CIAA Arrests Five NOC Officials

Nov 30, -0001 0 56 seconds to read

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2015 DV Programme To Open From October 1st

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ADB Recognises Oustanding Projects

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Economic Freedom: Hong Kong, Singapore On Top, US Falls In Rankings

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‘Flagship Carrier Should Be Revived For Tourism Growth’

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No Laughing Matter

The Sweet Rewards of Power

By Madan Lamsal

. . .
read more »

NEPSE

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			'id' => '1879',
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			'title' => 'CIAA Arrests Five NOC Officials',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By TC Correspondent&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has arrested top four officials of the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) including the Officiating Executive Director Suresh Kumar Agrawal last Tuesday on the charge of distributing bonus to NOC staff by violating its earlier directive. The Commission had earlier directed the NOC to not distribute bonuses until the state-owned corporation cleared its accumulated loss.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The other arrested persons are Director Nagendra Shah and Managers Kamal Prasad Sharma and Netra Prasad Kafle. Following the arrest, the CIAA presented them before the Special Court last Wednesday. They have been sent for a seven-day judicial custody by the Special Court.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Meanwhile, the CIAA also arrested Nepal Oil Corporation Trade Union Chairman Devi Prasad Neupane last Friday on the charge of obstructing the investigation it had launched against NOC officials. Earlier on Wednesday, Neupane, who is also Senior Assistant at the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), had issued the statement in a press conference defending the bonus distribution.</div>',
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			'description' => 'Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has arrested top four officials of the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) including the Officiating Executive Director Suresh Kumar Agrawal last Tuesday on the charge of distributing bonus to NOC s',
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			'title' => 'Nepal And The World News In Brief (30 September - 3 October 2013)',
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			'content' => '<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Japan Inflation Hits 5 Year-High&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Japan&rsquo;s core consumer inflation in August hit its highest level in nearly five years, while prices of personal electronics rose for the first time since 1992 - signs Japan may be emerging from 15 years of nagging deflation. Core consumer prices, which include oil products but exclude volatile prices of fresh food, rose 0.8 percent in August from a year earlier after a 0.7 percent increase in July, marking the third straight month of gains.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>US House Defies Obama on Funding Bill&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	The House approved a spending bill early Sunday morning that would fund the government through Dec. 15, but tacked on amendments that would delay the federal health care law known as Obamacare for one year and repeal the medical device tax, a move that sets up a showdown with Senate Democrats and increases the probability of a government shutdown Tuesday.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>UK Moves to Block Bankers&rsquo; Bonus Cap</strong></span></div>
<div>
	A plan to cap bankers&rsquo; bonuses will be tested in Europe&rsquo;s top court after the U.K. government challenged the measure, claiming it would increase financial risks rather than reduce them.EU policymakers are hoping to limit bonuses for any banker earning more than 500,000 euros a year. The maximum payout would be equal to annual salary or twice salary if a majority of shareholders approve.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>India Current Account Gap Seen Widening&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	India&rsquo;s current account deficit, which hit a record high in the last fiscal year, is expected to rise in the June quarter from the previous three-month period before easing due to sharp fall in gold imports and improving exports. Five economists predicted the June quarter current account deficit (CAD) would rise to $23-25 billion, or 4.8-5.4 percent of gross domestic production (GDP), from $18.1 billion, or 3.6 percent, in the March quarter.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Switzerland Leads in Global Energy Ranking</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Switzerland and a handful of countries in Europe led the way in a global ranking of energy efficiency, access to resources and environmental sustainability. China ranked 78th and the United States was 15th, according to the report by the World Energy Council, a London-based group that promotes sustainable power. Canada came in sixth and France was 10th, while the worst showing of all 129 countries was made by Zimbabwe.&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'Japan’s core consumer inflation in August hit its highest level in nearly five years, while prices of personal electronics rose for the first time since 1992 - signs Japan may be emerging from 15 years of nagging deflation. Core consumer prices, which include oil products but exclude volatile prices of fresh food, rose 0.8 percent in August from a year earlier after a 0.7 percent increase in July, marking the third straight month of gains.',
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			'title' => '2015 DV Programme To Open From October 1st',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The 2015 US Diversity Visa lottery programme is all set to start from October 1st, Tuesday. According to a press release by the US Embassy in Kathmandu, the application period for the DV programme will open at noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST), October 1st and closes at noon, Eastern Standard Time, November 2nd, 2013. The embassy urged the DV entrants to apply early. &ldquo;The US Embassy reminds applicants that there is NO FEE to enter the DV lottery,&rdquo; says the release. &nbsp;The embassy recommends against using a consultant to assist entrants with their applications. The release suggested the entrants to consider using their family member, friend or other trusted person, in case if they need assistance. &ldquo;No matter who provides assistance, you are solely responsible for your own application,&rdquo; states the embassy.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The release informed that the entries for the DV-2015 Diversity Visa lottery to be submitted electronically during the registration period. &ldquo;Applicants may access the electronic Diversity Visa entry form (E-DV) at www.dvlottery.state.gov during the registration period,&rdquo; says the release. The embassy also informed the entrants to list their spouse and unmarried children under age od 21 at the time of application. &ldquo;Submissions without the inclusion of these family members will invalidate your entry. You may submit only one application. &nbsp;Duplicates will disqualify you from being selected,&rdquo; the embassy further states.&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'The 2015 US Diversity Visa lottery programme is all set to start from October 1st, Tuesday. According to a press release by the US Embassy in Kathmandu, the application period for the DV programme will open at noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST), October 1st and closes at noon, Eastern Standard Time, November 2nd, 2013. The embassy urged the DV entrants to apply early.',
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			'id' => '1876',
			'article_category_id' => '138',
			'title' => 'ADB Recognises Oustanding Projects',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recognized four projects of Nepal for helping to improve water supply and sanitation services, air safety standards and the lives of the rural poor and farmers in the country. According to a press statement by the bank, the projects that won the awards are the Rural Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Sector Project, the Community Managed Irrigated Agriculture Sector Project and the Second Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project and the Air Transport Capacity Enhancement Project all of which are supported by ADB. &nbsp;Finance Secretary Shanta Raj Subedi presented the Outstanding Project Management Team Awards to the winning teams at a special ceremony held in conjunction with ADB&rsquo;s annual Country Portfolio Review meeting organized by ADB with the Government of Nepal.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&#39;The Rural Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Sector Project is helping to reduce poverty in isolated areas of Nepal by improving connectivity, enhancing economic and employment opportunities, and increasing rural access to markets and social services,&#39; says the statement. Similarly, the bank said that the Second Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project is helping to improve access to water and sanitation services in 20 small towns by developing additional water sources, construction of water treatment facilities and storage tanks, private latrines, public toilets, wastewater management facilities, and storm water drainage. &#39;The Community Managed Irrigated Agriculture Sector Project is helping improve the agriculture productivity and sustainability of existing small and medium farmer managed irrigation systems suffering from low water deficiency and cropping intensity. A total of 178,285 farmers are expected to benefit from the improved water accessibility,&#39; the bank informed in the statement.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Similarly, the Secondary Town Integrated Urban Environmental Improvement Project is helping improve the quality of urban life in key regional centers through effective, efficient, and reliable delivery of improved and affordable municipal services. &nbsp; Likewise, the Air Transport Capacity Enhancement Project is helping improve the country&#39;s airports and civil aviation safety standards. The project is helping to improve safety and capacity at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu, and three domestic airports - Lukla, Rara and Simikot - that serve remote areas inaccessible by road. &quot;These awards recognize the projects teams&#39; efficiency in implementation and achievement of targets,&rdquo; said Kenichi Yokoyama, ADB&rsquo;s Country Director for Nepal. &ldquo;We appreciate the efforts made by the project teams in delivering the desired results on the ground as well as enhancing overall portfolio performance.&rdquo;</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' => 'The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recognized four projects of Nepal for helping to improve water supply and sanitation services, air safety standards and the lives of the rural poor and farmers in the country. According to a press statement by the bank, the projects that won the awards are the Rural Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Sector Project, the Community Managed Irrigated Agriculture Sector Project and the Second Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project and the Air Transport Capacity Enhancement Project all of which are supported by ADB.',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1875',
			'article_category_id' => '137',
			'title' => 'Economic Freedom: Hong Kong, Singapore On Top, US Falls In Rankings',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The United States has fallen 15 places since 2000 in the global ranking of economic freedom, while Hong Kong and Singapore maintained their top spots. &nbsp;The &lsquo;Economic Freedom of the World&rsquo; report 2013, compiled by Canada&rsquo;s Fraser Institute, ranks Hong Kong first with an overall Economic Freedom Rating of 8.97, followed by Singapore (8.73). In the area of credit market regulations, both the East Asian City States scored 10 out of 10. The United States is positioned as the world&rsquo;s 17th freest economy behind nations such as New Zealand, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, Mauritius, Finland, Bahrain, Canada, and Australia, who are in the top ten. Throughout most of the period from 1980 to 2000, the United States was ranked as the world&rsquo;s third-freest economy, behind Hong Kong and Singapore. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The U.S. ratings and rankings have fallen in all five areas of the EFW index. The worst reduction was in the area of Legal System and Property Rights, where the rating had slid to 6.93, placing the United States 38th worldwide, tied with Venezuela. The report blames the slippage of the United States, once considered a bastion of economic freedom, on &lsquo;overspending, weakening rule of law, and regulatory overkill on the part of the U.S. government.&rsquo; Major countries that ranked below the United States include Germany, Japan, South Korea, France, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Brazil, and India. China, despite being a major economic power, is ranked as low as 123rd in a list of 152 countries. Eight of the ten lowest-rated countries are located in Africa, with Myanmar and Venezuela ending up in last place.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The index published in the report, which was compiled using data and surveys from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Economic Forum, measures the degree to which the policies and institutions of countries are supportive of economic freedom. The cornerstones of economic freedom are personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to compete, and security of privately owned property. The degree of economic freedom to rank countries was measured using five criteria: size of government, legal system and property rights, sound money, freedom to trade internationally, and regulation.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The average chain-linked economic freedom rating for the countries has increased from 5.34 in 1980 to 6.87 in 2011. &nbsp;Nations that are economically free out-perform non-free &nbsp;nations in indicators of well-being. Nations in the top quartile of economic freedom had an average per-capita GDP of $36,446 in 2011, compared to $4,382 for nations in the bottom quartile in the same period. Life expectancy is 79.2 years in nations in the top quartile compared to 60.2 years in those in the bottom quartile. Political and civil liberties are considerably higher in economically free nations than in less free nations.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<hr />
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong><span style="font-size:16px;">Nepal Falls among Least Economically Free Countries</span></strong></div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Meanwhile, Nepal remained among the least economically free countries in the report for this year. The report states that the degradations in terms of the legal structures and security of property rights and size of the government weighed down on the economic freedom of the country. Nepal ranked 125th out of 152 countries in the report. According to the report, Nepal scored 6.19 out of 10. This marked the further degradation of economic freedom in Nepal. &nbsp;Last year, the country was placed in 110th position out of 144 nations and scored 6.33 points in the index.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		The &lsquo;Economic Freedom of the World Report 2013&rsquo; further emphasized the Nepal government size to be reduced. Regarding the area of &lsquo;size of government&rsquo; in the index, Nepal scored 7.6 in 2013 (31st position in the world) against 8.34 of the previous year. The area of &lsquo;freedom to trade internationally&rsquo; also declined to 6.4 (118th in the world) which scored 6.74 in 2012.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		However, the report also showed that Nepal made little progress regarding areas of &lsquo;legal structures and ensuring property rights to its citizens&rsquo; with a score of 4.2 (126th in the world) this year against 3.85 of 2012. Similarly, the country also performed better in the areas of &lsquo;access to sound money&rsquo; and &lsquo;regulations on credit, labour and business.&rsquo; With the improvements in taming of inflation and money growth in the financial system, the area of access to sound money improved slightly to 6.3 (136th in the world) from last year&rsquo;s 6.26. Likewise, the area of regulations on credit, labour and business also rose to 6.5 (109th in the world) from 6.47 last year.</div>
</div>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
			'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' => 'The United States has fallen 15 places since 2000 in the global ranking of economic freedom, while Hong Kong and Singapore maintained their top spots.  The ‘Economic Freedom of the World’ report 2013, compiled by Canada’s Fraser Institute, ranks Hong Kong first with an overall Economic Freedom Rating of 8.97, followed by Singapore (8.73). In the area of credit market regulations, both the East Asian City States scored 10 out of 10.',
			'sortorder' => '1736',
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	(int) 5 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1874',
			'article_category_id' => '134',
			'title' => '‘Flagship Carrier Should Be Revived For Tourism Growth’',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<span style="font-size:16px;"><img alt="Sagar Pandey" src="/userfiles/images/inter.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;width: 200px; height: 186px;" />The thought that the private sector should now take the lead in boosting the tourism industry is gaining momentum. That one in four visitors to Nepal go trekking should say something about the popularity of this activity in the country. Around 1000 trekking agencies are affiliated with the Trekking Agencies&rsquo; Association of Nepal (TAAN).&nbsp;Sagar Pandey, Executive Chairman of the Himalayan Glacier Trekking, was elected as the General Secretary of TAAN at the recently held general convention of the association. &nbsp;The Corporate&rsquo;s &nbsp;Sagar Ghimire, spoke to Pandey this week about the challenges and problems of trekking agencies and their role in private sector-led tourism development. <strong>Excerpts:</strong></span></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Can it be inferred from the political leverage seen during the general convention of TAAN that the association is under the control of political parties rather than trekking agencies?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Though I cannot rule out the inclination of an individual towards a certain political party, TAAN is a purely professional association representing professional trekking agencies. We do not hold any political baggage so we are a non-political entity.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">What are the challenges and problems in running trekking agencies?&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Tax/VAT for this service sector, illegal trekking operations threatening our cottage industries and penetration of international investment in this business, among others, are short term challenges we are dealing with. Long term problems include the collapse of trekking routes due to the expansion of roads, development of tourism infrastructure, developing new trekking trails, promoting tourism and policy reforms.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Also, since this is a service sector, 13 per cent VAT/tax is too high for us to afford. It is not judicious to charge the service sector VAT as much as the manufacturing sector is charged. All entrepreneurs should be brought under the VAT, and the government should lower it to 4/5 per cent as is the international practice.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Are trekking agencies dissatisfied with the government&rsquo;s attitude for tourism development?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	The recently commemorated international tourism &nbsp;day was just an opportunity for the government to repeat its rhetoric on the importance of tourism for the country&rsquo;s economic growth. Unfortunately, no effective plans toward such sector were presented. There is no research on how tourists make their plans, what the international trends are in tourism, why tourists come to Nepal, and what should be our strategies. Even after one and a half years of the completion of Nepal Tourism Year (NTY), the report of the event is yet to be prepared. How do you review the performance of stakeholders with this laid back approach?</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>What are the marketing and promotional plans of TAAN to brand Nepal as the world&rsquo;s best trekking destination in the international market?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Apart from participating in world exhibitions and trade fairs and using international media, we think reviving our flagship national carrier Nepal Airlines Corporation which connects Nepal to the world can double the number of tourists. Provided that our national carriers has flights to multiple countries, the arrival of tourists can increase significantly. We will pressure the government for this.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>It is said that the price undercutting by trekking agencies is responsible for the decline of tourists&rsquo; spending despite a rise in their numbers. What will TAAN do to curb such practices?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	With the lack of correct data, we make evaluations through hypotheses or the record of the World Bank or other multilateral agencies. The concerned agency should come up with a proper data keeping system which will help us address this problem. Undercutting of price also results from a competitive market. Gone are the days when tourists used to come without information of the price. We cannot fix the price of any package in a free market. However, we can only create awareness about ethical practices through various forums. We cannot stop them even if they run their agencies on a loss by providing services at low prices.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Acknowledging the role of the private sector, a provision has been made for the private sector&rsquo;s representation in the Nepal Tourism Board. What is your assessment of its performance?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Interactions with representatives of the tourism sector, have shown that the planning, execution and other roles of the NTB have not been up to our expectations. The post of Chief Executive Officer of NTB has been vacant for the past two years. We maintained that there should be representation on the board of NTB from professional associations like TAAN and NATTA. Only this can ensure true representation of the private sector as well as avoid controversies and politicisation.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>What are some future plans in developing new trekking trails?&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	There is a need for parallel trails where previous ones have collapsed due to road expansion. Since our geography is complicated, we must collaborate with the government for developing trekking trails. We have been stuck with the same old trails like Annapurna and Langtang trails, but we have to make new trails that encompass the mountains stretching across the country.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>How is revenue collected from the distribution of Trekkers&rsquo; Management Information System (TIMS) cards?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	The revenue of TIMS is for developing infrastructures, promoting, conserving and maintaining trekking trails. A committee was formed for the monitoring of the TIMS revenue. We will plan to spend this money constructively following the report from this committee.&nbsp;</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' => 'The thought that the private sector should now take the lead in boosting the tourism industry is gaining momentum. That one in four visitors to Nepal go trekking should say something about the popularity of this activity in the country. Around 1000 trekking agencies are affiliated with the Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN). Sagar Pandey, Executive Chairman of the Himalayan Glacier Trekking, was elected as the General Secretary of TAAN at the recently held general convention of the association.',
			'sortorder' => '1735',
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			'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' => '1873',
			'article_category_id' => '122',
			'title' => 'The Everest Group: Climbing Higher',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong>--By Gaurav Aryal</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px;">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>
				<img alt="Sanjeev Saraff ,CEO ,Everest Group" src="/userfiles/images/ss(1).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 220px;" /></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
				<div align="center">
					<div>
						<strong>Sanjeev Saraff</strong></div>
					<div>
						CEO, Everest Group</div>
				</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
<div>
	Everest Group Nepal is a pioneer group of companies in the sectors where it has had involvement since its inception. Whether it is petroleum product imports, operation of a cardboard factory or the paper industry, the Everest Group has been a pathfinder in Nepal in these sectors.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The group has begun an expansion drive with plans to venture into the pharmaceutical industry and to add new plants and production capacity in some of its factories. The Everest Group plans to bring its pharmaceutical company, Himalayan Parental and Pharmaceutical Company, into operation by next year. This new company will be producing life saving drugs and intravenous fluids. Sanjeev Saraff, CEO of the group, claims that it will be the first company of its kind in Nepal and that it will install the latest technology that has never been used in Nepal.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The group has recently set up a new factory for producing non-woven fabrics. Everest Plasto has already started production. Saraff says that it is also one of the first factories in Nepal to produce non-woven fabrics.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Likewise, Saraff reveals that the group is coming up with another sugar mill, Himalayan Sugar Mill in Mirchaiya. He says that the manufacturing unit is under construction and will be brought into operation in the next two years. Saraff says that the unit plans to sell electricity produced in its own thermal plant to the government during the winter season.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Local Targets</strong></span></div>
<div>
