…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1912', 'article_category_id' => '206', 'title' => 'Colors Unveils Pearl Black Series', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<p> <strong>By TC Correspondent</strong><br /> <br /> Colors Mobile appears to be taking the center stage in the highly competitive Nepali smartphone market. Color’s Xfactor series did very well with its affordable yet high performance phones. The company is once again geared up to shake the market with another high-end series. Teletalk Pvt Ltd, the authorised distributer of Colors Mobile in Nepal unveiled two premium smartphones on Sunday in Kathmandu. K1 Amoled and K2 Full HD are the smartphones launched under the 'Pearl Black Series.'<br /> <br /> <br /> <strong>K2 Full HD</strong><br /> <br /> K2 Full HD is the most powerful smartphone in the 'high-end' category of Colors Mobile till date. The smartphone, which features a unibody design, sports a 5-inch OGS (One-Glass-Solution) AMOLED display with 178 degree view. The phone has a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels and pixel density of 441 ppi. The phone is the slimmest handset manufactured by Colors which is just 6.18mm thick and weighs 128 grams. The handset comes with dual speakers for better sound quality.<br /> <br /> K2 is powered by a 1.5GHz Mediatek quad-core Cortex A7 processor, along with 2 GB of RAM. The phone comes with a 32GB internal memory for data storage. K2 runs on Android jelly bean 4.2.1 with its own custom Amigo UI layer. K2 supports various gestures such as Smart Answer and Smart Wave that allows the user to make calls, answer calls, browse images and use other functions without even touching the phone. A 2020 mAh battery provides ample backup for daily use. K2 sports a 13-megapixel auto focus rear camera (BSI-II sensor), along with an LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. The primary camera of K2 supports 99 continuous shots and 360 degree Panorama shot. Both cameras support 1080p video recording. The price of K2 Full HD is Rs 38,500.<br /> <br /> <br /> <strong>K1 Amoled</strong><br /> <br /> K1 Amoled has an ultra-slim unibody design (just 6.8mm thin), a 4.8-inch super AMOLED screen and a matte finish back panel. K1 houses a 1.5 Ghz Mediatek quad core Cortex A7 processor with 1 GB of RAM. The super AMOLED screen has a resolution of 1280 X 720 pixels with 306 ppi. The specs are more than enough for HD video viewing, gaming and other day-to-day computing tasks .There's no external memory card slot, although the users will get 16 GB of internal memory. All the usual sensors like accelerometer, gyro sensor, ambient light sensor and proximity sensor are present. Similarly, K1 has Wi-Fi AND Bluetooth and for internet connectivity and data sharing. The 2000 mAh battery provides sufficient power backup, depending on the usage. The phone comes with 8 MP BSI-II autofocus LED flash primary camera and 5 MP secondary camera. K1, which runs on Android jelly bean 4.2.1 works on both WCDMA and GSM networks. K1 is priced at Rs 32,000. <br /> </p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-10-01', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'Brands & Technology cover story news & articles, Brands & Technology news & articles from Brands & Technology, Brands & Technology headlines from nepal, Brands & Technology current and latest Brands & Technology news from nepal, Brands & Technology economic news from nepal, nepali Brands & Technolo', 'description' => 'Colors Mobile appears to be taking the center stage in the highly competitive Nepali smartphone market. Color’s X-factor series did very well with its affordable yet high performance phones. The company is once again geared up to shake the market with another high-end series.', 'sortorder' => '1770', 'image' => '1380621660.jpg', 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1905', 'article_category_id' => '99', 'title' => 'Dragonair’s KA Specials Lucky Draw Campaign', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> Dragonair has announced a special promotion for new subscribers of KA Specials between 15 September 2013 and 15 November 2013. KA specials is a free eNewsletter that communicates special offers, fares, promotions and product updates to those who subscribe for it. Each KA Special includes details on current fares offers, holiday packages, latest news on the airline and highlights on different destinations that Dragonair operates to. In this promotion, subscribers get a chance to win Dragonair branded giveaways based on a lucky draw. The gifts include watches, business card holders, travel mugs, aircraft models, jackets, caps, NTC and Ncell free recharge coupons and QFX tickets among others. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-07', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Dragonair has announced a special promotion for new subscribers of KA Specials between 15 September 2013 and 15 November 2013.', 'sortorder' => '1769', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1915', 'article_category_id' => '201', 'title' => 'Product Launch: Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute In Nepali Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<p> Chivas Brothers have Launched Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute Scotch Whisky in the market. The whisky is priced at Rs 300,000 including VAT, and is currently the most expensive alcohol available in the Nepali market.<br /> <br /> Aimed at the Neapli market, 62 Gun Salute will be the flagship product in the Royal Salute range. It is produced from whiskies aged for a minimum 40 years and packaged in bottles created by Dartington Crystal. It is not a limited edition and, whisky stock and demand permitting; Pernod aims to produce 5,000 bottles per year.<br /> <br /> <strong>Product : Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute<br /> <br /> Category : Spirits, Scotch whisky, blended<br /> <br /> Price : Rs 300,000</strong><br /> <br /> </p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-10-01', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'Lifestyle & Fashion cover story news & articles, cover story news & articles from Lifestyle & Fashion, cover story headlines from nepal, Lifestyle & Fashion current and latest cover story news from nepal, Lifestyle & Fashion economic news from nepal, nepali cover story Lifestyle & Fashion economic ', 'description' => 'Chivas Brothers have Launched Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute Scotch Whisky in the market. The whisky is priced at Rs 300,000 including VAT, and is currently the most expensive alcohol available in the Nepali market.', 'sortorder' => '1768', 'image' => '1380623006.jpg', 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1904', 'article_category_id' => '99', 'title' => 'ZETS Holidays For Fuss Free Vacation', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Sujan Tiwari</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Zets Holidays, an outbound tour operator has been offering its holidays packages around the world for the last ten years. The company started in the year 1998 as Zenith Experiences Travel services P Ltd and focused mainly on inbound tourists. Later, in 2003, the company established Zets Holidays to promote outbound holidays in Nepal. According to Mihika Dhakhwa, Managing Director of Zets Holidays, outbound tourism and holiday packages was a relatively new concept in Nepal back then. “Not many Nepalis were taking the holiday packages at that time. It took some for the concept to develop,” says Dhakhwa.</div> <div> </div> <div> As Nepalis are more interested in beach activities, the company started promoting cruise packages. Zets Holidays were one of the first holiday planners in Nepal to introduce cruise holidays. The company is also the only PSA (Preferred Sales Agent) in Nepal for Star Cruises of Malaysia and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL). Through these cruise companies, Zets Holidays provides cruise packages in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and many European locations. The company also offers holiday packages in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, Australia and Europe. The duration of the packages range from a few days to a few weeks. Other services offered by the company include flight booking, hotel booking worldwide, sightseeing tours, travel insurance and </div> <div> visa services. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to Dhakhwa, the trend of Nepalis going for outbound tours is on a constant rise. “Our major customers are families and corporate houses. Corporate houses are taking their employees for incentive tours these days, and that has also helped in our business,” says she. The business rises during the holiday season that is around Dashain and Tihar. According to Dhakhwa, families travel more at this time as there is free time and people can afford the holidays. The company also provides various offers and discounts for the holiday seasons. </div> <div> </div> <div> In the future, Zets Holidays plans to bring in holiday packages in newer detonations around the world. “We are continuously adding new destinations to our holiday packages. New destinations are dependent upon flight connections, visa probability and other factors,” informed Dhakhwa. According to her, limited number of flights in Nepal is the major problem to promote new destinations. “If there are more flights and new airlines, there will be new connections and we will be able to introduce new destinations,” says Dhakhwa. </div> <div> </div> <div> Zets Holidays focuses on providing ‘Fuss Free Fun Vacations’, and has been doing so for the last decade. Dhakhwa says that there are numerous travel and holiday companies in the market that compete in price. “We do not compete in price, but we compete to provide our customers with complete satisfaction,” says she. According to her, the company will continue to provide great holidays at an affordable price in the days </div> <div> to come. </div> <div> </div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/tr.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 65px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px;" /></div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-08', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Zets Holidays, an outbound tour operator has been offering its holidays packages around the world for the last ten years. The company started in the year 1998 as Zenith Experiences Travel services P Ltd and focused mainly on inbound tourists.', 'sortorder' => '1767', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1903', 'article_category_id' => '152', 'title' => 'Focus Briefs (30 September - 3 October 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Western Union Extends Mobile Money Transfer Service to Nepal</strong></span></div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/wu.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 97px;" />The Western Union Company has unveiled the launch of a mobile money transfer service that enables consumers to send money to a mobile wallet in Nepal. The mobile money transfer service to Nepal integrates with eSewa, a digital wallet platform in Nepal with approximately 200,000 registered users. The functionality has been developed through the partnership of Western Union, its Agent Nabil Bank and FonePay, the owner of eSewa. Consumers in Nepal who subscribe to the eSewa mobile wallet are able to receive a Western Union Money Transfer transaction on their mobile phones or through eSewa's web interface. International money transfers for mobile pick-up can be initiated at westernunion.com in 23 countries or at participating Western Union Agent locations worldwide. Nabil Bank, a joint venture financial institution of Nepal, was founded in July 1984. Nabil Bank is equipped with ATMs, credit cards, Internet and Mobile Banking and uses Core Banking System from Infosys Technologies System, Bangalore India. FonePay is a mobile financial service and e-commerce company in Nepal. It specializes in providing digital payment and money transfer services via mobile and/or the Internet. eSewa is a digital payment portal in Nepal, developed by F1 Soft International and owned by FonePay, that enables financial transactions via web-based or mobile-based services.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>eSewa Launches eSewaZone</strong></span></div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/es.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 62px;" />Online payment gateway eSewa has launched eSewaZone to make the access of eSewa services easier to customers. According to the company, this new service allows customers to use eSewa services even if they do not have a bank account. eSewa is the first company in Nepal to allow its clients use online services like sending and receiving money, telephone bill payment including recharge cards for post-paid and pre-paid, ADSL bill payment, utility bill payments, airline ticket purchases, school and college fee payments, payment for movie hall tickets, shopping, restaurant bill payments, and topping up credit cards. “Earlier, people need to have accounts at our partner banks to use eSewa services. With the launch of eSewaZone, customers can use our services even if they don´t have bank account,” said Asgar Ali, CEO of Fonepay that operates eSewaZone. Ali said the company has formed a network of three super agents in Kathmandu and 100 agents throughout Nepal. “We will be having 10 super agents in Kathmandu and 1,000 agents throughout the country with a minimum of three agents in each district within 2 months,” said Ali.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>SBI Introduced “Express Remit”</strong></span></div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/sbi.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 105px;" />Nepal SBI Bank Limited, jointly with State Bank of India, has introduced a robust Electronic Fund transfer Mechanism (EFT) namely "SBI-Nepal Express Remit" to provide a faster and convenient mode of remittance facility for Nepali migrants in India by disbursing cash for such remittances to beneficiaries residing all across Nepal through Electronic Fund Transfer Mechanism (EFT). According to officials at SBI, this service can be availed for all branches of the State Bank of India.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The Western Union Company has unveiled the launch of a mobile money transfer service that enables consumers to send money to a mobile wallet in Nepal. The mobile money transfer service to Nepal integrates with eSewa, a digital wallet platform in Nepal with approximately 200,000 registered users.', 'sortorder' => '1766', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1907', 'article_category_id' => '99', 'title' => 'Oktoberfest 2013 At Nanglo', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> Nanglo Café and Bar at Durbarmarg is celebrating Oktoberfest 2013. The event is jointly organized by Nanglo Café and Carlsberg. Oktoberfest is Germany’s 16-day Bavarian tradition of beer drinking. The festival will run from 21 September to 6 October.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nanglo Café and Bar at Durbarmarg is celebrating Oktoberfest 2013. The event is jointly organized by Nanglo Café and Carlsberg.', 'sortorder' => '1765', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1906', 'article_category_id' => '99', 'title' => 'Indrajatra Celebrated At The Village Cafe', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> The Village Cafe organized an event named ‘Indrajatra Food and Fashion Galore On the occasion of Indrajatra. The event featured live traditional band, Lakhey dance, exhibition of fashion products from SAARC countries and Newari food with special 15 dish Newari feast. Sadichha Shrestha, former Miss Nepal and brand ambassador of Sabah Nepal was also present at the event. </div> <div> </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The Village Cafe organized an event named ‘Indrajatra Food and Fashion Galore On the occasion of Indrajatra', 'sortorder' => '1764', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1902', 'article_category_id' => '153', 'title' => 'E-commerce Talks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <span style="font-size:16px;">The third edition of Money Expo for 2013 is being held in capital in the end of October. Aiming to promote investment opportunities and wealth protection strategies, this expo is the largest finance and investment show in Nepal. An interaction programme ‘Demystifying New Mode of Trade and Payments’ was conducted by New Business Age on September 19 as headway to the Expo. This interaction was dedicated to clear the existing technology that has been replaced by new technologies in the fields of trade and payments. Experts from banks and financial institutions presented their opinion on the current status of the financial sector. <strong>Excerpts: </strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> <strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="Biswas Dhakal" src="/userfiles/images/bs.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 243px;" />Biswas Dhakal</span></strong></div> <div> <strong><span style="font-size:14px;">President, F1Soft International Ltd</span></strong></div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Our main objective is to facilitate customers with new and easy services. Other companies also carry similar objectives to make life easier for customers through digital transactions. Every transaction should be a digital transaction, be it large banking transactions or daily life transactions. We have initiated the online transaction service with this same purpose. This brings money to the banking sector and also increases investment. Remittance, which has covered large areas in the Nepali economy, is also brought to the country through online systems. The procedure of an online system is very easy and can be used by everyone. It can be done by simply sending an SMS and people are seen to be interested towards this service. But due to various reasons, the popularity of this system has not increased yet. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The main problem of the digital system is a lack of its credibility among people. But the system is totally secured from our side. We have adopted international norms for security in the system. Our first priority is to provide secured transactions and we have not received any complaints regarding security and services from our customers.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The main obstacle for digital transaction in reference to the worldwide global practice is digital illiteracy. Moreover, in an education deprived country like ours, the problem is huge. So it is impossible to achieve hundred per cent digital coverage in Nepal. However, our concept is to move from developed to less developed areas. For example, 50 per cent families of Kathmandu have their representatives abroad. A major responsibility for those abroad is to send money to their family. If we can convince the people in Kathmandu towards online transaction, they can opt for a digital medium as their mode of transaction. Moreover, the family in Kathmandu can also use an online medium to send money and other materials abroad. We can then enter rural areas as well. Using personal brand ambassadors rather than our individual effort for promotion would be more effective.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>There is a misconception that few government policies have created obstacles. However, if all processes are completed, it is not that difficult to work. Everyone involved in transaction has their own process. The Nepal Rastra Bank also has its own policy. The foreign exchange department also has its own policy. We cannot exist for long in this sector if we bypass their policies. According to the policy of the Nepal Rastra Bank, a private organization cannot hold funds of customers. So, we appointed banks for the payment and provided the custody of customers’ money to them. Similarly, foreign currencies are also handled by banks. So, there are no hurdles due to rules and regulations if they are handled properly.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> </p> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><img alt="Samir Vajracharya" src="/userfiles/images/sv(1).jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 243px;" />Samir Vajracharya</strong></span></div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Chief Technology Officer, Smart Choice Technology</strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Smart Choice Technology (SCT) started in 2001 AD when there were hardly 4-5 ATMs and 10,000 cards. Currently, there are 15, 000 cards under the SCT network only and more than 18,000 people with access to cash. A total of 85 financial institutions are affiliated with SCT. We have focused on ATM transactions and Point of Sale (POS), mainly. There is a vast difference in the situation now and then. Our vision is to provide easy access to financial activities to the people and we have been successful in our mission to a large extent. This does not mean that this is the line of satisfaction as a large number of people hesitate to use ATMs still. