weeks ago, is going to be interesting. There are telltale signs of that. Consider the following incident!&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		On the eve of the New Year, Constituent Assembly (CA) Chairman Subash Chandra Nemwang called a meeting of the top leaders of the major political parties to discuss the thorny issues of the new constitution. CPN-UML Chairman KP Oli was absent. The reason was he was climbing Dharahara! On this conspicuous absence, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Prachanda grumbled, &ldquo;For Oli, Dharahara is more important than the new constitution.&rdquo; Later, Oli, whose Dharahara climb was aided by an oxygen cylinder, retorted, &ldquo;It is difficult to climb up like the UML, but quite easy to go down like the Maoists!&rdquo;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Why did Oli ignore an all-party meeting to climb the Dharahara? There are two possible answers. One, Oli, who is said to be playing the final innings of his life wanted to accomplish his wish of being atop the historical monument (Had he waited for 12more days to fulfill this wish of his, he wouldn&rsquo;t be able to do so because the historical monument built by Nepal&rsquo;s first prime minister Bhimsen Thapa was grounded in the April 25 earthquakes). Two, he deliberately ignored the meeting of the major parties to pile more pressure on the opposition parties, mainly the Maoists. Who says he doesn&rsquo;t aspire to become the next Prime Minister at the earliest possible? After all, he climbed the Dharahar to dismiss a major allegation against him that he is sick and unfit.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Nepali politicians speak in different ways. Oli climbs Dharahara, all 213 steps. By doing so, he is sending three clear messages: I am strong enough to climb; I can see the view from the top; the New Year is going to be beautiful.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Prachanda, while talking to the media, says he&rsquo;s willing to take any risk for the sake of delivering a constitution on time. In a meeting of the three major parties &ndash; Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoist) on April 20, Prachanda agreed to resume the constitution writing process. It&rsquo;s a big example of flexibility shown by him.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		By the magnitude of his &lsquo;flexibility&rsquo; shown in recent days including the withdrawal of the three-day Nepal bandh after the first day and taking the constitution writing process forward, it would appear that Prachanda has greater things in store for the New Year. Or at least, greater things are at stake that justify his move to alienate the Janajatis, anger the Madhesis, and shutting the door to unification among the six Maoist parties.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		But why did Prachanda change and became flexible? Prachanda has lost a lot of political ground in recent times. The Nepal bandh called by the 30-party front led by him could not win public support. So it fell flat on the very first day. Similarly, Prachanda&rsquo;s party&rsquo;s candidate faced a humiliating defeat in the CA by-elections held recently. That is also a measurement of the people&rsquo;s support to the Maoist agenda. By now, Prachanda understands that he is not backed by any kind of popular support. All these factors have forced the UCPN (Maoist) leadership to review their position and become flexible in the political give and take.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		So, it&rsquo;s been a common knowledge in recent months that the Maoists have backtracked on their position on federalism. It may not have been just a coincidence that the Maoists&rsquo; softening of stance followed Baburam Bhattarai&rsquo;s India visit and Prachanda&rsquo;s China visit.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		By now, it seems, the Maoist leadership has understood that a general strike or a trip to the neighbourhood seeking help (intervention) will not help. That is perhaps why the three major parties &ndash; NC, UML and UCPN (Maoist) &ndash; have agreed to allow the constitution writing process to move forward. Oli&rsquo;s Dharahara climb has helped in this process. Oli cannot climb the Dharahara again because there si no Dharahara now. &nbsp;But the opposition parties, mainly the Maoists, now know that the UML chief can engage in any other similar undertaking to mount further political pressure on them. &nbsp; &nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>Making Institutions Inclusive</strong></div>
	<div>
		Another thing we learned from the year gone by is that institutions, once designed, are difficult to change.</div>
	<div>
		The April Uprising of 2006 sought to change the way the state and political parties respond to the people&rsquo;s needs. But it did not have a clear vision of what new institutional structures might look like. Parties like the Nepali Congress and UML define this change in their own way while, the Maoists, Madhesis, and Janajatis, on the other hand, have their own agenda for reforms, including the form of government, federalism, and electoral system. The failure of the Maoists and Madhesis to push forward their agenda shows how entrenched and entangled existing institutions are in the Nepali society.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Restructuring of institutions is required at two levels: at the level of political parties, and at the level of the state. At the level of the political parties, the internal party structures allow a few leaders to extract from the ordinary party members and unions that have penetrated all levels of the society. The recent Supreme Court verdict trying to limit the role of employee unions is an example. Most employee unions are extractive institutional structures. They serve their members by lobbying for their promotion and transfers, especially when their party leaders are in power. Therefore, a meritorious government employee, if he or she is not a member of these extractive unions, has fewer chances of getting a promotion or a good position.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Given the existing state structure, top political leaders who have control over parties like the NC or the CPN-UML have few incentives to restructure the party and the state. Making the party and the state more inclusive means giving up on their monopoly of power and privileges. Reforming state and party structures, therefore, is a difficult proposition for almost all top politicians. As many studies have shown, once institutional structures are in place, it is difficult to change them in favour of the ordinary people.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		One of the implications of such a situation is that political divisions have crystallised at the local level also. Nepal is a deeply divided society. Nepal&rsquo;s political parties have created a social chasm that runs vertically, from the highest level to the community level. At the community level, the divisive political allegiance has more to do with getting access to state resources and opportunities than to development and ideology.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		As a result, allegiances are usually made to political parties that have a greater prospect of getting to power. Without such political allegiance, which is something more than just an affiliation, people rarely get access to state resources or even entry into the marketplace.</div>
</div>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
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			'description' => 'By the magnitude of his ‘flexibility’ shown in recent days including the withdrawal of the three-day Nepal bandh after the first day and taking the constitution writing process forward, it would appear that Prachanda has greater things in store for the New Year.',
			'sortorder' => '2661',
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			'id' => '2804',
			'article_category_id' => '37',
			'title' => 'Need For  Green Banking',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/ep1(6).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 247px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Dwaipayan Regmi</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The attack of human beings on nature is the cause of environmental deterioration. This deterioration is leading to global warming and climate change. It has been noticed that the temperature has risen up by 1 degree Fahrenheit in comparison to the previous century, leading to melting of Himalayan glaciers, bursting of lakes and rise of the sea level. Along with this, climatic changes have been causing natural disasters like cyclones, floods, landslides, and droughts.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Combined efforts of governments, corporate sector and individuals can help in minimizing these various forms of environmental deterioration. For this, governments have to come up with strong policies; corporate houses should follow environmental protection guidelines more strictly; and individuals have to be self-aware to protect the environment around them.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As part of the role to be played by the corporate sector, banks and financial institutions should embrace green banking &mdash; adopting process and strategies that promote environment-friendly practices to help in reducing carbon emission. Green banking helps in reducing internal carbon footprint as well as external carbon emission. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Banks have been using lighting, air conditioning, electronic equipments, IT, high paper wastage in massive proportion. The resultant internal carbon footprint can be reduced through the use of renewable energy, automation and other measures. On the other hand, banks can reduce external carbon emission by financing projects and companies that are working for pollution reduction and adopting green technologies. Providing loans to firms that have concern for environment would ensure proper utilization of natural resources.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Green banking avoids paper work and contributes to lower the cutting of trees. It makes the corporate world aware about environmental and social responsibility and thereby contributes to handing over a good environment to the upcoming generation. Adopting green banking policies are directly beneficial for the banks as well.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Providing loans to firms and companies that abide by environment protection principles and regulations ensures that such clients do not become victims of natural calamities. Reputation and goodwill is very important for banks, and being a green bank provides them a distinct identity and reputation in the society. This also minimizes bad goodwill risk. Along with that, adopting such policies helps the banks avoid the risk of being left with securities like contaminated land as collateral.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, green banking is not a piece of cake; there are various challenges in making it a reality. It&rsquo;s not only about reducing paper use and getting digital; there are strategies that a bank should follow.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The most important step towards this objective is while providing loans. Any entrepreneur would think of green environment only when banks will restrict loans to businesses which might cause environmental degradation. Banks can deny loans to businesses that aim high profits by degrading the environment. The nature of business and its impact on the environment should be carefully considered before approving business loans. On the other hand, banks can offer low-interest loans to businesses that are environment friendly. In this way, banks can play a key role in promoting secondary source of energy like solar energy or bio gas energy.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Next, banks can provide preference to green properties like homes equipped with solar energy, rain water harvesting facility, and properties with better environmental surroundings, for collaterals. And they should give secondary preferences, if at all, to properties such as polluting factory, or buildings emitting harmful waste in&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	the environment.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In terms of internal contribution, banks should embrace environment-friendly architectural design. Such designs help in reducing use of air conditioners and lights. Along with that, restricting use of carbon emitting machines, fans, energy inefficient bulbs, should be discouraged. Also, minimizing paper usage and promoting use of electronic transactions through rapid use of ATM cards, debit cards or other vending machines can help in being a green bank.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Another area, where banks can contribute to green environment is the use of vehicles. Instead of providing sole vehicles to employees, banks should provide pick-and-drop services. This will not only help in reducing carbon emission but would also help in easing city traffic. This will also help in reducing the space needed for parking at banks. The space which would otherwise be used for parking could be used to build gardens and fountains. This will not only help the banks go green at the policy level but will also make it a green bank, literally too.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR), banks can invest in building and maintaining parks, gardens and forests in and around cities. They can adopt tree plantation as a means to mark their important achievements. This would help in inspiring other business ventures to adopt similar strategies.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Banks have been providing many services to their customers such as free ATMs, Internet Banking and Any Branch Banking Service (ABBS). They could set up a basket &lsquo;Disaster Emergency Fund&rsquo;, for their client, in case the latter are victimized. The customers should be given a choice to opt for the fund by agreeing to provide certain amount of their interest to the fund on an annual basis. This would make such customers more secure from the impact of natural disasters on their finance.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Banking has been a charming job in Nepal, and is regarded a prestigious job. To retain this image, it is necessary for banks to go green. Some of the recommendations made in this article might sound impractical considering the nature of their business and the stiff competition in the market to get better clients, still these measures are for banks which believe in ethical business.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<em>The writer is pursuing his MBA at Jawaharlal Nehru Technical University, Andhra Pradesh, India.</em></div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-11-21',
			'modified' => '2015-06-07',
			'keywords' => 'new business age economy & policy news & articles, economy & policy news & articles from new business age nepal, economy & policy headlines from nepal,  current and latest economy & policy news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali economy & policy economic news and events,  ongoing  economy',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2814',
			'article_category_id' => '40',
			'title' => 'Growing And Growing Cement',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Cement production in Nepal has been growing sharply over the past few years. The industry is among the country&#39;s most flourishing business sectors as the demand of cement is constantly rising. &nbsp;The vast untapped limestone reserves spread across the country have not only lured domestic companies but also the international investors. &nbsp;</em></span></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Akhilesh Tripathi and Sanjeev Sharma</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal&rsquo;s cement industry has been flourishing despite all sorts of problems. The industry has seen significant growth over the last few years. According to Dhruba Thapa, President of the Cement Manufacturers Association of Nepal (CMAN), the country&rsquo;s cement industry has been steadily growing at 8-10 per cent annually for the past several years. &ldquo;The cement industry has seen growing steadily. Its future looks bright,&rdquo; says Thapa when asked to comment on the current situation of the Nepali cement industry. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;The annual demand of cement in Nepal is about four million metric tonnes of which some 3.2 million metric tonnes is met through domestic production while the rest is imported,&rdquo; he adds.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The country&rsquo;s import of cement has been dropping year after year because of the rising domestic production. According to the Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC), the rate of growth in cement imports has declined in the last fiscal year. Nepal imported OPC cement worth Rs 2.99 billion in fiscal 2013-14. In the previous fiscal year i.e. 2012-13, cement imports stood at Rs 3.75 billion. The decline in the import of both cement and clinker reflects Nepal&rsquo;s progress towards self-sufficiency in cement production.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	According to CMAN, the domestic cement industry has an installed production capacity of about 6 million tonnes annually which is higher than the annual demand of four million metric tonnes. But the cement factories currently operational have been able to utilize only about 50 per cent of their total production capacity.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, this hasn&rsquo;t stopped the private sector from entering this sector in a big way. Currently, according to the data provided by CMAN, there are 45 cement factories in operation producing 3.2 million metric tonnes of cement annually. Local production fulfils about 80 percent of the requirement and the rest is met by imports from India. Nepal produces OPC, PPC and PSC cement, of which OPC is preferred these days.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Out of the 45 factories, only 12 also produce clinker, a major raw material used in cement production. As early as a decade ago, Nepal used to depend on India for 95 per cent of its clinker requirement. However, with more factories now setting up clinker production units after acquiring limestone quarries, import from India has been declining year after year. Today, almost 60 percent of the clinker demand is met through domestic supply. &ldquo;The remaining is imported from India. A few factories will start producing own clinker in 2015. That will bring down the import to 20-25 per cent. Nepal will be self-reliant in clinker over the next three years,&rdquo; says Thapa.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cn4.jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 205px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Problems</strong></div>
<div>
	Power shortage because of long hours of load-shedding is the biggest challenge being faced by cement manufacturers in the country. The power crisis has forced them to use diesel power which makes each cement sack costlier by Rs 25. The high import duty levied on raw material, mainly clinker, is another problem, according to cement manufacturers. It has weakened the competitiveness of Nepali cement in terms of price. &ldquo;The government has been continuously increasing the customs duty on clinker ignoring its effects on domestic cement manufacturers,&rdquo; complain cement manufacturers. Thapa says all this makes the Nepali cement costlier than cement in any other SAARC country. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The syndicate system in transportation is another big problem for the domestic cement industry. &ldquo;We are not getting sufficient number of trucks to supply our finished goods to the targeted location,&rdquo; says Anil Kumar Agrawal, Managing Director of Shree Cement Industries. &ldquo;The cost associated with transportation is high as well.&rdquo; Manufacturers complain that even with enough production and demand, they are unable to supply their products to the market due to unavailability of transportation. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;Every commodity has a lifespan; and in the case of cement, it is 30 days,&rdquo; said Tej Bom, Head of Sales and Marketing at Ambe Cement, &ldquo;If the finished product is not used within 30 days, the desirable outcome is not achieved.&rdquo; The need of the hour, according to him, is to effectively end the syndicate system so that Nepali products remain competitive with Indian brands.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cn3.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 313px; float: right;" />Declining Import</strong></div>
<div>
	With the rise in domestic production, import of foreign cement in Nepal has come down significantly over the past few years. The data compiled by the Trade and Export Promotion Center (TEPC) clearly points to this. The country which imported portland class cement (OPC and PPC) worth Rs 4.31 billion in FY 2090/10 saw the import decrease 30 per cent to Rs 2.99 billion in 2013/14. The rising production has also led to the increase in the import of gypsum, one of the major ingredients of cement. Nepal imported gypsum worth Rs 754 million in FY 2013/14, up 133 per cent from Rs 322 million in FY 2010. But the import of clinker, another key component is seen gradually declining. Import of clinker, which was recorded at Rs 8.03 billion in FY 2009/10, decreased to Rs 5.99 billion in 2012/13 before rising to Rs 6.54 billion in the last FY. The increase is due to the government provision made mandatory for the cement manufacturers to produce clinker they need by 2073. However, producers are seen dissatisfied by the government announcement. &quot;Clinker production means more investment. More than 70 per cent of the investment goes for clinker production. So, mere announcements are not enough. We need a supporting strategy as well,&quot; says Anil Kumar Agrawal , Managing Director of Shree Cement Industries. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Despite the fact that use of Indian cement has lessened in recent years, policy hurdles still remain in place to stop the use of Nepali cement in large constructions of national importance. &nbsp;&quot;General consumers are not importing cement from India. It&rsquo;s the big infrastructure projects run through the international competitive bidding (ICB) process that are importing cement from India,&quot; mentions Thapa,. Thapa, who is also the Executive Director of Cosmos Cement Industries, says that a provision in the ICB contract, which exempts the imported construction materials from taxes, is hampering the competitiveness of Nepali cement. &quot;The imported cement gets an exemption of Rs 185 per sack in customs duty. That is why it is cheaper. It has affected the Nepali cement market,&quot; he says.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cn1.jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 261px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Export Prospects</strong></div>
<div>
	With the increase in production, export of Nepali cement has also risen in the past few years. Though the size of the export is negligible compared to the import, the increasing trend indicates to the possibility of Nepali cement becoming a product of comparative advantage to the country&#39;s export. Nepal exported cement worth Rs 3.16 million in FY 2013/14 after starting the export in FY 2012/13 which was logged at Rs 148,700. Nevertheless, it will take time for Nepal to become a net exporter of cement, according to producers. &quot;As we are not being able to fulfill the domestic demand, there is no possibility of export currently. Most factories are selling their products within the country. We can think of exports once we meet the domestic demand,&quot; opines Tej Bom, Head of Sales and Marketing at Ambe Cement.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cn2.jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 234px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Foreign Direct Investment</strong></div>
<div>
	Nepali cement industry has turned lucrative to foreign investors in recent years. Big international producers, namely, Dangote of Nigeria, China&#39;s Hongshi and Reliance of India are in the process to establish production facilities in Nepal. Lured by the infrastructure boom in Northern India and Western China, the companies are eying to tap Nepal&#39;s vast limestone reserves. Their products are expected to be export-oriented while also fulfilling the domestic demand in Nepal. Dangote Group, one of the largest industrial conglomerates of West Africa, is said to be starting the construction of cement factory in the next one year. The company which was granted a USD 500 million FDI approval in November 2013 by the Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) is currently looking for a local partner, according to an informed source.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Meanwhile, the top Chinese manufacturer Hongshi Holding Group has partnered with the Nepali company Shivam Cement to kickstart its business in Nepal. The company in March, 2015 signed a joint venture (JV) agreement with Shivam Holdings Nepal to set up a Rs 30 billion production facility. According to the agreement, Hongshi will have 70 per cent share (Rs 21 billion) and the rest (Rs 9 billion) will be invested by Shivam. The JV which will be named Hongshi-Shivam Cement Pvt Ltd aims to produce 120,000 sacks or 6,000 tonnes of cement per day and has plans to start production in three years. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Similarly, Reliance Cement Industries of India has also received endorsement from the IBN to establish a cement factory in the country. Though much is not known about the progress after the approval of its investment proposal last year, the company has pledge Rs 40 billion in FDI and aims to produce 2.3 million tonnes of cement annually. Collectively, the three foreign companies have received project approvals worth USD 1.2 billion which has been marked among the largest FDI commitments in the Nepali industrial sector for the time being. Likewise, two other foreign companies have also recently expressed their interests to invest in the country&#39;s cement industry, according to a source close to the matter.&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2015-06-01',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
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			'description' => 'Cement production in Nepal has been growing sharply over the past few years. The industry is among the country's most flourishing business sectors as the demand of cement is constantly rising.  The vast untapped limestone reserves spread across the country have not only lured domestic companies but also the international investors.',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2802',
			'article_category_id' => '48',
			'title' => 'Fundamental Right To Corruption',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<div>
		It is a common understanding in Nepal that everyone in the country is corrupt. Be that bureaucrat or businessman, politician or physician, lawyer or lawmaker, academician or architect, judge or journalist, or any profession or person you name it, is corrupt on prima-facie. The onus of proving otherwise entirely lies on you, should you choose to do so. If you point to someone claiming that he may not be a corrupt, every eyebrow is raised and instant conclusion would be: that could not have happened by integrity but due to sheer lack of opportunity. In every sense, corruption is our national character, thus a national identity.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Nepal has made several efforts to curb corruption and bribery. It has enacted several laws, instituted constitutional bodies like CIAA and invited international NGOs like Transparency International. But the corrupt practices could hardly be reduced. Instead, the investors and businessmen complain that measures like anti-money laundering has caused massive capital flight and investment is shying away due to provisions like declaration of source of income. Therefore, these hurdles have become serious bottlenecks on economic growth and prosperity of the country.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Human civilization has taken many bold decisions to streamline very difficult trades and behaviour. Everybody would agree that prostitution is not a good thing. But secretly everybody would like to extract the pleasure bestowed by this profession. Nobody feels same sex marriages are natural. But many countries have legalized both the sex trade and same sex marriages. There is no reason why corruption should be treated in a different way than the prostitution. Besides, it has many similar characteristics. You are honest until you are caught in the act and everybody enjoys the more of it, clandestinely.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		For Nepal, it is an opportune moment to do this bold thing as we are writing a new constitution. We have the opportunity not only to legalize but also to constitutionalize both corruption and bribery. My recommendation is that let&rsquo;s make the right to corruption as part of the fundamental rights in the new constitution.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		The benefits would be immense. Nepal truly will be as Switzerland as it used to be some decades ago: a true haven for all ill-gotten money of the world. All the money that is now concealed under pillows of the corrupts will be taken out. Money sent abroad will be brought back and there will be open rates of commission in government offices for providing services or approving tenders for public procurement. Just to repeat, since everybody is already charged of this lucre, what&#39;s the harm on just lifting the curtain from it?</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		The FDI would flood in and Nepal will enter into an unprecedented phase of growth and development. Country&#39;s administrative cost will drastically reduce, as we no longer need the institutions like CIAA, Vigilance Centre, Anti-Money Laundering Department and Special Court. The load of cases in the courts of law will be far less and policemen can directly ask money from the public for nothing without going through the trouble of creating one or another pretext. So much so, constitutionalizing corruption would also help make entire Nepal instantly educated since if corruption and bribery are legalized even an illiterate can buy a BA or an MA passed certificates at one&#39;s will.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		This will make our bureaucracy more contended and happy. Government official will not scramble to get their posting to customs points and tax offices when every office will have freedom to collect as much bribe as possible. Politicians in the district who are swallowing entire development budget in collusion with different experts will be relieved of responsibility of creating stacks of fake papers.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		As the country now reels under uncertainty in absence of a powerful binding agenda for consensus, the proposal to insert the corruption and bribery as the fundamental right in the constitution could be one such issue that can bring all politicians together. We know everybody loves money and whenever there is question of monetary benefit, there were seldom any discord among them.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Our lawmakers should seriously consider incorporating this provision in the new constitution. I am sure, all six hundred and one members of the Constituent Assembly will vote for it. This will be the dawn of new era on absolute national consensus.</div>
</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-11-21',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
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			'description' => 'It is a common understanding in Nepal that everyone in the country is corrupt. Be that bureaucrat or businessman, politician or physician, lawyer or lawmaker, academician or architect, judge or journalist, or any profession or person you name it, is corrupt on prima-facie. The onus of proving otherwise entirely lies on you, should you choose to do so. If you point to someone claiming that he may not be a corrupt, every eyebrow is raised and instant conclusion would be: that could not have happened by integrity but due to sheer lack of opportunity. In every sense, corruption is our national character, thus a national identity.',
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	(int) 5 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2807',
			'article_category_id' => '52',
			'title' => 'A Matter Of De-Materializing It',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal&#39;s share market index, Nepse is performing reasonably well since the formation of Nepali Congress led government. It is now hovering between 850 and 900 for sometimes now. Among many welcome developments, the plan to dematerialize (demat) the physical share certificates into the digital ones have boosted the confidence of the investors. But the demat process has been rather very slow. In seven months since it started (coinciding with the Nepali New Year 2071), only about a million scrips of some three dozen companies could be converted to digital format. No doubt, this is a time consuming process, but such a slow pace, though, is absolutely unwarranted for.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Be that as it may, demat process would be completed, hopefully, soon. But more worrisome aspect is, other support infrastructure to augment trade in demat system remains far behind the mark. The recent lull in the market is now attributed to the fact that banks were not recognizing the dematerialized shares as security for financing investments. They may have their reasons to do so. But this reflects a clear lack of vision and coordination among the policy makers to simultaneously take forward all related developments of ancillaries so as to prevent the system from becoming lame.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Simply, banks&#39; willingness to invest in the digital infrastructure and manpower training to handle these loan transactions doesn&#39;t seem to be forthcoming right away. And, there is no initiation from other relevant authorities like Nepal Rastra Bank and Securities Board of Nepal to facilitate this. &nbsp;It is though not to suggest that everything has to be shouldered by the public institutions, but policy exercises in view of the potential paradigms of such developments is unquestionably their special domain.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As things stand now, three immediate tasks must be undertaken to not let the tempo in the share market wane off. First, banks should, may be through their umbrella organization - the Nepal Bankers&#39; Association, make their position clear with regard to their technical capabilities and cost-benefit analyses on facilitating demat transactions. They must also realize the fact that by making a digital transaction platform available, the share trading from all over the country may enhance in due course of time which in turn would help to increase their businesses. &nbsp;In many countries, a separate account for share trading has been a norm and a technical necessity. At the same time, they have adopted the rule of de-hooking the funds from other accounts while market volatility is emotion-racking. This effectively means that a trader can only trade from his trading account even if s/he has other functional accounts in the same bank, until inter-account transfers are made.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Second, policy coordination among the policy makers and functional relations among the market makers have been largely a neglected issue. It is also a fact that regulatory authorities have been reticent until it is too late to react. In many cases, they lack the understanding of technical knowhow and degree of urgency seems to be taking a toll. This must be changed.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Third, Nepal is one of those countries where investment in financial education at any level -from policy makers to retailers - has been close to zero. This has led to great discrepancies, policy confusions and inadequacies in every branch of the financial system, including the capital markets. Recognizing the complementarities of the several sub-branches of the entire system, a comprehensive financial education of a national scale is now an unconditional imperative. Only an institutionalized approach can address this need to its due worth.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Of course, there are some unaccomplished, larger issues of capital market reforms. It is high time to interact with the private sector to find convincing and lasting answers to the questions: why the real sector representation in Nepal&#39;s capital market has been so insignificant? Are there ways to improve it? How and when? In nutshell, Nepal&#39;s financial system is looking for a shift not only to change the paper shares to demat form, but to translate the nation&#39;s overall economic thought process from a &#39;brick and mortar&#39; age to the contemporary digital age.</div>',
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			'created' => '2014-12-23',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
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			'description' => 'Nepal's share market index, Nepse is performing reasonably well since the formation of Nepali Congress led government. It is now hovering between 850 and 900 for sometimes now. Among many welcome developments, the plan to dematerialize (demat) the physical share certificates into the digital ones have boosted the confidence of the investors.',
			'sortorder' => '2657',
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	(int) 6 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2803',
			'article_category_id' => '167',
			'title' => 'Democracy  Vs Minority Diktats',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Achyut Wagle</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	If the ongoing irresponsible behaviour of some of the key political players of the country doesn&#39;t come to a halt, it is certain that the Constituent Assembly-Two (CA-II) will also not be able to deliver a new democratic constitution for the &#39;federal new Nepal.&#39; The major impediment to the new constitution writing process has two folds: the first, no party is adhering to the mandate and processes of the CA, and crucial political bargaining are taking place out of the constitutional and the CA ambit. The second, smaller parties in and outside of the CA still rule the roost by forming a twenty-two party alliance to oppose any stand that the main two political parties in CA --Nepali Congress (NC) and UML --are likely to take with regard to potential provisions for the new constitution and its writing process. This al-liance led by UCPN Maoist Chairman Puspa Kamal Dahal is resorting to tantrums akin to that of a pressure group -- organizing street protests, flexing muscles and causing disruptions to CA proceedings, in some pretext or the other.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	If a public meeting organized by this alliance in the mid-October at the open-air theatre in Tundikhel, Kathmandu, is any indication, the Maoists are again determined to ruin the second CA as they did to the first, rendering it hostage of blatant indecision at the high-level political committee (HLPC). The speakers in that meeting declared a number of daring things that are aimed at rendering the very authority of the CA non-existent and prevaricate the democratic mandate and process. It raises fears of another cycle of violent politics. This is because, Dahal made three crucial revelations: he would not respect the arithmetic of CA, no constitution could be written without incorporating his agenda of &#39;identity&#39; and he repented on agreeing to the &ldquo;management of his Red Army and the arms before the constitution of &lsquo;his choice&rsquo; was written&rdquo;. &nbsp;As can be recalled, the process through which some of the former Maoist rebels were given employment in the Nepal Army and rest were sent home by paying generous gratuity, is normally referred to as &ldquo;management of former Maoist rebels&rdquo;.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Needless to repeat, all these are clearly anti-democratic postures. His refusal to accept the &#39;numbers&#39; as they stand in the present CA disregards the people&#39;s mandate expressed through the last ballots. His adamance not to comply with the universally accepted democratic practice to decide every contending agenda by majority votes in CA would leave all major political differences undecided indefinitely, in absence of any other feasible alternative process.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	On the issue of identity, Dahal has been successful to rally the support of other eleven fringe parties that are present in CA and equal number of others without any representative in the House. His insistence is that the earlier CA had somehow agreed to &#39;identity-based federalism&#39; and the current CA too shouldn&#39;t deviate from those understandings, written or unwritten. But the fact is: the identity agenda largely got defeated in the CA-II elections and electorates gave completely new verdict, pushing the Maoists into the third position and giving a two-thirds majority to the NC and the UML combined. The manifestoes of the latter two emphatically reassures the voters to write a pluralistic constitution with possible least number of provinces, above all, on the basis of their economic viability. But Dahal&#39;s deliberate intention seems to undermine this reality and try to thrust his agenda by exerting force to disrupt the CA proceedings and effecting road blockades. It is worth recalling that Dahal&rsquo;s party UCPN-Maoist too has mentioned in its election manifesto that voting will be resorted to if the efforts for consensus fail. Moreover, the CA-II has also adopted a rules book in which it mentions that issues in which no consensus could be reached shall be decided by voting.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Dahal&rsquo;s repentance on &#39;early surrender of arms and army&#39; also smacks of his ill intentions to use that guerrilla force as the tool to political blackmailing, as in the past. His partners in protests, the Madhesi and Janajati parties are more than enthused by the political patronage of the UCPN-Maoist and also by the fact that their agenda defeated in popular votes is now shouldered by the Maoists, the third largest party in CA. It is not difficult to understand that Dahal is now desperate as he is very fast losing his political ground. Not only his party got reduced to the third largest in the CA-II from the first in CA-I, it currently commands bare 14 percent of total votes in the House. That is why he is against of the CA arithmetic. Also, his party is at the verge of further division after the main ideologue Dr Baburam Bhattarai has challenged Dahal&#39;s authority from within and intensified the efforts to create a &#39;new force&#39;. For, all these reasons, Dahal is experimenting on any possible political adventurism to save his existence as leader to be reckoned with. This is understandable. What is completely incomprehensible is why other two larger parties, NC and UML, are succumbing to these tantrums of Dahal, resorting to one after another undemocratic moves and decisions. Why can&#39;t they say that no political decision regarding the constitution writing could be taken outside the CA and beyond the popular mandate?</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	One of the overused platitudes of Dahal has been &#39;consensus in constitution writing.&#39; On the surface, this appears as a benevolent idea. But, in essence, it is implicit design to take the constitution writing process away from CA to HLPC. Since the country has expensed so much to ensure diverse representation in CA, it is impossible to arrive at consensus at every motion mooted in the CA. Therefore, accepting to resolve all contentious issues through already defined CA rules and processes, including voting, is absolutely within democratic values and norms. Dahal and his allies has problem in this, because it is surely a losing game for them as they simply lack the number of members in CA to pass their agenda. But, if they believe in democracy, instead of exerting to disrupt the processes, they should accept the outcome by explaining their point of view such that can woo the public support in the next polls.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	But that needed patience Dahal clearly lacks and he is now wielding a double-edged sword -- simultaneously leading the street protests and holding the convenorship of HLPC that was dug out last month off the grave of the last CA, merely to placate Dahal&#39;s ambition of chairing it. Interestingly, he successfully capitulated the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML leadership to form this apparently unconstitutional &#39;superpower centre&#39; that is often practically portrayed as above all the political mechanisms of the country -- including the prime minister, the CA and the parliament. Or, at least, Dahal wanted HLPC to function in that fashion. This too is an undemocratic demeanour.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Naturally, the voice of other allies in Tundikhel was more aggressive. Sadbhawan Party leader Rajendra Mahato said he would not let the constitution be finalised on the basis of &#39;majority vote in the CA&#39; and Ashok Rai of Federal Socialist Party warned of &#39;pulling the NC and UML leaders by their collars&#39; to agree to their demand of identity-first federalism. What all this means is: there is every effort going on not to recognize and treat the CA as the only constitutionally validated body to write the constitution. This is perhaps the gravest danger that Nepal&#39;s political process faces at this moment. For the UCPN-Maoist and other smaller parties, their action might be justifiable to the extent to make their presence felt in the national political spectrum. But it is highly surprising to see that the NC and UML are readily agreeing to the demands of these parties without considering their consequences and not working enough to deliver a timely constitution despite their clear majority in the CA-II that allows them to write the constitution themselves.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	At this juncture, three political personalities have performed far short of their responsibilities and expectations from their respective public positions. First is Prime Minister Sushil Koirala who has failed to deliver the governance in every possible field you may name. His ministers are working berserk. His slogan of &#39;clean government&#39; has hit rock bottom in every appointment in the constitutional bodies, judiciary to executive branches. It took four months for the House to pass the appropriation bill. When issue of poor governance is raised, he retorts with saying &#39;the focus is on constitution writing.&#39; When the mayhem in constitution writing is pointed, he just vents anger on the people who dared to ask. His lacklustre performance is only costing the country very dear in every front, mainly as coupling hindrances in constitution writing process.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The second person who could have changed the things for the better but doing very little or nothing is Subhash Chandra Nembang, the CA Chairman. When House was disrupted continuously for five weeks in September, his presence was nowhere felt. He kept on urging the political parties &#39;to agree&#39; on certain things. But, his responsibility was not to urge for agreement but to run the House business according to the already laid-down laws, rules and precedents. His failure is more acutely felt in his inability to &#39;educate&#39; the CA members in the processes and contents of the constitution writing. He even failed to inculcate in the minds of the CA members that they are representatives of the sovereign people, not the stooges of the political bigwigs. Over and above, he himself appears to be acting as the stooge of big leaders, waiting for signals to come from the quarters like HLPC.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The third personality who failed to deliver up to the expectation is Dr Baburam Bhattarai, Chairman of the Constitutional Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee (PDCC) in the CA. He kept on jumping around to appear as if he is honestly trying to extract some magic consensus, but without doing proper homework particularly to finalize the agenda of state restructuring. He tried to forge the so-called consensus in the vacuum. One of the main bones of contention among the political parties has been the number of provinces that the new constitution should delineate to federalize Nepal. But these parties have all in unison failed to come up with the basic logic of any particular number they have picked to propose as their agenda. As such, Bhattarai should have been able to come up with data on economic and political viability of the possible provinces and presented them dispassionately to the political parties. Instead, he himself ventured to propose some eight, nine or ten provinces, without any database to support his proposal. This was naive move both as the Chairman of PDCC, who should have ideally remained neutral in all these bickering and, also as a learned man, he must have come with alternative data-supported analysis such as &#39;if we go for eight provinces, the per capita income of Nepalis will rise in X-rate while with eleven it goes up/down by Y-rate.&#39; But, alas, nothing of the sort is happening.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	This is to conclude that, until and unless we revert back to essence of democracy from pressure tantrums, allow CA to function as the only legitimate place to discuss everything regarding the constitution writing and provide some factual basis to ascertain the number of provinces as well as the administrative structure of the &#39;new&#39; state, the new constitution will continue to remain a mirage, for unforeseen time to come.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<em>The writer is former editor of Aarthik Abhiyan National Daily.</em></div>',
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			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
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			'description' => 'If the ongoing irresponsible behaviour of some of the key political players of the country doesn't come to a halt, it is certain that the Constituent Assembly-Two (CA-II) will also not be able to deliver a new democratic constitution for the 'federal new Nepal.' The major impediment to the new constitution writing process has two folds: the first, no party is adhering to the mandate and processes of the CA, and crucial political bargaining are taking place out of the constitutional and the CA ambit.',
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	(int) 7 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2809',
			'article_category_id' => '167',
			'title' => 'Derailing Democracy',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Achyut Wagle</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Throughout Nepal&#39;s seven decade long modern political history, the biggest problem to institutionalize democracy has been sheer absence of democratic essence among the political actors - political parties and politicians, both. &nbsp;It has been true for all twists and turns in the history. Experience has it, those countries that could stabilize the democratic polity in relatively short period of political transition, say in two or three decades, enjoyed two common features. One, there was only two way fight between the democratic and autocratic forces, or colonizers and freedom fighters. Once the democrats outweighed the autocrats, the system got functionally stabilized. Second, at least for the initial transition, some charismatic and learned leader spearheaded those processes into an irrevocably functionalized and largely institutionalized form of democracy, before it could derail and eventually degenerate to anarchy or mayhem.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	But Nepal&#39;s democracy has persistently been victim of a triangular instead of bipolar traction among the ultra-rights led by the palace, ultra-lefts led by Maoists or Leninists, and democrats. In fact, democracy has been invariably sandwiched between other two forces. To recall the history of common knowledge, for this very reason none of political changes in 1951, 1961, 1981, 1991 or 2006 could institutionalize Nepal&#39;s democracy. The country has been a constant victim of political uncertainty and hopelessness, which has taken toll not only on economy and development but has also teetered the age-old social cohesion and coexistence. Thanks again primarily to the three-way pulls.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The recent turn of events also does not present any different picture. The political rhapsody of UCPN Maoist Chairman Puspa Kamal Dahal certainly reflects his desperation in a bid to save his political existence in the light of rapidly eroding political clout of his party, but it is hardly limited only to that. As a person brought up as the Maoist, he is fundamentally against this country writing a democratic constitution. &nbsp;And, this is not a secret, but his commitment, vowed umpteen times in public. He still harbours dreams that one day this country could still be ruled by a communist dictator, perhaps himself at the helm, like North Korea and Cuba. He wants the new constitution to be written with those aims in mind. But he too is clueless on the way outs that clear the nasty debris of the civil war, en-route to that unreachable summit.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	At the other end, there are monarchists who want to resurrect the religious fundamentalism to the extreme of considering the King, again, as reincarnation of Lord Vishnu. The movement of Hindu fundamentalism is slowly gathering momentum as not-so-insignificant chunk in the ruling Nepali Congress has also found solace in taking refuge to this political perversion. There are other hybrid elements born out of marriage between the royalists and leftists who have dedicated their energies to defame and undermine the popularly elected parliament.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The most recent example is the blatant disobedience of several parliamentary committee summons by Lokman Singh Karki, chief of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). It may be recalled that it was Puspa Kamal Dahal who engineered the appointment of Karki, an ardent royalist who served as chief secretary of the government during king Gyanendra&#39;s absolute rule, in CIAA position. The disgruntlement of some of the parliament members towards recalcitrant Karki was also meaningless as his appointment was formally approved by the chiefs of all major political parties &ndash; Sushil Koirala of Nepali Congress, Jhala Nath Khanal of CPN-UML, Dahal himself and other Terai-based forces while Khil Raj Regmi was heading the caretaker government a year ago. The career graph of Karki was a public knowledge but that surprisingly didn&#39;t bother these &#39;big&#39; leaders and they awarded him the position he deeply craved for, for some unexplained reasons. After such a big blunder, it is but natural that the cries of &#39;small fries&#39;, like members of parliament, go unheard. To extend the argument, the discretionary abuse of the constitutional bodies like CIAA also constitute a great degree of test case on the impartiality of these institutions that are expected to function compatibly with the norms and values of the democratic dispensation. &nbsp;These are definitely some sure signals that even the &#39;structure&#39; of democracy is being gravely in peril now, let alone essence.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ideally, the alliance of Nepali Congress and UML should have been able to steer the process of constitution writing and institutionalizing democracy given the strength of popular mandate they have and their largely tested credentials to multiparty, ballot-based democracy. But, persistence of &#39;sickness&#39; and performance dysfunction of the ruling alliance has indeed been a major impediment to any outcome that helps to the cause of democracy. The chiefs of both the parties, KP Oli of UML and Prime Minister Koirala, also the Congress chief, are sick in literal terms. And, deplorably ineffective role of Constituent Assembly (CA) Chairman Subash Nembang has rendered this supposedly most crucial institution in present day Nepal as good as dead.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The government has been oblivious to a number of its public commitments which, had they been executed, would have consolidated democracy at least by a step or prevent it from boiling down to vacuum of popular representation. One of such derelictions was government&#39;s imperviousness to hold the elections to the local bodies. On the contrary, the ruling political cartel has engaged heavily in appointing controversial names in many crucial positions, including the judiciary. Nevertheless, the joint stance taken lately by Koirala and Oli to take the constitution writing process ahead and promulgate the new constitution by January 2015is no doubt appreciable. But, given the fact that they have hardly been credible in the past and apparent challenges that need a great deal of political dexterity to surpass, hopes of smooth sail are still very grim, to say the least.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Another very alarming signal that democratic forces would be pushed to further relegation is: the influential members among ruling elites are blatantly engaged in the acts which are morally indefensible. The Nepali Congress Vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel&#39;s avarice to appoint his near and dear ones to lucrative public positions, Finance Minister Dr. Ram Saran Mahat&#39;s machinations to transfer a highly controversial civil servant into his ministry and above all K P Oli&#39;s design of giving ministerial berth to his henchmen defeated in recent elections give ground for both Left and Right forces to disregard the &#39;high talks&#39; of democratic forces. There are several other such decisions that only undermine the transparency and accountability parameters, which are cornerstones of democracy.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As such, the CA has been rendered completely ineffective. There are public speeches made repeatedly, challenging to dishonour the arithmetic of CA; a crucial phenomenon as consensus is always elusive as is the case now. The political polarization has intensified. The political undercurrents are such that given the provision that the constitution needs to be ratified by two-thirds majority in the House, there could be some defectors from the ruling alliance who may dig holes in the ship.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	No doubt, Dahal is ruining his political prospects due to his own activities outside of CA and repeated flimsy announcements like &#39;initiating another revolution&#39;, &#39;forming the government from outside of parliament&#39;, &#39;writing new constitution from the street,&#39; etc. Worse, his irresponsible politics has provided much needed springboard to fringe parties, with some abstract agenda of identity and regionalism-based politics that were badly defeated in the last CA elections. They are particularly enthused by Dahal&#39;s patronship to these agenda.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Anything said and done, Nepal seems to be heading towards another constitutional crisis. The stage is being gradually set for that. There is not even a marginal possibility of promulgating a new constitution by 22nd of January, the deadline set by the political parties themselves. The ongoing unrest in the eastern part of country is perhaps deeper than it is generally perceived. Whatever federal structure one may propose, at least without any factual basis but by bare political imposition, is sure to be rejected by one section or another. Managing these discontents stemming in many forms and guises are likely to push the country to new phase of unrest and violence.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As of writing these lines, the drama of signature campaign &#39;to moot the proposal of ruling coalition&#39; into the Constitutional Dialogue Committee headed by Maoist leader Dr. Baburam Bhattarai suggests that the era of politics of consensus has been over. Democracy essentially is less about consensus but more about the rules of the game. But, here, rule breaking has been the first norm of politics. And, the politics of consensus generally endows better payoffs to weaker than the stronger. That is why Dahal and his 22-party opposition brigade is &#39;dying&#39; for this ever elusive consensus in the constitution making process. But, on the other end, Nepal now is not in a situation where it can afford to relegate potentially destructive forces from the mainstream political process. The journey from completion of drafting to promulgating the new constitution, even if takes place at all in near future, is going to be treacherous. The thought over another crucial phase of actual federalization of the state is yet to begin. Setting up new bureaucracies, reallocation of resources and dividing powers and authorities amongst the different layers of administration are the task that are going to be far more difficult than writing &nbsp;one set of generic document called &lsquo;constitution&rsquo;.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Before any tall talk on any big issue, we have but no choice to begin from the basics -- putting the derailed democracy back on track. The point of departure for one and all is; to unconditionally express faith on the rule-based game of democracy, respect for the people&#39;s mandate and in essence adopt a forward looking approach, not in a sense as touted by communists but as per the best and time tested democratic practices adhered to by the world for several centuries now.</div>
<div>
	The writer is former editor of Aarthik Abhiyan National Daily.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-12-23',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age  nepal politics news & articles, nepal politics news & articles from new business age nepal, nepal politics headlines from nepal,  current and latest nepal politics news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali nepal politics economic news and events,  ongoing  nepal politics ne',
			'description' => 'Throughout Nepal's seven decade long modern political history, the biggest problem to institutionalize democracy has been sheer absence of democratic essence among the political actors - political parties and politicians, both.  It has been true for all twists and turns in the history. Experience has it, those countries that could stabilize the democratic polity in relatively short period of political transition, say in two or three decades, enjoyed two common features. One, there was only two way fight between the democratic and autocratic forces, or colonizers and freedom fighters. Once the democrats outweighed the autocrats, the system got functionally stabilized. Second, at least for the initial transition, some charismatic and learned leader spearheaded those processes into an irrevocably functionalized and largely institutionalized form of democracy, before it could derail and eventually degenerate to anarchy or mayhem.',
			'sortorder' => '2655',
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	(int) 8 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2810',
			'article_category_id' => '209',
			'title' => 'Essay Writing Competition 2015',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/essay.jpg" style="height: 399px; width: 635px;" /></span></p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<span style="font-size:14px;">This Essay writing competition is for all Bachelor&#39;s and Master&#39;s level students from any university in Nepal<br />
	<br />
	<strong>Essay Titles</strong><br />
	1. Investment Opportunities in Nepal.<br />
	2. Nepal&#39;s Deveploment Possibilities.<br />
	3. My views about Nepal&#39;s private sector.<br />
	4. Use of Nepal&#39;s water resources.<br />
	5. Role of media in economic deveploment.<br />
	<br />
	(Two topics from this list will be selected randomly in the essay writing hall and the participants should write the essay on a topic of his/her choice from those two so selected)<br />
	<br />
	<strong>Guidelines</strong><br />
	Participants can write on the selected topic either in English or Nepali.<br />
	Participants will be given one hour to write the essay.<br />
	Copying, referring to notes or published material or electronic gadgets will be forbidden.<br />
	<br />
	<br />
	<strong>Important Dates</strong><br />
	Deadline for submission of form is 8th Baishak 2072.<br />
	Essay writing day is 11th Baishak 2072.<br />
	<br />
	<strong>Submission</strong><br />
	Participation forms can be submitted either <a href="http://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XaUaWW1NWGCW6crDCF2gqUeisHkFm0vf79G3uZoTxrs/edit">online </a>or in <a href="/userfiles/files/ESSAY%20WRITING%20COMPETITION%20form.docx">hard copy</a>.<br />
	<br />
	<strong>Email</strong><br />
	nshreemali@newbusinessage.com<br />
	asubedi@newbusinessage.com</span></p>
<p>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XaUaWW1NWGCW6crDCF2gqUeisHkFm0vf79G3uZoTxrs/edit">CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT ONLINE FORM.</a></span></p>
<p>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><a href="/userfiles/files/ESSAY%20WRITING%20COMPETITION%20form.docx">CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FORM.</a></span></p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2015-03-29',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => '',
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	(int) 9 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2808',
			'article_category_id' => '48',
			'title' => 'Rule Of Dogs',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Madan Lamsal</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	I &nbsp;have no intention of passing any derogatory remark on this faithful, trustworthy, friendly and beautiful animal called dog. With due apology to it, allow me to uncover some of present day Nepal&#39;s great eco-political mysteries with the help of this metaphor. You may have noticed, one of the greatest secrets of Nepal&#39;s perennial perils has just been revealed: it was because this country for so long was ruled by dogs. Watchdogs, barking dogs, biting dogs, wagging dogs, walking dogs, stray dogs, guarding dogs and running dogs. (Readers are welcome to add some or many more to this list depending on their own observations). How can you expect our human development indices to go up where everything is &#39;of the dogs, by the dogs and for the dogs?&#39;&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Our parliament has a big bunch of vigilante dogs who keep good watch on some of hydropower projects of their interest. Many members of parliament are the &#39;jhola ma khola&#39; agents. Therefore, if anybody sniffs in their project they bark back loudly as a dutiful guarding dog. These honourable members of this genre of canine community were quick to warn the CIAA chief Lokman Karki just not to cross the limits of a watchdog. &nbsp;Karki, who is the size of a Tibetan Mastiff declared himself just as a &lsquo;barking dog&rsquo;, thus would not accept the label of a &lsquo;biting dog&rsquo;.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Questions have been raised about the hunting abilities and choice of prey by this barking dog. People outside the political circle allege that he is running behind the small fries leaving big sharks unscathed. &nbsp;The wagging dogs who are often seen at the gates of big political leaders, heave a sigh of relief that Karki&#39;s canine teeth were blunted at the very moment of appointment, rendering him truly a mere barking dog, only capable to chase away the stray dogs in the bureaucracy, leaving alone big hounds. Karki can bark really very loudly as seen recently during the acrimonious dogfight between several parliamentary committees and the CIAA. Parliamentarians like Gagan Thapa who considers himself as a very skilled barker, anywhere everywhere, has been silenced by the just snarls of Karki.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	But, crucial question here is, why these wagging dogs are having problem with this barking dog? They should instead bark at their bosses who appointed him with an unprecedented consensus in the history of Nepal. Karki&#39;s appointment as the CIAA chief had taken onboard every possible power centre that is otherwise guarded by Polar Alsatians, German Mastiffs, Chinese Chow Chow and Indian Rajapalayams, among others. So, Karki&#39;s metamorphosis was obvious from a mere barking to a biting dog, given he finds some feebler flocks.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	And Karki has every reason to bark on these new bunch of stray dogs who dared to protest against the erection of his father&#39;s statue at Duhabi thoroughfare, which ultimately had to be demolished and a part of the ruin still pierces his heart. He knows this new barking license for him has come at a very dear financial cost and a very high degree of coalesces between red communists and pink ex-Panchas. For all these reasons, he is not deterred by any amount of barking by these new breed of dogs. Moreover, these naive and novas do not recognize the supernatural sniffing ability of Karki. That is exactly the reason he chose to avoid the successive summons by the parliamentary committees. He has the ability to tame these raucous packs by using supersensitive remote controls.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	It is also not surprising that Karki has chosen to scare some of the hydropower promoting jackals. He knows they are fleshy and if caught, the feast would be more than plentiful. This is what the bone of contention is. The stray dogs sense that this flesh may be taken away from them by this gradually becoming English Hunter from a Tibetan barking dog.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-12-23',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age no laughing matter news & articles, no laughing matter news & articles from new business age nepal, no laughing matter headlines from nepal,  current and latest no laughing matter news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali no laughing matter economic news and events,  ongoing',
			'description' => 'I  have no intention of passing any derogatory remark on this faithful, trustworthy, friendly and beautiful animal called dog. With due apology to it, allow me to uncover some of present day Nepal's great eco-political mysteries with the help of this metaphor. You may have noticed, one of the greatest secrets of Nepal's perennial perils has just been revealed: it was because this country for so long was ruled by dogs. Watchdogs, barking dogs, biting dogs, wagging dogs, walking dogs, stray dogs, guarding dogs and running dogs. (Readers are welcome to add some or many more to this list depending on their own observations). How can you expect our human development indices to go up where everything is 'of the dogs, by the dogs and for the dogs?'',
			'sortorder' => '2653',
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	(int) 10 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2801',
			'article_category_id' => '52',
			'title' => 'Commendable Contract',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal has been successful in initiating important economic reforms, ahead at least of her South Asian peers. The process of economic liberalization began in 1984, eight years before India began its first generation of reforms. The financial sector reform too was undertaken with a reasonable success a decade ago. The latest agreement between the employers and the trade unions of Nepal to execute much awaited labour law reforms is another milestone. While Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has just making a case to change their 1949 Labour Law, Nepal&#39;s success can set an example on how highly contentious issue of industrial relations could be amicably resolved through right initiatives, with confidence building arrangements in the background.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The creation of the Social Security Fund under the tripartite agreement among the government, the Employers&#39; Council headed by the FNCCI vice-president and all trade unions (there are some eleven at present) four years ago paved the way for the recent understanding. Among others, there were two major issues, one each from the employers and the workers. The employers wanted the hiring-and-firing rights and the employees wanted certainty of financial security. Both of these issues got resolved albeit in rather surprising pace. The employers exhibited a great deal of generosity to agree to contribute to twenty percent equivalent of the wages towards the Fund on top of employees&#39; contribution of eleven percent. This really constitutes a substantial sum that gives confidence to the workers. The employers have also secured the right to hire-and-fire, without seeking prior approval from the Labour Ministry, a legal provision still effective. The agreement to categorize the workers into four groups depending on the nature and necessity of the production process has also eased the labour market risks to the investors and entrepreneurs.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The two pending issues to be agreed, namely sectorial bargaining rights and no-work-no-pay should not be as difficult to resolve as other host of issues already agreed. The latter issue partially gets addressed by the hiring and firing rights of the employers. But, the sectorial bargaining norms, when agreed with a sectorial umbrella body deemed applicable to the entire sector (the industry), could be agreed with some exception of new entrants or loss-making businesses. Again, as the fair-market norm, such sectorial umbrella organizations tantamount to cartel and thus employers should also need to rethink their position in the long run.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Undoubtedly, the agreement to amend the labour laws to these effects is a welcome step. But, Nepal&#39;s political leadership must first desist to use the trade unions as the political tools. When this agreement actually becomes a law, the scope of using these trade unions as the political instrument drastically reduces. This warrants for a cautious approach that these agreed issues do not become victim of political machinations again. Nepal has also seen several such agreements and enactment of many important laws. But their enforcement and adherence have always been the problem. Therefore, all necessary institutional and logistic arrangement must be in place for desired outcome of these agreements, which in due course become law. A few of such &#39;must&#39; arrangements are: proper database of the workers, automated accounting of the Security Fund given the potential high mobility of labourers, timely deposit of the promised amounts by the employers and updated records of the same, and credible institutional set-up to ensure timely delivery of all these services.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	It is also not enough just to have these laws in place. If Nepal is expecting enhanced foreign or domestic investment, she should be able to communicate this as an achievement that has put a decades-long problem of industrial relations conclusively to an end. The trade unions affiliated to all political parties have signed this agreement, which adds one more powerful reason to invest in Nepal. Needless to say, to achieve this success in a country, which has one of the cheapest labour costs is indeed in the interest of all potential investors.&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-11-21',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
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			'description' => 'Nepal has been successful in initiating important economic reforms, ahead at least of her South Asian peers. The process of economic liberalization began in 1984, eight years before India began its first generation of reforms. The financial sector reform too was undertaken with a reasonable success a decade ago.',
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	(int) 11 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2806',
			'article_category_id' => '40',
			'title' => 'The Story Of Nepali Startups',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Akhilesh Tripathi</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The startup scene in Nepal has changed significantly over the last five&ndash;seven years, with new and young entrepreneurs coming up with innovative ideas every year. Today, though there is no official data, the number of successful startups in Nepal is estimated to be above 50. These are the companies that are said to be running in good profit. Over this period, a young Nepali startup ecosystem has been in the making, though it is still incomplete due to the absence of venture capitals in the ecosystem. With most of the successful startups belonging to the IT sector, the future of the Nepali startup industry looks promising.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;The Nepali startup scene is heading slowly but surely in a good direction,&rdquo; thinks Mark Sears, CEO of CloudFactory, one of the most successful Nepali startups. Bidhyabaridhi Sigdel, Investment Director at Dolma Impact Fund, shares similar views. &ldquo;Now we are seeing new and unique businesses, which involve a brilliant choice of timing and products,&rdquo; he says. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	It&rsquo;s not just startups like CloudFactory and F1Soft which are doing quite well, nationally as well as internationally. There are others too. For example, Grepsr, a company specializing in web crawling service. The company has international clients such as The Boston Consulting Group, GE Capital, and Target, and is doing very well in their third year. Subrat Basnet, one of the co-founders of the company emphasizes on the massive opportunity for tech entrepreneurs in Nepal to make an impact on a global scale. &ldquo;With the growth of local talent, low risk investment and low operational cost, among other things, Nepali tech entrepreneurs can really compete in the global market if they have great ideas and the right marketing,&rdquo; he says.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	11Beep is another up-and-coming startup from Nepal. It has been trying to build an anonymous mobile social network. It&rsquo;s CEO Bimal Maharjan who is an active participant at startup events around Kathmandu and has even has flown to Italy for a four-month bootcamp called TechPeaks&mdash;The People Accelerator, feels the excitement and challenges of working on an idea alongside other entrepreneurs, designers and hackers.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Another idea which was developed in Nepal and has gained some ground locally with aggressive plans to expand internationally is CashOnAd, a mobile advertising platform that is working to revolutionize the advertising world. The fact that CashOnAd&rsquo;s android app on Google Play has already been installed in more than 100,000 devices shows their success in a comparatively short period. With the mobilization of local talent and the right growth strategy, CashOnAd has the potential to be very scalable and profitable in a short period.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Innovative companies such as Grepsr, 11Beep and CashOnAd are pioneering a new era of tech entrepreneurship in Nepal. They are dreaming big and thinking of conducting business beyond the borders of Nepal and competing globally. There are also other tech companies making their presence felt in the domestic market as well as chasing the international market.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;Many more innovative ideas are surfacing at events like StartupWeekend, GDG Meetups, Hackathons, Mobile Social Networking, Tedx , BarCamp, Mapthaons.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Even Incubators like Biruwa Ventures and communities for open source and developers is growing,&rdquo; says Amit Agrawal of Janaki Technologies, &ldquo;Now the vision is crossing the borders and soon we will see kickass startups from the Himalayas, that will rock the world.&rdquo;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<table border="0" cellpadding="10" width="99%">