	According to Saraff, the group has always kept the local market and local raw materials on priority for all its productions. He says, &ldquo;We have been successful only in those industries where the raw material has been Nepali and the market in Nepal.&rdquo; Whether it is the paper factory or the sugar factory, the group has always been using local raw materials and targeting Nepal as its prime market. Saraff says that the group once tried its hands on copper processing by importing raw materials and exporting the final products. He says that it turned out to be a sort of trading business and did not perform well. However, the group still owns and operates Everest Wire factory that has majority market shares in the Tarai region.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The group targets Nepal as its prime market for upcoming pharmaceutical ventures as well. Saraff says that 100 per cent of life saving drugs and IV fluids are imported and the factory aims for import substitution.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Market Coverage</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Saraff claims that the Everest Paper Mills&rsquo; production covers majority of the local market while the sugar mill also has leading market share among half a dozen other Nepali companies.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	He says that the group&rsquo;s only strategy to conquer the market is through quality assurance and its dealer network. Saraff further explains that some of the dealers have worked with the group since its establishment.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The prime markets for Everest Groups&rsquo; products are Kathmandu, Pokhara and markets in the Tarai region. The secret of a strong relationship with its dealer network is to keep them happy, according to Saraff. However, the group has not considered branding as its major marketing tool. &ldquo;Our products are commodities rather than consumer goods. So, we do not require branding as such,&rdquo; he explains. &nbsp;However, the group has been carrying out campaigns to inform its clients about the right use of products to extract maximum value out of it. Marketing activities through billboards and other media, though, are not carried out.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	When asked about group branding, Saraff says, &ldquo;We have less concentrated on group branding. Hopefully, we will get into it once we grow bigger.&rdquo;&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Competition</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Saraff says that the group has been facing unethical competition from smuggled products through the open border of Nepal and India. &ldquo;We decided not to compete with those products as it would be useless to compete with illegal products,&rdquo; he says. He acknowledges the quality and competitiveness of peer companies and says, &ldquo;Manufacturers of Nepal are equally competitive. So, the competition is more on offering quality than on price.&rdquo; Saraff expects the government to control the smuggling of goods that have been a threat to legitimate companies.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Turning Point</strong></span></div>
<div>
	The group had a major set-back when Everest Paper Mill was bombed during the Maoist insurgency. Saraff recalls that it was the first private sector factory to be targeted during the conflict. The bombing in 2005 left the factory completely destroyed. &ldquo;We did not lose hope and we rebuilt the factory within two months&rsquo; time. Bankers and others too appreciated our efforts,&rdquo; says Saraff. He adds that the group rebuilt a new and better factory immediately.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Management</strong></span></div>
<div>
	The group employs around 2500 people in four of its companies in operation. A strong human resource department has been looking after all human resource management activities. Entire management duties are given to this department. The department deals with labour issues as and when they arise. Saraff recalls the closure of one of the group&rsquo;s factory for two months after labours came up with &ldquo;unreasonable demands&rdquo;. &nbsp;&ldquo;We made them realise that we were not going to bow down. We have been handling issues of labours and workers pretty well and the human resource department is pretty effective and strong,&rdquo; he explains.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The management responsibilities of all four companies are handled independently by the management team assigned for each company. The team is headed by members of the extended Saraff family. He says that the group is still a family-owned business more than a corporate group. Second generation businesspersons educated abroad have been taking up responsibility and taking the business to new heights.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The corporate headquarter of the group is located in Janakpur, the place of origin of the group. While the Kathmandu office has been working as a liaison office to look after bureaucratic activities and maintaining relationship with banks, among other activities.</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="10" width="99%">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td bgcolor="#E5E4E2">
				<div>
					<strong style="font-size: 16px;">History&nbsp;</strong></div>
				<div>
					<div>
						Dina Nath Saraff, father of Sanjeev Saraff is the founder of the Everest Group. Senior Saraff started his own import-export firm &lsquo;Brij Mohan Dina Nath&rsquo; in Janakpur that dealt initially with importing clothing materials from India, Soda Ash and various kinds of spices from Malaysia and Indonesia. The firm was also involved in rice exports to India.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Similarly, Saraff acquired the sole agency of ESSO and of Brooke Bond tea in the 50s and 60s for Nepal and started marketing their petroleum products such as, Petrol, Diesel, LDO, engine oil, Kerosene oil, etc even before the Nepal Oil Corporation was established. By mid 1960s, he established another firm, Everest Trading Company, along with the Jhunjhunwalas in Biratnagar and started exporting jute to millers in India.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						In the late 60s, Saraff established Janakpur Soap Factory that manufactured various grades of soap and marketed it under brand names Natraj and OX. &nbsp;Similarly, a decade later, he and his son established Everest Cardboard Industry Pvt Ltd, the first in the country to manufacture corrugated boxes from Kraft paper imported from India and Sweden. &nbsp;During that phase, he also established Tiger Tea Company whose raw materials were imported from India, blended and packed in Nepal and sold in Nepal under the brand name Tiger.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The group continued to grow and passed onto the second generation. Though some industries were closed in the process, its flagship production line such as paper and sugar has continued to rise. The group is now planning to expand its capacity and area of business in the near future.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Flagship Companies of Everest Group:</strong></span></div>
					<ul>
						<li>
							Everest Paper Mill Pvt Ltd</li>
						<li>
							Everest Sugar and Chemical Industries Pvt Ltd</li>
						<li>
							Everest Wire Industry</li>
						<li>
							Everest Plasto</li>
					</ul>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Trading</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						The group feels proud about exporting paper pulps to Japan. In the past, the group used to import paper and chemicals as raw materials. The group also tried its hand on importing fertilizers but stopped later. The group wishes that the country allows international trading in Nepal to export goods to&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						third countries.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Plans</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						The group wants to carve its own path in business without following what others are doing. Saraff says that his group is looking into new sectors for business and also hints that the group will be investing in the tourism sector in the next two to three years and will also explore new possibilities in food products the group had expertise on in the past.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Corporate Social Responsibilities</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						The group does not have overt corporate social activities but is carrying out several activities on its own. The group provides scholarships to 25 to 30 children every year from underprivileged families under the Bhagwati Devi Trust, named after Saraff&rsquo;s grandmother. The trust has been annually sponsoring 40 to 50 children for their education. Similarly, Saraff considers Everest Paper Mills&rsquo; paper recycling plant a socially responsible activity of the group. &ldquo;We are recycling waste paper and contributing to clean the country along with utilising agricultural residues,&rdquo; says Saraff.&nbsp;</div>
				</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-29',
			'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' => 'The Everest Group, having around fi ve decades of business experience in Nepal has plans to expand its current line of business while exploring fresh opportunities in new sectors.',
			'sortorder' => '1734',
			'image' => null,
			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
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	(int) 7 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1872',
			'article_category_id' => '91',
			'title' => 'Nepal Certified As Full Member Of ISO',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal has been certified with full membership of the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) during the 36th AGM of ISO in St. Petersberg, Russia. The membership will come into effect from January, 2014. Nepal is the 5th country in South Asia to be certified with full membership of ISO. Before this, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were certified as members.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Minister for Commerce and Supplies, Shanker Prasad Koirala formally announced the ISO certification of Nepal amidst a programme at the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology on Thursday. Koirala said, &ldquo;This certification has brought immense possibilities along with challenges which we have to utilize and face.&rdquo; He said that both government and private sector should work hand-in-hand for this.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal is certified as a full ISO member after being a correspondent member of ISO for 21 years. &ldquo;To get full membership of ISO is historical in itself,&rdquo; said the Secretary at the Ministry of Industries, Krishna Gyawali. He added, &ldquo;We have to pay around Rs 2.6 million to ISO for the membership but this will bring us a lot of opportunities and ways to profit.&rdquo; Gyanwali urged concerned departments and the private sector to be more sensible in maintaining quality of production.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ram Adhar Shah, Director General of the Bureau said that with the membership certification, Nepal has received opportunities to work with the world community in quality matters. He also said that this can contribute to Nepal&rsquo;s export business as ISO is a significant trade tool.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Established in 1949 AD, ISO has done quality standardization of more than 19,500 goods. Similarly, the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology also has done quality standardization of around 950 goods among which 12 are compulsory quality standards.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-29',
			'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 is the 5th country in South Asia to be certifi ed with full membership of ISO.',
			'sortorder' => '1733',
			'image' => null,
			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'breaking_news' => false,
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	(int) 8 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1871',
			'article_category_id' => '91',
			'title' => 'Hydropower Companies In IPO Rush',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong>--By TC Correspondent&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Once seen as a depressed sector, the Nepali energy industry is now becoming the centre of attraction among investors. The flocking of hydropower companies for share market listing is indicative of this. In recent months, Nepali hydropower companies have been rushing for initial public offerings (IPOs). Five hydropower developers have filed for IPO in the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON). Some among them are said to have been permitted for issuing all kinds of shares, while IPO requests of some companies are under process.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Sanimamai Hydropower Ltd has closed the first round of IPO process which was carried on from September 20-24. Under this, the company sold shares &nbsp;allocated to the project-afftected areas. In the next round, shares will be sold to the general public. Meanwhile, Ridi Hydropower Development Comapany, Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Ltd, Varun Hydropower Company and Arun Valley Development Company Ltd are preparing for share issuance.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Sanimamai Hydropower&#39;s IPO saw an astounding demand of company&#39;s shares. The company which received IPO permit from SEBON on September 4 received share applications worth Rs 2.53 billion, 25 times more than demanded. &quot;We have estimated the application to be 10 times more than the offered,&quot; informed Tuk Prasad Paudel, CEO of Sanimamai Hydropower. The company which is developing the 22 MW Mai hydropower project in Ilam district is also constructing the 7 MW Mai Cascade Hydro project. &quot;Shareholders will receive 5 per cent dividends in the second year after the projects start generating electricity,&quot;said Paudel. According to Paudel, the company plans to raise the dividends to 10 per cent and 15 percent in 3rd and 4th year respectively.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Similarly, Ridi Hydropower issued shares worth Rs 30 million to the local residents of the project area on 28th September. Varun Hydropower is issuing shares worth Rs 24.3 million to the local residents in the project site. Likewise, Upper Tamakoshi is set to issue primary shares worth Rs 25.416 million whereas Arun Valley Hydropower is preparing for the issuance of rights shares worth Rs 350 million.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	There are only four hydropower developers listed in the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) till date. Butwal Power Company Ltd, Chilime Hydropower Company Ltd, Arun Valley Hydropower Company Ltd and National Hydropower Company Ltd are the developers maintaining their presence in the share market thus far. According to data released by NEPSE, the total number of listed shares of the four developers reached 44.525 million (worth Rs 4.45 billion on face value). The share transaction of the companies also saw a staggering growth of 79 per cent in the fiscal year 2012-13 compared to the previous fiscal year.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Share market experts see the IPO rush of hydropower companies as a good investment opportunity. &quot;The risks are less and the returns are larger in hydropower companies compared to other sectors,&quot; says stock market analyst Rabindra Bhattarai. &quot;Currently, there is less competition in the hydropower sector with certainty of return.&quot; Bhattarai terms the IPO rush of power developers as the &#39;next market boom.&#39; He also points out to the IPOs as a medium of fund raising for new hydropower projects. &quot;This will definitely help build new projects and generate more electricity,&quot; he adds.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Share investor Uddab Shiwakoti also agrees with Bhattarai&#39;s view. &quot;Initial capital investment in power companies is high, though the operating cost is low,&quot; he says. &quot;According to cost-benefit analyses, we can clearly see that the investment flow is tending towards the hydropower sector.&quot;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-29',
			'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' => 'In recent months, Nepali hydropower companies have been rushing for initial public offerings (IPOs).Five hydropower developers have fi led for IPO in the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON).',
			'sortorder' => '1732',
			'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' => '1870',
			'article_category_id' => '34',
			'title' => 'Website Usage Instruction',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	This is a small piece of technical Advice for internet user regarding their browser.</p>
<p>
	<br />
	Your internet browser&#39;s cache stores certain information (snapshots) of webpages and images you visit on your computer or mobile device so that they&#39;ll load more quickly upon future visits and while navigating through websites that use the same images on multiple pages so that you do not download them repeatedly.</p>
<p>
	The problem is that many websites often change things, so chances are fairly good that you will not see any of these changes because you are looking at one of the snapshots stored on your computer.</p>
<p>
	To avoid this problem, it is important to clear your browser cache on a regular basis.</p>
<p>
	Clearing your cookies and cache can significantly improve the speed and performance of your browser.</p>
<p>
	Here are instructions with screenshots on how to clear the cache for all major browsers.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	Visual Instruction on clearing cache on the browser</p>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.wikihow.com/Clear-Your-Browser's-Cache">http://www.wikihow.com/Clear-Your-Browser&#39;s-Cache</a><br />
	<br />
	Short browser technical info on clearing cache on browser</p>
<p>
	<a href="http://help.surveymonkey.com/articles/en_US/kb/How-do-I-clear-my-cookies-and-cache-or-temporary-internet-files">http://help.surveymonkey.com/articles/en_US/kb/How-do-I-clear-my-cookies-and-cache-or-temporary-internet-files</a></p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-25',
			'modified' => '0000-00-00',
			'keywords' => 'new business age biz news news & articles, biz news news & articles from new business age nepal, biz news headlines from nepal,  current and latest biz news news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali biz news economic news and events,  ongoing biz news news of nepal',
			'description' => 'Your internet browser's cache stores certain information (snapshots) of webpages and images you visit on your computer or mobile device so that they'll load more quickly upon future visits and while navigating through websites that use the same images on multiple pages so that you do not download them repeatedly.',
			'sortorder' => '1731',
			'image' => null,
			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'breaking_news' => false,
			'main_news' => false,
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			'user_id' => '0'
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	),
	(int) 10 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1869',
			'article_category_id' => '37',
			'title' => 'The Gold Price Paradox',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The price of yellow metal (gold) has fallen sharply by more than 25 per cent in the international market during last four consecutive business months.</div>
<div>
	And to be more precise it is the biggest drop in the last 35 years. Market study revealed that it has fallen approximately 30 per cent per ounce in 2013 only.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The steep fall in the gold price drew mixed reactions and different opinions among bullion experts, economists, buyers, central bankers as well as the bullion traders.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Some of them fear that the gold price will further go down in the near future citing the Cyprus crises, which is planning to sell off a huge gold reserve worth 400m Euros.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Not the least, the unanticipated slowdown in the Chinese economic growth, continuous improvements in the US markets and decline in demand from India drove the yellow metal to fall further to the worry.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	A section of market experts have argued that the recent fall in gold price is not supported by the fundamentals rather it is the result of speculation in derivatives markets following the untested rumors and sparked declines across commodities. Hence they believed that the gold price will go up after the biggest plunge.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	According them, the price of gold will be backed by good demand from physical investors, arbitrators and jewelers.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In June 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected that the gold prices will increase in near future. They have also researched experts view and analysts about the movement of gold price.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	According to the Bombay Bullion Association (BBA) the gold price will go up as the Asian buyers have stepped up their purchase following its fall in terms of price, imports by India, which is the world&rsquo;s biggest consumer. BBA expected that the demand for gold in India is likely to jump by 36 percent in the 2013.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, Goldman Sachs Group, an American multinational investment banking firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients, predicted that the gold price may drop below USD 1000 per ounce within this year as the biggest hedge funds have reduced bets on gold at higher prices. Similarly, another school of thought argued that the investment on exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to gold have dropped by USD 37.2 billion in the first half of 2013, the fastest fall in last five years. In this back drop, they expected that the price of gold will further drop.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	At the same time, central banks that hold large gold reserves are also divided in to two fractions fueling the controversy on gold price movement. The central bankers are also being the part of paradox whether gold is cheap enough to increase investment as the price is USD 750 cheaper per ounce since the record high in November, 2011.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The central bank of Sri Lanka and Scotland already said that the falling prices are an opportunity for nations to raise gold reserves. But the central banks of Korea and Australia said the plunge in gold price is not a big concern because gold has no intrinsic value and holding the yellow metal is part of a long-term strategy for diversifying currency reserves.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Likewise, Deutsche Bank said that the gold has entered a new reality and may reach as low as USD 1050 an ounce to bring its valuation back to the historical averages. The trend line draw from the USD 435 an ounce, average of 2005, also indicates that the inflation adjusted price of gold should now be hanging around the psychological level of USD 1000 per ounce. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Regarding the determinants of gold price, various scholars have conducted scientific studies with well researched econometric models and attempted to draw conclusions about the determinants of the gold price. Traditionally, most of the empirical studies closes down to three major findings, which emerge with respect to the analysis of long-run determinants of gold price.</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>First, there is a long-term relationship between the price of gold and the US inflation indicated by the consumer price index.</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Second, the global inflation and gold price move together in a statistically significant long-run relationship. This evidence substantiates the belief that gold is a long-term hedge against inflation.</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Third, an external shocks that causes a deviation from this long-term relationship and there is a slow reversion back towards it.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	This means, although there is a possibility of seasonal variation as well as cyclical movement in the gold price in short and medium term, in the long run it will be guided by the global inflation in general and US inflation in particular.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In effect, the consequences of external shocks, there may be the deviation from the long-term relationship between the price of gold and the US inflation. This attracted the scholars and analyst to think beyond the long-run determinants and that the US economy as well as the USD is only the counterpart of the gold in international market. They attempted to analyze the short-run determinants of gold price taking other factors than US inflation and USD into consideration. Accordingly, the short-run analysis found that there is a positive relationship between gold price movements and changes in global interest rate along with major macroeconomic variables, US inflation volatility and credit as well as operation risk in the major financial markets of the world.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/ep7%20(Copy).jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 284px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Some other studies have revealed that there is a negative relationship between changes in the gold price and changes in the US dollar trade-weighted exchange rate against the major currencies, which are included in the basket of global reserve currencies. However, the findings reveal that the significant negative parameter on the &ldquo;error correction mechanism&rdquo; reflects the slow return of the gold price to its long-run relationship. These findings are in accordance with the theoretical framework put forward that the gold is safe haven for the versatile investors and one of the assets class for government and the central banks. Besides, there are some fundamentals of demand and of supply, which can influence the price of gold as in case of other commodities in perfect competition market.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, some of the empirical studies reveal that there was no significant relationship between changes in gold price and its physical demand. Rather the price of gold has been driving by the virtual demand generated from the derivatives markets since there are hundreds times higher demand than that of the actual gold production across the world. Such artificial demand has especially been created by the speculators who want to mint money over the fluctuating price of any assets including gold. Every time they were trying to catch changes in gold price citing the change in world inflation, interest rate volatility, world income and the unproved rumors like central bank X is planning to sell this much of gold or huge gold reserve is identified in Y country etc.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Against these theoretical as well as hardnosed backgrounds, there is a major unresolved issue that gold is the most attractive as well as the most risky asset worldwide. The crucial question one may ask include &mdash; Is gold the long-run hedge of US inflation? If so, is that matters for countries other than the US? Was there positive relationship between the price of gold and the US inflation during the recent financial crisis when the US inflation was almost zero or negative in some quarters but gold price was breaking record high successively? These are the crucial questions that no study or school of thought can answer correctly.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	But the fact is this is the glitter of gold and will remain same in the future as well. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<em>(Writer is Deputy Director at Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) )</em></div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-25',