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The Nepali market is not ready for e-services, which has been the main hurdle for increment in the online market. We should be able to make people aware about the importance of online transactions so that their interest level towards this service increases.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The government is not being able to lead this sector which is also seen as a major problem. The government should introduce some compulsory regulations regarding online services to increase people’s involvement in this sector. This is only due to the contribution and dedication of the private sector that online services have reached up to this level. But without support from the government, the online sector cannot sustain for long. The private sector is profit-oriented, but if the government sector takes charge then this sector can be service-oriented.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Though the issue of security is big in this sector, SCT is very much concerned about the security issue and has worked on it. Our cards are based on pin codes which are the safest medium in this sector in comparison to a signature as it can be copied. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Customers have to face problems because of problems in network but these problems are not solely from theSCT network. There are various service providers including telecom, banks and others involved with it. This is difficult to manage as network problems may arise anywhere anytime. People should be aware of this.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Poorly developed infrastructures and a lack of skilled manpower are also major obstacles in the context of Nepal. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>We are also facing problems because of political instability and power cuts. The companies from foreign countries are interested to work with us which is a positive sign for us but these vital problems are blocking them to work with us. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Similarly, there is a lack of government policy. The central bank should provide a benchmark to other banks for e-payment. It is difficult for the private sector to work without a benchmark. We are discussing with concerned authorities to solve these issues.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> </p> </div> <div> <img alt="Rabin Kumar Shrestha" src="/userfiles/images/rks.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 244px;" /><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Rabin Kumar Shrestha</strong></span></div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Chief Technical Officer, PayBill</strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>We are making maximum efforts for improvement of the online sector but we are not getting results accordingly. There are various reasons for this. Firstly, people are not aware of this system. Most people still believe that the internet is only limited to the social media. They are not aware that various transactions can also be done through the internet. These people can be attracted to this sector if they are made aware.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The issue of security is also a major concern but this system is very much secured. Customers should send two smses to transact from PEBIL. After the first sms, we send an alpha code to the customer and after that the customer must send both the alpha code and pin through sms. Only after this will they will be able to transact. So, this way our system is secured but people are still not convinced.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> </p> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><img alt="Subas Dhungana" src="/userfiles/images/sd.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 244px;" />Subash Dhungana</strong></span></div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Executive, iPay</strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>iPay is an online payment system. We have been operating Muncha.com since 2002. Our services were limited to gift packages for long though we were not satisfied with the results. But some positive signs are emerging now based on which we are expanding our services. We have moved towards bringing remittance and media sites for downloading files along with online shopping. We have made agreements with seven banks for this purpose recently. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The main reason behind the failure of e-commerce sites is the failure of payment to customers. For online payment, there are e-sewa, PayBill, SCT, credit card and our own production iPay which are associated with seven banks. But if the customer is asked to pay online, then s/he makes various excuses as they are not aware of these services. So cards of Nepali banks should get international validity for easy access to online payment. Around 20-25 people register in Muncha.com but at the end, they have problems with the payment system. Therefore, an easy way for payment should be initiated with support from the government or the central bank. Though these issues are discussed, we are lacking behind in implementation. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>We have not faced any problem regarding security, nor have we received any complaints. We are practicing international norms of security in our system. We can’t say that the online medium is hundred percent secured but problems have not occurred yet. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Political instability is also main problem for this sector. The number of internet users has increased, but political stability is must for the sector’s rapid growth. Political stability brings employment, and it is when people are engaged and busy that they start engaging in online activities. </div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> </p> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><img alt="Bal K. Joshi" src="/userfiles/images/bkj.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 243px;" />Bal K. Joshi</strong></span></div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>President, MACHNET</strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Nepal has immense potential for e-commerce. Though there is not much expansion in this sector, the condition has not worsened. There are a lot of websites conducting e-commerce and their businesses have increased through the medium. The expansion of the market for e-commerce depends upon target customers and identifying their needs.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The main problem at present is not being able to invite international transactions to our country. PayPal is popular for this at national and international levels. But there are some procedural problems in the use of PayPal digital transaction in Nepal. The customers have to pay an extra fee to send the money. For example, if a person has to send 2000 dollars then s/he will have to pay around 2500 dollars. So, there is no prospect for using PayPal to expand the digital transaction market in Nepal. We are introducing a new platform related to money transfer for the first time in Nepal to make it easier for Nepali customers to transfer money from abroad. </div> <div> </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-08', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The third edition of Money Expo for 2013 is being held in capital in the end of October. Aiming to promote investment opportunities and wealth protection strategies, this expo is the largest finance and investment show in Nepal. An interaction programme ‘Demystifying New Mode of Trade and Payments’ was conducted by New Business Age on September 19 as headway to the Expo.', 'sortorder' => '1763', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1901', 'article_category_id' => '108', 'title' => 'Money Matter News In Brief (30 September - 3 October 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Vibor, Reliable Remit Ink Agreement</strong></span></div> <div> Reliable Remit Service, operated by Reliable Remit Ltd, has inked a deal recently with Vibor Bank following which customers can now send and receive their money from six branches of the Vibor bank and 1600 agents of Reliable Remit. CEO of Reliance Finance, Narayan Bahadur Lohani and CEO of Vibor Bank, Narayan Bahadur Lohani signed an agreement of partnership last week.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>21pc Dividend of Kamana </strong></span></div> <div> Kamana Development Bank has said it will distribute a total of 21 percent dividend on the net profit of Fiscal Year 2012-13. According to the press release of the bank, the meeting of Board of Directors (BoD) held last Monday (September 23) decided to distribute 15 per cent bonus and 6 per cent cash dividend. Umesh Kumar Acharya, CEO of the Bank, informed that the dividend will be distributed following the approval of Nepal Rastra Bank and endorsement from the Annual General Meeting of the company. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Siddhartha Brings Visa Prepaid Travel Card</strong></span></div> <div> Siddhartha Bank will distribute free Visa Prepaid Travel Card to its customers as part of its ‘Utsav Scheme’. The Bank has informed that the customers can get such cards from any of its branches upon filling up a form by November 30. The press release of the bank on the launch of a new service of Card states that the customers can make transactions through Visa ATM and POS machine from anywhere in the world.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>City, NCC Sign Agreement</strong></span></div> <div> City Express Money Transfer and NCC Bank Ltd have signed an agreement on providing the remittance service. Under the agreement, money remitted from abroad can be collected from any branch of the NCC Bank. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Grand’s ‘Special Saving Account’</strong></span></div> <div> Grand Bank Nepal Ltd has started ‘Grand Special Saving Account’ on the occasion of Dashain and Tihar festivals. The minimum balance for the account would be of Rs 100,000. The Bank has said that it will provide 7 per cent per annum interest rate on daily balance. According to the press release of the bank, it will provide 50 per cent discount on charge for getting a Draft and Balance Certificate. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>United Hands Over Insurance Claim Payment</strong></span></div> <div> United Insurance Company Ltd has made the highest payment of insurance so far. The Company has handed a payment worth Rs 589 million to the insured party representative Narottam Kumar Mehta from the Chaudhary Group amid a programme held in the capital last Tuesday. According to the CEO of the insurance company, Bir Bikram Raymajhi, the payment was made as a compensation of the loss that the insured company incurred due to fire accidents in the company’s Satungal based CG Impex Pvt Ltd, EOL Pvtd Ltd and CG electronics Pvt Ltd last year. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Vibor Capital Appointed as Mission Dev’s Registrar </strong></span></div> <div> Mission Development Bank has appointed the Vibor Capital Ltd as its share registrar. Bank’s CEO Hari Prashad Ghimire and Vibor Capital’s CEO Shankar Kalikote has signed on the appointment letter to this effect. The Company’s shares were listed in the Nepal Stock Exchange recently.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Reliable Remit Service, operated by Reliable Remit Ltd, has inked a deal recently with Vibor Bank following which customers can now send and receive their money from six branches of the Vibor bank and 1600 agents of Reliable Remit. CEO of Reliance Finance, Narayan Bahadur Lohani and CEO of Vibor Bank, Narayan Bahadur Lohani signed an agreement of partnership last week.', 'sortorder' => '1762', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1900', 'article_category_id' => '109', 'title' => 'Regulatory Board Fines Prime Life CEO', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> The Insurance Board (IB) fined the Chief Executive Officer of Prime Life Insurance Company, Resta Jha, Rs 10,000 last Wednesday for violating its directive regarding the cap on management expenses. </div> <div> </div> <div> The IB has fined him in charge of spending more than the amount for management expenditure stated in the IB’s regulation. </div> <div> </div> <div> As per the directive of the IB, life insurance companies can spend only up to six percent of the annual gross premium collected from new insurance policies on guest entertainment, business promotion, advertisement, and agent incentives. However, the company has been found to have spent more than 16 per cent on the four areas. “Action has been taken against the CEO of the company,” informed the IB’s chartered accountant Santosh Prasain.</div> <div> </div> <div> Likewise, the IB has also directed the company to put the excess of management expenses on the company’s books in a way that it is borne only by the shareholder.</div> <div> </div> <div> “We made this directive to the company so that the insured parties do not have to bear the liability,” said Prasain. </div> <div> </div> <div> Prasain also said that the IB has not yet decided to conduct a due diligence audit (DDA) of the company. The board has taken action against the company while the company’s staff are accusing CEO Jha of embezzling Rs 3.27 million. Prasain said that the Board will only investigate the case after the complaints is received by the Board. “We will investigate the case if a complaint is lodged with the Board,” he said. Investigation could also be initiated if any malpractices are found in the financial report, he added.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><img alt="Resta Jha" src="/userfiles/images/rj.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 100px; height: 135px;" />Jha Reappointed </strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> Resta Jha, alleged for violating directives regarding expenses, has been reappointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the Prime Life Insurance Company Ltd. The meeting of the Board of Directors (BoD) held last Monday (September 23) appointed Jha for a second consecutive term of four years, informed the company’s chairman Pramod Kumar Karki.</div> </div> <p> </p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The Insurance Board (IB) fined the Chief Executive Officer of Prime Life Insurance Company, Resta Jha, Rs 10,000 last Wednesday for violating its directive regarding the cap on management expenses.', 'sortorder' => '1761', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1899', 'article_category_id' => '109', 'title' => 'Fourth Reverse Repo In Three Weeks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <img alt="Nepal Rastra Bank" src="/userfiles/images/rr.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;width: 200px; height: 205px;" />Banking and financial institutions (BFIs) bid for securities worth Rs 21.85 billion for the fourth round of reverse repo held by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) last Wednesday. According to the NRB, it has received sealed quotations from 21 BFIs amounting to Rs 21.85 billion for a reverse repo issued by the NRB worth Rs 10 billion. </div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) issued a reverse repo last Wednesday for the fourth time in a three-week period. The NRB has issued the reverse repo worth Rs 10 billion this time in a bid to absorb excess liquidity from the financial system. Earlier on September 4 and September 10, the NRB had held a seven-day reverse repo worth Rs 5 billion and Rs 10 billion, respectively. The first reverse repo was held at 0.08 per cent weighted average discount rate. The second was held at 0.06 per cent. </div> <div> </div> <div> Likewise, the NRB had also conducted an outright purchase auction for securities worth Rs 8.5 billion on September 20 at 0.04 per cent weighted average discount rate. Over bidding for the reverse repo is seen to indicate excess liquidity and lack of investment opportunities.</div> <div> </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '0000-00-00', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Banking and financial institutions (BFIs) bid for securities worth Rs 21.85 billion for the fourth round of reverse repo held by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) last Wednesday. According to the NRB, it has received sealed quotations from 21 BFIs amounting to Rs 21.85 billion for a reverse repo issued by the NRB worth Rs 10 billion.', 'sortorder' => '1760', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1898', 'article_category_id' => '109', 'title' => 'Nepse Remains Constant', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Sagar Ghimire</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) closed last week 0.19 points lower compared to the close of the first day of that week. It had peaked at 3.64 points as Wednesday while the lowest was at 7.47 on Monday.</div> <div> </div> <div> The investment has flown towards the primary market with some companies’ opening of initial public offerings (IPO). The secondary market has borne the brunt of investors’ rush towards the primary market. </div> <div> </div> <div> On the other hand, positive macro indicators of the finance sector like excess liquidity in the market, dividend announcements of banks and financial institutions, etc have helped the Nepse index to move upward. Stock analysts say these opposite trends have made the Nepse index relatively constant. </div> <div> </div> <div> Though the Nepse index declined on the first (September 22) and second (September 23) days by 7.47 (closing at 541.51) and 3.2 points (closing at 538.31), respectively, the third day and fourth day saw it increase by 3.64 and 1.4 points, respectively. The share market observed a fall again by 1.65 points on the last trading day of the week. </div> <div> </div> <div> Among the sub-indices, the Hydropower sector saw the highest increment by 39.78 points, closing at 1306.76, while the Insurance sector lost the most by 18.74 points, closing at 1304.61. Likewise, Hotel, Finance and Development Bank sectors sub-indices also increased during the week. It was Manufacturing, Other and Commercial Banks sectors that were losers in the secondary market last week. There was no change in the Trading sector during the week.</div> <div> </div> <div> Twenty million, fifty-nine thousand five hundred and thirty-two unit shares of 132 companies worth Rs 546.08 million were traded in 8026 transactions at Nepse. </div> <div> </div> <div> Kailash Development Bank topped the capital market last week in terms of transaction amount (Rs 49.7 million) and units of shares traded (237,890). Likewise, Mega Bank was at the forefront in the stock market for its number of transactions (1487).</div> <div> </div> <div> <img alt="Sectors" src="/userfiles/images/sectors%20(Copy).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 144px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 15px;" /></div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <div> </div> <div> <strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Nepse on Sunday</span></strong></div> <div> Nepse index inclined 0.16 point on the first day of this week (Sunday September 29) closing at 541.86. </div> <div> </div> <div> The secondary market saw a total of 117.6 million turnovers through 1661 transactions of 108 companies. Sub-indices of Hotel, Hydropower, Insurance and Other sectors observed the gain, while Banking, Development Bank and Finance sectors declined on the opening day of the trading week. The Hotels sector surged the highest by 24.67 points closing at 757.74. The Banking sector plunged to lowest by 2.44 with closing at 513.97 points.</div> </div> <p> </p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-07', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) closed last week 0.19 points lower compared to the close of the first day of that week. It had peaked at 3.64 points as Wednesday while the lowest was at 7.47 on Monday.', 'sortorder' => '1759', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1897', 'article_category_id' => '110', 'title' => 'Top Ten Losers (23 - 29 September 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '0000-00-00', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Top Ten Losers', 'sortorder' => '1758', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1896', 'article_category_id' => '111', 'title' => 'Top Ten Gainers (23 - 29 September 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '0000-00-00', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Top Ten Gainers', 'sortorder' => '1757', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1895', 'article_category_id' => '113', 'title' => 'US Dollar Exchange Rate At Local Market (23 - 29 September 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '0000-00-00', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'US Dollar Exchange Rate At Local Market', 'sortorder' => '1756', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1912', 'article_category_id' => '206', 'title' => 'Colors Unveils Pearl Black Series', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<p> <strong>By TC Correspondent</strong><br /> <br /> Colors Mobile appears to be taking the center stage in the highly competitive Nepali smartphone market. Color’s Xfactor series did very well with its affordable yet high performance phones. The company is once again geared up to shake the market with another high-end series. Teletalk Pvt Ltd, the authorised distributer of Colors Mobile in Nepal unveiled two premium smartphones on Sunday in Kathmandu. K1 Amoled and K2 Full HD are the smartphones launched under the 'Pearl Black Series.'