		<tbody>
			<tr>
				<td bgcolor="#84F2AE">
					<div>
						<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Government&rsquo;s Startup Fund</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Lately, it seems that the government has understood the importance of promoting entrepreneurship in the country. The latest national budget has announced a Startup Fund of Rs 500 million. While making his budget speech, Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat said that this Fund, which is yet to take shape, will help cultivate the culture of entrepreneurship and promote fresh ideas by bankrolling promising startups. The government expects the private sector and NRNs, too, to contribute to this seed fund, according to officials at the Department of Industry.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Pashupati Murarka, senior vice-president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), thinks that the criteria and working procedure of the Fund should be established at the earliest possible to make the allotted resources useful. &ldquo;Though the seed amount is not large, the initiative is good. The government now needs to work out an implementation plan as soon as possible,&rdquo; said Murarka, adding that the private sector can decide how to support the programme once there is clarity about the working modality.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&ldquo;It has already been four months since the government announced the Startup Fund through the national budget. Now, the government should focus on the implementation aspect of the Fund without any delay,&rdquo; advises Hari Bhakta Sharma, senior vice president of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI).</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Besides the Startup Fund, the government has been running a Business Incubation Programme (BIP) under the Department of Cottage and Small Industries (DoCSI). The BIP which has been running for the last eight years is targeted at supporting startup enterprises. &ldquo;BIP has been trying to create a favourable environment for innovative and aspiring entrepreneurs. This includes providing physical facilities and mentorship services on various aspects of management and production such as productivity enhancement, quality management, accounting, marketing and intellectual property rights,&rdquo; says Pawan Kumar Timalsena, director at DoCSI. &nbsp;</div>
				</td>
			</tr>
		</tbody>
	</table>
</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Incomplete ecosystem&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	Startups in Nepal face some common challenges in terms of taking their products international and growing the brand. The most obvious challenge is financial. Startups don&rsquo;t get loans without collaterals from the banks. Likewise, angel investors are very few and far between. So, most startups are forced to survive on bootstrapping. Thus, finance is the most difficult problem that people face in Nepal to start a startup. There are no investors willing to invest in startups, according to industry insiders.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	If an idea or product solves a problem and provides value, the target customers need to be aware of the product or service. International customers can be reached through Google AdWords, Facebook ads, advertisements in relevant platforms, among other ways. But all this needs funding. Financial leverage is necessary for this, and the company should have adequate capital to properly market the product or service. This is one area where most of the Nepali startups are lagging behind.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;In most cases, finding investors for ideas or early stage ventures is extremely challenging. Therefore, we recommend that entrepreneurs build some sort of track record before approaching investors,&rdquo; says Vidhan Rana, founder-managing partner of Biruwa Ventures.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The risk-averse culture in Nepal has led to less competition among the startups than in other parts of the world. This lack of overall competition has hurt the start up ecosystem in terms of quality, valuations, and market-building. But the industry is growing, though slowly, say the industry insiders.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Other Challenges</strong></div>
<div>
	Another challenge is talent. Nepal has many colleges from where thousands of students are graduating every year. However, tech companies have a hard time finding the right talent when necessary. &ldquo;While there are many young talented people in Nepal, there are few senior, experienced engineers and managers,&rdquo; shares Sears.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Publicity is another challenge for the Nepali startups. To expand globally, Nepali startups need a network or presence outside of Nepal. Getting covered by popular tech blogs, websites, international media etc. could help create awareness of Nepal-based companies. In this context, events like Startup Weekend Kathmandu platform is a good one. At such events, innovative ideas can get some initial traction through its wide network and reach.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Starting up a startup is another major challenge. Though some initiatives have been taken to provide funding for startups which have survived at least for a couple of years or more, startups do not get financial help from banks or other similar institutions at their initial stage. In simple words, there are no institutions to provide seed capital to startups.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;The ecosystem here carries a general feeling that the startups do not know anything about business. Whereas, in advanced markets, startups are received in a positive connotation,&rdquo; observes Bibhusan Bista, CEO of Young Innovations, a Nepali tech startup, which has been helping new startups by organizing startup events like &ldquo;Hackathon&rdquo; among others.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
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					<div>
						<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>IFC&rsquo;s Business Oxygen (BO2)</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						BO2 is a USD 14 million SME venture fund established in partnership with International Finance Corporation (IFC), Bank of Kathmandu and Beed Management. It was established in 2012 to provide risk capital to Small and Medium Enterprises in Nepal through structured equity and quasi-equity investments. It specializes in providing finance to SMEs that might be ignored by BFIs, or cannot access finance from BFIs due to a lack of collateral. BO2 looks for promising entrepreneurs who have worked on good business ideas and show a flair for entrepreneurship.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Companies may qualify for BO2 if they satisfy any two of the three criteria, namely: less than 50 staff, total assets below Rs 250 million and total annual turnover below Rs 250 million. In addition to funding, BO2 provides advisory services to build the capacities of small and medium enterprises to reach the next level.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>Who can qualify for investment?</strong></div>
					<div>
						BO2 concentrates on small entrepreneurs who want to take the step up to the next level. We are looking for SMEs in the growth stage with a history of profitable performance and potential for creating value for investors in the time period of the investment. Entrepreneurs should keep in mind the following points when considering funding from BO2:</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&bull; This is not &#39;free&#39; or &#39;subsidized&#39; money.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&bull; The business or its owners should not be blacklisted. Preferably the company should not have bank loans, or if it does, then it should be repayable with the investment amount.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&bull; The company should be registered in the CRO as a public limited or a private limited company.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&bull;Since BO2 is looking at growth stage companies for investment, the company should have been in business for at least 2 years. If under 2 years then the owners should have been involved in the same sector for more than 2 years.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&bull; BO2&#39;s investment will be utilized for the purpose of increasing top or bottom line.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>Investment Period</strong></div>
					<div>
						BO2 investment is only for a period of four years, which may be extended by a maximum of one year. At the end of the investment period BO2 will exit the investment by selling its shares in the company, back to the original owners at a predetermined value. BO2provides investment in nine sectors: Manufacturing, Energy Based, Agro and Forest Based, Tourism, Trading, IT and Communication, service industries, construction and infrastructure, and realty.&nbsp;</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<em>(Source: IFC)&nbsp;</em></div>
				</td>
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		</tbody>
	</table>
</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Focus on the Global Tech Map</strong></div>
<div>
	&ldquo;Tech entrepreneurs are becoming more ambitious, focused on putting Nepal on the tech map, despite the challenges in taking their product into the global market. Soon, it would not be surprising to hear of big ideas from Nepal making a global impact,&rdquo; says Rana. He advises those who want to start a startup to focus on doing branding well, having a unique offering, scalable business model, global thinking, flat hierarchy with a good working culture, and getting inspired by what&rsquo;s happening globally.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	With quality product and right expansion strategy, a handful of tech companies from Nepal are venturing into the global stage and starting to make an impact. Though challenges come with the territory, Nepal&rsquo;s tech companies have a remarkable opportunity to take a bite out of the global tech scene.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Subrat of Grespr believes that Nepal can be put on the tech map. &ldquo;But to put Nepal on the global tech map, we need more companies from Nepal like CloudFactory, F1Soft, Janaki Technologies and Grepsr, and an ecosystem that builds and nurtures quality startups,&rdquo; he says.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Sustainability Issue</strong></div>
<div>
	Industry insiders believe that Nepalis are very capable of innovative work. But the reality on the ground is that Nepal doesn&#39;t seem to have good homegrown startups. There is foreign involvement in most of the leading startups from Nepal. Most of the tech startups that do exist are happy doing outsourcing jobs which might not be a sustainable solution for development of IT in Nepal. What could be the reason?</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Niranjan Bom Malla, founder of Vidinterest.com says, &ldquo;Based on my experience, there are two big problems that we have in our country right now. One, the Nepali culture of investment, very few angel investors - for most of them, IT startup is not the 1st choice. They think they have better places to invest in other sectors. Two, most of the foreign investors are not comfortable investing in our country, because of our political and financial situation. Trust me, I had talks with more than 100 angel investors over the last two years.&rdquo;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Experts also believe that startup businesses should always focus on creating a strong team to sustain their growth. &ldquo;Without a strong team, even businesses with strong potential are at the risk of failure,&rdquo; observes Rana.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Bista of Young Innovations believes that Nepali startups should come up with new ideas of business rather than copying successful global products and trends for sustainability in the long run.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
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				<div>
					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Janaki Technology: Building Acclaimed Software</strong></span></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
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							<td>
								<img alt="Amit Agrawal, CEO,  Janaki Technology" src="/userfiles/images/cs1(3).JPG" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 239px;" /></td>
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								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Amit Agrawal</strong></div>
									<div>
										CEO&nbsp;</div>
									<div>
										Janaki Technology</div>
								</div>
							</td>
						</tr>
					</tbody>
				</table>
				<div>
					Janaki Technology is a software product company well known for its SMS based service, Sparrow SMS and it&rsquo;s much acclaimed application Picovico. Founded in 2007 as a normal web application and outsourcing company, it entered the Nepal SMS Value Added Service (VAS) Market in 2010. It harnessed its experience of catering to the software needs of its national and multinational clients and built &lsquo;Sparrow SMS&rsquo;in 2010 as a platform to facilitatevarious SMS based services.&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					SMS services and VAS was not a new thing in Nepal by then, &ldquo;however, we were unique in our implementation and use of latest technology. Our strong technical team worked hard to make it better than other existing SMS services,&rdquo; Amit Agrawal, CEO of the company says while elaborating on the success mantra of the service.</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					The company served multinational clients inside and outside the country and Sparrow SMS has received national and international awards. &ldquo;We are still focusing on innovating our products and there is a long way to go,&rdquo; Agrawal said.</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					In 2011 the company rolled out Picovico, an application to convert photos into video. The product was selected for seed funding in 2011 by &lsquo;the Morpheus Ventures&rsquo; India. A year later, the Chile Government selected it for &quot;StartupChile&quot; programme awarding it equity free funding of 40,000 USD.&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					Agrawal shares that the company focused on research and development for making the products and therefore remained in loss during its initial years. But since than the company has been in profit and presently its annual growth rate has been between 15 to 20%.</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					Reflecting on challenges that the company faced as a startup, Agrawal shares that they also went through common problems faced other businesses in Nepal like load-shedding, delayed and multi-layered government processes, shortage of talented workforce and unfriendly business policies. &ldquo;Not having proper startup-ecosystem in the country was another big problem, when we started,&rdquo; he said. &nbsp;&ldquo;Lack of industry support from government, angel investors and startup accelerators along with unclear laws about IT industry and small market size are other major problems especially for Nepali tech companies,&rdquo; he shared. The company has gained substantial popularity among local clients and is presently doing market research to expand its reach beyond Nepal, Agrawal said adding that the company is working on pushing Picovico in the global market, especiallyin Europe and America. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<strong>&nbsp;(By Upashana Neupane)</strong></div>
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<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
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								<img alt="Ujjwal Chapagain, Managing Director, Himalayan Rabbit Farm" src="/userfiles/images/cs2(7).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 238px;" /></td>
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							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Ujjwal Chapagain</strong></div>
									<div>
										Managing Director</div>
									<div>
										Himalayan Rabbit Farm</div>
								</div>
							</td>
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				<div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Himalayan Rabbit Farm: A Social Start-up</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Ujjwal Chapagain, managing director of The Himalayan Rabbit Farm took up the risk of leaving a secure job and entering into an unchartered business terrain of commercial rabbit meat production. Such a business is still little known about across the country. When Chapagain thought of it as a business venture, he was questioned more than assured to take the risk. But he succeeded.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						He thought that a small risk taken could help in the sectorial as well as his personal growth. In the very beginning, he had decided his business venture will be a social enterprise rather than a purely commercial. Established in 2012, the venture has provided 100 small farmers with an extra source of income in the form ofrabbit farming.Along with that six farmers have been producing rabbits on a larger scale, following the footsteps and guidelines of Chapagain.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Chapagain was a jobholder in the non-governmental sector. He left the job and invested all his savings in starting up an organic vegetable shop at Jhamsikhel and an integrated farm in Bhaktapur in partnership with some friends. Unfortunately, the project did not succeed, the cause of which he alludes to lack of teamwork with his business partners. After this, he found himself at the crossroads forced to choose between doing business and reverting to being a jobholder. He decided to stay.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						He explored various business prospects and finally decided to start rabbit farming. He took the decision after figuring out that rabbit meat had high demand in the market, as it had remained unnoticed as a livestock farming option and therefore had no substantial competitors. Besides that, another major reason, which attracted his attention, was the fact that rabbit meat is considered to be healthy food and as people were being oriented towards healthy meat options, he thought that he could cater to this consumer sentiment.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						After finalizing his new business idea, Chapagain faced the problem of capital shortage. As he had spent all his savings in the previous venture, the only option left to him was borrowing from a bank. Considering the failure of his earlier business venture, it was hard to convince family members to put up family land as collateral for acquiring bank loan for his new venture. He convinced them and he acquired a bank loan and started rabbit farming in partnership.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The company has around 500 rabbits at its rabbit farm in Balambu, Kathmandu. For breeding, there are around 100 females. It is planning to upgrade the existing breeding centre into a modern one for breeding high yielding rabbit breeds. Presently, it procures 300 to 400 kilograms of rabbit meat every month from farmers situated in different parts of the country. Chapagain says that this quantity is consumed in the market, which primarily consists of hotels and restaurants.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cs3(7).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 399px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Within two years, Himalayan Rabbit Farm has succeeded to put rabbit meat as an option on menus. The success stems from the fact that people, who have tasted it, have loved it. Chapagain feels that interest towards the meat has been growing and he has been continuously working to boost it. To increase customer attraction and establish rabbit meat eating culture, the company had provided free tasting samples to visitors of Food, Drinks and Hospitality Exhibition held in September this year.The company has been working on innovating rabbit meat dishes in association with Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management (NATHM), so that hotels and restaurants could replicate them.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						On the social side, Chapagain has been constantly working with local farmers to help them in rearing rabbits and thereby generating additional household income. The company provides training on rabbit keeping, managing and shade building for rabbit farming to farmer, among other support.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						As of now, farmers in Mayagdi, Rasuwa, Sindhuli, Dolakha, Nawalparas and Kathmandu have taken up rabbit farming. He says that famers from other areas have been also showing interests.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						In the past two years, Chapagain has made a huge leap in introducing a totally new area to livestock farming in Nepal and now he wishes to establish rabbit farming as a national programme, similar to that of pig, goat and poultry farming. Along with this he wishes to make rabbit meat easily available in the market for purchase. To this end he has plans up his sleeves to set up outlets for selling rabbit meat products in places with higher market volume.</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<strong>(By Gaurav Aryal)</strong></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
				</div>
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					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Selling the Innovation</strong></span></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
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								<img alt="Madhukar KC, Founder, Matribhumi Urja Pvt Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/cs4(6).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 243px;" /></td>
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							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Madhukar KC</strong></div>
									<div>
										Founder</div>
									<div>
										Matribhumi Urja Pvt Ltd</div>
								</div>
							</td>
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				</table>
				<div>
					<div>
						Madhukar KC, founder of Matribhumi Urja Pvt Ltd invented a fuel-efficient wood fire stove that is being commercially developed. Recently, he has designed eight different burners and presented them to the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre, as requested. These designs include skewer stove, high-altitude stove, portable stove and bio-gas stove among others for household and commercial use.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						CB Urja Pvt Ltd has been granted the production and marketing rights for the wood fireportable stovesKC innovated. It started production since mid-May 2014 from its Balaju Industrial Estate based factory.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The government has recently decided to provide five ropanis of land in Chitwan to set up a factory produce burners at a larger scale, KC informed. He is optimistic that the decision would help to develop his venture. His journey so far has been challenging, especially during the research stage, as he had to personally finance his research and development works. Sharing his experience, KC complains of banks and financial institution&rsquo;s unwillingness to take intellectual property as collateral for providing loans. In lack of loans, he has been managing investments with the profit earned by selling the products.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						KC, originally a resident of Pyuthan had moved to Chitwan and it is where he first introduced the product to the public. The first prototype of woodfire stove was developed after a long series of trial and errors on coal stove. A successful prototype was developed in the 33rd attempt. For over 13 years he has been devoting all his time in developing the product. Coming now, he has improvised his products to use bio-mass. KC says that the performance of his stoves is higher than the government benchmark claiming that his stoves scored 29 in the benchmark against the official benchmark of 25. KC plans to develop products that can score around 33 to 35 in terms of performance and fuel efficiency. &nbsp;Presently he has been working fuel-efficient stoves to be used with bio-gas and liquefiedpetroleum gas (LPG).</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						KC&rsquo;s stove, besides firewood, can use biomass such as pine leaves, seeds of Schima Wallichi (Chilaune) tree, seeds of Hog Plum (Lapsi) and other bio wastages, which generally remain unused, as fuel source. A candy factory in Parbat entirely uses Hog Plum seeds to fuel the stove. This unique portable stove uses two watt computer fan for air supply. The insulated version of the stove does not heat the room as it is covered by mud, specially designed for the Terai region. The fixed stoves installed in rural households also have similar mechanism and provide better flames while emitting lower smoke. KC says that these stoves can be customised to fit in the requirements of an individual household. This mechanism makes it fuel-efficient, environment and user friendly while ensuring smoke free kitchen.Along with that stove uses parts made of recycled metals supplied by the Butwal based Metal Craft Pvt Ltd.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cs5(5).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 399px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;KC is the first to incubate at the Business Incubation Programme of the Department of Cottage and Small Industries (DoCSI). In 2009, KC was recognised by National Academy for Science and Technology (NAST) with an award for developing efficient stoves. He was also awarded with Surya Nepal Asha Social Entrepreneurship Award in 2013. After being awarded with the awards, KC realized the buzz that his business had created in the market. He has registered patent rights for his innovations. Presently he has been trying to acquire international patent rights for his LPG and bio-gas burners and the DoCSI has pledged assistance in this endeavour.&nbsp;</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<strong>(By Gaurav Aryal)</strong></div>
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	&nbsp;</div>
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					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>CloudFactory: A Crowd-sourcing Powerhub</strong></span></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
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								<img alt="Mark Sears, CEO, CloudFactory" src="/userfiles/images/cs6(5).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 218px;" /></td>
						</tr>
						<tr>
							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Mark Sears</strong></div>
									<div>
										CEO, CloudFactory</div>
								</div>
							</td>
						</tr>
					</tbody>
				</table>
				<div>
					<div>
						As crowd-sourcing and cloud-working are becoming the next big things in the global outsourcing market, new companies are flocking into this lucrative business. CloudFactory, a Kathmandu-based startup has emerged among the frontrunners in the global crowd-sourcing market. The company, founded in 2010 by a Canadian tech entrepreneur, Mark Sears, is rapidly expanding its foothold in Nepal and beyond. CloudFactory came into existence when Sears came to Nepal on a vacation with his wife in 2008. &nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The company basically is a web-based outsourcing platform that hires cloud-workers who can work from their internet enabled locations. CloudFactory&#39;s clients are those who need big data services such as data entry, data processing, data collection along with audio/video transcription, categorization, web research and image tagging. The tasks are broken down into sets of &quot;microtasks&quot; which are then distributed to its pool of online workers who complete their work in the &quot;virtual assembly lines&quot;. CloudFactory currently employs 3,200 workers from Nepal and across the world, who process over a million tasks per day.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>&lsquo;&lsquo;Nepali startup scene is heading slowly but surely in a good direction&rsquo;&rsquo;</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>How did the idea of CloudFactory germinate?</strong></div>
					<div>
						In 2008, we were a software development company building web and mobile applications for North American and European clients. Many of them started needing data entry related work and kept asking if we could hire people in Nepal and do it. We kept saying no because we were a high-end software boutique and not a data entry company. At the same time we had been living in Nepal for a year and only hiring talented computer engineering fresher. &nbsp;During the period we met many other talented Nepalis looking for an opportunity. The major existing solution was Amazon&#39;s Mechanical Turk (AMT) - a crowd sourcing internet marketplace. But its enterprise-grade was not enough for our clients and we faced many quality related problems. So we started CloudFactory on January 1, 2010 as a technology platform to cater to the big demand and supply of online workers and haven&#39;t looked back since then.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>What are the turning points for your company?</strong></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;The shift from a software development company to a product company back in Jan 2010 was a major turning point. Another major turning point was in May 2012 when we hired our first 25 cloud workers in Nepal. Up until then we were a tech/engineering company building a platform and now we had to learn how to recruit, train and manage large numbers of data operators.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>What problems did you face while starting the business?&nbsp;</strong></div>
					<div>
						While there are many young, talented people in Nepal there are less senior, experienced engineers and managers. We are a young team and in many ways I think that has been a good thing, we have learned a lot and grown together. I am so proud of the things we have accomplished to get to this point and I look around and see that I am surrounded by some of the finest young leaders in Nepal - it is amazing to see the growth and maturity that comes from being part of a growing international startup like this.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>How did you manage the investments?</strong></div>
					<div>
						Our team, technology and traction are the keys to us for raising investments. This latest round was definitely related to our participation in a business accelerator in the US where I got to meet and pitch to a lot of great investors at the end of the 7-month program.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>What are the major projects of CloudFactory? What are its main focuses?&nbsp;</strong></div>
					<div>
						Large-scale data entry, audio/video transcription, web research, image tagging and categorization are our major projects. Companies come to us with large amounts of routine and repetitive work that we can break down in small tasks that can be partially automated but require people as well to complete many of them.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>Have you got any help from the government or private organizations?</strong></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;While we have not received any formal help from the government we have very much appreciated informal support from people like Radhesh Pant at Nepal Investment Board. While their focus is mostly on the top hydropower investments in Nepal but he understands and appreciates the opportunity for companies like CloudFactory to provide job creation in Nepal. As a landlocked country we need to be thinking more about how we can accelerate the shift to a knowledge economy. For that ICT should be higher on the priority of the government. Even so, the most important thing the government could do is stay out of the way of ICT growth in Nepal and focus on not being a hindrance and let entrepreneurs continue to innovate from their internet-enabled residences across the Kathmandu valley.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>What are the challenges being faced by the Nepali tech startups?</strong></div>
					<div>
						Tech startups in Nepal are mostly just freelancers working together in small teams of 2-20 people. They work on the early development side of web and mobile applications but rarely get the opportunity to build a full business by bringing products to market themselves. We need some more product startups to go through the full lifecycle to see some wins on the international stage. We will then have the capital and experience to start the second wave of tech startups in Nepal. I see this happening in the next 3-5 years. Until then many will continue to get experience on the engineering/product development side by building other people&#39;s products. The future is bright, Nepali startup scene is heading slowly but surely in a good direction.</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<strong>(By Sanjeev Sharma)</strong></div>
				</div>
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	&nbsp;</div>
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				<div>
					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>&ldquo;Lack of human resource to work on our ventures is the major problem&rdquo;</strong></span></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<table align="right" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;" width="25">
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								<img alt="Anil Basnet, Chief Operating Officer  Metro Vibes" src="/userfiles/images/cs7(2).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 243px;" /></td>
						</tr>
						<tr>
							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Anil Basnet</strong></div>
									<div>
										Chief Operating Officer&nbsp;</div>
									<div>
										Metro Vibes</div>
								</div>
							</td>
						</tr>
					</tbody>
				</table>
				<div>
					<div>
						Metro Vibes, is a startup company that specializes in web design, development and hosting, email services, graphic design, domain registration, and providing IT consultancy and internet marketing services. After working for over five years with other tech companies, Anil Basnet, Chief Operating Officer of Metro Vibes, felt the need to establish his own IT company. He shared the idea with his three friends and they conceived Metro Vibes.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Company&rsquo;s growth curve has been pretty stable and has improved substantially since its establishment. Presently 22 employees are working with company and Basnet said more would be joining in the near future. &ldquo;We work hard to meet projects deadline. We get up at 4 in the morning for our venture Metro Tarkari and ensure that the delivery is made within the set time frame,&rdquo; Basnet said while elaborating on the growth factors.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Though the venture faced financial crisis in its initial days, lack of skilled manpower was and remains the major problem. &ldquo;We have unique concepts, required finance and latest technological equipments, but there is scarcity of skilled manpower who can translate our venture ideas into actions,&rdquo; stated Basnet. Another problem is the absence of government policy on ecommerce. &ldquo;We are confused about the method of handling online transactions,&rdquo; he added.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Starting the Merotarkari.com, an online vegetable ecommerce system, was one of the most prominent turning points for the company. This venture boosted the company&rsquo;s working style and contributed in its expansion. The concept of virtual receptionist was another unique idea in office automation that became a major turning point for the company.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The company started with five clients in the initial phase and coming now it is serving more than 120 trustable clients that range from national to international boundaries. Its core products are mterotarkari.com, metrofever.com, metro bulk email service, and metro biometric attendance system.&nbsp;<strong>(By Angila Sharma)</strong></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
				</div>
			</td>
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	</tbody>
</table>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
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			<td bgcolor="B5F1E6">
				<div>
					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>&lsquo;&lsquo;The company has been working hard to extend its reach to every field&rsquo;&rsquo;</strong></span></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<table align="right" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;" width="25">
					<tbody>
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							<td>
								<img alt="Shraddha Timilsina, CEO, Sastra Creations Pvt Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/cs8(2).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 242px;" /></td>
						</tr>
						<tr>
							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Shraddha Timilsina</strong></div>
									<div>
										CEO</div>
									<div>
										Sastra Creations Pvt Ltd</div>
								</div>
							</td>
						</tr>
					</tbody>
				</table>
				<div>
					<div>
						Sastra Creations Pvt Ltd is an IT startup company that provides wide range of services including web design and development, hosting, graphics designing, mobile app and software development. The company was founded in 2012 by two IT students Shraddha Timilsina and Binamra Dhakal in their pursuit of utilising their IT skills. &quot;We perceived that IT sector has great opportunities and possibilities in Nepal and hence decided to work and build our own IT business,&rdquo; Timilsina, who presently acts as the CEO of the company, said.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						In the two years of its establishment, the company had several major turning points. Launching the Nation Wide Web Competition 2013in partnership with the Computer Association of Nepal (CAN), on 2nd January, 2013 provided it with much needed publicity and helped gain reputation as an authority in the IT sector. &quot;It helped talented and skilled participants in acquiring better knowledge about opportunities in web design and development. It helped us to grow at the national level,&rdquo; Timilsina said. Next to it, the company provided IT support for conducting online election of Nepal Medical Council online. Launching its own range of software &ndash; school software and Catreen management software &ndash; in September 2014 provided it much impetus for being included in the top 20 IT startup companies by the ICT magazine.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Software and websites sales has been major source of the company&rsquo;s income and investment. It claims that its annual income has grown about three times from 2012 to 2014 with current annual turnover resting at Rs 12 lakh. It has provided employment opportunities to more than 10 youths in 2 years.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The Company has been able to sustain and grow on its own due to the total dedication of its founders and employees. The success, however, was not easy. It has faced its share of financial and operational obstacles and challenges in the first few months of establishment. Timilsina thinks that lack of proper system and knowledge about IT and load shedding are the major problems faced by them. Reflecting on her experience, Timilsina said that it is hard to acquire big projects or partnership with bigger organizations in lack of personal links with them.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						For any business, Timilsina thinks that market is important. She claims that taking business online just provides any business with the market. It is not possible to promote business without going online and it is time efficient if you are using digital marketing tools including software to run a business, she claims. The company perceives each and every sector including agriculture, entertainment, ecommerce, restaurants and hotels, travel agencies and any other business to be its potential client.<strong>&nbsp;(By Rashika Pokharel)</strong></div>
				</div>
			</td>
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	&nbsp;</div>
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					<strong><span style="font-size: 16px;">&ldquo;We are working on making our technology strong and making it securer&rdquo;</span></strong></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
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								<img alt=" Bimal Maharjan, CEO, 11Beep" src="/userfiles/images/cs9(1).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 242px;" /></td>
						</tr>
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							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Bimal Maharjan</strong></div>
									<div>
										CEO, 11Beep</div>
								</div>
							</td>
						</tr>
					</tbody>
				</table>
				<div>
					<div>
						11Beep is startup company, which since recently have been gaining popularity as a social network that provides platform to individuals to enjoy unrestrained personal freedom of expression.11Beep is a network built specially for mobilephones that doesn&rsquo;t keep any digital history. It lets you share freely what is on your mind with your friends without worrying about any digital footprint.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						11Beep came into operation on November 2013 following Bimal Maharjan&rsquo;s, the CEO of the company, competitive analysis of the market to find the company&rsquo;s startup idea. Maharjan had conceived the idea after analysing various posts on different social networking sites.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&quot;People only share trendy thoughts on social networking sites but hesitate to share thoughts that might be considered or taken in negative light by their social networking peers. 11Beep provides anonymity to individuals and emancipates them from the fear of being identified thereby enabling them to share their thoughts spontaneously without any restraints, says Maharjan, CEO of 11Beep. Thus this network paves way for individuals to share their thoughts, whatever their nature, whenever it strikes to their mind. Besides anonymity, this network has another cool feature of deleting all the post after certain time frame. This feature enables that the individual does not leave digital footprint behind for others to trace. Fundamentally, it is a social network with quite higher levelof security.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The company has been running by five-member team &ndash; with only CEO committing his full time to it and others helping him out on part time basis. 11Beep is preparing to launch another product in the market but before launching it, its been focusing on making the existing product more user friendly and winning user confidence.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&quot;Our startup is based on the idea of a loosing algorithm and is designed for maintaining anonymity. We don&#39;t want to go wrong anywhere. We are working on making our technology strong and making it securer. We have required technical competencies and expertise and are very happy with our work and knowing that we are on the track of gaining our objective,&quot; says Maharjan.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The company is sustaining through its own resources and has not got any support from government. &quot;Fortunately I don&#39;t have to pay my team so that is a relief .We don&#39;t require huge investment and our biggest need at the moment is human capital, we are investing on our own so right now we don&#39;t feel the need for funding but in the next phase, we will need huge investment,&quot; he added.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						As a part of its aim, Beep11 believes in building something which people can make good use of. But being a start up it has its own woes too. &quot;Our society in not built to encourage tech entrepreneurs and as in the initial phase they don&rsquo;t earn much to sustain, it is very difficult for startups to establish in Nepal,&rdquo; Maharjan said.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>(By Rashika Pokharel)</strong></div>
				</div>
			</td>
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<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
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	<tbody>
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				<div>
					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Sasto Deal: Providing the Best Deals</strong></span></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
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					<tbody>
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							<td>
								<img alt="Amun Thapa, CEO, Sasto Deal" src="/userfiles/images/cs0(1).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 239px;" /></td>
						</tr>
						<tr>
							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Amun Thapa</strong></div>
									<div>
										CEO, Sasto Deal</div>
								</div>
							</td>
						</tr>
					</tbody>
				</table>
				<div>
					<div>
						Sasto Deal (SD) is one of the prominent rising stars of online retail shops in Nepal. The company was started almost 3 years ago with the aim of switching offline Nepali market to online and providing best deals. Upon returning from the US, Amun Thapa, SD&rsquo;s CEO, decided to do some business and began to search for ideas that would sell. It did not take long to Amun to realize that Nepali people had been wasting some really useful hours in shopping. &ldquo;I found people lingering to different places in search of different items. I asked myself if everyone was doing the same and the answer was yes. I was compelled to seek for a solution and I knew there was one. However, the sad part was that no one was doing anything about it,&rdquo; says Thapa. He realized that he could save people this hours by taking it online and making it available on their desktop or mobile phones. The idea was simple but he needed people who could translate his vision into reality. This brought him in touch with his schoolmates who were pursuing their degree in the IT field. They worked around the idea and gave birth to Sasto Deal. The initial phase was a bumpy ride as they had problems in making deals. It was difficult for them to make people believe in online business. &ldquo;People laughed at our ideas and we had to go out to the market begging for deals. But now, the same people are begging us to feature their products,&rdquo; says Thapa proudly. The company believes that the initial phase was difficult because online business was a new term to this part of the world and also because the rulers find it difficult to trust the new comers. The company believes that they are grown large.&ldquo;I would probably say the growth rate is over 100% right now, this is not only due to the fact that the company is outperforming but also due to the fact that we are in the e-commerce business and with every single product, our chances for growth increases,&rdquo; Avash K.C, CO-CEO of Sasto Deal, said.</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<strong>(By Angila Sharma)</strong></div>
				</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
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	<tbody>
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			<td bgcolor="B5F1E6">
				<div>
					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Himalayan Wonders: A Travel Startup with a Difference</strong></span></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<table align="right" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;" width="25">
					<tbody>
						<tr>
							<td>
								<img alt="Nishes Thapa, Operations Manager, Himalayan Wonders" src="/userfiles/images/cs01.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 206px;" /></td>
						</tr>
						<tr>
							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Nishes Thapa</strong></div>
									<div>
										Operations Manager</div>
									<div>
										Himalayan Wonders</div>
								</div>
							</td>
						</tr>
					</tbody>
				</table>
				<div>
					<div>
						The Internet has changed the way companies do their business and tourism sector is no exception to it. Himalayan Wonders, a Nepali travel startup, also harnessed the latest developments made in the field of online technology and took all its business online. Founded in 2013, the company provides affordable tours and trekking packages to Nepal. This online portal is packed with informative contents and pictures and travellers can choose and book any tour package online through any Internet enabled device such as smartphone and tablet from anywhere in the world.Himalayan Wonders came into existence when an American geologist Dr David Urmann and his Brazilian friend Pablo Souto Maior suggested Nishes Thapato start his own company. Dr Urmann has been visiting Nepal since the mid-90s&#39; for research on climate change and in credited for establishing the company. Dr. Urmann and another Co-founder, Maior, promote the startup in the global market while Thapa heads the Nepal operations of the company. The company has been receiving overwhelming response from travellers and trekkers around the globe. Within a year it has received five-star rating from Trip Advisor and many positive reviews from its satisfied customers. &nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>&lsquo;&lsquo;Ever since the inception of the company, we never looked back&rsquo;&rsquo;</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>How did your business idea germinate?</strong></div>
					<div>
						I was born in Tripureshwor VDC of Dhading and tourists visiting Ganesh Himal pass through it. Those tourists always fascinated me and it is during these days that my interest of doing something in tourism industry developed. In 1998 I came to Kathmandu and started working in the tourism sector. I worked for different people and gained industry experience that one must have in order to thrive in this booming industry. Dr David Urmann, an American friend of mine, suggested me to establish my own travel company. With his and his Brazilian friend Pablo Souto Maior constant help, we established the company in 2013.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>What is the growth rate of your company?</strong></div>
					<div>
						Since its inception, we have never looked back. Our business is growing every year. With the end of the decade long insurgency, the tourism and hospitality industry has been prospering. If this continues, I am hopeful of maintaining the existing healthy growth rate.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>What problems did you face while starting the business?&nbsp;</strong></div>
					<div>
						We have not faced major problems till date. Our business so far has been smooth with tremendous support from staffs, friends and families. However, events such as general strikes and political instability in the country, have always posed to be a big threat. In the past, we have suffered financial losses due to such condition.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>How are you managing investments?</strong></div>
					<div>
						We received bank loans to meet our initial investment requirements. In due course of time as the company started to grow, I borrowed money from friends and even used my personal savings to make further investment. We keep track of every penny that goes out as expenditure and comes in as earning. We keep our books up-to-date and this has become the success mantra of the company.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>Have you got any help from the government or private organizations?</strong></div>
					<div>
						We have not received any help from the government. &nbsp;If government agencies show interest in us, we would be glad to work together for the growth of this industry. Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN) has provided us substantial help in promoting our business at the international level.&nbsp;</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<strong>(By Sanjeev Sharma)</strong></div>
				</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-12-23',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age cover story news & articles, cover story news & articles from new business age nepal, cover story headlines from nepal,  current and latest cover story news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali cover story economic news and events,  ongoing  cover story news of nepal',
			'description' => 'The startup scene in Nepal has changed significantly over the last five–seven years, with new and young entrepreneurs coming up with innovative ideas every year. Today, though there is no official data, the number of successful startups in Nepal is estimated to be above 50. These are the companies that are said to be running in good profit. Over this period, a young Nepali startup ecosystem has been in the making, though it is still incomplete due to the absence of venture capitals in the ecosystem. With most of the successful startups belonging to the IT sector, the future of the Nepali startup industry looks promising.',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2805',
			'article_category_id' => '31',
			'title' => '‘‘New Generation Scorpio Delivers Exceptional Value And Accessible Technology’’',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<span style="font-size: 14px;">Sagar Bhadkamkar is the deputy general manager for exports and sales of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. The company recently launched a new product, New Generation Scorpio. Bhadkamkar was in Kathmandu for the launch and<strong>&nbsp;Angila Sharma&nbsp;</strong>and<strong>&nbsp;Rashika Pokharel&nbsp;</strong>of the New Business Age caught up with him and discussed the features of this product and the company&rsquo;s marketing strategy for the Nepali market.<strong>&nbsp;Excerpts:</strong></span></div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>What is the purpose of your visit?</strong></div>
	<div>
		The basic purpose of my visit here is to launch the New Generation Scorpio in Nepali market.This is the first international launch of the product following its launch in India a month earlier.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>What is new in the New Generation Scorpio?&nbsp;</strong></div>
	<div>
		New Generation Scorpio, as the name indicates, is a completely new Scorpio in terms of safety, comfort, ride, technology and exterior looks. Some of thesenew features are: new hi-tech 6-inch touch screen infotainment system, micro hybrid technology, smart rain and light sensors, tyre-tronics and voice assist system. It hasa new recalibrated engine that is more fuel-efficient. Earlier version of the Scorpio provided a mileage of 14.05 km per litre, but the new oneguarantees a mileage of 15.15 km per litre.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>How has the journey through these two versions of Scorpios been?</strong></div>
	<div>
		Scorpio was a tremendous leap of faith for us when it was launched 12 years ago. It established the foundation for the development of an entirely new generation of vehicles from Mahindra. More importantly, it helped to transform the Mahindra brand, giving it a sophisticated urban edge at a time when we were primarily thought of as a rural player. The New Generation Scorpio will deliver exceptional value and accessible technology to our customers.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		When we unveiled the first Scorpio in June 2002, it was an emotional moment for all of us at Mahindra and a defining moment for the company. Unknown to us at that time, a dream, an icon, and a style statement was born. The Scorpio did wonders for the Mahindra brand in urban India and in markets worldwide. To see the Scorpio become the pride of over 4.5 lakh customers, sell over 50,000 vehicles during each of the last three years in a row, rule Indian roads for over 12 years and transform the India&rsquo;s SUV space, is a remarkable achievement back in our homeland.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>How do you assess the Nepali market for four wheelers?</strong></div>
	<div>
		Nepal is a very competitive market for four wheelers. It is probably one of the most strategic markets for us where we are seeing gradual growth. That is the reason we have always focused on Nepal for our four wheelers market.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>What is your expectationof the market share with the new product?</strong></div>
	<div>
		New Generation Scorpio is introduced with the right price and comes with additional modern features that our targeted customers will love to have. So, we expect a boom in the sales of this product.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>How do you see Nepal as a market for Mahindra products?</strong></div>
	<div>
		Nepal is a good market for our products. We have been enjoying leadership in tractors, utility vehicles, information technology, financial services and vacation ownership. In addition, we also enjoy a strong presence in commercial vehicles and two wheeler industries.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>Many of your competitors are established names in the Nepali market. Why should one choose your products?&nbsp;</strong></div>
	<div>
		We offer quality products at competitive prices. Prices are positioned in such a manner that different variants of Scorpios meet the need of different segment of our customers. The starting price is 35.75 lakhs and goes up to 51 lakhs.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>What are your plans for the Nepali market?</strong></div>
	<div>
		Our plans include strengthening our position in the market. We are the market leaders and we will be focusing on to retain the position.&nbsp;</div>
</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-11-21',
			'modified' => '2014-12-24',
			'keywords' => 'new business age business visitors news & articles, business visitors news & articles from new business age nepal, business visitors headlines from nepal,  current and latest business visitors news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali business visitors economic news and events, ongoing busin',
			'description' => 'Sagar Bhadkamkar is the deputy general manager for exports and sales of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. The company recently launched a new product, New Generation Scorpio. Bhadkamkar was in Kathmandu for the launch and Angila Sharma and Rashika Pokharel of the New Business Age caught up with him and discussed the features of this product and the company’s marketing strategy for the Nepali market. Excerpts:',
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	(int) 13 => array(
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			'id' => '2799',
			'article_category_id' => '215',
			'title' => 'TFA Impasse In WTO: An Opportunity Could Be Missed',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Sanjeev Sharma</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The landmark agreement to liberalize global trade has hit a gridlock after India refused to accept the pact following the country&#39;s disagreement on food subsidies. The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) or the Bali Package, agreed by the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), held in Bali, Indonesia on 3-7 December, 2013, would have been the first deal to reform global trade in two decades. The trade protocol which came as a result of relentless negotiations over the decades, basically aims to lower global trade barriers.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Upon its implementation, the TFA, ambits to smoothen trading between developing and developed economies by lowering import tariffs and farm subsidies. The Bali accord includes measures that would formally put an end to developed nations&rsquo; stiff import quotas of agro products from the developing countries. Rather, the importing nations would only be allowed to levy tariffs on amount of agricultural imports exceeding particular limits. Similarly, provisions related to streamlining and reforming customs bureaucracies is another major aspect of TFA that are targeted to facilitate global trade. The pact is expected to add USD 1 trillion to global GDP along with generating 21 million jobs worldwide. The deal also covers measures to preferential treatment and greater market access, issues that have been long-raised by developing and least developed countries (LDCs).&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, the accord&#39;s far-reaching impacts have been halted for the time being. India, one of the WTO&#39;s prominent members, has long insisted to keep the farm subsidies intact. India&#39;s assertion seems to be primarily fueled by the fears that removal of such government subvention would hurt the country&#39;s agricultural output. As the prices of agro commodities in the global market are likely to become more competitive after the implementation of TFA, India is reluctant to amend the current provisions of agricultural subsidies. The country which is the world&#39;s 2nd largest farm producer also ranks 10th among the major agricultural exporters.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Aided by supportive policy impetus alongside sufficient rainfall and massive stockpiles, India&#39;s exports of agricultural products stood at USD 29.3 billion in the first 11 months of the fiscal year 2013-14. The previous FY saw the Indian agro exports totaling USD 31.86 billion. The country is witnessing consistently rising agro and food export outpacing rise in other exports. Government data shows that the share of agricultural commodities in India&rsquo;s overall export basket rose to 10.66 per cent in FY 2012-13 from 7.06 per cent in 2009-10. &nbsp;Similarly, according to the WTO&#39;s statistics, India&#39;s share of global export (USD 1.66 trillion) and import (USD 1.82 trillion) of agricultural and food products stand at 2.07 per cent and 1.24 per cent, respectively. The country&#39;s increasing share of global export indicates that India is becoming a net exporter of agro products.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Another aspect of India&#39;s apprehension is related to food security. The world&#39;s third largest economy is also feeding its vast poor population with cheap food. The discontinuation of government grants could prove more difficult to provide low-priced foods to its poor citizens. India, which has been expanding its food subsidy programmes over the years, launched a massive programme to provide subsidised food to two-thirds of its population or 810 million people in mid-2013. The programme is expected to double the country&#39;s annual food subsidy bills by about USD 23.9 billion. Subsidising food grains carry huge electoral significance in India as the government and major political aspirants have repeatedly promised to feed poverty ridden population at giveaway prices.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The country is one of the largest hoarders of food grains in the world. Various reports suggest that India&#39;s grain stockpiles currently stand at about a whopping 70 million tons. It not only helps to supply subsidised food grains but also to check the prices in the global market. The fall in world-food stockpile is considered one of the contributing factors to the global food crisis of 2007-08. Political and social unrests were seen in many nations due to the dramatic rise in food prices. India has demanded freedom to subsidise and stockpile food grains in an exchange to the signing of TFA.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/wf1(1).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 364px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ever since its inception in 1995, the WTO has faced big hurdles to achieve its objectives. The organisation which came as as a replacement of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), has always been in a rock and a hard place when it comes to negotiations &nbsp;between its members. The uncertainty over the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) is an example of such obstacle. Commenced in 2001, the DDA&#39;s aim to liberalise global trade by lowering trade barriers has not been able to bear fruits as numerous talks have resulted in failures. Deep divisions between developed and developing nations over contentious issues such as agriculture, removing industrial tariff and non-tariff barriers of trade and services are considered as the impediments to DDA&#39;s progress. During the intense talks, developed nations led by United States accompanied by the European Union (EU) and Japan maintained their positions relating to quota-free access to the exports of developing countries and LDCs. Similarly, a group of developing nations and LDCs, led by the emerging bloc of China, India, Brazil and South Africa demanded greater freedom to agricultural subsidies and larger quota-free access to their specific exports. The demands and counter demands of member nations resulted in the stalling of WTO&#39;s trade talks in 2008. The multilateral trade negotiations have not resumed since then.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The TFA, which targets to harmonize global trade by slashing the customs red tape is a part of DDA. So, implementing the Bali package is not only imperative to its provisions but also to make progress on DDA and rescue WTO from the brink of failure. However, India&#39;s insistence has created an impasse in the organisation. The lockdown led to the expiration of deadline to ratify the deal by member nations on July, 31st. Talks are said to have been taking place to end the current stand-off, but narrowing the differences to resolve the problem seems difficult for the time being as Robert Azevedo, WTO&#39;s Director General puts it, &quot;The fact we do not have a conclusion means that we are entering a new phase in our work &ndash; a phase which strikes me as being full of uncertainties.&rdquo; Similarly, Patrick Low, WTO&#39;s former Chief Economist, mentions, &quot;The WTO is a victim of flawed procedural requirements. A single government can block progress across the board.&quot; &quot;Paralysis at the WTO is likely to reinforce the view that preferential trade arrangements are a substitute for inclusive multilateralism rather than a complement. That would be bad news for the world economy.&quot;</div>',
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			'description' => 'The landmark agreement to liberalize global trade has hit a gridlock after India refused to accept the pact following the country's disagreement on food subsidies. The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) or the Bali Package, agreed by the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), held in Bali, Indonesia on 3-7 December, 2013, would have been the first deal to reform global trade in two decades. The trade protocol which came as a result of relentless negotiations over the decades, basically aims to lower global trade barriers.',
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	(int) 14 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2798',
			'article_category_id' => '167',
			'title' => 'Games To Delay The Constitution',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Akhilesh Tripathi</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As it happened to be, the much-awaited all-party political conference or round table conference &ndash; to use a more popular phrase- which was supposed to see a dialogue take place among the three major parties represented in the Constituent Assembly (CA) and the parties outside it, on the contentious issues of constitution drafting, fell flat. The reason was, as we all know, the 33-party alliance led by Mohan Baidya-led CPN-Maoist which is not represented in the CA and which had been demanding such a conference for a long time rejected to participate in the conference in the eleventh hour. The leaders of the CPN-Maoist and the 33-party alliance outside the CA never turned up for the conference. The CPN-Maoist communicated its decision not to attend the conference when Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and other political leaders had taken their seats at the planned venue inside the CA building. Thus, the politicians&rsquo; latest effort to seek consensus on contentious constitutional issues went in vain. But thankfully, as the conference failed to take off, it became clear that the Maoists had thrown the conference card only to delay the new constitution by affecting the CA calendar.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Some people might think that this was bad for the country and the constitution drafting process as an opportunity to forge consensus on thorny issues of constitution drafting inside as well as outside the CA was missed. But in fact, this was good for the country and the constitution drafting process as the real intent of the CPN-Maoist and other dissenting parties outside the CA was exposed without losing any further time. Their real intent was to delay the constitution drafting process by the CA under one or another pretext. In fact, Baidya and company have, time and again, publicly expressed their disenchantment with the constitution drafting process by the CA. After all, they boycotted the second CA elections terming it &ldquo;a meaningless exercise&rdquo;.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	One political game to affect the CA&rsquo;s calendar and delay the constitution drafting process was exposed in the form of the failed all-party political conference. But other such games continue - some within the CA itself - in the name of seeking consensus on the key issues including form of governance and restructuring of the state, election system and judiciary. One serious blame is leveled against the very Constitutional-Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee (CPDCC) of the CA that was formed to hold discussions on the thorny issues of constitution drafting and build consensus on them. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The blame is that the CPDCC has been trying to delay the constitution drafting process to find the mirage called consensus. The CPDCC led by UCPN (Maoist) leader and former PM Dr Baburam Bhattarai has already missed a deadline of September 6 to forge consensus on the prickly issues of constitution drafting. Then it was given another deadline of September 30 to build such consensus. As things stand now, the CPDCC will not be able to forge consensus on the contentious issues within this deadline as well. Now voices are emerging that it should be given another chance to forge such a consensus which has proved elusive so far. One such voice has been floated by the UCPN (Maoist) which thinks the CPDCC should get one more month, even if that means the amendment of the CA calendar, to forge consensus.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	That should not be done. All lawmakers who had registered to speak on the contentious issues have spoken their mind at the deliberations organized by the CPDCC and consensus still looks a very far cry. So, extending the CPDCC &lsquo;s deadline would be just a waste of time and resources.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	On the other hand, it&rsquo;s been quite some time since the three major parties in CA II &ndash; the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoist) are trying to form a High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) in the name of facilitating the constitution drafting process. It is said that UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Prachanda is eying the post of coordinator of this proposed mechanism. To put the truth bluntly, there is no need for such a mechanism. It is also a game to delay the constitution drafting process by weakening the sovereign CA&rsquo;s role in that process. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The word consensus sounds very sweet to the ear. Everybody&rsquo;s consent on the key crucial issues of the constitution would be an ideal situation. No one would disagree that it is best to settle the contentious issues through consensus. But what if it is not possible? Can the country be kept a hostage for an indefinite period if consensus on contentious issues continues to elude us? &nbsp;Politicians have already squandered seven years in the process of statute drafting, mainly because they tried to forge consensus on the so-called thorny issues. In fact, trying to forge consensus on the contentious issues was the main reason why the first CA was dissolved without delivering the new constitution.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal tried to forge consensus among all political parties on the contentious issues of constitution drafting during the first CA. Series after series of negotiations were held. Marathon meetings were held. But it simply did not work. The country reached nowhere perhaps because we tried to please all forces in the name of finding consensus. This should be why the major parties agreed, even before the second CA elections were held, to follow due process if they failed to reach consensus on contentious issues in CA II. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	That due process means deciding the contentious issues of constitution drafting through voting in the CA, which is the sovereign body to decide such matters. Or, alternatively &ndash; if a more democratic measure is to be adopted &ndash; we can hold a referendum to decide these issues. Here, the politicians can take some lessons from the recent Scotland voting where the Scots decided their fate through a referendum. It is still possible to hold such a referendum on the contentious issues as there still remains more than three months to promulgate the new constitution. But the decision has to be taken swiftly, if the country is to go the referendum way.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, the bottom line is no more precious time should be wasted in the name of forging a consensus.</div>',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2811',
			'article_category_id' => '48',
			'title' => 'Zoo Model Of Economy',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Madan Lamsal</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Despite the efforts of seven decades to catch the bus of development, Nepal has not been able to do so. What may be the reasons? Before 1951, Nepal&rsquo;s economy stood on a single leg only. As a result, the country&rsquo;s development would limp on the Chandra Shumsher-path or Tribhuvan-path as and when the Palace so wished. Otherwise, it would stand still. A decade later, the economy acquired another leg to become two-legged and development started treading the Mahendra-path. The two-legged economy was named mixed economy wherein the public and private sectors were supposed to work as partners of development.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	It was the time when a number of European, Russian, American, Chinese and Indian bipeds were brought in for the sake of Nepal&rsquo;s development. However, the country&rsquo;s development wagon could not gather the desired pace. Rather, Nepali revolutionaries got a chance to learn and copy the Russian and Chinese ways of doing things. The effects of this learning are evident even today.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	After the political change of 1990, attempts were made to amputate the older leg of the two-legged economy arguing that the private sector would lead the economy from now onwards. The economy got another name &ndash; free market economy. But in essence, the economy started following the path shown by a handful of people from the private sector. The economy was free to few privileged people only.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Therefore, another revolution took place in 2006 and the resultant government vowed to make the economy three-legged - the third leg being the cooperatives. The performance of this three-legged economic model, too, hasn&rsquo;t been satisfactory. But the new third leg or cooperatives has proved very beneficial for one of the political parties and is working as one of its own legs. However the economy is still limping. These experiments with one-legged, two-legged and three-legged economy have convinced this scribe that the country needs a four-legged economy for the development process to gallop. The simple reason is a four-legged thing is always stronger than one-, two- or three-legged ones. Examples abound &ndash; tables, chairs or quadrupeds like oxen, tigers or elephants.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In fact, it is evident everywhere that quadrupeds standing on their two legs are running this country. In doing so they burn taxies and motorbikes, demolish houses and buildings and take the entire country a hostage whenever they like to do so. They seem to be hell-bent on torching petrol and diesel vehicles in order to reduce noise pollution in the cities! Going for a four-legged economy is vital also for clearing the confusion created by the mixture of these two- and four-legged creatures. In the past, there were three organs of the state &ndash; executive, legislative and judiciary. Later, somebody suggested adding a fourth organ &ndash; the media. And all the media industry became so happy. But what would be the fourth leg of the economy? The question is natural as well as tricky. You may argue that a four-legged economy sounds too animal-like, not human. However, I don&rsquo;t think we should worry about that. In fact, I say we should have the economy like that &ndash; animal like.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	To prove my point let me draw your attention to &lsquo;the animal spirit&rsquo; that renowned British economist John Maynard Keynes had mentioned way back in the 1930s as the major motivator to the entrepreneurs to work with enthusiasm. By extrapolation, this means we need the economy to be as agile and strong as animals. All of us have seen how the western countries have developed after Keynes made that remark.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Therefore, it is very much necessary to have an animal spirit in the economy and that naturally demands the economy to be a four-legged one. And it is a humble proposal of this scribe that the NGOs and INGOs that claim to be dedicated for the country&rsquo;s development should be made the fourth leg of the economy! Afterall the INGOs are already running the show in Nepal. It is said that they have also already drafted the new constitution that now needs just endorsement of the Constituent Assembly.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Or, alternatively, shall the remittance sector be made the fourth leg of the economy? But does remittance really stand a chance in front of the mighty INGOs?</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Whatever! The main thing is we should give the country a four-legged economy and push the development process forward on Prachanda-path, Baidya-path or other similar paths. After all, the way of thinking and activities of many Nepali citizens, businessmen, and especially politicians, resemble those of the quadrupeds! &nbsp; Moreover, the economy is in danger of turning into a zoo. If it happens and when one visits the monkey section of the economic zoo she/he may start laughing at seeing their behaviours. Therefore, we should adopt the four legged economic policy or you may call it a &#39;zoo model of economy&#39; before it&rsquo;s too late.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2015-06-01',
			'modified' => '2015-07-31',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Despite the efforts of seven decades to catch the bus of development, Nepal has not been able to do so. What may be the reasons? Before 1951, Nepal’s economy stood on a single leg only. As a result, the country’s development would limp on the Chandra Shumsher-path or Tribhuvan-path as and when the Palace so wished. Otherwise, it would stand still.',