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			'description' => 'The price of yellow metal (gold) has fallen sharply by more than 25 per cent in the international market during last four consecutive business months.',
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	(int) 11 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1868',
			'article_category_id' => '201',
			'title' => 'Business Briefs',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<div>
	<img alt="qatar" src="/userfiles/images/fas_qatar.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 200px; height: 61px; " /></div>
<div>
	<strong>Qatar&rsquo;s Special Fares</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Qatar Airways is offering customers in Kathmandu a special promotion of discounted fares on Economy Class and Premium cabin fares for one month. The special discounted fares started from 14 September 2013 and will end on 14 October 2013. The offer is applicable for various destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The travel validity is till 14th October 2013.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="canvas" src="/userfiles/images/canvas.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 150px; height: 91px; " /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Canvas Lite A92 in Market</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Micromax has launched Canvas Lite A92 in the market. The phone is powered by a 1GHz dual core processor and runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. For imaging, the phone has a 5 Megapixel primary camera and a 0.3 Megapixel secondary camera. A92 sports a 5.0&rdquo; capacitive full touch screen, 32 GB expandable memory and comes with a 2000 mAh battery. &nbsp;Other features of the phone include gravity sensor, proximity sensor, light sensor, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS support.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<br />
	<img alt="weekofforunte" src="/userfiles/images/Weekoffortune.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 150px; height: 150px; " /></div>
<div>
	<strong>Civil Mall&rsquo;s Festive Offer</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Civil Mall has launches a program named &lsquo;Tata Indica V2 Civil Mall Dashain Tihar Mahotsav 2070&rsquo; on the occasion of Dashain and Tihar. The main attraction of the program is &lsquo;Touch and Win a Car&rsquo;, in which a person continuously touching the allotted car for the longest period will receive a Tata Indica V2. In addition, shoppers at Civil Mall can win daily gifts like tickets for Dubai trip, diamond necklace, TV, refrigerator and washing machines.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<br />
	<img alt="samsung" src="/userfiles/images/samsung12.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 150px; height: 129px; " /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Samsung&rsquo;s &lsquo;Buy SMS Win&rsquo; Offer</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	International Marketing Services Pvt Ltd (IMS} has introduced a new scheme named Samsung &lsquo;Buy SMS Win&rsquo; for this festive season. Under this scheme, customers purchasing Samsung mobiles from the authorized Samsung Shop from September 17 till November 15, 2013 can get a chance to win a total of 114 Galaxy Note 2 every day in daily lucky draw, a total of 38 Galaxy Note 3 in Daily Bumper and 6 Bajaj Pulsar bike, weekly. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<br />
	<img alt="whirlpool" src="/userfiles/images/whirlpool(1).jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 150px; height: 115px; " /></div>
<div>
	<strong>Whirlpool&rsquo;s &lsquo;Houseful Pocketful&rsquo; Offer</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Whirlpool has announced an offer named &lsquo;Houseful Pocketful Offer&rsquo; on the occasion of Dashain and Tihar. On every purchase, customers get a discount of Rs 200, Rs 500 and Rs 1000 or a range of prizes including microwave oven, vacuum cleaners, refrigerators and washing machines and triple door refrigerators. The offer started from 20 September.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-23',
			'modified' => '0000-00-00',
			'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' => 'Qatar Airways is offering customers in Kathmandu a special promotion of discounted fares on Economy Class and Premium cabin fares for one month. The special discounted fares started from 14 September 2013 and will end on 14 October 2013. The offer is applicable for various destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The travel validity is till 14th October 2013.',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1867',
			'article_category_id' => '201',
			'title' => 'Tech Briefs (23 - 29 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Samsung Unveils UHD TV</strong></p>
<p align="left">
	Him Electronics, authorized distributor of Samsung in Nepal, launched a new series of Ultra High Definition (UHD) Televisions and refrigerators in the Nepali market on 18 September 2013. Speaking at the launching event, Managing Director of Him Electronics Shekhar Golchha said, &ldquo;Samsung has occupied 27.7 per cent of the global market of televisions. The latest model of Samsung TV is available in 65 and 55 inches with more than 8 million pixels which helps bring out intricate and detailed pictures.&nbsp;</p>
<p align="left">
	The UHD TV S9 has been recognized for it stunning picture quality, 3D performance and sound quality, as stated in the press release.&nbsp; UHD TV series offers a revolutionary voice command recognition system and intuitive motion sensing. In order to enable the basic functions such as changing channels or the volume, one has to say &lsquo;HI TV&rsquo; or wave a hand. In addition, users can also use videos, photos and other available apps in the TV to share content through social media like Facebook and Twitter. The price of the 65 inch and 55 inch UHD TV is Rs 800,000 and Rs 750,000, respectively.</p>
<p align="left">
	Similarly, the BEE 5 star rating Samsung Refrigerator 3050 series provides facility to store food with a minimum consumption of electricity as it uses LED lights and the digital Inverter Compressor. The refrigerator also has a decade-long warranty facility. The cost of a refrigerator varies from Rs 33.000 to Rs 45, 000.</p>
<p>
	<br />
	<strong>Nexus Partners with Polycom</strong></p>
<p>
	Nexus Solutions Pvt Ltd has announced a partnership with Polycom. Nexus, a newly established IT Solutions&rsquo; Company of Nepal, has become a Polycom authorized partner with this partnership. Polycom is an industry leader in unified communications and collaboration. Organizations from a wide variety of industries work with Polycom standards-based audio and video conferencing solutions to easily collaborate &lsquo;face to face&rsquo; interaction saving time, cost and carbon emissions associated with gathering the people in one place. Nexus Solutions provides the complete suite of Polycom solutions including SoundStation audio-conferencing and Group Series 300, 500, 700 video-conferencing products.</p>
<p align="left">
	<br />
	<strong>NAS Solutions Suite Launched</strong></p>
<p>
	Meanwhile, Nexus Solutions Pvt Ltd has launched the complete suite of Network Attached Storage (NAS) solutions provider Synology products in Nepal. The suite houses products ranging from 2 drives to 106 drive for the SOHO, SMB and Enterprise markets. The products are based on Synology&rsquo;s award winning DiskStation Manager (DSM) software and supports full integration with Active Directory, VMware, Hyper-V, Citrix, and other similar software products. The key benefits of the products include Hybrid RAID, unmatched scalability, software feature set and ease of use backed by industry-leading support. Synology has won numerous awards including NAS Manufacturer of the Year, NAS Product of the Year, Editor&rsquo;s Choice Award, and Readers&rsquo; Choice Award, among others. The company is dedicated to develop high-performance, reliable, versatile, and environmentally-friendly products.</p>
<p>
	<br />
	<strong>Neo Showroom Opens at Jawalakhel</strong></p>
<p>
	Neoteric Nepal, has opened a new showroom Neo Store in Jawalakhel of Lalitpur. &ldquo;The Neo Store is the largest IT showroom in Nepal till date,&rdquo; claims a press statement from the company. According to the statement, the showroom is a one-stop shop for the buyers of tech products. &ldquo;Neo store houses wide variety of smartphones, laptops, tablet and accessories of various international brands,&rdquo; says the release.&nbsp; The branded ICT products distributor expects that the store will fulfill the needs of IT products buyers of lalitpur.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
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			'created' => '2013-09-23',
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			'description' => 'Him Electronics, authorized distributor of Samsung in Nepal, launched a new series of Ultra High Definition (UHD) Televisions and refrigerators in the Nepali market on 18 September 2013. Speaking at the launching event, Managing Director of Him Electronics Shekhar Golchha said, “Samsung has occupied 27.7 per cent of the global market of televisions. The latest model of Samsung TV is available in 65 and 55 inches with more than 8 million pixels which helps bring out intricate and detailed pictures.',
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	(int) 13 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1866',
			'article_category_id' => '201',
			'title' => 'For The Suave Professional',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	<strong>BY Alisha Giri</strong></p>
<p align="left">
	The popular idiom &lsquo;Clothes Make the Man&rsquo; might as well give away to a new saying: &lsquo;Shoes Make the Suave Man&rsquo;.&nbsp; With increased emphasis on footwear in today&rsquo;s fashion, it becomes imperative to watch what your feet wear to work. &nbsp;Good footwear adds a splendid amount of style and class to one&rsquo;s wardrobe. In fact, shoes can make a whole outfit look different - a fact that inspired me to write a shoe guide for this column this week.I suggest some suave pairs of shoes for men &ndash; formal and casual - to strut their style at work.</p>
<p>
	<strong>Oxfords (AKA Balmoral):</strong></p>
<p>
	With a classic style in colours brown and black which give the formal, elegant and dressy look, Oxfords go well with dress pants but not jeans. Black is always better for a formal look than brown, which is a little more causal. Derived from the half-boots called Oxonians that was a rage at Oxford University in the 1800s, the contemporary shoes come in a range of styles that speak to the cosmopolitan man with an intellectual bent.</p>
<p align="left">
	<br />
	<strong>Derby (aka Bl&uuml;chers):</strong></p>
<p>
	The Derbies are similar to the Oxfords but the difference is in the lacing style which makes this shoe style less formal compared to the classic Oxford. You can get a pair in any colour, brogue or non brogue, cap-toed, wing tipped, as well as in many different types of leather and linen. The Derbies are for smart-casual dressing such as jeans, dress shorts and sport coats. They are less suited for suits but do make a good shoe choice for business attire on rainy days due to their more rugged construction.</p>
<p align="left">
	Casual business attire with slacks and sports coat as much as dark wash jeans and cardigan sweaters look good on these shoes.</p>
<p align="left">
	<br />
	<strong>Loafers</strong></p>
<p>
	Comfortable and versatile loafers are the traveling businessman&rsquo;s best friend. The sleeker and simpler the design, the more formal it is.&nbsp; Loafers look great with jeans and dress pants, as well as with suits when not wearing a necktie. Blace loafers are best for formal wear for men whereas loafer pumps made from shiny black patent leather as best for a formal look for women. Typical is a grosgrain ribbon decoration on the cap of the shoe. Formal pumps are only suited for formal black tie or white tie ensembles which are typically worn for these two formal dress codes.</p>
<p align="left">
	&nbsp;</p>
<p align="left">
	<strong><em>(Giri is Planning and Communication Manager at Wiz International.)</em></strong></p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-23',
			'modified' => '2013-09-23',
			'keywords' => 'With increased emphasis on footwear in today’s fashion, it becomes imperative to watch what your feet wear to work.',
			'description' => 'The popular idiom ‘Clothes Make the Man’ might as well give away to a new saying: ‘Shoes Make the Suave Man’.  With increased emphasis on footwear in today’s fashion, it becomes imperative to watch what your feet wear to work.  Good footwear adds a splendid amount of style and class to one’s wardrobe. In fact, shoes can make a whole outfit look different - a fact that inspired me to write a shoe guide for this column this week.I suggest some suave pairs of shoes for men – formal and casual - to strut their style at work.',
			'sortorder' => '1727',
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	(int) 14 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1865',
			'article_category_id' => '122',
			'title' => 'At A Glance Yeti Brand',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Brief History</strong></p>
<p>
	The Yeti brand was born in 1966 with the establishment of Yeti Travels and it was well known after the success of Yeti Airlines though the aviation company was established much later. Yeti Airlines started its domestic flight with a single DHC-6/300 Twin Otter aircraft in 1998. Today, the company is one of the largest domestic airlines with a fleet of 14 aircrafts. The company expanded its reach to remote districts with two DHC-6/300 Series Twin Otter aircrafts and started services to Lukla, Phaplu, Lamidanda, Rumjatar and Simikot. Within a period of one and a half decades, the airline now flies with a fleet of seven British Aerospace Jetstream-41s, covering major cities within Nepal from the mountains and hills to the Tarai region.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Some Subsidiaries of Yeti Group</strong><br />
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Yeti Mountain Home</strong></p>
<p>
	<img alt="yetimountain" src="/userfiles/images/yetimountain.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; " /></p>
<p>
	Yeti Mountain Home is a group of comfort lodges operating in the Khumbu/Everest region. The company claims these are amongst the world&rsquo;s highest luxury lodges, offering panoramic views of some of the highest mountains of the Himalaya. Each of these lodges have 15 to 20 rooms with modern amenities. Half a dozen lodges are operating under the Yeti Mountain Home brand. These include YMH Lukla, YMH Phakding, YMH Monjo, YMH Namche, YMH Thame and YMH Kongde.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Gokarna Forest Resort</strong></p>
<p>
	<img alt="gokarna" src="/userfiles/images/gokarna.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; " /></p>
<p>
	The Yeti Group acquired the management of Gokarna Forest Resort from October 2010 from the Singapore-based company LM Suvir Brothers Private Limited. The resort also houses one of the best golf courses in Asia, spread over 470 acres of land. The resort has 90 rooms and spa services among other top notch luxury services.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Tara Air</strong></p>
<p>
	<img alt="taraair" src="/userfiles/images/taraair.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; " /></p>
<p>
	Tara Air, the subsidiary of Yeti Airlines is one of the biggest airline service providers in the mountain region. According to the company, it is guided by the mission of helping develop the rural Nepal. So, its services are concentrated in the hills and mountain destinations across the country. The airline has a fleet of six STOL aircrafts, comprising of four Twin Otter (DHC 6/300) and two Dornier (DO 228) aircrafts. The airline operates both scheduled and chartered flights.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Thamserku Trekking</strong></p>
<p>
	This trekking and holiday service provider has been serving more than 4000 clients each year with agents in nine countries. Thamserku has been established as a group of companies offering trekking and adventure tourism services through its subsidiaries namely, Thamserku Trekking, Thamserku Expedition and Luxe Nepal. The company offers services ranging from classic trekking programmes to wild and exciting journeys in the remote mountains, and easy peaks and scaling mountains taller than 8000 metres.</p>',
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			'description' => 'The Yeti brand was born in 1966 with the establishment of Yeti Travels and it was well known after the success of Yeti Airlines though the aviation company was established much later. Yeti Airlines started its domestic flight with a single DHC-6/300 Twin Otter aircraft in 1998.',
			'sortorder' => '1726',
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Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200
Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1879',
			'article_category_id' => '140',
			'title' => 'CIAA Arrests Five NOC Officials',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By TC Correspondent&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has arrested top four officials of the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) including the Officiating Executive Director Suresh Kumar Agrawal last Tuesday on the charge of distributing bonus to NOC staff by violating its earlier directive. The Commission had earlier directed the NOC to not distribute bonuses until the state-owned corporation cleared its accumulated loss.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The other arrested persons are Director Nagendra Shah and Managers Kamal Prasad Sharma and Netra Prasad Kafle. Following the arrest, the CIAA presented them before the Special Court last Wednesday. They have been sent for a seven-day judicial custody by the Special Court.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Meanwhile, the CIAA also arrested Nepal Oil Corporation Trade Union Chairman Devi Prasad Neupane last Friday on the charge of obstructing the investigation it had launched against NOC officials. Earlier on Wednesday, Neupane, who is also Senior Assistant at the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), had issued the statement in a press conference defending the bonus distribution.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-30',
			'modified' => '2013-09-30',
			'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' => 'Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has arrested top four officials of the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) including the Officiating Executive Director Suresh Kumar Agrawal last Tuesday on the charge of distributing bonus to NOC s',
			'sortorder' => '1740',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1878',
			'article_category_id' => '139',
			'title' => 'Nepal And The World News In Brief (30 September - 3 October 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Japan Inflation Hits 5 Year-High&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Japan&rsquo;s core consumer inflation in August hit its highest level in nearly five years, while prices of personal electronics rose for the first time since 1992 - signs Japan may be emerging from 15 years of nagging deflation. Core consumer prices, which include oil products but exclude volatile prices of fresh food, rose 0.8 percent in August from a year earlier after a 0.7 percent increase in July, marking the third straight month of gains.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>US House Defies Obama on Funding Bill&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	The House approved a spending bill early Sunday morning that would fund the government through Dec. 15, but tacked on amendments that would delay the federal health care law known as Obamacare for one year and repeal the medical device tax, a move that sets up a showdown with Senate Democrats and increases the probability of a government shutdown Tuesday.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>UK Moves to Block Bankers&rsquo; Bonus Cap</strong></span></div>
<div>
	A plan to cap bankers&rsquo; bonuses will be tested in Europe&rsquo;s top court after the U.K. government challenged the measure, claiming it would increase financial risks rather than reduce them.EU policymakers are hoping to limit bonuses for any banker earning more than 500,000 euros a year. The maximum payout would be equal to annual salary or twice salary if a majority of shareholders approve.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>India Current Account Gap Seen Widening&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	India&rsquo;s current account deficit, which hit a record high in the last fiscal year, is expected to rise in the June quarter from the previous three-month period before easing due to sharp fall in gold imports and improving exports. Five economists predicted the June quarter current account deficit (CAD) would rise to $23-25 billion, or 4.8-5.4 percent of gross domestic production (GDP), from $18.1 billion, or 3.6 percent, in the March quarter.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Switzerland Leads in Global Energy Ranking</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Switzerland and a handful of countries in Europe led the way in a global ranking of energy efficiency, access to resources and environmental sustainability. China ranked 78th and the United States was 15th, according to the report by the World Energy Council, a London-based group that promotes sustainable power. Canada came in sixth and France was 10th, while the worst showing of all 129 countries was made by Zimbabwe.&nbsp;</div>',
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			'created' => '2013-09-30',
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			'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' => 'Japan’s core consumer inflation in August hit its highest level in nearly five years, while prices of personal electronics rose for the first time since 1992 - signs Japan may be emerging from 15 years of nagging deflation. Core consumer prices, which include oil products but exclude volatile prices of fresh food, rose 0.8 percent in August from a year earlier after a 0.7 percent increase in July, marking the third straight month of gains.',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1877',
			'article_category_id' => '138',
			'title' => '2015 DV Programme To Open From October 1st',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The 2015 US Diversity Visa lottery programme is all set to start from October 1st, Tuesday. According to a press release by the US Embassy in Kathmandu, the application period for the DV programme will open at noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST), October 1st and closes at noon, Eastern Standard Time, November 2nd, 2013. The embassy urged the DV entrants to apply early. &ldquo;The US Embassy reminds applicants that there is NO FEE to enter the DV lottery,&rdquo; says the release. &nbsp;The embassy recommends against using a consultant to assist entrants with their applications. The release suggested the entrants to consider using their family member, friend or other trusted person, in case if they need assistance. &ldquo;No matter who provides assistance, you are solely responsible for your own application,&rdquo; states the embassy.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The release informed that the entries for the DV-2015 Diversity Visa lottery to be submitted electronically during the registration period. &ldquo;Applicants may access the electronic Diversity Visa entry form (E-DV) at www.dvlottery.state.gov during the registration period,&rdquo; says the release. The embassy also informed the entrants to list their spouse and unmarried children under age od 21 at the time of application. &ldquo;Submissions without the inclusion of these family members will invalidate your entry. You may submit only one application. &nbsp;Duplicates will disqualify you from being selected,&rdquo; the embassy further states.&nbsp;</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' => 'The 2015 US Diversity Visa lottery programme is all set to start from October 1st, Tuesday. According to a press release by the US Embassy in Kathmandu, the application period for the DV programme will open at noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST), October 1st and closes at noon, Eastern Standard Time, November 2nd, 2013. The embassy urged the DV entrants to apply early.',
			'sortorder' => '1738',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1876',
			'article_category_id' => '138',
			'title' => 'ADB Recognises Oustanding Projects',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recognized four projects of Nepal for helping to improve water supply and sanitation services, air safety standards and the lives of the rural poor and farmers in the country. According to a press statement by the bank, the projects that won the awards are the Rural Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Sector Project, the Community Managed Irrigated Agriculture Sector Project and the Second Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project and the Air Transport Capacity Enhancement Project all of which are supported by ADB. &nbsp;Finance Secretary Shanta Raj Subedi presented the Outstanding Project Management Team Awards to the winning teams at a special ceremony held in conjunction with ADB&rsquo;s annual Country Portfolio Review meeting organized by ADB with the Government of Nepal.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&#39;The Rural Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Sector Project is helping to reduce poverty in isolated areas of Nepal by improving connectivity, enhancing economic and employment opportunities, and increasing rural access to markets and social services,&#39; says the statement. Similarly, the bank said that the Second Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project is helping to improve access to water and sanitation services in 20 small towns by developing additional water sources, construction of water treatment facilities and storage tanks, private latrines, public toilets, wastewater management facilities, and storm water drainage. &#39;The Community Managed Irrigated Agriculture Sector Project is helping improve the agriculture productivity and sustainability of existing small and medium farmer managed irrigation systems suffering from low water deficiency and cropping intensity. A total of 178,285 farmers are expected to benefit from the improved water accessibility,&#39; the bank informed in the statement.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Similarly, the Secondary Town Integrated Urban Environmental Improvement Project is helping improve the quality of urban life in key regional centers through effective, efficient, and reliable delivery of improved and affordable municipal services. &nbsp; Likewise, the Air Transport Capacity Enhancement Project is helping improve the country&#39;s airports and civil aviation safety standards. The project is helping to improve safety and capacity at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu, and three domestic airports - Lukla, Rara and Simikot - that serve remote areas inaccessible by road. &quot;These awards recognize the projects teams&#39; efficiency in implementation and achievement of targets,&rdquo; said Kenichi Yokoyama, ADB&rsquo;s Country Director for Nepal. &ldquo;We appreciate the efforts made by the project teams in delivering the desired results on the ground as well as enhancing overall portfolio performance.&rdquo;</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' => 'The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recognized four projects of Nepal for helping to improve water supply and sanitation services, air safety standards and the lives of the rural poor and farmers in the country. According to a press statement by the bank, the projects that won the awards are the Rural Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Sector Project, the Community Managed Irrigated Agriculture Sector Project and the Second Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project and the Air Transport Capacity Enhancement Project all of which are supported by ADB.',