<br /> <br /> <br /> <strong>K2 Full HD</strong><br /> <br /> K2 Full HD is the most powerful smartphone in the 'high-end' category of Colors Mobile till date. The smartphone, which features a unibody design, sports a 5-inch OGS (One-Glass-Solution) AMOLED display with 178 degree view. The phone has a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels and pixel density of 441 ppi. The phone is the slimmest handset manufactured by Colors which is just 6.18mm thick and weighs 128 grams. The handset comes with dual speakers for better sound quality.<br /> <br /> K2 is powered by a 1.5GHz Mediatek quad-core Cortex A7 processor, along with 2 GB of RAM. The phone comes with a 32GB internal memory for data storage. K2 runs on Android jelly bean 4.2.1 with its own custom Amigo UI layer. K2 supports various gestures such as Smart Answer and Smart Wave that allows the user to make calls, answer calls, browse images and use other functions without even touching the phone. A 2020 mAh battery provides ample backup for daily use. K2 sports a 13-megapixel auto focus rear camera (BSI-II sensor), along with an LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. The primary camera of K2 supports 99 continuous shots and 360 degree Panorama shot. Both cameras support 1080p video recording. The price of K2 Full HD is Rs 38,500.<br /> <br /> <br /> <strong>K1 Amoled</strong><br /> <br /> K1 Amoled has an ultra-slim unibody design (just 6.8mm thin), a 4.8-inch super AMOLED screen and a matte finish back panel. K1 houses a 1.5 Ghz Mediatek quad core Cortex A7 processor with 1 GB of RAM. The super AMOLED screen has a resolution of 1280 X 720 pixels with 306 ppi. The specs are more than enough for HD video viewing, gaming and other day-to-day computing tasks .There's no external memory card slot, although the users will get 16 GB of internal memory. All the usual sensors like accelerometer, gyro sensor, ambient light sensor and proximity sensor are present. Similarly, K1 has Wi-Fi AND Bluetooth and for internet connectivity and data sharing. The 2000 mAh battery provides sufficient power backup, depending on the usage. The phone comes with 8 MP BSI-II autofocus LED flash primary camera and 5 MP secondary camera. K1, which runs on Android jelly bean 4.2.1 works on both WCDMA and GSM networks. K1 is priced at Rs 32,000. <br /> </p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-10-01', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'Brands & Technology cover story news & articles, Brands & Technology news & articles from Brands & Technology, Brands & Technology headlines from nepal, Brands & Technology current and latest Brands & Technology news from nepal, Brands & Technology economic news from nepal, nepali Brands & Technolo', 'description' => 'Colors Mobile appears to be taking the center stage in the highly competitive Nepali smartphone market. Color’s X-factor series did very well with its affordable yet high performance phones. The company is once again geared up to shake the market with another high-end series.', 'sortorder' => '1770', 'image' => '1380621660.jpg', 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1905', 'article_category_id' => '99', 'title' => 'Dragonair’s KA Specials Lucky Draw Campaign', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> Dragonair has announced a special promotion for new subscribers of KA Specials between 15 September 2013 and 15 November 2013. KA specials is a free eNewsletter that communicates special offers, fares, promotions and product updates to those who subscribe for it. Each KA Special includes details on current fares offers, holiday packages, latest news on the airline and highlights on different destinations that Dragonair operates to. In this promotion, subscribers get a chance to win Dragonair branded giveaways based on a lucky draw. The gifts include watches, business card holders, travel mugs, aircraft models, jackets, caps, NTC and Ncell free recharge coupons and QFX tickets among others. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-07', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Dragonair has announced a special promotion for new subscribers of KA Specials between 15 September 2013 and 15 November 2013.', 'sortorder' => '1769', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1915', 'article_category_id' => '201', 'title' => 'Product Launch: Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute In Nepali Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<p> Chivas Brothers have Launched Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute Scotch Whisky in the market. The whisky is priced at Rs 300,000 including VAT, and is currently the most expensive alcohol available in the Nepali market.<br /> <br /> Aimed at the Neapli market, 62 Gun Salute will be the flagship product in the Royal Salute range. It is produced from whiskies aged for a minimum 40 years and packaged in bottles created by Dartington Crystal. It is not a limited edition and, whisky stock and demand permitting; Pernod aims to produce 5,000 bottles per year.<br /> <br /> <strong>Product : Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute<br /> <br /> Category : Spirits, Scotch whisky, blended<br /> <br /> Price : Rs 300,000</strong><br /> <br /> </p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-10-01', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'Lifestyle & Fashion cover story news & articles, cover story news & articles from Lifestyle & Fashion, cover story headlines from nepal, Lifestyle & Fashion current and latest cover story news from nepal, Lifestyle & Fashion economic news from nepal, nepali cover story Lifestyle & Fashion economic ', 'description' => 'Chivas Brothers have Launched Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute Scotch Whisky in the market. The whisky is priced at Rs 300,000 including VAT, and is currently the most expensive alcohol available in the Nepali market.', 'sortorder' => '1768', 'image' => '1380623006.jpg', 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1904', 'article_category_id' => '99', 'title' => 'ZETS Holidays For Fuss Free Vacation', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Sujan Tiwari</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Zets Holidays, an outbound tour operator has been offering its holidays packages around the world for the last ten years. The company started in the year 1998 as Zenith Experiences Travel services P Ltd and focused mainly on inbound tourists. Later, in 2003, the company established Zets Holidays to promote outbound holidays in Nepal. According to Mihika Dhakhwa, Managing Director of Zets Holidays, outbound tourism and holiday packages was a relatively new concept in Nepal back then. “Not many Nepalis were taking the holiday packages at that time. It took some for the concept to develop,” says Dhakhwa.</div> <div> </div> <div> As Nepalis are more interested in beach activities, the company started promoting cruise packages. Zets Holidays were one of the first holiday planners in Nepal to introduce cruise holidays. The company is also the only PSA (Preferred Sales Agent) in Nepal for Star Cruises of Malaysia and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL). Through these cruise companies, Zets Holidays provides cruise packages in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and many European locations. The company also offers holiday packages in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, Australia and Europe. The duration of the packages range from a few days to a few weeks. Other services offered by the company include flight booking, hotel booking worldwide, sightseeing tours, travel insurance and </div> <div> visa services. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to Dhakhwa, the trend of Nepalis going for outbound tours is on a constant rise. “Our major customers are families and corporate houses. Corporate houses are taking their employees for incentive tours these days, and that has also helped in our business,” says she. The business rises during the holiday season that is around Dashain and Tihar. According to Dhakhwa, families travel more at this time as there is free time and people can afford the holidays. The company also provides various offers and discounts for the holiday seasons. </div> <div> </div> <div> In the future, Zets Holidays plans to bring in holiday packages in newer detonations around the world. “We are continuously adding new destinations to our holiday packages. New destinations are dependent upon flight connections, visa probability and other factors,” informed Dhakhwa. According to her, limited number of flights in Nepal is the major problem to promote new destinations. “If there are more flights and new airlines, there will be new connections and we will be able to introduce new destinations,” says Dhakhwa. </div> <div> </div> <div> Zets Holidays focuses on providing ‘Fuss Free Fun Vacations’, and has been doing so for the last decade. Dhakhwa says that there are numerous travel and holiday companies in the market that compete in price. “We do not compete in price, but we compete to provide our customers with complete satisfaction,” says she. According to her, the company will continue to provide great holidays at an affordable price in the days </div> <div> to come. </div> <div> </div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/tr.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 65px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px;" /></div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-08', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Zets Holidays, an outbound tour operator has been offering its holidays packages around the world for the last ten years. The company started in the year 1998 as Zenith Experiences Travel services P Ltd and focused mainly on inbound tourists.', 'sortorder' => '1767', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1903', 'article_category_id' => '152', 'title' => 'Focus Briefs (30 September - 3 October 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Western Union Extends Mobile Money Transfer Service to Nepal</strong></span></div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/wu.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 97px;" />The Western Union Company has unveiled the launch of a mobile money transfer service that enables consumers to send money to a mobile wallet in Nepal. The mobile money transfer service to Nepal integrates with eSewa, a digital wallet platform in Nepal with approximately 200,000 registered users. The functionality has been developed through the partnership of Western Union, its Agent Nabil Bank and FonePay, the owner of eSewa. Consumers in Nepal who subscribe to the eSewa mobile wallet are able to receive a Western Union Money Transfer transaction on their mobile phones or through eSewa's web interface. International money transfers for mobile pick-up can be initiated at westernunion.com in 23 countries or at participating Western Union Agent locations worldwide. Nabil Bank, a joint venture financial institution of Nepal, was founded in July 1984. Nabil Bank is equipped with ATMs, credit cards, Internet and Mobile Banking and uses Core Banking System from Infosys Technologies System, Bangalore India. FonePay is a mobile financial service and e-commerce company in Nepal. It specializes in providing digital payment and money transfer services via mobile and/or the Internet. eSewa is a digital payment portal in Nepal, developed by F1 Soft International and owned by FonePay, that enables financial transactions via web-based or mobile-based services.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>eSewa Launches eSewaZone</strong></span></div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/es.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 62px;" />Online payment gateway eSewa has launched eSewaZone to make the access of eSewa services easier to customers. According to the company, this new service allows customers to use eSewa services even if they do not have a bank account. eSewa is the first company in Nepal to allow its clients use online services like sending and receiving money, telephone bill payment including recharge cards for post-paid and pre-paid, ADSL bill payment, utility bill payments, airline ticket purchases, school and college fee payments, payment for movie hall tickets, shopping, restaurant bill payments, and topping up credit cards. “Earlier, people need to have accounts at our partner banks to use eSewa services. With the launch of eSewaZone, customers can use our services even if they don´t have bank account,” said Asgar Ali, CEO of Fonepay that operates eSewaZone. Ali said the company has formed a network of three super agents in Kathmandu and 100 agents throughout Nepal. “We will be having 10 super agents in Kathmandu and 1,000 agents throughout the country with a minimum of three agents in each district within 2 months,” said Ali.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>SBI Introduced “Express Remit”</strong></span></div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/sbi.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 105px;" />Nepal SBI Bank Limited, jointly with State Bank of India, has introduced a robust Electronic Fund transfer Mechanism (EFT) namely "SBI-Nepal Express Remit" to provide a faster and convenient mode of remittance facility for Nepali migrants in India by disbursing cash for such remittances to beneficiaries residing all across Nepal through Electronic Fund Transfer Mechanism (EFT). According to officials at SBI, this service can be availed for all branches of the State Bank of India.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The Western Union Company has unveiled the launch of a mobile money transfer service that enables consumers to send money to a mobile wallet in Nepal. The mobile money transfer service to Nepal integrates with eSewa, a digital wallet platform in Nepal with approximately 200,000 registered users.', 'sortorder' => '1766', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1907', 'article_category_id' => '99', 'title' => 'Oktoberfest 2013 At Nanglo', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> Nanglo Café and Bar at Durbarmarg is celebrating Oktoberfest 2013. The event is jointly organized by Nanglo Café and Carlsberg. Oktoberfest is Germany’s 16-day Bavarian tradition of beer drinking. The festival will run from 21 September to 6 October.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nanglo Café and Bar at Durbarmarg is celebrating Oktoberfest 2013. The event is jointly organized by Nanglo Café and Carlsberg.', 'sortorder' => '1765', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1906', 'article_category_id' => '99', 'title' => 'Indrajatra Celebrated At The Village Cafe', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> The Village Cafe organized an event named ‘Indrajatra Food and Fashion Galore On the occasion of Indrajatra. The event featured live traditional band, Lakhey dance, exhibition of fashion products from SAARC countries and Newari food with special 15 dish Newari feast. Sadichha Shrestha, former Miss Nepal and brand ambassador of Sabah Nepal was also present at the event. </div> <div> </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The Village Cafe organized an event named ‘Indrajatra Food and Fashion Galore On the occasion of Indrajatra', 'sortorder' => '1764', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1902', 'article_category_id' => '153', 'title' => 'E-commerce Talks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <span style="font-size:16px;">The third edition of Money Expo for 2013 is being held in capital in the end of October. Aiming to promote investment opportunities and wealth protection strategies, this expo is the largest finance and investment show in Nepal. An interaction programme ‘Demystifying New Mode of Trade and Payments’ was conducted by New Business Age on September 19 as headway to the Expo. This interaction was dedicated to clear the existing technology that has been replaced by new technologies in the fields of trade and payments. Experts from banks and financial institutions presented their opinion on the current status of the financial sector. <strong>Excerpts: </strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> <strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="Biswas Dhakal" src="/userfiles/images/bs.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 243px;" />Biswas Dhakal</span></strong></div> <div> <strong><span style="font-size:14px;">President, F1Soft International Ltd</span></strong></div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Our main objective is to facilitate customers with new and easy services. Other companies also carry similar objectives to make life easier for customers through digital transactions. Every transaction should be a digital transaction, be it large banking transactions or daily life transactions. We have initiated the online transaction service with this same purpose. This brings money to the banking sector and also increases investment. Remittance, which has covered large areas in the Nepali economy, is also brought to the country through online systems. The procedure of an online system is very easy and can be used by everyone. It can be done by simply sending an SMS and people are seen to be interested towards this service. But due to various reasons, the popularity of this system has not increased yet. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The main problem of the digital system is a lack of its credibility among people. But the system is totally secured from our side. We have adopted international norms for security in the system. Our first priority is to provide secured transactions and we have not received any complaints regarding security and services from our customers.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The main obstacle for digital transaction in reference to the worldwide global practice is digital illiteracy. Moreover, in an education deprived country like ours, the problem is huge. So it is impossible to achieve hundred per cent digital coverage in Nepal. However, our concept is to move from developed to less developed areas. For example, 50 per cent families of Kathmandu have their representatives abroad. A major responsibility for those abroad is to send money to their family. If we can convince the people in Kathmandu towards online transaction, they can opt for a digital medium as their mode of transaction. Moreover, the family in Kathmandu can also use an online medium to send money and other materials abroad. We can then enter rural areas as well. Using personal brand ambassadors rather than our individual effort for promotion would be more effective.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>There is a misconception that few government policies have created obstacles. However, if all processes are completed, it is not that difficult to work. Everyone involved in transaction has their own process. The Nepal Rastra Bank also has its own policy. The foreign exchange department also has its own policy. We cannot exist for long in this sector if we bypass their policies. According to the policy of the Nepal Rastra Bank, a private organization cannot hold funds of customers. So, we appointed banks for the payment and provided the custody of customers’ money to them. Similarly, foreign currencies are also handled by banks. So, there are no hurdles due to rules and regulations if they are handled properly.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> </p> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><img alt="Samir Vajracharya" src="/userfiles/images/sv(1).jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 243px;" />Samir Vajracharya</strong></span></div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Chief Technology Officer, Smart Choice Technology</strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Smart Choice Technology (SCT) started in 2001 AD when there were hardly 4-5 ATMs and 10,000 cards. Currently, there are 15, 000 cards under the SCT network only and more than 18,000 people with access to cash. A total of 85 financial institutions are affiliated with SCT. We have focused on ATM transactions and Point of Sale (POS), mainly. There is a vast difference in the situation now and then. Our vision is to provide easy access to financial activities to the people and we have been successful in our mission to a large extent. This does not mean that this is the line of satisfaction as a large number of people hesitate to use ATMs still. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The Nepali market is not ready for e-services, which has been the main hurdle for increment in the online market. We should be able to make people aware about the importance of online transactions so that their interest level towards this service increases.