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			'id' => '2813',
			'article_category_id' => '167',
			'title' => 'Oli’s Climb, Prachanda’s Fall',
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			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<div>
		<em><span style="font-size: 14px;">By the magnitude of his &lsquo;flexibility&rsquo; shown in recent days including the withdrawal of the three-day Nepal bandh after the first day and taking the constitution writing process forward, it would appear that Prachanda has greater things in store for the New Year.</span></em></div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>--By Akhilesh Tripathi&nbsp;</strong></div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Bikram Samvat 2072, the new Nepali year which started about two weeks ago, is going to be interesting. There are telltale signs of that. Consider the following incident!&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		On the eve of the New Year, Constituent Assembly (CA) Chairman Subash Chandra Nemwang called a meeting of the top leaders of the major political parties to discuss the thorny issues of the new constitution. CPN-UML Chairman KP Oli was absent. The reason was he was climbing Dharahara! On this conspicuous absence, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Prachanda grumbled, &ldquo;For Oli, Dharahara is more important than the new constitution.&rdquo; Later, Oli, whose Dharahara climb was aided by an oxygen cylinder, retorted, &ldquo;It is difficult to climb up like the UML, but quite easy to go down like the Maoists!&rdquo;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Why did Oli ignore an all-party meeting to climb the Dharahara? There are two possible answers. One, Oli, who is said to be playing the final innings of his life wanted to accomplish his wish of being atop the historical monument (Had he waited for 12more days to fulfill this wish of his, he wouldn&rsquo;t be able to do so because the historical monument built by Nepal&rsquo;s first prime minister Bhimsen Thapa was grounded in the April 25 earthquakes). Two, he deliberately ignored the meeting of the major parties to pile more pressure on the opposition parties, mainly the Maoists. Who says he doesn&rsquo;t aspire to become the next Prime Minister at the earliest possible? After all, he climbed the Dharahar to dismiss a major allegation against him that he is sick and unfit.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Nepali politicians speak in different ways. Oli climbs Dharahara, all 213 steps. By doing so, he is sending three clear messages: I am strong enough to climb; I can see the view from the top; the New Year is going to be beautiful.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Prachanda, while talking to the media, says he&rsquo;s willing to take any risk for the sake of delivering a constitution on time. In a meeting of the three major parties &ndash; Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoist) on April 20, Prachanda agreed to resume the constitution writing process. It&rsquo;s a big example of flexibility shown by him.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		By the magnitude of his &lsquo;flexibility&rsquo; shown in recent days including the withdrawal of the three-day Nepal bandh after the first day and taking the constitution writing process forward, it would appear that Prachanda has greater things in store for the New Year. Or at least, greater things are at stake that justify his move to alienate the Janajatis, anger the Madhesis, and shutting the door to unification among the six Maoist parties.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		But why did Prachanda change and became flexible? Prachanda has lost a lot of political ground in recent times. The Nepal bandh called by the 30-party front led by him could not win public support. So it fell flat on the very first day. Similarly, Prachanda&rsquo;s party&rsquo;s candidate faced a humiliating defeat in the CA by-elections held recently. That is also a measurement of the people&rsquo;s support to the Maoist agenda. By now, Prachanda understands that he is not backed by any kind of popular support. All these factors have forced the UCPN (Maoist) leadership to review their position and become flexible in the political give and take.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		So, it&rsquo;s been a common knowledge in recent months that the Maoists have backtracked on their position on federalism. It may not have been just a coincidence that the Maoists&rsquo; softening of stance followed Baburam Bhattarai&rsquo;s India visit and Prachanda&rsquo;s China visit.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		By now, it seems, the Maoist leadership has understood that a general strike or a trip to the neighbourhood seeking help (intervention) will not help. That is perhaps why the three major parties &ndash; NC, UML and UCPN (Maoist) &ndash; have agreed to allow the constitution writing process to move forward. Oli&rsquo;s Dharahara climb has helped in this process. Oli cannot climb the Dharahara again because there si no Dharahara now. &nbsp;But the opposition parties, mainly the Maoists, now know that the UML chief can engage in any other similar undertaking to mount further political pressure on them. &nbsp; &nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>Making Institutions Inclusive</strong></div>
	<div>
		Another thing we learned from the year gone by is that institutions, once designed, are difficult to change.</div>
	<div>
		The April Uprising of 2006 sought to change the way the state and political parties respond to the people&rsquo;s needs. But it did not have a clear vision of what new institutional structures might look like. Parties like the Nepali Congress and UML define this change in their own way while, the Maoists, Madhesis, and Janajatis, on the other hand, have their own agenda for reforms, including the form of government, federalism, and electoral system. The failure of the Maoists and Madhesis to push forward their agenda shows how entrenched and entangled existing institutions are in the Nepali society.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Restructuring of institutions is required at two levels: at the level of political parties, and at the level of the state. At the level of the political parties, the internal party structures allow a few leaders to extract from the ordinary party members and unions that have penetrated all levels of the society. The recent Supreme Court verdict trying to limit the role of employee unions is an example. Most employee unions are extractive institutional structures. They serve their members by lobbying for their promotion and transfers, especially when their party leaders are in power. Therefore, a meritorious government employee, if he or she is not a member of these extractive unions, has fewer chances of getting a promotion or a good position.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Given the existing state structure, top political leaders who have control over parties like the NC or the CPN-UML have few incentives to restructure the party and the state. Making the party and the state more inclusive means giving up on their monopoly of power and privileges. Reforming state and party structures, therefore, is a difficult proposition for almost all top politicians. As many studies have shown, once institutional structures are in place, it is difficult to change them in favour of the ordinary people.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		One of the implications of such a situation is that political divisions have crystallised at the local level also. Nepal is a deeply divided society. Nepal&rsquo;s political parties have created a social chasm that runs vertically, from the highest level to the community level. At the community level, the divisive political allegiance has more to do with getting access to state resources and opportunities than to development and ideology.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		As a result, allegiances are usually made to political parties that have a greater prospect of getting to power. Without such political allegiance, which is something more than just an affiliation, people rarely get access to state resources or even entry into the marketplace.</div>
</div>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2015-06-01',
			'modified' => '2015-06-07',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'By the magnitude of his ‘flexibility’ shown in recent days including the withdrawal of the three-day Nepal bandh after the first day and taking the constitution writing process forward, it would appear that Prachanda has greater things in store for the New Year.',
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	(int) 2 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2804',
			'article_category_id' => '37',
			'title' => 'Need For  Green Banking',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/ep1(6).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 247px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Dwaipayan Regmi</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The attack of human beings on nature is the cause of environmental deterioration. This deterioration is leading to global warming and climate change. It has been noticed that the temperature has risen up by 1 degree Fahrenheit in comparison to the previous century, leading to melting of Himalayan glaciers, bursting of lakes and rise of the sea level. Along with this, climatic changes have been causing natural disasters like cyclones, floods, landslides, and droughts.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Combined efforts of governments, corporate sector and individuals can help in minimizing these various forms of environmental deterioration. For this, governments have to come up with strong policies; corporate houses should follow environmental protection guidelines more strictly; and individuals have to be self-aware to protect the environment around them.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As part of the role to be played by the corporate sector, banks and financial institutions should embrace green banking &mdash; adopting process and strategies that promote environment-friendly practices to help in reducing carbon emission. Green banking helps in reducing internal carbon footprint as well as external carbon emission. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Banks have been using lighting, air conditioning, electronic equipments, IT, high paper wastage in massive proportion. The resultant internal carbon footprint can be reduced through the use of renewable energy, automation and other measures. On the other hand, banks can reduce external carbon emission by financing projects and companies that are working for pollution reduction and adopting green technologies. Providing loans to firms that have concern for environment would ensure proper utilization of natural resources.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Green banking avoids paper work and contributes to lower the cutting of trees. It makes the corporate world aware about environmental and social responsibility and thereby contributes to handing over a good environment to the upcoming generation. Adopting green banking policies are directly beneficial for the banks as well.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Providing loans to firms and companies that abide by environment protection principles and regulations ensures that such clients do not become victims of natural calamities. Reputation and goodwill is very important for banks, and being a green bank provides them a distinct identity and reputation in the society. This also minimizes bad goodwill risk. Along with that, adopting such policies helps the banks avoid the risk of being left with securities like contaminated land as collateral.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, green banking is not a piece of cake; there are various challenges in making it a reality. It&rsquo;s not only about reducing paper use and getting digital; there are strategies that a bank should follow.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The most important step towards this objective is while providing loans. Any entrepreneur would think of green environment only when banks will restrict loans to businesses which might cause environmental degradation. Banks can deny loans to businesses that aim high profits by degrading the environment. The nature of business and its impact on the environment should be carefully considered before approving business loans. On the other hand, banks can offer low-interest loans to businesses that are environment friendly. In this way, banks can play a key role in promoting secondary source of energy like solar energy or bio gas energy.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Next, banks can provide preference to green properties like homes equipped with solar energy, rain water harvesting facility, and properties with better environmental surroundings, for collaterals. And they should give secondary preferences, if at all, to properties such as polluting factory, or buildings emitting harmful waste in&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	the environment.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In terms of internal contribution, banks should embrace environment-friendly architectural design. Such designs help in reducing use of air conditioners and lights. Along with that, restricting use of carbon emitting machines, fans, energy inefficient bulbs, should be discouraged. Also, minimizing paper usage and promoting use of electronic transactions through rapid use of ATM cards, debit cards or other vending machines can help in being a green bank.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Another area, where banks can contribute to green environment is the use of vehicles. Instead of providing sole vehicles to employees, banks should provide pick-and-drop services. This will not only help in reducing carbon emission but would also help in easing city traffic. This will also help in reducing the space needed for parking at banks. The space which would otherwise be used for parking could be used to build gardens and fountains. This will not only help the banks go green at the policy level but will also make it a green bank, literally too.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR), banks can invest in building and maintaining parks, gardens and forests in and around cities. They can adopt tree plantation as a means to mark their important achievements. This would help in inspiring other business ventures to adopt similar strategies.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Banks have been providing many services to their customers such as free ATMs, Internet Banking and Any Branch Banking Service (ABBS). They could set up a basket &lsquo;Disaster Emergency Fund&rsquo;, for their client, in case the latter are victimized. The customers should be given a choice to opt for the fund by agreeing to provide certain amount of their interest to the fund on an annual basis. This would make such customers more secure from the impact of natural disasters on their finance.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Banking has been a charming job in Nepal, and is regarded a prestigious job. To retain this image, it is necessary for banks to go green. Some of the recommendations made in this article might sound impractical considering the nature of their business and the stiff competition in the market to get better clients, still these measures are for banks which believe in ethical business.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<em>The writer is pursuing his MBA at Jawaharlal Nehru Technical University, Andhra Pradesh, India.</em></div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-11-21',
			'modified' => '2015-06-07',
			'keywords' => 'new business age economy & policy news & articles, economy & policy news & articles from new business age nepal, economy & policy headlines from nepal,  current and latest economy & policy news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali economy & policy economic news and events,  ongoing  economy',
			'description' => 'The attack of human beings on nature is the cause of environmental deterioration. This deterioration is leading to global warming and climate change. It has been noticed that the temperature has risen up by 1 degree Fahrenheit in comparison to the previous century, leading to melting of Himalayan glaciers, bursting of lakes and rise of the sea level. Along with this, climatic changes have been causing natural disasters like cyclones, floods, landslides, and droughts.',
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	(int) 3 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2814',
			'article_category_id' => '40',
			'title' => 'Growing And Growing Cement',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Cement production in Nepal has been growing sharply over the past few years. The industry is among the country&#39;s most flourishing business sectors as the demand of cement is constantly rising. &nbsp;The vast untapped limestone reserves spread across the country have not only lured domestic companies but also the international investors. &nbsp;</em></span></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Akhilesh Tripathi and Sanjeev Sharma</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal&rsquo;s cement industry has been flourishing despite all sorts of problems. The industry has seen significant growth over the last few years. According to Dhruba Thapa, President of the Cement Manufacturers Association of Nepal (CMAN), the country&rsquo;s cement industry has been steadily growing at 8-10 per cent annually for the past several years. &ldquo;The cement industry has seen growing steadily. Its future looks bright,&rdquo; says Thapa when asked to comment on the current situation of the Nepali cement industry. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;The annual demand of cement in Nepal is about four million metric tonnes of which some 3.2 million metric tonnes is met through domestic production while the rest is imported,&rdquo; he adds.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The country&rsquo;s import of cement has been dropping year after year because of the rising domestic production. According to the Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC), the rate of growth in cement imports has declined in the last fiscal year. Nepal imported OPC cement worth Rs 2.99 billion in fiscal 2013-14. In the previous fiscal year i.e. 2012-13, cement imports stood at Rs 3.75 billion. The decline in the import of both cement and clinker reflects Nepal&rsquo;s progress towards self-sufficiency in cement production.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	According to CMAN, the domestic cement industry has an installed production capacity of about 6 million tonnes annually which is higher than the annual demand of four million metric tonnes. But the cement factories currently operational have been able to utilize only about 50 per cent of their total production capacity.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, this hasn&rsquo;t stopped the private sector from entering this sector in a big way. Currently, according to the data provided by CMAN, there are 45 cement factories in operation producing 3.2 million metric tonnes of cement annually. Local production fulfils about 80 percent of the requirement and the rest is met by imports from India. Nepal produces OPC, PPC and PSC cement, of which OPC is preferred these days.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Out of the 45 factories, only 12 also produce clinker, a major raw material used in cement production. As early as a decade ago, Nepal used to depend on India for 95 per cent of its clinker requirement. However, with more factories now setting up clinker production units after acquiring limestone quarries, import from India has been declining year after year. Today, almost 60 percent of the clinker demand is met through domestic supply. &ldquo;The remaining is imported from India. A few factories will start producing own clinker in 2015. That will bring down the import to 20-25 per cent. Nepal will be self-reliant in clinker over the next three years,&rdquo; says Thapa.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cn4.jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 205px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Problems</strong></div>
<div>
	Power shortage because of long hours of load-shedding is the biggest challenge being faced by cement manufacturers in the country. The power crisis has forced them to use diesel power which makes each cement sack costlier by Rs 25. The high import duty levied on raw material, mainly clinker, is another problem, according to cement manufacturers. It has weakened the competitiveness of Nepali cement in terms of price. &ldquo;The government has been continuously increasing the customs duty on clinker ignoring its effects on domestic cement manufacturers,&rdquo; complain cement manufacturers. Thapa says all this makes the Nepali cement costlier than cement in any other SAARC country. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The syndicate system in transportation is another big problem for the domestic cement industry. &ldquo;We are not getting sufficient number of trucks to supply our finished goods to the targeted location,&rdquo; says Anil Kumar Agrawal, Managing Director of Shree Cement Industries. &ldquo;The cost associated with transportation is high as well.&rdquo; Manufacturers complain that even with enough production and demand, they are unable to supply their products to the market due to unavailability of transportation. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;Every commodity has a lifespan; and in the case of cement, it is 30 days,&rdquo; said Tej Bom, Head of Sales and Marketing at Ambe Cement, &ldquo;If the finished product is not used within 30 days, the desirable outcome is not achieved.&rdquo; The need of the hour, according to him, is to effectively end the syndicate system so that Nepali products remain competitive with Indian brands.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cn3.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 313px; float: right;" />Declining Import</strong></div>
<div>
	With the rise in domestic production, import of foreign cement in Nepal has come down significantly over the past few years. The data compiled by the Trade and Export Promotion Center (TEPC) clearly points to this. The country which imported portland class cement (OPC and PPC) worth Rs 4.31 billion in FY 2090/10 saw the import decrease 30 per cent to Rs 2.99 billion in 2013/14. The rising production has also led to the increase in the import of gypsum, one of the major ingredients of cement. Nepal imported gypsum worth Rs 754 million in FY 2013/14, up 133 per cent from Rs 322 million in FY 2010. But the import of clinker, another key component is seen gradually declining. Import of clinker, which was recorded at Rs 8.03 billion in FY 2009/10, decreased to Rs 5.99 billion in 2012/13 before rising to Rs 6.54 billion in the last FY. The increase is due to the government provision made mandatory for the cement manufacturers to produce clinker they need by 2073. However, producers are seen dissatisfied by the government announcement. &quot;Clinker production means more investment. More than 70 per cent of the investment goes for clinker production. So, mere announcements are not enough. We need a supporting strategy as well,&quot; says Anil Kumar Agrawal , Managing Director of Shree Cement Industries. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Despite the fact that use of Indian cement has lessened in recent years, policy hurdles still remain in place to stop the use of Nepali cement in large constructions of national importance. &nbsp;&quot;General consumers are not importing cement from India. It&rsquo;s the big infrastructure projects run through the international competitive bidding (ICB) process that are importing cement from India,&quot; mentions Thapa,. Thapa, who is also the Executive Director of Cosmos Cement Industries, says that a provision in the ICB contract, which exempts the imported construction materials from taxes, is hampering the competitiveness of Nepali cement. &quot;The imported cement gets an exemption of Rs 185 per sack in customs duty. That is why it is cheaper. It has affected the Nepali cement market,&quot; he says.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cn1.jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 261px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Export Prospects</strong></div>
<div>
	With the increase in production, export of Nepali cement has also risen in the past few years. Though the size of the export is negligible compared to the import, the increasing trend indicates to the possibility of Nepali cement becoming a product of comparative advantage to the country&#39;s export. Nepal exported cement worth Rs 3.16 million in FY 2013/14 after starting the export in FY 2012/13 which was logged at Rs 148,700. Nevertheless, it will take time for Nepal to become a net exporter of cement, according to producers. &quot;As we are not being able to fulfill the domestic demand, there is no possibility of export currently. Most factories are selling their products within the country. We can think of exports once we meet the domestic demand,&quot; opines Tej Bom, Head of Sales and Marketing at Ambe Cement.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cn2.jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 234px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Foreign Direct Investment</strong></div>
<div>
	Nepali cement industry has turned lucrative to foreign investors in recent years. Big international producers, namely, Dangote of Nigeria, China&#39;s Hongshi and Reliance of India are in the process to establish production facilities in Nepal. Lured by the infrastructure boom in Northern India and Western China, the companies are eying to tap Nepal&#39;s vast limestone reserves. Their products are expected to be export-oriented while also fulfilling the domestic demand in Nepal. Dangote Group, one of the largest industrial conglomerates of West Africa, is said to be starting the construction of cement factory in the next one year. The company which was granted a USD 500 million FDI approval in November 2013 by the Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) is currently looking for a local partner, according to an informed source.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Meanwhile, the top Chinese manufacturer Hongshi Holding Group has partnered with the Nepali company Shivam Cement to kickstart its business in Nepal. The company in March, 2015 signed a joint venture (JV) agreement with Shivam Holdings Nepal to set up a Rs 30 billion production facility. According to the agreement, Hongshi will have 70 per cent share (Rs 21 billion) and the rest (Rs 9 billion) will be invested by Shivam. The JV which will be named Hongshi-Shivam Cement Pvt Ltd aims to produce 120,000 sacks or 6,000 tonnes of cement per day and has plans to start production in three years. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Similarly, Reliance Cement Industries of India has also received endorsement from the IBN to establish a cement factory in the country. Though much is not known about the progress after the approval of its investment proposal last year, the company has pledge Rs 40 billion in FDI and aims to produce 2.3 million tonnes of cement annually. Collectively, the three foreign companies have received project approvals worth USD 1.2 billion which has been marked among the largest FDI commitments in the Nepali industrial sector for the time being. Likewise, two other foreign companies have also recently expressed their interests to invest in the country&#39;s cement industry, according to a source close to the matter.&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2015-06-01',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Cement production in Nepal has been growing sharply over the past few years. The industry is among the country's most flourishing business sectors as the demand of cement is constantly rising.  The vast untapped limestone reserves spread across the country have not only lured domestic companies but also the international investors.',
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	(int) 4 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2802',
			'article_category_id' => '48',
			'title' => 'Fundamental Right To Corruption',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<div>
		It is a common understanding in Nepal that everyone in the country is corrupt. Be that bureaucrat or businessman, politician or physician, lawyer or lawmaker, academician or architect, judge or journalist, or any profession or person you name it, is corrupt on prima-facie. The onus of proving otherwise entirely lies on you, should you choose to do so. If you point to someone claiming that he may not be a corrupt, every eyebrow is raised and instant conclusion would be: that could not have happened by integrity but due to sheer lack of opportunity. In every sense, corruption is our national character, thus a national identity.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Nepal has made several efforts to curb corruption and bribery. It has enacted several laws, instituted constitutional bodies like CIAA and invited international NGOs like Transparency International. But the corrupt practices could hardly be reduced. Instead, the investors and businessmen complain that measures like anti-money laundering has caused massive capital flight and investment is shying away due to provisions like declaration of source of income. Therefore, these hurdles have become serious bottlenecks on economic growth and prosperity of the country.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Human civilization has taken many bold decisions to streamline very difficult trades and behaviour. Everybody would agree that prostitution is not a good thing. But secretly everybody would like to extract the pleasure bestowed by this profession. Nobody feels same sex marriages are natural. But many countries have legalized both the sex trade and same sex marriages. There is no reason why corruption should be treated in a different way than the prostitution. Besides, it has many similar characteristics. You are honest until you are caught in the act and everybody enjoys the more of it, clandestinely.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		For Nepal, it is an opportune moment to do this bold thing as we are writing a new constitution. We have the opportunity not only to legalize but also to constitutionalize both corruption and bribery. My recommendation is that let&rsquo;s make the right to corruption as part of the fundamental rights in the new constitution.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		The benefits would be immense. Nepal truly will be as Switzerland as it used to be some decades ago: a true haven for all ill-gotten money of the world. All the money that is now concealed under pillows of the corrupts will be taken out. Money sent abroad will be brought back and there will be open rates of commission in government offices for providing services or approving tenders for public procurement. Just to repeat, since everybody is already charged of this lucre, what&#39;s the harm on just lifting the curtain from it?</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		The FDI would flood in and Nepal will enter into an unprecedented phase of growth and development. Country&#39;s administrative cost will drastically reduce, as we no longer need the institutions like CIAA, Vigilance Centre, Anti-Money Laundering Department and Special Court. The load of cases in the courts of law will be far less and policemen can directly ask money from the public for nothing without going through the trouble of creating one or another pretext. So much so, constitutionalizing corruption would also help make entire Nepal instantly educated since if corruption and bribery are legalized even an illiterate can buy a BA or an MA passed certificates at one&#39;s will.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		This will make our bureaucracy more contended and happy. Government official will not scramble to get their posting to customs points and tax offices when every office will have freedom to collect as much bribe as possible. Politicians in the district who are swallowing entire development budget in collusion with different experts will be relieved of responsibility of creating stacks of fake papers.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		As the country now reels under uncertainty in absence of a powerful binding agenda for consensus, the proposal to insert the corruption and bribery as the fundamental right in the constitution could be one such issue that can bring all politicians together. We know everybody loves money and whenever there is question of monetary benefit, there were seldom any discord among them.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Our lawmakers should seriously consider incorporating this provision in the new constitution. I am sure, all six hundred and one members of the Constituent Assembly will vote for it. This will be the dawn of new era on absolute national consensus.</div>
</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-11-21',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age no laughing matter news & articles, no laughing matter news & articles from new business age nepal, no laughing matter headlines from nepal,  current and latest no laughing matter news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali no laughing matter economic news and events,  ongoing',
			'description' => 'It is a common understanding in Nepal that everyone in the country is corrupt. Be that bureaucrat or businessman, politician or physician, lawyer or lawmaker, academician or architect, judge or journalist, or any profession or person you name it, is corrupt on prima-facie. The onus of proving otherwise entirely lies on you, should you choose to do so. If you point to someone claiming that he may not be a corrupt, every eyebrow is raised and instant conclusion would be: that could not have happened by integrity but due to sheer lack of opportunity. In every sense, corruption is our national character, thus a national identity.',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2807',
			'article_category_id' => '52',
			'title' => 'A Matter Of De-Materializing It',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal&#39;s share market index, Nepse is performing reasonably well since the formation of Nepali Congress led government. It is now hovering between 850 and 900 for sometimes now. Among many welcome developments, the plan to dematerialize (demat) the physical share certificates into the digital ones have boosted the confidence of the investors. But the demat process has been rather very slow. In seven months since it started (coinciding with the Nepali New Year 2071), only about a million scrips of some three dozen companies could be converted to digital format. No doubt, this is a time consuming process, but such a slow pace, though, is absolutely unwarranted for.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Be that as it may, demat process would be completed, hopefully, soon. But more worrisome aspect is, other support infrastructure to augment trade in demat system remains far behind the mark. The recent lull in the market is now attributed to the fact that banks were not recognizing the dematerialized shares as security for financing investments. They may have their reasons to do so. But this reflects a clear lack of vision and coordination among the policy makers to simultaneously take forward all related developments of ancillaries so as to prevent the system from becoming lame.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Simply, banks&#39; willingness to invest in the digital infrastructure and manpower training to handle these loan transactions doesn&#39;t seem to be forthcoming right away. And, there is no initiation from other relevant authorities like Nepal Rastra Bank and Securities Board of Nepal to facilitate this. &nbsp;It is though not to suggest that everything has to be shouldered by the public institutions, but policy exercises in view of the potential paradigms of such developments is unquestionably their special domain.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As things stand now, three immediate tasks must be undertaken to not let the tempo in the share market wane off. First, banks should, may be through their umbrella organization - the Nepal Bankers&#39; Association, make their position clear with regard to their technical capabilities and cost-benefit analyses on facilitating demat transactions. They must also realize the fact that by making a digital transaction platform available, the share trading from all over the country may enhance in due course of time which in turn would help to increase their businesses. &nbsp;In many countries, a separate account for share trading has been a norm and a technical necessity. At the same time, they have adopted the rule of de-hooking the funds from other accounts while market volatility is emotion-racking. This effectively means that a trader can only trade from his trading account even if s/he has other functional accounts in the same bank, until inter-account transfers are made.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Second, policy coordination among the policy makers and functional relations among the market makers have been largely a neglected issue. It is also a fact that regulatory authorities have been reticent until it is too late to react. In many cases, they lack the understanding of technical knowhow and degree of urgency seems to be taking a toll. This must be changed.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Third, Nepal is one of those countries where investment in financial education at any level -from policy makers to retailers - has been close to zero. This has led to great discrepancies, policy confusions and inadequacies in every branch of the financial system, including the capital markets. Recognizing the complementarities of the several sub-branches of the entire system, a comprehensive financial education of a national scale is now an unconditional imperative. Only an institutionalized approach can address this need to its due worth.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Of course, there are some unaccomplished, larger issues of capital market reforms. It is high time to interact with the private sector to find convincing and lasting answers to the questions: why the real sector representation in Nepal&#39;s capital market has been so insignificant? Are there ways to improve it? How and when? In nutshell, Nepal&#39;s financial system is looking for a shift not only to change the paper shares to demat form, but to translate the nation&#39;s overall economic thought process from a &#39;brick and mortar&#39; age to the contemporary digital age.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-12-23',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
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			'description' => 'Nepal's share market index, Nepse is performing reasonably well since the formation of Nepali Congress led government. It is now hovering between 850 and 900 for sometimes now. Among many welcome developments, the plan to dematerialize (demat) the physical share certificates into the digital ones have boosted the confidence of the investors.',
			'sortorder' => '2657',
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	(int) 6 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2803',
			'article_category_id' => '167',
			'title' => 'Democracy  Vs Minority Diktats',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Achyut Wagle</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	If the ongoing irresponsible behaviour of some of the key political players of the country doesn&#39;t come to a halt, it is certain that the Constituent Assembly-Two (CA-II) will also not be able to deliver a new democratic constitution for the &#39;federal new Nepal.&#39; The major impediment to the new constitution writing process has two folds: the first, no party is adhering to the mandate and processes of the CA, and crucial political bargaining are taking place out of the constitutional and the CA ambit. The second, smaller parties in and outside of the CA still rule the roost by forming a twenty-two party alliance to oppose any stand that the main two political parties in CA --Nepali Congress (NC) and UML --are likely to take with regard to potential provisions for the new constitution and its writing process. This al-liance led by UCPN Maoist Chairman Puspa Kamal Dahal is resorting to tantrums akin to that of a pressure group -- organizing street protests, flexing muscles and causing disruptions to CA proceedings, in some pretext or the other.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	If a public meeting organized by this alliance in the mid-October at the open-air theatre in Tundikhel, Kathmandu, is any indication, the Maoists are again determined to ruin the second CA as they did to the first, rendering it hostage of blatant indecision at the high-level political committee (HLPC). The speakers in that meeting declared a number of daring things that are aimed at rendering the very authority of the CA non-existent and prevaricate the democratic mandate and process. It raises fears of another cycle of violent politics. This is because, Dahal made three crucial revelations: he would not respect the arithmetic of CA, no constitution could be written without incorporating his agenda of &#39;identity&#39; and he repented on agreeing to the &ldquo;management of his Red Army and the arms before the constitution of &lsquo;his choice&rsquo; was written&rdquo;. &nbsp;As can be recalled, the process through which some of the former Maoist rebels were given employment in the Nepal Army and rest were sent home by paying generous gratuity, is normally referred to as &ldquo;management of former Maoist rebels&rdquo;.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Needless to repeat, all these are clearly anti-democratic postures. His refusal to accept the &#39;numbers&#39; as they stand in the present CA disregards the people&#39;s mandate expressed through the last ballots. His adamance not to comply with the universally accepted democratic practice to decide every contending agenda by majority votes in CA would leave all major political differences undecided indefinitely, in absence of any other feasible alternative process.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	On the issue of identity, Dahal has been successful to rally the support of other eleven fringe parties that are present in CA and equal number of others without any representative in the House. His insistence is that the earlier CA had somehow agreed to &#39;identity-based federalism&#39; and the current CA too shouldn&#39;t deviate from those understandings, written or unwritten. But the fact is: the identity agenda largely got defeated in the CA-II elections and electorates gave completely new verdict, pushing the Maoists into the third position and giving a two-thirds majority to the NC and the UML combined. The manifestoes of the latter two emphatically reassures the voters to write a pluralistic constitution with possible least number of provinces, above all, on the basis of their economic viability. But Dahal&#39;s deliberate intention seems to undermine this reality and try to thrust his agenda by exerting force to disrupt the CA proceedings and effecting road blockades. It is worth recalling that Dahal&rsquo;s party UCPN-Maoist too has mentioned in its election manifesto that voting will be resorted to if the efforts for consensus fail. Moreover, the CA-II has also adopted a rules book in which it mentions that issues in which no consensus could be reached shall be decided by voting.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Dahal&rsquo;s repentance on &#39;early surrender of arms and army&#39; also smacks of his ill intentions to use that guerrilla force as the tool to political blackmailing, as in the past. His partners in protests, the Madhesi and Janajati parties are more than enthused by the political patronage of the UCPN-Maoist and also by the fact that their agenda defeated in popular votes is now shouldered by the Maoists, the third largest party in CA. It is not difficult to understand that Dahal is now desperate as he is very fast losing his political ground. Not only his party got reduced to the third largest in the CA-II from the first in CA-I, it currently commands bare 14 percent of total votes in the House. That is why he is against of the CA arithmetic. Also, his party is at the verge of further division after the main ideologue Dr Baburam Bhattarai has challenged Dahal&#39;s authority from within and intensified the efforts to create a &#39;new force&#39;. For, all these reasons, Dahal is experimenting on any possible political adventurism to save his existence as leader to be reckoned with. This is understandable. What is completely incomprehensible is why other two larger parties, NC and UML, are succumbing to these tantrums of Dahal, resorting to one after another undemocratic moves and decisions. Why can&#39;t they say that no political decision regarding the constitution writing could be taken outside the CA and beyond the popular mandate?</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	One of the overused platitudes of Dahal has been &#39;consensus in constitution writing.&#39; On the surface, this appears as a benevolent idea. But, in essence, it is implicit design to take the constitution writing process away from CA to HLPC. Since the country has expensed so much to ensure diverse representation in CA, it is impossible to arrive at consensus at every motion mooted in the CA. Therefore, accepting to resolve all contentious issues through already defined CA rules and processes, including voting, is absolutely within democratic values and norms. Dahal and his allies has problem in this, because it is surely a losing game for them as they simply lack the number of members in CA to pass their agenda. But, if they believe in democracy, instead of exerting to disrupt the processes, they should accept the outcome by explaining their point of view such that can woo the public support in the next polls.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	But that needed patience Dahal clearly lacks and he is now wielding a double-edged sword -- simultaneously leading the street protests and holding the convenorship of HLPC that was dug out last month off the grave of the last CA, merely to placate Dahal&#39;s ambition of chairing it. Interestingly, he successfully capitulated the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML leadership to form this apparently unconstitutional &#39;superpower centre&#39; that is often practically portrayed as above all the political mechanisms of the country -- including the prime minister, the CA and the parliament. Or, at least, Dahal wanted HLPC to function in that fashion. This too is an undemocratic demeanour.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Naturally, the voice of other allies in Tundikhel was more aggressive. Sadbhawan Party leader Rajendra Mahato said he would not let the constitution be finalised on the basis of &#39;majority vote in the CA&#39; and Ashok Rai of Federal Socialist Party warned of &#39;pulling the NC and UML leaders by their collars&#39; to agree to their demand of identity-first federalism. What all this means is: there is every effort going on not to recognize and treat the CA as the only constitutionally validated body to write the constitution. This is perhaps the gravest danger that Nepal&#39;s political process faces at this moment. For the UCPN-Maoist and other smaller parties, their action might be justifiable to the extent to make their presence felt in the national political spectrum. But it is highly surprising to see that the NC and UML are readily agreeing to the demands of these parties without considering their consequences and not working enough to deliver a timely constitution despite their clear majority in the CA-II that allows them to write the constitution themselves.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	At this juncture, three political personalities have performed far short of their responsibilities and expectations from their respective public positions. First is Prime Minister Sushil Koirala who has failed to deliver the governance in every possible field you may name. His ministers are working berserk. His slogan of &#39;clean government&#39; has hit rock bottom in every appointment in the constitutional bodies, judiciary to executive branches. It took four months for the House to pass the appropriation bill. When issue of poor governance is raised, he retorts with saying &#39;the focus is on constitution writing.&#39; When the mayhem in constitution writing is pointed, he just vents anger on the people who dared to ask. His lacklustre performance is only costing the country very dear in every front, mainly as coupling hindrances in constitution writing process.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The second person who could have changed the things for the better but doing very little or nothing is Subhash Chandra Nembang, the CA Chairman. When House was disrupted continuously for five weeks in September, his presence was nowhere felt. He kept on urging the political parties &#39;to agree&#39; on certain things. But, his responsibility was not to urge for agreement but to run the House business according to the already laid-down laws, rules and precedents. His failure is more acutely felt in his inability to &#39;educate&#39; the CA members in the processes and contents of the constitution writing. He even failed to inculcate in the minds of the CA members that they are representatives of the sovereign people, not the stooges of the political bigwigs. Over and above, he himself appears to be acting as the stooge of big leaders, waiting for signals to come from the quarters like HLPC.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The third personality who failed to deliver up to the expectation is Dr Baburam Bhattarai, Chairman of the Constitutional Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee (PDCC) in the CA. He kept on jumping around to appear as if he is honestly trying to extract some magic consensus, but without doing proper homework particularly to finalize the agenda of state restructuring. He tried to forge the so-called consensus in the vacuum. One of the main bones of contention among the political parties has been the number of provinces that the new constitution should delineate to federalize Nepal. But these parties have all in unison failed to come up with the basic logic of any particular number they have picked to propose as their agenda. As such, Bhattarai should have been able to come up with data on economic and political viability of the possible provinces and presented them dispassionately to the political parties. Instead, he himself ventured to propose some eight, nine or ten provinces, without any database to support his proposal. This was naive move both as the Chairman of PDCC, who should have ideally remained neutral in all these bickering and, also as a learned man, he must have come with alternative data-supported analysis such as &#39;if we go for eight provinces, the per capita income of Nepalis will rise in X-rate while with eleven it goes up/down by Y-rate.&#39; But, alas, nothing of the sort is happening.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	This is to conclude that, until and unless we revert back to essence of democracy from pressure tantrums, allow CA to function as the only legitimate place to discuss everything regarding the constitution writing and provide some factual basis to ascertain the number of provinces as well as the administrative structure of the &#39;new&#39; state, the new constitution will continue to remain a mirage, for unforeseen time to come.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<em>The writer is former editor of Aarthik Abhiyan National Daily.</em></div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-11-21',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age  nepal politics news & articles, nepal politics news & articles from new business age nepal, nepal politics headlines from nepal,  current and latest nepal politics news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali nepal politics economic news and events,  ongoing  nepal politics ne',
			'description' => 'If the ongoing irresponsible behaviour of some of the key political players of the country doesn't come to a halt, it is certain that the Constituent Assembly-Two (CA-II) will also not be able to deliver a new democratic constitution for the 'federal new Nepal.' The major impediment to the new constitution writing process has two folds: the first, no party is adhering to the mandate and processes of the CA, and crucial political bargaining are taking place out of the constitutional and the CA ambit.',
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	(int) 7 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2809',
			'article_category_id' => '167',
			'title' => 'Derailing Democracy',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Achyut Wagle</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Throughout Nepal&#39;s seven decade long modern political history, the biggest problem to institutionalize democracy has been sheer absence of democratic essence among the political actors - political parties and politicians, both. &nbsp;It has been true for all twists and turns in the history. Experience has it, those countries that could stabilize the democratic polity in relatively short period of political transition, say in two or three decades, enjoyed two common features. One, there was only two way fight between the democratic and autocratic forces, or colonizers and freedom fighters. Once the democrats outweighed the autocrats, the system got functionally stabilized. Second, at least for the initial transition, some charismatic and learned leader spearheaded those processes into an irrevocably functionalized and largely institutionalized form of democracy, before it could derail and eventually degenerate to anarchy or mayhem.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	But Nepal&#39;s democracy has persistently been victim of a triangular instead of bipolar traction among the ultra-rights led by the palace, ultra-lefts led by Maoists or Leninists, and democrats. In fact, democracy has been invariably sandwiched between other two forces. To recall the history of common knowledge, for this very reason none of political changes in 1951, 1961, 1981, 1991 or 2006 could institutionalize Nepal&#39;s democracy. The country has been a constant victim of political uncertainty and hopelessness, which has taken toll not only on economy and development but has also teetered the age-old social cohesion and coexistence. Thanks again primarily to the three-way pulls.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The recent turn of events also does not present any different picture. The political rhapsody of UCPN Maoist Chairman Puspa Kamal Dahal certainly reflects his desperation in a bid to save his political existence in the light of rapidly eroding political clout of his party, but it is hardly limited only to that. As a person brought up as the Maoist, he is fundamentally against this country writing a democratic constitution. &nbsp;And, this is not a secret, but his commitment, vowed umpteen times in public. He still harbours dreams that one day this country could still be ruled by a communist dictator, perhaps himself at the helm, like North Korea and Cuba. He wants the new constitution to be written with those aims in mind. But he too is clueless on the way outs that clear the nasty debris of the civil war, en-route to that unreachable summit.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	At the other end, there are monarchists who want to resurrect the religious fundamentalism to the extreme of considering the King, again, as reincarnation of Lord Vishnu. The movement of Hindu fundamentalism is slowly gathering momentum as not-so-insignificant chunk in the ruling Nepali Congress has also found solace in taking refuge to this political perversion. There are other hybrid elements born out of marriage between the royalists and leftists who have dedicated their energies to defame and undermine the popularly elected parliament.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The most recent example is the blatant disobedience of several parliamentary committee summons by Lokman Singh Karki, chief of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). It may be recalled that it was Puspa Kamal Dahal who engineered the appointment of Karki, an ardent royalist who served as chief secretary of the government during king Gyanendra&#39;s absolute rule, in CIAA position. The disgruntlement of some of the parliament members towards recalcitrant Karki was also meaningless as his appointment was formally approved by the chiefs of all major political parties &ndash; Sushil Koirala of Nepali Congress, Jhala Nath Khanal of CPN-UML, Dahal himself and other Terai-based forces while Khil Raj Regmi was heading the caretaker government a year ago. The career graph of Karki was a public knowledge but that surprisingly didn&#39;t bother these &#39;big&#39; leaders and they awarded him the position he deeply craved for, for some unexplained reasons. After such a big blunder, it is but natural that the cries of &#39;small fries&#39;, like members of parliament, go unheard. To extend the argument, the discretionary abuse of the constitutional bodies like CIAA also constitute a great degree of test case on the impartiality of these institutions that are expected to function compatibly with the norms and values of the democratic dispensation. &nbsp;These are definitely some sure signals that even the &#39;structure&#39; of democracy is being gravely in peril now, let alone essence.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ideally, the alliance of Nepali Congress and UML should have been able to steer the process of constitution writing and institutionalizing democracy given the strength of popular mandate they have and their largely tested credentials to multiparty, ballot-based democracy. But, persistence of &#39;sickness&#39; and performance dysfunction of the ruling alliance has indeed been a major impediment to any outcome that helps to the cause of democracy. The chiefs of both the parties, KP Oli of UML and Prime Minister Koirala, also the Congress chief, are sick in literal terms. And, deplorably ineffective role of Constituent Assembly (CA) Chairman Subash Nembang has rendered this supposedly most crucial institution in present day Nepal as good as dead.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The government has been oblivious to a number of its public commitments which, had they been executed, would have consolidated democracy at least by a step or prevent it from boiling down to vacuum of popular representation. One of such derelictions was government&#39;s imperviousness to hold the elections to the local bodies. On the contrary, the ruling political cartel has engaged heavily in appointing controversial names in many crucial positions, including the judiciary. Nevertheless, the joint stance taken lately by Koirala and Oli to take the constitution writing process ahead and promulgate the new constitution by January 2015is no doubt appreciable. But, given the fact that they have hardly been credible in the past and apparent challenges that need a great deal of political dexterity to surpass, hopes of smooth sail are still very grim, to say the least.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Another very alarming signal that democratic forces would be pushed to further relegation is: the influential members among ruling elites are blatantly engaged in the acts which are morally indefensible. The Nepali Congress Vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel&#39;s avarice to appoint his near and dear ones to lucrative public positions, Finance Minister Dr. Ram Saran Mahat&#39;s machinations to transfer a highly controversial civil servant into his ministry and above all K P Oli&#39;s design of giving ministerial berth to his henchmen defeated in recent elections give ground for both Left and Right forces to disregard the &#39;high talks&#39; of democratic forces. There are several other such decisions that only undermine the transparency and accountability parameters, which are cornerstones of democracy.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As such, the CA has been rendered completely ineffective. There are public speeches made repeatedly, challenging to dishonour the arithmetic of CA; a crucial phenomenon as consensus is always elusive as is the case now. The political polarization has intensified. The political undercurrents are such that given the provision that the constitution needs to be ratified by two-thirds majority in the House, there could be some defectors from the ruling alliance who may dig holes in the ship.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	No doubt, Dahal is ruining his political prospects due to his own activities outside of CA and repeated flimsy announcements like &#39;initiating another revolution&#39;, &#39;forming the government from outside of parliament&#39;, &#39;writing new constitution from the street,&#39; etc. Worse, his irresponsible politics has provided much needed springboard to fringe parties, with some abstract agenda of identity and regionalism-based politics that were badly defeated in the last CA elections. They are particularly enthused by Dahal&#39;s patronship to these agenda.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Anything said and done, Nepal seems to be heading towards another constitutional crisis. The stage is being gradually set for that. There is not even a marginal possibility of promulgating a new constitution by 22nd of January, the deadline set by the political parties themselves. The ongoing unrest in the eastern part of country is perhaps deeper than it is generally perceived. Whatever federal structure one may propose, at least without any factual basis but by bare political imposition, is sure to be rejected by one section or another. Managing these discontents stemming in many forms and guises are likely to push the country to new phase of unrest and violence.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As of writing these lines, the drama of signature campaign &#39;to moot the proposal of ruling coalition&#39; into the Constitutional Dialogue Committee headed by Maoist leader Dr. Baburam Bhattarai suggests that the era of politics of consensus has been over. Democracy essentially is less about consensus but more about the rules of the game. But, here, rule breaking has been the first norm of politics. And, the politics of consensus generally endows better payoffs to weaker than the stronger. That is why Dahal and his 22-party opposition brigade is &#39;dying&#39; for this ever elusive consensus in the constitution making process. But, on the other end, Nepal now is not in a situation where it can afford to relegate potentially destructive forces from the mainstream political process. The journey from completion of drafting to promulgating the new constitution, even if takes place at all in near future, is going to be treacherous. The thought over another crucial phase of actual federalization of the state is yet to begin. Setting up new bureaucracies, reallocation of resources and dividing powers and authorities amongst the different layers of administration are the task that are going to be far more difficult than writing &nbsp;one set of generic document called &lsquo;constitution&rsquo;.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Before any tall talk on any big issue, we have but no choice to begin from the basics -- putting the derailed democracy back on track. The point of departure for one and all is; to unconditionally express faith on the rule-based game of democracy, respect for the people&#39;s mandate and in essence adopt a forward looking approach, not in a sense as touted by communists but as per the best and time tested democratic practices adhered to by the world for several centuries now.</div>
<div>
	The writer is former editor of Aarthik Abhiyan National Daily.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-12-23',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age  nepal politics news & articles, nepal politics news & articles from new business age nepal, nepal politics headlines from nepal,  current and latest nepal politics news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali nepal politics economic news and events,  ongoing  nepal politics ne',
			'description' => 'Throughout Nepal's seven decade long modern political history, the biggest problem to institutionalize democracy has been sheer absence of democratic essence among the political actors - political parties and politicians, both.  It has been true for all twists and turns in the history. Experience has it, those countries that could stabilize the democratic polity in relatively short period of political transition, say in two or three decades, enjoyed two common features. One, there was only two way fight between the democratic and autocratic forces, or colonizers and freedom fighters. Once the democrats outweighed the autocrats, the system got functionally stabilized. Second, at least for the initial transition, some charismatic and learned leader spearheaded those processes into an irrevocably functionalized and largely institutionalized form of democracy, before it could derail and eventually degenerate to anarchy or mayhem.',
			'sortorder' => '2655',
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	(int) 8 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2810',
			'article_category_id' => '209',
			'title' => 'Essay Writing Competition 2015',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/essay.jpg" style="height: 399px; width: 635px;" /></span></p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<span style="font-size:14px;">This Essay writing competition is for all Bachelor&#39;s and Master&#39;s level students from any university in Nepal<br />
	<br />
	<strong>Essay Titles</strong><br />
	1. Investment Opportunities in Nepal.<br />
	2. Nepal&#39;s Deveploment Possibilities.<br />
	3. My views about Nepal&#39;s private sector.<br />
	4. Use of Nepal&#39;s water resources.<br />
	5. Role of media in economic deveploment.<br />
	<br />
	(Two topics from this list will be selected randomly in the essay writing hall and the participants should write the essay on a topic of his/her choice from those two so selected)<br />
	<br />
	<strong>Guidelines</strong><br />
	Participants can write on the selected topic either in English or Nepali.<br />
	Participants will be given one hour to write the essay.<br />
	Copying, referring to notes or published material or electronic gadgets will be forbidden.<br />
	<br />
	<br />
	<strong>Important Dates</strong><br />
	Deadline for submission of form is 8th Baishak 2072.<br />
	Essay writing day is 11th Baishak 2072.<br />
	<br />
	<strong>Submission</strong><br />
	Participation forms can be submitted either <a href="http://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XaUaWW1NWGCW6crDCF2gqUeisHkFm0vf79G3uZoTxrs/edit">online </a>or in <a href="/userfiles/files/ESSAY%20WRITING%20COMPETITION%20form.docx">hard copy</a>.<br />
	<br />
	<strong>Email</strong><br />
	nshreemali@newbusinessage.com<br />
	asubedi@newbusinessage.com</span></p>
<p>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XaUaWW1NWGCW6crDCF2gqUeisHkFm0vf79G3uZoTxrs/edit">CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT ONLINE FORM.</a></span></p>
<p>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><a href="/userfiles/files/ESSAY%20WRITING%20COMPETITION%20form.docx">CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FORM.</a></span></p>',
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			'created' => '2015-03-29',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => '',
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	(int) 9 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2808',
			'article_category_id' => '48',
			'title' => 'Rule Of Dogs',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Madan Lamsal</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	I &nbsp;have no intention of passing any derogatory remark on this faithful, trustworthy, friendly and beautiful animal called dog. With due apology to it, allow me to uncover some of present day Nepal&#39;s great eco-political mysteries with the help of this metaphor. You may have noticed, one of the greatest secrets of Nepal&#39;s perennial perils has just been revealed: it was because this country for so long was ruled by dogs. Watchdogs, barking dogs, biting dogs, wagging dogs, walking dogs, stray dogs, guarding dogs and running dogs. (Readers are welcome to add some or many more to this list depending on their own observations). How can you expect our human development indices to go up where everything is &#39;of the dogs, by the dogs and for the dogs?&#39;&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Our parliament has a big bunch of vigilante dogs who keep good watch on some of hydropower projects of their interest. Many members of parliament are the &#39;jhola ma khola&#39; agents. Therefore, if anybody sniffs in their project they bark back loudly as a dutiful guarding dog. These honourable members of this genre of canine community were quick to warn the CIAA chief Lokman Karki just not to cross the limits of a watchdog. &nbsp;Karki, who is the size of a Tibetan Mastiff declared himself just as a &lsquo;barking dog&rsquo;, thus would not accept the label of a &lsquo;biting dog&rsquo;.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Questions have been raised about the hunting abilities and choice of prey by this barking dog. People outside the political circle allege that he is running behind the small fries leaving big sharks unscathed. &nbsp;The wagging dogs who are often seen at the gates of big political leaders, heave a sigh of relief that Karki&#39;s canine teeth were blunted at the very moment of appointment, rendering him truly a mere barking dog, only capable to chase away the stray dogs in the bureaucracy, leaving alone big hounds. Karki can bark really very loudly as seen recently during the acrimonious dogfight between several parliamentary committees and the CIAA. Parliamentarians like Gagan Thapa who considers himself as a very skilled barker, anywhere everywhere, has been silenced by the just snarls of Karki.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	But, crucial question here is, why these wagging dogs are having problem with this barking dog? They should instead bark at their bosses who appointed him with an unprecedented consensus in the history of Nepal. Karki&#39;s appointment as the CIAA chief had taken onboard every possible power centre that is otherwise guarded by Polar Alsatians, German Mastiffs, Chinese Chow Chow and Indian Rajapalayams, among others. So, Karki&#39;s metamorphosis was obvious from a mere barking to a biting dog, given he finds some feebler flocks.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	And Karki has every reason to bark on these new bunch of stray dogs who dared to protest against the erection of his father&#39;s statue at Duhabi thoroughfare, which ultimately had to be demolished and a part of the ruin still pierces his heart. He knows this new barking license for him has come at a very dear financial cost and a very high degree of coalesces between red communists and pink ex-Panchas. For all these reasons, he is not deterred by any amount of barking by these new breed of dogs. Moreover, these naive and novas do not recognize the supernatural sniffing ability of Karki. That is exactly the reason he chose to avoid the successive summons by the parliamentary committees. He has the ability to tame these raucous packs by using supersensitive remote controls.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	It is also not surprising that Karki has chosen to scare some of the hydropower promoting jackals. He knows they are fleshy and if caught, the feast would be more than plentiful. This is what the bone of contention is. The stray dogs sense that this flesh may be taken away from them by this gradually becoming English Hunter from a Tibetan barking dog.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-12-23',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age no laughing matter news & articles, no laughing matter news & articles from new business age nepal, no laughing matter headlines from nepal,  current and latest no laughing matter news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali no laughing matter economic news and events,  ongoing',
			'description' => 'I  have no intention of passing any derogatory remark on this faithful, trustworthy, friendly and beautiful animal called dog. With due apology to it, allow me to uncover some of present day Nepal's great eco-political mysteries with the help of this metaphor. You may have noticed, one of the greatest secrets of Nepal's perennial perils has just been revealed: it was because this country for so long was ruled by dogs. Watchdogs, barking dogs, biting dogs, wagging dogs, walking dogs, stray dogs, guarding dogs and running dogs. (Readers are welcome to add some or many more to this list depending on their own observations). How can you expect our human development indices to go up where everything is 'of the dogs, by the dogs and for the dogs?'',
			'sortorder' => '2653',
			'image' => null,
			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
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	(int) 10 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2801',
			'article_category_id' => '52',
			'title' => 'Commendable Contract',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal has been successful in initiating important economic reforms, ahead at least of her South Asian peers. The process of economic liberalization began in 1984, eight years before India began its first generation of reforms. The financial sector reform too was undertaken with a reasonable success a decade ago. The latest agreement between the employers and the trade unions of Nepal to execute much awaited labour law reforms is another milestone. While Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has just making a case to change their 1949 Labour Law, Nepal&#39;s success can set an example on how highly contentious issue of industrial relations could be amicably resolved through right initiatives, with confidence building arrangements in the background.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The creation of the Social Security Fund under the tripartite agreement among the government, the Employers&#39; Council headed by the FNCCI vice-president and all trade unions (there are some eleven at present) four years ago paved the way for the recent understanding. Among others, there were two major issues, one each from the employers and the workers. The employers wanted the hiring-and-firing rights and the employees wanted certainty of financial security. Both of these issues got resolved albeit in rather surprising pace. The employers exhibited a great deal of generosity to agree to contribute to twenty percent equivalent of the wages towards the Fund on top of employees&#39; contribution of eleven percent. This really constitutes a substantial sum that gives confidence to the workers. The employers have also secured the right to hire-and-fire, without seeking prior approval from the Labour Ministry, a legal provision still effective. The agreement to categorize the workers into four groups depending on the nature and necessity of the production process has also eased the labour market risks to the investors and entrepreneurs.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The two pending issues to be agreed, namely sectorial bargaining rights and no-work-no-pay should not be as difficult to resolve as other host of issues already agreed. The latter issue partially gets addressed by the hiring and firing rights of the employers. But, the sectorial bargaining norms, when agreed with a sectorial umbrella body deemed applicable to the entire sector (the industry), could be agreed with some exception of new entrants or loss-making businesses. Again, as the fair-market norm, such sectorial umbrella organizations tantamount to cartel and thus employers should also need to rethink their position in the long run.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Undoubtedly, the agreement to amend the labour laws to these effects is a welcome step. But, Nepal&#39;s political leadership must first desist to use the trade unions as the political tools. When this agreement actually becomes a law, the scope of using these trade unions as the political instrument drastically reduces. This warrants for a cautious approach that these agreed issues do not become victim of political machinations again. Nepal has also seen several such agreements and enactment of many important laws. But their enforcement and adherence have always been the problem. Therefore, all necessary institutional and logistic arrangement must be in place for desired outcome of these agreements, which in due course become law. A few of such &#39;must&#39; arrangements are: proper database of the workers, automated accounting of the Security Fund given the potential high mobility of labourers, timely deposit of the promised amounts by the employers and updated records of the same, and credible institutional set-up to ensure timely delivery of all these services.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	It is also not enough just to have these laws in place. If Nepal is expecting enhanced foreign or domestic investment, she should be able to communicate this as an achievement that has put a decades-long problem of industrial relations conclusively to an end. The trade unions affiliated to all political parties have signed this agreement, which adds one more powerful reason to invest in Nepal. Needless to say, to achieve this success in a country, which has one of the cheapest labour costs is indeed in the interest of all potential investors.&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-11-21',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age  from the editor news & articles, from the editor news & articles from new business age nepal, from the editor headlines from nepal,  current and latest from the editor news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali from the editor economic news and events,  ongoing  from the edi',
			'description' => 'Nepal has been successful in initiating important economic reforms, ahead at least of her South Asian peers. The process of economic liberalization began in 1984, eight years before India began its first generation of reforms. The financial sector reform too was undertaken with a reasonable success a decade ago.',
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	(int) 11 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2806',
			'article_category_id' => '40',