			'sortorder' => '1737',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1875',
			'article_category_id' => '137',
			'title' => 'Economic Freedom: Hong Kong, Singapore On Top, US Falls In Rankings',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The United States has fallen 15 places since 2000 in the global ranking of economic freedom, while Hong Kong and Singapore maintained their top spots. &nbsp;The &lsquo;Economic Freedom of the World&rsquo; report 2013, compiled by Canada&rsquo;s Fraser Institute, ranks Hong Kong first with an overall Economic Freedom Rating of 8.97, followed by Singapore (8.73). In the area of credit market regulations, both the East Asian City States scored 10 out of 10. The United States is positioned as the world&rsquo;s 17th freest economy behind nations such as New Zealand, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, Mauritius, Finland, Bahrain, Canada, and Australia, who are in the top ten. Throughout most of the period from 1980 to 2000, the United States was ranked as the world&rsquo;s third-freest economy, behind Hong Kong and Singapore. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The U.S. ratings and rankings have fallen in all five areas of the EFW index. The worst reduction was in the area of Legal System and Property Rights, where the rating had slid to 6.93, placing the United States 38th worldwide, tied with Venezuela. The report blames the slippage of the United States, once considered a bastion of economic freedom, on &lsquo;overspending, weakening rule of law, and regulatory overkill on the part of the U.S. government.&rsquo; Major countries that ranked below the United States include Germany, Japan, South Korea, France, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Brazil, and India. China, despite being a major economic power, is ranked as low as 123rd in a list of 152 countries. Eight of the ten lowest-rated countries are located in Africa, with Myanmar and Venezuela ending up in last place.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The index published in the report, which was compiled using data and surveys from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Economic Forum, measures the degree to which the policies and institutions of countries are supportive of economic freedom. The cornerstones of economic freedom are personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to compete, and security of privately owned property. The degree of economic freedom to rank countries was measured using five criteria: size of government, legal system and property rights, sound money, freedom to trade internationally, and regulation.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The average chain-linked economic freedom rating for the countries has increased from 5.34 in 1980 to 6.87 in 2011. &nbsp;Nations that are economically free out-perform non-free &nbsp;nations in indicators of well-being. Nations in the top quartile of economic freedom had an average per-capita GDP of $36,446 in 2011, compared to $4,382 for nations in the bottom quartile in the same period. Life expectancy is 79.2 years in nations in the top quartile compared to 60.2 years in those in the bottom quartile. Political and civil liberties are considerably higher in economically free nations than in less free nations.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<hr />
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong><span style="font-size:16px;">Nepal Falls among Least Economically Free Countries</span></strong></div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Meanwhile, Nepal remained among the least economically free countries in the report for this year. The report states that the degradations in terms of the legal structures and security of property rights and size of the government weighed down on the economic freedom of the country. Nepal ranked 125th out of 152 countries in the report. According to the report, Nepal scored 6.19 out of 10. This marked the further degradation of economic freedom in Nepal. &nbsp;Last year, the country was placed in 110th position out of 144 nations and scored 6.33 points in the index.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		The &lsquo;Economic Freedom of the World Report 2013&rsquo; further emphasized the Nepal government size to be reduced. Regarding the area of &lsquo;size of government&rsquo; in the index, Nepal scored 7.6 in 2013 (31st position in the world) against 8.34 of the previous year. The area of &lsquo;freedom to trade internationally&rsquo; also declined to 6.4 (118th in the world) which scored 6.74 in 2012.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		However, the report also showed that Nepal made little progress regarding areas of &lsquo;legal structures and ensuring property rights to its citizens&rsquo; with a score of 4.2 (126th in the world) this year against 3.85 of 2012. Similarly, the country also performed better in the areas of &lsquo;access to sound money&rsquo; and &lsquo;regulations on credit, labour and business.&rsquo; With the improvements in taming of inflation and money growth in the financial system, the area of access to sound money improved slightly to 6.3 (136th in the world) from last year&rsquo;s 6.26. Likewise, the area of regulations on credit, labour and business also rose to 6.5 (109th in the world) from 6.47 last year.</div>
</div>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
			'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' => 'The United States has fallen 15 places since 2000 in the global ranking of economic freedom, while Hong Kong and Singapore maintained their top spots.  The ‘Economic Freedom of the World’ report 2013, compiled by Canada’s Fraser Institute, ranks Hong Kong first with an overall Economic Freedom Rating of 8.97, followed by Singapore (8.73). In the area of credit market regulations, both the East Asian City States scored 10 out of 10.',
			'sortorder' => '1736',
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	(int) 5 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1874',
			'article_category_id' => '134',
			'title' => '‘Flagship Carrier Should Be Revived For Tourism Growth’',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<span style="font-size:16px;"><img alt="Sagar Pandey" src="/userfiles/images/inter.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;width: 200px; height: 186px;" />The thought that the private sector should now take the lead in boosting the tourism industry is gaining momentum. That one in four visitors to Nepal go trekking should say something about the popularity of this activity in the country. Around 1000 trekking agencies are affiliated with the Trekking Agencies&rsquo; Association of Nepal (TAAN).&nbsp;Sagar Pandey, Executive Chairman of the Himalayan Glacier Trekking, was elected as the General Secretary of TAAN at the recently held general convention of the association. &nbsp;The Corporate&rsquo;s &nbsp;Sagar Ghimire, spoke to Pandey this week about the challenges and problems of trekking agencies and their role in private sector-led tourism development. <strong>Excerpts:</strong></span></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Can it be inferred from the political leverage seen during the general convention of TAAN that the association is under the control of political parties rather than trekking agencies?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Though I cannot rule out the inclination of an individual towards a certain political party, TAAN is a purely professional association representing professional trekking agencies. We do not hold any political baggage so we are a non-political entity.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">What are the challenges and problems in running trekking agencies?&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Tax/VAT for this service sector, illegal trekking operations threatening our cottage industries and penetration of international investment in this business, among others, are short term challenges we are dealing with. Long term problems include the collapse of trekking routes due to the expansion of roads, development of tourism infrastructure, developing new trekking trails, promoting tourism and policy reforms.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Also, since this is a service sector, 13 per cent VAT/tax is too high for us to afford. It is not judicious to charge the service sector VAT as much as the manufacturing sector is charged. All entrepreneurs should be brought under the VAT, and the government should lower it to 4/5 per cent as is the international practice.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Are trekking agencies dissatisfied with the government&rsquo;s attitude for tourism development?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	The recently commemorated international tourism &nbsp;day was just an opportunity for the government to repeat its rhetoric on the importance of tourism for the country&rsquo;s economic growth. Unfortunately, no effective plans toward such sector were presented. There is no research on how tourists make their plans, what the international trends are in tourism, why tourists come to Nepal, and what should be our strategies. Even after one and a half years of the completion of Nepal Tourism Year (NTY), the report of the event is yet to be prepared. How do you review the performance of stakeholders with this laid back approach?</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>What are the marketing and promotional plans of TAAN to brand Nepal as the world&rsquo;s best trekking destination in the international market?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Apart from participating in world exhibitions and trade fairs and using international media, we think reviving our flagship national carrier Nepal Airlines Corporation which connects Nepal to the world can double the number of tourists. Provided that our national carriers has flights to multiple countries, the arrival of tourists can increase significantly. We will pressure the government for this.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>It is said that the price undercutting by trekking agencies is responsible for the decline of tourists&rsquo; spending despite a rise in their numbers. What will TAAN do to curb such practices?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	With the lack of correct data, we make evaluations through hypotheses or the record of the World Bank or other multilateral agencies. The concerned agency should come up with a proper data keeping system which will help us address this problem. Undercutting of price also results from a competitive market. Gone are the days when tourists used to come without information of the price. We cannot fix the price of any package in a free market. However, we can only create awareness about ethical practices through various forums. We cannot stop them even if they run their agencies on a loss by providing services at low prices.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Acknowledging the role of the private sector, a provision has been made for the private sector&rsquo;s representation in the Nepal Tourism Board. What is your assessment of its performance?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Interactions with representatives of the tourism sector, have shown that the planning, execution and other roles of the NTB have not been up to our expectations. The post of Chief Executive Officer of NTB has been vacant for the past two years. We maintained that there should be representation on the board of NTB from professional associations like TAAN and NATTA. Only this can ensure true representation of the private sector as well as avoid controversies and politicisation.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>What are some future plans in developing new trekking trails?&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	There is a need for parallel trails where previous ones have collapsed due to road expansion. Since our geography is complicated, we must collaborate with the government for developing trekking trails. We have been stuck with the same old trails like Annapurna and Langtang trails, but we have to make new trails that encompass the mountains stretching across the country.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>How is revenue collected from the distribution of Trekkers&rsquo; Management Information System (TIMS) cards?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	The revenue of TIMS is for developing infrastructures, promoting, conserving and maintaining trekking trails. A committee was formed for the monitoring of the TIMS revenue. We will plan to spend this money constructively following the report from this committee.&nbsp;</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' => 'The thought that the private sector should now take the lead in boosting the tourism industry is gaining momentum. That one in four visitors to Nepal go trekking should say something about the popularity of this activity in the country. Around 1000 trekking agencies are affiliated with the Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN). Sagar Pandey, Executive Chairman of the Himalayan Glacier Trekking, was elected as the General Secretary of TAAN at the recently held general convention of the association.',
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	(int) 6 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1873',
			'article_category_id' => '122',
			'title' => 'The Everest Group: Climbing Higher',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong>--By Gaurav Aryal</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px;">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>
				<img alt="Sanjeev Saraff ,CEO ,Everest Group" src="/userfiles/images/ss(1).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 220px;" /></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
				<div align="center">
					<div>
						<strong>Sanjeev Saraff</strong></div>
					<div>
						CEO, Everest Group</div>
				</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
<div>
	Everest Group Nepal is a pioneer group of companies in the sectors where it has had involvement since its inception. Whether it is petroleum product imports, operation of a cardboard factory or the paper industry, the Everest Group has been a pathfinder in Nepal in these sectors.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The group has begun an expansion drive with plans to venture into the pharmaceutical industry and to add new plants and production capacity in some of its factories. The Everest Group plans to bring its pharmaceutical company, Himalayan Parental and Pharmaceutical Company, into operation by next year. This new company will be producing life saving drugs and intravenous fluids. Sanjeev Saraff, CEO of the group, claims that it will be the first company of its kind in Nepal and that it will install the latest technology that has never been used in Nepal.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The group has recently set up a new factory for producing non-woven fabrics. Everest Plasto has already started production. Saraff says that it is also one of the first factories in Nepal to produce non-woven fabrics.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Likewise, Saraff reveals that the group is coming up with another sugar mill, Himalayan Sugar Mill in Mirchaiya. He says that the manufacturing unit is under construction and will be brought into operation in the next two years. Saraff says that the unit plans to sell electricity produced in its own thermal plant to the government during the winter season.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Local Targets</strong></span></div>
<div>
	According to Saraff, the group has always kept the local market and local raw materials on priority for all its productions. He says, &ldquo;We have been successful only in those industries where the raw material has been Nepali and the market in Nepal.&rdquo; Whether it is the paper factory or the sugar factory, the group has always been using local raw materials and targeting Nepal as its prime market. Saraff says that the group once tried its hands on copper processing by importing raw materials and exporting the final products. He says that it turned out to be a sort of trading business and did not perform well. However, the group still owns and operates Everest Wire factory that has majority market shares in the Tarai region.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The group targets Nepal as its prime market for upcoming pharmaceutical ventures as well. Saraff says that 100 per cent of life saving drugs and IV fluids are imported and the factory aims for import substitution.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Market Coverage</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Saraff claims that the Everest Paper Mills&rsquo; production covers majority of the local market while the sugar mill also has leading market share among half a dozen other Nepali companies.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	He says that the group&rsquo;s only strategy to conquer the market is through quality assurance and its dealer network. Saraff further explains that some of the dealers have worked with the group since its establishment.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The prime markets for Everest Groups&rsquo; products are Kathmandu, Pokhara and markets in the Tarai region. The secret of a strong relationship with its dealer network is to keep them happy, according to Saraff. However, the group has not considered branding as its major marketing tool. &ldquo;Our products are commodities rather than consumer goods. So, we do not require branding as such,&rdquo; he explains. &nbsp;However, the group has been carrying out campaigns to inform its clients about the right use of products to extract maximum value out of it. Marketing activities through billboards and other media, though, are not carried out.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	When asked about group branding, Saraff says, &ldquo;We have less concentrated on group branding. Hopefully, we will get into it once we grow bigger.&rdquo;&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Competition</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Saraff says that the group has been facing unethical competition from smuggled products through the open border of Nepal and India. &ldquo;We decided not to compete with those products as it would be useless to compete with illegal products,&rdquo; he says. He acknowledges the quality and competitiveness of peer companies and says, &ldquo;Manufacturers of Nepal are equally competitive. So, the competition is more on offering quality than on price.&rdquo; Saraff expects the government to control the smuggling of goods that have been a threat to legitimate companies.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Turning Point</strong></span></div>
<div>
	The group had a major set-back when Everest Paper Mill was bombed during the Maoist insurgency. Saraff recalls that it was the first private sector factory to be targeted during the conflict. The bombing in 2005 left the factory completely destroyed. &ldquo;We did not lose hope and we rebuilt the factory within two months&rsquo; time. Bankers and others too appreciated our efforts,&rdquo; says Saraff. He adds that the group rebuilt a new and better factory immediately.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Management</strong></span></div>
<div>
	The group employs around 2500 people in four of its companies in operation. A strong human resource department has been looking after all human resource management activities. Entire management duties are given to this department. The department deals with labour issues as and when they arise. Saraff recalls the closure of one of the group&rsquo;s factory for two months after labours came up with &ldquo;unreasonable demands&rdquo;. &nbsp;&ldquo;We made them realise that we were not going to bow down. We have been handling issues of labours and workers pretty well and the human resource department is pretty effective and strong,&rdquo; he explains.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The management responsibilities of all four companies are handled independently by the management team assigned for each company. The team is headed by members of the extended Saraff family. He says that the group is still a family-owned business more than a corporate group. Second generation businesspersons educated abroad have been taking up responsibility and taking the business to new heights.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The corporate headquarter of the group is located in Janakpur, the place of origin of the group. While the Kathmandu office has been working as a liaison office to look after bureaucratic activities and maintaining relationship with banks, among other activities.</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="10" width="99%">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td bgcolor="#E5E4E2">
				<div>
					<strong style="font-size: 16px;">History&nbsp;</strong></div>
				<div>
					<div>
						Dina Nath Saraff, father of Sanjeev Saraff is the founder of the Everest Group. Senior Saraff started his own import-export firm &lsquo;Brij Mohan Dina Nath&rsquo; in Janakpur that dealt initially with importing clothing materials from India, Soda Ash and various kinds of spices from Malaysia and Indonesia. The firm was also involved in rice exports to India.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Similarly, Saraff acquired the sole agency of ESSO and of Brooke Bond tea in the 50s and 60s for Nepal and started marketing their petroleum products such as, Petrol, Diesel, LDO, engine oil, Kerosene oil, etc even before the Nepal Oil Corporation was established. By mid 1960s, he established another firm, Everest Trading Company, along with the Jhunjhunwalas in Biratnagar and started exporting jute to millers in India.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						In the late 60s, Saraff established Janakpur Soap Factory that manufactured various grades of soap and marketed it under brand names Natraj and OX. &nbsp;Similarly, a decade later, he and his son established Everest Cardboard Industry Pvt Ltd, the first in the country to manufacture corrugated boxes from Kraft paper imported from India and Sweden. &nbsp;During that phase, he also established Tiger Tea Company whose raw materials were imported from India, blended and packed in Nepal and sold in Nepal under the brand name Tiger.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The group continued to grow and passed onto the second generation. Though some industries were closed in the process, its flagship production line such as paper and sugar has continued to rise. The group is now planning to expand its capacity and area of business in the near future.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Flagship Companies of Everest Group:</strong></span></div>
					<ul>
						<li>
							Everest Paper Mill Pvt Ltd</li>
						<li>
							Everest Sugar and Chemical Industries Pvt Ltd</li>
						<li>
							Everest Wire Industry</li>
						<li>
							Everest Plasto</li>
					</ul>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Trading</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						The group feels proud about exporting paper pulps to Japan. In the past, the group used to import paper and chemicals as raw materials. The group also tried its hand on importing fertilizers but stopped later. The group wishes that the country allows international trading in Nepal to export goods to&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						third countries.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Plans</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						The group wants to carve its own path in business without following what others are doing. Saraff says that his group is looking into new sectors for business and also hints that the group will be investing in the tourism sector in the next two to three years and will also explore new possibilities in food products the group had expertise on in the past.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Corporate Social Responsibilities</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						The group does not have overt corporate social activities but is carrying out several activities on its own. The group provides scholarships to 25 to 30 children every year from underprivileged families under the Bhagwati Devi Trust, named after Saraff&rsquo;s grandmother. The trust has been annually sponsoring 40 to 50 children for their education. Similarly, Saraff considers Everest Paper Mills&rsquo; paper recycling plant a socially responsible activity of the group. &ldquo;We are recycling waste paper and contributing to clean the country along with utilising agricultural residues,&rdquo; says Saraff.&nbsp;</div>
				</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>',
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			'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 Everest Group, having around fi ve decades of business experience in Nepal has plans to expand its current line of business while exploring fresh opportunities in new sectors.',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1872',
			'article_category_id' => '91',