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The government is not being able to lead this sector which is also seen as a major problem. The government should introduce some compulsory regulations regarding online services to increase people’s involvement in this sector. This is only due to the contribution and dedication of the private sector that online services have reached up to this level. But without support from the government, the online sector cannot sustain for long. The private sector is profit-oriented, but if the government sector takes charge then this sector can be service-oriented.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Though the issue of security is big in this sector, SCT is very much concerned about the security issue and has worked on it. Our cards are based on pin codes which are the safest medium in this sector in comparison to a signature as it can be copied. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Customers have to face problems because of problems in network but these problems are not solely from theSCT network. There are various service providers including telecom, banks and others involved with it. This is difficult to manage as network problems may arise anywhere anytime. People should be aware of this.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Poorly developed infrastructures and a lack of skilled manpower are also major obstacles in the context of Nepal. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>We are also facing problems because of political instability and power cuts. The companies from foreign countries are interested to work with us which is a positive sign for us but these vital problems are blocking them to work with us. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Similarly, there is a lack of government policy. The central bank should provide a benchmark to other banks for e-payment. It is difficult for the private sector to work without a benchmark. We are discussing with concerned authorities to solve these issues.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> </p> </div> <div> <img alt="Rabin Kumar Shrestha" src="/userfiles/images/rks.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 244px;" /><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Rabin Kumar Shrestha</strong></span></div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Chief Technical Officer, PayBill</strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>We are making maximum efforts for improvement of the online sector but we are not getting results accordingly. There are various reasons for this. Firstly, people are not aware of this system. Most people still believe that the internet is only limited to the social media. They are not aware that various transactions can also be done through the internet. These people can be attracted to this sector if they are made aware.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The issue of security is also a major concern but this system is very much secured. Customers should send two smses to transact from PEBIL. After the first sms, we send an alpha code to the customer and after that the customer must send both the alpha code and pin through sms. Only after this will they will be able to transact. So, this way our system is secured but people are still not convinced.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> </p> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><img alt="Subas Dhungana" src="/userfiles/images/sd.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 244px;" />Subash Dhungana</strong></span></div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Executive, iPay</strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>iPay is an online payment system. We have been operating Muncha.com since 2002. Our services were limited to gift packages for long though we were not satisfied with the results. But some positive signs are emerging now based on which we are expanding our services. We have moved towards bringing remittance and media sites for downloading files along with online shopping. We have made agreements with seven banks for this purpose recently. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The main reason behind the failure of e-commerce sites is the failure of payment to customers. For online payment, there are e-sewa, PayBill, SCT, credit card and our own production iPay which are associated with seven banks. But if the customer is asked to pay online, then s/he makes various excuses as they are not aware of these services. So cards of Nepali banks should get international validity for easy access to online payment. Around 20-25 people register in Muncha.com but at the end, they have problems with the payment system. Therefore, an easy way for payment should be initiated with support from the government or the central bank. Though these issues are discussed, we are lacking behind in implementation. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>We have not faced any problem regarding security, nor have we received any complaints. We are practicing international norms of security in our system. We can’t say that the online medium is hundred percent secured but problems have not occurred yet. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Political instability is also main problem for this sector. The number of internet users has increased, but political stability is must for the sector’s rapid growth. Political stability brings employment, and it is when people are engaged and busy that they start engaging in online activities. </div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> </p> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><img alt="Bal K. Joshi" src="/userfiles/images/bkj.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 243px;" />Bal K. Joshi</strong></span></div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>President, MACHNET</strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Nepal has immense potential for e-commerce. Though there is not much expansion in this sector, the condition has not worsened. There are a lot of websites conducting e-commerce and their businesses have increased through the medium. The expansion of the market for e-commerce depends upon target customers and identifying their needs.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The main problem at present is not being able to invite international transactions to our country. PayPal is popular for this at national and international levels. But there are some procedural problems in the use of PayPal digital transaction in Nepal. The customers have to pay an extra fee to send the money. For example, if a person has to send 2000 dollars then s/he will have to pay around 2500 dollars. So, there is no prospect for using PayPal to expand the digital transaction market in Nepal. We are introducing a new platform related to money transfer for the first time in Nepal to make it easier for Nepali customers to transfer money from abroad. </div> <div> </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-08', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The third edition of Money Expo for 2013 is being held in capital in the end of October. Aiming to promote investment opportunities and wealth protection strategies, this expo is the largest finance and investment show in Nepal. An interaction programme ‘Demystifying New Mode of Trade and Payments’ was conducted by New Business Age on September 19 as headway to the Expo.', 'sortorder' => '1763', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1901', 'article_category_id' => '108', 'title' => 'Money Matter News In Brief (30 September - 3 October 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Vibor, Reliable Remit Ink Agreement</strong></span></div> <div> Reliable Remit Service, operated by Reliable Remit Ltd, has inked a deal recently with Vibor Bank following which customers can now send and receive their money from six branches of the Vibor bank and 1600 agents of Reliable Remit. CEO of Reliance Finance, Narayan Bahadur Lohani and CEO of Vibor Bank, Narayan Bahadur Lohani signed an agreement of partnership last week.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>21pc Dividend of Kamana </strong></span></div> <div> Kamana Development Bank has said it will distribute a total of 21 percent dividend on the net profit of Fiscal Year 2012-13. According to the press release of the bank, the meeting of Board of Directors (BoD) held last Monday (September 23) decided to distribute 15 per cent bonus and 6 per cent cash dividend. Umesh Kumar Acharya, CEO of the Bank, informed that the dividend will be distributed following the approval of Nepal Rastra Bank and endorsement from the Annual General Meeting of the company. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Siddhartha Brings Visa Prepaid Travel Card</strong></span></div> <div> Siddhartha Bank will distribute free Visa Prepaid Travel Card to its customers as part of its ‘Utsav Scheme’. The Bank has informed that the customers can get such cards from any of its branches upon filling up a form by November 30. The press release of the bank on the launch of a new service of Card states that the customers can make transactions through Visa ATM and POS machine from anywhere in the world.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>City, NCC Sign Agreement</strong></span></div> <div> City Express Money Transfer and NCC Bank Ltd have signed an agreement on providing the remittance service. Under the agreement, money remitted from abroad can be collected from any branch of the NCC Bank. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Grand’s ‘Special Saving Account’</strong></span></div> <div> Grand Bank Nepal Ltd has started ‘Grand Special Saving Account’ on the occasion of Dashain and Tihar festivals. The minimum balance for the account would be of Rs 100,000. The Bank has said that it will provide 7 per cent per annum interest rate on daily balance. According to the press release of the bank, it will provide 50 per cent discount on charge for getting a Draft and Balance Certificate. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>United Hands Over Insurance Claim Payment</strong></span></div> <div> United Insurance Company Ltd has made the highest payment of insurance so far. The Company has handed a payment worth Rs 589 million to the insured party representative Narottam Kumar Mehta from the Chaudhary Group amid a programme held in the capital last Tuesday. According to the CEO of the insurance company, Bir Bikram Raymajhi, the payment was made as a compensation of the loss that the insured company incurred due to fire accidents in the company’s Satungal based CG Impex Pvt Ltd, EOL Pvtd Ltd and CG electronics Pvt Ltd last year. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Vibor Capital Appointed as Mission Dev’s Registrar </strong></span></div> <div> Mission Development Bank has appointed the Vibor Capital Ltd as its share registrar. Bank’s CEO Hari Prashad Ghimire and Vibor Capital’s CEO Shankar Kalikote has signed on the appointment letter to this effect. The Company’s shares were listed in the Nepal Stock Exchange recently.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Reliable Remit Service, operated by Reliable Remit Ltd, has inked a deal recently with Vibor Bank following which customers can now send and receive their money from six branches of the Vibor bank and 1600 agents of Reliable Remit. CEO of Reliance Finance, Narayan Bahadur Lohani and CEO of Vibor Bank, Narayan Bahadur Lohani signed an agreement of partnership last week.', 'sortorder' => '1762', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1900', 'article_category_id' => '109', 'title' => 'Regulatory Board Fines Prime Life CEO', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> The Insurance Board (IB) fined the Chief Executive Officer of Prime Life Insurance Company, Resta Jha, Rs 10,000 last Wednesday for violating its directive regarding the cap on management expenses. </div> <div> </div> <div> The IB has fined him in charge of spending more than the amount for management expenditure stated in the IB’s regulation. </div> <div> </div> <div> As per the directive of the IB, life insurance companies can spend only up to six percent of the annual gross premium collected from new insurance policies on guest entertainment, business promotion, advertisement, and agent incentives. However, the company has been found to have spent more than 16 per cent on the four areas. “Action has been taken against the CEO of the company,” informed the IB’s chartered accountant Santosh Prasain.</div> <div> </div> <div> Likewise, the IB has also directed the company to put the excess of management expenses on the company’s books in a way that it is borne only by the shareholder.</div> <div> </div> <div> “We made this directive to the company so that the insured parties do not have to bear the liability,” said Prasain. </div> <div> </div> <div> Prasain also said that the IB has not yet decided to conduct a due diligence audit (DDA) of the company. The board has taken action against the company while the company’s staff are accusing CEO Jha of embezzling Rs 3.27 million. Prasain said that the Board will only investigate the case after the complaints is received by the Board. “We will investigate the case if a complaint is lodged with the Board,” he said. Investigation could also be initiated if any malpractices are found in the financial report, he added.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><img alt="Resta Jha" src="/userfiles/images/rj.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 100px; height: 135px;" />Jha Reappointed </strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> Resta Jha, alleged for violating directives regarding expenses, has been reappointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the Prime Life Insurance Company Ltd. The meeting of the Board of Directors (BoD) held last Monday (September 23) appointed Jha for a second consecutive term of four years, informed the company’s chairman Pramod Kumar Karki.</div> </div> <p> </p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The Insurance Board (IB) fined the Chief Executive Officer of Prime Life Insurance Company, Resta Jha, Rs 10,000 last Wednesday for violating its directive regarding the cap on management expenses.', 'sortorder' => '1761', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1899', 'article_category_id' => '109', 'title' => 'Fourth Reverse Repo In Three Weeks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <img alt="Nepal Rastra Bank" src="/userfiles/images/rr.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;width: 200px; height: 205px;" />Banking and financial institutions (BFIs) bid for securities worth Rs 21.85 billion for the fourth round of reverse repo held by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) last Wednesday. According to the NRB, it has received sealed quotations from 21 BFIs amounting to Rs 21.85 billion for a reverse repo issued by the NRB worth Rs 10 billion. </div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) issued a reverse repo last Wednesday for the fourth time in a three-week period. The NRB has issued the reverse repo worth Rs 10 billion this time in a bid to absorb excess liquidity from the financial system. Earlier on September 4 and September 10, the NRB had held a seven-day reverse repo worth Rs 5 billion and Rs 10 billion, respectively. The first reverse repo was held at 0.08 per cent weighted average discount rate. The second was held at 0.06 per cent. </div> <div> </div> <div> Likewise, the NRB had also conducted an outright purchase auction for securities worth Rs 8.5 billion on September 20 at 0.04 per cent weighted average discount rate. Over bidding for the reverse repo is seen to indicate excess liquidity and lack of investment opportunities.</div> <div> </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '0000-00-00', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Banking and financial institutions (BFIs) bid for securities worth Rs 21.85 billion for the fourth round of reverse repo held by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) last Wednesday. According to the NRB, it has received sealed quotations from 21 BFIs amounting to Rs 21.85 billion for a reverse repo issued by the NRB worth Rs 10 billion.', 'sortorder' => '1760', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1898', 'article_category_id' => '109', 'title' => 'Nepse Remains Constant', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Sagar Ghimire</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) closed last week 0.19 points lower compared to the close of the first day of that week. It had peaked at 3.64 points as Wednesday while the lowest was at 7.47 on Monday.</div> <div> </div> <div> The investment has flown towards the primary market with some companies’ opening of initial public offerings (IPO). The secondary market has borne the brunt of investors’ rush towards the primary market. </div> <div> </div> <div> On the other hand, positive macro indicators of the finance sector like excess liquidity in the market, dividend announcements of banks and financial institutions, etc have helped the Nepse index to move upward. Stock analysts say these opposite trends have made the Nepse index relatively constant. </div> <div> </div> <div> Though the Nepse index declined on the first (September 22) and second (September 23) days by 7.47 (closing at 541.51) and 3.2 points (closing at 538.31), respectively, the third day and fourth day saw it increase by 3.64 and 1.4 points, respectively. The share market observed a fall again by 1.65 points on the last trading day of the week. </div> <div> </div> <div> Among the sub-indices, the Hydropower sector saw the highest increment by 39.78 points, closing at 1306.76, while the Insurance sector lost the most by 18.74 points, closing at 1304.61. Likewise, Hotel, Finance and Development Bank sectors sub-indices also increased during the week. It was Manufacturing, Other and Commercial Banks sectors that were losers in the secondary market last week. There was no change in the Trading sector during the week.</div> <div> </div> <div> Twenty million, fifty-nine thousand five hundred and thirty-two unit shares of 132 companies worth Rs 546.08 million were traded in 8026 transactions at Nepse. </div> <div> </div> <div> Kailash Development Bank topped the capital market last week in terms of transaction amount (Rs 49.7 million) and units of shares traded (237,890). Likewise, Mega Bank was at the forefront in the stock market for its number of transactions (1487).</div> <div> </div> <div> <img alt="Sectors" src="/userfiles/images/sectors%20(Copy).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 144px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 15px;" /></div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <div> </div> <div> <strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Nepse on Sunday</span></strong></div> <div> Nepse index inclined 0.16 point on the first day of this week (Sunday September 29) closing at 541.86. </div> <div> </div> <div> The secondary market saw a total of 117.6 million turnovers through 1661 transactions of 108 companies. Sub-indices of Hotel, Hydropower, Insurance and Other sectors observed the gain, while Banking, Development Bank and Finance sectors declined on the opening day of the trading week. The Hotels sector surged the highest by 24.67 points closing at 757.74. The Banking sector plunged to lowest by 2.44 with closing at 513.97 points.</div> </div> <p> </p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-07', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) closed last week 0.19 points lower compared to the close of the first day of that week. It had peaked at 3.64 points as Wednesday while the lowest was at 7.47 on Monday.', 'sortorder' => '1759', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1897', 'article_category_id' => '110', 'title' => 'Top Ten Losers (23 - 29 September 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '0000-00-00', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Top Ten Losers', 'sortorder' => '1758', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1896', 'article_category_id' => '111', 'title' => 'Top Ten Gainers (23 - 29 September 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '0000-00-00', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Top Ten Gainers', 'sortorder' => '1757', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1895', 'article_category_id' => '113', 'title' => 'US Dollar Exchange Rate At Local Market (23 - 29 September 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '0000-00-00', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'US Dollar Exchange Rate At Local Market', 'sortorder' => '1756', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1912', 'article_category_id' => '206', 'title' => 'Colors Unveils Pearl Black Series', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<p> <strong>By TC Correspondent</strong><br /> <br /> Colors Mobile appears to be taking the center stage in the highly competitive Nepali smartphone market. Color’s Xfactor series did very well with its affordable yet high performance phones. The company is once again geared up to shake the market with another high-end series. Teletalk Pvt Ltd, the authorised distributer of Colors Mobile in Nepal unveiled two premium smartphones on Sunday in Kathmandu. K1 Amoled and K2 Full HD are the smartphones launched under the 'Pearl Black Series.'