			'title' => 'The Story Of Nepali Startups',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Akhilesh Tripathi</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The startup scene in Nepal has changed significantly over the last five&ndash;seven years, with new and young entrepreneurs coming up with innovative ideas every year. Today, though there is no official data, the number of successful startups in Nepal is estimated to be above 50. These are the companies that are said to be running in good profit. Over this period, a young Nepali startup ecosystem has been in the making, though it is still incomplete due to the absence of venture capitals in the ecosystem. With most of the successful startups belonging to the IT sector, the future of the Nepali startup industry looks promising.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;The Nepali startup scene is heading slowly but surely in a good direction,&rdquo; thinks Mark Sears, CEO of CloudFactory, one of the most successful Nepali startups. Bidhyabaridhi Sigdel, Investment Director at Dolma Impact Fund, shares similar views. &ldquo;Now we are seeing new and unique businesses, which involve a brilliant choice of timing and products,&rdquo; he says. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	It&rsquo;s not just startups like CloudFactory and F1Soft which are doing quite well, nationally as well as internationally. There are others too. For example, Grepsr, a company specializing in web crawling service. The company has international clients such as The Boston Consulting Group, GE Capital, and Target, and is doing very well in their third year. Subrat Basnet, one of the co-founders of the company emphasizes on the massive opportunity for tech entrepreneurs in Nepal to make an impact on a global scale. &ldquo;With the growth of local talent, low risk investment and low operational cost, among other things, Nepali tech entrepreneurs can really compete in the global market if they have great ideas and the right marketing,&rdquo; he says.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	11Beep is another up-and-coming startup from Nepal. It has been trying to build an anonymous mobile social network. It&rsquo;s CEO Bimal Maharjan who is an active participant at startup events around Kathmandu and has even has flown to Italy for a four-month bootcamp called TechPeaks&mdash;The People Accelerator, feels the excitement and challenges of working on an idea alongside other entrepreneurs, designers and hackers.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Another idea which was developed in Nepal and has gained some ground locally with aggressive plans to expand internationally is CashOnAd, a mobile advertising platform that is working to revolutionize the advertising world. The fact that CashOnAd&rsquo;s android app on Google Play has already been installed in more than 100,000 devices shows their success in a comparatively short period. With the mobilization of local talent and the right growth strategy, CashOnAd has the potential to be very scalable and profitable in a short period.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Innovative companies such as Grepsr, 11Beep and CashOnAd are pioneering a new era of tech entrepreneurship in Nepal. They are dreaming big and thinking of conducting business beyond the borders of Nepal and competing globally. There are also other tech companies making their presence felt in the domestic market as well as chasing the international market.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;Many more innovative ideas are surfacing at events like StartupWeekend, GDG Meetups, Hackathons, Mobile Social Networking, Tedx , BarCamp, Mapthaons.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Even Incubators like Biruwa Ventures and communities for open source and developers is growing,&rdquo; says Amit Agrawal of Janaki Technologies, &ldquo;Now the vision is crossing the borders and soon we will see kickass startups from the Himalayas, that will rock the world.&rdquo;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<table border="0" cellpadding="10" width="99%">
		<tbody>
			<tr>
				<td bgcolor="#84F2AE">
					<div>
						<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Government&rsquo;s Startup Fund</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Lately, it seems that the government has understood the importance of promoting entrepreneurship in the country. The latest national budget has announced a Startup Fund of Rs 500 million. While making his budget speech, Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat said that this Fund, which is yet to take shape, will help cultivate the culture of entrepreneurship and promote fresh ideas by bankrolling promising startups. The government expects the private sector and NRNs, too, to contribute to this seed fund, according to officials at the Department of Industry.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Pashupati Murarka, senior vice-president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), thinks that the criteria and working procedure of the Fund should be established at the earliest possible to make the allotted resources useful. &ldquo;Though the seed amount is not large, the initiative is good. The government now needs to work out an implementation plan as soon as possible,&rdquo; said Murarka, adding that the private sector can decide how to support the programme once there is clarity about the working modality.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&ldquo;It has already been four months since the government announced the Startup Fund through the national budget. Now, the government should focus on the implementation aspect of the Fund without any delay,&rdquo; advises Hari Bhakta Sharma, senior vice president of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI).</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Besides the Startup Fund, the government has been running a Business Incubation Programme (BIP) under the Department of Cottage and Small Industries (DoCSI). The BIP which has been running for the last eight years is targeted at supporting startup enterprises. &ldquo;BIP has been trying to create a favourable environment for innovative and aspiring entrepreneurs. This includes providing physical facilities and mentorship services on various aspects of management and production such as productivity enhancement, quality management, accounting, marketing and intellectual property rights,&rdquo; says Pawan Kumar Timalsena, director at DoCSI. &nbsp;</div>
				</td>
			</tr>
		</tbody>
	</table>
</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Incomplete ecosystem&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	Startups in Nepal face some common challenges in terms of taking their products international and growing the brand. The most obvious challenge is financial. Startups don&rsquo;t get loans without collaterals from the banks. Likewise, angel investors are very few and far between. So, most startups are forced to survive on bootstrapping. Thus, finance is the most difficult problem that people face in Nepal to start a startup. There are no investors willing to invest in startups, according to industry insiders.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	If an idea or product solves a problem and provides value, the target customers need to be aware of the product or service. International customers can be reached through Google AdWords, Facebook ads, advertisements in relevant platforms, among other ways. But all this needs funding. Financial leverage is necessary for this, and the company should have adequate capital to properly market the product or service. This is one area where most of the Nepali startups are lagging behind.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;In most cases, finding investors for ideas or early stage ventures is extremely challenging. Therefore, we recommend that entrepreneurs build some sort of track record before approaching investors,&rdquo; says Vidhan Rana, founder-managing partner of Biruwa Ventures.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The risk-averse culture in Nepal has led to less competition among the startups than in other parts of the world. This lack of overall competition has hurt the start up ecosystem in terms of quality, valuations, and market-building. But the industry is growing, though slowly, say the industry insiders.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Other Challenges</strong></div>
<div>
	Another challenge is talent. Nepal has many colleges from where thousands of students are graduating every year. However, tech companies have a hard time finding the right talent when necessary. &ldquo;While there are many young talented people in Nepal, there are few senior, experienced engineers and managers,&rdquo; shares Sears.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Publicity is another challenge for the Nepali startups. To expand globally, Nepali startups need a network or presence outside of Nepal. Getting covered by popular tech blogs, websites, international media etc. could help create awareness of Nepal-based companies. In this context, events like Startup Weekend Kathmandu platform is a good one. At such events, innovative ideas can get some initial traction through its wide network and reach.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Starting up a startup is another major challenge. Though some initiatives have been taken to provide funding for startups which have survived at least for a couple of years or more, startups do not get financial help from banks or other similar institutions at their initial stage. In simple words, there are no institutions to provide seed capital to startups.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;The ecosystem here carries a general feeling that the startups do not know anything about business. Whereas, in advanced markets, startups are received in a positive connotation,&rdquo; observes Bibhusan Bista, CEO of Young Innovations, a Nepali tech startup, which has been helping new startups by organizing startup events like &ldquo;Hackathon&rdquo; among others.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<table border="0" cellpadding="10" width="99%">
		<tbody>
			<tr>
				<td bgcolor="#84F2AE">
					<div>
						<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>IFC&rsquo;s Business Oxygen (BO2)</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						BO2 is a USD 14 million SME venture fund established in partnership with International Finance Corporation (IFC), Bank of Kathmandu and Beed Management. It was established in 2012 to provide risk capital to Small and Medium Enterprises in Nepal through structured equity and quasi-equity investments. It specializes in providing finance to SMEs that might be ignored by BFIs, or cannot access finance from BFIs due to a lack of collateral. BO2 looks for promising entrepreneurs who have worked on good business ideas and show a flair for entrepreneurship.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Companies may qualify for BO2 if they satisfy any two of the three criteria, namely: less than 50 staff, total assets below Rs 250 million and total annual turnover below Rs 250 million. In addition to funding, BO2 provides advisory services to build the capacities of small and medium enterprises to reach the next level.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>Who can qualify for investment?</strong></div>
					<div>
						BO2 concentrates on small entrepreneurs who want to take the step up to the next level. We are looking for SMEs in the growth stage with a history of profitable performance and potential for creating value for investors in the time period of the investment. Entrepreneurs should keep in mind the following points when considering funding from BO2:</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&bull; This is not &#39;free&#39; or &#39;subsidized&#39; money.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&bull; The business or its owners should not be blacklisted. Preferably the company should not have bank loans, or if it does, then it should be repayable with the investment amount.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&bull; The company should be registered in the CRO as a public limited or a private limited company.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&bull;Since BO2 is looking at growth stage companies for investment, the company should have been in business for at least 2 years. If under 2 years then the owners should have been involved in the same sector for more than 2 years.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&bull; BO2&#39;s investment will be utilized for the purpose of increasing top or bottom line.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>Investment Period</strong></div>
					<div>
						BO2 investment is only for a period of four years, which may be extended by a maximum of one year. At the end of the investment period BO2 will exit the investment by selling its shares in the company, back to the original owners at a predetermined value. BO2provides investment in nine sectors: Manufacturing, Energy Based, Agro and Forest Based, Tourism, Trading, IT and Communication, service industries, construction and infrastructure, and realty.&nbsp;</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<em>(Source: IFC)&nbsp;</em></div>
				</td>
			</tr>
		</tbody>
	</table>
</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Focus on the Global Tech Map</strong></div>
<div>
	&ldquo;Tech entrepreneurs are becoming more ambitious, focused on putting Nepal on the tech map, despite the challenges in taking their product into the global market. Soon, it would not be surprising to hear of big ideas from Nepal making a global impact,&rdquo; says Rana. He advises those who want to start a startup to focus on doing branding well, having a unique offering, scalable business model, global thinking, flat hierarchy with a good working culture, and getting inspired by what&rsquo;s happening globally.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	With quality product and right expansion strategy, a handful of tech companies from Nepal are venturing into the global stage and starting to make an impact. Though challenges come with the territory, Nepal&rsquo;s tech companies have a remarkable opportunity to take a bite out of the global tech scene.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Subrat of Grespr believes that Nepal can be put on the tech map. &ldquo;But to put Nepal on the global tech map, we need more companies from Nepal like CloudFactory, F1Soft, Janaki Technologies and Grepsr, and an ecosystem that builds and nurtures quality startups,&rdquo; he says.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Sustainability Issue</strong></div>
<div>
	Industry insiders believe that Nepalis are very capable of innovative work. But the reality on the ground is that Nepal doesn&#39;t seem to have good homegrown startups. There is foreign involvement in most of the leading startups from Nepal. Most of the tech startups that do exist are happy doing outsourcing jobs which might not be a sustainable solution for development of IT in Nepal. What could be the reason?</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Niranjan Bom Malla, founder of Vidinterest.com says, &ldquo;Based on my experience, there are two big problems that we have in our country right now. One, the Nepali culture of investment, very few angel investors - for most of them, IT startup is not the 1st choice. They think they have better places to invest in other sectors. Two, most of the foreign investors are not comfortable investing in our country, because of our political and financial situation. Trust me, I had talks with more than 100 angel investors over the last two years.&rdquo;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Experts also believe that startup businesses should always focus on creating a strong team to sustain their growth. &ldquo;Without a strong team, even businesses with strong potential are at the risk of failure,&rdquo; observes Rana.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Bista of Young Innovations believes that Nepali startups should come up with new ideas of business rather than copying successful global products and trends for sustainability in the long run.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
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				<div>
					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Janaki Technology: Building Acclaimed Software</strong></span></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
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							<td>
								<img alt="Amit Agrawal, CEO,  Janaki Technology" src="/userfiles/images/cs1(3).JPG" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 239px;" /></td>
						</tr>
						<tr>
							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Amit Agrawal</strong></div>
									<div>
										CEO&nbsp;</div>
									<div>
										Janaki Technology</div>
								</div>
							</td>
						</tr>
					</tbody>
				</table>
				<div>
					Janaki Technology is a software product company well known for its SMS based service, Sparrow SMS and it&rsquo;s much acclaimed application Picovico. Founded in 2007 as a normal web application and outsourcing company, it entered the Nepal SMS Value Added Service (VAS) Market in 2010. It harnessed its experience of catering to the software needs of its national and multinational clients and built &lsquo;Sparrow SMS&rsquo;in 2010 as a platform to facilitatevarious SMS based services.&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					SMS services and VAS was not a new thing in Nepal by then, &ldquo;however, we were unique in our implementation and use of latest technology. Our strong technical team worked hard to make it better than other existing SMS services,&rdquo; Amit Agrawal, CEO of the company says while elaborating on the success mantra of the service.</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					The company served multinational clients inside and outside the country and Sparrow SMS has received national and international awards. &ldquo;We are still focusing on innovating our products and there is a long way to go,&rdquo; Agrawal said.</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					In 2011 the company rolled out Picovico, an application to convert photos into video. The product was selected for seed funding in 2011 by &lsquo;the Morpheus Ventures&rsquo; India. A year later, the Chile Government selected it for &quot;StartupChile&quot; programme awarding it equity free funding of 40,000 USD.&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					Agrawal shares that the company focused on research and development for making the products and therefore remained in loss during its initial years. But since than the company has been in profit and presently its annual growth rate has been between 15 to 20%.</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					Reflecting on challenges that the company faced as a startup, Agrawal shares that they also went through common problems faced other businesses in Nepal like load-shedding, delayed and multi-layered government processes, shortage of talented workforce and unfriendly business policies. &ldquo;Not having proper startup-ecosystem in the country was another big problem, when we started,&rdquo; he said. &nbsp;&ldquo;Lack of industry support from government, angel investors and startup accelerators along with unclear laws about IT industry and small market size are other major problems especially for Nepali tech companies,&rdquo; he shared. The company has gained substantial popularity among local clients and is presently doing market research to expand its reach beyond Nepal, Agrawal said adding that the company is working on pushing Picovico in the global market, especiallyin Europe and America. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<strong>&nbsp;(By Upashana Neupane)</strong></div>
			</td>
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	</tbody>
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<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
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								<img alt="Ujjwal Chapagain, Managing Director, Himalayan Rabbit Farm" src="/userfiles/images/cs2(7).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 238px;" /></td>
						</tr>
						<tr>
							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Ujjwal Chapagain</strong></div>
									<div>
										Managing Director</div>
									<div>
										Himalayan Rabbit Farm</div>
								</div>
							</td>
						</tr>
					</tbody>
				</table>
				<div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Himalayan Rabbit Farm: A Social Start-up</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Ujjwal Chapagain, managing director of The Himalayan Rabbit Farm took up the risk of leaving a secure job and entering into an unchartered business terrain of commercial rabbit meat production. Such a business is still little known about across the country. When Chapagain thought of it as a business venture, he was questioned more than assured to take the risk. But he succeeded.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						He thought that a small risk taken could help in the sectorial as well as his personal growth. In the very beginning, he had decided his business venture will be a social enterprise rather than a purely commercial. Established in 2012, the venture has provided 100 small farmers with an extra source of income in the form ofrabbit farming.Along with that six farmers have been producing rabbits on a larger scale, following the footsteps and guidelines of Chapagain.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Chapagain was a jobholder in the non-governmental sector. He left the job and invested all his savings in starting up an organic vegetable shop at Jhamsikhel and an integrated farm in Bhaktapur in partnership with some friends. Unfortunately, the project did not succeed, the cause of which he alludes to lack of teamwork with his business partners. After this, he found himself at the crossroads forced to choose between doing business and reverting to being a jobholder. He decided to stay.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						He explored various business prospects and finally decided to start rabbit farming. He took the decision after figuring out that rabbit meat had high demand in the market, as it had remained unnoticed as a livestock farming option and therefore had no substantial competitors. Besides that, another major reason, which attracted his attention, was the fact that rabbit meat is considered to be healthy food and as people were being oriented towards healthy meat options, he thought that he could cater to this consumer sentiment.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						After finalizing his new business idea, Chapagain faced the problem of capital shortage. As he had spent all his savings in the previous venture, the only option left to him was borrowing from a bank. Considering the failure of his earlier business venture, it was hard to convince family members to put up family land as collateral for acquiring bank loan for his new venture. He convinced them and he acquired a bank loan and started rabbit farming in partnership.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The company has around 500 rabbits at its rabbit farm in Balambu, Kathmandu. For breeding, there are around 100 females. It is planning to upgrade the existing breeding centre into a modern one for breeding high yielding rabbit breeds. Presently, it procures 300 to 400 kilograms of rabbit meat every month from farmers situated in different parts of the country. Chapagain says that this quantity is consumed in the market, which primarily consists of hotels and restaurants.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cs3(7).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 399px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Within two years, Himalayan Rabbit Farm has succeeded to put rabbit meat as an option on menus. The success stems from the fact that people, who have tasted it, have loved it. Chapagain feels that interest towards the meat has been growing and he has been continuously working to boost it. To increase customer attraction and establish rabbit meat eating culture, the company had provided free tasting samples to visitors of Food, Drinks and Hospitality Exhibition held in September this year.The company has been working on innovating rabbit meat dishes in association with Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management (NATHM), so that hotels and restaurants could replicate them.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						On the social side, Chapagain has been constantly working with local farmers to help them in rearing rabbits and thereby generating additional household income. The company provides training on rabbit keeping, managing and shade building for rabbit farming to farmer, among other support.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						As of now, farmers in Mayagdi, Rasuwa, Sindhuli, Dolakha, Nawalparas and Kathmandu have taken up rabbit farming. He says that famers from other areas have been also showing interests.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						In the past two years, Chapagain has made a huge leap in introducing a totally new area to livestock farming in Nepal and now he wishes to establish rabbit farming as a national programme, similar to that of pig, goat and poultry farming. Along with this he wishes to make rabbit meat easily available in the market for purchase. To this end he has plans up his sleeves to set up outlets for selling rabbit meat products in places with higher market volume.</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<strong>(By Gaurav Aryal)</strong></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
				</div>
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	&nbsp;</div>
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					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Selling the Innovation</strong></span></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
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								<img alt="Madhukar KC, Founder, Matribhumi Urja Pvt Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/cs4(6).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 243px;" /></td>
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							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Madhukar KC</strong></div>
									<div>
										Founder</div>
									<div>
										Matribhumi Urja Pvt Ltd</div>
								</div>
							</td>
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				<div>
					<div>
						Madhukar KC, founder of Matribhumi Urja Pvt Ltd invented a fuel-efficient wood fire stove that is being commercially developed. Recently, he has designed eight different burners and presented them to the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre, as requested. These designs include skewer stove, high-altitude stove, portable stove and bio-gas stove among others for household and commercial use.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						CB Urja Pvt Ltd has been granted the production and marketing rights for the wood fireportable stovesKC innovated. It started production since mid-May 2014 from its Balaju Industrial Estate based factory.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The government has recently decided to provide five ropanis of land in Chitwan to set up a factory produce burners at a larger scale, KC informed. He is optimistic that the decision would help to develop his venture. His journey so far has been challenging, especially during the research stage, as he had to personally finance his research and development works. Sharing his experience, KC complains of banks and financial institution&rsquo;s unwillingness to take intellectual property as collateral for providing loans. In lack of loans, he has been managing investments with the profit earned by selling the products.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						KC, originally a resident of Pyuthan had moved to Chitwan and it is where he first introduced the product to the public. The first prototype of woodfire stove was developed after a long series of trial and errors on coal stove. A successful prototype was developed in the 33rd attempt. For over 13 years he has been devoting all his time in developing the product. Coming now, he has improvised his products to use bio-mass. KC says that the performance of his stoves is higher than the government benchmark claiming that his stoves scored 29 in the benchmark against the official benchmark of 25. KC plans to develop products that can score around 33 to 35 in terms of performance and fuel efficiency. &nbsp;Presently he has been working fuel-efficient stoves to be used with bio-gas and liquefiedpetroleum gas (LPG).</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						KC&rsquo;s stove, besides firewood, can use biomass such as pine leaves, seeds of Schima Wallichi (Chilaune) tree, seeds of Hog Plum (Lapsi) and other bio wastages, which generally remain unused, as fuel source. A candy factory in Parbat entirely uses Hog Plum seeds to fuel the stove. This unique portable stove uses two watt computer fan for air supply. The insulated version of the stove does not heat the room as it is covered by mud, specially designed for the Terai region. The fixed stoves installed in rural households also have similar mechanism and provide better flames while emitting lower smoke. KC says that these stoves can be customised to fit in the requirements of an individual household. This mechanism makes it fuel-efficient, environment and user friendly while ensuring smoke free kitchen.Along with that stove uses parts made of recycled metals supplied by the Butwal based Metal Craft Pvt Ltd.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cs5(5).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 399px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;KC is the first to incubate at the Business Incubation Programme of the Department of Cottage and Small Industries (DoCSI). In 2009, KC was recognised by National Academy for Science and Technology (NAST) with an award for developing efficient stoves. He was also awarded with Surya Nepal Asha Social Entrepreneurship Award in 2013. After being awarded with the awards, KC realized the buzz that his business had created in the market. He has registered patent rights for his innovations. Presently he has been trying to acquire international patent rights for his LPG and bio-gas burners and the DoCSI has pledged assistance in this endeavour.&nbsp;</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<strong>(By Gaurav Aryal)</strong></div>
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					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>CloudFactory: A Crowd-sourcing Powerhub</strong></span></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
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								<img alt="Mark Sears, CEO, CloudFactory" src="/userfiles/images/cs6(5).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 218px;" /></td>
						</tr>
						<tr>
							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Mark Sears</strong></div>
									<div>
										CEO, CloudFactory</div>
								</div>
							</td>
						</tr>
					</tbody>
				</table>
				<div>
					<div>
						As crowd-sourcing and cloud-working are becoming the next big things in the global outsourcing market, new companies are flocking into this lucrative business. CloudFactory, a Kathmandu-based startup has emerged among the frontrunners in the global crowd-sourcing market. The company, founded in 2010 by a Canadian tech entrepreneur, Mark Sears, is rapidly expanding its foothold in Nepal and beyond. CloudFactory came into existence when Sears came to Nepal on a vacation with his wife in 2008. &nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The company basically is a web-based outsourcing platform that hires cloud-workers who can work from their internet enabled locations. CloudFactory&#39;s clients are those who need big data services such as data entry, data processing, data collection along with audio/video transcription, categorization, web research and image tagging. The tasks are broken down into sets of &quot;microtasks&quot; which are then distributed to its pool of online workers who complete their work in the &quot;virtual assembly lines&quot;. CloudFactory currently employs 3,200 workers from Nepal and across the world, who process over a million tasks per day.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>&lsquo;&lsquo;Nepali startup scene is heading slowly but surely in a good direction&rsquo;&rsquo;</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>How did the idea of CloudFactory germinate?</strong></div>
					<div>
						In 2008, we were a software development company building web and mobile applications for North American and European clients. Many of them started needing data entry related work and kept asking if we could hire people in Nepal and do it. We kept saying no because we were a high-end software boutique and not a data entry company. At the same time we had been living in Nepal for a year and only hiring talented computer engineering fresher. &nbsp;During the period we met many other talented Nepalis looking for an opportunity. The major existing solution was Amazon&#39;s Mechanical Turk (AMT) - a crowd sourcing internet marketplace. But its enterprise-grade was not enough for our clients and we faced many quality related problems. So we started CloudFactory on January 1, 2010 as a technology platform to cater to the big demand and supply of online workers and haven&#39;t looked back since then.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>What are the turning points for your company?</strong></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;The shift from a software development company to a product company back in Jan 2010 was a major turning point. Another major turning point was in May 2012 when we hired our first 25 cloud workers in Nepal. Up until then we were a tech/engineering company building a platform and now we had to learn how to recruit, train and manage large numbers of data operators.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>What problems did you face while starting the business?&nbsp;</strong></div>
					<div>
						While there are many young, talented people in Nepal there are less senior, experienced engineers and managers. We are a young team and in many ways I think that has been a good thing, we have learned a lot and grown together. I am so proud of the things we have accomplished to get to this point and I look around and see that I am surrounded by some of the finest young leaders in Nepal - it is amazing to see the growth and maturity that comes from being part of a growing international startup like this.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>How did you manage the investments?</strong></div>
					<div>
						Our team, technology and traction are the keys to us for raising investments. This latest round was definitely related to our participation in a business accelerator in the US where I got to meet and pitch to a lot of great investors at the end of the 7-month program.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>What are the major projects of CloudFactory? What are its main focuses?&nbsp;</strong></div>
					<div>
						Large-scale data entry, audio/video transcription, web research, image tagging and categorization are our major projects. Companies come to us with large amounts of routine and repetitive work that we can break down in small tasks that can be partially automated but require people as well to complete many of them.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>Have you got any help from the government or private organizations?</strong></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;While we have not received any formal help from the government we have very much appreciated informal support from people like Radhesh Pant at Nepal Investment Board. While their focus is mostly on the top hydropower investments in Nepal but he understands and appreciates the opportunity for companies like CloudFactory to provide job creation in Nepal. As a landlocked country we need to be thinking more about how we can accelerate the shift to a knowledge economy. For that ICT should be higher on the priority of the government. Even so, the most important thing the government could do is stay out of the way of ICT growth in Nepal and focus on not being a hindrance and let entrepreneurs continue to innovate from their internet-enabled residences across the Kathmandu valley.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>What are the challenges being faced by the Nepali tech startups?</strong></div>
					<div>
						Tech startups in Nepal are mostly just freelancers working together in small teams of 2-20 people. They work on the early development side of web and mobile applications but rarely get the opportunity to build a full business by bringing products to market themselves. We need some more product startups to go through the full lifecycle to see some wins on the international stage. We will then have the capital and experience to start the second wave of tech startups in Nepal. I see this happening in the next 3-5 years. Until then many will continue to get experience on the engineering/product development side by building other people&#39;s products. The future is bright, Nepali startup scene is heading slowly but surely in a good direction.</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<strong>(By Sanjeev Sharma)</strong></div>
				</div>
			</td>
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	</tbody>
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<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="10" width="99%">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td bgcolor="B5F1E6">
				<div>
					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>&ldquo;Lack of human resource to work on our ventures is the major problem&rdquo;</strong></span></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
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								<img alt="Anil Basnet, Chief Operating Officer  Metro Vibes" src="/userfiles/images/cs7(2).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 243px;" /></td>
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						<tr>
							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Anil Basnet</strong></div>
									<div>
										Chief Operating Officer&nbsp;</div>
									<div>
										Metro Vibes</div>
								</div>
							</td>
						</tr>
					</tbody>
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				<div>
					<div>
						Metro Vibes, is a startup company that specializes in web design, development and hosting, email services, graphic design, domain registration, and providing IT consultancy and internet marketing services. After working for over five years with other tech companies, Anil Basnet, Chief Operating Officer of Metro Vibes, felt the need to establish his own IT company. He shared the idea with his three friends and they conceived Metro Vibes.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Company&rsquo;s growth curve has been pretty stable and has improved substantially since its establishment. Presently 22 employees are working with company and Basnet said more would be joining in the near future. &ldquo;We work hard to meet projects deadline. We get up at 4 in the morning for our venture Metro Tarkari and ensure that the delivery is made within the set time frame,&rdquo; Basnet said while elaborating on the growth factors.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Though the venture faced financial crisis in its initial days, lack of skilled manpower was and remains the major problem. &ldquo;We have unique concepts, required finance and latest technological equipments, but there is scarcity of skilled manpower who can translate our venture ideas into actions,&rdquo; stated Basnet. Another problem is the absence of government policy on ecommerce. &ldquo;We are confused about the method of handling online transactions,&rdquo; he added.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Starting the Merotarkari.com, an online vegetable ecommerce system, was one of the most prominent turning points for the company. This venture boosted the company&rsquo;s working style and contributed in its expansion. The concept of virtual receptionist was another unique idea in office automation that became a major turning point for the company.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The company started with five clients in the initial phase and coming now it is serving more than 120 trustable clients that range from national to international boundaries. Its core products are mterotarkari.com, metrofever.com, metro bulk email service, and metro biometric attendance system.&nbsp;<strong>(By Angila Sharma)</strong></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
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<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
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				<div>
					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>&lsquo;&lsquo;The company has been working hard to extend its reach to every field&rsquo;&rsquo;</strong></span></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
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								<img alt="Shraddha Timilsina, CEO, Sastra Creations Pvt Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/cs8(2).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 242px;" /></td>
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							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Shraddha Timilsina</strong></div>
									<div>
										CEO</div>
									<div>
										Sastra Creations Pvt Ltd</div>
								</div>
							</td>
						</tr>
					</tbody>
				</table>
				<div>
					<div>
						Sastra Creations Pvt Ltd is an IT startup company that provides wide range of services including web design and development, hosting, graphics designing, mobile app and software development. The company was founded in 2012 by two IT students Shraddha Timilsina and Binamra Dhakal in their pursuit of utilising their IT skills. &quot;We perceived that IT sector has great opportunities and possibilities in Nepal and hence decided to work and build our own IT business,&rdquo; Timilsina, who presently acts as the CEO of the company, said.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						In the two years of its establishment, the company had several major turning points. Launching the Nation Wide Web Competition 2013in partnership with the Computer Association of Nepal (CAN), on 2nd January, 2013 provided it with much needed publicity and helped gain reputation as an authority in the IT sector. &quot;It helped talented and skilled participants in acquiring better knowledge about opportunities in web design and development. It helped us to grow at the national level,&rdquo; Timilsina said. Next to it, the company provided IT support for conducting online election of Nepal Medical Council online. Launching its own range of software &ndash; school software and Catreen management software &ndash; in September 2014 provided it much impetus for being included in the top 20 IT startup companies by the ICT magazine.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Software and websites sales has been major source of the company&rsquo;s income and investment. It claims that its annual income has grown about three times from 2012 to 2014 with current annual turnover resting at Rs 12 lakh. It has provided employment opportunities to more than 10 youths in 2 years.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The Company has been able to sustain and grow on its own due to the total dedication of its founders and employees. The success, however, was not easy. It has faced its share of financial and operational obstacles and challenges in the first few months of establishment. Timilsina thinks that lack of proper system and knowledge about IT and load shedding are the major problems faced by them. Reflecting on her experience, Timilsina said that it is hard to acquire big projects or partnership with bigger organizations in lack of personal links with them.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						For any business, Timilsina thinks that market is important. She claims that taking business online just provides any business with the market. It is not possible to promote business without going online and it is time efficient if you are using digital marketing tools including software to run a business, she claims. The company perceives each and every sector including agriculture, entertainment, ecommerce, restaurants and hotels, travel agencies and any other business to be its potential client.<strong>&nbsp;(By Rashika Pokharel)</strong></div>
				</div>
			</td>
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</table>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
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	<tbody>
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			<td bgcolor="B5F1E6">
				<div>
					<strong><span style="font-size: 16px;">&ldquo;We are working on making our technology strong and making it securer&rdquo;</span></strong></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<table align="right" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;" width="25">
					<tbody>
						<tr>
							<td>
								<img alt=" Bimal Maharjan, CEO, 11Beep" src="/userfiles/images/cs9(1).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 242px;" /></td>
						</tr>
						<tr>
							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Bimal Maharjan</strong></div>
									<div>
										CEO, 11Beep</div>
								</div>
							</td>
						</tr>
					</tbody>
				</table>
				<div>
					<div>
						11Beep is startup company, which since recently have been gaining popularity as a social network that provides platform to individuals to enjoy unrestrained personal freedom of expression.11Beep is a network built specially for mobilephones that doesn&rsquo;t keep any digital history. It lets you share freely what is on your mind with your friends without worrying about any digital footprint.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						11Beep came into operation on November 2013 following Bimal Maharjan&rsquo;s, the CEO of the company, competitive analysis of the market to find the company&rsquo;s startup idea. Maharjan had conceived the idea after analysing various posts on different social networking sites.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&quot;People only share trendy thoughts on social networking sites but hesitate to share thoughts that might be considered or taken in negative light by their social networking peers. 11Beep provides anonymity to individuals and emancipates them from the fear of being identified thereby enabling them to share their thoughts spontaneously without any restraints, says Maharjan, CEO of 11Beep. Thus this network paves way for individuals to share their thoughts, whatever their nature, whenever it strikes to their mind. Besides anonymity, this network has another cool feature of deleting all the post after certain time frame. This feature enables that the individual does not leave digital footprint behind for others to trace. Fundamentally, it is a social network with quite higher levelof security.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The company has been running by five-member team &ndash; with only CEO committing his full time to it and others helping him out on part time basis. 11Beep is preparing to launch another product in the market but before launching it, its been focusing on making the existing product more user friendly and winning user confidence.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&quot;Our startup is based on the idea of a loosing algorithm and is designed for maintaining anonymity. We don&#39;t want to go wrong anywhere. We are working on making our technology strong and making it securer. We have required technical competencies and expertise and are very happy with our work and knowing that we are on the track of gaining our objective,&quot; says Maharjan.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The company is sustaining through its own resources and has not got any support from government. &quot;Fortunately I don&#39;t have to pay my team so that is a relief .We don&#39;t require huge investment and our biggest need at the moment is human capital, we are investing on our own so right now we don&#39;t feel the need for funding but in the next phase, we will need huge investment,&quot; he added.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						As a part of its aim, Beep11 believes in building something which people can make good use of. But being a start up it has its own woes too. &quot;Our society in not built to encourage tech entrepreneurs and as in the initial phase they don&rsquo;t earn much to sustain, it is very difficult for startups to establish in Nepal,&rdquo; Maharjan said.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>(By Rashika Pokharel)</strong></div>
				</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="10" width="99%">
	<tbody>
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			<td bgcolor="B5F1E6">
				<div>
					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Sasto Deal: Providing the Best Deals</strong></span></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<table align="right" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;" width="25">
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						<tr>
							<td>
								<img alt="Amun Thapa, CEO, Sasto Deal" src="/userfiles/images/cs0(1).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 239px;" /></td>
						</tr>
						<tr>
							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Amun Thapa</strong></div>
									<div>
										CEO, Sasto Deal</div>
								</div>
							</td>
						</tr>
					</tbody>
				</table>
				<div>
					<div>
						Sasto Deal (SD) is one of the prominent rising stars of online retail shops in Nepal. The company was started almost 3 years ago with the aim of switching offline Nepali market to online and providing best deals. Upon returning from the US, Amun Thapa, SD&rsquo;s CEO, decided to do some business and began to search for ideas that would sell. It did not take long to Amun to realize that Nepali people had been wasting some really useful hours in shopping. &ldquo;I found people lingering to different places in search of different items. I asked myself if everyone was doing the same and the answer was yes. I was compelled to seek for a solution and I knew there was one. However, the sad part was that no one was doing anything about it,&rdquo; says Thapa. He realized that he could save people this hours by taking it online and making it available on their desktop or mobile phones. The idea was simple but he needed people who could translate his vision into reality. This brought him in touch with his schoolmates who were pursuing their degree in the IT field. They worked around the idea and gave birth to Sasto Deal. The initial phase was a bumpy ride as they had problems in making deals. It was difficult for them to make people believe in online business. &ldquo;People laughed at our ideas and we had to go out to the market begging for deals. But now, the same people are begging us to feature their products,&rdquo; says Thapa proudly. The company believes that the initial phase was difficult because online business was a new term to this part of the world and also because the rulers find it difficult to trust the new comers. The company believes that they are grown large.&ldquo;I would probably say the growth rate is over 100% right now, this is not only due to the fact that the company is outperforming but also due to the fact that we are in the e-commerce business and with every single product, our chances for growth increases,&rdquo; Avash K.C, CO-CEO of Sasto Deal, said.</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<strong>(By Angila Sharma)</strong></div>
				</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="10" width="99%">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td bgcolor="B5F1E6">
				<div>
					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Himalayan Wonders: A Travel Startup with a Difference</strong></span></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<table align="right" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;" width="25">
					<tbody>
						<tr>
							<td>
								<img alt="Nishes Thapa, Operations Manager, Himalayan Wonders" src="/userfiles/images/cs01.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 206px;" /></td>
						</tr>
						<tr>
							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Nishes Thapa</strong></div>
									<div>
										Operations Manager</div>
									<div>
										Himalayan Wonders</div>
								</div>
							</td>
						</tr>
					</tbody>
				</table>
				<div>
					<div>
						The Internet has changed the way companies do their business and tourism sector is no exception to it. Himalayan Wonders, a Nepali travel startup, also harnessed the latest developments made in the field of online technology and took all its business online. Founded in 2013, the company provides affordable tours and trekking packages to Nepal. This online portal is packed with informative contents and pictures and travellers can choose and book any tour package online through any Internet enabled device such as smartphone and tablet from anywhere in the world.Himalayan Wonders came into existence when an American geologist Dr David Urmann and his Brazilian friend Pablo Souto Maior suggested Nishes Thapato start his own company. Dr Urmann has been visiting Nepal since the mid-90s&#39; for research on climate change and in credited for establishing the company. Dr. Urmann and another Co-founder, Maior, promote the startup in the global market while Thapa heads the Nepal operations of the company. The company has been receiving overwhelming response from travellers and trekkers around the globe. Within a year it has received five-star rating from Trip Advisor and many positive reviews from its satisfied customers. &nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>&lsquo;&lsquo;Ever since the inception of the company, we never looked back&rsquo;&rsquo;</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>How did your business idea germinate?</strong></div>
					<div>
						I was born in Tripureshwor VDC of Dhading and tourists visiting Ganesh Himal pass through it. Those tourists always fascinated me and it is during these days that my interest of doing something in tourism industry developed. In 1998 I came to Kathmandu and started working in the tourism sector. I worked for different people and gained industry experience that one must have in order to thrive in this booming industry. Dr David Urmann, an American friend of mine, suggested me to establish my own travel company. With his and his Brazilian friend Pablo Souto Maior constant help, we established the company in 2013.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>What is the growth rate of your company?</strong></div>
					<div>
						Since its inception, we have never looked back. Our business is growing every year. With the end of the decade long insurgency, the tourism and hospitality industry has been prospering. If this continues, I am hopeful of maintaining the existing healthy growth rate.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>What problems did you face while starting the business?&nbsp;</strong></div>
					<div>
						We have not faced major problems till date. Our business so far has been smooth with tremendous support from staffs, friends and families. However, events such as general strikes and political instability in the country, have always posed to be a big threat. In the past, we have suffered financial losses due to such condition.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>How are you managing investments?</strong></div>
					<div>
						We received bank loans to meet our initial investment requirements. In due course of time as the company started to grow, I borrowed money from friends and even used my personal savings to make further investment. We keep track of every penny that goes out as expenditure and comes in as earning. We keep our books up-to-date and this has become the success mantra of the company.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>Have you got any help from the government or private organizations?</strong></div>
					<div>
						We have not received any help from the government. &nbsp;If government agencies show interest in us, we would be glad to work together for the growth of this industry. Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN) has provided us substantial help in promoting our business at the international level.&nbsp;</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<strong>(By Sanjeev Sharma)</strong></div>
				</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-12-23',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age cover story news & articles, cover story news & articles from new business age nepal, cover story headlines from nepal,  current and latest cover story news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali cover story economic news and events,  ongoing  cover story news of nepal',
			'description' => 'The startup scene in Nepal has changed significantly over the last five–seven years, with new and young entrepreneurs coming up with innovative ideas every year. Today, though there is no official data, the number of successful startups in Nepal is estimated to be above 50. These are the companies that are said to be running in good profit. Over this period, a young Nepali startup ecosystem has been in the making, though it is still incomplete due to the absence of venture capitals in the ecosystem. With most of the successful startups belonging to the IT sector, the future of the Nepali startup industry looks promising.',
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	(int) 12 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2805',
			'article_category_id' => '31',
			'title' => '‘‘New Generation Scorpio Delivers Exceptional Value And Accessible Technology’’',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<span style="font-size: 14px;">Sagar Bhadkamkar is the deputy general manager for exports and sales of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. The company recently launched a new product, New Generation Scorpio. Bhadkamkar was in Kathmandu for the launch and<strong>&nbsp;Angila Sharma&nbsp;</strong>and<strong>&nbsp;Rashika Pokharel&nbsp;</strong>of the New Business Age caught up with him and discussed the features of this product and the company&rsquo;s marketing strategy for the Nepali market.<strong>&nbsp;Excerpts:</strong></span></div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>What is the purpose of your visit?</strong></div>
	<div>
		The basic purpose of my visit here is to launch the New Generation Scorpio in Nepali market.This is the first international launch of the product following its launch in India a month earlier.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>What is new in the New Generation Scorpio?&nbsp;</strong></div>
	<div>
		New Generation Scorpio, as the name indicates, is a completely new Scorpio in terms of safety, comfort, ride, technology and exterior looks. Some of thesenew features are: new hi-tech 6-inch touch screen infotainment system, micro hybrid technology, smart rain and light sensors, tyre-tronics and voice assist system. It hasa new recalibrated engine that is more fuel-efficient. Earlier version of the Scorpio provided a mileage of 14.05 km per litre, but the new oneguarantees a mileage of 15.15 km per litre.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>How has the journey through these two versions of Scorpios been?</strong></div>
	<div>
		Scorpio was a tremendous leap of faith for us when it was launched 12 years ago. It established the foundation for the development of an entirely new generation of vehicles from Mahindra. More importantly, it helped to transform the Mahindra brand, giving it a sophisticated urban edge at a time when we were primarily thought of as a rural player. The New Generation Scorpio will deliver exceptional value and accessible technology to our customers.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		When we unveiled the first Scorpio in June 2002, it was an emotional moment for all of us at Mahindra and a defining moment for the company. Unknown to us at that time, a dream, an icon, and a style statement was born. The Scorpio did wonders for the Mahindra brand in urban India and in markets worldwide. To see the Scorpio become the pride of over 4.5 lakh customers, sell over 50,000 vehicles during each of the last three years in a row, rule Indian roads for over 12 years and transform the India&rsquo;s SUV space, is a remarkable achievement back in our homeland.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>How do you assess the Nepali market for four wheelers?</strong></div>
	<div>
		Nepal is a very competitive market for four wheelers. It is probably one of the most strategic markets for us where we are seeing gradual growth. That is the reason we have always focused on Nepal for our four wheelers market.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>What is your expectationof the market share with the new product?</strong></div>
	<div>
		New Generation Scorpio is introduced with the right price and comes with additional modern features that our targeted customers will love to have. So, we expect a boom in the sales of this product.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>How do you see Nepal as a market for Mahindra products?</strong></div>
	<div>
		Nepal is a good market for our products. We have been enjoying leadership in tractors, utility vehicles, information technology, financial services and vacation ownership. In addition, we also enjoy a strong presence in commercial vehicles and two wheeler industries.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>Many of your competitors are established names in the Nepali market. Why should one choose your products?&nbsp;</strong></div>
	<div>
		We offer quality products at competitive prices. Prices are positioned in such a manner that different variants of Scorpios meet the need of different segment of our customers. The starting price is 35.75 lakhs and goes up to 51 lakhs.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>What are your plans for the Nepali market?</strong></div>
	<div>
		Our plans include strengthening our position in the market. We are the market leaders and we will be focusing on to retain the position.&nbsp;</div>
</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-11-21',
			'modified' => '2014-12-24',
			'keywords' => 'new business age business visitors news & articles, business visitors news & articles from new business age nepal, business visitors headlines from nepal,  current and latest business visitors news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali business visitors economic news and events, ongoing busin',
			'description' => 'Sagar Bhadkamkar is the deputy general manager for exports and sales of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. The company recently launched a new product, New Generation Scorpio. Bhadkamkar was in Kathmandu for the launch and Angila Sharma and Rashika Pokharel of the New Business Age caught up with him and discussed the features of this product and the company’s marketing strategy for the Nepali market. Excerpts:',
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	(int) 13 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2799',
			'article_category_id' => '215',
			'title' => 'TFA Impasse In WTO: An Opportunity Could Be Missed',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Sanjeev Sharma</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The landmark agreement to liberalize global trade has hit a gridlock after India refused to accept the pact following the country&#39;s disagreement on food subsidies. The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) or the Bali Package, agreed by the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), held in Bali, Indonesia on 3-7 December, 2013, would have been the first deal to reform global trade in two decades. The trade protocol which came as a result of relentless negotiations over the decades, basically aims to lower global trade barriers.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Upon its implementation, the TFA, ambits to smoothen trading between developing and developed economies by lowering import tariffs and farm subsidies. The Bali accord includes measures that would formally put an end to developed nations&rsquo; stiff import quotas of agro products from the developing countries. Rather, the importing nations would only be allowed to levy tariffs on amount of agricultural imports exceeding particular limits. Similarly, provisions related to streamlining and reforming customs bureaucracies is another major aspect of TFA that are targeted to facilitate global trade. The pact is expected to add USD 1 trillion to global GDP along with generating 21 million jobs worldwide. The deal also covers measures to preferential treatment and greater market access, issues that have been long-raised by developing and least developed countries (LDCs).&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, the accord&#39;s far-reaching impacts have been halted for the time being. India, one of the WTO&#39;s prominent members, has long insisted to keep the farm subsidies intact. India&#39;s assertion seems to be primarily fueled by the fears that removal of such government subvention would hurt the country&#39;s agricultural output. As the prices of agro commodities in the global market are likely to become more competitive after the implementation of TFA, India is reluctant to amend the current provisions of agricultural subsidies. The country which is the world&#39;s 2nd largest farm producer also ranks 10th among the major agricultural exporters.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Aided by supportive policy impetus alongside sufficient rainfall and massive stockpiles, India&#39;s exports of agricultural products stood at USD 29.3 billion in the first 11 months of the fiscal year 2013-14. The previous FY saw the Indian agro exports totaling USD 31.86 billion. The country is witnessing consistently rising agro and food export outpacing rise in other exports. Government data shows that the share of agricultural commodities in India&rsquo;s overall export basket rose to 10.66 per cent in FY 2012-13 from 7.06 per cent in 2009-10. &nbsp;Similarly, according to the WTO&#39;s statistics, India&#39;s share of global export (USD 1.66 trillion) and import (USD 1.82 trillion) of agricultural and food products stand at 2.07 per cent and 1.24 per cent, respectively. The country&#39;s increasing share of global export indicates that India is becoming a net exporter of agro products.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Another aspect of India&#39;s apprehension is related to food security. The world&#39;s third largest economy is also feeding its vast poor population with cheap food. The discontinuation of government grants could prove more difficult to provide low-priced foods to its poor citizens. India, which has been expanding its food subsidy programmes over the years, launched a massive programme to provide subsidised food to two-thirds of its population or 810 million people in mid-2013. The programme is expected to double the country&#39;s annual food subsidy bills by about USD 23.9 billion. Subsidising food grains carry huge electoral significance in India as the government and major political aspirants have repeatedly promised to feed poverty ridden population at giveaway prices.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The country is one of the largest hoarders of food grains in the world. Various reports suggest that India&#39;s grain stockpiles currently stand at about a whopping 70 million tons. It not only helps to supply subsidised food grains but also to check the prices in the global market. The fall in world-food stockpile is considered one of the contributing factors to the global food crisis of 2007-08. Political and social unrests were seen in many nations due to the dramatic rise in food prices. India has demanded freedom to subsidise and stockpile food grains in an exchange to the signing of TFA.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/wf1(1).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 364px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ever since its inception in 1995, the WTO has faced big hurdles to achieve its objectives. The organisation which came as as a replacement of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), has always been in a rock and a hard place when it comes to negotiations &nbsp;between its members. The uncertainty over the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) is an example of such obstacle. Commenced in 2001, the DDA&#39;s aim to liberalise global trade by lowering trade barriers has not been able to bear fruits as numerous talks have resulted in failures. Deep divisions between developed and developing nations over contentious issues such as agriculture, removing industrial tariff and non-tariff barriers of trade and services are considered as the impediments to DDA&#39;s progress. During the intense talks, developed nations led by United States accompanied by the European Union (EU) and Japan maintained their positions relating to quota-free access to the exports of developing countries and LDCs. Similarly, a group of developing nations and LDCs, led by the emerging bloc of China, India, Brazil and South Africa demanded greater freedom to agricultural subsidies and larger quota-free access to their specific exports. The demands and counter demands of member nations resulted in the stalling of WTO&#39;s trade talks in 2008. The multilateral trade negotiations have not resumed since then.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The TFA, which targets to harmonize global trade by slashing the customs red tape is a part of DDA. So, implementing the Bali package is not only imperative to its provisions but also to make progress on DDA and rescue WTO from the brink of failure. However, India&#39;s insistence has created an impasse in the organisation. The lockdown led to the expiration of deadline to ratify the deal by member nations on July, 31st. Talks are said to have been taking place to end the current stand-off, but narrowing the differences to resolve the problem seems difficult for the time being as Robert Azevedo, WTO&#39;s Director General puts it, &quot;The fact we do not have a conclusion means that we are entering a new phase in our work &ndash; a phase which strikes me as being full of uncertainties.&rdquo; Similarly, Patrick Low, WTO&#39;s former Chief Economist, mentions, &quot;The WTO is a victim of flawed procedural requirements. A single government can block progress across the board.&quot; &quot;Paralysis at the WTO is likely to reinforce the view that preferential trade arrangements are a substitute for inclusive multilateralism rather than a complement. That would be bad news for the world economy.&quot;</div>',
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			'description' => 'The landmark agreement to liberalize global trade has hit a gridlock after India refused to accept the pact following the country's disagreement on food subsidies. The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) or the Bali Package, agreed by the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), held in Bali, Indonesia on 3-7 December, 2013, would have been the first deal to reform global trade in two decades. The trade protocol which came as a result of relentless negotiations over the decades, basically aims to lower global trade barriers.',
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			'id' => '2798',
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			'title' => 'Games To Delay The Constitution',
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			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Akhilesh Tripathi</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As it happened to be, the much-awaited all-party political conference or round table conference &ndash; to use a more popular phrase- which was supposed to see a dialogue take place among the three major parties represented in the Constituent Assembly (CA) and the parties outside it, on the contentious issues of constitution drafting, fell flat. The reason was, as we all know, the 33-party alliance led by Mohan Baidya-led CPN-Maoist which is not represented in the CA and which had been demanding such a conference for a long time rejected to participate in the conference in the eleventh hour. The leaders of the CPN-Maoist and the 33-party alliance outside the CA never turned up for the conference. The CPN-Maoist communicated its decision not to attend the conference when Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and other political leaders had taken their seats at the planned venue inside the CA building. Thus, the politicians&rsquo; latest effort to seek consensus on contentious constitutional issues went in vain. But thankfully, as the conference failed to take off, it became clear that the Maoists had thrown the conference card only to delay the new constitution by affecting the CA calendar.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Some people might think that this was bad for the country and the constitution drafting process as an opportunity to forge consensus on thorny issues of constitution drafting inside as well as outside the CA was missed. But in fact, this was good for the country and the constitution drafting process as the real intent of the CPN-Maoist and other dissenting parties outside the CA was exposed without losing any further time. Their real intent was to delay the constitution drafting process by the CA under one or another pretext. In fact, Baidya and company have, time and again, publicly expressed their disenchantment with the constitution drafting process by the CA. After all, they boycotted the second CA elections terming it &ldquo;a meaningless exercise&rdquo;.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	One political game to affect the CA&rsquo;s calendar and delay the constitution drafting process was exposed in the form of the failed all-party political conference. But other such games continue - some within the CA itself - in the name of seeking consensus on the key issues including form of governance and restructuring of the state, election system and judiciary. One serious blame is leveled against the very Constitutional-Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee (CPDCC) of the CA that was formed to hold discussions on the thorny issues of constitution drafting and build consensus on them. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The blame is that the CPDCC has been trying to delay the constitution drafting process to find the mirage called consensus. The CPDCC led by UCPN (Maoist) leader and former PM Dr Baburam Bhattarai has already missed a deadline of September 6 to forge consensus on the prickly issues of constitution drafting. Then it was given another deadline of September 30 to build such consensus. As things stand now, the CPDCC will not be able to forge consensus on the contentious issues within this deadline as well. Now voices are emerging that it should be given another chance to forge such a consensus which has proved elusive so far. One such voice has been floated by the UCPN (Maoist) which thinks the CPDCC should get one more month, even if that means the amendment of the CA calendar, to forge consensus.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	That should not be done. All lawmakers who had registered to speak on the contentious issues have spoken their mind at the deliberations organized by the CPDCC and consensus still looks a very far cry. So, extending the CPDCC &lsquo;s deadline would be just a waste of time and resources.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	On the other hand, it&rsquo;s been quite some time since the three major parties in CA II &ndash; the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoist) are trying to form a High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) in the name of facilitating the constitution drafting process. It is said that UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Prachanda is eying the post of coordinator of this proposed mechanism. To put the truth bluntly, there is no need for such a mechanism. It is also a game to delay the constitution drafting process by weakening the sovereign CA&rsquo;s role in that process. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The word consensus sounds very sweet to the ear. Everybody&rsquo;s consent on the key crucial issues of the constitution would be an ideal situation. No one would disagree that it is best to settle the contentious issues through consensus. But what if it is not possible? Can the country be kept a hostage for an indefinite period if consensus on contentious issues continues to elude us? &nbsp;Politicians have already squandered seven years in the process of statute drafting, mainly because they tried to forge consensus on the so-called thorny issues. In fact, trying to forge consensus on the contentious issues was the main reason why the first CA was dissolved without delivering the new constitution.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal tried to forge consensus among all political parties on the contentious issues of constitution drafting during the first CA. Series after series of negotiations were held. Marathon meetings were held. But it simply did not work. The country reached nowhere perhaps because we tried to please all forces in the name of finding consensus. This should be why the major parties agreed, even before the second CA elections were held, to follow due process if they failed to reach consensus on contentious issues in CA II. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	That due process means deciding the contentious issues of constitution drafting through voting in the CA, which is the sovereign body to decide such matters. Or, alternatively &ndash; if a more democratic measure is to be adopted &ndash; we can hold a referendum to decide these issues. Here, the politicians can take some lessons from the recent Scotland voting where the Scots decided their fate through a referendum. It is still possible to hold such a referendum on the contentious issues as there still remains more than three months to promulgate the new constitution. But the decision has to be taken swiftly, if the country is to go the referendum way.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, the bottom line is no more precious time should be wasted in the name of forging a consensus.</div>',
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			'description' => 'As it happened to be, the much-awaited all-party political conference or round table conference – to use a more popular phrase- which was supposed to see a dialogue take place among the three major parties represented in the Constituent Assembly (CA) and the parties outside it, on the contentious issues of constitution drafting, fell flat. The reason was, as we all know, the 33-party alliance led by Mohan Baidya-led CPN-Maoist which is not represented in the CA and which had been demanding such a conference for a long time rejected to participate in the conference in the eleventh hour.',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2811',
			'article_category_id' => '48',