			'title' => 'Nepal Certified As Full Member Of ISO',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal has been certified with full membership of the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) during the 36th AGM of ISO in St. Petersberg, Russia. The membership will come into effect from January, 2014. Nepal is the 5th country in South Asia to be certified with full membership of ISO. Before this, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were certified as members.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Minister for Commerce and Supplies, Shanker Prasad Koirala formally announced the ISO certification of Nepal amidst a programme at the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology on Thursday. Koirala said, &ldquo;This certification has brought immense possibilities along with challenges which we have to utilize and face.&rdquo; He said that both government and private sector should work hand-in-hand for this.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal is certified as a full ISO member after being a correspondent member of ISO for 21 years. &ldquo;To get full membership of ISO is historical in itself,&rdquo; said the Secretary at the Ministry of Industries, Krishna Gyawali. He added, &ldquo;We have to pay around Rs 2.6 million to ISO for the membership but this will bring us a lot of opportunities and ways to profit.&rdquo; Gyanwali urged concerned departments and the private sector to be more sensible in maintaining quality of production.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ram Adhar Shah, Director General of the Bureau said that with the membership certification, Nepal has received opportunities to work with the world community in quality matters. He also said that this can contribute to Nepal&rsquo;s export business as ISO is a significant trade tool.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Established in 1949 AD, ISO has done quality standardization of more than 19,500 goods. Similarly, the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology also has done quality standardization of around 950 goods among which 12 are compulsory quality standards.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-29',
			'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 is the 5th country in South Asia to be certifi ed with full membership of ISO.',
			'sortorder' => '1733',
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	(int) 8 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1871',
			'article_category_id' => '91',
			'title' => 'Hydropower Companies In IPO Rush',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong>--By TC Correspondent&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Once seen as a depressed sector, the Nepali energy industry is now becoming the centre of attraction among investors. The flocking of hydropower companies for share market listing is indicative of this. In recent months, Nepali hydropower companies have been rushing for initial public offerings (IPOs). Five hydropower developers have filed for IPO in the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON). Some among them are said to have been permitted for issuing all kinds of shares, while IPO requests of some companies are under process.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Sanimamai Hydropower Ltd has closed the first round of IPO process which was carried on from September 20-24. Under this, the company sold shares &nbsp;allocated to the project-afftected areas. In the next round, shares will be sold to the general public. Meanwhile, Ridi Hydropower Development Comapany, Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Ltd, Varun Hydropower Company and Arun Valley Development Company Ltd are preparing for share issuance.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Sanimamai Hydropower&#39;s IPO saw an astounding demand of company&#39;s shares. The company which received IPO permit from SEBON on September 4 received share applications worth Rs 2.53 billion, 25 times more than demanded. &quot;We have estimated the application to be 10 times more than the offered,&quot; informed Tuk Prasad Paudel, CEO of Sanimamai Hydropower. The company which is developing the 22 MW Mai hydropower project in Ilam district is also constructing the 7 MW Mai Cascade Hydro project. &quot;Shareholders will receive 5 per cent dividends in the second year after the projects start generating electricity,&quot;said Paudel. According to Paudel, the company plans to raise the dividends to 10 per cent and 15 percent in 3rd and 4th year respectively.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Similarly, Ridi Hydropower issued shares worth Rs 30 million to the local residents of the project area on 28th September. Varun Hydropower is issuing shares worth Rs 24.3 million to the local residents in the project site. Likewise, Upper Tamakoshi is set to issue primary shares worth Rs 25.416 million whereas Arun Valley Hydropower is preparing for the issuance of rights shares worth Rs 350 million.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	There are only four hydropower developers listed in the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) till date. Butwal Power Company Ltd, Chilime Hydropower Company Ltd, Arun Valley Hydropower Company Ltd and National Hydropower Company Ltd are the developers maintaining their presence in the share market thus far. According to data released by NEPSE, the total number of listed shares of the four developers reached 44.525 million (worth Rs 4.45 billion on face value). The share transaction of the companies also saw a staggering growth of 79 per cent in the fiscal year 2012-13 compared to the previous fiscal year.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Share market experts see the IPO rush of hydropower companies as a good investment opportunity. &quot;The risks are less and the returns are larger in hydropower companies compared to other sectors,&quot; says stock market analyst Rabindra Bhattarai. &quot;Currently, there is less competition in the hydropower sector with certainty of return.&quot; Bhattarai terms the IPO rush of power developers as the &#39;next market boom.&#39; He also points out to the IPOs as a medium of fund raising for new hydropower projects. &quot;This will definitely help build new projects and generate more electricity,&quot; he adds.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Share investor Uddab Shiwakoti also agrees with Bhattarai&#39;s view. &quot;Initial capital investment in power companies is high, though the operating cost is low,&quot; he says. &quot;According to cost-benefit analyses, we can clearly see that the investment flow is tending towards the hydropower sector.&quot;</div>',
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			'description' => 'In recent months, Nepali hydropower companies have been rushing for initial public offerings (IPOs).Five hydropower developers have fi led for IPO in the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON).',
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	(int) 9 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1870',
			'article_category_id' => '34',
			'title' => 'Website Usage Instruction',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	This is a small piece of technical Advice for internet user regarding their browser.</p>
<p>
	<br />
	Your internet browser&#39;s cache stores certain information (snapshots) of webpages and images you visit on your computer or mobile device so that they&#39;ll load more quickly upon future visits and while navigating through websites that use the same images on multiple pages so that you do not download them repeatedly.</p>
<p>
	The problem is that many websites often change things, so chances are fairly good that you will not see any of these changes because you are looking at one of the snapshots stored on your computer.</p>
<p>
	To avoid this problem, it is important to clear your browser cache on a regular basis.</p>
<p>
	Clearing your cookies and cache can significantly improve the speed and performance of your browser.</p>
<p>
	Here are instructions with screenshots on how to clear the cache for all major browsers.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	Visual Instruction on clearing cache on the browser</p>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.wikihow.com/Clear-Your-Browser's-Cache">http://www.wikihow.com/Clear-Your-Browser&#39;s-Cache</a><br />
	<br />
	Short browser technical info on clearing cache on browser</p>
<p>
	<a href="http://help.surveymonkey.com/articles/en_US/kb/How-do-I-clear-my-cookies-and-cache-or-temporary-internet-files">http://help.surveymonkey.com/articles/en_US/kb/How-do-I-clear-my-cookies-and-cache-or-temporary-internet-files</a></p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
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			'description' => 'Your internet browser's cache stores certain information (snapshots) of webpages and images you visit on your computer or mobile device so that they'll load more quickly upon future visits and while navigating through websites that use the same images on multiple pages so that you do not download them repeatedly.',
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	(int) 10 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1869',
			'article_category_id' => '37',
			'title' => 'The Gold Price Paradox',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The price of yellow metal (gold) has fallen sharply by more than 25 per cent in the international market during last four consecutive business months.</div>
<div>
	And to be more precise it is the biggest drop in the last 35 years. Market study revealed that it has fallen approximately 30 per cent per ounce in 2013 only.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The steep fall in the gold price drew mixed reactions and different opinions among bullion experts, economists, buyers, central bankers as well as the bullion traders.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Some of them fear that the gold price will further go down in the near future citing the Cyprus crises, which is planning to sell off a huge gold reserve worth 400m Euros.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Not the least, the unanticipated slowdown in the Chinese economic growth, continuous improvements in the US markets and decline in demand from India drove the yellow metal to fall further to the worry.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	A section of market experts have argued that the recent fall in gold price is not supported by the fundamentals rather it is the result of speculation in derivatives markets following the untested rumors and sparked declines across commodities. Hence they believed that the gold price will go up after the biggest plunge.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	According them, the price of gold will be backed by good demand from physical investors, arbitrators and jewelers.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In June 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected that the gold prices will increase in near future. They have also researched experts view and analysts about the movement of gold price.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	According to the Bombay Bullion Association (BBA) the gold price will go up as the Asian buyers have stepped up their purchase following its fall in terms of price, imports by India, which is the world&rsquo;s biggest consumer. BBA expected that the demand for gold in India is likely to jump by 36 percent in the 2013.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, Goldman Sachs Group, an American multinational investment banking firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients, predicted that the gold price may drop below USD 1000 per ounce within this year as the biggest hedge funds have reduced bets on gold at higher prices. Similarly, another school of thought argued that the investment on exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to gold have dropped by USD 37.2 billion in the first half of 2013, the fastest fall in last five years. In this back drop, they expected that the price of gold will further drop.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	At the same time, central banks that hold large gold reserves are also divided in to two fractions fueling the controversy on gold price movement. The central bankers are also being the part of paradox whether gold is cheap enough to increase investment as the price is USD 750 cheaper per ounce since the record high in November, 2011.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The central bank of Sri Lanka and Scotland already said that the falling prices are an opportunity for nations to raise gold reserves. But the central banks of Korea and Australia said the plunge in gold price is not a big concern because gold has no intrinsic value and holding the yellow metal is part of a long-term strategy for diversifying currency reserves.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Likewise, Deutsche Bank said that the gold has entered a new reality and may reach as low as USD 1050 an ounce to bring its valuation back to the historical averages. The trend line draw from the USD 435 an ounce, average of 2005, also indicates that the inflation adjusted price of gold should now be hanging around the psychological level of USD 1000 per ounce. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Regarding the determinants of gold price, various scholars have conducted scientific studies with well researched econometric models and attempted to draw conclusions about the determinants of the gold price. Traditionally, most of the empirical studies closes down to three major findings, which emerge with respect to the analysis of long-run determinants of gold price.</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>First, there is a long-term relationship between the price of gold and the US inflation indicated by the consumer price index.</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Second, the global inflation and gold price move together in a statistically significant long-run relationship. This evidence substantiates the belief that gold is a long-term hedge against inflation.</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Third, an external shocks that causes a deviation from this long-term relationship and there is a slow reversion back towards it.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	This means, although there is a possibility of seasonal variation as well as cyclical movement in the gold price in short and medium term, in the long run it will be guided by the global inflation in general and US inflation in particular.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In effect, the consequences of external shocks, there may be the deviation from the long-term relationship between the price of gold and the US inflation. This attracted the scholars and analyst to think beyond the long-run determinants and that the US economy as well as the USD is only the counterpart of the gold in international market. They attempted to analyze the short-run determinants of gold price taking other factors than US inflation and USD into consideration. Accordingly, the short-run analysis found that there is a positive relationship between gold price movements and changes in global interest rate along with major macroeconomic variables, US inflation volatility and credit as well as operation risk in the major financial markets of the world.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/ep7%20(Copy).jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 284px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Some other studies have revealed that there is a negative relationship between changes in the gold price and changes in the US dollar trade-weighted exchange rate against the major currencies, which are included in the basket of global reserve currencies. However, the findings reveal that the significant negative parameter on the &ldquo;error correction mechanism&rdquo; reflects the slow return of the gold price to its long-run relationship. These findings are in accordance with the theoretical framework put forward that the gold is safe haven for the versatile investors and one of the assets class for government and the central banks. Besides, there are some fundamentals of demand and of supply, which can influence the price of gold as in case of other commodities in perfect competition market.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, some of the empirical studies reveal that there was no significant relationship between changes in gold price and its physical demand. Rather the price of gold has been driving by the virtual demand generated from the derivatives markets since there are hundreds times higher demand than that of the actual gold production across the world. Such artificial demand has especially been created by the speculators who want to mint money over the fluctuating price of any assets including gold. Every time they were trying to catch changes in gold price citing the change in world inflation, interest rate volatility, world income and the unproved rumors like central bank X is planning to sell this much of gold or huge gold reserve is identified in Y country etc.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Against these theoretical as well as hardnosed backgrounds, there is a major unresolved issue that gold is the most attractive as well as the most risky asset worldwide. The crucial question one may ask include &mdash; Is gold the long-run hedge of US inflation? If so, is that matters for countries other than the US? Was there positive relationship between the price of gold and the US inflation during the recent financial crisis when the US inflation was almost zero or negative in some quarters but gold price was breaking record high successively? These are the crucial questions that no study or school of thought can answer correctly.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	But the fact is this is the glitter of gold and will remain same in the future as well. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<em>(Writer is Deputy Director at Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) )</em></div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-25',
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			'description' => 'The price of yellow metal (gold) has fallen sharply by more than 25 per cent in the international market during last four consecutive business months.',
			'sortorder' => '1730',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1868',
			'article_category_id' => '201',
			'title' => 'Business Briefs',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<div>
	<img alt="qatar" src="/userfiles/images/fas_qatar.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 200px; height: 61px; " /></div>
<div>
	<strong>Qatar&rsquo;s Special Fares</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Qatar Airways is offering customers in Kathmandu a special promotion of discounted fares on Economy Class and Premium cabin fares for one month. The special discounted fares started from 14 September 2013 and will end on 14 October 2013. The offer is applicable for various destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The travel validity is till 14th October 2013.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="canvas" src="/userfiles/images/canvas.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 150px; height: 91px; " /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Canvas Lite A92 in Market</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Micromax has launched Canvas Lite A92 in the market. The phone is powered by a 1GHz dual core processor and runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. For imaging, the phone has a 5 Megapixel primary camera and a 0.3 Megapixel secondary camera. A92 sports a 5.0&rdquo; capacitive full touch screen, 32 GB expandable memory and comes with a 2000 mAh battery. &nbsp;Other features of the phone include gravity sensor, proximity sensor, light sensor, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS support.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<br />
	<img alt="weekofforunte" src="/userfiles/images/Weekoffortune.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 150px; height: 150px; " /></div>
<div>
	<strong>Civil Mall&rsquo;s Festive Offer</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Civil Mall has launches a program named &lsquo;Tata Indica V2 Civil Mall Dashain Tihar Mahotsav 2070&rsquo; on the occasion of Dashain and Tihar. The main attraction of the program is &lsquo;Touch and Win a Car&rsquo;, in which a person continuously touching the allotted car for the longest period will receive a Tata Indica V2. In addition, shoppers at Civil Mall can win daily gifts like tickets for Dubai trip, diamond necklace, TV, refrigerator and washing machines.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<br />
	<img alt="samsung" src="/userfiles/images/samsung12.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 150px; height: 129px; " /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Samsung&rsquo;s &lsquo;Buy SMS Win&rsquo; Offer</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	International Marketing Services Pvt Ltd (IMS} has introduced a new scheme named Samsung &lsquo;Buy SMS Win&rsquo; for this festive season. Under this scheme, customers purchasing Samsung mobiles from the authorized Samsung Shop from September 17 till November 15, 2013 can get a chance to win a total of 114 Galaxy Note 2 every day in daily lucky draw, a total of 38 Galaxy Note 3 in Daily Bumper and 6 Bajaj Pulsar bike, weekly. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<br />
	<img alt="whirlpool" src="/userfiles/images/whirlpool(1).jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 150px; height: 115px; " /></div>
<div>
	<strong>Whirlpool&rsquo;s &lsquo;Houseful Pocketful&rsquo; Offer</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Whirlpool has announced an offer named &lsquo;Houseful Pocketful Offer&rsquo; on the occasion of Dashain and Tihar. On every purchase, customers get a discount of Rs 200, Rs 500 and Rs 1000 or a range of prizes including microwave oven, vacuum cleaners, refrigerators and washing machines and triple door refrigerators. The offer started from 20 September.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-23',
			'modified' => '0000-00-00',
			'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' => 'Qatar Airways is offering customers in Kathmandu a special promotion of discounted fares on Economy Class and Premium cabin fares for one month. The special discounted fares started from 14 September 2013 and will end on 14 October 2013. The offer is applicable for various destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The travel validity is till 14th October 2013.',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1867',
			'article_category_id' => '201',
			'title' => 'Tech Briefs (23 - 29 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Samsung Unveils UHD TV</strong></p>
<p align="left">
	Him Electronics, authorized distributor of Samsung in Nepal, launched a new series of Ultra High Definition (UHD) Televisions and refrigerators in the Nepali market on 18 September 2013. Speaking at the launching event, Managing Director of Him Electronics Shekhar Golchha said, &ldquo;Samsung has occupied 27.7 per cent of the global market of televisions. The latest model of Samsung TV is available in 65 and 55 inches with more than 8 million pixels which helps bring out intricate and detailed pictures.&nbsp;</p>
<p align="left">
	The UHD TV S9 has been recognized for it stunning picture quality, 3D performance and sound quality, as stated in the press release.&nbsp; UHD TV series offers a revolutionary voice command recognition system and intuitive motion sensing. In order to enable the basic functions such as changing channels or the volume, one has to say &lsquo;HI TV&rsquo; or wave a hand. In addition, users can also use videos, photos and other available apps in the TV to share content through social media like Facebook and Twitter. The price of the 65 inch and 55 inch UHD TV is Rs 800,000 and Rs 750,000, respectively.</p>
<p align="left">
	Similarly, the BEE 5 star rating Samsung Refrigerator 3050 series provides facility to store food with a minimum consumption of electricity as it uses LED lights and the digital Inverter Compressor. The refrigerator also has a decade-long warranty facility. The cost of a refrigerator varies from Rs 33.000 to Rs 45, 000.</p>
<p>
	<br />
	<strong>Nexus Partners with Polycom</strong></p>
<p>
	Nexus Solutions Pvt Ltd has announced a partnership with Polycom. Nexus, a newly established IT Solutions&rsquo; Company of Nepal, has become a Polycom authorized partner with this partnership. Polycom is an industry leader in unified communications and collaboration. Organizations from a wide variety of industries work with Polycom standards-based audio and video conferencing solutions to easily collaborate &lsquo;face to face&rsquo; interaction saving time, cost and carbon emissions associated with gathering the people in one place. Nexus Solutions provides the complete suite of Polycom solutions including SoundStation audio-conferencing and Group Series 300, 500, 700 video-conferencing products.</p>
<p align="left">
	<br />
	<strong>NAS Solutions Suite Launched</strong></p>
<p>
	Meanwhile, Nexus Solutions Pvt Ltd has launched the complete suite of Network Attached Storage (NAS) solutions provider Synology products in Nepal. The suite houses products ranging from 2 drives to 106 drive for the SOHO, SMB and Enterprise markets. The products are based on Synology&rsquo;s award winning DiskStation Manager (DSM) software and supports full integration with Active Directory, VMware, Hyper-V, Citrix, and other similar software products. The key benefits of the products include Hybrid RAID, unmatched scalability, software feature set and ease of use backed by industry-leading support. Synology has won numerous awards including NAS Manufacturer of the Year, NAS Product of the Year, Editor&rsquo;s Choice Award, and Readers&rsquo; Choice Award, among others. The company is dedicated to develop high-performance, reliable, versatile, and environmentally-friendly products.</p>
<p>
	<br />
	<strong>Neo Showroom Opens at Jawalakhel</strong></p>
<p>
	Neoteric Nepal, has opened a new showroom Neo Store in Jawalakhel of Lalitpur. &ldquo;The Neo Store is the largest IT showroom in Nepal till date,&rdquo; claims a press statement from the company. According to the statement, the showroom is a one-stop shop for the buyers of tech products. &ldquo;Neo store houses wide variety of smartphones, laptops, tablet and accessories of various international brands,&rdquo; says the release.&nbsp; The branded ICT products distributor expects that the store will fulfill the needs of IT products buyers of lalitpur.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
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			'description' => 'Him Electronics, authorized distributor of Samsung in Nepal, launched a new series of Ultra High Definition (UHD) Televisions and refrigerators in the Nepali market on 18 September 2013. Speaking at the launching event, Managing Director of Him Electronics Shekhar Golchha said, “Samsung has occupied 27.7 per cent of the global market of televisions. The latest model of Samsung TV is available in 65 and 55 inches with more than 8 million pixels which helps bring out intricate and detailed pictures.',
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	(int) 13 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1866',
			'article_category_id' => '201',
			'title' => 'For The Suave Professional',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	<strong>BY Alisha Giri</strong></p>
<p align="left">
	The popular idiom &lsquo;Clothes Make the Man&rsquo; might as well give away to a new saying: &lsquo;Shoes Make the Suave Man&rsquo;.&nbsp; With increased emphasis on footwear in today&rsquo;s fashion, it becomes imperative to watch what your feet wear to work. &nbsp;Good footwear adds a splendid amount of style and class to one&rsquo;s wardrobe. In fact, shoes can make a whole outfit look different - a fact that inspired me to write a shoe guide for this column this week.I suggest some suave pairs of shoes for men &ndash; formal and casual - to strut their style at work.</p>