<br /> <br /> <br /> <strong>K2 Full HD</strong><br /> <br /> K2 Full HD is the most powerful smartphone in the 'high-end' category of Colors Mobile till date. The smartphone, which features a unibody design, sports a 5-inch OGS (One-Glass-Solution) AMOLED display with 178 degree view. The phone has a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels and pixel density of 441 ppi. The phone is the slimmest handset manufactured by Colors which is just 6.18mm thick and weighs 128 grams. The handset comes with dual speakers for better sound quality.<br /> <br /> K2 is powered by a 1.5GHz Mediatek quad-core Cortex A7 processor, along with 2 GB of RAM. The phone comes with a 32GB internal memory for data storage. K2 runs on Android jelly bean 4.2.1 with its own custom Amigo UI layer. K2 supports various gestures such as Smart Answer and Smart Wave that allows the user to make calls, answer calls, browse images and use other functions without even touching the phone. A 2020 mAh battery provides ample backup for daily use. K2 sports a 13-megapixel auto focus rear camera (BSI-II sensor), along with an LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. The primary camera of K2 supports 99 continuous shots and 360 degree Panorama shot. Both cameras support 1080p video recording. The price of K2 Full HD is Rs 38,500.<br /> <br /> <br /> <strong>K1 Amoled</strong><br /> <br /> K1 Amoled has an ultra-slim unibody design (just 6.8mm thin), a 4.8-inch super AMOLED screen and a matte finish back panel. K1 houses a 1.5 Ghz Mediatek quad core Cortex A7 processor with 1 GB of RAM. The super AMOLED screen has a resolution of 1280 X 720 pixels with 306 ppi. The specs are more than enough for HD video viewing, gaming and other day-to-day computing tasks .There's no external memory card slot, although the users will get 16 GB of internal memory. All the usual sensors like accelerometer, gyro sensor, ambient light sensor and proximity sensor are present. Similarly, K1 has Wi-Fi AND Bluetooth and for internet connectivity and data sharing. The 2000 mAh battery provides sufficient power backup, depending on the usage. The phone comes with 8 MP BSI-II autofocus LED flash primary camera and 5 MP secondary camera. K1, which runs on Android jelly bean 4.2.1 works on both WCDMA and GSM networks. K1 is priced at Rs 32,000. <br /> </p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-10-01', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'Brands & Technology cover story news & articles, Brands & Technology news & articles from Brands & Technology, Brands & Technology headlines from nepal, Brands & Technology current and latest Brands & Technology news from nepal, Brands & Technology economic news from nepal, nepali Brands & Technolo', 'description' => 'Colors Mobile appears to be taking the center stage in the highly competitive Nepali smartphone market. Color’s X-factor series did very well with its affordable yet high performance phones. The company is once again geared up to shake the market with another high-end series.', 'sortorder' => '1770', 'image' => '1380621660.jpg', 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1905', 'article_category_id' => '99', 'title' => 'Dragonair’s KA Specials Lucky Draw Campaign', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> Dragonair has announced a special promotion for new subscribers of KA Specials between 15 September 2013 and 15 November 2013. KA specials is a free eNewsletter that communicates special offers, fares, promotions and product updates to those who subscribe for it. Each KA Special includes details on current fares offers, holiday packages, latest news on the airline and highlights on different destinations that Dragonair operates to. In this promotion, subscribers get a chance to win Dragonair branded giveaways based on a lucky draw. The gifts include watches, business card holders, travel mugs, aircraft models, jackets, caps, NTC and Ncell free recharge coupons and QFX tickets among others. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-07', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Dragonair has announced a special promotion for new subscribers of KA Specials between 15 September 2013 and 15 November 2013.', 'sortorder' => '1769', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1915', 'article_category_id' => '201', 'title' => 'Product Launch: Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute In Nepali Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<p> Chivas Brothers have Launched Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute Scotch Whisky in the market. The whisky is priced at Rs 300,000 including VAT, and is currently the most expensive alcohol available in the Nepali market.<br /> <br /> Aimed at the Neapli market, 62 Gun Salute will be the flagship product in the Royal Salute range. It is produced from whiskies aged for a minimum 40 years and packaged in bottles created by Dartington Crystal. It is not a limited edition and, whisky stock and demand permitting; Pernod aims to produce 5,000 bottles per year.<br /> <br /> <strong>Product : Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute<br /> <br /> Category : Spirits, Scotch whisky, blended<br /> <br /> Price : Rs 300,000</strong><br /> <br /> </p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-10-01', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'Lifestyle & Fashion cover story news & articles, cover story news & articles from Lifestyle & Fashion, cover story headlines from nepal, Lifestyle & Fashion current and latest cover story news from nepal, Lifestyle & Fashion economic news from nepal, nepali cover story Lifestyle & Fashion economic ', 'description' => 'Chivas Brothers have Launched Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute Scotch Whisky in the market. The whisky is priced at Rs 300,000 including VAT, and is currently the most expensive alcohol available in the Nepali market.', 'sortorder' => '1768', 'image' => '1380623006.jpg', 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1904', 'article_category_id' => '99', 'title' => 'ZETS Holidays For Fuss Free Vacation', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Sujan Tiwari</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Zets Holidays, an outbound tour operator has been offering its holidays packages around the world for the last ten years. The company started in the year 1998 as Zenith Experiences Travel services P Ltd and focused mainly on inbound tourists. Later, in 2003, the company established Zets Holidays to promote outbound holidays in Nepal. According to Mihika Dhakhwa, Managing Director of Zets Holidays, outbound tourism and holiday packages was a relatively new concept in Nepal back then. “Not many Nepalis were taking the holiday packages at that time. It took some for the concept to develop,” says Dhakhwa.</div> <div> </div> <div> As Nepalis are more interested in beach activities, the company started promoting cruise packages. Zets Holidays were one of the first holiday planners in Nepal to introduce cruise holidays. The company is also the only PSA (Preferred Sales Agent) in Nepal for Star Cruises of Malaysia and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL). Through these cruise companies, Zets Holidays provides cruise packages in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and many European locations. The company also offers holiday packages in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, Australia and Europe. The duration of the packages range from a few days to a few weeks. Other services offered by the company include flight booking, hotel booking worldwide, sightseeing tours, travel insurance and </div> <div> visa services. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to Dhakhwa, the trend of Nepalis going for outbound tours is on a constant rise. “Our major customers are families and corporate houses. Corporate houses are taking their employees for incentive tours these days, and that has also helped in our business,” says she. The business rises during the holiday season that is around Dashain and Tihar. According to Dhakhwa, families travel more at this time as there is free time and people can afford the holidays. The company also provides various offers and discounts for the holiday seasons. </div> <div> </div> <div> In the future, Zets Holidays plans to bring in holiday packages in newer detonations around the world. “We are continuously adding new destinations to our holiday packages. New destinations are dependent upon flight connections, visa probability and other factors,” informed Dhakhwa. According to her, limited number of flights in Nepal is the major problem to promote new destinations. “If there are more flights and new airlines, there will be new connections and we will be able to introduce new destinations,” says Dhakhwa. </div> <div> </div> <div> Zets Holidays focuses on providing ‘Fuss Free Fun Vacations’, and has been doing so for the last decade. Dhakhwa says that there are numerous travel and holiday companies in the market that compete in price. “We do not compete in price, but we compete to provide our customers with complete satisfaction,” says she. According to her, the company will continue to provide great holidays at an affordable price in the days </div> <div> to come. </div> <div> </div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/tr.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 65px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px;" /></div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-08', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Zets Holidays, an outbound tour operator has been offering its holidays packages around the world for the last ten years. The company started in the year 1998 as Zenith Experiences Travel services P Ltd and focused mainly on inbound tourists.', 'sortorder' => '1767', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1903', 'article_category_id' => '152', 'title' => 'Focus Briefs (30 September - 3 October 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Western Union Extends Mobile Money Transfer Service to Nepal</strong></span></div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/wu.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 97px;" />The Western Union Company has unveiled the launch of a mobile money transfer service that enables consumers to send money to a mobile wallet in Nepal. The mobile money transfer service to Nepal integrates with eSewa, a digital wallet platform in Nepal with approximately 200,000 registered users. The functionality has been developed through the partnership of Western Union, its Agent Nabil Bank and FonePay, the owner of eSewa. Consumers in Nepal who subscribe to the eSewa mobile wallet are able to receive a Western Union Money Transfer transaction on their mobile phones or through eSewa's web interface. International money transfers for mobile pick-up can be initiated at westernunion.com in 23 countries or at participating Western Union Agent locations worldwide. Nabil Bank, a joint venture financial institution of Nepal, was founded in July 1984. Nabil Bank is equipped with ATMs, credit cards, Internet and Mobile Banking and uses Core Banking System from Infosys Technologies System, Bangalore India. FonePay is a mobile financial service and e-commerce company in Nepal. It specializes in providing digital payment and money transfer services via mobile and/or the Internet. eSewa is a digital payment portal in Nepal, developed by F1 Soft International and owned by FonePay, that enables financial transactions via web-based or mobile-based services.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>eSewa Launches eSewaZone</strong></span></div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/es.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 62px;" />Online payment gateway eSewa has launched eSewaZone to make the access of eSewa services easier to customers. According to the company, this new service allows customers to use eSewa services even if they do not have a bank account. eSewa is the first company in Nepal to allow its clients use online services like sending and receiving money, telephone bill payment including recharge cards for post-paid and pre-paid, ADSL bill payment, utility bill payments, airline ticket purchases, school and college fee payments, payment for movie hall tickets, shopping, restaurant bill payments, and topping up credit cards. “Earlier, people need to have accounts at our partner banks to use eSewa services. With the launch of eSewaZone, customers can use our services even if they don´t have bank account,” said Asgar Ali, CEO of Fonepay that operates eSewaZone. Ali said the company has formed a network of three super agents in Kathmandu and 100 agents throughout Nepal. “We will be having 10 super agents in Kathmandu and 1,000 agents throughout the country with a minimum of three agents in each district within 2 months,” said Ali.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>SBI Introduced “Express Remit”</strong></span></div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/sbi.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 105px;" />Nepal SBI Bank Limited, jointly with State Bank of India, has introduced a robust Electronic Fund transfer Mechanism (EFT) namely "SBI-Nepal Express Remit" to provide a faster and convenient mode of remittance facility for Nepali migrants in India by disbursing cash for such remittances to beneficiaries residing all across Nepal through Electronic Fund Transfer Mechanism (EFT). According to officials at SBI, this service can be availed for all branches of the State Bank of India.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The Western Union Company has unveiled the launch of a mobile money transfer service that enables consumers to send money to a mobile wallet in Nepal. The mobile money transfer service to Nepal integrates with eSewa, a digital wallet platform in Nepal with approximately 200,000 registered users.', 'sortorder' => '1766', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1907', 'article_category_id' => '99', 'title' => 'Oktoberfest 2013 At Nanglo', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> Nanglo Café and Bar at Durbarmarg is celebrating Oktoberfest 2013. The event is jointly organized by Nanglo Café and Carlsberg. Oktoberfest is Germany’s 16-day Bavarian tradition of beer drinking. The festival will run from 21 September to 6 October.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nanglo Café and Bar at Durbarmarg is celebrating Oktoberfest 2013. The event is jointly organized by Nanglo Café and Carlsberg.', 'sortorder' => '1765', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1906', 'article_category_id' => '99', 'title' => 'Indrajatra Celebrated At The Village Cafe', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> The Village Cafe organized an event named ‘Indrajatra Food and Fashion Galore On the occasion of Indrajatra. The event featured live traditional band, Lakhey dance, exhibition of fashion products from SAARC countries and Newari food with special 15 dish Newari feast. Sadichha Shrestha, former Miss Nepal and brand ambassador of Sabah Nepal was also present at the event. </div> <div> </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The Village Cafe organized an event named ‘Indrajatra Food and Fashion Galore On the occasion of Indrajatra', 'sortorder' => '1764', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1902', 'article_category_id' => '153', 'title' => 'E-commerce Talks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <span style="font-size:16px;">The third edition of Money Expo for 2013 is being held in capital in the end of October. Aiming to promote investment opportunities and wealth protection strategies, this expo is the largest finance and investment show in Nepal. An interaction programme ‘Demystifying New Mode of Trade and Payments’ was conducted by New Business Age on September 19 as headway to the Expo. This interaction was dedicated to clear the existing technology that has been replaced by new technologies in the fields of trade and payments. Experts from banks and financial institutions presented their opinion on the current status of the financial sector. <strong>Excerpts: </strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> <strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="Biswas Dhakal" src="/userfiles/images/bs.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 243px;" />Biswas Dhakal</span></strong></div> <div> <strong><span style="font-size:14px;">President, F1Soft International Ltd</span></strong></div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Our main objective is to facilitate customers with new and easy services. Other companies also carry similar objectives to make life easier for customers through digital transactions. Every transaction should be a digital transaction, be it large banking transactions or daily life transactions. We have initiated the online transaction service with this same purpose. This brings money to the banking sector and also increases investment. Remittance, which has covered large areas in the Nepali economy, is also brought to the country through online systems. The procedure of an online system is very easy and can be used by everyone. It can be done by simply sending an SMS and people are seen to be interested towards this service. But due to various reasons, the popularity of this system has not increased yet. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The main problem of the digital system is a lack of its credibility among people. But the system is totally secured from our side. We have adopted international norms for security in the system. Our first priority is to provide secured transactions and we have not received any complaints regarding security and services from our customers.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The main obstacle for digital transaction in reference to the worldwide global practice is digital illiteracy. Moreover, in an education deprived country like ours, the problem is huge. So it is impossible to achieve hundred per cent digital coverage in Nepal. However, our concept is to move from developed to less developed areas. For example, 50 per cent families of Kathmandu have their representatives abroad. A major responsibility for those abroad is to send money to their family. If we can convince the people in Kathmandu towards online transaction, they can opt for a digital medium as their mode of transaction. Moreover, the family in Kathmandu can also use an online medium to send money and other materials abroad. We can then enter rural areas as well. Using personal brand ambassadors rather than our individual effort for promotion would be more effective.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>There is a misconception that few government policies have created obstacles. However, if all processes are completed, it is not that difficult to work. Everyone involved in transaction has their own process. The Nepal Rastra Bank also has its own policy. The foreign exchange department also has its own policy. We cannot exist for long in this sector if we bypass their policies. According to the policy of the Nepal Rastra Bank, a private organization cannot hold funds of customers. So, we appointed banks for the payment and provided the custody of customers’ money to them. Similarly, foreign currencies are also handled by banks. So, there are no hurdles due to rules and regulations if they are handled properly.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> </p> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><img alt="Samir Vajracharya" src="/userfiles/images/sv(1).jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 243px;" />Samir Vajracharya</strong></span></div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Chief Technology Officer, Smart Choice Technology</strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Smart Choice Technology (SCT) started in 2001 AD when there were hardly 4-5 ATMs and 10,000 cards. Currently, there are 15, 000 cards under the SCT network only and more than 18,000 people with access to cash. A total of 85 financial institutions are affiliated with SCT. We have focused on ATM transactions and Point of Sale (POS), mainly. There is a vast difference in the situation now and then. Our vision is to provide easy access to financial activities to the people and we have been successful in our mission to a large extent. This does not mean that this is the line of satisfaction as a large number of people hesitate to use ATMs still. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The Nepali market is not ready for e-services, which has been the main hurdle for increment in the online market. We should be able to make people aware about the importance of online transactions so that their interest level towards this service increases.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The government is not being able to lead this sector which is also seen as a major problem. The government should introduce some compulsory regulations regarding online services to increase people’s involvement in this sector. This is only due to the contribution and dedication of the private sector that online services have reached up to this level. But without support from the government, the online sector cannot sustain for long. The private sector is profit-oriented, but if the government sector takes charge then this sector can be service-oriented.