			'title' => 'Zoo Model Of Economy',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Madan Lamsal</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Despite the efforts of seven decades to catch the bus of development, Nepal has not been able to do so. What may be the reasons? Before 1951, Nepal&rsquo;s economy stood on a single leg only. As a result, the country&rsquo;s development would limp on the Chandra Shumsher-path or Tribhuvan-path as and when the Palace so wished. Otherwise, it would stand still. A decade later, the economy acquired another leg to become two-legged and development started treading the Mahendra-path. The two-legged economy was named mixed economy wherein the public and private sectors were supposed to work as partners of development.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	It was the time when a number of European, Russian, American, Chinese and Indian bipeds were brought in for the sake of Nepal&rsquo;s development. However, the country&rsquo;s development wagon could not gather the desired pace. Rather, Nepali revolutionaries got a chance to learn and copy the Russian and Chinese ways of doing things. The effects of this learning are evident even today.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	After the political change of 1990, attempts were made to amputate the older leg of the two-legged economy arguing that the private sector would lead the economy from now onwards. The economy got another name &ndash; free market economy. But in essence, the economy started following the path shown by a handful of people from the private sector. The economy was free to few privileged people only.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Therefore, another revolution took place in 2006 and the resultant government vowed to make the economy three-legged - the third leg being the cooperatives. The performance of this three-legged economic model, too, hasn&rsquo;t been satisfactory. But the new third leg or cooperatives has proved very beneficial for one of the political parties and is working as one of its own legs. However the economy is still limping. These experiments with one-legged, two-legged and three-legged economy have convinced this scribe that the country needs a four-legged economy for the development process to gallop. The simple reason is a four-legged thing is always stronger than one-, two- or three-legged ones. Examples abound &ndash; tables, chairs or quadrupeds like oxen, tigers or elephants.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In fact, it is evident everywhere that quadrupeds standing on their two legs are running this country. In doing so they burn taxies and motorbikes, demolish houses and buildings and take the entire country a hostage whenever they like to do so. They seem to be hell-bent on torching petrol and diesel vehicles in order to reduce noise pollution in the cities! Going for a four-legged economy is vital also for clearing the confusion created by the mixture of these two- and four-legged creatures. In the past, there were three organs of the state &ndash; executive, legislative and judiciary. Later, somebody suggested adding a fourth organ &ndash; the media. And all the media industry became so happy. But what would be the fourth leg of the economy? The question is natural as well as tricky. You may argue that a four-legged economy sounds too animal-like, not human. However, I don&rsquo;t think we should worry about that. In fact, I say we should have the economy like that &ndash; animal like.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	To prove my point let me draw your attention to &lsquo;the animal spirit&rsquo; that renowned British economist John Maynard Keynes had mentioned way back in the 1930s as the major motivator to the entrepreneurs to work with enthusiasm. By extrapolation, this means we need the economy to be as agile and strong as animals. All of us have seen how the western countries have developed after Keynes made that remark.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Therefore, it is very much necessary to have an animal spirit in the economy and that naturally demands the economy to be a four-legged one. And it is a humble proposal of this scribe that the NGOs and INGOs that claim to be dedicated for the country&rsquo;s development should be made the fourth leg of the economy! Afterall the INGOs are already running the show in Nepal. It is said that they have also already drafted the new constitution that now needs just endorsement of the Constituent Assembly.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Or, alternatively, shall the remittance sector be made the fourth leg of the economy? But does remittance really stand a chance in front of the mighty INGOs?</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Whatever! The main thing is we should give the country a four-legged economy and push the development process forward on Prachanda-path, Baidya-path or other similar paths. After all, the way of thinking and activities of many Nepali citizens, businessmen, and especially politicians, resemble those of the quadrupeds! &nbsp; Moreover, the economy is in danger of turning into a zoo. If it happens and when one visits the monkey section of the economic zoo she/he may start laughing at seeing their behaviours. Therefore, we should adopt the four legged economic policy or you may call it a &#39;zoo model of economy&#39; before it&rsquo;s too late.</div>',
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			'created' => '2015-06-01',
			'modified' => '2015-07-31',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Despite the efforts of seven decades to catch the bus of development, Nepal has not been able to do so. What may be the reasons? Before 1951, Nepal’s economy stood on a single leg only. As a result, the country’s development would limp on the Chandra Shumsher-path or Tribhuvan-path as and when the Palace so wished. Otherwise, it would stand still.',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2813',
			'article_category_id' => '167',
			'title' => 'Oli’s Climb, Prachanda’s Fall',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<div>
		<em><span style="font-size: 14px;">By the magnitude of his &lsquo;flexibility&rsquo; shown in recent days including the withdrawal of the three-day Nepal bandh after the first day and taking the constitution writing process forward, it would appear that Prachanda has greater things in store for the New Year.</span></em></div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>--By Akhilesh Tripathi&nbsp;</strong></div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Bikram Samvat 2072, the new Nepali year which started about two weeks ago, is going to be interesting. There are telltale signs of that. Consider the following incident!&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		On the eve of the New Year, Constituent Assembly (CA) Chairman Subash Chandra Nemwang called a meeting of the top leaders of the major political parties to discuss the thorny issues of the new constitution. CPN-UML Chairman KP Oli was absent. The reason was he was climbing Dharahara! On this conspicuous absence, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Prachanda grumbled, &ldquo;For Oli, Dharahara is more important than the new constitution.&rdquo; Later, Oli, whose Dharahara climb was aided by an oxygen cylinder, retorted, &ldquo;It is difficult to climb up like the UML, but quite easy to go down like the Maoists!&rdquo;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Why did Oli ignore an all-party meeting to climb the Dharahara? There are two possible answers. One, Oli, who is said to be playing the final innings of his life wanted to accomplish his wish of being atop the historical monument (Had he waited for 12more days to fulfill this wish of his, he wouldn&rsquo;t be able to do so because the historical monument built by Nepal&rsquo;s first prime minister Bhimsen Thapa was grounded in the April 25 earthquakes). Two, he deliberately ignored the meeting of the major parties to pile more pressure on the opposition parties, mainly the Maoists. Who says he doesn&rsquo;t aspire to become the next Prime Minister at the earliest possible? After all, he climbed the Dharahar to dismiss a major allegation against him that he is sick and unfit.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Nepali politicians speak in different ways. Oli climbs Dharahara, all 213 steps. By doing so, he is sending three clear messages: I am strong enough to climb; I can see the view from the top; the New Year is going to be beautiful.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Prachanda, while talking to the media, says he&rsquo;s willing to take any risk for the sake of delivering a constitution on time. In a meeting of the three major parties &ndash; Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoist) on April 20, Prachanda agreed to resume the constitution writing process. It&rsquo;s a big example of flexibility shown by him.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		By the magnitude of his &lsquo;flexibility&rsquo; shown in recent days including the withdrawal of the three-day Nepal bandh after the first day and taking the constitution writing process forward, it would appear that Prachanda has greater things in store for the New Year. Or at least, greater things are at stake that justify his move to alienate the Janajatis, anger the Madhesis, and shutting the door to unification among the six Maoist parties.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		But why did Prachanda change and became flexible? Prachanda has lost a lot of political ground in recent times. The Nepal bandh called by the 30-party front led by him could not win public support. So it fell flat on the very first day. Similarly, Prachanda&rsquo;s party&rsquo;s candidate faced a humiliating defeat in the CA by-elections held recently. That is also a measurement of the people&rsquo;s support to the Maoist agenda. By now, Prachanda understands that he is not backed by any kind of popular support. All these factors have forced the UCPN (Maoist) leadership to review their position and become flexible in the political give and take.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		So, it&rsquo;s been a common knowledge in recent months that the Maoists have backtracked on their position on federalism. It may not have been just a coincidence that the Maoists&rsquo; softening of stance followed Baburam Bhattarai&rsquo;s India visit and Prachanda&rsquo;s China visit.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		By now, it seems, the Maoist leadership has understood that a general strike or a trip to the neighbourhood seeking help (intervention) will not help. That is perhaps why the three major parties &ndash; NC, UML and UCPN (Maoist) &ndash; have agreed to allow the constitution writing process to move forward. Oli&rsquo;s Dharahara climb has helped in this process. Oli cannot climb the Dharahara again because there si no Dharahara now. &nbsp;But the opposition parties, mainly the Maoists, now know that the UML chief can engage in any other similar undertaking to mount further political pressure on them. &nbsp; &nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>Making Institutions Inclusive</strong></div>
	<div>
		Another thing we learned from the year gone by is that institutions, once designed, are difficult to change.</div>
	<div>
		The April Uprising of 2006 sought to change the way the state and political parties respond to the people&rsquo;s needs. But it did not have a clear vision of what new institutional structures might look like. Parties like the Nepali Congress and UML define this change in their own way while, the Maoists, Madhesis, and Janajatis, on the other hand, have their own agenda for reforms, including the form of government, federalism, and electoral system. The failure of the Maoists and Madhesis to push forward their agenda shows how entrenched and entangled existing institutions are in the Nepali society.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Restructuring of institutions is required at two levels: at the level of political parties, and at the level of the state. At the level of the political parties, the internal party structures allow a few leaders to extract from the ordinary party members and unions that have penetrated all levels of the society. The recent Supreme Court verdict trying to limit the role of employee unions is an example. Most employee unions are extractive institutional structures. They serve their members by lobbying for their promotion and transfers, especially when their party leaders are in power. Therefore, a meritorious government employee, if he or she is not a member of these extractive unions, has fewer chances of getting a promotion or a good position.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Given the existing state structure, top political leaders who have control over parties like the NC or the CPN-UML have few incentives to restructure the party and the state. Making the party and the state more inclusive means giving up on their monopoly of power and privileges. Reforming state and party structures, therefore, is a difficult proposition for almost all top politicians. As many studies have shown, once institutional structures are in place, it is difficult to change them in favour of the ordinary people.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		One of the implications of such a situation is that political divisions have crystallised at the local level also. Nepal is a deeply divided society. Nepal&rsquo;s political parties have created a social chasm that runs vertically, from the highest level to the community level. At the community level, the divisive political allegiance has more to do with getting access to state resources and opportunities than to development and ideology.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		As a result, allegiances are usually made to political parties that have a greater prospect of getting to power. Without such political allegiance, which is something more than just an affiliation, people rarely get access to state resources or even entry into the marketplace.</div>
</div>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
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	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/ep1(6).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 247px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Dwaipayan Regmi</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The attack of human beings on nature is the cause of environmental deterioration. This deterioration is leading to global warming and climate change. It has been noticed that the temperature has risen up by 1 degree Fahrenheit in comparison to the previous century, leading to melting of Himalayan glaciers, bursting of lakes and rise of the sea level. Along with this, climatic changes have been causing natural disasters like cyclones, floods, landslides, and droughts.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Combined efforts of governments, corporate sector and individuals can help in minimizing these various forms of environmental deterioration. For this, governments have to come up with strong policies; corporate houses should follow environmental protection guidelines more strictly; and individuals have to be self-aware to protect the environment around them.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As part of the role to be played by the corporate sector, banks and financial institutions should embrace green banking &mdash; adopting process and strategies that promote environment-friendly practices to help in reducing carbon emission. Green banking helps in reducing internal carbon footprint as well as external carbon emission. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Banks have been using lighting, air conditioning, electronic equipments, IT, high paper wastage in massive proportion. The resultant internal carbon footprint can be reduced through the use of renewable energy, automation and other measures. On the other hand, banks can reduce external carbon emission by financing projects and companies that are working for pollution reduction and adopting green technologies. Providing loans to firms that have concern for environment would ensure proper utilization of natural resources.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Green banking avoids paper work and contributes to lower the cutting of trees. It makes the corporate world aware about environmental and social responsibility and thereby contributes to handing over a good environment to the upcoming generation. Adopting green banking policies are directly beneficial for the banks as well.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Providing loans to firms and companies that abide by environment protection principles and regulations ensures that such clients do not become victims of natural calamities. Reputation and goodwill is very important for banks, and being a green bank provides them a distinct identity and reputation in the society. This also minimizes bad goodwill risk. Along with that, adopting such policies helps the banks avoid the risk of being left with securities like contaminated land as collateral.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, green banking is not a piece of cake; there are various challenges in making it a reality. It&rsquo;s not only about reducing paper use and getting digital; there are strategies that a bank should follow.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The most important step towards this objective is while providing loans. Any entrepreneur would think of green environment only when banks will restrict loans to businesses which might cause environmental degradation. Banks can deny loans to businesses that aim high profits by degrading the environment. The nature of business and its impact on the environment should be carefully considered before approving business loans. On the other hand, banks can offer low-interest loans to businesses that are environment friendly. In this way, banks can play a key role in promoting secondary source of energy like solar energy or bio gas energy.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Next, banks can provide preference to green properties like homes equipped with solar energy, rain water harvesting facility, and properties with better environmental surroundings, for collaterals. And they should give secondary preferences, if at all, to properties such as polluting factory, or buildings emitting harmful waste in&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	the environment.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In terms of internal contribution, banks should embrace environment-friendly architectural design. Such designs help in reducing use of air conditioners and lights. Along with that, restricting use of carbon emitting machines, fans, energy inefficient bulbs, should be discouraged. Also, minimizing paper usage and promoting use of electronic transactions through rapid use of ATM cards, debit cards or other vending machines can help in being a green bank.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Another area, where banks can contribute to green environment is the use of vehicles. Instead of providing sole vehicles to employees, banks should provide pick-and-drop services. This will not only help in reducing carbon emission but would also help in easing city traffic. This will also help in reducing the space needed for parking at banks. The space which would otherwise be used for parking could be used to build gardens and fountains. This will not only help the banks go green at the policy level but will also make it a green bank, literally too.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR), banks can invest in building and maintaining parks, gardens and forests in and around cities. They can adopt tree plantation as a means to mark their important achievements. This would help in inspiring other business ventures to adopt similar strategies.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Banks have been providing many services to their customers such as free ATMs, Internet Banking and Any Branch Banking Service (ABBS). They could set up a basket &lsquo;Disaster Emergency Fund&rsquo;, for their client, in case the latter are victimized. The customers should be given a choice to opt for the fund by agreeing to provide certain amount of their interest to the fund on an annual basis. This would make such customers more secure from the impact of natural disasters on their finance.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Banking has been a charming job in Nepal, and is regarded a prestigious job. To retain this image, it is necessary for banks to go green. Some of the recommendations made in this article might sound impractical considering the nature of their business and the stiff competition in the market to get better clients, still these measures are for banks which believe in ethical business.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<em>The writer is pursuing his MBA at Jawaharlal Nehru Technical University, Andhra Pradesh, India.</em></div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-11-21',
			'modified' => '2015-06-07',
			'keywords' => 'new business age economy & policy news & articles, economy & policy news & articles from new business age nepal, economy & policy headlines from nepal,  current and latest economy & policy news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali economy & policy economic news and events,  ongoing  economy',
			'description' => 'The attack of human beings on nature is the cause of environmental deterioration. This deterioration is leading to global warming and climate change. It has been noticed that the temperature has risen up by 1 degree Fahrenheit in comparison to the previous century, leading to melting of Himalayan glaciers, bursting of lakes and rise of the sea level. Along with this, climatic changes have been causing natural disasters like cyclones, floods, landslides, and droughts.',
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	),
	(int) 3 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2814',
			'article_category_id' => '40',
			'title' => 'Growing And Growing Cement',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Cement production in Nepal has been growing sharply over the past few years. The industry is among the country&#39;s most flourishing business sectors as the demand of cement is constantly rising. &nbsp;The vast untapped limestone reserves spread across the country have not only lured domestic companies but also the international investors. &nbsp;</em></span></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Akhilesh Tripathi and Sanjeev Sharma</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal&rsquo;s cement industry has been flourishing despite all sorts of problems. The industry has seen significant growth over the last few years. According to Dhruba Thapa, President of the Cement Manufacturers Association of Nepal (CMAN), the country&rsquo;s cement industry has been steadily growing at 8-10 per cent annually for the past several years. &ldquo;The cement industry has seen growing steadily. Its future looks bright,&rdquo; says Thapa when asked to comment on the current situation of the Nepali cement industry. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;The annual demand of cement in Nepal is about four million metric tonnes of which some 3.2 million metric tonnes is met through domestic production while the rest is imported,&rdquo; he adds.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The country&rsquo;s import of cement has been dropping year after year because of the rising domestic production. According to the Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC), the rate of growth in cement imports has declined in the last fiscal year. Nepal imported OPC cement worth Rs 2.99 billion in fiscal 2013-14. In the previous fiscal year i.e. 2012-13, cement imports stood at Rs 3.75 billion. The decline in the import of both cement and clinker reflects Nepal&rsquo;s progress towards self-sufficiency in cement production.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	According to CMAN, the domestic cement industry has an installed production capacity of about 6 million tonnes annually which is higher than the annual demand of four million metric tonnes. But the cement factories currently operational have been able to utilize only about 50 per cent of their total production capacity.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, this hasn&rsquo;t stopped the private sector from entering this sector in a big way. Currently, according to the data provided by CMAN, there are 45 cement factories in operation producing 3.2 million metric tonnes of cement annually. Local production fulfils about 80 percent of the requirement and the rest is met by imports from India. Nepal produces OPC, PPC and PSC cement, of which OPC is preferred these days.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Out of the 45 factories, only 12 also produce clinker, a major raw material used in cement production. As early as a decade ago, Nepal used to depend on India for 95 per cent of its clinker requirement. However, with more factories now setting up clinker production units after acquiring limestone quarries, import from India has been declining year after year. Today, almost 60 percent of the clinker demand is met through domestic supply. &ldquo;The remaining is imported from India. A few factories will start producing own clinker in 2015. That will bring down the import to 20-25 per cent. Nepal will be self-reliant in clinker over the next three years,&rdquo; says Thapa.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cn4.jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 205px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Problems</strong></div>
<div>
	Power shortage because of long hours of load-shedding is the biggest challenge being faced by cement manufacturers in the country. The power crisis has forced them to use diesel power which makes each cement sack costlier by Rs 25. The high import duty levied on raw material, mainly clinker, is another problem, according to cement manufacturers. It has weakened the competitiveness of Nepali cement in terms of price. &ldquo;The government has been continuously increasing the customs duty on clinker ignoring its effects on domestic cement manufacturers,&rdquo; complain cement manufacturers. Thapa says all this makes the Nepali cement costlier than cement in any other SAARC country. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The syndicate system in transportation is another big problem for the domestic cement industry. &ldquo;We are not getting sufficient number of trucks to supply our finished goods to the targeted location,&rdquo; says Anil Kumar Agrawal, Managing Director of Shree Cement Industries. &ldquo;The cost associated with transportation is high as well.&rdquo; Manufacturers complain that even with enough production and demand, they are unable to supply their products to the market due to unavailability of transportation. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;Every commodity has a lifespan; and in the case of cement, it is 30 days,&rdquo; said Tej Bom, Head of Sales and Marketing at Ambe Cement, &ldquo;If the finished product is not used within 30 days, the desirable outcome is not achieved.&rdquo; The need of the hour, according to him, is to effectively end the syndicate system so that Nepali products remain competitive with Indian brands.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cn3.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 313px; float: right;" />Declining Import</strong></div>
<div>
	With the rise in domestic production, import of foreign cement in Nepal has come down significantly over the past few years. The data compiled by the Trade and Export Promotion Center (TEPC) clearly points to this. The country which imported portland class cement (OPC and PPC) worth Rs 4.31 billion in FY 2090/10 saw the import decrease 30 per cent to Rs 2.99 billion in 2013/14. The rising production has also led to the increase in the import of gypsum, one of the major ingredients of cement. Nepal imported gypsum worth Rs 754 million in FY 2013/14, up 133 per cent from Rs 322 million in FY 2010. But the import of clinker, another key component is seen gradually declining. Import of clinker, which was recorded at Rs 8.03 billion in FY 2009/10, decreased to Rs 5.99 billion in 2012/13 before rising to Rs 6.54 billion in the last FY. The increase is due to the government provision made mandatory for the cement manufacturers to produce clinker they need by 2073. However, producers are seen dissatisfied by the government announcement. &quot;Clinker production means more investment. More than 70 per cent of the investment goes for clinker production. So, mere announcements are not enough. We need a supporting strategy as well,&quot; says Anil Kumar Agrawal , Managing Director of Shree Cement Industries. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Despite the fact that use of Indian cement has lessened in recent years, policy hurdles still remain in place to stop the use of Nepali cement in large constructions of national importance. &nbsp;&quot;General consumers are not importing cement from India. It&rsquo;s the big infrastructure projects run through the international competitive bidding (ICB) process that are importing cement from India,&quot; mentions Thapa,. Thapa, who is also the Executive Director of Cosmos Cement Industries, says that a provision in the ICB contract, which exempts the imported construction materials from taxes, is hampering the competitiveness of Nepali cement. &quot;The imported cement gets an exemption of Rs 185 per sack in customs duty. That is why it is cheaper. It has affected the Nepali cement market,&quot; he says.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cn1.jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 261px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Export Prospects</strong></div>
<div>
	With the increase in production, export of Nepali cement has also risen in the past few years. Though the size of the export is negligible compared to the import, the increasing trend indicates to the possibility of Nepali cement becoming a product of comparative advantage to the country&#39;s export. Nepal exported cement worth Rs 3.16 million in FY 2013/14 after starting the export in FY 2012/13 which was logged at Rs 148,700. Nevertheless, it will take time for Nepal to become a net exporter of cement, according to producers. &quot;As we are not being able to fulfill the domestic demand, there is no possibility of export currently. Most factories are selling their products within the country. We can think of exports once we meet the domestic demand,&quot; opines Tej Bom, Head of Sales and Marketing at Ambe Cement.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cn2.jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 234px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Foreign Direct Investment</strong></div>
<div>
	Nepali cement industry has turned lucrative to foreign investors in recent years. Big international producers, namely, Dangote of Nigeria, China&#39;s Hongshi and Reliance of India are in the process to establish production facilities in Nepal. Lured by the infrastructure boom in Northern India and Western China, the companies are eying to tap Nepal&#39;s vast limestone reserves. Their products are expected to be export-oriented while also fulfilling the domestic demand in Nepal. Dangote Group, one of the largest industrial conglomerates of West Africa, is said to be starting the construction of cement factory in the next one year. The company which was granted a USD 500 million FDI approval in November 2013 by the Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) is currently looking for a local partner, according to an informed source.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Meanwhile, the top Chinese manufacturer Hongshi Holding Group has partnered with the Nepali company Shivam Cement to kickstart its business in Nepal. The company in March, 2015 signed a joint venture (JV) agreement with Shivam Holdings Nepal to set up a Rs 30 billion production facility. According to the agreement, Hongshi will have 70 per cent share (Rs 21 billion) and the rest (Rs 9 billion) will be invested by Shivam. The JV which will be named Hongshi-Shivam Cement Pvt Ltd aims to produce 120,000 sacks or 6,000 tonnes of cement per day and has plans to start production in three years. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Similarly, Reliance Cement Industries of India has also received endorsement from the IBN to establish a cement factory in the country. Though much is not known about the progress after the approval of its investment proposal last year, the company has pledge Rs 40 billion in FDI and aims to produce 2.3 million tonnes of cement annually. Collectively, the three foreign companies have received project approvals worth USD 1.2 billion which has been marked among the largest FDI commitments in the Nepali industrial sector for the time being. Likewise, two other foreign companies have also recently expressed their interests to invest in the country&#39;s cement industry, according to a source close to the matter.&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2015-06-01',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Cement production in Nepal has been growing sharply over the past few years. The industry is among the country's most flourishing business sectors as the demand of cement is constantly rising.  The vast untapped limestone reserves spread across the country have not only lured domestic companies but also the international investors.',
			'sortorder' => '2659',
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	(int) 4 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2802',
			'article_category_id' => '48',
			'title' => 'Fundamental Right To Corruption',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<div>
		It is a common understanding in Nepal that everyone in the country is corrupt. Be that bureaucrat or businessman, politician or physician, lawyer or lawmaker, academician or architect, judge or journalist, or any profession or person you name it, is corrupt on prima-facie. The onus of proving otherwise entirely lies on you, should you choose to do so. If you point to someone claiming that he may not be a corrupt, every eyebrow is raised and instant conclusion would be: that could not have happened by integrity but due to sheer lack of opportunity. In every sense, corruption is our national character, thus a national identity.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Nepal has made several efforts to curb corruption and bribery. It has enacted several laws, instituted constitutional bodies like CIAA and invited international NGOs like Transparency International. But the corrupt practices could hardly be reduced. Instead, the investors and businessmen complain that measures like anti-money laundering has caused massive capital flight and investment is shying away due to provisions like declaration of source of income. Therefore, these hurdles have become serious bottlenecks on economic growth and prosperity of the country.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Human civilization has taken many bold decisions to streamline very difficult trades and behaviour. Everybody would agree that prostitution is not a good thing. But secretly everybody would like to extract the pleasure bestowed by this profession. Nobody feels same sex marriages are natural. But many countries have legalized both the sex trade and same sex marriages. There is no reason why corruption should be treated in a different way than the prostitution. Besides, it has many similar characteristics. You are honest until you are caught in the act and everybody enjoys the more of it, clandestinely.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		For Nepal, it is an opportune moment to do this bold thing as we are writing a new constitution. We have the opportunity not only to legalize but also to constitutionalize both corruption and bribery. My recommendation is that let&rsquo;s make the right to corruption as part of the fundamental rights in the new constitution.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		The benefits would be immense. Nepal truly will be as Switzerland as it used to be some decades ago: a true haven for all ill-gotten money of the world. All the money that is now concealed under pillows of the corrupts will be taken out. Money sent abroad will be brought back and there will be open rates of commission in government offices for providing services or approving tenders for public procurement. Just to repeat, since everybody is already charged of this lucre, what&#39;s the harm on just lifting the curtain from it?</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		The FDI would flood in and Nepal will enter into an unprecedented phase of growth and development. Country&#39;s administrative cost will drastically reduce, as we no longer need the institutions like CIAA, Vigilance Centre, Anti-Money Laundering Department and Special Court. The load of cases in the courts of law will be far less and policemen can directly ask money from the public for nothing without going through the trouble of creating one or another pretext. So much so, constitutionalizing corruption would also help make entire Nepal instantly educated since if corruption and bribery are legalized even an illiterate can buy a BA or an MA passed certificates at one&#39;s will.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		This will make our bureaucracy more contended and happy. Government official will not scramble to get their posting to customs points and tax offices when every office will have freedom to collect as much bribe as possible. Politicians in the district who are swallowing entire development budget in collusion with different experts will be relieved of responsibility of creating stacks of fake papers.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		As the country now reels under uncertainty in absence of a powerful binding agenda for consensus, the proposal to insert the corruption and bribery as the fundamental right in the constitution could be one such issue that can bring all politicians together. We know everybody loves money and whenever there is question of monetary benefit, there were seldom any discord among them.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Our lawmakers should seriously consider incorporating this provision in the new constitution. I am sure, all six hundred and one members of the Constituent Assembly will vote for it. This will be the dawn of new era on absolute national consensus.</div>
</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-11-21',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age no laughing matter news & articles, no laughing matter news & articles from new business age nepal, no laughing matter headlines from nepal,  current and latest no laughing matter news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali no laughing matter economic news and events,  ongoing',
			'description' => 'It is a common understanding in Nepal that everyone in the country is corrupt. Be that bureaucrat or businessman, politician or physician, lawyer or lawmaker, academician or architect, judge or journalist, or any profession or person you name it, is corrupt on prima-facie. The onus of proving otherwise entirely lies on you, should you choose to do so. If you point to someone claiming that he may not be a corrupt, every eyebrow is raised and instant conclusion would be: that could not have happened by integrity but due to sheer lack of opportunity. In every sense, corruption is our national character, thus a national identity.',
			'sortorder' => '2658',
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	(int) 5 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2807',
			'article_category_id' => '52',
			'title' => 'A Matter Of De-Materializing It',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal&#39;s share market index, Nepse is performing reasonably well since the formation of Nepali Congress led government. It is now hovering between 850 and 900 for sometimes now. Among many welcome developments, the plan to dematerialize (demat) the physical share certificates into the digital ones have boosted the confidence of the investors. But the demat process has been rather very slow. In seven months since it started (coinciding with the Nepali New Year 2071), only about a million scrips of some three dozen companies could be converted to digital format. No doubt, this is a time consuming process, but such a slow pace, though, is absolutely unwarranted for.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Be that as it may, demat process would be completed, hopefully, soon. But more worrisome aspect is, other support infrastructure to augment trade in demat system remains far behind the mark. The recent lull in the market is now attributed to the fact that banks were not recognizing the dematerialized shares as security for financing investments. They may have their reasons to do so. But this reflects a clear lack of vision and coordination among the policy makers to simultaneously take forward all related developments of ancillaries so as to prevent the system from becoming lame.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Simply, banks&#39; willingness to invest in the digital infrastructure and manpower training to handle these loan transactions doesn&#39;t seem to be forthcoming right away. And, there is no initiation from other relevant authorities like Nepal Rastra Bank and Securities Board of Nepal to facilitate this. &nbsp;It is though not to suggest that everything has to be shouldered by the public institutions, but policy exercises in view of the potential paradigms of such developments is unquestionably their special domain.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As things stand now, three immediate tasks must be undertaken to not let the tempo in the share market wane off. First, banks should, may be through their umbrella organization - the Nepal Bankers&#39; Association, make their position clear with regard to their technical capabilities and cost-benefit analyses on facilitating demat transactions. They must also realize the fact that by making a digital transaction platform available, the share trading from all over the country may enhance in due course of time which in turn would help to increase their businesses. &nbsp;In many countries, a separate account for share trading has been a norm and a technical necessity. At the same time, they have adopted the rule of de-hooking the funds from other accounts while market volatility is emotion-racking. This effectively means that a trader can only trade from his trading account even if s/he has other functional accounts in the same bank, until inter-account transfers are made.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Second, policy coordination among the policy makers and functional relations among the market makers have been largely a neglected issue. It is also a fact that regulatory authorities have been reticent until it is too late to react. In many cases, they lack the understanding of technical knowhow and degree of urgency seems to be taking a toll. This must be changed.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Third, Nepal is one of those countries where investment in financial education at any level -from policy makers to retailers - has been close to zero. This has led to great discrepancies, policy confusions and inadequacies in every branch of the financial system, including the capital markets. Recognizing the complementarities of the several sub-branches of the entire system, a comprehensive financial education of a national scale is now an unconditional imperative. Only an institutionalized approach can address this need to its due worth.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Of course, there are some unaccomplished, larger issues of capital market reforms. It is high time to interact with the private sector to find convincing and lasting answers to the questions: why the real sector representation in Nepal&#39;s capital market has been so insignificant? Are there ways to improve it? How and when? In nutshell, Nepal&#39;s financial system is looking for a shift not only to change the paper shares to demat form, but to translate the nation&#39;s overall economic thought process from a &#39;brick and mortar&#39; age to the contemporary digital age.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-12-23',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
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			'description' => 'Nepal's share market index, Nepse is performing reasonably well since the formation of Nepali Congress led government. It is now hovering between 850 and 900 for sometimes now. Among many welcome developments, the plan to dematerialize (demat) the physical share certificates into the digital ones have boosted the confidence of the investors.',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2803',
			'article_category_id' => '167',
			'title' => 'Democracy  Vs Minority Diktats',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Achyut Wagle</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	If the ongoing irresponsible behaviour of some of the key political players of the country doesn&#39;t come to a halt, it is certain that the Constituent Assembly-Two (CA-II) will also not be able to deliver a new democratic constitution for the &#39;federal new Nepal.&#39; The major impediment to the new constitution writing process has two folds: the first, no party is adhering to the mandate and processes of the CA, and crucial political bargaining are taking place out of the constitutional and the CA ambit. The second, smaller parties in and outside of the CA still rule the roost by forming a twenty-two party alliance to oppose any stand that the main two political parties in CA --Nepali Congress (NC) and UML --are likely to take with regard to potential provisions for the new constitution and its writing process. This al-liance led by UCPN Maoist Chairman Puspa Kamal Dahal is resorting to tantrums akin to that of a pressure group -- organizing street protests, flexing muscles and causing disruptions to CA proceedings, in some pretext or the other.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	If a public meeting organized by this alliance in the mid-October at the open-air theatre in Tundikhel, Kathmandu, is any indication, the Maoists are again determined to ruin the second CA as they did to the first, rendering it hostage of blatant indecision at the high-level political committee (HLPC). The speakers in that meeting declared a number of daring things that are aimed at rendering the very authority of the CA non-existent and prevaricate the democratic mandate and process. It raises fears of another cycle of violent politics. This is because, Dahal made three crucial revelations: he would not respect the arithmetic of CA, no constitution could be written without incorporating his agenda of &#39;identity&#39; and he repented on agreeing to the &ldquo;management of his Red Army and the arms before the constitution of &lsquo;his choice&rsquo; was written&rdquo;. &nbsp;As can be recalled, the process through which some of the former Maoist rebels were given employment in the Nepal Army and rest were sent home by paying generous gratuity, is normally referred to as &ldquo;management of former Maoist rebels&rdquo;.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Needless to repeat, all these are clearly anti-democratic postures. His refusal to accept the &#39;numbers&#39; as they stand in the present CA disregards the people&#39;s mandate expressed through the last ballots. His adamance not to comply with the universally accepted democratic practice to decide every contending agenda by majority votes in CA would leave all major political differences undecided indefinitely, in absence of any other feasible alternative process.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	On the issue of identity, Dahal has been successful to rally the support of other eleven fringe parties that are present in CA and equal number of others without any representative in the House. His insistence is that the earlier CA had somehow agreed to &#39;identity-based federalism&#39; and the current CA too shouldn&#39;t deviate from those understandings, written or unwritten. But the fact is: the identity agenda largely got defeated in the CA-II elections and electorates gave completely new verdict, pushing the Maoists into the third position and giving a two-thirds majority to the NC and the UML combined. The manifestoes of the latter two emphatically reassures the voters to write a pluralistic constitution with possible least number of provinces, above all, on the basis of their economic viability. But Dahal&#39;s deliberate intention seems to undermine this reality and try to thrust his agenda by exerting force to disrupt the CA proceedings and effecting road blockades. It is worth recalling that Dahal&rsquo;s party UCPN-Maoist too has mentioned in its election manifesto that voting will be resorted to if the efforts for consensus fail. Moreover, the CA-II has also adopted a rules book in which it mentions that issues in which no consensus could be reached shall be decided by voting.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Dahal&rsquo;s repentance on &#39;early surrender of arms and army&#39; also smacks of his ill intentions to use that guerrilla force as the tool to political blackmailing, as in the past. His partners in protests, the Madhesi and Janajati parties are more than enthused by the political patronage of the UCPN-Maoist and also by the fact that their agenda defeated in popular votes is now shouldered by the Maoists, the third largest party in CA. It is not difficult to understand that Dahal is now desperate as he is very fast losing his political ground. Not only his party got reduced to the third largest in the CA-II from the first in CA-I, it currently commands bare 14 percent of total votes in the House. That is why he is against of the CA arithmetic. Also, his party is at the verge of further division after the main ideologue Dr Baburam Bhattarai has challenged Dahal&#39;s authority from within and intensified the efforts to create a &#39;new force&#39;. For, all these reasons, Dahal is experimenting on any possible political adventurism to save his existence as leader to be reckoned with. This is understandable. What is completely incomprehensible is why other two larger parties, NC and UML, are succumbing to these tantrums of Dahal, resorting to one after another undemocratic moves and decisions. Why can&#39;t they say that no political decision regarding the constitution writing could be taken outside the CA and beyond the popular mandate?</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	One of the overused platitudes of Dahal has been &#39;consensus in constitution writing.&#39; On the surface, this appears as a benevolent idea. But, in essence, it is implicit design to take the constitution writing process away from CA to HLPC. Since the country has expensed so much to ensure diverse representation in CA, it is impossible to arrive at consensus at every motion mooted in the CA. Therefore, accepting to resolve all contentious issues through already defined CA rules and processes, including voting, is absolutely within democratic values and norms. Dahal and his allies has problem in this, because it is surely a losing game for them as they simply lack the number of members in CA to pass their agenda. But, if they believe in democracy, instead of exerting to disrupt the processes, they should accept the outcome by explaining their point of view such that can woo the public support in the next polls.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	But that needed patience Dahal clearly lacks and he is now wielding a double-edged sword -- simultaneously leading the street protests and holding the convenorship of HLPC that was dug out last month off the grave of the last CA, merely to placate Dahal&#39;s ambition of chairing it. Interestingly, he successfully capitulated the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML leadership to form this apparently unconstitutional &#39;superpower centre&#39; that is often practically portrayed as above all the political mechanisms of the country -- including the prime minister, the CA and the parliament. Or, at least, Dahal wanted HLPC to function in that fashion. This too is an undemocratic demeanour.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Naturally, the voice of other allies in Tundikhel was more aggressive. Sadbhawan Party leader Rajendra Mahato said he would not let the constitution be finalised on the basis of &#39;majority vote in the CA&#39; and Ashok Rai of Federal Socialist Party warned of &#39;pulling the NC and UML leaders by their collars&#39; to agree to their demand of identity-first federalism. What all this means is: there is every effort going on not to recognize and treat the CA as the only constitutionally validated body to write the constitution. This is perhaps the gravest danger that Nepal&#39;s political process faces at this moment. For the UCPN-Maoist and other smaller parties, their action might be justifiable to the extent to make their presence felt in the national political spectrum. But it is highly surprising to see that the NC and UML are readily agreeing to the demands of these parties without considering their consequences and not working enough to deliver a timely constitution despite their clear majority in the CA-II that allows them to write the constitution themselves.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	At this juncture, three political personalities have performed far short of their responsibilities and expectations from their respective public positions. First is Prime Minister Sushil Koirala who has failed to deliver the governance in every possible field you may name. His ministers are working berserk. His slogan of &#39;clean government&#39; has hit rock bottom in every appointment in the constitutional bodies, judiciary to executive branches. It took four months for the House to pass the appropriation bill. When issue of poor governance is raised, he retorts with saying &#39;the focus is on constitution writing.&#39; When the mayhem in constitution writing is pointed, he just vents anger on the people who dared to ask. His lacklustre performance is only costing the country very dear in every front, mainly as coupling hindrances in constitution writing process.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The second person who could have changed the things for the better but doing very little or nothing is Subhash Chandra Nembang, the CA Chairman. When House was disrupted continuously for five weeks in September, his presence was nowhere felt. He kept on urging the political parties &#39;to agree&#39; on certain things. But, his responsibility was not to urge for agreement but to run the House business according to the already laid-down laws, rules and precedents. His failure is more acutely felt in his inability to &#39;educate&#39; the CA members in the processes and contents of the constitution writing. He even failed to inculcate in the minds of the CA members that they are representatives of the sovereign people, not the stooges of the political bigwigs. Over and above, he himself appears to be acting as the stooge of big leaders, waiting for signals to come from the quarters like HLPC.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The third personality who failed to deliver up to the expectation is Dr Baburam Bhattarai, Chairman of the Constitutional Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee (PDCC) in the CA. He kept on jumping around to appear as if he is honestly trying to extract some magic consensus, but without doing proper homework particularly to finalize the agenda of state restructuring. He tried to forge the so-called consensus in the vacuum. One of the main bones of contention among the political parties has been the number of provinces that the new constitution should delineate to federalize Nepal. But these parties have all in unison failed to come up with the basic logic of any particular number they have picked to propose as their agenda. As such, Bhattarai should have been able to come up with data on economic and political viability of the possible provinces and presented them dispassionately to the political parties. Instead, he himself ventured to propose some eight, nine or ten provinces, without any database to support his proposal. This was naive move both as the Chairman of PDCC, who should have ideally remained neutral in all these bickering and, also as a learned man, he must have come with alternative data-supported analysis such as &#39;if we go for eight provinces, the per capita income of Nepalis will rise in X-rate while with eleven it goes up/down by Y-rate.&#39; But, alas, nothing of the sort is happening.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	This is to conclude that, until and unless we revert back to essence of democracy from pressure tantrums, allow CA to function as the only legitimate place to discuss everything regarding the constitution writing and provide some factual basis to ascertain the number of provinces as well as the administrative structure of the &#39;new&#39; state, the new constitution will continue to remain a mirage, for unforeseen time to come.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<em>The writer is former editor of Aarthik Abhiyan National Daily.</em></div>',
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			'created' => '2014-11-21',
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			'description' => 'If the ongoing irresponsible behaviour of some of the key political players of the country doesn't come to a halt, it is certain that the Constituent Assembly-Two (CA-II) will also not be able to deliver a new democratic constitution for the 'federal new Nepal.' The major impediment to the new constitution writing process has two folds: the first, no party is adhering to the mandate and processes of the CA, and crucial political bargaining are taking place out of the constitutional and the CA ambit.',
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			'id' => '2809',
			'article_category_id' => '167',
			'title' => 'Derailing Democracy',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Achyut Wagle</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Throughout Nepal&#39;s seven decade long modern political history, the biggest problem to institutionalize democracy has been sheer absence of democratic essence among the political actors - political parties and politicians, both. &nbsp;It has been true for all twists and turns in the history. Experience has it, those countries that could stabilize the democratic polity in relatively short period of political transition, say in two or three decades, enjoyed two common features. One, there was only two way fight between the democratic and autocratic forces, or colonizers and freedom fighters. Once the democrats outweighed the autocrats, the system got functionally stabilized. Second, at least for the initial transition, some charismatic and learned leader spearheaded those processes into an irrevocably functionalized and largely institutionalized form of democracy, before it could derail and eventually degenerate to anarchy or mayhem.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	But Nepal&#39;s democracy has persistently been victim of a triangular instead of bipolar traction among the ultra-rights led by the palace, ultra-lefts led by Maoists or Leninists, and democrats. In fact, democracy has been invariably sandwiched between other two forces. To recall the history of common knowledge, for this very reason none of political changes in 1951, 1961, 1981, 1991 or 2006 could institutionalize Nepal&#39;s democracy. The country has been a constant victim of political uncertainty and hopelessness, which has taken toll not only on economy and development but has also teetered the age-old social cohesion and coexistence. Thanks again primarily to the three-way pulls.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The recent turn of events also does not present any different picture. The political rhapsody of UCPN Maoist Chairman Puspa Kamal Dahal certainly reflects his desperation in a bid to save his political existence in the light of rapidly eroding political clout of his party, but it is hardly limited only to that. As a person brought up as the Maoist, he is fundamentally against this country writing a democratic constitution. &nbsp;And, this is not a secret, but his commitment, vowed umpteen times in public. He still harbours dreams that one day this country could still be ruled by a communist dictator, perhaps himself at the helm, like North Korea and Cuba. He wants the new constitution to be written with those aims in mind. But he too is clueless on the way outs that clear the nasty debris of the civil war, en-route to that unreachable summit.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	At the other end, there are monarchists who want to resurrect the religious fundamentalism to the extreme of considering the King, again, as reincarnation of Lord Vishnu. The movement of Hindu fundamentalism is slowly gathering momentum as not-so-insignificant chunk in the ruling Nepali Congress has also found solace in taking refuge to this political perversion. There are other hybrid elements born out of marriage between the royalists and leftists who have dedicated their energies to defame and undermine the popularly elected parliament.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The most recent example is the blatant disobedience of several parliamentary committee summons by Lokman Singh Karki, chief of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). It may be recalled that it was Puspa Kamal Dahal who engineered the appointment of Karki, an ardent royalist who served as chief secretary of the government during king Gyanendra&#39;s absolute rule, in CIAA position. The disgruntlement of some of the parliament members towards recalcitrant Karki was also meaningless as his appointment was formally approved by the chiefs of all major political parties &ndash; Sushil Koirala of Nepali Congress, Jhala Nath Khanal of CPN-UML, Dahal himself and other Terai-based forces while Khil Raj Regmi was heading the caretaker government a year ago. The career graph of Karki was a public knowledge but that surprisingly didn&#39;t bother these &#39;big&#39; leaders and they awarded him the position he deeply craved for, for some unexplained reasons. After such a big blunder, it is but natural that the cries of &#39;small fries&#39;, like members of parliament, go unheard. To extend the argument, the discretionary abuse of the constitutional bodies like CIAA also constitute a great degree of test case on the impartiality of these institutions that are expected to function compatibly with the norms and values of the democratic dispensation. &nbsp;These are definitely some sure signals that even the &#39;structure&#39; of democracy is being gravely in peril now, let alone essence.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ideally, the alliance of Nepali Congress and UML should have been able to steer the process of constitution writing and institutionalizing democracy given the strength of popular mandate they have and their largely tested credentials to multiparty, ballot-based democracy. But, persistence of &#39;sickness&#39; and performance dysfunction of the ruling alliance has indeed been a major impediment to any outcome that helps to the cause of democracy. The chiefs of both the parties, KP Oli of UML and Prime Minister Koirala, also the Congress chief, are sick in literal terms. And, deplorably ineffective role of Constituent Assembly (CA) Chairman Subash Nembang has rendered this supposedly most crucial institution in present day Nepal as good as dead.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The government has been oblivious to a number of its public commitments which, had they been executed, would have consolidated democracy at least by a step or prevent it from boiling down to vacuum of popular representation. One of such derelictions was government&#39;s imperviousness to hold the elections to the local bodies. On the contrary, the ruling political cartel has engaged heavily in appointing controversial names in many crucial positions, including the judiciary. Nevertheless, the joint stance taken lately by Koirala and Oli to take the constitution writing process ahead and promulgate the new constitution by January 2015is no doubt appreciable. But, given the fact that they have hardly been credible in the past and apparent challenges that need a great deal of political dexterity to surpass, hopes of smooth sail are still very grim, to say the least.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Another very alarming signal that democratic forces would be pushed to further relegation is: the influential members among ruling elites are blatantly engaged in the acts which are morally indefensible. The Nepali Congress Vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel&#39;s avarice to appoint his near and dear ones to lucrative public positions, Finance Minister Dr. Ram Saran Mahat&#39;s machinations to transfer a highly controversial civil servant into his ministry and above all K P Oli&#39;s design of giving ministerial berth to his henchmen defeated in recent elections give ground for both Left and Right forces to disregard the &#39;high talks&#39; of democratic forces. There are several other such decisions that only undermine the transparency and accountability parameters, which are cornerstones of democracy.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As such, the CA has been rendered completely ineffective. There are public speeches made repeatedly, challenging to dishonour the arithmetic of CA; a crucial phenomenon as consensus is always elusive as is the case now. The political polarization has intensified. The political undercurrents are such that given the provision that the constitution needs to be ratified by two-thirds majority in the House, there could be some defectors from the ruling alliance who may dig holes in the ship.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	No doubt, Dahal is ruining his political prospects due to his own activities outside of CA and repeated flimsy announcements like &#39;initiating another revolution&#39;, &#39;forming the government from outside of parliament&#39;, &#39;writing new constitution from the street,&#39; etc. Worse, his irresponsible politics has provided much needed springboard to fringe parties, with some abstract agenda of identity and regionalism-based politics that were badly defeated in the last CA elections. They are particularly enthused by Dahal&#39;s patronship to these agenda.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Anything said and done, Nepal seems to be heading towards another constitutional crisis. The stage is being gradually set for that. There is not even a marginal possibility of promulgating a new constitution by 22nd of January, the deadline set by the political parties themselves. The ongoing unrest in the eastern part of country is perhaps deeper than it is generally perceived. Whatever federal structure one may propose, at least without any factual basis but by bare political imposition, is sure to be rejected by one section or another. Managing these discontents stemming in many forms and guises are likely to push the country to new phase of unrest and violence.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As of writing these lines, the drama of signature campaign &#39;to moot the proposal of ruling coalition&#39; into the Constitutional Dialogue Committee headed by Maoist leader Dr. Baburam Bhattarai suggests that the era of politics of consensus has been over. Democracy essentially is less about consensus but more about the rules of the game. But, here, rule breaking has been the first norm of politics. And, the politics of consensus generally endows better payoffs to weaker than the stronger. That is why Dahal and his 22-party opposition brigade is &#39;dying&#39; for this ever elusive consensus in the constitution making process. But, on the other end, Nepal now is not in a situation where it can afford to relegate potentially destructive forces from the mainstream political process. The journey from completion of drafting to promulgating the new constitution, even if takes place at all in near future, is going to be treacherous. The thought over another crucial phase of actual federalization of the state is yet to begin. Setting up new bureaucracies, reallocation of resources and dividing powers and authorities amongst the different layers of administration are the task that are going to be far more difficult than writing &nbsp;one set of generic document called &lsquo;constitution&rsquo;.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Before any tall talk on any big issue, we have but no choice to begin from the basics -- putting the derailed democracy back on track. The point of departure for one and all is; to unconditionally express faith on the rule-based game of democracy, respect for the people&#39;s mandate and in essence adopt a forward looking approach, not in a sense as touted by communists but as per the best and time tested democratic practices adhered to by the world for several centuries now.</div>
<div>
	The writer is former editor of Aarthik Abhiyan National Daily.</div>',
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			'created' => '2014-12-23',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age  nepal politics news & articles, nepal politics news & articles from new business age nepal, nepal politics headlines from nepal,  current and latest nepal politics news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali nepal politics economic news and events,  ongoing  nepal politics ne',
			'description' => 'Throughout Nepal's seven decade long modern political history, the biggest problem to institutionalize democracy has been sheer absence of democratic essence among the political actors - political parties and politicians, both.  It has been true for all twists and turns in the history. Experience has it, those countries that could stabilize the democratic polity in relatively short period of political transition, say in two or three decades, enjoyed two common features. One, there was only two way fight between the democratic and autocratic forces, or colonizers and freedom fighters. Once the democrats outweighed the autocrats, the system got functionally stabilized. Second, at least for the initial transition, some charismatic and learned leader spearheaded those processes into an irrevocably functionalized and largely institutionalized form of democracy, before it could derail and eventually degenerate to anarchy or mayhem.',
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	(int) 8 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2810',
			'article_category_id' => '209',
			'title' => 'Essay Writing Competition 2015',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/essay.jpg" style="height: 399px; width: 635px;" /></span></p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<span style="font-size:14px;">This Essay writing competition is for all Bachelor&#39;s and Master&#39;s level students from any university in Nepal<br />
	<br />
	<strong>Essay Titles</strong><br />
	1. Investment Opportunities in Nepal.<br />
	2. Nepal&#39;s Deveploment Possibilities.<br />
	3. My views about Nepal&#39;s private sector.<br />
	4. Use of Nepal&#39;s water resources.<br />
	5. Role of media in economic deveploment.<br />
	<br />
	(Two topics from this list will be selected randomly in the essay writing hall and the participants should write the essay on a topic of his/her choice from those two so selected)<br />
	<br />
	<strong>Guidelines</strong><br />
	Participants can write on the selected topic either in English or Nepali.<br />
	Participants will be given one hour to write the essay.<br />
	Copying, referring to notes or published material or electronic gadgets will be forbidden.<br />
	<br />
	<br />
	<strong>Important Dates</strong><br />
	Deadline for submission of form is 8th Baishak 2072.<br />
	Essay writing day is 11th Baishak 2072.<br />
	<br />
	<strong>Submission</strong><br />
	Participation forms can be submitted either <a href="http://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XaUaWW1NWGCW6crDCF2gqUeisHkFm0vf79G3uZoTxrs/edit">online </a>or in <a href="/userfiles/files/ESSAY%20WRITING%20COMPETITION%20form.docx">hard copy</a>.<br />
	<br />
	<strong>Email</strong><br />
	nshreemali@newbusinessage.com<br />
	asubedi@newbusinessage.com</span></p>
<p>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XaUaWW1NWGCW6crDCF2gqUeisHkFm0vf79G3uZoTxrs/edit">CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT ONLINE FORM.</a></span></p>
<p>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><a href="/userfiles/files/ESSAY%20WRITING%20COMPETITION%20form.docx">CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FORM.</a></span></p>',
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			'created' => '2015-03-29',
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	(int) 9 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2808',
			'article_category_id' => '48',
			'title' => 'Rule Of Dogs',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Madan Lamsal</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	I &nbsp;have no intention of passing any derogatory remark on this faithful, trustworthy, friendly and beautiful animal called dog. With due apology to it, allow me to uncover some of present day Nepal&#39;s great eco-political mysteries with the help of this metaphor. You may have noticed, one of the greatest secrets of Nepal&#39;s perennial perils has just been revealed: it was because this country for so long was ruled by dogs. Watchdogs, barking dogs, biting dogs, wagging dogs, walking dogs, stray dogs, guarding dogs and running dogs. (Readers are welcome to add some or many more to this list depending on their own observations). How can you expect our human development indices to go up where everything is &#39;of the dogs, by the dogs and for the dogs?&#39;&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Our parliament has a big bunch of vigilante dogs who keep good watch on some of hydropower projects of their interest. Many members of parliament are the &#39;jhola ma khola&#39; agents. Therefore, if anybody sniffs in their project they bark back loudly as a dutiful guarding dog. These honourable members of this genre of canine community were quick to warn the CIAA chief Lokman Karki just not to cross the limits of a watchdog. &nbsp;Karki, who is the size of a Tibetan Mastiff declared himself just as a &lsquo;barking dog&rsquo;, thus would not accept the label of a &lsquo;biting dog&rsquo;.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Questions have been raised about the hunting abilities and choice of prey by this barking dog. People outside the political circle allege that he is running behind the small fries leaving big sharks unscathed. &nbsp;The wagging dogs who are often seen at the gates of big political leaders, heave a sigh of relief that Karki&#39;s canine teeth were blunted at the very moment of appointment, rendering him truly a mere barking dog, only capable to chase away the stray dogs in the bureaucracy, leaving alone big hounds. Karki can bark really very loudly as seen recently during the acrimonious dogfight between several parliamentary committees and the CIAA. Parliamentarians like Gagan Thapa who considers himself as a very skilled barker, anywhere everywhere, has been silenced by the just snarls of Karki.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	But, crucial question here is, why these wagging dogs are having problem with this barking dog? They should instead bark at their bosses who appointed him with an unprecedented consensus in the history of Nepal. Karki&#39;s appointment as the CIAA chief had taken onboard every possible power centre that is otherwise guarded by Polar Alsatians, German Mastiffs, Chinese Chow Chow and Indian Rajapalayams, among others. So, Karki&#39;s metamorphosis was obvious from a mere barking to a biting dog, given he finds some feebler flocks.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	And Karki has every reason to bark on these new bunch of stray dogs who dared to protest against the erection of his father&#39;s statue at Duhabi thoroughfare, which ultimately had to be demolished and a part of the ruin still pierces his heart. He knows this new barking license for him has come at a very dear financial cost and a very high degree of coalesces between red communists and pink ex-Panchas. For all these reasons, he is not deterred by any amount of barking by these new breed of dogs. Moreover, these naive and novas do not recognize the supernatural sniffing ability of Karki. That is exactly the reason he chose to avoid the successive summons by the parliamentary committees. He has the ability to tame these raucous packs by using supersensitive remote controls.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	It is also not surprising that Karki has chosen to scare some of the hydropower promoting jackals. He knows they are fleshy and if caught, the feast would be more than plentiful. This is what the bone of contention is. The stray dogs sense that this flesh may be taken away from them by this gradually becoming English Hunter from a Tibetan barking dog.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-12-23',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age no laughing matter news & articles, no laughing matter news & articles from new business age nepal, no laughing matter headlines from nepal,  current and latest no laughing matter news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali no laughing matter economic news and events,  ongoing',
			'description' => 'I  have no intention of passing any derogatory remark on this faithful, trustworthy, friendly and beautiful animal called dog. With due apology to it, allow me to uncover some of present day Nepal's great eco-political mysteries with the help of this metaphor. You may have noticed, one of the greatest secrets of Nepal's perennial perils has just been revealed: it was because this country for so long was ruled by dogs. Watchdogs, barking dogs, biting dogs, wagging dogs, walking dogs, stray dogs, guarding dogs and running dogs. (Readers are welcome to add some or many more to this list depending on their own observations). How can you expect our human development indices to go up where everything is 'of the dogs, by the dogs and for the dogs?'',
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	(int) 10 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2801',
			'article_category_id' => '52',
			'title' => 'Commendable Contract',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal has been successful in initiating important economic reforms, ahead at least of her South Asian peers. The process of economic liberalization began in 1984, eight years before India began its first generation of reforms. The financial sector reform too was undertaken with a reasonable success a decade ago. The latest agreement between the employers and the trade unions of Nepal to execute much awaited labour law reforms is another milestone. While Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has just making a case to change their 1949 Labour Law, Nepal&#39;s success can set an example on how highly contentious issue of industrial relations could be amicably resolved through right initiatives, with confidence building arrangements in the background.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The creation of the Social Security Fund under the tripartite agreement among the government, the Employers&#39; Council headed by the FNCCI vice-president and all trade unions (there are some eleven at present) four years ago paved the way for the recent understanding. Among others, there were two major issues, one each from the employers and the workers. The employers wanted the hiring-and-firing rights and the employees wanted certainty of financial security. Both of these issues got resolved albeit in rather surprising pace. The employers exhibited a great deal of generosity to agree to contribute to twenty percent equivalent of the wages towards the Fund on top of employees&#39; contribution of eleven percent. This really constitutes a substantial sum that gives confidence to the workers. The employers have also secured the right to hire-and-fire, without seeking prior approval from the Labour Ministry, a legal provision still effective. The agreement to categorize the workers into four groups depending on the nature and necessity of the production process has also eased the labour market risks to the investors and entrepreneurs.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The two pending issues to be agreed, namely sectorial bargaining rights and no-work-no-pay should not be as difficult to resolve as other host of issues already agreed. The latter issue partially gets addressed by the hiring and firing rights of the employers. But, the sectorial bargaining norms, when agreed with a sectorial umbrella body deemed applicable to the entire sector (the industry), could be agreed with some exception of new entrants or loss-making businesses. Again, as the fair-market norm, such sectorial umbrella organizations tantamount to cartel and thus employers should also need to rethink their position in the long run.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Undoubtedly, the agreement to amend the labour laws to these effects is a welcome step. But, Nepal&#39;s political leadership must first desist to use the trade unions as the political tools. When this agreement actually becomes a law, the scope of using these trade unions as the political instrument drastically reduces. This warrants for a cautious approach that these agreed issues do not become victim of political machinations again. Nepal has also seen several such agreements and enactment of many important laws. But their enforcement and adherence have always been the problem. Therefore, all necessary institutional and logistic arrangement must be in place for desired outcome of these agreements, which in due course become law. A few of such &#39;must&#39; arrangements are: proper database of the workers, automated accounting of the Security Fund given the potential high mobility of labourers, timely deposit of the promised amounts by the employers and updated records of the same, and credible institutional set-up to ensure timely delivery of all these services.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	It is also not enough just to have these laws in place. If Nepal is expecting enhanced foreign or domestic investment, she should be able to communicate this as an achievement that has put a decades-long problem of industrial relations conclusively to an end. The trade unions affiliated to all political parties have signed this agreement, which adds one more powerful reason to invest in Nepal. Needless to say, to achieve this success in a country, which has one of the cheapest labour costs is indeed in the interest of all potential investors.&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-11-21',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age  from the editor news & articles, from the editor news & articles from new business age nepal, from the editor headlines from nepal,  current and latest from the editor news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali from the editor economic news and events,  ongoing  from the edi',