<p>
	<strong>Oxfords (AKA Balmoral):</strong></p>
<p>
	With a classic style in colours brown and black which give the formal, elegant and dressy look, Oxfords go well with dress pants but not jeans. Black is always better for a formal look than brown, which is a little more causal. Derived from the half-boots called Oxonians that was a rage at Oxford University in the 1800s, the contemporary shoes come in a range of styles that speak to the cosmopolitan man with an intellectual bent.</p>
<p align="left">
	<br />
	<strong>Derby (aka Bl&uuml;chers):</strong></p>
<p>
	The Derbies are similar to the Oxfords but the difference is in the lacing style which makes this shoe style less formal compared to the classic Oxford. You can get a pair in any colour, brogue or non brogue, cap-toed, wing tipped, as well as in many different types of leather and linen. The Derbies are for smart-casual dressing such as jeans, dress shorts and sport coats. They are less suited for suits but do make a good shoe choice for business attire on rainy days due to their more rugged construction.</p>
<p align="left">
	Casual business attire with slacks and sports coat as much as dark wash jeans and cardigan sweaters look good on these shoes.</p>
<p align="left">
	<br />
	<strong>Loafers</strong></p>
<p>
	Comfortable and versatile loafers are the traveling businessman&rsquo;s best friend. The sleeker and simpler the design, the more formal it is.&nbsp; Loafers look great with jeans and dress pants, as well as with suits when not wearing a necktie. Blace loafers are best for formal wear for men whereas loafer pumps made from shiny black patent leather as best for a formal look for women. Typical is a grosgrain ribbon decoration on the cap of the shoe. Formal pumps are only suited for formal black tie or white tie ensembles which are typically worn for these two formal dress codes.</p>
<p align="left">
	&nbsp;</p>
<p align="left">
	<strong><em>(Giri is Planning and Communication Manager at Wiz International.)</em></strong></p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
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			'modified' => '2013-09-23',
			'keywords' => 'With increased emphasis on footwear in today’s fashion, it becomes imperative to watch what your feet wear to work.',
			'description' => 'The popular idiom ‘Clothes Make the Man’ might as well give away to a new saying: ‘Shoes Make the Suave Man’.  With increased emphasis on footwear in today’s fashion, it becomes imperative to watch what your feet wear to work.  Good footwear adds a splendid amount of style and class to one’s wardrobe. In fact, shoes can make a whole outfit look different - a fact that inspired me to write a shoe guide for this column this week.I suggest some suave pairs of shoes for men – formal and casual - to strut their style at work.',
			'sortorder' => '1727',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1865',
			'article_category_id' => '122',
			'title' => 'At A Glance Yeti Brand',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Brief History</strong></p>
<p>
	The Yeti brand was born in 1966 with the establishment of Yeti Travels and it was well known after the success of Yeti Airlines though the aviation company was established much later. Yeti Airlines started its domestic flight with a single DHC-6/300 Twin Otter aircraft in 1998. Today, the company is one of the largest domestic airlines with a fleet of 14 aircrafts. The company expanded its reach to remote districts with two DHC-6/300 Series Twin Otter aircrafts and started services to Lukla, Phaplu, Lamidanda, Rumjatar and Simikot. Within a period of one and a half decades, the airline now flies with a fleet of seven British Aerospace Jetstream-41s, covering major cities within Nepal from the mountains and hills to the Tarai region.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Some Subsidiaries of Yeti Group</strong><br />
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Yeti Mountain Home</strong></p>
<p>
	<img alt="yetimountain" src="/userfiles/images/yetimountain.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; " /></p>
<p>
	Yeti Mountain Home is a group of comfort lodges operating in the Khumbu/Everest region. The company claims these are amongst the world&rsquo;s highest luxury lodges, offering panoramic views of some of the highest mountains of the Himalaya. Each of these lodges have 15 to 20 rooms with modern amenities. Half a dozen lodges are operating under the Yeti Mountain Home brand. These include YMH Lukla, YMH Phakding, YMH Monjo, YMH Namche, YMH Thame and YMH Kongde.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Gokarna Forest Resort</strong></p>
<p>
	<img alt="gokarna" src="/userfiles/images/gokarna.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; " /></p>
<p>
	The Yeti Group acquired the management of Gokarna Forest Resort from October 2010 from the Singapore-based company LM Suvir Brothers Private Limited. The resort also houses one of the best golf courses in Asia, spread over 470 acres of land. The resort has 90 rooms and spa services among other top notch luxury services.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Tara Air</strong></p>
<p>
	<img alt="taraair" src="/userfiles/images/taraair.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; " /></p>
<p>
	Tara Air, the subsidiary of Yeti Airlines is one of the biggest airline service providers in the mountain region. According to the company, it is guided by the mission of helping develop the rural Nepal. So, its services are concentrated in the hills and mountain destinations across the country. The airline has a fleet of six STOL aircrafts, comprising of four Twin Otter (DHC 6/300) and two Dornier (DO 228) aircrafts. The airline operates both scheduled and chartered flights.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Thamserku Trekking</strong></p>
<p>
	This trekking and holiday service provider has been serving more than 4000 clients each year with agents in nine countries. Thamserku has been established as a group of companies offering trekking and adventure tourism services through its subsidiaries namely, Thamserku Trekking, Thamserku Expedition and Luxe Nepal. The company offers services ranging from classic trekking programmes to wild and exciting journeys in the remote mountains, and easy peaks and scaling mountains taller than 8000 metres.</p>',
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			'description' => 'The Yeti brand was born in 1966 with the establishment of Yeti Travels and it was well known after the success of Yeti Airlines though the aviation company was established much later. Yeti Airlines started its domestic flight with a single DHC-6/300 Twin Otter aircraft in 1998.',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1879',
			'article_category_id' => '140',
			'title' => 'CIAA Arrests Five NOC Officials',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By TC Correspondent&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has arrested top four officials of the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) including the Officiating Executive Director Suresh Kumar Agrawal last Tuesday on the charge of distributing bonus to NOC staff by violating its earlier directive. The Commission had earlier directed the NOC to not distribute bonuses until the state-owned corporation cleared its accumulated loss.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The other arrested persons are Director Nagendra Shah and Managers Kamal Prasad Sharma and Netra Prasad Kafle. Following the arrest, the CIAA presented them before the Special Court last Wednesday. They have been sent for a seven-day judicial custody by the Special Court.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Meanwhile, the CIAA also arrested Nepal Oil Corporation Trade Union Chairman Devi Prasad Neupane last Friday on the charge of obstructing the investigation it had launched against NOC officials. Earlier on Wednesday, Neupane, who is also Senior Assistant at the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), had issued the statement in a press conference defending the bonus distribution.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-30',
			'modified' => '2013-09-30',
			'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' => 'Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has arrested top four officials of the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) including the Officiating Executive Director Suresh Kumar Agrawal last Tuesday on the charge of distributing bonus to NOC s',
			'sortorder' => '1740',
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	(int) 1 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1878',
			'article_category_id' => '139',
			'title' => 'Nepal And The World News In Brief (30 September - 3 October 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Japan Inflation Hits 5 Year-High&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Japan&rsquo;s core consumer inflation in August hit its highest level in nearly five years, while prices of personal electronics rose for the first time since 1992 - signs Japan may be emerging from 15 years of nagging deflation. Core consumer prices, which include oil products but exclude volatile prices of fresh food, rose 0.8 percent in August from a year earlier after a 0.7 percent increase in July, marking the third straight month of gains.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>US House Defies Obama on Funding Bill&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	The House approved a spending bill early Sunday morning that would fund the government through Dec. 15, but tacked on amendments that would delay the federal health care law known as Obamacare for one year and repeal the medical device tax, a move that sets up a showdown with Senate Democrats and increases the probability of a government shutdown Tuesday.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>UK Moves to Block Bankers&rsquo; Bonus Cap</strong></span></div>
<div>
	A plan to cap bankers&rsquo; bonuses will be tested in Europe&rsquo;s top court after the U.K. government challenged the measure, claiming it would increase financial risks rather than reduce them.EU policymakers are hoping to limit bonuses for any banker earning more than 500,000 euros a year. The maximum payout would be equal to annual salary or twice salary if a majority of shareholders approve.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>India Current Account Gap Seen Widening&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	India&rsquo;s current account deficit, which hit a record high in the last fiscal year, is expected to rise in the June quarter from the previous three-month period before easing due to sharp fall in gold imports and improving exports. Five economists predicted the June quarter current account deficit (CAD) would rise to $23-25 billion, or 4.8-5.4 percent of gross domestic production (GDP), from $18.1 billion, or 3.6 percent, in the March quarter.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Switzerland Leads in Global Energy Ranking</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Switzerland and a handful of countries in Europe led the way in a global ranking of energy efficiency, access to resources and environmental sustainability. China ranked 78th and the United States was 15th, according to the report by the World Energy Council, a London-based group that promotes sustainable power. Canada came in sixth and France was 10th, while the worst showing of all 129 countries was made by Zimbabwe.&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'Japan’s core consumer inflation in August hit its highest level in nearly five years, while prices of personal electronics rose for the first time since 1992 - signs Japan may be emerging from 15 years of nagging deflation. Core consumer prices, which include oil products but exclude volatile prices of fresh food, rose 0.8 percent in August from a year earlier after a 0.7 percent increase in July, marking the third straight month of gains.',
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	(int) 2 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1877',
			'article_category_id' => '138',
			'title' => '2015 DV Programme To Open From October 1st',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The 2015 US Diversity Visa lottery programme is all set to start from October 1st, Tuesday. According to a press release by the US Embassy in Kathmandu, the application period for the DV programme will open at noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST), October 1st and closes at noon, Eastern Standard Time, November 2nd, 2013. The embassy urged the DV entrants to apply early. &ldquo;The US Embassy reminds applicants that there is NO FEE to enter the DV lottery,&rdquo; says the release. &nbsp;The embassy recommends against using a consultant to assist entrants with their applications. The release suggested the entrants to consider using their family member, friend or other trusted person, in case if they need assistance. &ldquo;No matter who provides assistance, you are solely responsible for your own application,&rdquo; states the embassy.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The release informed that the entries for the DV-2015 Diversity Visa lottery to be submitted electronically during the registration period. &ldquo;Applicants may access the electronic Diversity Visa entry form (E-DV) at www.dvlottery.state.gov during the registration period,&rdquo; says the release. The embassy also informed the entrants to list their spouse and unmarried children under age od 21 at the time of application. &ldquo;Submissions without the inclusion of these family members will invalidate your entry. You may submit only one application. &nbsp;Duplicates will disqualify you from being selected,&rdquo; the embassy further states.&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-30',
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			'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 2015 US Diversity Visa lottery programme is all set to start from October 1st, Tuesday. According to a press release by the US Embassy in Kathmandu, the application period for the DV programme will open at noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST), October 1st and closes at noon, Eastern Standard Time, November 2nd, 2013. The embassy urged the DV entrants to apply early.',
			'sortorder' => '1738',
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	(int) 3 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1876',
			'article_category_id' => '138',
			'title' => 'ADB Recognises Oustanding Projects',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recognized four projects of Nepal for helping to improve water supply and sanitation services, air safety standards and the lives of the rural poor and farmers in the country. According to a press statement by the bank, the projects that won the awards are the Rural Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Sector Project, the Community Managed Irrigated Agriculture Sector Project and the Second Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project and the Air Transport Capacity Enhancement Project all of which are supported by ADB. &nbsp;Finance Secretary Shanta Raj Subedi presented the Outstanding Project Management Team Awards to the winning teams at a special ceremony held in conjunction with ADB&rsquo;s annual Country Portfolio Review meeting organized by ADB with the Government of Nepal.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&#39;The Rural Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Sector Project is helping to reduce poverty in isolated areas of Nepal by improving connectivity, enhancing economic and employment opportunities, and increasing rural access to markets and social services,&#39; says the statement. Similarly, the bank said that the Second Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project is helping to improve access to water and sanitation services in 20 small towns by developing additional water sources, construction of water treatment facilities and storage tanks, private latrines, public toilets, wastewater management facilities, and storm water drainage. &#39;The Community Managed Irrigated Agriculture Sector Project is helping improve the agriculture productivity and sustainability of existing small and medium farmer managed irrigation systems suffering from low water deficiency and cropping intensity. A total of 178,285 farmers are expected to benefit from the improved water accessibility,&#39; the bank informed in the statement.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Similarly, the Secondary Town Integrated Urban Environmental Improvement Project is helping improve the quality of urban life in key regional centers through effective, efficient, and reliable delivery of improved and affordable municipal services. &nbsp; Likewise, the Air Transport Capacity Enhancement Project is helping improve the country&#39;s airports and civil aviation safety standards. The project is helping to improve safety and capacity at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu, and three domestic airports - Lukla, Rara and Simikot - that serve remote areas inaccessible by road. &quot;These awards recognize the projects teams&#39; efficiency in implementation and achievement of targets,&rdquo; said Kenichi Yokoyama, ADB&rsquo;s Country Director for Nepal. &ldquo;We appreciate the efforts made by the project teams in delivering the desired results on the ground as well as enhancing overall portfolio performance.&rdquo;</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' => 'The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recognized four projects of Nepal for helping to improve water supply and sanitation services, air safety standards and the lives of the rural poor and farmers in the country. According to a press statement by the bank, the projects that won the awards are the Rural Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Sector Project, the Community Managed Irrigated Agriculture Sector Project and the Second Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project and the Air Transport Capacity Enhancement Project all of which are supported by ADB.',
			'sortorder' => '1737',
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	(int) 4 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1875',
			'article_category_id' => '137',
			'title' => 'Economic Freedom: Hong Kong, Singapore On Top, US Falls In Rankings',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The United States has fallen 15 places since 2000 in the global ranking of economic freedom, while Hong Kong and Singapore maintained their top spots. &nbsp;The &lsquo;Economic Freedom of the World&rsquo; report 2013, compiled by Canada&rsquo;s Fraser Institute, ranks Hong Kong first with an overall Economic Freedom Rating of 8.97, followed by Singapore (8.73). In the area of credit market regulations, both the East Asian City States scored 10 out of 10. The United States is positioned as the world&rsquo;s 17th freest economy behind nations such as New Zealand, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, Mauritius, Finland, Bahrain, Canada, and Australia, who are in the top ten. Throughout most of the period from 1980 to 2000, the United States was ranked as the world&rsquo;s third-freest economy, behind Hong Kong and Singapore. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The U.S. ratings and rankings have fallen in all five areas of the EFW index. The worst reduction was in the area of Legal System and Property Rights, where the rating had slid to 6.93, placing the United States 38th worldwide, tied with Venezuela. The report blames the slippage of the United States, once considered a bastion of economic freedom, on &lsquo;overspending, weakening rule of law, and regulatory overkill on the part of the U.S. government.&rsquo; Major countries that ranked below the United States include Germany, Japan, South Korea, France, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Brazil, and India. China, despite being a major economic power, is ranked as low as 123rd in a list of 152 countries. Eight of the ten lowest-rated countries are located in Africa, with Myanmar and Venezuela ending up in last place.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The index published in the report, which was compiled using data and surveys from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Economic Forum, measures the degree to which the policies and institutions of countries are supportive of economic freedom. The cornerstones of economic freedom are personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to compete, and security of privately owned property. The degree of economic freedom to rank countries was measured using five criteria: size of government, legal system and property rights, sound money, freedom to trade internationally, and regulation.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The average chain-linked economic freedom rating for the countries has increased from 5.34 in 1980 to 6.87 in 2011. &nbsp;Nations that are economically free out-perform non-free &nbsp;nations in indicators of well-being. Nations in the top quartile of economic freedom had an average per-capita GDP of $36,446 in 2011, compared to $4,382 for nations in the bottom quartile in the same period. Life expectancy is 79.2 years in nations in the top quartile compared to 60.2 years in those in the bottom quartile. Political and civil liberties are considerably higher in economically free nations than in less free nations.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<hr />
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong><span style="font-size:16px;">Nepal Falls among Least Economically Free Countries</span></strong></div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Meanwhile, Nepal remained among the least economically free countries in the report for this year. The report states that the degradations in terms of the legal structures and security of property rights and size of the government weighed down on the economic freedom of the country. Nepal ranked 125th out of 152 countries in the report. According to the report, Nepal scored 6.19 out of 10. This marked the further degradation of economic freedom in Nepal. &nbsp;Last year, the country was placed in 110th position out of 144 nations and scored 6.33 points in the index.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		The &lsquo;Economic Freedom of the World Report 2013&rsquo; further emphasized the Nepal government size to be reduced. Regarding the area of &lsquo;size of government&rsquo; in the index, Nepal scored 7.6 in 2013 (31st position in the world) against 8.34 of the previous year. The area of &lsquo;freedom to trade internationally&rsquo; also declined to 6.4 (118th in the world) which scored 6.74 in 2012.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		However, the report also showed that Nepal made little progress regarding areas of &lsquo;legal structures and ensuring property rights to its citizens&rsquo; with a score of 4.2 (126th in the world) this year against 3.85 of 2012. Similarly, the country also performed better in the areas of &lsquo;access to sound money&rsquo; and &lsquo;regulations on credit, labour and business.&rsquo; With the improvements in taming of inflation and money growth in the financial system, the area of access to sound money improved slightly to 6.3 (136th in the world) from last year&rsquo;s 6.26. Likewise, the area of regulations on credit, labour and business also rose to 6.5 (109th in the world) from 6.47 last year.</div>
</div>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
			'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' => 'The United States has fallen 15 places since 2000 in the global ranking of economic freedom, while Hong Kong and Singapore maintained their top spots.  The ‘Economic Freedom of the World’ report 2013, compiled by Canada’s Fraser Institute, ranks Hong Kong first with an overall Economic Freedom Rating of 8.97, followed by Singapore (8.73). In the area of credit market regulations, both the East Asian City States scored 10 out of 10.',
			'sortorder' => '1736',
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	(int) 5 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1874',
			'article_category_id' => '134',