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Though the issue of security is big in this sector, SCT is very much concerned about the security issue and has worked on it. Our cards are based on pin codes which are the safest medium in this sector in comparison to a signature as it can be copied. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Customers have to face problems because of problems in network but these problems are not solely from theSCT network. There are various service providers including telecom, banks and others involved with it. This is difficult to manage as network problems may arise anywhere anytime. People should be aware of this.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Poorly developed infrastructures and a lack of skilled manpower are also major obstacles in the context of Nepal. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>We are also facing problems because of political instability and power cuts. The companies from foreign countries are interested to work with us which is a positive sign for us but these vital problems are blocking them to work with us. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Similarly, there is a lack of government policy. The central bank should provide a benchmark to other banks for e-payment. It is difficult for the private sector to work without a benchmark. We are discussing with concerned authorities to solve these issues.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> </p> </div> <div> <img alt="Rabin Kumar Shrestha" src="/userfiles/images/rks.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 244px;" /><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Rabin Kumar Shrestha</strong></span></div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Chief Technical Officer, PayBill</strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>We are making maximum efforts for improvement of the online sector but we are not getting results accordingly. There are various reasons for this. Firstly, people are not aware of this system. Most people still believe that the internet is only limited to the social media. They are not aware that various transactions can also be done through the internet. These people can be attracted to this sector if they are made aware.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The issue of security is also a major concern but this system is very much secured. Customers should send two smses to transact from PEBIL. After the first sms, we send an alpha code to the customer and after that the customer must send both the alpha code and pin through sms. Only after this will they will be able to transact. So, this way our system is secured but people are still not convinced.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> </p> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><img alt="Subas Dhungana" src="/userfiles/images/sd.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 244px;" />Subash Dhungana</strong></span></div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Executive, iPay</strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>iPay is an online payment system. We have been operating Muncha.com since 2002. Our services were limited to gift packages for long though we were not satisfied with the results. But some positive signs are emerging now based on which we are expanding our services. We have moved towards bringing remittance and media sites for downloading files along with online shopping. We have made agreements with seven banks for this purpose recently. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The main reason behind the failure of e-commerce sites is the failure of payment to customers. For online payment, there are e-sewa, PayBill, SCT, credit card and our own production iPay which are associated with seven banks. But if the customer is asked to pay online, then s/he makes various excuses as they are not aware of these services. So cards of Nepali banks should get international validity for easy access to online payment. Around 20-25 people register in Muncha.com but at the end, they have problems with the payment system. Therefore, an easy way for payment should be initiated with support from the government or the central bank. Though these issues are discussed, we are lacking behind in implementation. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>We have not faced any problem regarding security, nor have we received any complaints. We are practicing international norms of security in our system. We can’t say that the online medium is hundred percent secured but problems have not occurred yet. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Political instability is also main problem for this sector. The number of internet users has increased, but political stability is must for the sector’s rapid growth. Political stability brings employment, and it is when people are engaged and busy that they start engaging in online activities. </div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> </p> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><img alt="Bal K. Joshi" src="/userfiles/images/bkj.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 243px;" />Bal K. Joshi</strong></span></div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>President, MACHNET</strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Nepal has immense potential for e-commerce. Though there is not much expansion in this sector, the condition has not worsened. There are a lot of websites conducting e-commerce and their businesses have increased through the medium. The expansion of the market for e-commerce depends upon target customers and identifying their needs.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The main problem at present is not being able to invite international transactions to our country. PayPal is popular for this at national and international levels. But there are some procedural problems in the use of PayPal digital transaction in Nepal. The customers have to pay an extra fee to send the money. For example, if a person has to send 2000 dollars then s/he will have to pay around 2500 dollars. So, there is no prospect for using PayPal to expand the digital transaction market in Nepal. We are introducing a new platform related to money transfer for the first time in Nepal to make it easier for Nepali customers to transfer money from abroad. </div> <div> </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-08', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The third edition of Money Expo for 2013 is being held in capital in the end of October. Aiming to promote investment opportunities and wealth protection strategies, this expo is the largest finance and investment show in Nepal. An interaction programme ‘Demystifying New Mode of Trade and Payments’ was conducted by New Business Age on September 19 as headway to the Expo.', 'sortorder' => '1763', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1901', 'article_category_id' => '108', 'title' => 'Money Matter News In Brief (30 September - 3 October 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Vibor, Reliable Remit Ink Agreement</strong></span></div> <div> Reliable Remit Service, operated by Reliable Remit Ltd, has inked a deal recently with Vibor Bank following which customers can now send and receive their money from six branches of the Vibor bank and 1600 agents of Reliable Remit. CEO of Reliance Finance, Narayan Bahadur Lohani and CEO of Vibor Bank, Narayan Bahadur Lohani signed an agreement of partnership last week.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>21pc Dividend of Kamana </strong></span></div> <div> Kamana Development Bank has said it will distribute a total of 21 percent dividend on the net profit of Fiscal Year 2012-13. According to the press release of the bank, the meeting of Board of Directors (BoD) held last Monday (September 23) decided to distribute 15 per cent bonus and 6 per cent cash dividend. Umesh Kumar Acharya, CEO of the Bank, informed that the dividend will be distributed following the approval of Nepal Rastra Bank and endorsement from the Annual General Meeting of the company. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Siddhartha Brings Visa Prepaid Travel Card</strong></span></div> <div> Siddhartha Bank will distribute free Visa Prepaid Travel Card to its customers as part of its ‘Utsav Scheme’. The Bank has informed that the customers can get such cards from any of its branches upon filling up a form by November 30. The press release of the bank on the launch of a new service of Card states that the customers can make transactions through Visa ATM and POS machine from anywhere in the world.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>City, NCC Sign Agreement</strong></span></div> <div> City Express Money Transfer and NCC Bank Ltd have signed an agreement on providing the remittance service. Under the agreement, money remitted from abroad can be collected from any branch of the NCC Bank. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Grand’s ‘Special Saving Account’</strong></span></div> <div> Grand Bank Nepal Ltd has started ‘Grand Special Saving Account’ on the occasion of Dashain and Tihar festivals. The minimum balance for the account would be of Rs 100,000. The Bank has said that it will provide 7 per cent per annum interest rate on daily balance. According to the press release of the bank, it will provide 50 per cent discount on charge for getting a Draft and Balance Certificate. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>United Hands Over Insurance Claim Payment</strong></span></div> <div> United Insurance Company Ltd has made the highest payment of insurance so far. The Company has handed a payment worth Rs 589 million to the insured party representative Narottam Kumar Mehta from the Chaudhary Group amid a programme held in the capital last Tuesday. According to the CEO of the insurance company, Bir Bikram Raymajhi, the payment was made as a compensation of the loss that the insured company incurred due to fire accidents in the company’s Satungal based CG Impex Pvt Ltd, EOL Pvtd Ltd and CG electronics Pvt Ltd last year. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Vibor Capital Appointed as Mission Dev’s Registrar </strong></span></div> <div> Mission Development Bank has appointed the Vibor Capital Ltd as its share registrar. Bank’s CEO Hari Prashad Ghimire and Vibor Capital’s CEO Shankar Kalikote has signed on the appointment letter to this effect. The Company’s shares were listed in the Nepal Stock Exchange recently.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Reliable Remit Service, operated by Reliable Remit Ltd, has inked a deal recently with Vibor Bank following which customers can now send and receive their money from six branches of the Vibor bank and 1600 agents of Reliable Remit. CEO of Reliance Finance, Narayan Bahadur Lohani and CEO of Vibor Bank, Narayan Bahadur Lohani signed an agreement of partnership last week.', 'sortorder' => '1762', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1900', 'article_category_id' => '109', 'title' => 'Regulatory Board Fines Prime Life CEO', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> The Insurance Board (IB) fined the Chief Executive Officer of Prime Life Insurance Company, Resta Jha, Rs 10,000 last Wednesday for violating its directive regarding the cap on management expenses. </div> <div> </div> <div> The IB has fined him in charge of spending more than the amount for management expenditure stated in the IB’s regulation. </div> <div> </div> <div> As per the directive of the IB, life insurance companies can spend only up to six percent of the annual gross premium collected from new insurance policies on guest entertainment, business promotion, advertisement, and agent incentives. However, the company has been found to have spent more than 16 per cent on the four areas. “Action has been taken against the CEO of the company,” informed the IB’s chartered accountant Santosh Prasain.</div> <div> </div> <div> Likewise, the IB has also directed the company to put the excess of management expenses on the company’s books in a way that it is borne only by the shareholder.</div> <div> </div> <div> “We made this directive to the company so that the insured parties do not have to bear the liability,” said Prasain. </div> <div> </div> <div> Prasain also said that the IB has not yet decided to conduct a due diligence audit (DDA) of the company. The board has taken action against the company while the company’s staff are accusing CEO Jha of embezzling Rs 3.27 million. Prasain said that the Board will only investigate the case after the complaints is received by the Board. “We will investigate the case if a complaint is lodged with the Board,” he said. Investigation could also be initiated if any malpractices are found in the financial report, he added.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><img alt="Resta Jha" src="/userfiles/images/rj.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 100px; height: 135px;" />Jha Reappointed </strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> Resta Jha, alleged for violating directives regarding expenses, has been reappointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the Prime Life Insurance Company Ltd. The meeting of the Board of Directors (BoD) held last Monday (September 23) appointed Jha for a second consecutive term of four years, informed the company’s chairman Pramod Kumar Karki.</div> </div> <p> </p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The Insurance Board (IB) fined the Chief Executive Officer of Prime Life Insurance Company, Resta Jha, Rs 10,000 last Wednesday for violating its directive regarding the cap on management expenses.', 'sortorder' => '1761', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1899', 'article_category_id' => '109', 'title' => 'Fourth Reverse Repo In Three Weeks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <img alt="Nepal Rastra Bank" src="/userfiles/images/rr.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;width: 200px; height: 205px;" />Banking and financial institutions (BFIs) bid for securities worth Rs 21.85 billion for the fourth round of reverse repo held by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) last Wednesday. According to the NRB, it has received sealed quotations from 21 BFIs amounting to Rs 21.85 billion for a reverse repo issued by the NRB worth Rs 10 billion. </div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) issued a reverse repo last Wednesday for the fourth time in a three-week period. The NRB has issued the reverse repo worth Rs 10 billion this time in a bid to absorb excess liquidity from the financial system. Earlier on September 4 and September 10, the NRB had held a seven-day reverse repo worth Rs 5 billion and Rs 10 billion, respectively. The first reverse repo was held at 0.08 per cent weighted average discount rate. The second was held at 0.06 per cent. </div> <div> </div> <div> Likewise, the NRB had also conducted an outright purchase auction for securities worth Rs 8.5 billion on September 20 at 0.04 per cent weighted average discount rate. Over bidding for the reverse repo is seen to indicate excess liquidity and lack of investment opportunities.</div> <div> </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '0000-00-00', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Banking and financial institutions (BFIs) bid for securities worth Rs 21.85 billion for the fourth round of reverse repo held by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) last Wednesday. According to the NRB, it has received sealed quotations from 21 BFIs amounting to Rs 21.85 billion for a reverse repo issued by the NRB worth Rs 10 billion.', 'sortorder' => '1760', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1898', 'article_category_id' => '109', 'title' => 'Nepse Remains Constant', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Sagar Ghimire</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) closed last week 0.19 points lower compared to the close of the first day of that week. It had peaked at 3.64 points as Wednesday while the lowest was at 7.47 on Monday.</div> <div> </div> <div> The investment has flown towards the primary market with some companies’ opening of initial public offerings (IPO). The secondary market has borne the brunt of investors’ rush towards the primary market. </div> <div> </div> <div> On the other hand, positive macro indicators of the finance sector like excess liquidity in the market, dividend announcements of banks and financial institutions, etc have helped the Nepse index to move upward. Stock analysts say these opposite trends have made the Nepse index relatively constant. </div> <div> </div> <div> Though the Nepse index declined on the first (September 22) and second (September 23) days by 7.47 (closing at 541.51) and 3.2 points (closing at 538.31), respectively, the third day and fourth day saw it increase by 3.64 and 1.4 points, respectively. The share market observed a fall again by 1.65 points on the last trading day of the week. </div> <div> </div> <div> Among the sub-indices, the Hydropower sector saw the highest increment by 39.78 points, closing at 1306.76, while the Insurance sector lost the most by 18.74 points, closing at 1304.61. Likewise, Hotel, Finance and Development Bank sectors sub-indices also increased during the week. It was Manufacturing, Other and Commercial Banks sectors that were losers in the secondary market last week. There was no change in the Trading sector during the week.</div> <div> </div> <div> Twenty million, fifty-nine thousand five hundred and thirty-two unit shares of 132 companies worth Rs 546.08 million were traded in 8026 transactions at Nepse. </div> <div> </div> <div> Kailash Development Bank topped the capital market last week in terms of transaction amount (Rs 49.7 million) and units of shares traded (237,890). Likewise, Mega Bank was at the forefront in the stock market for its number of transactions (1487).</div> <div> </div> <div> <img alt="Sectors" src="/userfiles/images/sectors%20(Copy).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 144px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 15px;" /></div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <div> </div> <div> <strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Nepse on Sunday</span></strong></div> <div> Nepse index inclined 0.16 point on the first day of this week (Sunday September 29) closing at 541.86. </div> <div> </div> <div> The secondary market saw a total of 117.6 million turnovers through 1661 transactions of 108 companies. Sub-indices of Hotel, Hydropower, Insurance and Other sectors observed the gain, while Banking, Development Bank and Finance sectors declined on the opening day of the trading week. The Hotels sector surged the highest by 24.67 points closing at 757.74. The Banking sector plunged to lowest by 2.44 with closing at 513.97 points.</div> </div> <p> </p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-07', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) closed last week 0.19 points lower compared to the close of the first day of that week. It had peaked at 3.64 points as Wednesday while the lowest was at 7.47 on Monday.', 'sortorder' => '1759', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1897', 'article_category_id' => '110', 'title' => 'Top Ten Losers (23 - 29 September 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '0000-00-00', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Top Ten Losers', 'sortorder' => '1758', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1896', 'article_category_id' => '111', 'title' => 'Top Ten Gainers (23 - 29 September 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '0000-00-00', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Top Ten Gainers', 'sortorder' => '1757', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1895', 'article_category_id' => '113', 'title' => 'US Dollar Exchange Rate At Local Market (23 - 29 September 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '0000-00-00', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'US Dollar Exchange Rate At Local Market', 'sortorder' => '1756', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1912', 'article_category_id' => '206', 'title' => 'Colors Unveils Pearl Black Series', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<p> <strong>By TC Correspondent</strong><br /> <br /> Colors Mobile appears to be taking the center stage in the highly competitive Nepali smartphone market. Color’s Xfactor series did very well with its affordable yet high performance phones. The company is once again geared up to shake the market with another high-end series. Teletalk Pvt Ltd, the authorised distributer of Colors Mobile in Nepal unveiled two premium smartphones on Sunday in Kathmandu. K1 Amoled and K2 Full HD are the smartphones launched under the 'Pearl Black Series.'