			'description' => 'Nepal has been successful in initiating important economic reforms, ahead at least of her South Asian peers. The process of economic liberalization began in 1984, eight years before India began its first generation of reforms. The financial sector reform too was undertaken with a reasonable success a decade ago.',
			'sortorder' => '2652',
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	(int) 11 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2806',
			'article_category_id' => '40',
			'title' => 'The Story Of Nepali Startups',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Akhilesh Tripathi</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The startup scene in Nepal has changed significantly over the last five&ndash;seven years, with new and young entrepreneurs coming up with innovative ideas every year. Today, though there is no official data, the number of successful startups in Nepal is estimated to be above 50. These are the companies that are said to be running in good profit. Over this period, a young Nepali startup ecosystem has been in the making, though it is still incomplete due to the absence of venture capitals in the ecosystem. With most of the successful startups belonging to the IT sector, the future of the Nepali startup industry looks promising.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;The Nepali startup scene is heading slowly but surely in a good direction,&rdquo; thinks Mark Sears, CEO of CloudFactory, one of the most successful Nepali startups. Bidhyabaridhi Sigdel, Investment Director at Dolma Impact Fund, shares similar views. &ldquo;Now we are seeing new and unique businesses, which involve a brilliant choice of timing and products,&rdquo; he says. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	It&rsquo;s not just startups like CloudFactory and F1Soft which are doing quite well, nationally as well as internationally. There are others too. For example, Grepsr, a company specializing in web crawling service. The company has international clients such as The Boston Consulting Group, GE Capital, and Target, and is doing very well in their third year. Subrat Basnet, one of the co-founders of the company emphasizes on the massive opportunity for tech entrepreneurs in Nepal to make an impact on a global scale. &ldquo;With the growth of local talent, low risk investment and low operational cost, among other things, Nepali tech entrepreneurs can really compete in the global market if they have great ideas and the right marketing,&rdquo; he says.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	11Beep is another up-and-coming startup from Nepal. It has been trying to build an anonymous mobile social network. It&rsquo;s CEO Bimal Maharjan who is an active participant at startup events around Kathmandu and has even has flown to Italy for a four-month bootcamp called TechPeaks&mdash;The People Accelerator, feels the excitement and challenges of working on an idea alongside other entrepreneurs, designers and hackers.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Another idea which was developed in Nepal and has gained some ground locally with aggressive plans to expand internationally is CashOnAd, a mobile advertising platform that is working to revolutionize the advertising world. The fact that CashOnAd&rsquo;s android app on Google Play has already been installed in more than 100,000 devices shows their success in a comparatively short period. With the mobilization of local talent and the right growth strategy, CashOnAd has the potential to be very scalable and profitable in a short period.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Innovative companies such as Grepsr, 11Beep and CashOnAd are pioneering a new era of tech entrepreneurship in Nepal. They are dreaming big and thinking of conducting business beyond the borders of Nepal and competing globally. There are also other tech companies making their presence felt in the domestic market as well as chasing the international market.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;Many more innovative ideas are surfacing at events like StartupWeekend, GDG Meetups, Hackathons, Mobile Social Networking, Tedx , BarCamp, Mapthaons.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Even Incubators like Biruwa Ventures and communities for open source and developers is growing,&rdquo; says Amit Agrawal of Janaki Technologies, &ldquo;Now the vision is crossing the borders and soon we will see kickass startups from the Himalayas, that will rock the world.&rdquo;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<table border="0" cellpadding="10" width="99%">
		<tbody>
			<tr>
				<td bgcolor="#84F2AE">
					<div>
						<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Government&rsquo;s Startup Fund</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Lately, it seems that the government has understood the importance of promoting entrepreneurship in the country. The latest national budget has announced a Startup Fund of Rs 500 million. While making his budget speech, Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat said that this Fund, which is yet to take shape, will help cultivate the culture of entrepreneurship and promote fresh ideas by bankrolling promising startups. The government expects the private sector and NRNs, too, to contribute to this seed fund, according to officials at the Department of Industry.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Pashupati Murarka, senior vice-president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), thinks that the criteria and working procedure of the Fund should be established at the earliest possible to make the allotted resources useful. &ldquo;Though the seed amount is not large, the initiative is good. The government now needs to work out an implementation plan as soon as possible,&rdquo; said Murarka, adding that the private sector can decide how to support the programme once there is clarity about the working modality.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&ldquo;It has already been four months since the government announced the Startup Fund through the national budget. Now, the government should focus on the implementation aspect of the Fund without any delay,&rdquo; advises Hari Bhakta Sharma, senior vice president of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI).</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Besides the Startup Fund, the government has been running a Business Incubation Programme (BIP) under the Department of Cottage and Small Industries (DoCSI). The BIP which has been running for the last eight years is targeted at supporting startup enterprises. &ldquo;BIP has been trying to create a favourable environment for innovative and aspiring entrepreneurs. This includes providing physical facilities and mentorship services on various aspects of management and production such as productivity enhancement, quality management, accounting, marketing and intellectual property rights,&rdquo; says Pawan Kumar Timalsena, director at DoCSI. &nbsp;</div>
				</td>
			</tr>
		</tbody>
	</table>
</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Incomplete ecosystem&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	Startups in Nepal face some common challenges in terms of taking their products international and growing the brand. The most obvious challenge is financial. Startups don&rsquo;t get loans without collaterals from the banks. Likewise, angel investors are very few and far between. So, most startups are forced to survive on bootstrapping. Thus, finance is the most difficult problem that people face in Nepal to start a startup. There are no investors willing to invest in startups, according to industry insiders.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	If an idea or product solves a problem and provides value, the target customers need to be aware of the product or service. International customers can be reached through Google AdWords, Facebook ads, advertisements in relevant platforms, among other ways. But all this needs funding. Financial leverage is necessary for this, and the company should have adequate capital to properly market the product or service. This is one area where most of the Nepali startups are lagging behind.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;In most cases, finding investors for ideas or early stage ventures is extremely challenging. Therefore, we recommend that entrepreneurs build some sort of track record before approaching investors,&rdquo; says Vidhan Rana, founder-managing partner of Biruwa Ventures.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The risk-averse culture in Nepal has led to less competition among the startups than in other parts of the world. This lack of overall competition has hurt the start up ecosystem in terms of quality, valuations, and market-building. But the industry is growing, though slowly, say the industry insiders.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Other Challenges</strong></div>
<div>
	Another challenge is talent. Nepal has many colleges from where thousands of students are graduating every year. However, tech companies have a hard time finding the right talent when necessary. &ldquo;While there are many young talented people in Nepal, there are few senior, experienced engineers and managers,&rdquo; shares Sears.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Publicity is another challenge for the Nepali startups. To expand globally, Nepali startups need a network or presence outside of Nepal. Getting covered by popular tech blogs, websites, international media etc. could help create awareness of Nepal-based companies. In this context, events like Startup Weekend Kathmandu platform is a good one. At such events, innovative ideas can get some initial traction through its wide network and reach.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Starting up a startup is another major challenge. Though some initiatives have been taken to provide funding for startups which have survived at least for a couple of years or more, startups do not get financial help from banks or other similar institutions at their initial stage. In simple words, there are no institutions to provide seed capital to startups.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;The ecosystem here carries a general feeling that the startups do not know anything about business. Whereas, in advanced markets, startups are received in a positive connotation,&rdquo; observes Bibhusan Bista, CEO of Young Innovations, a Nepali tech startup, which has been helping new startups by organizing startup events like &ldquo;Hackathon&rdquo; among others.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<table border="0" cellpadding="10" width="99%">
		<tbody>
			<tr>
				<td bgcolor="#84F2AE">
					<div>
						<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>IFC&rsquo;s Business Oxygen (BO2)</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						BO2 is a USD 14 million SME venture fund established in partnership with International Finance Corporation (IFC), Bank of Kathmandu and Beed Management. It was established in 2012 to provide risk capital to Small and Medium Enterprises in Nepal through structured equity and quasi-equity investments. It specializes in providing finance to SMEs that might be ignored by BFIs, or cannot access finance from BFIs due to a lack of collateral. BO2 looks for promising entrepreneurs who have worked on good business ideas and show a flair for entrepreneurship.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Companies may qualify for BO2 if they satisfy any two of the three criteria, namely: less than 50 staff, total assets below Rs 250 million and total annual turnover below Rs 250 million. In addition to funding, BO2 provides advisory services to build the capacities of small and medium enterprises to reach the next level.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>Who can qualify for investment?</strong></div>
					<div>
						BO2 concentrates on small entrepreneurs who want to take the step up to the next level. We are looking for SMEs in the growth stage with a history of profitable performance and potential for creating value for investors in the time period of the investment. Entrepreneurs should keep in mind the following points when considering funding from BO2:</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&bull; This is not &#39;free&#39; or &#39;subsidized&#39; money.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&bull; The business or its owners should not be blacklisted. Preferably the company should not have bank loans, or if it does, then it should be repayable with the investment amount.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&bull; The company should be registered in the CRO as a public limited or a private limited company.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&bull;Since BO2 is looking at growth stage companies for investment, the company should have been in business for at least 2 years. If under 2 years then the owners should have been involved in the same sector for more than 2 years.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&bull; BO2&#39;s investment will be utilized for the purpose of increasing top or bottom line.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>Investment Period</strong></div>
					<div>
						BO2 investment is only for a period of four years, which may be extended by a maximum of one year. At the end of the investment period BO2 will exit the investment by selling its shares in the company, back to the original owners at a predetermined value. BO2provides investment in nine sectors: Manufacturing, Energy Based, Agro and Forest Based, Tourism, Trading, IT and Communication, service industries, construction and infrastructure, and realty.&nbsp;</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<em>(Source: IFC)&nbsp;</em></div>
				</td>
			</tr>
		</tbody>
	</table>
</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Focus on the Global Tech Map</strong></div>
<div>
	&ldquo;Tech entrepreneurs are becoming more ambitious, focused on putting Nepal on the tech map, despite the challenges in taking their product into the global market. Soon, it would not be surprising to hear of big ideas from Nepal making a global impact,&rdquo; says Rana. He advises those who want to start a startup to focus on doing branding well, having a unique offering, scalable business model, global thinking, flat hierarchy with a good working culture, and getting inspired by what&rsquo;s happening globally.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	With quality product and right expansion strategy, a handful of tech companies from Nepal are venturing into the global stage and starting to make an impact. Though challenges come with the territory, Nepal&rsquo;s tech companies have a remarkable opportunity to take a bite out of the global tech scene.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Subrat of Grespr believes that Nepal can be put on the tech map. &ldquo;But to put Nepal on the global tech map, we need more companies from Nepal like CloudFactory, F1Soft, Janaki Technologies and Grepsr, and an ecosystem that builds and nurtures quality startups,&rdquo; he says.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Sustainability Issue</strong></div>
<div>
	Industry insiders believe that Nepalis are very capable of innovative work. But the reality on the ground is that Nepal doesn&#39;t seem to have good homegrown startups. There is foreign involvement in most of the leading startups from Nepal. Most of the tech startups that do exist are happy doing outsourcing jobs which might not be a sustainable solution for development of IT in Nepal. What could be the reason?</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Niranjan Bom Malla, founder of Vidinterest.com says, &ldquo;Based on my experience, there are two big problems that we have in our country right now. One, the Nepali culture of investment, very few angel investors - for most of them, IT startup is not the 1st choice. They think they have better places to invest in other sectors. Two, most of the foreign investors are not comfortable investing in our country, because of our political and financial situation. Trust me, I had talks with more than 100 angel investors over the last two years.&rdquo;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Experts also believe that startup businesses should always focus on creating a strong team to sustain their growth. &ldquo;Without a strong team, even businesses with strong potential are at the risk of failure,&rdquo; observes Rana.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Bista of Young Innovations believes that Nepali startups should come up with new ideas of business rather than copying successful global products and trends for sustainability in the long run.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="10" width="99%">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td bgcolor="B5F1E6">
				<div>
					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Janaki Technology: Building Acclaimed Software</strong></span></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<table align="right" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;" width="25">
					<tbody>
						<tr>
							<td>
								<img alt="Amit Agrawal, CEO,  Janaki Technology" src="/userfiles/images/cs1(3).JPG" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 239px;" /></td>
						</tr>
						<tr>
							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Amit Agrawal</strong></div>
									<div>
										CEO&nbsp;</div>
									<div>
										Janaki Technology</div>
								</div>
							</td>
						</tr>
					</tbody>
				</table>
				<div>
					Janaki Technology is a software product company well known for its SMS based service, Sparrow SMS and it&rsquo;s much acclaimed application Picovico. Founded in 2007 as a normal web application and outsourcing company, it entered the Nepal SMS Value Added Service (VAS) Market in 2010. It harnessed its experience of catering to the software needs of its national and multinational clients and built &lsquo;Sparrow SMS&rsquo;in 2010 as a platform to facilitatevarious SMS based services.&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					SMS services and VAS was not a new thing in Nepal by then, &ldquo;however, we were unique in our implementation and use of latest technology. Our strong technical team worked hard to make it better than other existing SMS services,&rdquo; Amit Agrawal, CEO of the company says while elaborating on the success mantra of the service.</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					The company served multinational clients inside and outside the country and Sparrow SMS has received national and international awards. &ldquo;We are still focusing on innovating our products and there is a long way to go,&rdquo; Agrawal said.</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					In 2011 the company rolled out Picovico, an application to convert photos into video. The product was selected for seed funding in 2011 by &lsquo;the Morpheus Ventures&rsquo; India. A year later, the Chile Government selected it for &quot;StartupChile&quot; programme awarding it equity free funding of 40,000 USD.&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					Agrawal shares that the company focused on research and development for making the products and therefore remained in loss during its initial years. But since than the company has been in profit and presently its annual growth rate has been between 15 to 20%.</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					Reflecting on challenges that the company faced as a startup, Agrawal shares that they also went through common problems faced other businesses in Nepal like load-shedding, delayed and multi-layered government processes, shortage of talented workforce and unfriendly business policies. &ldquo;Not having proper startup-ecosystem in the country was another big problem, when we started,&rdquo; he said. &nbsp;&ldquo;Lack of industry support from government, angel investors and startup accelerators along with unclear laws about IT industry and small market size are other major problems especially for Nepali tech companies,&rdquo; he shared. The company has gained substantial popularity among local clients and is presently doing market research to expand its reach beyond Nepal, Agrawal said adding that the company is working on pushing Picovico in the global market, especiallyin Europe and America. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<strong>&nbsp;(By Upashana Neupane)</strong></div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="10" width="99%">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td bgcolor="B5F1E6">
				<table align="right" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;" width="25">
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							<td>
								<img alt="Ujjwal Chapagain, Managing Director, Himalayan Rabbit Farm" src="/userfiles/images/cs2(7).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 238px;" /></td>
						</tr>
						<tr>
							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Ujjwal Chapagain</strong></div>
									<div>
										Managing Director</div>
									<div>
										Himalayan Rabbit Farm</div>
								</div>
							</td>
						</tr>
					</tbody>
				</table>
				<div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Himalayan Rabbit Farm: A Social Start-up</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Ujjwal Chapagain, managing director of The Himalayan Rabbit Farm took up the risk of leaving a secure job and entering into an unchartered business terrain of commercial rabbit meat production. Such a business is still little known about across the country. When Chapagain thought of it as a business venture, he was questioned more than assured to take the risk. But he succeeded.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						He thought that a small risk taken could help in the sectorial as well as his personal growth. In the very beginning, he had decided his business venture will be a social enterprise rather than a purely commercial. Established in 2012, the venture has provided 100 small farmers with an extra source of income in the form ofrabbit farming.Along with that six farmers have been producing rabbits on a larger scale, following the footsteps and guidelines of Chapagain.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Chapagain was a jobholder in the non-governmental sector. He left the job and invested all his savings in starting up an organic vegetable shop at Jhamsikhel and an integrated farm in Bhaktapur in partnership with some friends. Unfortunately, the project did not succeed, the cause of which he alludes to lack of teamwork with his business partners. After this, he found himself at the crossroads forced to choose between doing business and reverting to being a jobholder. He decided to stay.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						He explored various business prospects and finally decided to start rabbit farming. He took the decision after figuring out that rabbit meat had high demand in the market, as it had remained unnoticed as a livestock farming option and therefore had no substantial competitors. Besides that, another major reason, which attracted his attention, was the fact that rabbit meat is considered to be healthy food and as people were being oriented towards healthy meat options, he thought that he could cater to this consumer sentiment.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						After finalizing his new business idea, Chapagain faced the problem of capital shortage. As he had spent all his savings in the previous venture, the only option left to him was borrowing from a bank. Considering the failure of his earlier business venture, it was hard to convince family members to put up family land as collateral for acquiring bank loan for his new venture. He convinced them and he acquired a bank loan and started rabbit farming in partnership.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The company has around 500 rabbits at its rabbit farm in Balambu, Kathmandu. For breeding, there are around 100 females. It is planning to upgrade the existing breeding centre into a modern one for breeding high yielding rabbit breeds. Presently, it procures 300 to 400 kilograms of rabbit meat every month from farmers situated in different parts of the country. Chapagain says that this quantity is consumed in the market, which primarily consists of hotels and restaurants.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cs3(7).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 399px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Within two years, Himalayan Rabbit Farm has succeeded to put rabbit meat as an option on menus. The success stems from the fact that people, who have tasted it, have loved it. Chapagain feels that interest towards the meat has been growing and he has been continuously working to boost it. To increase customer attraction and establish rabbit meat eating culture, the company had provided free tasting samples to visitors of Food, Drinks and Hospitality Exhibition held in September this year.The company has been working on innovating rabbit meat dishes in association with Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management (NATHM), so that hotels and restaurants could replicate them.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						On the social side, Chapagain has been constantly working with local farmers to help them in rearing rabbits and thereby generating additional household income. The company provides training on rabbit keeping, managing and shade building for rabbit farming to farmer, among other support.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						As of now, farmers in Mayagdi, Rasuwa, Sindhuli, Dolakha, Nawalparas and Kathmandu have taken up rabbit farming. He says that famers from other areas have been also showing interests.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						In the past two years, Chapagain has made a huge leap in introducing a totally new area to livestock farming in Nepal and now he wishes to establish rabbit farming as a national programme, similar to that of pig, goat and poultry farming. Along with this he wishes to make rabbit meat easily available in the market for purchase. To this end he has plans up his sleeves to set up outlets for selling rabbit meat products in places with higher market volume.</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<strong>(By Gaurav Aryal)</strong></div>
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					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Selling the Innovation</strong></span></div>
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								<img alt="Madhukar KC, Founder, Matribhumi Urja Pvt Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/cs4(6).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 243px;" /></td>
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										<strong>Madhukar KC</strong></div>
									<div>
										Founder</div>
									<div>
										Matribhumi Urja Pvt Ltd</div>
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					<div>
						Madhukar KC, founder of Matribhumi Urja Pvt Ltd invented a fuel-efficient wood fire stove that is being commercially developed. Recently, he has designed eight different burners and presented them to the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre, as requested. These designs include skewer stove, high-altitude stove, portable stove and bio-gas stove among others for household and commercial use.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						CB Urja Pvt Ltd has been granted the production and marketing rights for the wood fireportable stovesKC innovated. It started production since mid-May 2014 from its Balaju Industrial Estate based factory.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The government has recently decided to provide five ropanis of land in Chitwan to set up a factory produce burners at a larger scale, KC informed. He is optimistic that the decision would help to develop his venture. His journey so far has been challenging, especially during the research stage, as he had to personally finance his research and development works. Sharing his experience, KC complains of banks and financial institution&rsquo;s unwillingness to take intellectual property as collateral for providing loans. In lack of loans, he has been managing investments with the profit earned by selling the products.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						KC, originally a resident of Pyuthan had moved to Chitwan and it is where he first introduced the product to the public. The first prototype of woodfire stove was developed after a long series of trial and errors on coal stove. A successful prototype was developed in the 33rd attempt. For over 13 years he has been devoting all his time in developing the product. Coming now, he has improvised his products to use bio-mass. KC says that the performance of his stoves is higher than the government benchmark claiming that his stoves scored 29 in the benchmark against the official benchmark of 25. KC plans to develop products that can score around 33 to 35 in terms of performance and fuel efficiency. &nbsp;Presently he has been working fuel-efficient stoves to be used with bio-gas and liquefiedpetroleum gas (LPG).</div>
					<div>
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					<div>
						KC&rsquo;s stove, besides firewood, can use biomass such as pine leaves, seeds of Schima Wallichi (Chilaune) tree, seeds of Hog Plum (Lapsi) and other bio wastages, which generally remain unused, as fuel source. A candy factory in Parbat entirely uses Hog Plum seeds to fuel the stove. This unique portable stove uses two watt computer fan for air supply. The insulated version of the stove does not heat the room as it is covered by mud, specially designed for the Terai region. The fixed stoves installed in rural households also have similar mechanism and provide better flames while emitting lower smoke. KC says that these stoves can be customised to fit in the requirements of an individual household. This mechanism makes it fuel-efficient, environment and user friendly while ensuring smoke free kitchen.Along with that stove uses parts made of recycled metals supplied by the Butwal based Metal Craft Pvt Ltd.</div>
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						<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cs5(5).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 399px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
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					<div>
						&nbsp;KC is the first to incubate at the Business Incubation Programme of the Department of Cottage and Small Industries (DoCSI). In 2009, KC was recognised by National Academy for Science and Technology (NAST) with an award for developing efficient stoves. He was also awarded with Surya Nepal Asha Social Entrepreneurship Award in 2013. After being awarded with the awards, KC realized the buzz that his business had created in the market. He has registered patent rights for his innovations. Presently he has been trying to acquire international patent rights for his LPG and bio-gas burners and the DoCSI has pledged assistance in this endeavour.&nbsp;</div>
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						<strong>(By Gaurav Aryal)</strong></div>
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					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>CloudFactory: A Crowd-sourcing Powerhub</strong></span></div>
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								<img alt="Mark Sears, CEO, CloudFactory" src="/userfiles/images/cs6(5).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 218px;" /></td>
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										<strong>Mark Sears</strong></div>
									<div>
										CEO, CloudFactory</div>
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						As crowd-sourcing and cloud-working are becoming the next big things in the global outsourcing market, new companies are flocking into this lucrative business. CloudFactory, a Kathmandu-based startup has emerged among the frontrunners in the global crowd-sourcing market. The company, founded in 2010 by a Canadian tech entrepreneur, Mark Sears, is rapidly expanding its foothold in Nepal and beyond. CloudFactory came into existence when Sears came to Nepal on a vacation with his wife in 2008. &nbsp;</div>
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					<div>
						The company basically is a web-based outsourcing platform that hires cloud-workers who can work from their internet enabled locations. CloudFactory&#39;s clients are those who need big data services such as data entry, data processing, data collection along with audio/video transcription, categorization, web research and image tagging. The tasks are broken down into sets of &quot;microtasks&quot; which are then distributed to its pool of online workers who complete their work in the &quot;virtual assembly lines&quot;. CloudFactory currently employs 3,200 workers from Nepal and across the world, who process over a million tasks per day.&nbsp;</div>
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					<div>
						<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>&lsquo;&lsquo;Nepali startup scene is heading slowly but surely in a good direction&rsquo;&rsquo;</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>How did the idea of CloudFactory germinate?</strong></div>
					<div>
						In 2008, we were a software development company building web and mobile applications for North American and European clients. Many of them started needing data entry related work and kept asking if we could hire people in Nepal and do it. We kept saying no because we were a high-end software boutique and not a data entry company. At the same time we had been living in Nepal for a year and only hiring talented computer engineering fresher. &nbsp;During the period we met many other talented Nepalis looking for an opportunity. The major existing solution was Amazon&#39;s Mechanical Turk (AMT) - a crowd sourcing internet marketplace. But its enterprise-grade was not enough for our clients and we faced many quality related problems. So we started CloudFactory on January 1, 2010 as a technology platform to cater to the big demand and supply of online workers and haven&#39;t looked back since then.&nbsp;</div>
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						&nbsp;</div>
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						<strong>What are the turning points for your company?</strong></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;The shift from a software development company to a product company back in Jan 2010 was a major turning point. Another major turning point was in May 2012 when we hired our first 25 cloud workers in Nepal. Up until then we were a tech/engineering company building a platform and now we had to learn how to recruit, train and manage large numbers of data operators.</div>
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						<strong>What problems did you face while starting the business?&nbsp;</strong></div>
					<div>
						While there are many young, talented people in Nepal there are less senior, experienced engineers and managers. We are a young team and in many ways I think that has been a good thing, we have learned a lot and grown together. I am so proud of the things we have accomplished to get to this point and I look around and see that I am surrounded by some of the finest young leaders in Nepal - it is amazing to see the growth and maturity that comes from being part of a growing international startup like this.</div>
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					<div>
						<strong>How did you manage the investments?</strong></div>
					<div>
						Our team, technology and traction are the keys to us for raising investments. This latest round was definitely related to our participation in a business accelerator in the US where I got to meet and pitch to a lot of great investors at the end of the 7-month program.</div>
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						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>What are the major projects of CloudFactory? What are its main focuses?&nbsp;</strong></div>
					<div>
						Large-scale data entry, audio/video transcription, web research, image tagging and categorization are our major projects. Companies come to us with large amounts of routine and repetitive work that we can break down in small tasks that can be partially automated but require people as well to complete many of them.&nbsp;</div>
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						<strong>Have you got any help from the government or private organizations?</strong></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;While we have not received any formal help from the government we have very much appreciated informal support from people like Radhesh Pant at Nepal Investment Board. While their focus is mostly on the top hydropower investments in Nepal but he understands and appreciates the opportunity for companies like CloudFactory to provide job creation in Nepal. As a landlocked country we need to be thinking more about how we can accelerate the shift to a knowledge economy. For that ICT should be higher on the priority of the government. Even so, the most important thing the government could do is stay out of the way of ICT growth in Nepal and focus on not being a hindrance and let entrepreneurs continue to innovate from their internet-enabled residences across the Kathmandu valley.</div>
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						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>What are the challenges being faced by the Nepali tech startups?</strong></div>
					<div>
						Tech startups in Nepal are mostly just freelancers working together in small teams of 2-20 people. They work on the early development side of web and mobile applications but rarely get the opportunity to build a full business by bringing products to market themselves. We need some more product startups to go through the full lifecycle to see some wins on the international stage. We will then have the capital and experience to start the second wave of tech startups in Nepal. I see this happening in the next 3-5 years. Until then many will continue to get experience on the engineering/product development side by building other people&#39;s products. The future is bright, Nepali startup scene is heading slowly but surely in a good direction.</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<strong>(By Sanjeev Sharma)</strong></div>
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					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>&ldquo;Lack of human resource to work on our ventures is the major problem&rdquo;</strong></span></div>
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								<img alt="Anil Basnet, Chief Operating Officer  Metro Vibes" src="/userfiles/images/cs7(2).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 243px;" /></td>
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										<strong>Anil Basnet</strong></div>
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										Chief Operating Officer&nbsp;</div>
									<div>
										Metro Vibes</div>
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						Metro Vibes, is a startup company that specializes in web design, development and hosting, email services, graphic design, domain registration, and providing IT consultancy and internet marketing services. After working for over five years with other tech companies, Anil Basnet, Chief Operating Officer of Metro Vibes, felt the need to establish his own IT company. He shared the idea with his three friends and they conceived Metro Vibes.&nbsp;</div>
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					<div>
						Company&rsquo;s growth curve has been pretty stable and has improved substantially since its establishment. Presently 22 employees are working with company and Basnet said more would be joining in the near future. &ldquo;We work hard to meet projects deadline. We get up at 4 in the morning for our venture Metro Tarkari and ensure that the delivery is made within the set time frame,&rdquo; Basnet said while elaborating on the growth factors.</div>
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					<div>
						Though the venture faced financial crisis in its initial days, lack of skilled manpower was and remains the major problem. &ldquo;We have unique concepts, required finance and latest technological equipments, but there is scarcity of skilled manpower who can translate our venture ideas into actions,&rdquo; stated Basnet. Another problem is the absence of government policy on ecommerce. &ldquo;We are confused about the method of handling online transactions,&rdquo; he added.</div>
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						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Starting the Merotarkari.com, an online vegetable ecommerce system, was one of the most prominent turning points for the company. This venture boosted the company&rsquo;s working style and contributed in its expansion. The concept of virtual receptionist was another unique idea in office automation that became a major turning point for the company.</div>
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					<div>
						The company started with five clients in the initial phase and coming now it is serving more than 120 trustable clients that range from national to international boundaries. Its core products are mterotarkari.com, metrofever.com, metro bulk email service, and metro biometric attendance system.&nbsp;<strong>(By Angila Sharma)</strong></div>
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					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>&lsquo;&lsquo;The company has been working hard to extend its reach to every field&rsquo;&rsquo;</strong></span></div>
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								<img alt="Shraddha Timilsina, CEO, Sastra Creations Pvt Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/cs8(2).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 242px;" /></td>
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										<strong>Shraddha Timilsina</strong></div>
									<div>
										CEO</div>
									<div>
										Sastra Creations Pvt Ltd</div>
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						Sastra Creations Pvt Ltd is an IT startup company that provides wide range of services including web design and development, hosting, graphics designing, mobile app and software development. The company was founded in 2012 by two IT students Shraddha Timilsina and Binamra Dhakal in their pursuit of utilising their IT skills. &quot;We perceived that IT sector has great opportunities and possibilities in Nepal and hence decided to work and build our own IT business,&rdquo; Timilsina, who presently acts as the CEO of the company, said.&nbsp;</div>
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					<div>
						In the two years of its establishment, the company had several major turning points. Launching the Nation Wide Web Competition 2013in partnership with the Computer Association of Nepal (CAN), on 2nd January, 2013 provided it with much needed publicity and helped gain reputation as an authority in the IT sector. &quot;It helped talented and skilled participants in acquiring better knowledge about opportunities in web design and development. It helped us to grow at the national level,&rdquo; Timilsina said. Next to it, the company provided IT support for conducting online election of Nepal Medical Council online. Launching its own range of software &ndash; school software and Catreen management software &ndash; in September 2014 provided it much impetus for being included in the top 20 IT startup companies by the ICT magazine.</div>
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						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Software and websites sales has been major source of the company&rsquo;s income and investment. It claims that its annual income has grown about three times from 2012 to 2014 with current annual turnover resting at Rs 12 lakh. It has provided employment opportunities to more than 10 youths in 2 years.&nbsp;</div>
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					<div>
						The Company has been able to sustain and grow on its own due to the total dedication of its founders and employees. The success, however, was not easy. It has faced its share of financial and operational obstacles and challenges in the first few months of establishment. Timilsina thinks that lack of proper system and knowledge about IT and load shedding are the major problems faced by them. Reflecting on her experience, Timilsina said that it is hard to acquire big projects or partnership with bigger organizations in lack of personal links with them.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
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					<div>
						For any business, Timilsina thinks that market is important. She claims that taking business online just provides any business with the market. It is not possible to promote business without going online and it is time efficient if you are using digital marketing tools including software to run a business, she claims. The company perceives each and every sector including agriculture, entertainment, ecommerce, restaurants and hotels, travel agencies and any other business to be its potential client.<strong>&nbsp;(By Rashika Pokharel)</strong></div>
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					<strong><span style="font-size: 16px;">&ldquo;We are working on making our technology strong and making it securer&rdquo;</span></strong></div>
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					&nbsp;</div>
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								<img alt=" Bimal Maharjan, CEO, 11Beep" src="/userfiles/images/cs9(1).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 242px;" /></td>
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										<strong>Bimal Maharjan</strong></div>
									<div>
										CEO, 11Beep</div>
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					<div>
						11Beep is startup company, which since recently have been gaining popularity as a social network that provides platform to individuals to enjoy unrestrained personal freedom of expression.11Beep is a network built specially for mobilephones that doesn&rsquo;t keep any digital history. It lets you share freely what is on your mind with your friends without worrying about any digital footprint.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						11Beep came into operation on November 2013 following Bimal Maharjan&rsquo;s, the CEO of the company, competitive analysis of the market to find the company&rsquo;s startup idea. Maharjan had conceived the idea after analysing various posts on different social networking sites.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&quot;People only share trendy thoughts on social networking sites but hesitate to share thoughts that might be considered or taken in negative light by their social networking peers. 11Beep provides anonymity to individuals and emancipates them from the fear of being identified thereby enabling them to share their thoughts spontaneously without any restraints, says Maharjan, CEO of 11Beep. Thus this network paves way for individuals to share their thoughts, whatever their nature, whenever it strikes to their mind. Besides anonymity, this network has another cool feature of deleting all the post after certain time frame. This feature enables that the individual does not leave digital footprint behind for others to trace. Fundamentally, it is a social network with quite higher levelof security.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The company has been running by five-member team &ndash; with only CEO committing his full time to it and others helping him out on part time basis. 11Beep is preparing to launch another product in the market but before launching it, its been focusing on making the existing product more user friendly and winning user confidence.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&quot;Our startup is based on the idea of a loosing algorithm and is designed for maintaining anonymity. We don&#39;t want to go wrong anywhere. We are working on making our technology strong and making it securer. We have required technical competencies and expertise and are very happy with our work and knowing that we are on the track of gaining our objective,&quot; says Maharjan.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The company is sustaining through its own resources and has not got any support from government. &quot;Fortunately I don&#39;t have to pay my team so that is a relief .We don&#39;t require huge investment and our biggest need at the moment is human capital, we are investing on our own so right now we don&#39;t feel the need for funding but in the next phase, we will need huge investment,&quot; he added.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						As a part of its aim, Beep11 believes in building something which people can make good use of. But being a start up it has its own woes too. &quot;Our society in not built to encourage tech entrepreneurs and as in the initial phase they don&rsquo;t earn much to sustain, it is very difficult for startups to establish in Nepal,&rdquo; Maharjan said.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>(By Rashika Pokharel)</strong></div>
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					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Sasto Deal: Providing the Best Deals</strong></span></div>
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					&nbsp;</div>
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								<img alt="Amun Thapa, CEO, Sasto Deal" src="/userfiles/images/cs0(1).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 239px;" /></td>
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										<strong>Amun Thapa</strong></div>
									<div>
										CEO, Sasto Deal</div>
								</div>
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				<div>
					<div>
						Sasto Deal (SD) is one of the prominent rising stars of online retail shops in Nepal. The company was started almost 3 years ago with the aim of switching offline Nepali market to online and providing best deals. Upon returning from the US, Amun Thapa, SD&rsquo;s CEO, decided to do some business and began to search for ideas that would sell. It did not take long to Amun to realize that Nepali people had been wasting some really useful hours in shopping. &ldquo;I found people lingering to different places in search of different items. I asked myself if everyone was doing the same and the answer was yes. I was compelled to seek for a solution and I knew there was one. However, the sad part was that no one was doing anything about it,&rdquo; says Thapa. He realized that he could save people this hours by taking it online and making it available on their desktop or mobile phones. The idea was simple but he needed people who could translate his vision into reality. This brought him in touch with his schoolmates who were pursuing their degree in the IT field. They worked around the idea and gave birth to Sasto Deal. The initial phase was a bumpy ride as they had problems in making deals. It was difficult for them to make people believe in online business. &ldquo;People laughed at our ideas and we had to go out to the market begging for deals. But now, the same people are begging us to feature their products,&rdquo; says Thapa proudly. The company believes that the initial phase was difficult because online business was a new term to this part of the world and also because the rulers find it difficult to trust the new comers. The company believes that they are grown large.&ldquo;I would probably say the growth rate is over 100% right now, this is not only due to the fact that the company is outperforming but also due to the fact that we are in the e-commerce business and with every single product, our chances for growth increases,&rdquo; Avash K.C, CO-CEO of Sasto Deal, said.</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<strong>(By Angila Sharma)</strong></div>
				</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="10" width="99%">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td bgcolor="B5F1E6">
				<div>
					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Himalayan Wonders: A Travel Startup with a Difference</strong></span></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<table align="right" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;" width="25">
					<tbody>
						<tr>
							<td>
								<img alt="Nishes Thapa, Operations Manager, Himalayan Wonders" src="/userfiles/images/cs01.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 206px;" /></td>
						</tr>
						<tr>
							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Nishes Thapa</strong></div>
									<div>
										Operations Manager</div>
									<div>
										Himalayan Wonders</div>
								</div>
							</td>
						</tr>
					</tbody>
				</table>
				<div>
					<div>
						The Internet has changed the way companies do their business and tourism sector is no exception to it. Himalayan Wonders, a Nepali travel startup, also harnessed the latest developments made in the field of online technology and took all its business online. Founded in 2013, the company provides affordable tours and trekking packages to Nepal. This online portal is packed with informative contents and pictures and travellers can choose and book any tour package online through any Internet enabled device such as smartphone and tablet from anywhere in the world.Himalayan Wonders came into existence when an American geologist Dr David Urmann and his Brazilian friend Pablo Souto Maior suggested Nishes Thapato start his own company. Dr Urmann has been visiting Nepal since the mid-90s&#39; for research on climate change and in credited for establishing the company. Dr. Urmann and another Co-founder, Maior, promote the startup in the global market while Thapa heads the Nepal operations of the company. The company has been receiving overwhelming response from travellers and trekkers around the globe. Within a year it has received five-star rating from Trip Advisor and many positive reviews from its satisfied customers. &nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>&lsquo;&lsquo;Ever since the inception of the company, we never looked back&rsquo;&rsquo;</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>How did your business idea germinate?</strong></div>
					<div>
						I was born in Tripureshwor VDC of Dhading and tourists visiting Ganesh Himal pass through it. Those tourists always fascinated me and it is during these days that my interest of doing something in tourism industry developed. In 1998 I came to Kathmandu and started working in the tourism sector. I worked for different people and gained industry experience that one must have in order to thrive in this booming industry. Dr David Urmann, an American friend of mine, suggested me to establish my own travel company. With his and his Brazilian friend Pablo Souto Maior constant help, we established the company in 2013.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>What is the growth rate of your company?</strong></div>
					<div>
						Since its inception, we have never looked back. Our business is growing every year. With the end of the decade long insurgency, the tourism and hospitality industry has been prospering. If this continues, I am hopeful of maintaining the existing healthy growth rate.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>What problems did you face while starting the business?&nbsp;</strong></div>
					<div>
						We have not faced major problems till date. Our business so far has been smooth with tremendous support from staffs, friends and families. However, events such as general strikes and political instability in the country, have always posed to be a big threat. In the past, we have suffered financial losses due to such condition.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>How are you managing investments?</strong></div>
					<div>
						We received bank loans to meet our initial investment requirements. In due course of time as the company started to grow, I borrowed money from friends and even used my personal savings to make further investment. We keep track of every penny that goes out as expenditure and comes in as earning. We keep our books up-to-date and this has become the success mantra of the company.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>Have you got any help from the government or private organizations?</strong></div>
					<div>
						We have not received any help from the government. &nbsp;If government agencies show interest in us, we would be glad to work together for the growth of this industry. Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN) has provided us substantial help in promoting our business at the international level.&nbsp;</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<strong>(By Sanjeev Sharma)</strong></div>
				</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-12-23',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age cover story news & articles, cover story news & articles from new business age nepal, cover story headlines from nepal,  current and latest cover story news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali cover story economic news and events,  ongoing  cover story news of nepal',
			'description' => 'The startup scene in Nepal has changed significantly over the last five–seven years, with new and young entrepreneurs coming up with innovative ideas every year. Today, though there is no official data, the number of successful startups in Nepal is estimated to be above 50. These are the companies that are said to be running in good profit. Over this period, a young Nepali startup ecosystem has been in the making, though it is still incomplete due to the absence of venture capitals in the ecosystem. With most of the successful startups belonging to the IT sector, the future of the Nepali startup industry looks promising.',
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	(int) 12 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2805',
			'article_category_id' => '31',
			'title' => '‘‘New Generation Scorpio Delivers Exceptional Value And Accessible Technology’’',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<span style="font-size: 14px;">Sagar Bhadkamkar is the deputy general manager for exports and sales of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. The company recently launched a new product, New Generation Scorpio. Bhadkamkar was in Kathmandu for the launch and<strong>&nbsp;Angila Sharma&nbsp;</strong>and<strong>&nbsp;Rashika Pokharel&nbsp;</strong>of the New Business Age caught up with him and discussed the features of this product and the company&rsquo;s marketing strategy for the Nepali market.<strong>&nbsp;Excerpts:</strong></span></div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>What is the purpose of your visit?</strong></div>
	<div>
		The basic purpose of my visit here is to launch the New Generation Scorpio in Nepali market.This is the first international launch of the product following its launch in India a month earlier.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>What is new in the New Generation Scorpio?&nbsp;</strong></div>
	<div>
		New Generation Scorpio, as the name indicates, is a completely new Scorpio in terms of safety, comfort, ride, technology and exterior looks. Some of thesenew features are: new hi-tech 6-inch touch screen infotainment system, micro hybrid technology, smart rain and light sensors, tyre-tronics and voice assist system. It hasa new recalibrated engine that is more fuel-efficient. Earlier version of the Scorpio provided a mileage of 14.05 km per litre, but the new oneguarantees a mileage of 15.15 km per litre.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>How has the journey through these two versions of Scorpios been?</strong></div>
	<div>
		Scorpio was a tremendous leap of faith for us when it was launched 12 years ago. It established the foundation for the development of an entirely new generation of vehicles from Mahindra. More importantly, it helped to transform the Mahindra brand, giving it a sophisticated urban edge at a time when we were primarily thought of as a rural player. The New Generation Scorpio will deliver exceptional value and accessible technology to our customers.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		When we unveiled the first Scorpio in June 2002, it was an emotional moment for all of us at Mahindra and a defining moment for the company. Unknown to us at that time, a dream, an icon, and a style statement was born. The Scorpio did wonders for the Mahindra brand in urban India and in markets worldwide. To see the Scorpio become the pride of over 4.5 lakh customers, sell over 50,000 vehicles during each of the last three years in a row, rule Indian roads for over 12 years and transform the India&rsquo;s SUV space, is a remarkable achievement back in our homeland.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>How do you assess the Nepali market for four wheelers?</strong></div>
	<div>
		Nepal is a very competitive market for four wheelers. It is probably one of the most strategic markets for us where we are seeing gradual growth. That is the reason we have always focused on Nepal for our four wheelers market.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>What is your expectationof the market share with the new product?</strong></div>
	<div>
		New Generation Scorpio is introduced with the right price and comes with additional modern features that our targeted customers will love to have. So, we expect a boom in the sales of this product.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>How do you see Nepal as a market for Mahindra products?</strong></div>
	<div>
		Nepal is a good market for our products. We have been enjoying leadership in tractors, utility vehicles, information technology, financial services and vacation ownership. In addition, we also enjoy a strong presence in commercial vehicles and two wheeler industries.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>Many of your competitors are established names in the Nepali market. Why should one choose your products?&nbsp;</strong></div>
	<div>
		We offer quality products at competitive prices. Prices are positioned in such a manner that different variants of Scorpios meet the need of different segment of our customers. The starting price is 35.75 lakhs and goes up to 51 lakhs.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>What are your plans for the Nepali market?</strong></div>
	<div>
		Our plans include strengthening our position in the market. We are the market leaders and we will be focusing on to retain the position.&nbsp;</div>
</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-11-21',
			'modified' => '2014-12-24',
			'keywords' => 'new business age business visitors news & articles, business visitors news & articles from new business age nepal, business visitors headlines from nepal,  current and latest business visitors news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali business visitors economic news and events, ongoing busin',
			'description' => 'Sagar Bhadkamkar is the deputy general manager for exports and sales of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. The company recently launched a new product, New Generation Scorpio. Bhadkamkar was in Kathmandu for the launch and Angila Sharma and Rashika Pokharel of the New Business Age caught up with him and discussed the features of this product and the company’s marketing strategy for the Nepali market. Excerpts:',
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	(int) 13 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2799',
			'article_category_id' => '215',
			'title' => 'TFA Impasse In WTO: An Opportunity Could Be Missed',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Sanjeev Sharma</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The landmark agreement to liberalize global trade has hit a gridlock after India refused to accept the pact following the country&#39;s disagreement on food subsidies. The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) or the Bali Package, agreed by the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), held in Bali, Indonesia on 3-7 December, 2013, would have been the first deal to reform global trade in two decades. The trade protocol which came as a result of relentless negotiations over the decades, basically aims to lower global trade barriers.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Upon its implementation, the TFA, ambits to smoothen trading between developing and developed economies by lowering import tariffs and farm subsidies. The Bali accord includes measures that would formally put an end to developed nations&rsquo; stiff import quotas of agro products from the developing countries. Rather, the importing nations would only be allowed to levy tariffs on amount of agricultural imports exceeding particular limits. Similarly, provisions related to streamlining and reforming customs bureaucracies is another major aspect of TFA that are targeted to facilitate global trade. The pact is expected to add USD 1 trillion to global GDP along with generating 21 million jobs worldwide. The deal also covers measures to preferential treatment and greater market access, issues that have been long-raised by developing and least developed countries (LDCs).&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, the accord&#39;s far-reaching impacts have been halted for the time being. India, one of the WTO&#39;s prominent members, has long insisted to keep the farm subsidies intact. India&#39;s assertion seems to be primarily fueled by the fears that removal of such government subvention would hurt the country&#39;s agricultural output. As the prices of agro commodities in the global market are likely to become more competitive after the implementation of TFA, India is reluctant to amend the current provisions of agricultural subsidies. The country which is the world&#39;s 2nd largest farm producer also ranks 10th among the major agricultural exporters.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Aided by supportive policy impetus alongside sufficient rainfall and massive stockpiles, India&#39;s exports of agricultural products stood at USD 29.3 billion in the first 11 months of the fiscal year 2013-14. The previous FY saw the Indian agro exports totaling USD 31.86 billion. The country is witnessing consistently rising agro and food export outpacing rise in other exports. Government data shows that the share of agricultural commodities in India&rsquo;s overall export basket rose to 10.66 per cent in FY 2012-13 from 7.06 per cent in 2009-10. &nbsp;Similarly, according to the WTO&#39;s statistics, India&#39;s share of global export (USD 1.66 trillion) and import (USD 1.82 trillion) of agricultural and food products stand at 2.07 per cent and 1.24 per cent, respectively. The country&#39;s increasing share of global export indicates that India is becoming a net exporter of agro products.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Another aspect of India&#39;s apprehension is related to food security. The world&#39;s third largest economy is also feeding its vast poor population with cheap food. The discontinuation of government grants could prove more difficult to provide low-priced foods to its poor citizens. India, which has been expanding its food subsidy programmes over the years, launched a massive programme to provide subsidised food to two-thirds of its population or 810 million people in mid-2013. The programme is expected to double the country&#39;s annual food subsidy bills by about USD 23.9 billion. Subsidising food grains carry huge electoral significance in India as the government and major political aspirants have repeatedly promised to feed poverty ridden population at giveaway prices.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The country is one of the largest hoarders of food grains in the world. Various reports suggest that India&#39;s grain stockpiles currently stand at about a whopping 70 million tons. It not only helps to supply subsidised food grains but also to check the prices in the global market. The fall in world-food stockpile is considered one of the contributing factors to the global food crisis of 2007-08. Political and social unrests were seen in many nations due to the dramatic rise in food prices. India has demanded freedom to subsidise and stockpile food grains in an exchange to the signing of TFA.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/wf1(1).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 364px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ever since its inception in 1995, the WTO has faced big hurdles to achieve its objectives. The organisation which came as as a replacement of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), has always been in a rock and a hard place when it comes to negotiations &nbsp;between its members. The uncertainty over the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) is an example of such obstacle. Commenced in 2001, the DDA&#39;s aim to liberalise global trade by lowering trade barriers has not been able to bear fruits as numerous talks have resulted in failures. Deep divisions between developed and developing nations over contentious issues such as agriculture, removing industrial tariff and non-tariff barriers of trade and services are considered as the impediments to DDA&#39;s progress. During the intense talks, developed nations led by United States accompanied by the European Union (EU) and Japan maintained their positions relating to quota-free access to the exports of developing countries and LDCs. Similarly, a group of developing nations and LDCs, led by the emerging bloc of China, India, Brazil and South Africa demanded greater freedom to agricultural subsidies and larger quota-free access to their specific exports. The demands and counter demands of member nations resulted in the stalling of WTO&#39;s trade talks in 2008. The multilateral trade negotiations have not resumed since then.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The TFA, which targets to harmonize global trade by slashing the customs red tape is a part of DDA. So, implementing the Bali package is not only imperative to its provisions but also to make progress on DDA and rescue WTO from the brink of failure. However, India&#39;s insistence has created an impasse in the organisation. The lockdown led to the expiration of deadline to ratify the deal by member nations on July, 31st. Talks are said to have been taking place to end the current stand-off, but narrowing the differences to resolve the problem seems difficult for the time being as Robert Azevedo, WTO&#39;s Director General puts it, &quot;The fact we do not have a conclusion means that we are entering a new phase in our work &ndash; a phase which strikes me as being full of uncertainties.&rdquo; Similarly, Patrick Low, WTO&#39;s former Chief Economist, mentions, &quot;The WTO is a victim of flawed procedural requirements. A single government can block progress across the board.&quot; &quot;Paralysis at the WTO is likely to reinforce the view that preferential trade arrangements are a substitute for inclusive multilateralism rather than a complement. That would be bad news for the world economy.&quot;</div>',
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			'keywords' => 'new business age world focus news & articles, world focus news & articles from new business age nepal, world focus headlines from nepal,  current and latest world focus news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali world focus economic news and events,  ongoing  world focus news of nepal',
			'description' => 'The landmark agreement to liberalize global trade has hit a gridlock after India refused to accept the pact following the country's disagreement on food subsidies. The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) or the Bali Package, agreed by the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), held in Bali, Indonesia on 3-7 December, 2013, would have been the first deal to reform global trade in two decades. The trade protocol which came as a result of relentless negotiations over the decades, basically aims to lower global trade barriers.',
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	(int) 14 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2798',
			'article_category_id' => '167',
			'title' => 'Games To Delay The Constitution',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Akhilesh Tripathi</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As it happened to be, the much-awaited all-party political conference or round table conference &ndash; to use a more popular phrase- which was supposed to see a dialogue take place among the three major parties represented in the Constituent Assembly (CA) and the parties outside it, on the contentious issues of constitution drafting, fell flat. The reason was, as we all know, the 33-party alliance led by Mohan Baidya-led CPN-Maoist which is not represented in the CA and which had been demanding such a conference for a long time rejected to participate in the conference in the eleventh hour. The leaders of the CPN-Maoist and the 33-party alliance outside the CA never turned up for the conference. The CPN-Maoist communicated its decision not to attend the conference when Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and other political leaders had taken their seats at the planned venue inside the CA building. Thus, the politicians&rsquo; latest effort to seek consensus on contentious constitutional issues went in vain. But thankfully, as the conference failed to take off, it became clear that the Maoists had thrown the conference card only to delay the new constitution by affecting the CA calendar.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Some people might think that this was bad for the country and the constitution drafting process as an opportunity to forge consensus on thorny issues of constitution drafting inside as well as outside the CA was missed. But in fact, this was good for the country and the constitution drafting process as the real intent of the CPN-Maoist and other dissenting parties outside the CA was exposed without losing any further time. Their real intent was to delay the constitution drafting process by the CA under one or another pretext. In fact, Baidya and company have, time and again, publicly expressed their disenchantment with the constitution drafting process by the CA. After all, they boycotted the second CA elections terming it &ldquo;a meaningless exercise&rdquo;.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	One political game to affect the CA&rsquo;s calendar and delay the constitution drafting process was exposed in the form of the failed all-party political conference. But other such games continue - some within the CA itself - in the name of seeking consensus on the key issues including form of governance and restructuring of the state, election system and judiciary. One serious blame is leveled against the very Constitutional-Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee (CPDCC) of the CA that was formed to hold discussions on the thorny issues of constitution drafting and build consensus on them. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The blame is that the CPDCC has been trying to delay the constitution drafting process to find the mirage called consensus. The CPDCC led by UCPN (Maoist) leader and former PM Dr Baburam Bhattarai has already missed a deadline of September 6 to forge consensus on the prickly issues of constitution drafting. Then it was given another deadline of September 30 to build such consensus. As things stand now, the CPDCC will not be able to forge consensus on the contentious issues within this deadline as well. Now voices are emerging that it should be given another chance to forge such a consensus which has proved elusive so far. One such voice has been floated by the UCPN (Maoist) which thinks the CPDCC should get one more month, even if that means the amendment of the CA calendar, to forge consensus.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	That should not be done. All lawmakers who had registered to speak on the contentious issues have spoken their mind at the deliberations organized by the CPDCC and consensus still looks a very far cry. So, extending the CPDCC &lsquo;s deadline would be just a waste of time and resources.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	On the other hand, it&rsquo;s been quite some time since the three major parties in CA II &ndash; the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoist) are trying to form a High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) in the name of facilitating the constitution drafting process. It is said that UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Prachanda is eying the post of coordinator of this proposed mechanism. To put the truth bluntly, there is no need for such a mechanism. It is also a game to delay the constitution drafting process by weakening the sovereign CA&rsquo;s role in that process. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The word consensus sounds very sweet to the ear. Everybody&rsquo;s consent on the key crucial issues of the constitution would be an ideal situation. No one would disagree that it is best to settle the contentious issues through consensus. But what if it is not possible? Can the country be kept a hostage for an indefinite period if consensus on contentious issues continues to elude us? &nbsp;Politicians have already squandered seven years in the process of statute drafting, mainly because they tried to forge consensus on the so-called thorny issues. In fact, trying to forge consensus on the contentious issues was the main reason why the first CA was dissolved without delivering the new constitution.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal tried to forge consensus among all political parties on the contentious issues of constitution drafting during the first CA. Series after series of negotiations were held. Marathon meetings were held. But it simply did not work. The country reached nowhere perhaps because we tried to please all forces in the name of finding consensus. This should be why the major parties agreed, even before the second CA elections were held, to follow due process if they failed to reach consensus on contentious issues in CA II. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	That due process means deciding the contentious issues of constitution drafting through voting in the CA, which is the sovereign body to decide such matters. Or, alternatively &ndash; if a more democratic measure is to be adopted &ndash; we can hold a referendum to decide these issues. Here, the politicians can take some lessons from the recent Scotland voting where the Scots decided their fate through a referendum. It is still possible to hold such a referendum on the contentious issues as there still remains more than three months to promulgate the new constitution. But the decision has to be taken swiftly, if the country is to go the referendum way.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, the bottom line is no more precious time should be wasted in the name of forging a consensus.</div>',
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			'created' => '2014-10-10',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2811',
			'article_category_id' => '48',