			'title' => '‘Flagship Carrier Should Be Revived For Tourism Growth’',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<span style="font-size:16px;"><img alt="Sagar Pandey" src="/userfiles/images/inter.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;width: 200px; height: 186px;" />The thought that the private sector should now take the lead in boosting the tourism industry is gaining momentum. That one in four visitors to Nepal go trekking should say something about the popularity of this activity in the country. Around 1000 trekking agencies are affiliated with the Trekking Agencies&rsquo; Association of Nepal (TAAN).&nbsp;Sagar Pandey, Executive Chairman of the Himalayan Glacier Trekking, was elected as the General Secretary of TAAN at the recently held general convention of the association. &nbsp;The Corporate&rsquo;s &nbsp;Sagar Ghimire, spoke to Pandey this week about the challenges and problems of trekking agencies and their role in private sector-led tourism development. <strong>Excerpts:</strong></span></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Can it be inferred from the political leverage seen during the general convention of TAAN that the association is under the control of political parties rather than trekking agencies?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Though I cannot rule out the inclination of an individual towards a certain political party, TAAN is a purely professional association representing professional trekking agencies. We do not hold any political baggage so we are a non-political entity.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">What are the challenges and problems in running trekking agencies?&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Tax/VAT for this service sector, illegal trekking operations threatening our cottage industries and penetration of international investment in this business, among others, are short term challenges we are dealing with. Long term problems include the collapse of trekking routes due to the expansion of roads, development of tourism infrastructure, developing new trekking trails, promoting tourism and policy reforms.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Also, since this is a service sector, 13 per cent VAT/tax is too high for us to afford. It is not judicious to charge the service sector VAT as much as the manufacturing sector is charged. All entrepreneurs should be brought under the VAT, and the government should lower it to 4/5 per cent as is the international practice.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Are trekking agencies dissatisfied with the government&rsquo;s attitude for tourism development?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	The recently commemorated international tourism &nbsp;day was just an opportunity for the government to repeat its rhetoric on the importance of tourism for the country&rsquo;s economic growth. Unfortunately, no effective plans toward such sector were presented. There is no research on how tourists make their plans, what the international trends are in tourism, why tourists come to Nepal, and what should be our strategies. Even after one and a half years of the completion of Nepal Tourism Year (NTY), the report of the event is yet to be prepared. How do you review the performance of stakeholders with this laid back approach?</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>What are the marketing and promotional plans of TAAN to brand Nepal as the world&rsquo;s best trekking destination in the international market?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Apart from participating in world exhibitions and trade fairs and using international media, we think reviving our flagship national carrier Nepal Airlines Corporation which connects Nepal to the world can double the number of tourists. Provided that our national carriers has flights to multiple countries, the arrival of tourists can increase significantly. We will pressure the government for this.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>It is said that the price undercutting by trekking agencies is responsible for the decline of tourists&rsquo; spending despite a rise in their numbers. What will TAAN do to curb such practices?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	With the lack of correct data, we make evaluations through hypotheses or the record of the World Bank or other multilateral agencies. The concerned agency should come up with a proper data keeping system which will help us address this problem. Undercutting of price also results from a competitive market. Gone are the days when tourists used to come without information of the price. We cannot fix the price of any package in a free market. However, we can only create awareness about ethical practices through various forums. We cannot stop them even if they run their agencies on a loss by providing services at low prices.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Acknowledging the role of the private sector, a provision has been made for the private sector&rsquo;s representation in the Nepal Tourism Board. What is your assessment of its performance?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Interactions with representatives of the tourism sector, have shown that the planning, execution and other roles of the NTB have not been up to our expectations. The post of Chief Executive Officer of NTB has been vacant for the past two years. We maintained that there should be representation on the board of NTB from professional associations like TAAN and NATTA. Only this can ensure true representation of the private sector as well as avoid controversies and politicisation.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>What are some future plans in developing new trekking trails?&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	There is a need for parallel trails where previous ones have collapsed due to road expansion. Since our geography is complicated, we must collaborate with the government for developing trekking trails. We have been stuck with the same old trails like Annapurna and Langtang trails, but we have to make new trails that encompass the mountains stretching across the country.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>How is revenue collected from the distribution of Trekkers&rsquo; Management Information System (TIMS) cards?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	The revenue of TIMS is for developing infrastructures, promoting, conserving and maintaining trekking trails. A committee was formed for the monitoring of the TIMS revenue. We will plan to spend this money constructively following the report from this committee.&nbsp;</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' => 'The thought that the private sector should now take the lead in boosting the tourism industry is gaining momentum. That one in four visitors to Nepal go trekking should say something about the popularity of this activity in the country. Around 1000 trekking agencies are affiliated with the Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN). Sagar Pandey, Executive Chairman of the Himalayan Glacier Trekking, was elected as the General Secretary of TAAN at the recently held general convention of the association.',
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	(int) 6 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1873',
			'article_category_id' => '122',
			'title' => 'The Everest Group: Climbing Higher',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong>--By Gaurav Aryal</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px;">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>
				<img alt="Sanjeev Saraff ,CEO ,Everest Group" src="/userfiles/images/ss(1).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 220px;" /></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
				<div align="center">
					<div>
						<strong>Sanjeev Saraff</strong></div>
					<div>
						CEO, Everest Group</div>
				</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
<div>
	Everest Group Nepal is a pioneer group of companies in the sectors where it has had involvement since its inception. Whether it is petroleum product imports, operation of a cardboard factory or the paper industry, the Everest Group has been a pathfinder in Nepal in these sectors.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The group has begun an expansion drive with plans to venture into the pharmaceutical industry and to add new plants and production capacity in some of its factories. The Everest Group plans to bring its pharmaceutical company, Himalayan Parental and Pharmaceutical Company, into operation by next year. This new company will be producing life saving drugs and intravenous fluids. Sanjeev Saraff, CEO of the group, claims that it will be the first company of its kind in Nepal and that it will install the latest technology that has never been used in Nepal.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The group has recently set up a new factory for producing non-woven fabrics. Everest Plasto has already started production. Saraff says that it is also one of the first factories in Nepal to produce non-woven fabrics.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Likewise, Saraff reveals that the group is coming up with another sugar mill, Himalayan Sugar Mill in Mirchaiya. He says that the manufacturing unit is under construction and will be brought into operation in the next two years. Saraff says that the unit plans to sell electricity produced in its own thermal plant to the government during the winter season.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Local Targets</strong></span></div>
<div>
	According to Saraff, the group has always kept the local market and local raw materials on priority for all its productions. He says, &ldquo;We have been successful only in those industries where the raw material has been Nepali and the market in Nepal.&rdquo; Whether it is the paper factory or the sugar factory, the group has always been using local raw materials and targeting Nepal as its prime market. Saraff says that the group once tried its hands on copper processing by importing raw materials and exporting the final products. He says that it turned out to be a sort of trading business and did not perform well. However, the group still owns and operates Everest Wire factory that has majority market shares in the Tarai region.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The group targets Nepal as its prime market for upcoming pharmaceutical ventures as well. Saraff says that 100 per cent of life saving drugs and IV fluids are imported and the factory aims for import substitution.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Market Coverage</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Saraff claims that the Everest Paper Mills&rsquo; production covers majority of the local market while the sugar mill also has leading market share among half a dozen other Nepali companies.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	He says that the group&rsquo;s only strategy to conquer the market is through quality assurance and its dealer network. Saraff further explains that some of the dealers have worked with the group since its establishment.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The prime markets for Everest Groups&rsquo; products are Kathmandu, Pokhara and markets in the Tarai region. The secret of a strong relationship with its dealer network is to keep them happy, according to Saraff. However, the group has not considered branding as its major marketing tool. &ldquo;Our products are commodities rather than consumer goods. So, we do not require branding as such,&rdquo; he explains. &nbsp;However, the group has been carrying out campaigns to inform its clients about the right use of products to extract maximum value out of it. Marketing activities through billboards and other media, though, are not carried out.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	When asked about group branding, Saraff says, &ldquo;We have less concentrated on group branding. Hopefully, we will get into it once we grow bigger.&rdquo;&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Competition</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Saraff says that the group has been facing unethical competition from smuggled products through the open border of Nepal and India. &ldquo;We decided not to compete with those products as it would be useless to compete with illegal products,&rdquo; he says. He acknowledges the quality and competitiveness of peer companies and says, &ldquo;Manufacturers of Nepal are equally competitive. So, the competition is more on offering quality than on price.&rdquo; Saraff expects the government to control the smuggling of goods that have been a threat to legitimate companies.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Turning Point</strong></span></div>
<div>
	The group had a major set-back when Everest Paper Mill was bombed during the Maoist insurgency. Saraff recalls that it was the first private sector factory to be targeted during the conflict. The bombing in 2005 left the factory completely destroyed. &ldquo;We did not lose hope and we rebuilt the factory within two months&rsquo; time. Bankers and others too appreciated our efforts,&rdquo; says Saraff. He adds that the group rebuilt a new and better factory immediately.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Management</strong></span></div>
<div>
	The group employs around 2500 people in four of its companies in operation. A strong human resource department has been looking after all human resource management activities. Entire management duties are given to this department. The department deals with labour issues as and when they arise. Saraff recalls the closure of one of the group&rsquo;s factory for two months after labours came up with &ldquo;unreasonable demands&rdquo;. &nbsp;&ldquo;We made them realise that we were not going to bow down. We have been handling issues of labours and workers pretty well and the human resource department is pretty effective and strong,&rdquo; he explains.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The management responsibilities of all four companies are handled independently by the management team assigned for each company. The team is headed by members of the extended Saraff family. He says that the group is still a family-owned business more than a corporate group. Second generation businesspersons educated abroad have been taking up responsibility and taking the business to new heights.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The corporate headquarter of the group is located in Janakpur, the place of origin of the group. While the Kathmandu office has been working as a liaison office to look after bureaucratic activities and maintaining relationship with banks, among other activities.</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="10" width="99%">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td bgcolor="#E5E4E2">
				<div>
					<strong style="font-size: 16px;">History&nbsp;</strong></div>
				<div>
					<div>
						Dina Nath Saraff, father of Sanjeev Saraff is the founder of the Everest Group. Senior Saraff started his own import-export firm &lsquo;Brij Mohan Dina Nath&rsquo; in Janakpur that dealt initially with importing clothing materials from India, Soda Ash and various kinds of spices from Malaysia and Indonesia. The firm was also involved in rice exports to India.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Similarly, Saraff acquired the sole agency of ESSO and of Brooke Bond tea in the 50s and 60s for Nepal and started marketing their petroleum products such as, Petrol, Diesel, LDO, engine oil, Kerosene oil, etc even before the Nepal Oil Corporation was established. By mid 1960s, he established another firm, Everest Trading Company, along with the Jhunjhunwalas in Biratnagar and started exporting jute to millers in India.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						In the late 60s, Saraff established Janakpur Soap Factory that manufactured various grades of soap and marketed it under brand names Natraj and OX. &nbsp;Similarly, a decade later, he and his son established Everest Cardboard Industry Pvt Ltd, the first in the country to manufacture corrugated boxes from Kraft paper imported from India and Sweden. &nbsp;During that phase, he also established Tiger Tea Company whose raw materials were imported from India, blended and packed in Nepal and sold in Nepal under the brand name Tiger.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The group continued to grow and passed onto the second generation. Though some industries were closed in the process, its flagship production line such as paper and sugar has continued to rise. The group is now planning to expand its capacity and area of business in the near future.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Flagship Companies of Everest Group:</strong></span></div>
					<ul>
						<li>
							Everest Paper Mill Pvt Ltd</li>
						<li>
							Everest Sugar and Chemical Industries Pvt Ltd</li>
						<li>
							Everest Wire Industry</li>
						<li>
							Everest Plasto</li>
					</ul>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Trading</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						The group feels proud about exporting paper pulps to Japan. In the past, the group used to import paper and chemicals as raw materials. The group also tried its hand on importing fertilizers but stopped later. The group wishes that the country allows international trading in Nepal to export goods to&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						third countries.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Plans</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						The group wants to carve its own path in business without following what others are doing. Saraff says that his group is looking into new sectors for business and also hints that the group will be investing in the tourism sector in the next two to three years and will also explore new possibilities in food products the group had expertise on in the past.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Corporate Social Responsibilities</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						The group does not have overt corporate social activities but is carrying out several activities on its own. The group provides scholarships to 25 to 30 children every year from underprivileged families under the Bhagwati Devi Trust, named after Saraff&rsquo;s grandmother. The trust has been annually sponsoring 40 to 50 children for their education. Similarly, Saraff considers Everest Paper Mills&rsquo; paper recycling plant a socially responsible activity of the group. &ldquo;We are recycling waste paper and contributing to clean the country along with utilising agricultural residues,&rdquo; says Saraff.&nbsp;</div>
				</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-29',
			'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' => 'The Everest Group, having around fi ve decades of business experience in Nepal has plans to expand its current line of business while exploring fresh opportunities in new sectors.',
			'sortorder' => '1734',
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	(int) 7 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1872',
			'article_category_id' => '91',
			'title' => 'Nepal Certified As Full Member Of ISO',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal has been certified with full membership of the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) during the 36th AGM of ISO in St. Petersberg, Russia. The membership will come into effect from January, 2014. Nepal is the 5th country in South Asia to be certified with full membership of ISO. Before this, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were certified as members.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Minister for Commerce and Supplies, Shanker Prasad Koirala formally announced the ISO certification of Nepal amidst a programme at the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology on Thursday. Koirala said, &ldquo;This certification has brought immense possibilities along with challenges which we have to utilize and face.&rdquo; He said that both government and private sector should work hand-in-hand for this.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal is certified as a full ISO member after being a correspondent member of ISO for 21 years. &ldquo;To get full membership of ISO is historical in itself,&rdquo; said the Secretary at the Ministry of Industries, Krishna Gyawali. He added, &ldquo;We have to pay around Rs 2.6 million to ISO for the membership but this will bring us a lot of opportunities and ways to profit.&rdquo; Gyanwali urged concerned departments and the private sector to be more sensible in maintaining quality of production.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ram Adhar Shah, Director General of the Bureau said that with the membership certification, Nepal has received opportunities to work with the world community in quality matters. He also said that this can contribute to Nepal&rsquo;s export business as ISO is a significant trade tool.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Established in 1949 AD, ISO has done quality standardization of more than 19,500 goods. Similarly, the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology also has done quality standardization of around 950 goods among which 12 are compulsory quality standards.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-29',
			'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 is the 5th country in South Asia to be certifi ed with full membership of ISO.',
			'sortorder' => '1733',
			'image' => null,
			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'breaking_news' => false,
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	),
	(int) 8 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1871',
			'article_category_id' => '91',
			'title' => 'Hydropower Companies In IPO Rush',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong>--By TC Correspondent&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Once seen as a depressed sector, the Nepali energy industry is now becoming the centre of attraction among investors. The flocking of hydropower companies for share market listing is indicative of this. In recent months, Nepali hydropower companies have been rushing for initial public offerings (IPOs). Five hydropower developers have filed for IPO in the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON). Some among them are said to have been permitted for issuing all kinds of shares, while IPO requests of some companies are under process.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Sanimamai Hydropower Ltd has closed the first round of IPO process which was carried on from September 20-24. Under this, the company sold shares &nbsp;allocated to the project-afftected areas. In the next round, shares will be sold to the general public. Meanwhile, Ridi Hydropower Development Comapany, Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Ltd, Varun Hydropower Company and Arun Valley Development Company Ltd are preparing for share issuance.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Sanimamai Hydropower&#39;s IPO saw an astounding demand of company&#39;s shares. The company which received IPO permit from SEBON on September 4 received share applications worth Rs 2.53 billion, 25 times more than demanded. &quot;We have estimated the application to be 10 times more than the offered,&quot; informed Tuk Prasad Paudel, CEO of Sanimamai Hydropower. The company which is developing the 22 MW Mai hydropower project in Ilam district is also constructing the 7 MW Mai Cascade Hydro project. &quot;Shareholders will receive 5 per cent dividends in the second year after the projects start generating electricity,&quot;said Paudel. According to Paudel, the company plans to raise the dividends to 10 per cent and 15 percent in 3rd and 4th year respectively.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Similarly, Ridi Hydropower issued shares worth Rs 30 million to the local residents of the project area on 28th September. Varun Hydropower is issuing shares worth Rs 24.3 million to the local residents in the project site. Likewise, Upper Tamakoshi is set to issue primary shares worth Rs 25.416 million whereas Arun Valley Hydropower is preparing for the issuance of rights shares worth Rs 350 million.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	There are only four hydropower developers listed in the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) till date. Butwal Power Company Ltd, Chilime Hydropower Company Ltd, Arun Valley Hydropower Company Ltd and National Hydropower Company Ltd are the developers maintaining their presence in the share market thus far. According to data released by NEPSE, the total number of listed shares of the four developers reached 44.525 million (worth Rs 4.45 billion on face value). The share transaction of the companies also saw a staggering growth of 79 per cent in the fiscal year 2012-13 compared to the previous fiscal year.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Share market experts see the IPO rush of hydropower companies as a good investment opportunity. &quot;The risks are less and the returns are larger in hydropower companies compared to other sectors,&quot; says stock market analyst Rabindra Bhattarai. &quot;Currently, there is less competition in the hydropower sector with certainty of return.&quot; Bhattarai terms the IPO rush of power developers as the &#39;next market boom.&#39; He also points out to the IPOs as a medium of fund raising for new hydropower projects. &quot;This will definitely help build new projects and generate more electricity,&quot; he adds.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Share investor Uddab Shiwakoti also agrees with Bhattarai&#39;s view. &quot;Initial capital investment in power companies is high, though the operating cost is low,&quot; he says. &quot;According to cost-benefit analyses, we can clearly see that the investment flow is tending towards the hydropower sector.&quot;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-29',
			'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' => 'In recent months, Nepali hydropower companies have been rushing for initial public offerings (IPOs).Five hydropower developers have fi led for IPO in the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON).',
			'sortorder' => '1732',
			'image' => null,
			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
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			'user_id' => '0'
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	),
	(int) 9 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1870',
			'article_category_id' => '34',
			'title' => 'Website Usage Instruction',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	This is a small piece of technical Advice for internet user regarding their browser.</p>
<p>
	<br />
	Your internet browser&#39;s cache stores certain information (snapshots) of webpages and images you visit on your computer or mobile device so that they&#39;ll load more quickly upon future visits and while navigating through websites that use the same images on multiple pages so that you do not download them repeatedly.</p>
<p>
	The problem is that many websites often change things, so chances are fairly good that you will not see any of these changes because you are looking at one of the snapshots stored on your computer.</p>
<p>
	To avoid this problem, it is important to clear your browser cache on a regular basis.</p>
<p>
	Clearing your cookies and cache can significantly improve the speed and performance of your browser.</p>
<p>
	Here are instructions with screenshots on how to clear the cache for all major browsers.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	Visual Instruction on clearing cache on the browser</p>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.wikihow.com/Clear-Your-Browser's-Cache">http://www.wikihow.com/Clear-Your-Browser&#39;s-Cache</a><br />
	<br />
	Short browser technical info on clearing cache on browser</p>
<p>
	<a href="http://help.surveymonkey.com/articles/en_US/kb/How-do-I-clear-my-cookies-and-cache-or-temporary-internet-files">http://help.surveymonkey.com/articles/en_US/kb/How-do-I-clear-my-cookies-and-cache-or-temporary-internet-files</a></p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-25',
			'modified' => '0000-00-00',
			'keywords' => 'new business age biz news news & articles, biz news news & articles from new business age nepal, biz news headlines from nepal,  current and latest biz news news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali biz news economic news and events,  ongoing biz news news of nepal',
			'description' => 'Your internet browser's cache stores certain information (snapshots) of webpages and images you visit on your computer or mobile device so that they'll load more quickly upon future visits and while navigating through websites that use the same images on multiple pages so that you do not download them repeatedly.',
			'sortorder' => '1731',
			'image' => null,
			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
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			'user_id' => '0'
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	),
	(int) 10 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1869',
			'article_category_id' => '37',
			'title' => 'The Gold Price Paradox',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The price of yellow metal (gold) has fallen sharply by more than 25 per cent in the international market during last four consecutive business months.</div>
<div>