<br /> <br /> <br /> <strong>K2 Full HD</strong><br /> <br /> K2 Full HD is the most powerful smartphone in the 'high-end' category of Colors Mobile till date. The smartphone, which features a unibody design, sports a 5-inch OGS (One-Glass-Solution) AMOLED display with 178 degree view. The phone has a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels and pixel density of 441 ppi. The phone is the slimmest handset manufactured by Colors which is just 6.18mm thick and weighs 128 grams. The handset comes with dual speakers for better sound quality.<br /> <br /> K2 is powered by a 1.5GHz Mediatek quad-core Cortex A7 processor, along with 2 GB of RAM. The phone comes with a 32GB internal memory for data storage. K2 runs on Android jelly bean 4.2.1 with its own custom Amigo UI layer. K2 supports various gestures such as Smart Answer and Smart Wave that allows the user to make calls, answer calls, browse images and use other functions without even touching the phone. A 2020 mAh battery provides ample backup for daily use. K2 sports a 13-megapixel auto focus rear camera (BSI-II sensor), along with an LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. The primary camera of K2 supports 99 continuous shots and 360 degree Panorama shot. Both cameras support 1080p video recording. The price of K2 Full HD is Rs 38,500.<br /> <br /> <br /> <strong>K1 Amoled</strong><br /> <br /> K1 Amoled has an ultra-slim unibody design (just 6.8mm thin), a 4.8-inch super AMOLED screen and a matte finish back panel. K1 houses a 1.5 Ghz Mediatek quad core Cortex A7 processor with 1 GB of RAM. The super AMOLED screen has a resolution of 1280 X 720 pixels with 306 ppi. The specs are more than enough for HD video viewing, gaming and other day-to-day computing tasks .There's no external memory card slot, although the users will get 16 GB of internal memory. All the usual sensors like accelerometer, gyro sensor, ambient light sensor and proximity sensor are present. Similarly, K1 has Wi-Fi AND Bluetooth and for internet connectivity and data sharing. The 2000 mAh battery provides sufficient power backup, depending on the usage. The phone comes with 8 MP BSI-II autofocus LED flash primary camera and 5 MP secondary camera. K1, which runs on Android jelly bean 4.2.1 works on both WCDMA and GSM networks. K1 is priced at Rs 32,000. <br /> </p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-10-01', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'Brands & Technology cover story news & articles, Brands & Technology news & articles from Brands & Technology, Brands & Technology headlines from nepal, Brands & Technology current and latest Brands & Technology news from nepal, Brands & Technology economic news from nepal, nepali Brands & Technolo', 'description' => 'Colors Mobile appears to be taking the center stage in the highly competitive Nepali smartphone market. Color’s X-factor series did very well with its affordable yet high performance phones. The company is once again geared up to shake the market with another high-end series.', 'sortorder' => '1770', 'image' => '1380621660.jpg', 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1905', 'article_category_id' => '99', 'title' => 'Dragonair’s KA Specials Lucky Draw Campaign', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> Dragonair has announced a special promotion for new subscribers of KA Specials between 15 September 2013 and 15 November 2013. KA specials is a free eNewsletter that communicates special offers, fares, promotions and product updates to those who subscribe for it. Each KA Special includes details on current fares offers, holiday packages, latest news on the airline and highlights on different destinations that Dragonair operates to. In this promotion, subscribers get a chance to win Dragonair branded giveaways based on a lucky draw. The gifts include watches, business card holders, travel mugs, aircraft models, jackets, caps, NTC and Ncell free recharge coupons and QFX tickets among others. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-07', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Dragonair has announced a special promotion for new subscribers of KA Specials between 15 September 2013 and 15 November 2013.', 'sortorder' => '1769', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1915', 'article_category_id' => '201', 'title' => 'Product Launch: Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute In Nepali Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<p> Chivas Brothers have Launched Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute Scotch Whisky in the market. The whisky is priced at Rs 300,000 including VAT, and is currently the most expensive alcohol available in the Nepali market.<br /> <br /> Aimed at the Neapli market, 62 Gun Salute will be the flagship product in the Royal Salute range. It is produced from whiskies aged for a minimum 40 years and packaged in bottles created by Dartington Crystal. It is not a limited edition and, whisky stock and demand permitting; Pernod aims to produce 5,000 bottles per year.<br /> <br /> <strong>Product : Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute<br /> <br /> Category : Spirits, Scotch whisky, blended<br /> <br /> Price : Rs 300,000</strong><br /> <br /> </p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-10-01', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'Lifestyle & Fashion cover story news & articles, cover story news & articles from Lifestyle & Fashion, cover story headlines from nepal, Lifestyle & Fashion current and latest cover story news from nepal, Lifestyle & Fashion economic news from nepal, nepali cover story Lifestyle & Fashion economic ', 'description' => 'Chivas Brothers have Launched Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute Scotch Whisky in the market. The whisky is priced at Rs 300,000 including VAT, and is currently the most expensive alcohol available in the Nepali market.', 'sortorder' => '1768', 'image' => '1380623006.jpg', 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1904', 'article_category_id' => '99', 'title' => 'ZETS Holidays For Fuss Free Vacation', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Sujan Tiwari</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Zets Holidays, an outbound tour operator has been offering its holidays packages around the world for the last ten years. The company started in the year 1998 as Zenith Experiences Travel services P Ltd and focused mainly on inbound tourists. Later, in 2003, the company established Zets Holidays to promote outbound holidays in Nepal. According to Mihika Dhakhwa, Managing Director of Zets Holidays, outbound tourism and holiday packages was a relatively new concept in Nepal back then. “Not many Nepalis were taking the holiday packages at that time. It took some for the concept to develop,” says Dhakhwa.</div> <div> </div> <div> As Nepalis are more interested in beach activities, the company started promoting cruise packages. Zets Holidays were one of the first holiday planners in Nepal to introduce cruise holidays. The company is also the only PSA (Preferred Sales Agent) in Nepal for Star Cruises of Malaysia and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL). Through these cruise companies, Zets Holidays provides cruise packages in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and many European locations. The company also offers holiday packages in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, Australia and Europe. The duration of the packages range from a few days to a few weeks. Other services offered by the company include flight booking, hotel booking worldwide, sightseeing tours, travel insurance and </div> <div> visa services. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to Dhakhwa, the trend of Nepalis going for outbound tours is on a constant rise. “Our major customers are families and corporate houses. Corporate houses are taking their employees for incentive tours these days, and that has also helped in our business,” says she. The business rises during the holiday season that is around Dashain and Tihar. According to Dhakhwa, families travel more at this time as there is free time and people can afford the holidays. The company also provides various offers and discounts for the holiday seasons. </div> <div> </div> <div> In the future, Zets Holidays plans to bring in holiday packages in newer detonations around the world. “We are continuously adding new destinations to our holiday packages. New destinations are dependent upon flight connections, visa probability and other factors,” informed Dhakhwa. According to her, limited number of flights in Nepal is the major problem to promote new destinations. “If there are more flights and new airlines, there will be new connections and we will be able to introduce new destinations,” says Dhakhwa. </div> <div> </div> <div> Zets Holidays focuses on providing ‘Fuss Free Fun Vacations’, and has been doing so for the last decade. Dhakhwa says that there are numerous travel and holiday companies in the market that compete in price. “We do not compete in price, but we compete to provide our customers with complete satisfaction,” says she. According to her, the company will continue to provide great holidays at an affordable price in the days </div> <div> to come. </div> <div> </div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/tr.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 65px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px;" /></div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-08', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Zets Holidays, an outbound tour operator has been offering its holidays packages around the world for the last ten years. The company started in the year 1998 as Zenith Experiences Travel services P Ltd and focused mainly on inbound tourists.', 'sortorder' => '1767', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1903', 'article_category_id' => '152', 'title' => 'Focus Briefs (30 September - 3 October 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Western Union Extends Mobile Money Transfer Service to Nepal</strong></span></div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/wu.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 97px;" />The Western Union Company has unveiled the launch of a mobile money transfer service that enables consumers to send money to a mobile wallet in Nepal. The mobile money transfer service to Nepal integrates with eSewa, a digital wallet platform in Nepal with approximately 200,000 registered users. The functionality has been developed through the partnership of Western Union, its Agent Nabil Bank and FonePay, the owner of eSewa. Consumers in Nepal who subscribe to the eSewa mobile wallet are able to receive a Western Union Money Transfer transaction on their mobile phones or through eSewa's web interface. International money transfers for mobile pick-up can be initiated at westernunion.com in 23 countries or at participating Western Union Agent locations worldwide. Nabil Bank, a joint venture financial institution of Nepal, was founded in July 1984. Nabil Bank is equipped with ATMs, credit cards, Internet and Mobile Banking and uses Core Banking System from Infosys Technologies System, Bangalore India. FonePay is a mobile financial service and e-commerce company in Nepal. It specializes in providing digital payment and money transfer services via mobile and/or the Internet. eSewa is a digital payment portal in Nepal, developed by F1 Soft International and owned by FonePay, that enables financial transactions via web-based or mobile-based services.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>eSewa Launches eSewaZone</strong></span></div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/es.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 62px;" />Online payment gateway eSewa has launched eSewaZone to make the access of eSewa services easier to customers. According to the company, this new service allows customers to use eSewa services even if they do not have a bank account. eSewa is the first company in Nepal to allow its clients use online services like sending and receiving money, telephone bill payment including recharge cards for post-paid and pre-paid, ADSL bill payment, utility bill payments, airline ticket purchases, school and college fee payments, payment for movie hall tickets, shopping, restaurant bill payments, and topping up credit cards. “Earlier, people need to have accounts at our partner banks to use eSewa services. With the launch of eSewaZone, customers can use our services even if they don´t have bank account,” said Asgar Ali, CEO of Fonepay that operates eSewaZone. Ali said the company has formed a network of three super agents in Kathmandu and 100 agents throughout Nepal. “We will be having 10 super agents in Kathmandu and 1,000 agents throughout the country with a minimum of three agents in each district within 2 months,” said Ali.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>SBI Introduced “Express Remit”</strong></span></div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/sbi.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 105px;" />Nepal SBI Bank Limited, jointly with State Bank of India, has introduced a robust Electronic Fund transfer Mechanism (EFT) namely "SBI-Nepal Express Remit" to provide a faster and convenient mode of remittance facility for Nepali migrants in India by disbursing cash for such remittances to beneficiaries residing all across Nepal through Electronic Fund Transfer Mechanism (EFT). According to officials at SBI, this service can be availed for all branches of the State Bank of India.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The Western Union Company has unveiled the launch of a mobile money transfer service that enables consumers to send money to a mobile wallet in Nepal. The mobile money transfer service to Nepal integrates with eSewa, a digital wallet platform in Nepal with approximately 200,000 registered users.', 'sortorder' => '1766', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1907', 'article_category_id' => '99', 'title' => 'Oktoberfest 2013 At Nanglo', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> Nanglo Café and Bar at Durbarmarg is celebrating Oktoberfest 2013. The event is jointly organized by Nanglo Café and Carlsberg. Oktoberfest is Germany’s 16-day Bavarian tradition of beer drinking. The festival will run from 21 September to 6 October.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nanglo Café and Bar at Durbarmarg is celebrating Oktoberfest 2013. The event is jointly organized by Nanglo Café and Carlsberg.', 'sortorder' => '1765', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1906', 'article_category_id' => '99', 'title' => 'Indrajatra Celebrated At The Village Cafe', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> The Village Cafe organized an event named ‘Indrajatra Food and Fashion Galore On the occasion of Indrajatra. The event featured live traditional band, Lakhey dance, exhibition of fashion products from SAARC countries and Newari food with special 15 dish Newari feast. Sadichha Shrestha, former Miss Nepal and brand ambassador of Sabah Nepal was also present at the event. </div> <div> </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The Village Cafe organized an event named ‘Indrajatra Food and Fashion Galore On the occasion of Indrajatra', 'sortorder' => '1764', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1902', 'article_category_id' => '153', 'title' => 'E-commerce Talks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <span style="font-size:16px;">The third edition of Money Expo for 2013 is being held in capital in the end of October. Aiming to promote investment opportunities and wealth protection strategies, this expo is the largest finance and investment show in Nepal. An interaction programme ‘Demystifying New Mode of Trade and Payments’ was conducted by New Business Age on September 19 as headway to the Expo. This interaction was dedicated to clear the existing technology that has been replaced by new technologies in the fields of trade and payments. Experts from banks and financial institutions presented their opinion on the current status of the financial sector. <strong>Excerpts: </strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> <strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="Biswas Dhakal" src="/userfiles/images/bs.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 243px;" />Biswas Dhakal</span></strong></div> <div> <strong><span style="font-size:14px;">President, F1Soft International Ltd</span></strong></div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Our main objective is to facilitate customers with new and easy services. Other companies also carry similar objectives to make life easier for customers through digital transactions. Every transaction should be a digital transaction, be it large banking transactions or daily life transactions. We have initiated the online transaction service with this same purpose. This brings money to the banking sector and also increases investment. Remittance, which has covered large areas in the Nepali economy, is also brought to the country through online systems. The procedure of an online system is very easy and can be used by everyone. It can be done by simply sending an SMS and people are seen to be interested towards this service. But due to various reasons, the popularity of this system has not increased yet. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The main problem of the digital system is a lack of its credibility among people. But the system is totally secured from our side. We have adopted international norms for security in the system. Our first priority is to provide secured transactions and we have not received any complaints regarding security and services from our customers.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The main obstacle for digital transaction in reference to the worldwide global practice is digital illiteracy. Moreover, in an education deprived country like ours, the problem is huge. So it is impossible to achieve hundred per cent digital coverage in Nepal. However, our concept is to move from developed to less developed areas. For example, 50 per cent families of Kathmandu have their representatives abroad. A major responsibility for those abroad is to send money to their family. If we can convince the people in Kathmandu towards online transaction, they can opt for a digital medium as their mode of transaction. Moreover, the family in Kathmandu can also use an online medium to send money and other materials abroad. We can then enter rural areas as well. Using personal brand ambassadors rather than our individual effort for promotion would be more effective.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>There is a misconception that few government policies have created obstacles. However, if all processes are completed, it is not that difficult to work. Everyone involved in transaction has their own process. The Nepal Rastra Bank also has its own policy. The foreign exchange department also has its own policy. We cannot exist for long in this sector if we bypass their policies. According to the policy of the Nepal Rastra Bank, a private organization cannot hold funds of customers. So, we appointed banks for the payment and provided the custody of customers’ money to them. Similarly, foreign currencies are also handled by banks. So, there are no hurdles due to rules and regulations if they are handled properly.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> </p> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><img alt="Samir Vajracharya" src="/userfiles/images/sv(1).jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 243px;" />Samir Vajracharya</strong></span></div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Chief Technology Officer, Smart Choice Technology</strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Smart Choice Technology (SCT) started in 2001 AD when there were hardly 4-5 ATMs and 10,000 cards. Currently, there are 15, 000 cards under the SCT network only and more than 18,000 people with access to cash. A total of 85 financial institutions are affiliated with SCT. We have focused on ATM transactions and Point of Sale (POS), mainly. There is a vast difference in the situation now and then. Our vision is to provide easy access to financial activities to the people and we have been successful in our mission to a large extent. This does not mean that this is the line of satisfaction as a large number of people hesitate to use ATMs still. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The Nepali market is not ready for e-services, which has been the main hurdle for increment in the online market. We should be able to make people aware about the importance of online transactions so that their interest level towards this service increases.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The government is not being able to lead this sector which is also seen as a major problem. The government should introduce some compulsory regulations regarding online services to increase people’s involvement in this sector. This is only due to the contribution and dedication of the private sector that online services have reached up to this level. But without support from the government, the online sector cannot sustain for long. The private sector is profit-oriented, but if the government sector takes charge then this sector can be service-oriented.