			'title' => 'Zoo Model Of Economy',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Madan Lamsal</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Despite the efforts of seven decades to catch the bus of development, Nepal has not been able to do so. What may be the reasons? Before 1951, Nepal&rsquo;s economy stood on a single leg only. As a result, the country&rsquo;s development would limp on the Chandra Shumsher-path or Tribhuvan-path as and when the Palace so wished. Otherwise, it would stand still. A decade later, the economy acquired another leg to become two-legged and development started treading the Mahendra-path. The two-legged economy was named mixed economy wherein the public and private sectors were supposed to work as partners of development.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	It was the time when a number of European, Russian, American, Chinese and Indian bipeds were brought in for the sake of Nepal&rsquo;s development. However, the country&rsquo;s development wagon could not gather the desired pace. Rather, Nepali revolutionaries got a chance to learn and copy the Russian and Chinese ways of doing things. The effects of this learning are evident even today.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	After the political change of 1990, attempts were made to amputate the older leg of the two-legged economy arguing that the private sector would lead the economy from now onwards. The economy got another name &ndash; free market economy. But in essence, the economy started following the path shown by a handful of people from the private sector. The economy was free to few privileged people only.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Therefore, another revolution took place in 2006 and the resultant government vowed to make the economy three-legged - the third leg being the cooperatives. The performance of this three-legged economic model, too, hasn&rsquo;t been satisfactory. But the new third leg or cooperatives has proved very beneficial for one of the political parties and is working as one of its own legs. However the economy is still limping. These experiments with one-legged, two-legged and three-legged economy have convinced this scribe that the country needs a four-legged economy for the development process to gallop. The simple reason is a four-legged thing is always stronger than one-, two- or three-legged ones. Examples abound &ndash; tables, chairs or quadrupeds like oxen, tigers or elephants.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In fact, it is evident everywhere that quadrupeds standing on their two legs are running this country. In doing so they burn taxies and motorbikes, demolish houses and buildings and take the entire country a hostage whenever they like to do so. They seem to be hell-bent on torching petrol and diesel vehicles in order to reduce noise pollution in the cities! Going for a four-legged economy is vital also for clearing the confusion created by the mixture of these two- and four-legged creatures. In the past, there were three organs of the state &ndash; executive, legislative and judiciary. Later, somebody suggested adding a fourth organ &ndash; the media. And all the media industry became so happy. But what would be the fourth leg of the economy? The question is natural as well as tricky. You may argue that a four-legged economy sounds too animal-like, not human. However, I don&rsquo;t think we should worry about that. In fact, I say we should have the economy like that &ndash; animal like.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	To prove my point let me draw your attention to &lsquo;the animal spirit&rsquo; that renowned British economist John Maynard Keynes had mentioned way back in the 1930s as the major motivator to the entrepreneurs to work with enthusiasm. By extrapolation, this means we need the economy to be as agile and strong as animals. All of us have seen how the western countries have developed after Keynes made that remark.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Therefore, it is very much necessary to have an animal spirit in the economy and that naturally demands the economy to be a four-legged one. And it is a humble proposal of this scribe that the NGOs and INGOs that claim to be dedicated for the country&rsquo;s development should be made the fourth leg of the economy! Afterall the INGOs are already running the show in Nepal. It is said that they have also already drafted the new constitution that now needs just endorsement of the Constituent Assembly.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Or, alternatively, shall the remittance sector be made the fourth leg of the economy? But does remittance really stand a chance in front of the mighty INGOs?</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Whatever! The main thing is we should give the country a four-legged economy and push the development process forward on Prachanda-path, Baidya-path or other similar paths. After all, the way of thinking and activities of many Nepali citizens, businessmen, and especially politicians, resemble those of the quadrupeds! &nbsp; Moreover, the economy is in danger of turning into a zoo. If it happens and when one visits the monkey section of the economic zoo she/he may start laughing at seeing their behaviours. Therefore, we should adopt the four legged economic policy or you may call it a &#39;zoo model of economy&#39; before it&rsquo;s too late.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2015-06-01',
			'modified' => '2015-07-31',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Despite the efforts of seven decades to catch the bus of development, Nepal has not been able to do so. What may be the reasons? Before 1951, Nepal’s economy stood on a single leg only. As a result, the country’s development would limp on the Chandra Shumsher-path or Tribhuvan-path as and when the Palace so wished. Otherwise, it would stand still.',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2813',
			'article_category_id' => '167',
			'title' => 'Oli’s Climb, Prachanda’s Fall',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<div>
		<em><span style="font-size: 14px;">By the magnitude of his &lsquo;flexibility&rsquo; shown in recent days including the withdrawal of the three-day Nepal bandh after the first day and taking the constitution writing process forward, it would appear that Prachanda has greater things in store for the New Year.</span></em></div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>--By Akhilesh Tripathi&nbsp;</strong></div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Bikram Samvat 2072, the new Nepali year which started about two weeks ago, is going to be interesting. There are telltale signs of that. Consider the following incident!&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		On the eve of the New Year, Constituent Assembly (CA) Chairman Subash Chandra Nemwang called a meeting of the top leaders of the major political parties to discuss the thorny issues of the new constitution. CPN-UML Chairman KP Oli was absent. The reason was he was climbing Dharahara! On this conspicuous absence, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Prachanda grumbled, &ldquo;For Oli, Dharahara is more important than the new constitution.&rdquo; Later, Oli, whose Dharahara climb was aided by an oxygen cylinder, retorted, &ldquo;It is difficult to climb up like the UML, but quite easy to go down like the Maoists!&rdquo;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Why did Oli ignore an all-party meeting to climb the Dharahara? There are two possible answers. One, Oli, who is said to be playing the final innings of his life wanted to accomplish his wish of being atop the historical monument (Had he waited for 12more days to fulfill this wish of his, he wouldn&rsquo;t be able to do so because the historical monument built by Nepal&rsquo;s first prime minister Bhimsen Thapa was grounded in the April 25 earthquakes). Two, he deliberately ignored the meeting of the major parties to pile more pressure on the opposition parties, mainly the Maoists. Who says he doesn&rsquo;t aspire to become the next Prime Minister at the earliest possible? After all, he climbed the Dharahar to dismiss a major allegation against him that he is sick and unfit.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Nepali politicians speak in different ways. Oli climbs Dharahara, all 213 steps. By doing so, he is sending three clear messages: I am strong enough to climb; I can see the view from the top; the New Year is going to be beautiful.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Prachanda, while talking to the media, says he&rsquo;s willing to take any risk for the sake of delivering a constitution on time. In a meeting of the three major parties &ndash; Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoist) on April 20, Prachanda agreed to resume the constitution writing process. It&rsquo;s a big example of flexibility shown by him.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		By the magnitude of his &lsquo;flexibility&rsquo; shown in recent days including the withdrawal of the three-day Nepal bandh after the first day and taking the constitution writing process forward, it would appear that Prachanda has greater things in store for the New Year. Or at least, greater things are at stake that justify his move to alienate the Janajatis, anger the Madhesis, and shutting the door to unification among the six Maoist parties.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		But why did Prachanda change and became flexible? Prachanda has lost a lot of political ground in recent times. The Nepal bandh called by the 30-party front led by him could not win public support. So it fell flat on the very first day. Similarly, Prachanda&rsquo;s party&rsquo;s candidate faced a humiliating defeat in the CA by-elections held recently. That is also a measurement of the people&rsquo;s support to the Maoist agenda. By now, Prachanda understands that he is not backed by any kind of popular support. All these factors have forced the UCPN (Maoist) leadership to review their position and become flexible in the political give and take.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		So, it&rsquo;s been a common knowledge in recent months that the Maoists have backtracked on their position on federalism. It may not have been just a coincidence that the Maoists&rsquo; softening of stance followed Baburam Bhattarai&rsquo;s India visit and Prachanda&rsquo;s China visit.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		By now, it seems, the Maoist leadership has understood that a general strike or a trip to the neighbourhood seeking help (intervention) will not help. That is perhaps why the three major parties &ndash; NC, UML and UCPN (Maoist) &ndash; have agreed to allow the constitution writing process to move forward. Oli&rsquo;s Dharahara climb has helped in this process. Oli cannot climb the Dharahara again because there si no Dharahara now. &nbsp;But the opposition parties, mainly the Maoists, now know that the UML chief can engage in any other similar undertaking to mount further political pressure on them. &nbsp; &nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>Making Institutions Inclusive</strong></div>
	<div>
		Another thing we learned from the year gone by is that institutions, once designed, are difficult to change.</div>
	<div>
		The April Uprising of 2006 sought to change the way the state and political parties respond to the people&rsquo;s needs. But it did not have a clear vision of what new institutional structures might look like. Parties like the Nepali Congress and UML define this change in their own way while, the Maoists, Madhesis, and Janajatis, on the other hand, have their own agenda for reforms, including the form of government, federalism, and electoral system. The failure of the Maoists and Madhesis to push forward their agenda shows how entrenched and entangled existing institutions are in the Nepali society.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Restructuring of institutions is required at two levels: at the level of political parties, and at the level of the state. At the level of the political parties, the internal party structures allow a few leaders to extract from the ordinary party members and unions that have penetrated all levels of the society. The recent Supreme Court verdict trying to limit the role of employee unions is an example. Most employee unions are extractive institutional structures. They serve their members by lobbying for their promotion and transfers, especially when their party leaders are in power. Therefore, a meritorious government employee, if he or she is not a member of these extractive unions, has fewer chances of getting a promotion or a good position.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Given the existing state structure, top political leaders who have control over parties like the NC or the CPN-UML have few incentives to restructure the party and the state. Making the party and the state more inclusive means giving up on their monopoly of power and privileges. Reforming state and party structures, therefore, is a difficult proposition for almost all top politicians. As many studies have shown, once institutional structures are in place, it is difficult to change them in favour of the ordinary people.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		One of the implications of such a situation is that political divisions have crystallised at the local level also. Nepal is a deeply divided society. Nepal&rsquo;s political parties have created a social chasm that runs vertically, from the highest level to the community level. At the community level, the divisive political allegiance has more to do with getting access to state resources and opportunities than to development and ideology.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		As a result, allegiances are usually made to political parties that have a greater prospect of getting to power. Without such political allegiance, which is something more than just an affiliation, people rarely get access to state resources or even entry into the marketplace.</div>
</div>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
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			'description' => 'By the magnitude of his ‘flexibility’ shown in recent days including the withdrawal of the three-day Nepal bandh after the first day and taking the constitution writing process forward, it would appear that Prachanda has greater things in store for the New Year.',
			'sortorder' => '2661',
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			'id' => '2804',
			'article_category_id' => '37',
			'title' => 'Need For  Green Banking',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/ep1(6).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 247px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Dwaipayan Regmi</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The attack of human beings on nature is the cause of environmental deterioration. This deterioration is leading to global warming and climate change. It has been noticed that the temperature has risen up by 1 degree Fahrenheit in comparison to the previous century, leading to melting of Himalayan glaciers, bursting of lakes and rise of the sea level. Along with this, climatic changes have been causing natural disasters like cyclones, floods, landslides, and droughts.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Combined efforts of governments, corporate sector and individuals can help in minimizing these various forms of environmental deterioration. For this, governments have to come up with strong policies; corporate houses should follow environmental protection guidelines more strictly; and individuals have to be self-aware to protect the environment around them.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As part of the role to be played by the corporate sector, banks and financial institutions should embrace green banking &mdash; adopting process and strategies that promote environment-friendly practices to help in reducing carbon emission. Green banking helps in reducing internal carbon footprint as well as external carbon emission. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Banks have been using lighting, air conditioning, electronic equipments, IT, high paper wastage in massive proportion. The resultant internal carbon footprint can be reduced through the use of renewable energy, automation and other measures. On the other hand, banks can reduce external carbon emission by financing projects and companies that are working for pollution reduction and adopting green technologies. Providing loans to firms that have concern for environment would ensure proper utilization of natural resources.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Green banking avoids paper work and contributes to lower the cutting of trees. It makes the corporate world aware about environmental and social responsibility and thereby contributes to handing over a good environment to the upcoming generation. Adopting green banking policies are directly beneficial for the banks as well.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Providing loans to firms and companies that abide by environment protection principles and regulations ensures that such clients do not become victims of natural calamities. Reputation and goodwill is very important for banks, and being a green bank provides them a distinct identity and reputation in the society. This also minimizes bad goodwill risk. Along with that, adopting such policies helps the banks avoid the risk of being left with securities like contaminated land as collateral.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, green banking is not a piece of cake; there are various challenges in making it a reality. It&rsquo;s not only about reducing paper use and getting digital; there are strategies that a bank should follow.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The most important step towards this objective is while providing loans. Any entrepreneur would think of green environment only when banks will restrict loans to businesses which might cause environmental degradation. Banks can deny loans to businesses that aim high profits by degrading the environment. The nature of business and its impact on the environment should be carefully considered before approving business loans. On the other hand, banks can offer low-interest loans to businesses that are environment friendly. In this way, banks can play a key role in promoting secondary source of energy like solar energy or bio gas energy.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Next, banks can provide preference to green properties like homes equipped with solar energy, rain water harvesting facility, and properties with better environmental surroundings, for collaterals. And they should give secondary preferences, if at all, to properties such as polluting factory, or buildings emitting harmful waste in&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	the environment.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In terms of internal contribution, banks should embrace environment-friendly architectural design. Such designs help in reducing use of air conditioners and lights. Along with that, restricting use of carbon emitting machines, fans, energy inefficient bulbs, should be discouraged. Also, minimizing paper usage and promoting use of electronic transactions through rapid use of ATM cards, debit cards or other vending machines can help in being a green bank.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Another area, where banks can contribute to green environment is the use of vehicles. Instead of providing sole vehicles to employees, banks should provide pick-and-drop services. This will not only help in reducing carbon emission but would also help in easing city traffic. This will also help in reducing the space needed for parking at banks. The space which would otherwise be used for parking could be used to build gardens and fountains. This will not only help the banks go green at the policy level but will also make it a green bank, literally too.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR), banks can invest in building and maintaining parks, gardens and forests in and around cities. They can adopt tree plantation as a means to mark their important achievements. This would help in inspiring other business ventures to adopt similar strategies.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Banks have been providing many services to their customers such as free ATMs, Internet Banking and Any Branch Banking Service (ABBS). They could set up a basket &lsquo;Disaster Emergency Fund&rsquo;, for their client, in case the latter are victimized. The customers should be given a choice to opt for the fund by agreeing to provide certain amount of their interest to the fund on an annual basis. This would make such customers more secure from the impact of natural disasters on their finance.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Banking has been a charming job in Nepal, and is regarded a prestigious job. To retain this image, it is necessary for banks to go green. Some of the recommendations made in this article might sound impractical considering the nature of their business and the stiff competition in the market to get better clients, still these measures are for banks which believe in ethical business.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<em>The writer is pursuing his MBA at Jawaharlal Nehru Technical University, Andhra Pradesh, India.</em></div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-11-21',
			'modified' => '2015-06-07',
			'keywords' => 'new business age economy & policy news & articles, economy & policy news & articles from new business age nepal, economy & policy headlines from nepal,  current and latest economy & policy news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali economy & policy economic news and events,  ongoing  economy',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2814',
			'article_category_id' => '40',
			'title' => 'Growing And Growing Cement',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Cement production in Nepal has been growing sharply over the past few years. The industry is among the country&#39;s most flourishing business sectors as the demand of cement is constantly rising. &nbsp;The vast untapped limestone reserves spread across the country have not only lured domestic companies but also the international investors. &nbsp;</em></span></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Akhilesh Tripathi and Sanjeev Sharma</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal&rsquo;s cement industry has been flourishing despite all sorts of problems. The industry has seen significant growth over the last few years. According to Dhruba Thapa, President of the Cement Manufacturers Association of Nepal (CMAN), the country&rsquo;s cement industry has been steadily growing at 8-10 per cent annually for the past several years. &ldquo;The cement industry has seen growing steadily. Its future looks bright,&rdquo; says Thapa when asked to comment on the current situation of the Nepali cement industry. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;The annual demand of cement in Nepal is about four million metric tonnes of which some 3.2 million metric tonnes is met through domestic production while the rest is imported,&rdquo; he adds.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The country&rsquo;s import of cement has been dropping year after year because of the rising domestic production. According to the Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC), the rate of growth in cement imports has declined in the last fiscal year. Nepal imported OPC cement worth Rs 2.99 billion in fiscal 2013-14. In the previous fiscal year i.e. 2012-13, cement imports stood at Rs 3.75 billion. The decline in the import of both cement and clinker reflects Nepal&rsquo;s progress towards self-sufficiency in cement production.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	According to CMAN, the domestic cement industry has an installed production capacity of about 6 million tonnes annually which is higher than the annual demand of four million metric tonnes. But the cement factories currently operational have been able to utilize only about 50 per cent of their total production capacity.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, this hasn&rsquo;t stopped the private sector from entering this sector in a big way. Currently, according to the data provided by CMAN, there are 45 cement factories in operation producing 3.2 million metric tonnes of cement annually. Local production fulfils about 80 percent of the requirement and the rest is met by imports from India. Nepal produces OPC, PPC and PSC cement, of which OPC is preferred these days.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Out of the 45 factories, only 12 also produce clinker, a major raw material used in cement production. As early as a decade ago, Nepal used to depend on India for 95 per cent of its clinker requirement. However, with more factories now setting up clinker production units after acquiring limestone quarries, import from India has been declining year after year. Today, almost 60 percent of the clinker demand is met through domestic supply. &ldquo;The remaining is imported from India. A few factories will start producing own clinker in 2015. That will bring down the import to 20-25 per cent. Nepal will be self-reliant in clinker over the next three years,&rdquo; says Thapa.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cn4.jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 205px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Problems</strong></div>
<div>
	Power shortage because of long hours of load-shedding is the biggest challenge being faced by cement manufacturers in the country. The power crisis has forced them to use diesel power which makes each cement sack costlier by Rs 25. The high import duty levied on raw material, mainly clinker, is another problem, according to cement manufacturers. It has weakened the competitiveness of Nepali cement in terms of price. &ldquo;The government has been continuously increasing the customs duty on clinker ignoring its effects on domestic cement manufacturers,&rdquo; complain cement manufacturers. Thapa says all this makes the Nepali cement costlier than cement in any other SAARC country. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The syndicate system in transportation is another big problem for the domestic cement industry. &ldquo;We are not getting sufficient number of trucks to supply our finished goods to the targeted location,&rdquo; says Anil Kumar Agrawal, Managing Director of Shree Cement Industries. &ldquo;The cost associated with transportation is high as well.&rdquo; Manufacturers complain that even with enough production and demand, they are unable to supply their products to the market due to unavailability of transportation. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;Every commodity has a lifespan; and in the case of cement, it is 30 days,&rdquo; said Tej Bom, Head of Sales and Marketing at Ambe Cement, &ldquo;If the finished product is not used within 30 days, the desirable outcome is not achieved.&rdquo; The need of the hour, according to him, is to effectively end the syndicate system so that Nepali products remain competitive with Indian brands.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cn3.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 313px; float: right;" />Declining Import</strong></div>
<div>
	With the rise in domestic production, import of foreign cement in Nepal has come down significantly over the past few years. The data compiled by the Trade and Export Promotion Center (TEPC) clearly points to this. The country which imported portland class cement (OPC and PPC) worth Rs 4.31 billion in FY 2090/10 saw the import decrease 30 per cent to Rs 2.99 billion in 2013/14. The rising production has also led to the increase in the import of gypsum, one of the major ingredients of cement. Nepal imported gypsum worth Rs 754 million in FY 2013/14, up 133 per cent from Rs 322 million in FY 2010. But the import of clinker, another key component is seen gradually declining. Import of clinker, which was recorded at Rs 8.03 billion in FY 2009/10, decreased to Rs 5.99 billion in 2012/13 before rising to Rs 6.54 billion in the last FY. The increase is due to the government provision made mandatory for the cement manufacturers to produce clinker they need by 2073. However, producers are seen dissatisfied by the government announcement. &quot;Clinker production means more investment. More than 70 per cent of the investment goes for clinker production. So, mere announcements are not enough. We need a supporting strategy as well,&quot; says Anil Kumar Agrawal , Managing Director of Shree Cement Industries. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Despite the fact that use of Indian cement has lessened in recent years, policy hurdles still remain in place to stop the use of Nepali cement in large constructions of national importance. &nbsp;&quot;General consumers are not importing cement from India. It&rsquo;s the big infrastructure projects run through the international competitive bidding (ICB) process that are importing cement from India,&quot; mentions Thapa,. Thapa, who is also the Executive Director of Cosmos Cement Industries, says that a provision in the ICB contract, which exempts the imported construction materials from taxes, is hampering the competitiveness of Nepali cement. &quot;The imported cement gets an exemption of Rs 185 per sack in customs duty. That is why it is cheaper. It has affected the Nepali cement market,&quot; he says.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cn1.jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 261px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Export Prospects</strong></div>
<div>
	With the increase in production, export of Nepali cement has also risen in the past few years. Though the size of the export is negligible compared to the import, the increasing trend indicates to the possibility of Nepali cement becoming a product of comparative advantage to the country&#39;s export. Nepal exported cement worth Rs 3.16 million in FY 2013/14 after starting the export in FY 2012/13 which was logged at Rs 148,700. Nevertheless, it will take time for Nepal to become a net exporter of cement, according to producers. &quot;As we are not being able to fulfill the domestic demand, there is no possibility of export currently. Most factories are selling their products within the country. We can think of exports once we meet the domestic demand,&quot; opines Tej Bom, Head of Sales and Marketing at Ambe Cement.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cn2.jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 234px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Foreign Direct Investment</strong></div>
<div>
	Nepali cement industry has turned lucrative to foreign investors in recent years. Big international producers, namely, Dangote of Nigeria, China&#39;s Hongshi and Reliance of India are in the process to establish production facilities in Nepal. Lured by the infrastructure boom in Northern India and Western China, the companies are eying to tap Nepal&#39;s vast limestone reserves. Their products are expected to be export-oriented while also fulfilling the domestic demand in Nepal. Dangote Group, one of the largest industrial conglomerates of West Africa, is said to be starting the construction of cement factory in the next one year. The company which was granted a USD 500 million FDI approval in November 2013 by the Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) is currently looking for a local partner, according to an informed source.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Meanwhile, the top Chinese manufacturer Hongshi Holding Group has partnered with the Nepali company Shivam Cement to kickstart its business in Nepal. The company in March, 2015 signed a joint venture (JV) agreement with Shivam Holdings Nepal to set up a Rs 30 billion production facility. According to the agreement, Hongshi will have 70 per cent share (Rs 21 billion) and the rest (Rs 9 billion) will be invested by Shivam. The JV which will be named Hongshi-Shivam Cement Pvt Ltd aims to produce 120,000 sacks or 6,000 tonnes of cement per day and has plans to start production in three years. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Similarly, Reliance Cement Industries of India has also received endorsement from the IBN to establish a cement factory in the country. Though much is not known about the progress after the approval of its investment proposal last year, the company has pledge Rs 40 billion in FDI and aims to produce 2.3 million tonnes of cement annually. Collectively, the three foreign companies have received project approvals worth USD 1.2 billion which has been marked among the largest FDI commitments in the Nepali industrial sector for the time being. Likewise, two other foreign companies have also recently expressed their interests to invest in the country&#39;s cement industry, according to a source close to the matter.&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2015-06-01',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Cement production in Nepal has been growing sharply over the past few years. The industry is among the country's most flourishing business sectors as the demand of cement is constantly rising.  The vast untapped limestone reserves spread across the country have not only lured domestic companies but also the international investors.',
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	(int) 4 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2802',
			'article_category_id' => '48',
			'title' => 'Fundamental Right To Corruption',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<div>
		It is a common understanding in Nepal that everyone in the country is corrupt. Be that bureaucrat or businessman, politician or physician, lawyer or lawmaker, academician or architect, judge or journalist, or any profession or person you name it, is corrupt on prima-facie. The onus of proving otherwise entirely lies on you, should you choose to do so. If you point to someone claiming that he may not be a corrupt, every eyebrow is raised and instant conclusion would be: that could not have happened by integrity but due to sheer lack of opportunity. In every sense, corruption is our national character, thus a national identity.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Nepal has made several efforts to curb corruption and bribery. It has enacted several laws, instituted constitutional bodies like CIAA and invited international NGOs like Transparency International. But the corrupt practices could hardly be reduced. Instead, the investors and businessmen complain that measures like anti-money laundering has caused massive capital flight and investment is shying away due to provisions like declaration of source of income. Therefore, these hurdles have become serious bottlenecks on economic growth and prosperity of the country.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Human civilization has taken many bold decisions to streamline very difficult trades and behaviour. Everybody would agree that prostitution is not a good thing. But secretly everybody would like to extract the pleasure bestowed by this profession. Nobody feels same sex marriages are natural. But many countries have legalized both the sex trade and same sex marriages. There is no reason why corruption should be treated in a different way than the prostitution. Besides, it has many similar characteristics. You are honest until you are caught in the act and everybody enjoys the more of it, clandestinely.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		For Nepal, it is an opportune moment to do this bold thing as we are writing a new constitution. We have the opportunity not only to legalize but also to constitutionalize both corruption and bribery. My recommendation is that let&rsquo;s make the right to corruption as part of the fundamental rights in the new constitution.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		The benefits would be immense. Nepal truly will be as Switzerland as it used to be some decades ago: a true haven for all ill-gotten money of the world. All the money that is now concealed under pillows of the corrupts will be taken out. Money sent abroad will be brought back and there will be open rates of commission in government offices for providing services or approving tenders for public procurement. Just to repeat, since everybody is already charged of this lucre, what&#39;s the harm on just lifting the curtain from it?</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		The FDI would flood in and Nepal will enter into an unprecedented phase of growth and development. Country&#39;s administrative cost will drastically reduce, as we no longer need the institutions like CIAA, Vigilance Centre, Anti-Money Laundering Department and Special Court. The load of cases in the courts of law will be far less and policemen can directly ask money from the public for nothing without going through the trouble of creating one or another pretext. So much so, constitutionalizing corruption would also help make entire Nepal instantly educated since if corruption and bribery are legalized even an illiterate can buy a BA or an MA passed certificates at one&#39;s will.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		This will make our bureaucracy more contended and happy. Government official will not scramble to get their posting to customs points and tax offices when every office will have freedom to collect as much bribe as possible. Politicians in the district who are swallowing entire development budget in collusion with different experts will be relieved of responsibility of creating stacks of fake papers.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		As the country now reels under uncertainty in absence of a powerful binding agenda for consensus, the proposal to insert the corruption and bribery as the fundamental right in the constitution could be one such issue that can bring all politicians together. We know everybody loves money and whenever there is question of monetary benefit, there were seldom any discord among them.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Our lawmakers should seriously consider incorporating this provision in the new constitution. I am sure, all six hundred and one members of the Constituent Assembly will vote for it. This will be the dawn of new era on absolute national consensus.</div>
</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-11-21',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age no laughing matter news & articles, no laughing matter news & articles from new business age nepal, no laughing matter headlines from nepal,  current and latest no laughing matter news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali no laughing matter economic news and events,  ongoing',
			'description' => 'It is a common understanding in Nepal that everyone in the country is corrupt. Be that bureaucrat or businessman, politician or physician, lawyer or lawmaker, academician or architect, judge or journalist, or any profession or person you name it, is corrupt on prima-facie. The onus of proving otherwise entirely lies on you, should you choose to do so. If you point to someone claiming that he may not be a corrupt, every eyebrow is raised and instant conclusion would be: that could not have happened by integrity but due to sheer lack of opportunity. In every sense, corruption is our national character, thus a national identity.',
			'sortorder' => '2658',
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	(int) 5 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2807',
			'article_category_id' => '52',
			'title' => 'A Matter Of De-Materializing It',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal&#39;s share market index, Nepse is performing reasonably well since the formation of Nepali Congress led government. It is now hovering between 850 and 900 for sometimes now. Among many welcome developments, the plan to dematerialize (demat) the physical share certificates into the digital ones have boosted the confidence of the investors. But the demat process has been rather very slow. In seven months since it started (coinciding with the Nepali New Year 2071), only about a million scrips of some three dozen companies could be converted to digital format. No doubt, this is a time consuming process, but such a slow pace, though, is absolutely unwarranted for.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Be that as it may, demat process would be completed, hopefully, soon. But more worrisome aspect is, other support infrastructure to augment trade in demat system remains far behind the mark. The recent lull in the market is now attributed to the fact that banks were not recognizing the dematerialized shares as security for financing investments. They may have their reasons to do so. But this reflects a clear lack of vision and coordination among the policy makers to simultaneously take forward all related developments of ancillaries so as to prevent the system from becoming lame.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Simply, banks&#39; willingness to invest in the digital infrastructure and manpower training to handle these loan transactions doesn&#39;t seem to be forthcoming right away. And, there is no initiation from other relevant authorities like Nepal Rastra Bank and Securities Board of Nepal to facilitate this. &nbsp;It is though not to suggest that everything has to be shouldered by the public institutions, but policy exercises in view of the potential paradigms of such developments is unquestionably their special domain.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As things stand now, three immediate tasks must be undertaken to not let the tempo in the share market wane off. First, banks should, may be through their umbrella organization - the Nepal Bankers&#39; Association, make their position clear with regard to their technical capabilities and cost-benefit analyses on facilitating demat transactions. They must also realize the fact that by making a digital transaction platform available, the share trading from all over the country may enhance in due course of time which in turn would help to increase their businesses. &nbsp;In many countries, a separate account for share trading has been a norm and a technical necessity. At the same time, they have adopted the rule of de-hooking the funds from other accounts while market volatility is emotion-racking. This effectively means that a trader can only trade from his trading account even if s/he has other functional accounts in the same bank, until inter-account transfers are made.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Second, policy coordination among the policy makers and functional relations among the market makers have been largely a neglected issue. It is also a fact that regulatory authorities have been reticent until it is too late to react. In many cases, they lack the understanding of technical knowhow and degree of urgency seems to be taking a toll. This must be changed.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Third, Nepal is one of those countries where investment in financial education at any level -from policy makers to retailers - has been close to zero. This has led to great discrepancies, policy confusions and inadequacies in every branch of the financial system, including the capital markets. Recognizing the complementarities of the several sub-branches of the entire system, a comprehensive financial education of a national scale is now an unconditional imperative. Only an institutionalized approach can address this need to its due worth.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Of course, there are some unaccomplished, larger issues of capital market reforms. It is high time to interact with the private sector to find convincing and lasting answers to the questions: why the real sector representation in Nepal&#39;s capital market has been so insignificant? Are there ways to improve it? How and when? In nutshell, Nepal&#39;s financial system is looking for a shift not only to change the paper shares to demat form, but to translate the nation&#39;s overall economic thought process from a &#39;brick and mortar&#39; age to the contemporary digital age.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-12-23',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
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			'description' => 'Nepal's share market index, Nepse is performing reasonably well since the formation of Nepali Congress led government. It is now hovering between 850 and 900 for sometimes now. Among many welcome developments, the plan to dematerialize (demat) the physical share certificates into the digital ones have boosted the confidence of the investors.',
			'sortorder' => '2657',
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	(int) 6 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2803',
			'article_category_id' => '167',
			'title' => 'Democracy  Vs Minority Diktats',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Achyut Wagle</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	If the ongoing irresponsible behaviour of some of the key political players of the country doesn&#39;t come to a halt, it is certain that the Constituent Assembly-Two (CA-II) will also not be able to deliver a new democratic constitution for the &#39;federal new Nepal.&#39; The major impediment to the new constitution writing process has two folds: the first, no party is adhering to the mandate and processes of the CA, and crucial political bargaining are taking place out of the constitutional and the CA ambit. The second, smaller parties in and outside of the CA still rule the roost by forming a twenty-two party alliance to oppose any stand that the main two political parties in CA --Nepali Congress (NC) and UML --are likely to take with regard to potential provisions for the new constitution and its writing process. This al-liance led by UCPN Maoist Chairman Puspa Kamal Dahal is resorting to tantrums akin to that of a pressure group -- organizing street protests, flexing muscles and causing disruptions to CA proceedings, in some pretext or the other.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	If a public meeting organized by this alliance in the mid-October at the open-air theatre in Tundikhel, Kathmandu, is any indication, the Maoists are again determined to ruin the second CA as they did to the first, rendering it hostage of blatant indecision at the high-level political committee (HLPC). The speakers in that meeting declared a number of daring things that are aimed at rendering the very authority of the CA non-existent and prevaricate the democratic mandate and process. It raises fears of another cycle of violent politics. This is because, Dahal made three crucial revelations: he would not respect the arithmetic of CA, no constitution could be written without incorporating his agenda of &#39;identity&#39; and he repented on agreeing to the &ldquo;management of his Red Army and the arms before the constitution of &lsquo;his choice&rsquo; was written&rdquo;. &nbsp;As can be recalled, the process through which some of the former Maoist rebels were given employment in the Nepal Army and rest were sent home by paying generous gratuity, is normally referred to as &ldquo;management of former Maoist rebels&rdquo;.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Needless to repeat, all these are clearly anti-democratic postures. His refusal to accept the &#39;numbers&#39; as they stand in the present CA disregards the people&#39;s mandate expressed through the last ballots. His adamance not to comply with the universally accepted democratic practice to decide every contending agenda by majority votes in CA would leave all major political differences undecided indefinitely, in absence of any other feasible alternative process.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	On the issue of identity, Dahal has been successful to rally the support of other eleven fringe parties that are present in CA and equal number of others without any representative in the House. His insistence is that the earlier CA had somehow agreed to &#39;identity-based federalism&#39; and the current CA too shouldn&#39;t deviate from those understandings, written or unwritten. But the fact is: the identity agenda largely got defeated in the CA-II elections and electorates gave completely new verdict, pushing the Maoists into the third position and giving a two-thirds majority to the NC and the UML combined. The manifestoes of the latter two emphatically reassures the voters to write a pluralistic constitution with possible least number of provinces, above all, on the basis of their economic viability. But Dahal&#39;s deliberate intention seems to undermine this reality and try to thrust his agenda by exerting force to disrupt the CA proceedings and effecting road blockades. It is worth recalling that Dahal&rsquo;s party UCPN-Maoist too has mentioned in its election manifesto that voting will be resorted to if the efforts for consensus fail. Moreover, the CA-II has also adopted a rules book in which it mentions that issues in which no consensus could be reached shall be decided by voting.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Dahal&rsquo;s repentance on &#39;early surrender of arms and army&#39; also smacks of his ill intentions to use that guerrilla force as the tool to political blackmailing, as in the past. His partners in protests, the Madhesi and Janajati parties are more than enthused by the political patronage of the UCPN-Maoist and also by the fact that their agenda defeated in popular votes is now shouldered by the Maoists, the third largest party in CA. It is not difficult to understand that Dahal is now desperate as he is very fast losing his political ground. Not only his party got reduced to the third largest in the CA-II from the first in CA-I, it currently commands bare 14 percent of total votes in the House. That is why he is against of the CA arithmetic. Also, his party is at the verge of further division after the main ideologue Dr Baburam Bhattarai has challenged Dahal&#39;s authority from within and intensified the efforts to create a &#39;new force&#39;. For, all these reasons, Dahal is experimenting on any possible political adventurism to save his existence as leader to be reckoned with. This is understandable. What is completely incomprehensible is why other two larger parties, NC and UML, are succumbing to these tantrums of Dahal, resorting to one after another undemocratic moves and decisions. Why can&#39;t they say that no political decision regarding the constitution writing could be taken outside the CA and beyond the popular mandate?</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	One of the overused platitudes of Dahal has been &#39;consensus in constitution writing.&#39; On the surface, this appears as a benevolent idea. But, in essence, it is implicit design to take the constitution writing process away from CA to HLPC. Since the country has expensed so much to ensure diverse representation in CA, it is impossible to arrive at consensus at every motion mooted in the CA. Therefore, accepting to resolve all contentious issues through already defined CA rules and processes, including voting, is absolutely within democratic values and norms. Dahal and his allies has problem in this, because it is surely a losing game for them as they simply lack the number of members in CA to pass their agenda. But, if they believe in democracy, instead of exerting to disrupt the processes, they should accept the outcome by explaining their point of view such that can woo the public support in the next polls.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	But that needed patience Dahal clearly lacks and he is now wielding a double-edged sword -- simultaneously leading the street protests and holding the convenorship of HLPC that was dug out last month off the grave of the last CA, merely to placate Dahal&#39;s ambition of chairing it. Interestingly, he successfully capitulated the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML leadership to form this apparently unconstitutional &#39;superpower centre&#39; that is often practically portrayed as above all the political mechanisms of the country -- including the prime minister, the CA and the parliament. Or, at least, Dahal wanted HLPC to function in that fashion. This too is an undemocratic demeanour.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Naturally, the voice of other allies in Tundikhel was more aggressive. Sadbhawan Party leader Rajendra Mahato said he would not let the constitution be finalised on the basis of &#39;majority vote in the CA&#39; and Ashok Rai of Federal Socialist Party warned of &#39;pulling the NC and UML leaders by their collars&#39; to agree to their demand of identity-first federalism. What all this means is: there is every effort going on not to recognize and treat the CA as the only constitutionally validated body to write the constitution. This is perhaps the gravest danger that Nepal&#39;s political process faces at this moment. For the UCPN-Maoist and other smaller parties, their action might be justifiable to the extent to make their presence felt in the national political spectrum. But it is highly surprising to see that the NC and UML are readily agreeing to the demands of these parties without considering their consequences and not working enough to deliver a timely constitution despite their clear majority in the CA-II that allows them to write the constitution themselves.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	At this juncture, three political personalities have performed far short of their responsibilities and expectations from their respective public positions. First is Prime Minister Sushil Koirala who has failed to deliver the governance in every possible field you may name. His ministers are working berserk. His slogan of &#39;clean government&#39; has hit rock bottom in every appointment in the constitutional bodies, judiciary to executive branches. It took four months for the House to pass the appropriation bill. When issue of poor governance is raised, he retorts with saying &#39;the focus is on constitution writing.&#39; When the mayhem in constitution writing is pointed, he just vents anger on the people who dared to ask. His lacklustre performance is only costing the country very dear in every front, mainly as coupling hindrances in constitution writing process.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The second person who could have changed the things for the better but doing very little or nothing is Subhash Chandra Nembang, the CA Chairman. When House was disrupted continuously for five weeks in September, his presence was nowhere felt. He kept on urging the political parties &#39;to agree&#39; on certain things. But, his responsibility was not to urge for agreement but to run the House business according to the already laid-down laws, rules and precedents. His failure is more acutely felt in his inability to &#39;educate&#39; the CA members in the processes and contents of the constitution writing. He even failed to inculcate in the minds of the CA members that they are representatives of the sovereign people, not the stooges of the political bigwigs. Over and above, he himself appears to be acting as the stooge of big leaders, waiting for signals to come from the quarters like HLPC.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The third personality who failed to deliver up to the expectation is Dr Baburam Bhattarai, Chairman of the Constitutional Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee (PDCC) in the CA. He kept on jumping around to appear as if he is honestly trying to extract some magic consensus, but without doing proper homework particularly to finalize the agenda of state restructuring. He tried to forge the so-called consensus in the vacuum. One of the main bones of contention among the political parties has been the number of provinces that the new constitution should delineate to federalize Nepal. But these parties have all in unison failed to come up with the basic logic of any particular number they have picked to propose as their agenda. As such, Bhattarai should have been able to come up with data on economic and political viability of the possible provinces and presented them dispassionately to the political parties. Instead, he himself ventured to propose some eight, nine or ten provinces, without any database to support his proposal. This was naive move both as the Chairman of PDCC, who should have ideally remained neutral in all these bickering and, also as a learned man, he must have come with alternative data-supported analysis such as &#39;if we go for eight provinces, the per capita income of Nepalis will rise in X-rate while with eleven it goes up/down by Y-rate.&#39; But, alas, nothing of the sort is happening.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	This is to conclude that, until and unless we revert back to essence of democracy from pressure tantrums, allow CA to function as the only legitimate place to discuss everything regarding the constitution writing and provide some factual basis to ascertain the number of provinces as well as the administrative structure of the &#39;new&#39; state, the new constitution will continue to remain a mirage, for unforeseen time to come.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<em>The writer is former editor of Aarthik Abhiyan National Daily.</em></div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-11-21',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age  nepal politics news & articles, nepal politics news & articles from new business age nepal, nepal politics headlines from nepal,  current and latest nepal politics news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali nepal politics economic news and events,  ongoing  nepal politics ne',
			'description' => 'If the ongoing irresponsible behaviour of some of the key political players of the country doesn't come to a halt, it is certain that the Constituent Assembly-Two (CA-II) will also not be able to deliver a new democratic constitution for the 'federal new Nepal.' The major impediment to the new constitution writing process has two folds: the first, no party is adhering to the mandate and processes of the CA, and crucial political bargaining are taking place out of the constitutional and the CA ambit.',
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	(int) 7 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2809',
			'article_category_id' => '167',
			'title' => 'Derailing Democracy',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Achyut Wagle</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Throughout Nepal&#39;s seven decade long modern political history, the biggest problem to institutionalize democracy has been sheer absence of democratic essence among the political actors - political parties and politicians, both. &nbsp;It has been true for all twists and turns in the history. Experience has it, those countries that could stabilize the democratic polity in relatively short period of political transition, say in two or three decades, enjoyed two common features. One, there was only two way fight between the democratic and autocratic forces, or colonizers and freedom fighters. Once the democrats outweighed the autocrats, the system got functionally stabilized. Second, at least for the initial transition, some charismatic and learned leader spearheaded those processes into an irrevocably functionalized and largely institutionalized form of democracy, before it could derail and eventually degenerate to anarchy or mayhem.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	But Nepal&#39;s democracy has persistently been victim of a triangular instead of bipolar traction among the ultra-rights led by the palace, ultra-lefts led by Maoists or Leninists, and democrats. In fact, democracy has been invariably sandwiched between other two forces. To recall the history of common knowledge, for this very reason none of political changes in 1951, 1961, 1981, 1991 or 2006 could institutionalize Nepal&#39;s democracy. The country has been a constant victim of political uncertainty and hopelessness, which has taken toll not only on economy and development but has also teetered the age-old social cohesion and coexistence. Thanks again primarily to the three-way pulls.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The recent turn of events also does not present any different picture. The political rhapsody of UCPN Maoist Chairman Puspa Kamal Dahal certainly reflects his desperation in a bid to save his political existence in the light of rapidly eroding political clout of his party, but it is hardly limited only to that. As a person brought up as the Maoist, he is fundamentally against this country writing a democratic constitution. &nbsp;And, this is not a secret, but his commitment, vowed umpteen times in public. He still harbours dreams that one day this country could still be ruled by a communist dictator, perhaps himself at the helm, like North Korea and Cuba. He wants the new constitution to be written with those aims in mind. But he too is clueless on the way outs that clear the nasty debris of the civil war, en-route to that unreachable summit.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	At the other end, there are monarchists who want to resurrect the religious fundamentalism to the extreme of considering the King, again, as reincarnation of Lord Vishnu. The movement of Hindu fundamentalism is slowly gathering momentum as not-so-insignificant chunk in the ruling Nepali Congress has also found solace in taking refuge to this political perversion. There are other hybrid elements born out of marriage between the royalists and leftists who have dedicated their energies to defame and undermine the popularly elected parliament.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The most recent example is the blatant disobedience of several parliamentary committee summons by Lokman Singh Karki, chief of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). It may be recalled that it was Puspa Kamal Dahal who engineered the appointment of Karki, an ardent royalist who served as chief secretary of the government during king Gyanendra&#39;s absolute rule, in CIAA position. The disgruntlement of some of the parliament members towards recalcitrant Karki was also meaningless as his appointment was formally approved by the chiefs of all major political parties &ndash; Sushil Koirala of Nepali Congress, Jhala Nath Khanal of CPN-UML, Dahal himself and other Terai-based forces while Khil Raj Regmi was heading the caretaker government a year ago. The career graph of Karki was a public knowledge but that surprisingly didn&#39;t bother these &#39;big&#39; leaders and they awarded him the position he deeply craved for, for some unexplained reasons. After such a big blunder, it is but natural that the cries of &#39;small fries&#39;, like members of parliament, go unheard. To extend the argument, the discretionary abuse of the constitutional bodies like CIAA also constitute a great degree of test case on the impartiality of these institutions that are expected to function compatibly with the norms and values of the democratic dispensation. &nbsp;These are definitely some sure signals that even the &#39;structure&#39; of democracy is being gravely in peril now, let alone essence.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ideally, the alliance of Nepali Congress and UML should have been able to steer the process of constitution writing and institutionalizing democracy given the strength of popular mandate they have and their largely tested credentials to multiparty, ballot-based democracy. But, persistence of &#39;sickness&#39; and performance dysfunction of the ruling alliance has indeed been a major impediment to any outcome that helps to the cause of democracy. The chiefs of both the parties, KP Oli of UML and Prime Minister Koirala, also the Congress chief, are sick in literal terms. And, deplorably ineffective role of Constituent Assembly (CA) Chairman Subash Nembang has rendered this supposedly most crucial institution in present day Nepal as good as dead.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The government has been oblivious to a number of its public commitments which, had they been executed, would have consolidated democracy at least by a step or prevent it from boiling down to vacuum of popular representation. One of such derelictions was government&#39;s imperviousness to hold the elections to the local bodies. On the contrary, the ruling political cartel has engaged heavily in appointing controversial names in many crucial positions, including the judiciary. Nevertheless, the joint stance taken lately by Koirala and Oli to take the constitution writing process ahead and promulgate the new constitution by January 2015is no doubt appreciable. But, given the fact that they have hardly been credible in the past and apparent challenges that need a great deal of political dexterity to surpass, hopes of smooth sail are still very grim, to say the least.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Another very alarming signal that democratic forces would be pushed to further relegation is: the influential members among ruling elites are blatantly engaged in the acts which are morally indefensible. The Nepali Congress Vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel&#39;s avarice to appoint his near and dear ones to lucrative public positions, Finance Minister Dr. Ram Saran Mahat&#39;s machinations to transfer a highly controversial civil servant into his ministry and above all K P Oli&#39;s design of giving ministerial berth to his henchmen defeated in recent elections give ground for both Left and Right forces to disregard the &#39;high talks&#39; of democratic forces. There are several other such decisions that only undermine the transparency and accountability parameters, which are cornerstones of democracy.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As such, the CA has been rendered completely ineffective. There are public speeches made repeatedly, challenging to dishonour the arithmetic of CA; a crucial phenomenon as consensus is always elusive as is the case now. The political polarization has intensified. The political undercurrents are such that given the provision that the constitution needs to be ratified by two-thirds majority in the House, there could be some defectors from the ruling alliance who may dig holes in the ship.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	No doubt, Dahal is ruining his political prospects due to his own activities outside of CA and repeated flimsy announcements like &#39;initiating another revolution&#39;, &#39;forming the government from outside of parliament&#39;, &#39;writing new constitution from the street,&#39; etc. Worse, his irresponsible politics has provided much needed springboard to fringe parties, with some abstract agenda of identity and regionalism-based politics that were badly defeated in the last CA elections. They are particularly enthused by Dahal&#39;s patronship to these agenda.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Anything said and done, Nepal seems to be heading towards another constitutional crisis. The stage is being gradually set for that. There is not even a marginal possibility of promulgating a new constitution by 22nd of January, the deadline set by the political parties themselves. The ongoing unrest in the eastern part of country is perhaps deeper than it is generally perceived. Whatever federal structure one may propose, at least without any factual basis but by bare political imposition, is sure to be rejected by one section or another. Managing these discontents stemming in many forms and guises are likely to push the country to new phase of unrest and violence.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As of writing these lines, the drama of signature campaign &#39;to moot the proposal of ruling coalition&#39; into the Constitutional Dialogue Committee headed by Maoist leader Dr. Baburam Bhattarai suggests that the era of politics of consensus has been over. Democracy essentially is less about consensus but more about the rules of the game. But, here, rule breaking has been the first norm of politics. And, the politics of consensus generally endows better payoffs to weaker than the stronger. That is why Dahal and his 22-party opposition brigade is &#39;dying&#39; for this ever elusive consensus in the constitution making process. But, on the other end, Nepal now is not in a situation where it can afford to relegate potentially destructive forces from the mainstream political process. The journey from completion of drafting to promulgating the new constitution, even if takes place at all in near future, is going to be treacherous. The thought over another crucial phase of actual federalization of the state is yet to begin. Setting up new bureaucracies, reallocation of resources and dividing powers and authorities amongst the different layers of administration are the task that are going to be far more difficult than writing &nbsp;one set of generic document called &lsquo;constitution&rsquo;.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Before any tall talk on any big issue, we have but no choice to begin from the basics -- putting the derailed democracy back on track. The point of departure for one and all is; to unconditionally express faith on the rule-based game of democracy, respect for the people&#39;s mandate and in essence adopt a forward looking approach, not in a sense as touted by communists but as per the best and time tested democratic practices adhered to by the world for several centuries now.</div>
<div>
	The writer is former editor of Aarthik Abhiyan National Daily.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-12-23',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age  nepal politics news & articles, nepal politics news & articles from new business age nepal, nepal politics headlines from nepal,  current and latest nepal politics news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali nepal politics economic news and events,  ongoing  nepal politics ne',
			'description' => 'Throughout Nepal's seven decade long modern political history, the biggest problem to institutionalize democracy has been sheer absence of democratic essence among the political actors - political parties and politicians, both.  It has been true for all twists and turns in the history. Experience has it, those countries that could stabilize the democratic polity in relatively short period of political transition, say in two or three decades, enjoyed two common features. One, there was only two way fight between the democratic and autocratic forces, or colonizers and freedom fighters. Once the democrats outweighed the autocrats, the system got functionally stabilized. Second, at least for the initial transition, some charismatic and learned leader spearheaded those processes into an irrevocably functionalized and largely institutionalized form of democracy, before it could derail and eventually degenerate to anarchy or mayhem.',
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	(int) 8 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2810',
			'article_category_id' => '209',
			'title' => 'Essay Writing Competition 2015',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/essay.jpg" style="height: 399px; width: 635px;" /></span></p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<span style="font-size:14px;">This Essay writing competition is for all Bachelor&#39;s and Master&#39;s level students from any university in Nepal<br />
	<br />
	<strong>Essay Titles</strong><br />
	1. Investment Opportunities in Nepal.<br />
	2. Nepal&#39;s Deveploment Possibilities.<br />
	3. My views about Nepal&#39;s private sector.<br />
	4. Use of Nepal&#39;s water resources.<br />
	5. Role of media in economic deveploment.<br />
	<br />
	(Two topics from this list will be selected randomly in the essay writing hall and the participants should write the essay on a topic of his/her choice from those two so selected)<br />
	<br />
	<strong>Guidelines</strong><br />
	Participants can write on the selected topic either in English or Nepali.<br />
	Participants will be given one hour to write the essay.<br />
	Copying, referring to notes or published material or electronic gadgets will be forbidden.<br />
	<br />
	<br />
	<strong>Important Dates</strong><br />
	Deadline for submission of form is 8th Baishak 2072.<br />
	Essay writing day is 11th Baishak 2072.<br />
	<br />
	<strong>Submission</strong><br />
	Participation forms can be submitted either <a href="http://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XaUaWW1NWGCW6crDCF2gqUeisHkFm0vf79G3uZoTxrs/edit">online </a>or in <a href="/userfiles/files/ESSAY%20WRITING%20COMPETITION%20form.docx">hard copy</a>.<br />
	<br />
	<strong>Email</strong><br />
	nshreemali@newbusinessage.com<br />
	asubedi@newbusinessage.com</span></p>
<p>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XaUaWW1NWGCW6crDCF2gqUeisHkFm0vf79G3uZoTxrs/edit">CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT ONLINE FORM.</a></span></p>
<p>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><a href="/userfiles/files/ESSAY%20WRITING%20COMPETITION%20form.docx">CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FORM.</a></span></p>',
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			'created' => '2015-03-29',
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			'description' => '',
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	(int) 9 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2808',
			'article_category_id' => '48',
			'title' => 'Rule Of Dogs',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Madan Lamsal</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	I &nbsp;have no intention of passing any derogatory remark on this faithful, trustworthy, friendly and beautiful animal called dog. With due apology to it, allow me to uncover some of present day Nepal&#39;s great eco-political mysteries with the help of this metaphor. You may have noticed, one of the greatest secrets of Nepal&#39;s perennial perils has just been revealed: it was because this country for so long was ruled by dogs. Watchdogs, barking dogs, biting dogs, wagging dogs, walking dogs, stray dogs, guarding dogs and running dogs. (Readers are welcome to add some or many more to this list depending on their own observations). How can you expect our human development indices to go up where everything is &#39;of the dogs, by the dogs and for the dogs?&#39;&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Our parliament has a big bunch of vigilante dogs who keep good watch on some of hydropower projects of their interest. Many members of parliament are the &#39;jhola ma khola&#39; agents. Therefore, if anybody sniffs in their project they bark back loudly as a dutiful guarding dog. These honourable members of this genre of canine community were quick to warn the CIAA chief Lokman Karki just not to cross the limits of a watchdog. &nbsp;Karki, who is the size of a Tibetan Mastiff declared himself just as a &lsquo;barking dog&rsquo;, thus would not accept the label of a &lsquo;biting dog&rsquo;.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Questions have been raised about the hunting abilities and choice of prey by this barking dog. People outside the political circle allege that he is running behind the small fries leaving big sharks unscathed. &nbsp;The wagging dogs who are often seen at the gates of big political leaders, heave a sigh of relief that Karki&#39;s canine teeth were blunted at the very moment of appointment, rendering him truly a mere barking dog, only capable to chase away the stray dogs in the bureaucracy, leaving alone big hounds. Karki can bark really very loudly as seen recently during the acrimonious dogfight between several parliamentary committees and the CIAA. Parliamentarians like Gagan Thapa who considers himself as a very skilled barker, anywhere everywhere, has been silenced by the just snarls of Karki.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	But, crucial question here is, why these wagging dogs are having problem with this barking dog? They should instead bark at their bosses who appointed him with an unprecedented consensus in the history of Nepal. Karki&#39;s appointment as the CIAA chief had taken onboard every possible power centre that is otherwise guarded by Polar Alsatians, German Mastiffs, Chinese Chow Chow and Indian Rajapalayams, among others. So, Karki&#39;s metamorphosis was obvious from a mere barking to a biting dog, given he finds some feebler flocks.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	And Karki has every reason to bark on these new bunch of stray dogs who dared to protest against the erection of his father&#39;s statue at Duhabi thoroughfare, which ultimately had to be demolished and a part of the ruin still pierces his heart. He knows this new barking license for him has come at a very dear financial cost and a very high degree of coalesces between red communists and pink ex-Panchas. For all these reasons, he is not deterred by any amount of barking by these new breed of dogs. Moreover, these naive and novas do not recognize the supernatural sniffing ability of Karki. That is exactly the reason he chose to avoid the successive summons by the parliamentary committees. He has the ability to tame these raucous packs by using supersensitive remote controls.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	It is also not surprising that Karki has chosen to scare some of the hydropower promoting jackals. He knows they are fleshy and if caught, the feast would be more than plentiful. This is what the bone of contention is. The stray dogs sense that this flesh may be taken away from them by this gradually becoming English Hunter from a Tibetan barking dog.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-12-23',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age no laughing matter news & articles, no laughing matter news & articles from new business age nepal, no laughing matter headlines from nepal,  current and latest no laughing matter news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali no laughing matter economic news and events,  ongoing',
			'description' => 'I  have no intention of passing any derogatory remark on this faithful, trustworthy, friendly and beautiful animal called dog. With due apology to it, allow me to uncover some of present day Nepal's great eco-political mysteries with the help of this metaphor. You may have noticed, one of the greatest secrets of Nepal's perennial perils has just been revealed: it was because this country for so long was ruled by dogs. Watchdogs, barking dogs, biting dogs, wagging dogs, walking dogs, stray dogs, guarding dogs and running dogs. (Readers are welcome to add some or many more to this list depending on their own observations). How can you expect our human development indices to go up where everything is 'of the dogs, by the dogs and for the dogs?'',
			'sortorder' => '2653',
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	(int) 10 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2801',
			'article_category_id' => '52',
			'title' => 'Commendable Contract',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal has been successful in initiating important economic reforms, ahead at least of her South Asian peers. The process of economic liberalization began in 1984, eight years before India began its first generation of reforms. The financial sector reform too was undertaken with a reasonable success a decade ago. The latest agreement between the employers and the trade unions of Nepal to execute much awaited labour law reforms is another milestone. While Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has just making a case to change their 1949 Labour Law, Nepal&#39;s success can set an example on how highly contentious issue of industrial relations could be amicably resolved through right initiatives, with confidence building arrangements in the background.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The creation of the Social Security Fund under the tripartite agreement among the government, the Employers&#39; Council headed by the FNCCI vice-president and all trade unions (there are some eleven at present) four years ago paved the way for the recent understanding. Among others, there were two major issues, one each from the employers and the workers. The employers wanted the hiring-and-firing rights and the employees wanted certainty of financial security. Both of these issues got resolved albeit in rather surprising pace. The employers exhibited a great deal of generosity to agree to contribute to twenty percent equivalent of the wages towards the Fund on top of employees&#39; contribution of eleven percent. This really constitutes a substantial sum that gives confidence to the workers. The employers have also secured the right to hire-and-fire, without seeking prior approval from the Labour Ministry, a legal provision still effective. The agreement to categorize the workers into four groups depending on the nature and necessity of the production process has also eased the labour market risks to the investors and entrepreneurs.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The two pending issues to be agreed, namely sectorial bargaining rights and no-work-no-pay should not be as difficult to resolve as other host of issues already agreed. The latter issue partially gets addressed by the hiring and firing rights of the employers. But, the sectorial bargaining norms, when agreed with a sectorial umbrella body deemed applicable to the entire sector (the industry), could be agreed with some exception of new entrants or loss-making businesses. Again, as the fair-market norm, such sectorial umbrella organizations tantamount to cartel and thus employers should also need to rethink their position in the long run.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Undoubtedly, the agreement to amend the labour laws to these effects is a welcome step. But, Nepal&#39;s political leadership must first desist to use the trade unions as the political tools. When this agreement actually becomes a law, the scope of using these trade unions as the political instrument drastically reduces. This warrants for a cautious approach that these agreed issues do not become victim of political machinations again. Nepal has also seen several such agreements and enactment of many important laws. But their enforcement and adherence have always been the problem. Therefore, all necessary institutional and logistic arrangement must be in place for desired outcome of these agreements, which in due course become law. A few of such &#39;must&#39; arrangements are: proper database of the workers, automated accounting of the Security Fund given the potential high mobility of labourers, timely deposit of the promised amounts by the employers and updated records of the same, and credible institutional set-up to ensure timely delivery of all these services.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	It is also not enough just to have these laws in place. If Nepal is expecting enhanced foreign or domestic investment, she should be able to communicate this as an achievement that has put a decades-long problem of industrial relations conclusively to an end. The trade unions affiliated to all political parties have signed this agreement, which adds one more powerful reason to invest in Nepal. Needless to say, to achieve this success in a country, which has one of the cheapest labour costs is indeed in the interest of all potential investors.&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'Nepal has been successful in initiating important economic reforms, ahead at least of her South Asian peers. The process of economic liberalization began in 1984, eight years before India began its first generation of reforms. The financial sector reform too was undertaken with a reasonable success a decade ago.',