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Though the issue of security is big in this sector, SCT is very much concerned about the security issue and has worked on it. Our cards are based on pin codes which are the safest medium in this sector in comparison to a signature as it can be copied. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Customers have to face problems because of problems in network but these problems are not solely from theSCT network. There are various service providers including telecom, banks and others involved with it. This is difficult to manage as network problems may arise anywhere anytime. People should be aware of this.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Poorly developed infrastructures and a lack of skilled manpower are also major obstacles in the context of Nepal. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>We are also facing problems because of political instability and power cuts. The companies from foreign countries are interested to work with us which is a positive sign for us but these vital problems are blocking them to work with us. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Similarly, there is a lack of government policy. The central bank should provide a benchmark to other banks for e-payment. It is difficult for the private sector to work without a benchmark. We are discussing with concerned authorities to solve these issues.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> </p> </div> <div> <img alt="Rabin Kumar Shrestha" src="/userfiles/images/rks.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 244px;" /><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Rabin Kumar Shrestha</strong></span></div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Chief Technical Officer, PayBill</strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>We are making maximum efforts for improvement of the online sector but we are not getting results accordingly. There are various reasons for this. Firstly, people are not aware of this system. Most people still believe that the internet is only limited to the social media. They are not aware that various transactions can also be done through the internet. These people can be attracted to this sector if they are made aware.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The issue of security is also a major concern but this system is very much secured. Customers should send two smses to transact from PEBIL. After the first sms, we send an alpha code to the customer and after that the customer must send both the alpha code and pin through sms. Only after this will they will be able to transact. So, this way our system is secured but people are still not convinced.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> </p> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><img alt="Subas Dhungana" src="/userfiles/images/sd.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 244px;" />Subash Dhungana</strong></span></div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Executive, iPay</strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>iPay is an online payment system. We have been operating Muncha.com since 2002. Our services were limited to gift packages for long though we were not satisfied with the results. But some positive signs are emerging now based on which we are expanding our services. We have moved towards bringing remittance and media sites for downloading files along with online shopping. We have made agreements with seven banks for this purpose recently. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The main reason behind the failure of e-commerce sites is the failure of payment to customers. For online payment, there are e-sewa, PayBill, SCT, credit card and our own production iPay which are associated with seven banks. But if the customer is asked to pay online, then s/he makes various excuses as they are not aware of these services. So cards of Nepali banks should get international validity for easy access to online payment. Around 20-25 people register in Muncha.com but at the end, they have problems with the payment system. Therefore, an easy way for payment should be initiated with support from the government or the central bank. Though these issues are discussed, we are lacking behind in implementation. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>We have not faced any problem regarding security, nor have we received any complaints. We are practicing international norms of security in our system. We can’t say that the online medium is hundred percent secured but problems have not occurred yet. </div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Political instability is also main problem for this sector. The number of internet users has increased, but political stability is must for the sector’s rapid growth. Political stability brings employment, and it is when people are engaged and busy that they start engaging in online activities. </div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> </p> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><img alt="Bal K. Joshi" src="/userfiles/images/bkj.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 243px;" />Bal K. Joshi</strong></span></div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>President, MACHNET</strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Nepal has immense potential for e-commerce. Though there is not much expansion in this sector, the condition has not worsened. There are a lot of websites conducting e-commerce and their businesses have increased through the medium. The expansion of the market for e-commerce depends upon target customers and identifying their needs.</div> <div> </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The main problem at present is not being able to invite international transactions to our country. PayPal is popular for this at national and international levels. But there are some procedural problems in the use of PayPal digital transaction in Nepal. The customers have to pay an extra fee to send the money. For example, if a person has to send 2000 dollars then s/he will have to pay around 2500 dollars. So, there is no prospect for using PayPal to expand the digital transaction market in Nepal. We are introducing a new platform related to money transfer for the first time in Nepal to make it easier for Nepali customers to transfer money from abroad. </div> <div> </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-08', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The third edition of Money Expo for 2013 is being held in capital in the end of October. Aiming to promote investment opportunities and wealth protection strategies, this expo is the largest finance and investment show in Nepal. An interaction programme ‘Demystifying New Mode of Trade and Payments’ was conducted by New Business Age on September 19 as headway to the Expo.', 'sortorder' => '1763', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1901', 'article_category_id' => '108', 'title' => 'Money Matter News In Brief (30 September - 3 October 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Vibor, Reliable Remit Ink Agreement</strong></span></div> <div> Reliable Remit Service, operated by Reliable Remit Ltd, has inked a deal recently with Vibor Bank following which customers can now send and receive their money from six branches of the Vibor bank and 1600 agents of Reliable Remit. CEO of Reliance Finance, Narayan Bahadur Lohani and CEO of Vibor Bank, Narayan Bahadur Lohani signed an agreement of partnership last week.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>21pc Dividend of Kamana </strong></span></div> <div> Kamana Development Bank has said it will distribute a total of 21 percent dividend on the net profit of Fiscal Year 2012-13. According to the press release of the bank, the meeting of Board of Directors (BoD) held last Monday (September 23) decided to distribute 15 per cent bonus and 6 per cent cash dividend. Umesh Kumar Acharya, CEO of the Bank, informed that the dividend will be distributed following the approval of Nepal Rastra Bank and endorsement from the Annual General Meeting of the company. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Siddhartha Brings Visa Prepaid Travel Card</strong></span></div> <div> Siddhartha Bank will distribute free Visa Prepaid Travel Card to its customers as part of its ‘Utsav Scheme’. The Bank has informed that the customers can get such cards from any of its branches upon filling up a form by November 30. The press release of the bank on the launch of a new service of Card states that the customers can make transactions through Visa ATM and POS machine from anywhere in the world.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>City, NCC Sign Agreement</strong></span></div> <div> City Express Money Transfer and NCC Bank Ltd have signed an agreement on providing the remittance service. Under the agreement, money remitted from abroad can be collected from any branch of the NCC Bank. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Grand’s ‘Special Saving Account’</strong></span></div> <div> Grand Bank Nepal Ltd has started ‘Grand Special Saving Account’ on the occasion of Dashain and Tihar festivals. The minimum balance for the account would be of Rs 100,000. The Bank has said that it will provide 7 per cent per annum interest rate on daily balance. According to the press release of the bank, it will provide 50 per cent discount on charge for getting a Draft and Balance Certificate. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>United Hands Over Insurance Claim Payment</strong></span></div> <div> United Insurance Company Ltd has made the highest payment of insurance so far. The Company has handed a payment worth Rs 589 million to the insured party representative Narottam Kumar Mehta from the Chaudhary Group amid a programme held in the capital last Tuesday. According to the CEO of the insurance company, Bir Bikram Raymajhi, the payment was made as a compensation of the loss that the insured company incurred due to fire accidents in the company’s Satungal based CG Impex Pvt Ltd, EOL Pvtd Ltd and CG electronics Pvt Ltd last year. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Vibor Capital Appointed as Mission Dev’s Registrar </strong></span></div> <div> Mission Development Bank has appointed the Vibor Capital Ltd as its share registrar. Bank’s CEO Hari Prashad Ghimire and Vibor Capital’s CEO Shankar Kalikote has signed on the appointment letter to this effect. The Company’s shares were listed in the Nepal Stock Exchange recently.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Reliable Remit Service, operated by Reliable Remit Ltd, has inked a deal recently with Vibor Bank following which customers can now send and receive their money from six branches of the Vibor bank and 1600 agents of Reliable Remit. CEO of Reliance Finance, Narayan Bahadur Lohani and CEO of Vibor Bank, Narayan Bahadur Lohani signed an agreement of partnership last week.', 'sortorder' => '1762', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1900', 'article_category_id' => '109', 'title' => 'Regulatory Board Fines Prime Life CEO', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> The Insurance Board (IB) fined the Chief Executive Officer of Prime Life Insurance Company, Resta Jha, Rs 10,000 last Wednesday for violating its directive regarding the cap on management expenses. </div> <div> </div> <div> The IB has fined him in charge of spending more than the amount for management expenditure stated in the IB’s regulation. </div> <div> </div> <div> As per the directive of the IB, life insurance companies can spend only up to six percent of the annual gross premium collected from new insurance policies on guest entertainment, business promotion, advertisement, and agent incentives. However, the company has been found to have spent more than 16 per cent on the four areas. “Action has been taken against the CEO of the company,” informed the IB’s chartered accountant Santosh Prasain.</div> <div> </div> <div> Likewise, the IB has also directed the company to put the excess of management expenses on the company’s books in a way that it is borne only by the shareholder.</div> <div> </div> <div> “We made this directive to the company so that the insured parties do not have to bear the liability,” said Prasain. </div> <div> </div> <div> Prasain also said that the IB has not yet decided to conduct a due diligence audit (DDA) of the company. The board has taken action against the company while the company’s staff are accusing CEO Jha of embezzling Rs 3.27 million. Prasain said that the Board will only investigate the case after the complaints is received by the Board. “We will investigate the case if a complaint is lodged with the Board,” he said. Investigation could also be initiated if any malpractices are found in the financial report, he added.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><img alt="Resta Jha" src="/userfiles/images/rj.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 100px; height: 135px;" />Jha Reappointed </strong></span></div> <div> </div> <div> Resta Jha, alleged for violating directives regarding expenses, has been reappointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the Prime Life Insurance Company Ltd. The meeting of the Board of Directors (BoD) held last Monday (September 23) appointed Jha for a second consecutive term of four years, informed the company’s chairman Pramod Kumar Karki.</div> </div> <p> </p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-01', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The Insurance Board (IB) fined the Chief Executive Officer of Prime Life Insurance Company, Resta Jha, Rs 10,000 last Wednesday for violating its directive regarding the cap on management expenses.', 'sortorder' => '1761', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1899', 'article_category_id' => '109', 'title' => 'Fourth Reverse Repo In Three Weeks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <img alt="Nepal Rastra Bank" src="/userfiles/images/rr.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;width: 200px; height: 205px;" />Banking and financial institutions (BFIs) bid for securities worth Rs 21.85 billion for the fourth round of reverse repo held by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) last Wednesday. According to the NRB, it has received sealed quotations from 21 BFIs amounting to Rs 21.85 billion for a reverse repo issued by the NRB worth Rs 10 billion. </div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) issued a reverse repo last Wednesday for the fourth time in a three-week period. The NRB has issued the reverse repo worth Rs 10 billion this time in a bid to absorb excess liquidity from the financial system. Earlier on September 4 and September 10, the NRB had held a seven-day reverse repo worth Rs 5 billion and Rs 10 billion, respectively. The first reverse repo was held at 0.08 per cent weighted average discount rate. The second was held at 0.06 per cent. </div> <div> </div> <div> Likewise, the NRB had also conducted an outright purchase auction for securities worth Rs 8.5 billion on September 20 at 0.04 per cent weighted average discount rate. Over bidding for the reverse repo is seen to indicate excess liquidity and lack of investment opportunities.</div> <div> </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '0000-00-00', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Banking and financial institutions (BFIs) bid for securities worth Rs 21.85 billion for the fourth round of reverse repo held by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) last Wednesday. According to the NRB, it has received sealed quotations from 21 BFIs amounting to Rs 21.85 billion for a reverse repo issued by the NRB worth Rs 10 billion.', 'sortorder' => '1760', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1898', 'article_category_id' => '109', 'title' => 'Nepse Remains Constant', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Sagar Ghimire</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) closed last week 0.19 points lower compared to the close of the first day of that week. It had peaked at 3.64 points as Wednesday while the lowest was at 7.47 on Monday.</div> <div> </div> <div> The investment has flown towards the primary market with some companies’ opening of initial public offerings (IPO). The secondary market has borne the brunt of investors’ rush towards the primary market. </div> <div> </div> <div> On the other hand, positive macro indicators of the finance sector like excess liquidity in the market, dividend announcements of banks and financial institutions, etc have helped the Nepse index to move upward. Stock analysts say these opposite trends have made the Nepse index relatively constant. </div> <div> </div> <div> Though the Nepse index declined on the first (September 22) and second (September 23) days by 7.47 (closing at 541.51) and 3.2 points (closing at 538.31), respectively, the third day and fourth day saw it increase by 3.64 and 1.4 points, respectively. The share market observed a fall again by 1.65 points on the last trading day of the week. </div> <div> </div> <div> Among the sub-indices, the Hydropower sector saw the highest increment by 39.78 points, closing at 1306.76, while the Insurance sector lost the most by 18.74 points, closing at 1304.61. Likewise, Hotel, Finance and Development Bank sectors sub-indices also increased during the week. It was Manufacturing, Other and Commercial Banks sectors that were losers in the secondary market last week. There was no change in the Trading sector during the week.</div> <div> </div> <div> Twenty million, fifty-nine thousand five hundred and thirty-two unit shares of 132 companies worth Rs 546.08 million were traded in 8026 transactions at Nepse. </div> <div> </div> <div> Kailash Development Bank topped the capital market last week in terms of transaction amount (Rs 49.7 million) and units of shares traded (237,890). Likewise, Mega Bank was at the forefront in the stock market for its number of transactions (1487).</div> <div> </div> <div> <img alt="Sectors" src="/userfiles/images/sectors%20(Copy).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 144px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 15px;" /></div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <div> </div> <div> <strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Nepse on Sunday</span></strong></div> <div> Nepse index inclined 0.16 point on the first day of this week (Sunday September 29) closing at 541.86. </div> <div> </div> <div> The secondary market saw a total of 117.6 million turnovers through 1661 transactions of 108 companies. Sub-indices of Hotel, Hydropower, Insurance and Other sectors observed the gain, while Banking, Development Bank and Finance sectors declined on the opening day of the trading week. The Hotels sector surged the highest by 24.67 points closing at 757.74. The Banking sector plunged to lowest by 2.44 with closing at 513.97 points.</div> </div> <p> </p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '2013-10-07', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) closed last week 0.19 points lower compared to the close of the first day of that week. It had peaked at 3.64 points as Wednesday while the lowest was at 7.47 on Monday.', 'sortorder' => '1759', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1897', 'article_category_id' => '110', 'title' => 'Top Ten Losers (23 - 29 September 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '0000-00-00', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Top Ten Losers', 'sortorder' => '1758', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1896', 'article_category_id' => '111', 'title' => 'Top Ten Gainers (23 - 29 September 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '0000-00-00', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Top Ten Gainers', 'sortorder' => '1757', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '1895', 'article_category_id' => '113', 'title' => 'US Dollar Exchange Rate At Local Market (23 - 29 September 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-09-30', 'modified' => '0000-00-00', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'US Dollar Exchange Rate At Local Market', 'sortorder' => '1756', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
| Currency | Unit |
Buy | Sell |
| U.S. Dollar | 1 | 121.23 | 121.83 |
| European Euro | 1 | 131.65 | 132.31 |
| UK Pound Sterling | 1 | 142.47 | 143.18 |
| Swiss Franc | 1 | 124.29 | 124.90 |
| Australian Dollar | 1 | 71.69 | 72.05 |
| Canadian Dollar | 1 | 83.90 | 84.32 |
| Japanese Yen | 10 | 10.94 | 11.00 |
| Chinese Yuan | 1 | 17.17 | 17.26 |
| Saudi Arabian Riyal | 1 | 32.27 | 32.43 |
| UAE Dirham | 1 | 33.01 | 33.17 |
| Malaysian Ringgit | 1 | 27.36 | 27.50 |
| South Korean Won | 100 | 9.77 | 9.82 |
Update: 2020-03-25 | Source: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)
| Fine Gold | 1 tola | 77000.00 |
| Tejabi Gold | 1 tola | 76700.00 |
| Silver | 1 tola | 720.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
Source: Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association
| Petrol | 1 Liter | 106.00 |
| Diesel | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| Kerosene | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| LP Gas | 1 Cylinder | 1375.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