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	(int) 11 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2806',
			'article_category_id' => '40',
			'title' => 'The Story Of Nepali Startups',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Akhilesh Tripathi</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The startup scene in Nepal has changed significantly over the last five&ndash;seven years, with new and young entrepreneurs coming up with innovative ideas every year. Today, though there is no official data, the number of successful startups in Nepal is estimated to be above 50. These are the companies that are said to be running in good profit. Over this period, a young Nepali startup ecosystem has been in the making, though it is still incomplete due to the absence of venture capitals in the ecosystem. With most of the successful startups belonging to the IT sector, the future of the Nepali startup industry looks promising.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;The Nepali startup scene is heading slowly but surely in a good direction,&rdquo; thinks Mark Sears, CEO of CloudFactory, one of the most successful Nepali startups. Bidhyabaridhi Sigdel, Investment Director at Dolma Impact Fund, shares similar views. &ldquo;Now we are seeing new and unique businesses, which involve a brilliant choice of timing and products,&rdquo; he says. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	It&rsquo;s not just startups like CloudFactory and F1Soft which are doing quite well, nationally as well as internationally. There are others too. For example, Grepsr, a company specializing in web crawling service. The company has international clients such as The Boston Consulting Group, GE Capital, and Target, and is doing very well in their third year. Subrat Basnet, one of the co-founders of the company emphasizes on the massive opportunity for tech entrepreneurs in Nepal to make an impact on a global scale. &ldquo;With the growth of local talent, low risk investment and low operational cost, among other things, Nepali tech entrepreneurs can really compete in the global market if they have great ideas and the right marketing,&rdquo; he says.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	11Beep is another up-and-coming startup from Nepal. It has been trying to build an anonymous mobile social network. It&rsquo;s CEO Bimal Maharjan who is an active participant at startup events around Kathmandu and has even has flown to Italy for a four-month bootcamp called TechPeaks&mdash;The People Accelerator, feels the excitement and challenges of working on an idea alongside other entrepreneurs, designers and hackers.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Another idea which was developed in Nepal and has gained some ground locally with aggressive plans to expand internationally is CashOnAd, a mobile advertising platform that is working to revolutionize the advertising world. The fact that CashOnAd&rsquo;s android app on Google Play has already been installed in more than 100,000 devices shows their success in a comparatively short period. With the mobilization of local talent and the right growth strategy, CashOnAd has the potential to be very scalable and profitable in a short period.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Innovative companies such as Grepsr, 11Beep and CashOnAd are pioneering a new era of tech entrepreneurship in Nepal. They are dreaming big and thinking of conducting business beyond the borders of Nepal and competing globally. There are also other tech companies making their presence felt in the domestic market as well as chasing the international market.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;Many more innovative ideas are surfacing at events like StartupWeekend, GDG Meetups, Hackathons, Mobile Social Networking, Tedx , BarCamp, Mapthaons.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Even Incubators like Biruwa Ventures and communities for open source and developers is growing,&rdquo; says Amit Agrawal of Janaki Technologies, &ldquo;Now the vision is crossing the borders and soon we will see kickass startups from the Himalayas, that will rock the world.&rdquo;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
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					<div>
						<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Government&rsquo;s Startup Fund</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Lately, it seems that the government has understood the importance of promoting entrepreneurship in the country. The latest national budget has announced a Startup Fund of Rs 500 million. While making his budget speech, Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat said that this Fund, which is yet to take shape, will help cultivate the culture of entrepreneurship and promote fresh ideas by bankrolling promising startups. The government expects the private sector and NRNs, too, to contribute to this seed fund, according to officials at the Department of Industry.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Pashupati Murarka, senior vice-president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), thinks that the criteria and working procedure of the Fund should be established at the earliest possible to make the allotted resources useful. &ldquo;Though the seed amount is not large, the initiative is good. The government now needs to work out an implementation plan as soon as possible,&rdquo; said Murarka, adding that the private sector can decide how to support the programme once there is clarity about the working modality.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&ldquo;It has already been four months since the government announced the Startup Fund through the national budget. Now, the government should focus on the implementation aspect of the Fund without any delay,&rdquo; advises Hari Bhakta Sharma, senior vice president of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI).</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Besides the Startup Fund, the government has been running a Business Incubation Programme (BIP) under the Department of Cottage and Small Industries (DoCSI). The BIP which has been running for the last eight years is targeted at supporting startup enterprises. &ldquo;BIP has been trying to create a favourable environment for innovative and aspiring entrepreneurs. This includes providing physical facilities and mentorship services on various aspects of management and production such as productivity enhancement, quality management, accounting, marketing and intellectual property rights,&rdquo; says Pawan Kumar Timalsena, director at DoCSI. &nbsp;</div>
				</td>
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</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Incomplete ecosystem&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	Startups in Nepal face some common challenges in terms of taking their products international and growing the brand. The most obvious challenge is financial. Startups don&rsquo;t get loans without collaterals from the banks. Likewise, angel investors are very few and far between. So, most startups are forced to survive on bootstrapping. Thus, finance is the most difficult problem that people face in Nepal to start a startup. There are no investors willing to invest in startups, according to industry insiders.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	If an idea or product solves a problem and provides value, the target customers need to be aware of the product or service. International customers can be reached through Google AdWords, Facebook ads, advertisements in relevant platforms, among other ways. But all this needs funding. Financial leverage is necessary for this, and the company should have adequate capital to properly market the product or service. This is one area where most of the Nepali startups are lagging behind.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;In most cases, finding investors for ideas or early stage ventures is extremely challenging. Therefore, we recommend that entrepreneurs build some sort of track record before approaching investors,&rdquo; says Vidhan Rana, founder-managing partner of Biruwa Ventures.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The risk-averse culture in Nepal has led to less competition among the startups than in other parts of the world. This lack of overall competition has hurt the start up ecosystem in terms of quality, valuations, and market-building. But the industry is growing, though slowly, say the industry insiders.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Other Challenges</strong></div>
<div>
	Another challenge is talent. Nepal has many colleges from where thousands of students are graduating every year. However, tech companies have a hard time finding the right talent when necessary. &ldquo;While there are many young talented people in Nepal, there are few senior, experienced engineers and managers,&rdquo; shares Sears.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Publicity is another challenge for the Nepali startups. To expand globally, Nepali startups need a network or presence outside of Nepal. Getting covered by popular tech blogs, websites, international media etc. could help create awareness of Nepal-based companies. In this context, events like Startup Weekend Kathmandu platform is a good one. At such events, innovative ideas can get some initial traction through its wide network and reach.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Starting up a startup is another major challenge. Though some initiatives have been taken to provide funding for startups which have survived at least for a couple of years or more, startups do not get financial help from banks or other similar institutions at their initial stage. In simple words, there are no institutions to provide seed capital to startups.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;The ecosystem here carries a general feeling that the startups do not know anything about business. Whereas, in advanced markets, startups are received in a positive connotation,&rdquo; observes Bibhusan Bista, CEO of Young Innovations, a Nepali tech startup, which has been helping new startups by organizing startup events like &ldquo;Hackathon&rdquo; among others.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
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					<div>
						<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>IFC&rsquo;s Business Oxygen (BO2)</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						BO2 is a USD 14 million SME venture fund established in partnership with International Finance Corporation (IFC), Bank of Kathmandu and Beed Management. It was established in 2012 to provide risk capital to Small and Medium Enterprises in Nepal through structured equity and quasi-equity investments. It specializes in providing finance to SMEs that might be ignored by BFIs, or cannot access finance from BFIs due to a lack of collateral. BO2 looks for promising entrepreneurs who have worked on good business ideas and show a flair for entrepreneurship.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Companies may qualify for BO2 if they satisfy any two of the three criteria, namely: less than 50 staff, total assets below Rs 250 million and total annual turnover below Rs 250 million. In addition to funding, BO2 provides advisory services to build the capacities of small and medium enterprises to reach the next level.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>Who can qualify for investment?</strong></div>
					<div>
						BO2 concentrates on small entrepreneurs who want to take the step up to the next level. We are looking for SMEs in the growth stage with a history of profitable performance and potential for creating value for investors in the time period of the investment. Entrepreneurs should keep in mind the following points when considering funding from BO2:</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&bull; This is not &#39;free&#39; or &#39;subsidized&#39; money.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&bull; The business or its owners should not be blacklisted. Preferably the company should not have bank loans, or if it does, then it should be repayable with the investment amount.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&bull; The company should be registered in the CRO as a public limited or a private limited company.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&bull;Since BO2 is looking at growth stage companies for investment, the company should have been in business for at least 2 years. If under 2 years then the owners should have been involved in the same sector for more than 2 years.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&bull; BO2&#39;s investment will be utilized for the purpose of increasing top or bottom line.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>Investment Period</strong></div>
					<div>
						BO2 investment is only for a period of four years, which may be extended by a maximum of one year. At the end of the investment period BO2 will exit the investment by selling its shares in the company, back to the original owners at a predetermined value. BO2provides investment in nine sectors: Manufacturing, Energy Based, Agro and Forest Based, Tourism, Trading, IT and Communication, service industries, construction and infrastructure, and realty.&nbsp;</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<em>(Source: IFC)&nbsp;</em></div>
				</td>
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	</table>
</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Focus on the Global Tech Map</strong></div>
<div>
	&ldquo;Tech entrepreneurs are becoming more ambitious, focused on putting Nepal on the tech map, despite the challenges in taking their product into the global market. Soon, it would not be surprising to hear of big ideas from Nepal making a global impact,&rdquo; says Rana. He advises those who want to start a startup to focus on doing branding well, having a unique offering, scalable business model, global thinking, flat hierarchy with a good working culture, and getting inspired by what&rsquo;s happening globally.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	With quality product and right expansion strategy, a handful of tech companies from Nepal are venturing into the global stage and starting to make an impact. Though challenges come with the territory, Nepal&rsquo;s tech companies have a remarkable opportunity to take a bite out of the global tech scene.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Subrat of Grespr believes that Nepal can be put on the tech map. &ldquo;But to put Nepal on the global tech map, we need more companies from Nepal like CloudFactory, F1Soft, Janaki Technologies and Grepsr, and an ecosystem that builds and nurtures quality startups,&rdquo; he says.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Sustainability Issue</strong></div>
<div>
	Industry insiders believe that Nepalis are very capable of innovative work. But the reality on the ground is that Nepal doesn&#39;t seem to have good homegrown startups. There is foreign involvement in most of the leading startups from Nepal. Most of the tech startups that do exist are happy doing outsourcing jobs which might not be a sustainable solution for development of IT in Nepal. What could be the reason?</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Niranjan Bom Malla, founder of Vidinterest.com says, &ldquo;Based on my experience, there are two big problems that we have in our country right now. One, the Nepali culture of investment, very few angel investors - for most of them, IT startup is not the 1st choice. They think they have better places to invest in other sectors. Two, most of the foreign investors are not comfortable investing in our country, because of our political and financial situation. Trust me, I had talks with more than 100 angel investors over the last two years.&rdquo;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Experts also believe that startup businesses should always focus on creating a strong team to sustain their growth. &ldquo;Without a strong team, even businesses with strong potential are at the risk of failure,&rdquo; observes Rana.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Bista of Young Innovations believes that Nepali startups should come up with new ideas of business rather than copying successful global products and trends for sustainability in the long run.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
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					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Janaki Technology: Building Acclaimed Software</strong></span></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
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								<img alt="Amit Agrawal, CEO,  Janaki Technology" src="/userfiles/images/cs1(3).JPG" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 239px;" /></td>
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								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Amit Agrawal</strong></div>
									<div>
										CEO&nbsp;</div>
									<div>
										Janaki Technology</div>
								</div>
							</td>
						</tr>
					</tbody>
				</table>
				<div>
					Janaki Technology is a software product company well known for its SMS based service, Sparrow SMS and it&rsquo;s much acclaimed application Picovico. Founded in 2007 as a normal web application and outsourcing company, it entered the Nepal SMS Value Added Service (VAS) Market in 2010. It harnessed its experience of catering to the software needs of its national and multinational clients and built &lsquo;Sparrow SMS&rsquo;in 2010 as a platform to facilitatevarious SMS based services.&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					SMS services and VAS was not a new thing in Nepal by then, &ldquo;however, we were unique in our implementation and use of latest technology. Our strong technical team worked hard to make it better than other existing SMS services,&rdquo; Amit Agrawal, CEO of the company says while elaborating on the success mantra of the service.</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					The company served multinational clients inside and outside the country and Sparrow SMS has received national and international awards. &ldquo;We are still focusing on innovating our products and there is a long way to go,&rdquo; Agrawal said.</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					In 2011 the company rolled out Picovico, an application to convert photos into video. The product was selected for seed funding in 2011 by &lsquo;the Morpheus Ventures&rsquo; India. A year later, the Chile Government selected it for &quot;StartupChile&quot; programme awarding it equity free funding of 40,000 USD.&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					Agrawal shares that the company focused on research and development for making the products and therefore remained in loss during its initial years. But since than the company has been in profit and presently its annual growth rate has been between 15 to 20%.</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
				<div>
					Reflecting on challenges that the company faced as a startup, Agrawal shares that they also went through common problems faced other businesses in Nepal like load-shedding, delayed and multi-layered government processes, shortage of talented workforce and unfriendly business policies. &ldquo;Not having proper startup-ecosystem in the country was another big problem, when we started,&rdquo; he said. &nbsp;&ldquo;Lack of industry support from government, angel investors and startup accelerators along with unclear laws about IT industry and small market size are other major problems especially for Nepali tech companies,&rdquo; he shared. The company has gained substantial popularity among local clients and is presently doing market research to expand its reach beyond Nepal, Agrawal said adding that the company is working on pushing Picovico in the global market, especiallyin Europe and America. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<strong>&nbsp;(By Upashana Neupane)</strong></div>
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<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
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								<img alt="Ujjwal Chapagain, Managing Director, Himalayan Rabbit Farm" src="/userfiles/images/cs2(7).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 238px;" /></td>
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							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Ujjwal Chapagain</strong></div>
									<div>
										Managing Director</div>
									<div>
										Himalayan Rabbit Farm</div>
								</div>
							</td>
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				<div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Himalayan Rabbit Farm: A Social Start-up</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Ujjwal Chapagain, managing director of The Himalayan Rabbit Farm took up the risk of leaving a secure job and entering into an unchartered business terrain of commercial rabbit meat production. Such a business is still little known about across the country. When Chapagain thought of it as a business venture, he was questioned more than assured to take the risk. But he succeeded.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						He thought that a small risk taken could help in the sectorial as well as his personal growth. In the very beginning, he had decided his business venture will be a social enterprise rather than a purely commercial. Established in 2012, the venture has provided 100 small farmers with an extra source of income in the form ofrabbit farming.Along with that six farmers have been producing rabbits on a larger scale, following the footsteps and guidelines of Chapagain.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Chapagain was a jobholder in the non-governmental sector. He left the job and invested all his savings in starting up an organic vegetable shop at Jhamsikhel and an integrated farm in Bhaktapur in partnership with some friends. Unfortunately, the project did not succeed, the cause of which he alludes to lack of teamwork with his business partners. After this, he found himself at the crossroads forced to choose between doing business and reverting to being a jobholder. He decided to stay.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						He explored various business prospects and finally decided to start rabbit farming. He took the decision after figuring out that rabbit meat had high demand in the market, as it had remained unnoticed as a livestock farming option and therefore had no substantial competitors. Besides that, another major reason, which attracted his attention, was the fact that rabbit meat is considered to be healthy food and as people were being oriented towards healthy meat options, he thought that he could cater to this consumer sentiment.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						After finalizing his new business idea, Chapagain faced the problem of capital shortage. As he had spent all his savings in the previous venture, the only option left to him was borrowing from a bank. Considering the failure of his earlier business venture, it was hard to convince family members to put up family land as collateral for acquiring bank loan for his new venture. He convinced them and he acquired a bank loan and started rabbit farming in partnership.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The company has around 500 rabbits at its rabbit farm in Balambu, Kathmandu. For breeding, there are around 100 females. It is planning to upgrade the existing breeding centre into a modern one for breeding high yielding rabbit breeds. Presently, it procures 300 to 400 kilograms of rabbit meat every month from farmers situated in different parts of the country. Chapagain says that this quantity is consumed in the market, which primarily consists of hotels and restaurants.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cs3(7).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 399px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Within two years, Himalayan Rabbit Farm has succeeded to put rabbit meat as an option on menus. The success stems from the fact that people, who have tasted it, have loved it. Chapagain feels that interest towards the meat has been growing and he has been continuously working to boost it. To increase customer attraction and establish rabbit meat eating culture, the company had provided free tasting samples to visitors of Food, Drinks and Hospitality Exhibition held in September this year.The company has been working on innovating rabbit meat dishes in association with Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management (NATHM), so that hotels and restaurants could replicate them.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						On the social side, Chapagain has been constantly working with local farmers to help them in rearing rabbits and thereby generating additional household income. The company provides training on rabbit keeping, managing and shade building for rabbit farming to farmer, among other support.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						As of now, farmers in Mayagdi, Rasuwa, Sindhuli, Dolakha, Nawalparas and Kathmandu have taken up rabbit farming. He says that famers from other areas have been also showing interests.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						In the past two years, Chapagain has made a huge leap in introducing a totally new area to livestock farming in Nepal and now he wishes to establish rabbit farming as a national programme, similar to that of pig, goat and poultry farming. Along with this he wishes to make rabbit meat easily available in the market for purchase. To this end he has plans up his sleeves to set up outlets for selling rabbit meat products in places with higher market volume.</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<strong>(By Gaurav Aryal)</strong></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
				</div>
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					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Selling the Innovation</strong></span></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
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								<img alt="Madhukar KC, Founder, Matribhumi Urja Pvt Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/cs4(6).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 243px;" /></td>
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							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Madhukar KC</strong></div>
									<div>
										Founder</div>
									<div>
										Matribhumi Urja Pvt Ltd</div>
								</div>
							</td>
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				</table>
				<div>
					<div>
						Madhukar KC, founder of Matribhumi Urja Pvt Ltd invented a fuel-efficient wood fire stove that is being commercially developed. Recently, he has designed eight different burners and presented them to the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre, as requested. These designs include skewer stove, high-altitude stove, portable stove and bio-gas stove among others for household and commercial use.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						CB Urja Pvt Ltd has been granted the production and marketing rights for the wood fireportable stovesKC innovated. It started production since mid-May 2014 from its Balaju Industrial Estate based factory.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The government has recently decided to provide five ropanis of land in Chitwan to set up a factory produce burners at a larger scale, KC informed. He is optimistic that the decision would help to develop his venture. His journey so far has been challenging, especially during the research stage, as he had to personally finance his research and development works. Sharing his experience, KC complains of banks and financial institution&rsquo;s unwillingness to take intellectual property as collateral for providing loans. In lack of loans, he has been managing investments with the profit earned by selling the products.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						KC, originally a resident of Pyuthan had moved to Chitwan and it is where he first introduced the product to the public. The first prototype of woodfire stove was developed after a long series of trial and errors on coal stove. A successful prototype was developed in the 33rd attempt. For over 13 years he has been devoting all his time in developing the product. Coming now, he has improvised his products to use bio-mass. KC says that the performance of his stoves is higher than the government benchmark claiming that his stoves scored 29 in the benchmark against the official benchmark of 25. KC plans to develop products that can score around 33 to 35 in terms of performance and fuel efficiency. &nbsp;Presently he has been working fuel-efficient stoves to be used with bio-gas and liquefiedpetroleum gas (LPG).</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						KC&rsquo;s stove, besides firewood, can use biomass such as pine leaves, seeds of Schima Wallichi (Chilaune) tree, seeds of Hog Plum (Lapsi) and other bio wastages, which generally remain unused, as fuel source. A candy factory in Parbat entirely uses Hog Plum seeds to fuel the stove. This unique portable stove uses two watt computer fan for air supply. The insulated version of the stove does not heat the room as it is covered by mud, specially designed for the Terai region. The fixed stoves installed in rural households also have similar mechanism and provide better flames while emitting lower smoke. KC says that these stoves can be customised to fit in the requirements of an individual household. This mechanism makes it fuel-efficient, environment and user friendly while ensuring smoke free kitchen.Along with that stove uses parts made of recycled metals supplied by the Butwal based Metal Craft Pvt Ltd.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cs5(5).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 399px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;KC is the first to incubate at the Business Incubation Programme of the Department of Cottage and Small Industries (DoCSI). In 2009, KC was recognised by National Academy for Science and Technology (NAST) with an award for developing efficient stoves. He was also awarded with Surya Nepal Asha Social Entrepreneurship Award in 2013. After being awarded with the awards, KC realized the buzz that his business had created in the market. He has registered patent rights for his innovations. Presently he has been trying to acquire international patent rights for his LPG and bio-gas burners and the DoCSI has pledged assistance in this endeavour.&nbsp;</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<strong>(By Gaurav Aryal)</strong></div>
				</div>
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	&nbsp;</div>
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				<div>
					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>CloudFactory: A Crowd-sourcing Powerhub</strong></span></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
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								<img alt="Mark Sears, CEO, CloudFactory" src="/userfiles/images/cs6(5).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 218px;" /></td>
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							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Mark Sears</strong></div>
									<div>
										CEO, CloudFactory</div>
								</div>
							</td>
						</tr>
					</tbody>
				</table>
				<div>
					<div>
						As crowd-sourcing and cloud-working are becoming the next big things in the global outsourcing market, new companies are flocking into this lucrative business. CloudFactory, a Kathmandu-based startup has emerged among the frontrunners in the global crowd-sourcing market. The company, founded in 2010 by a Canadian tech entrepreneur, Mark Sears, is rapidly expanding its foothold in Nepal and beyond. CloudFactory came into existence when Sears came to Nepal on a vacation with his wife in 2008. &nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The company basically is a web-based outsourcing platform that hires cloud-workers who can work from their internet enabled locations. CloudFactory&#39;s clients are those who need big data services such as data entry, data processing, data collection along with audio/video transcription, categorization, web research and image tagging. The tasks are broken down into sets of &quot;microtasks&quot; which are then distributed to its pool of online workers who complete their work in the &quot;virtual assembly lines&quot;. CloudFactory currently employs 3,200 workers from Nepal and across the world, who process over a million tasks per day.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>&lsquo;&lsquo;Nepali startup scene is heading slowly but surely in a good direction&rsquo;&rsquo;</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>How did the idea of CloudFactory germinate?</strong></div>
					<div>
						In 2008, we were a software development company building web and mobile applications for North American and European clients. Many of them started needing data entry related work and kept asking if we could hire people in Nepal and do it. We kept saying no because we were a high-end software boutique and not a data entry company. At the same time we had been living in Nepal for a year and only hiring talented computer engineering fresher. &nbsp;During the period we met many other talented Nepalis looking for an opportunity. The major existing solution was Amazon&#39;s Mechanical Turk (AMT) - a crowd sourcing internet marketplace. But its enterprise-grade was not enough for our clients and we faced many quality related problems. So we started CloudFactory on January 1, 2010 as a technology platform to cater to the big demand and supply of online workers and haven&#39;t looked back since then.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>What are the turning points for your company?</strong></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;The shift from a software development company to a product company back in Jan 2010 was a major turning point. Another major turning point was in May 2012 when we hired our first 25 cloud workers in Nepal. Up until then we were a tech/engineering company building a platform and now we had to learn how to recruit, train and manage large numbers of data operators.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>What problems did you face while starting the business?&nbsp;</strong></div>
					<div>
						While there are many young, talented people in Nepal there are less senior, experienced engineers and managers. We are a young team and in many ways I think that has been a good thing, we have learned a lot and grown together. I am so proud of the things we have accomplished to get to this point and I look around and see that I am surrounded by some of the finest young leaders in Nepal - it is amazing to see the growth and maturity that comes from being part of a growing international startup like this.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>How did you manage the investments?</strong></div>
					<div>
						Our team, technology and traction are the keys to us for raising investments. This latest round was definitely related to our participation in a business accelerator in the US where I got to meet and pitch to a lot of great investors at the end of the 7-month program.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>What are the major projects of CloudFactory? What are its main focuses?&nbsp;</strong></div>
					<div>
						Large-scale data entry, audio/video transcription, web research, image tagging and categorization are our major projects. Companies come to us with large amounts of routine and repetitive work that we can break down in small tasks that can be partially automated but require people as well to complete many of them.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>Have you got any help from the government or private organizations?</strong></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;While we have not received any formal help from the government we have very much appreciated informal support from people like Radhesh Pant at Nepal Investment Board. While their focus is mostly on the top hydropower investments in Nepal but he understands and appreciates the opportunity for companies like CloudFactory to provide job creation in Nepal. As a landlocked country we need to be thinking more about how we can accelerate the shift to a knowledge economy. For that ICT should be higher on the priority of the government. Even so, the most important thing the government could do is stay out of the way of ICT growth in Nepal and focus on not being a hindrance and let entrepreneurs continue to innovate from their internet-enabled residences across the Kathmandu valley.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>What are the challenges being faced by the Nepali tech startups?</strong></div>
					<div>
						Tech startups in Nepal are mostly just freelancers working together in small teams of 2-20 people. They work on the early development side of web and mobile applications but rarely get the opportunity to build a full business by bringing products to market themselves. We need some more product startups to go through the full lifecycle to see some wins on the international stage. We will then have the capital and experience to start the second wave of tech startups in Nepal. I see this happening in the next 3-5 years. Until then many will continue to get experience on the engineering/product development side by building other people&#39;s products. The future is bright, Nepali startup scene is heading slowly but surely in a good direction.</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<strong>(By Sanjeev Sharma)</strong></div>
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	&nbsp;</div>
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					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>&ldquo;Lack of human resource to work on our ventures is the major problem&rdquo;</strong></span></div>
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					&nbsp;</div>
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								<img alt="Anil Basnet, Chief Operating Officer  Metro Vibes" src="/userfiles/images/cs7(2).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 243px;" /></td>
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							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
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										<strong>Anil Basnet</strong></div>
									<div>
										Chief Operating Officer&nbsp;</div>
									<div>
										Metro Vibes</div>
								</div>
							</td>
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				<div>
					<div>
						Metro Vibes, is a startup company that specializes in web design, development and hosting, email services, graphic design, domain registration, and providing IT consultancy and internet marketing services. After working for over five years with other tech companies, Anil Basnet, Chief Operating Officer of Metro Vibes, felt the need to establish his own IT company. He shared the idea with his three friends and they conceived Metro Vibes.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Company&rsquo;s growth curve has been pretty stable and has improved substantially since its establishment. Presently 22 employees are working with company and Basnet said more would be joining in the near future. &ldquo;We work hard to meet projects deadline. We get up at 4 in the morning for our venture Metro Tarkari and ensure that the delivery is made within the set time frame,&rdquo; Basnet said while elaborating on the growth factors.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Though the venture faced financial crisis in its initial days, lack of skilled manpower was and remains the major problem. &ldquo;We have unique concepts, required finance and latest technological equipments, but there is scarcity of skilled manpower who can translate our venture ideas into actions,&rdquo; stated Basnet. Another problem is the absence of government policy on ecommerce. &ldquo;We are confused about the method of handling online transactions,&rdquo; he added.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Starting the Merotarkari.com, an online vegetable ecommerce system, was one of the most prominent turning points for the company. This venture boosted the company&rsquo;s working style and contributed in its expansion. The concept of virtual receptionist was another unique idea in office automation that became a major turning point for the company.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The company started with five clients in the initial phase and coming now it is serving more than 120 trustable clients that range from national to international boundaries. Its core products are mterotarkari.com, metrofever.com, metro bulk email service, and metro biometric attendance system.&nbsp;<strong>(By Angila Sharma)</strong></div>
					<div>
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	&nbsp;</div>
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			<td bgcolor="B5F1E6">
				<div>
					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>&lsquo;&lsquo;The company has been working hard to extend its reach to every field&rsquo;&rsquo;</strong></span></div>
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					&nbsp;</div>
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								<img alt="Shraddha Timilsina, CEO, Sastra Creations Pvt Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/cs8(2).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 242px;" /></td>
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							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Shraddha Timilsina</strong></div>
									<div>
										CEO</div>
									<div>
										Sastra Creations Pvt Ltd</div>
								</div>
							</td>
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					<div>
						Sastra Creations Pvt Ltd is an IT startup company that provides wide range of services including web design and development, hosting, graphics designing, mobile app and software development. The company was founded in 2012 by two IT students Shraddha Timilsina and Binamra Dhakal in their pursuit of utilising their IT skills. &quot;We perceived that IT sector has great opportunities and possibilities in Nepal and hence decided to work and build our own IT business,&rdquo; Timilsina, who presently acts as the CEO of the company, said.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						In the two years of its establishment, the company had several major turning points. Launching the Nation Wide Web Competition 2013in partnership with the Computer Association of Nepal (CAN), on 2nd January, 2013 provided it with much needed publicity and helped gain reputation as an authority in the IT sector. &quot;It helped talented and skilled participants in acquiring better knowledge about opportunities in web design and development. It helped us to grow at the national level,&rdquo; Timilsina said. Next to it, the company provided IT support for conducting online election of Nepal Medical Council online. Launching its own range of software &ndash; school software and Catreen management software &ndash; in September 2014 provided it much impetus for being included in the top 20 IT startup companies by the ICT magazine.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Software and websites sales has been major source of the company&rsquo;s income and investment. It claims that its annual income has grown about three times from 2012 to 2014 with current annual turnover resting at Rs 12 lakh. It has provided employment opportunities to more than 10 youths in 2 years.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The Company has been able to sustain and grow on its own due to the total dedication of its founders and employees. The success, however, was not easy. It has faced its share of financial and operational obstacles and challenges in the first few months of establishment. Timilsina thinks that lack of proper system and knowledge about IT and load shedding are the major problems faced by them. Reflecting on her experience, Timilsina said that it is hard to acquire big projects or partnership with bigger organizations in lack of personal links with them.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						For any business, Timilsina thinks that market is important. She claims that taking business online just provides any business with the market. It is not possible to promote business without going online and it is time efficient if you are using digital marketing tools including software to run a business, she claims. The company perceives each and every sector including agriculture, entertainment, ecommerce, restaurants and hotels, travel agencies and any other business to be its potential client.<strong>&nbsp;(By Rashika Pokharel)</strong></div>
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					<strong><span style="font-size: 16px;">&ldquo;We are working on making our technology strong and making it securer&rdquo;</span></strong></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
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								<img alt=" Bimal Maharjan, CEO, 11Beep" src="/userfiles/images/cs9(1).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 242px;" /></td>
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								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Bimal Maharjan</strong></div>
									<div>
										CEO, 11Beep</div>
								</div>
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				<div>
					<div>
						11Beep is startup company, which since recently have been gaining popularity as a social network that provides platform to individuals to enjoy unrestrained personal freedom of expression.11Beep is a network built specially for mobilephones that doesn&rsquo;t keep any digital history. It lets you share freely what is on your mind with your friends without worrying about any digital footprint.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						11Beep came into operation on November 2013 following Bimal Maharjan&rsquo;s, the CEO of the company, competitive analysis of the market to find the company&rsquo;s startup idea. Maharjan had conceived the idea after analysing various posts on different social networking sites.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&quot;People only share trendy thoughts on social networking sites but hesitate to share thoughts that might be considered or taken in negative light by their social networking peers. 11Beep provides anonymity to individuals and emancipates them from the fear of being identified thereby enabling them to share their thoughts spontaneously without any restraints, says Maharjan, CEO of 11Beep. Thus this network paves way for individuals to share their thoughts, whatever their nature, whenever it strikes to their mind. Besides anonymity, this network has another cool feature of deleting all the post after certain time frame. This feature enables that the individual does not leave digital footprint behind for others to trace. Fundamentally, it is a social network with quite higher levelof security.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The company has been running by five-member team &ndash; with only CEO committing his full time to it and others helping him out on part time basis. 11Beep is preparing to launch another product in the market but before launching it, its been focusing on making the existing product more user friendly and winning user confidence.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&quot;Our startup is based on the idea of a loosing algorithm and is designed for maintaining anonymity. We don&#39;t want to go wrong anywhere. We are working on making our technology strong and making it securer. We have required technical competencies and expertise and are very happy with our work and knowing that we are on the track of gaining our objective,&quot; says Maharjan.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The company is sustaining through its own resources and has not got any support from government. &quot;Fortunately I don&#39;t have to pay my team so that is a relief .We don&#39;t require huge investment and our biggest need at the moment is human capital, we are investing on our own so right now we don&#39;t feel the need for funding but in the next phase, we will need huge investment,&quot; he added.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						As a part of its aim, Beep11 believes in building something which people can make good use of. But being a start up it has its own woes too. &quot;Our society in not built to encourage tech entrepreneurs and as in the initial phase they don&rsquo;t earn much to sustain, it is very difficult for startups to establish in Nepal,&rdquo; Maharjan said.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>(By Rashika Pokharel)</strong></div>
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<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
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				<div>
					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Sasto Deal: Providing the Best Deals</strong></span></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
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							<td>
								<img alt="Amun Thapa, CEO, Sasto Deal" src="/userfiles/images/cs0(1).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 239px;" /></td>
						</tr>
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							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Amun Thapa</strong></div>
									<div>
										CEO, Sasto Deal</div>
								</div>
							</td>
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					</tbody>
				</table>
				<div>
					<div>
						Sasto Deal (SD) is one of the prominent rising stars of online retail shops in Nepal. The company was started almost 3 years ago with the aim of switching offline Nepali market to online and providing best deals. Upon returning from the US, Amun Thapa, SD&rsquo;s CEO, decided to do some business and began to search for ideas that would sell. It did not take long to Amun to realize that Nepali people had been wasting some really useful hours in shopping. &ldquo;I found people lingering to different places in search of different items. I asked myself if everyone was doing the same and the answer was yes. I was compelled to seek for a solution and I knew there was one. However, the sad part was that no one was doing anything about it,&rdquo; says Thapa. He realized that he could save people this hours by taking it online and making it available on their desktop or mobile phones. The idea was simple but he needed people who could translate his vision into reality. This brought him in touch with his schoolmates who were pursuing their degree in the IT field. They worked around the idea and gave birth to Sasto Deal. The initial phase was a bumpy ride as they had problems in making deals. It was difficult for them to make people believe in online business. &ldquo;People laughed at our ideas and we had to go out to the market begging for deals. But now, the same people are begging us to feature their products,&rdquo; says Thapa proudly. The company believes that the initial phase was difficult because online business was a new term to this part of the world and also because the rulers find it difficult to trust the new comers. The company believes that they are grown large.&ldquo;I would probably say the growth rate is over 100% right now, this is not only due to the fact that the company is outperforming but also due to the fact that we are in the e-commerce business and with every single product, our chances for growth increases,&rdquo; Avash K.C, CO-CEO of Sasto Deal, said.</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<strong>(By Angila Sharma)</strong></div>
				</div>
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<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
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	<tbody>
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			<td bgcolor="B5F1E6">
				<div>
					<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Himalayan Wonders: A Travel Startup with a Difference</strong></span></div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
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					<tbody>
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							<td>
								<img alt="Nishes Thapa, Operations Manager, Himalayan Wonders" src="/userfiles/images/cs01.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 206px;" /></td>
						</tr>
						<tr>
							<td bgcolor="#B5F1E6">
								<div align="center">
									<div>
										<strong>Nishes Thapa</strong></div>
									<div>
										Operations Manager</div>
									<div>
										Himalayan Wonders</div>
								</div>
							</td>
						</tr>
					</tbody>
				</table>
				<div>
					<div>
						The Internet has changed the way companies do their business and tourism sector is no exception to it. Himalayan Wonders, a Nepali travel startup, also harnessed the latest developments made in the field of online technology and took all its business online. Founded in 2013, the company provides affordable tours and trekking packages to Nepal. This online portal is packed with informative contents and pictures and travellers can choose and book any tour package online through any Internet enabled device such as smartphone and tablet from anywhere in the world.Himalayan Wonders came into existence when an American geologist Dr David Urmann and his Brazilian friend Pablo Souto Maior suggested Nishes Thapato start his own company. Dr Urmann has been visiting Nepal since the mid-90s&#39; for research on climate change and in credited for establishing the company. Dr. Urmann and another Co-founder, Maior, promote the startup in the global market while Thapa heads the Nepal operations of the company. The company has been receiving overwhelming response from travellers and trekkers around the globe. Within a year it has received five-star rating from Trip Advisor and many positive reviews from its satisfied customers. &nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>&lsquo;&lsquo;Ever since the inception of the company, we never looked back&rsquo;&rsquo;</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>How did your business idea germinate?</strong></div>
					<div>
						I was born in Tripureshwor VDC of Dhading and tourists visiting Ganesh Himal pass through it. Those tourists always fascinated me and it is during these days that my interest of doing something in tourism industry developed. In 1998 I came to Kathmandu and started working in the tourism sector. I worked for different people and gained industry experience that one must have in order to thrive in this booming industry. Dr David Urmann, an American friend of mine, suggested me to establish my own travel company. With his and his Brazilian friend Pablo Souto Maior constant help, we established the company in 2013.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>What is the growth rate of your company?</strong></div>
					<div>
						Since its inception, we have never looked back. Our business is growing every year. With the end of the decade long insurgency, the tourism and hospitality industry has been prospering. If this continues, I am hopeful of maintaining the existing healthy growth rate.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>What problems did you face while starting the business?&nbsp;</strong></div>
					<div>
						We have not faced major problems till date. Our business so far has been smooth with tremendous support from staffs, friends and families. However, events such as general strikes and political instability in the country, have always posed to be a big threat. In the past, we have suffered financial losses due to such condition.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>How are you managing investments?</strong></div>
					<div>
						We received bank loans to meet our initial investment requirements. In due course of time as the company started to grow, I borrowed money from friends and even used my personal savings to make further investment. We keep track of every penny that goes out as expenditure and comes in as earning. We keep our books up-to-date and this has become the success mantra of the company.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<strong>Have you got any help from the government or private organizations?</strong></div>
					<div>
						We have not received any help from the government. &nbsp;If government agencies show interest in us, we would be glad to work together for the growth of this industry. Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN) has provided us substantial help in promoting our business at the international level.&nbsp;</div>
					<div style="text-align: right;">
						<strong>(By Sanjeev Sharma)</strong></div>
				</div>
				<div>
					&nbsp;</div>
			</td>
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	</tbody>
</table>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-12-23',
			'modified' => '2015-06-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age cover story news & articles, cover story news & articles from new business age nepal, cover story headlines from nepal,  current and latest cover story news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali cover story economic news and events,  ongoing  cover story news of nepal',
			'description' => 'The startup scene in Nepal has changed significantly over the last five–seven years, with new and young entrepreneurs coming up with innovative ideas every year. Today, though there is no official data, the number of successful startups in Nepal is estimated to be above 50. These are the companies that are said to be running in good profit. Over this period, a young Nepali startup ecosystem has been in the making, though it is still incomplete due to the absence of venture capitals in the ecosystem. With most of the successful startups belonging to the IT sector, the future of the Nepali startup industry looks promising.',
			'sortorder' => '2651',
			'image' => null,
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	(int) 12 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2805',
			'article_category_id' => '31',
			'title' => '‘‘New Generation Scorpio Delivers Exceptional Value And Accessible Technology’’',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<span style="font-size: 14px;">Sagar Bhadkamkar is the deputy general manager for exports and sales of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. The company recently launched a new product, New Generation Scorpio. Bhadkamkar was in Kathmandu for the launch and<strong>&nbsp;Angila Sharma&nbsp;</strong>and<strong>&nbsp;Rashika Pokharel&nbsp;</strong>of the New Business Age caught up with him and discussed the features of this product and the company&rsquo;s marketing strategy for the Nepali market.<strong>&nbsp;Excerpts:</strong></span></div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>What is the purpose of your visit?</strong></div>
	<div>
		The basic purpose of my visit here is to launch the New Generation Scorpio in Nepali market.This is the first international launch of the product following its launch in India a month earlier.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>What is new in the New Generation Scorpio?&nbsp;</strong></div>
	<div>
		New Generation Scorpio, as the name indicates, is a completely new Scorpio in terms of safety, comfort, ride, technology and exterior looks. Some of thesenew features are: new hi-tech 6-inch touch screen infotainment system, micro hybrid technology, smart rain and light sensors, tyre-tronics and voice assist system. It hasa new recalibrated engine that is more fuel-efficient. Earlier version of the Scorpio provided a mileage of 14.05 km per litre, but the new oneguarantees a mileage of 15.15 km per litre.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>How has the journey through these two versions of Scorpios been?</strong></div>
	<div>
		Scorpio was a tremendous leap of faith for us when it was launched 12 years ago. It established the foundation for the development of an entirely new generation of vehicles from Mahindra. More importantly, it helped to transform the Mahindra brand, giving it a sophisticated urban edge at a time when we were primarily thought of as a rural player. The New Generation Scorpio will deliver exceptional value and accessible technology to our customers.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		When we unveiled the first Scorpio in June 2002, it was an emotional moment for all of us at Mahindra and a defining moment for the company. Unknown to us at that time, a dream, an icon, and a style statement was born. The Scorpio did wonders for the Mahindra brand in urban India and in markets worldwide. To see the Scorpio become the pride of over 4.5 lakh customers, sell over 50,000 vehicles during each of the last three years in a row, rule Indian roads for over 12 years and transform the India&rsquo;s SUV space, is a remarkable achievement back in our homeland.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>How do you assess the Nepali market for four wheelers?</strong></div>
	<div>
		Nepal is a very competitive market for four wheelers. It is probably one of the most strategic markets for us where we are seeing gradual growth. That is the reason we have always focused on Nepal for our four wheelers market.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>What is your expectationof the market share with the new product?</strong></div>
	<div>
		New Generation Scorpio is introduced with the right price and comes with additional modern features that our targeted customers will love to have. So, we expect a boom in the sales of this product.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>How do you see Nepal as a market for Mahindra products?</strong></div>
	<div>
		Nepal is a good market for our products. We have been enjoying leadership in tractors, utility vehicles, information technology, financial services and vacation ownership. In addition, we also enjoy a strong presence in commercial vehicles and two wheeler industries.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>Many of your competitors are established names in the Nepali market. Why should one choose your products?&nbsp;</strong></div>
	<div>
		We offer quality products at competitive prices. Prices are positioned in such a manner that different variants of Scorpios meet the need of different segment of our customers. The starting price is 35.75 lakhs and goes up to 51 lakhs.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>What are your plans for the Nepali market?</strong></div>
	<div>
		Our plans include strengthening our position in the market. We are the market leaders and we will be focusing on to retain the position.&nbsp;</div>
</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2014-11-21',
			'modified' => '2014-12-24',
			'keywords' => 'new business age business visitors news & articles, business visitors news & articles from new business age nepal, business visitors headlines from nepal,  current and latest business visitors news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali business visitors economic news and events, ongoing busin',
			'description' => 'Sagar Bhadkamkar is the deputy general manager for exports and sales of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. The company recently launched a new product, New Generation Scorpio. Bhadkamkar was in Kathmandu for the launch and Angila Sharma and Rashika Pokharel of the New Business Age caught up with him and discussed the features of this product and the company’s marketing strategy for the Nepali market. Excerpts:',
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	(int) 13 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2799',
			'article_category_id' => '215',
			'title' => 'TFA Impasse In WTO: An Opportunity Could Be Missed',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Sanjeev Sharma</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The landmark agreement to liberalize global trade has hit a gridlock after India refused to accept the pact following the country&#39;s disagreement on food subsidies. The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) or the Bali Package, agreed by the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), held in Bali, Indonesia on 3-7 December, 2013, would have been the first deal to reform global trade in two decades. The trade protocol which came as a result of relentless negotiations over the decades, basically aims to lower global trade barriers.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Upon its implementation, the TFA, ambits to smoothen trading between developing and developed economies by lowering import tariffs and farm subsidies. The Bali accord includes measures that would formally put an end to developed nations&rsquo; stiff import quotas of agro products from the developing countries. Rather, the importing nations would only be allowed to levy tariffs on amount of agricultural imports exceeding particular limits. Similarly, provisions related to streamlining and reforming customs bureaucracies is another major aspect of TFA that are targeted to facilitate global trade. The pact is expected to add USD 1 trillion to global GDP along with generating 21 million jobs worldwide. The deal also covers measures to preferential treatment and greater market access, issues that have been long-raised by developing and least developed countries (LDCs).&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, the accord&#39;s far-reaching impacts have been halted for the time being. India, one of the WTO&#39;s prominent members, has long insisted to keep the farm subsidies intact. India&#39;s assertion seems to be primarily fueled by the fears that removal of such government subvention would hurt the country&#39;s agricultural output. As the prices of agro commodities in the global market are likely to become more competitive after the implementation of TFA, India is reluctant to amend the current provisions of agricultural subsidies. The country which is the world&#39;s 2nd largest farm producer also ranks 10th among the major agricultural exporters.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Aided by supportive policy impetus alongside sufficient rainfall and massive stockpiles, India&#39;s exports of agricultural products stood at USD 29.3 billion in the first 11 months of the fiscal year 2013-14. The previous FY saw the Indian agro exports totaling USD 31.86 billion. The country is witnessing consistently rising agro and food export outpacing rise in other exports. Government data shows that the share of agricultural commodities in India&rsquo;s overall export basket rose to 10.66 per cent in FY 2012-13 from 7.06 per cent in 2009-10. &nbsp;Similarly, according to the WTO&#39;s statistics, India&#39;s share of global export (USD 1.66 trillion) and import (USD 1.82 trillion) of agricultural and food products stand at 2.07 per cent and 1.24 per cent, respectively. The country&#39;s increasing share of global export indicates that India is becoming a net exporter of agro products.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Another aspect of India&#39;s apprehension is related to food security. The world&#39;s third largest economy is also feeding its vast poor population with cheap food. The discontinuation of government grants could prove more difficult to provide low-priced foods to its poor citizens. India, which has been expanding its food subsidy programmes over the years, launched a massive programme to provide subsidised food to two-thirds of its population or 810 million people in mid-2013. The programme is expected to double the country&#39;s annual food subsidy bills by about USD 23.9 billion. Subsidising food grains carry huge electoral significance in India as the government and major political aspirants have repeatedly promised to feed poverty ridden population at giveaway prices.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The country is one of the largest hoarders of food grains in the world. Various reports suggest that India&#39;s grain stockpiles currently stand at about a whopping 70 million tons. It not only helps to supply subsidised food grains but also to check the prices in the global market. The fall in world-food stockpile is considered one of the contributing factors to the global food crisis of 2007-08. Political and social unrests were seen in many nations due to the dramatic rise in food prices. India has demanded freedom to subsidise and stockpile food grains in an exchange to the signing of TFA.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/wf1(1).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 364px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ever since its inception in 1995, the WTO has faced big hurdles to achieve its objectives. The organisation which came as as a replacement of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), has always been in a rock and a hard place when it comes to negotiations &nbsp;between its members. The uncertainty over the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) is an example of such obstacle. Commenced in 2001, the DDA&#39;s aim to liberalise global trade by lowering trade barriers has not been able to bear fruits as numerous talks have resulted in failures. Deep divisions between developed and developing nations over contentious issues such as agriculture, removing industrial tariff and non-tariff barriers of trade and services are considered as the impediments to DDA&#39;s progress. During the intense talks, developed nations led by United States accompanied by the European Union (EU) and Japan maintained their positions relating to quota-free access to the exports of developing countries and LDCs. Similarly, a group of developing nations and LDCs, led by the emerging bloc of China, India, Brazil and South Africa demanded greater freedom to agricultural subsidies and larger quota-free access to their specific exports. The demands and counter demands of member nations resulted in the stalling of WTO&#39;s trade talks in 2008. The multilateral trade negotiations have not resumed since then.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The TFA, which targets to harmonize global trade by slashing the customs red tape is a part of DDA. So, implementing the Bali package is not only imperative to its provisions but also to make progress on DDA and rescue WTO from the brink of failure. However, India&#39;s insistence has created an impasse in the organisation. The lockdown led to the expiration of deadline to ratify the deal by member nations on July, 31st. Talks are said to have been taking place to end the current stand-off, but narrowing the differences to resolve the problem seems difficult for the time being as Robert Azevedo, WTO&#39;s Director General puts it, &quot;The fact we do not have a conclusion means that we are entering a new phase in our work &ndash; a phase which strikes me as being full of uncertainties.&rdquo; Similarly, Patrick Low, WTO&#39;s former Chief Economist, mentions, &quot;The WTO is a victim of flawed procedural requirements. A single government can block progress across the board.&quot; &quot;Paralysis at the WTO is likely to reinforce the view that preferential trade arrangements are a substitute for inclusive multilateralism rather than a complement. That would be bad news for the world economy.&quot;</div>',
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			'created' => '2014-10-10',
			'modified' => '2014-12-24',
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			'description' => 'The landmark agreement to liberalize global trade has hit a gridlock after India refused to accept the pact following the country's disagreement on food subsidies. The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) or the Bali Package, agreed by the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), held in Bali, Indonesia on 3-7 December, 2013, would have been the first deal to reform global trade in two decades. The trade protocol which came as a result of relentless negotiations over the decades, basically aims to lower global trade barriers.',
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	(int) 14 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '2798',
			'article_category_id' => '167',
			'title' => 'Games To Delay The Constitution',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Akhilesh Tripathi</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As it happened to be, the much-awaited all-party political conference or round table conference &ndash; to use a more popular phrase- which was supposed to see a dialogue take place among the three major parties represented in the Constituent Assembly (CA) and the parties outside it, on the contentious issues of constitution drafting, fell flat. The reason was, as we all know, the 33-party alliance led by Mohan Baidya-led CPN-Maoist which is not represented in the CA and which had been demanding such a conference for a long time rejected to participate in the conference in the eleventh hour. The leaders of the CPN-Maoist and the 33-party alliance outside the CA never turned up for the conference. The CPN-Maoist communicated its decision not to attend the conference when Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and other political leaders had taken their seats at the planned venue inside the CA building. Thus, the politicians&rsquo; latest effort to seek consensus on contentious constitutional issues went in vain. But thankfully, as the conference failed to take off, it became clear that the Maoists had thrown the conference card only to delay the new constitution by affecting the CA calendar.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Some people might think that this was bad for the country and the constitution drafting process as an opportunity to forge consensus on thorny issues of constitution drafting inside as well as outside the CA was missed. But in fact, this was good for the country and the constitution drafting process as the real intent of the CPN-Maoist and other dissenting parties outside the CA was exposed without losing any further time. Their real intent was to delay the constitution drafting process by the CA under one or another pretext. In fact, Baidya and company have, time and again, publicly expressed their disenchantment with the constitution drafting process by the CA. After all, they boycotted the second CA elections terming it &ldquo;a meaningless exercise&rdquo;.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	One political game to affect the CA&rsquo;s calendar and delay the constitution drafting process was exposed in the form of the failed all-party political conference. But other such games continue - some within the CA itself - in the name of seeking consensus on the key issues including form of governance and restructuring of the state, election system and judiciary. One serious blame is leveled against the very Constitutional-Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee (CPDCC) of the CA that was formed to hold discussions on the thorny issues of constitution drafting and build consensus on them. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The blame is that the CPDCC has been trying to delay the constitution drafting process to find the mirage called consensus. The CPDCC led by UCPN (Maoist) leader and former PM Dr Baburam Bhattarai has already missed a deadline of September 6 to forge consensus on the prickly issues of constitution drafting. Then it was given another deadline of September 30 to build such consensus. As things stand now, the CPDCC will not be able to forge consensus on the contentious issues within this deadline as well. Now voices are emerging that it should be given another chance to forge such a consensus which has proved elusive so far. One such voice has been floated by the UCPN (Maoist) which thinks the CPDCC should get one more month, even if that means the amendment of the CA calendar, to forge consensus.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	That should not be done. All lawmakers who had registered to speak on the contentious issues have spoken their mind at the deliberations organized by the CPDCC and consensus still looks a very far cry. So, extending the CPDCC &lsquo;s deadline would be just a waste of time and resources.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	On the other hand, it&rsquo;s been quite some time since the three major parties in CA II &ndash; the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoist) are trying to form a High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) in the name of facilitating the constitution drafting process. It is said that UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Prachanda is eying the post of coordinator of this proposed mechanism. To put the truth bluntly, there is no need for such a mechanism. It is also a game to delay the constitution drafting process by weakening the sovereign CA&rsquo;s role in that process. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The word consensus sounds very sweet to the ear. Everybody&rsquo;s consent on the key crucial issues of the constitution would be an ideal situation. No one would disagree that it is best to settle the contentious issues through consensus. But what if it is not possible? Can the country be kept a hostage for an indefinite period if consensus on contentious issues continues to elude us? &nbsp;Politicians have already squandered seven years in the process of statute drafting, mainly because they tried to forge consensus on the so-called thorny issues. In fact, trying to forge consensus on the contentious issues was the main reason why the first CA was dissolved without delivering the new constitution.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal tried to forge consensus among all political parties on the contentious issues of constitution drafting during the first CA. Series after series of negotiations were held. Marathon meetings were held. But it simply did not work. The country reached nowhere perhaps because we tried to please all forces in the name of finding consensus. This should be why the major parties agreed, even before the second CA elections were held, to follow due process if they failed to reach consensus on contentious issues in CA II. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	That due process means deciding the contentious issues of constitution drafting through voting in the CA, which is the sovereign body to decide such matters. Or, alternatively &ndash; if a more democratic measure is to be adopted &ndash; we can hold a referendum to decide these issues. Here, the politicians can take some lessons from the recent Scotland voting where the Scots decided their fate through a referendum. It is still possible to hold such a referendum on the contentious issues as there still remains more than three months to promulgate the new constitution. But the decision has to be taken swiftly, if the country is to go the referendum way.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, the bottom line is no more precious time should be wasted in the name of forging a consensus.</div>',
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