	And to be more precise it is the biggest drop in the last 35 years. Market study revealed that it has fallen approximately 30 per cent per ounce in 2013 only.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The steep fall in the gold price drew mixed reactions and different opinions among bullion experts, economists, buyers, central bankers as well as the bullion traders.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Some of them fear that the gold price will further go down in the near future citing the Cyprus crises, which is planning to sell off a huge gold reserve worth 400m Euros.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Not the least, the unanticipated slowdown in the Chinese economic growth, continuous improvements in the US markets and decline in demand from India drove the yellow metal to fall further to the worry.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	A section of market experts have argued that the recent fall in gold price is not supported by the fundamentals rather it is the result of speculation in derivatives markets following the untested rumors and sparked declines across commodities. Hence they believed that the gold price will go up after the biggest plunge.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	According them, the price of gold will be backed by good demand from physical investors, arbitrators and jewelers.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In June 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected that the gold prices will increase in near future. They have also researched experts view and analysts about the movement of gold price.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	According to the Bombay Bullion Association (BBA) the gold price will go up as the Asian buyers have stepped up their purchase following its fall in terms of price, imports by India, which is the world&rsquo;s biggest consumer. BBA expected that the demand for gold in India is likely to jump by 36 percent in the 2013.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, Goldman Sachs Group, an American multinational investment banking firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients, predicted that the gold price may drop below USD 1000 per ounce within this year as the biggest hedge funds have reduced bets on gold at higher prices. Similarly, another school of thought argued that the investment on exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to gold have dropped by USD 37.2 billion in the first half of 2013, the fastest fall in last five years. In this back drop, they expected that the price of gold will further drop.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	At the same time, central banks that hold large gold reserves are also divided in to two fractions fueling the controversy on gold price movement. The central bankers are also being the part of paradox whether gold is cheap enough to increase investment as the price is USD 750 cheaper per ounce since the record high in November, 2011.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The central bank of Sri Lanka and Scotland already said that the falling prices are an opportunity for nations to raise gold reserves. But the central banks of Korea and Australia said the plunge in gold price is not a big concern because gold has no intrinsic value and holding the yellow metal is part of a long-term strategy for diversifying currency reserves.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Likewise, Deutsche Bank said that the gold has entered a new reality and may reach as low as USD 1050 an ounce to bring its valuation back to the historical averages. The trend line draw from the USD 435 an ounce, average of 2005, also indicates that the inflation adjusted price of gold should now be hanging around the psychological level of USD 1000 per ounce. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Regarding the determinants of gold price, various scholars have conducted scientific studies with well researched econometric models and attempted to draw conclusions about the determinants of the gold price. Traditionally, most of the empirical studies closes down to three major findings, which emerge with respect to the analysis of long-run determinants of gold price.</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>First, there is a long-term relationship between the price of gold and the US inflation indicated by the consumer price index.</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Second, the global inflation and gold price move together in a statistically significant long-run relationship. This evidence substantiates the belief that gold is a long-term hedge against inflation.</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Third, an external shocks that causes a deviation from this long-term relationship and there is a slow reversion back towards it.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	This means, although there is a possibility of seasonal variation as well as cyclical movement in the gold price in short and medium term, in the long run it will be guided by the global inflation in general and US inflation in particular.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In effect, the consequences of external shocks, there may be the deviation from the long-term relationship between the price of gold and the US inflation. This attracted the scholars and analyst to think beyond the long-run determinants and that the US economy as well as the USD is only the counterpart of the gold in international market. They attempted to analyze the short-run determinants of gold price taking other factors than US inflation and USD into consideration. Accordingly, the short-run analysis found that there is a positive relationship between gold price movements and changes in global interest rate along with major macroeconomic variables, US inflation volatility and credit as well as operation risk in the major financial markets of the world.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/ep7%20(Copy).jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 284px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Some other studies have revealed that there is a negative relationship between changes in the gold price and changes in the US dollar trade-weighted exchange rate against the major currencies, which are included in the basket of global reserve currencies. However, the findings reveal that the significant negative parameter on the &ldquo;error correction mechanism&rdquo; reflects the slow return of the gold price to its long-run relationship. These findings are in accordance with the theoretical framework put forward that the gold is safe haven for the versatile investors and one of the assets class for government and the central banks. Besides, there are some fundamentals of demand and of supply, which can influence the price of gold as in case of other commodities in perfect competition market.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, some of the empirical studies reveal that there was no significant relationship between changes in gold price and its physical demand. Rather the price of gold has been driving by the virtual demand generated from the derivatives markets since there are hundreds times higher demand than that of the actual gold production across the world. Such artificial demand has especially been created by the speculators who want to mint money over the fluctuating price of any assets including gold. Every time they were trying to catch changes in gold price citing the change in world inflation, interest rate volatility, world income and the unproved rumors like central bank X is planning to sell this much of gold or huge gold reserve is identified in Y country etc.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Against these theoretical as well as hardnosed backgrounds, there is a major unresolved issue that gold is the most attractive as well as the most risky asset worldwide. The crucial question one may ask include &mdash; Is gold the long-run hedge of US inflation? If so, is that matters for countries other than the US? Was there positive relationship between the price of gold and the US inflation during the recent financial crisis when the US inflation was almost zero or negative in some quarters but gold price was breaking record high successively? These are the crucial questions that no study or school of thought can answer correctly.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	But the fact is this is the glitter of gold and will remain same in the future as well. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<em>(Writer is Deputy Director at Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) )</em></div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-25',
			'modified' => '0000-00-00',
			'keywords' => 'new business age economy & policy news & articles, economy & policy news & articles from new business age nepal, economy & policy headlines from nepal,  current and latest economy & policy news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali economy & policy economic news and events,  ongoing  economy',
			'description' => 'The price of yellow metal (gold) has fallen sharply by more than 25 per cent in the international market during last four consecutive business months.',
			'sortorder' => '1730',
			'image' => null,
			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
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	(int) 11 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1868',
			'article_category_id' => '201',
			'title' => 'Business Briefs',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<div>
	<img alt="qatar" src="/userfiles/images/fas_qatar.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 200px; height: 61px; " /></div>
<div>
	<strong>Qatar&rsquo;s Special Fares</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Qatar Airways is offering customers in Kathmandu a special promotion of discounted fares on Economy Class and Premium cabin fares for one month. The special discounted fares started from 14 September 2013 and will end on 14 October 2013. The offer is applicable for various destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The travel validity is till 14th October 2013.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="canvas" src="/userfiles/images/canvas.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 150px; height: 91px; " /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Canvas Lite A92 in Market</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Micromax has launched Canvas Lite A92 in the market. The phone is powered by a 1GHz dual core processor and runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. For imaging, the phone has a 5 Megapixel primary camera and a 0.3 Megapixel secondary camera. A92 sports a 5.0&rdquo; capacitive full touch screen, 32 GB expandable memory and comes with a 2000 mAh battery. &nbsp;Other features of the phone include gravity sensor, proximity sensor, light sensor, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS support.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<br />
	<img alt="weekofforunte" src="/userfiles/images/Weekoffortune.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 150px; height: 150px; " /></div>
<div>
	<strong>Civil Mall&rsquo;s Festive Offer</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Civil Mall has launches a program named &lsquo;Tata Indica V2 Civil Mall Dashain Tihar Mahotsav 2070&rsquo; on the occasion of Dashain and Tihar. The main attraction of the program is &lsquo;Touch and Win a Car&rsquo;, in which a person continuously touching the allotted car for the longest period will receive a Tata Indica V2. In addition, shoppers at Civil Mall can win daily gifts like tickets for Dubai trip, diamond necklace, TV, refrigerator and washing machines.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<br />
	<img alt="samsung" src="/userfiles/images/samsung12.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 150px; height: 129px; " /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Samsung&rsquo;s &lsquo;Buy SMS Win&rsquo; Offer</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	International Marketing Services Pvt Ltd (IMS} has introduced a new scheme named Samsung &lsquo;Buy SMS Win&rsquo; for this festive season. Under this scheme, customers purchasing Samsung mobiles from the authorized Samsung Shop from September 17 till November 15, 2013 can get a chance to win a total of 114 Galaxy Note 2 every day in daily lucky draw, a total of 38 Galaxy Note 3 in Daily Bumper and 6 Bajaj Pulsar bike, weekly. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<br />
	<img alt="whirlpool" src="/userfiles/images/whirlpool(1).jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 150px; height: 115px; " /></div>
<div>
	<strong>Whirlpool&rsquo;s &lsquo;Houseful Pocketful&rsquo; Offer</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Whirlpool has announced an offer named &lsquo;Houseful Pocketful Offer&rsquo; on the occasion of Dashain and Tihar. On every purchase, customers get a discount of Rs 200, Rs 500 and Rs 1000 or a range of prizes including microwave oven, vacuum cleaners, refrigerators and washing machines and triple door refrigerators. The offer started from 20 September.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-23',
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			'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' => 'Qatar Airways is offering customers in Kathmandu a special promotion of discounted fares on Economy Class and Premium cabin fares for one month. The special discounted fares started from 14 September 2013 and will end on 14 October 2013. The offer is applicable for various destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The travel validity is till 14th October 2013.',
			'sortorder' => '1729',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1867',
			'article_category_id' => '201',
			'title' => 'Tech Briefs (23 - 29 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Samsung Unveils UHD TV</strong></p>
<p align="left">
	Him Electronics, authorized distributor of Samsung in Nepal, launched a new series of Ultra High Definition (UHD) Televisions and refrigerators in the Nepali market on 18 September 2013. Speaking at the launching event, Managing Director of Him Electronics Shekhar Golchha said, &ldquo;Samsung has occupied 27.7 per cent of the global market of televisions. The latest model of Samsung TV is available in 65 and 55 inches with more than 8 million pixels which helps bring out intricate and detailed pictures.&nbsp;</p>
<p align="left">
	The UHD TV S9 has been recognized for it stunning picture quality, 3D performance and sound quality, as stated in the press release.&nbsp; UHD TV series offers a revolutionary voice command recognition system and intuitive motion sensing. In order to enable the basic functions such as changing channels or the volume, one has to say &lsquo;HI TV&rsquo; or wave a hand. In addition, users can also use videos, photos and other available apps in the TV to share content through social media like Facebook and Twitter. The price of the 65 inch and 55 inch UHD TV is Rs 800,000 and Rs 750,000, respectively.</p>
<p align="left">
	Similarly, the BEE 5 star rating Samsung Refrigerator 3050 series provides facility to store food with a minimum consumption of electricity as it uses LED lights and the digital Inverter Compressor. The refrigerator also has a decade-long warranty facility. The cost of a refrigerator varies from Rs 33.000 to Rs 45, 000.</p>
<p>
	<br />
	<strong>Nexus Partners with Polycom</strong></p>
<p>
	Nexus Solutions Pvt Ltd has announced a partnership with Polycom. Nexus, a newly established IT Solutions&rsquo; Company of Nepal, has become a Polycom authorized partner with this partnership. Polycom is an industry leader in unified communications and collaboration. Organizations from a wide variety of industries work with Polycom standards-based audio and video conferencing solutions to easily collaborate &lsquo;face to face&rsquo; interaction saving time, cost and carbon emissions associated with gathering the people in one place. Nexus Solutions provides the complete suite of Polycom solutions including SoundStation audio-conferencing and Group Series 300, 500, 700 video-conferencing products.</p>
<p align="left">
	<br />
	<strong>NAS Solutions Suite Launched</strong></p>
<p>
	Meanwhile, Nexus Solutions Pvt Ltd has launched the complete suite of Network Attached Storage (NAS) solutions provider Synology products in Nepal. The suite houses products ranging from 2 drives to 106 drive for the SOHO, SMB and Enterprise markets. The products are based on Synology&rsquo;s award winning DiskStation Manager (DSM) software and supports full integration with Active Directory, VMware, Hyper-V, Citrix, and other similar software products. The key benefits of the products include Hybrid RAID, unmatched scalability, software feature set and ease of use backed by industry-leading support. Synology has won numerous awards including NAS Manufacturer of the Year, NAS Product of the Year, Editor&rsquo;s Choice Award, and Readers&rsquo; Choice Award, among others. The company is dedicated to develop high-performance, reliable, versatile, and environmentally-friendly products.</p>
<p>
	<br />
	<strong>Neo Showroom Opens at Jawalakhel</strong></p>
<p>
	Neoteric Nepal, has opened a new showroom Neo Store in Jawalakhel of Lalitpur. &ldquo;The Neo Store is the largest IT showroom in Nepal till date,&rdquo; claims a press statement from the company. According to the statement, the showroom is a one-stop shop for the buyers of tech products. &ldquo;Neo store houses wide variety of smartphones, laptops, tablet and accessories of various international brands,&rdquo; says the release.&nbsp; The branded ICT products distributor expects that the store will fulfill the needs of IT products buyers of lalitpur.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
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			'description' => 'Him Electronics, authorized distributor of Samsung in Nepal, launched a new series of Ultra High Definition (UHD) Televisions and refrigerators in the Nepali market on 18 September 2013. Speaking at the launching event, Managing Director of Him Electronics Shekhar Golchha said, “Samsung has occupied 27.7 per cent of the global market of televisions. The latest model of Samsung TV is available in 65 and 55 inches with more than 8 million pixels which helps bring out intricate and detailed pictures.',
			'sortorder' => '1728',
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	(int) 13 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1866',
			'article_category_id' => '201',
			'title' => 'For The Suave Professional',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	<strong>BY Alisha Giri</strong></p>
<p align="left">
	The popular idiom &lsquo;Clothes Make the Man&rsquo; might as well give away to a new saying: &lsquo;Shoes Make the Suave Man&rsquo;.&nbsp; With increased emphasis on footwear in today&rsquo;s fashion, it becomes imperative to watch what your feet wear to work. &nbsp;Good footwear adds a splendid amount of style and class to one&rsquo;s wardrobe. In fact, shoes can make a whole outfit look different - a fact that inspired me to write a shoe guide for this column this week.I suggest some suave pairs of shoes for men &ndash; formal and casual - to strut their style at work.</p>
<p>
	<strong>Oxfords (AKA Balmoral):</strong></p>
<p>
	With a classic style in colours brown and black which give the formal, elegant and dressy look, Oxfords go well with dress pants but not jeans. Black is always better for a formal look than brown, which is a little more causal. Derived from the half-boots called Oxonians that was a rage at Oxford University in the 1800s, the contemporary shoes come in a range of styles that speak to the cosmopolitan man with an intellectual bent.</p>
<p align="left">
	<br />
	<strong>Derby (aka Bl&uuml;chers):</strong></p>
<p>
	The Derbies are similar to the Oxfords but the difference is in the lacing style which makes this shoe style less formal compared to the classic Oxford. You can get a pair in any colour, brogue or non brogue, cap-toed, wing tipped, as well as in many different types of leather and linen. The Derbies are for smart-casual dressing such as jeans, dress shorts and sport coats. They are less suited for suits but do make a good shoe choice for business attire on rainy days due to their more rugged construction.</p>
<p align="left">
	Casual business attire with slacks and sports coat as much as dark wash jeans and cardigan sweaters look good on these shoes.</p>
<p align="left">
	<br />
	<strong>Loafers</strong></p>
<p>
	Comfortable and versatile loafers are the traveling businessman&rsquo;s best friend. The sleeker and simpler the design, the more formal it is.&nbsp; Loafers look great with jeans and dress pants, as well as with suits when not wearing a necktie. Blace loafers are best for formal wear for men whereas loafer pumps made from shiny black patent leather as best for a formal look for women. Typical is a grosgrain ribbon decoration on the cap of the shoe. Formal pumps are only suited for formal black tie or white tie ensembles which are typically worn for these two formal dress codes.</p>
<p align="left">
	&nbsp;</p>
<p align="left">
	<strong><em>(Giri is Planning and Communication Manager at Wiz International.)</em></strong></p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
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			'keywords' => 'With increased emphasis on footwear in today’s fashion, it becomes imperative to watch what your feet wear to work.',
			'description' => 'The popular idiom ‘Clothes Make the Man’ might as well give away to a new saying: ‘Shoes Make the Suave Man’.  With increased emphasis on footwear in today’s fashion, it becomes imperative to watch what your feet wear to work.  Good footwear adds a splendid amount of style and class to one’s wardrobe. In fact, shoes can make a whole outfit look different - a fact that inspired me to write a shoe guide for this column this week.I suggest some suave pairs of shoes for men – formal and casual - to strut their style at work.',
			'sortorder' => '1727',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1865',
			'article_category_id' => '122',
			'title' => 'At A Glance Yeti Brand',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Brief History</strong></p>
<p>
	The Yeti brand was born in 1966 with the establishment of Yeti Travels and it was well known after the success of Yeti Airlines though the aviation company was established much later. Yeti Airlines started its domestic flight with a single DHC-6/300 Twin Otter aircraft in 1998. Today, the company is one of the largest domestic airlines with a fleet of 14 aircrafts. The company expanded its reach to remote districts with two DHC-6/300 Series Twin Otter aircrafts and started services to Lukla, Phaplu, Lamidanda, Rumjatar and Simikot. Within a period of one and a half decades, the airline now flies with a fleet of seven British Aerospace Jetstream-41s, covering major cities within Nepal from the mountains and hills to the Tarai region.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Some Subsidiaries of Yeti Group</strong><br />
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Yeti Mountain Home</strong></p>
<p>
	<img alt="yetimountain" src="/userfiles/images/yetimountain.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; " /></p>
<p>
	Yeti Mountain Home is a group of comfort lodges operating in the Khumbu/Everest region. The company claims these are amongst the world&rsquo;s highest luxury lodges, offering panoramic views of some of the highest mountains of the Himalaya. Each of these lodges have 15 to 20 rooms with modern amenities. Half a dozen lodges are operating under the Yeti Mountain Home brand. These include YMH Lukla, YMH Phakding, YMH Monjo, YMH Namche, YMH Thame and YMH Kongde.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Gokarna Forest Resort</strong></p>
<p>
	<img alt="gokarna" src="/userfiles/images/gokarna.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; " /></p>
<p>
	The Yeti Group acquired the management of Gokarna Forest Resort from October 2010 from the Singapore-based company LM Suvir Brothers Private Limited. The resort also houses one of the best golf courses in Asia, spread over 470 acres of land. The resort has 90 rooms and spa services among other top notch luxury services.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Tara Air</strong></p>
<p>
	<img alt="taraair" src="/userfiles/images/taraair.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; " /></p>
<p>
	Tara Air, the subsidiary of Yeti Airlines is one of the biggest airline service providers in the mountain region. According to the company, it is guided by the mission of helping develop the rural Nepal. So, its services are concentrated in the hills and mountain destinations across the country. The airline has a fleet of six STOL aircrafts, comprising of four Twin Otter (DHC 6/300) and two Dornier (DO 228) aircrafts. The airline operates both scheduled and chartered flights.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Thamserku Trekking</strong></p>
<p>
	This trekking and holiday service provider has been serving more than 4000 clients each year with agents in nine countries. Thamserku has been established as a group of companies offering trekking and adventure tourism services through its subsidiaries namely, Thamserku Trekking, Thamserku Expedition and Luxe Nepal. The company offers services ranging from classic trekking programmes to wild and exciting journeys in the remote mountains, and easy peaks and scaling mountains taller than 8000 metres.</p>',
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			'description' => 'The Yeti brand was born in 1966 with the establishment of Yeti Travels and it was well known after the success of Yeti Airlines though the aviation company was established much later. Yeti Airlines started its domestic flight with a single DHC-6/300 Twin Otter aircraft in 1998.',
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			'id' => '1879',
			'article_category_id' => '140',
			'title' => 'CIAA Arrests Five NOC Officials',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By TC Correspondent&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has arrested top four officials of the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) including the Officiating Executive Director Suresh Kumar Agrawal last Tuesday on the charge of distributing bonus to NOC staff by violating its earlier directive. The Commission had earlier directed the NOC to not distribute bonuses until the state-owned corporation cleared its accumulated loss.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The other arrested persons are Director Nagendra Shah and Managers Kamal Prasad Sharma and Netra Prasad Kafle. Following the arrest, the CIAA presented them before the Special Court last Wednesday. They have been sent for a seven-day judicial custody by the Special Court.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Meanwhile, the CIAA also arrested Nepal Oil Corporation Trade Union Chairman Devi Prasad Neupane last Friday on the charge of obstructing the investigation it had launched against NOC officials. Earlier on Wednesday, Neupane, who is also Senior Assistant at the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), had issued the statement in a press conference defending the bonus distribution.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-30',
			'modified' => '2013-09-30',
			'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' => 'Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has arrested top four officials of the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) including the Officiating Executive Director Suresh Kumar Agrawal last Tuesday on the charge of distributing bonus to NOC s',
			'sortorder' => '1740',
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	(int) 1 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1878',
			'article_category_id' => '139',
			'title' => 'Nepal And The World News In Brief (30 September - 3 October 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Japan Inflation Hits 5 Year-High&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Japan&rsquo;s core consumer inflation in August hit its highest level in nearly five years, while prices of personal electronics rose for the first time since 1992 - signs Japan may be emerging from 15 years of nagging deflation. Core consumer prices, which include oil products but exclude volatile prices of fresh food, rose 0.8 percent in August from a year earlier after a 0.7 percent increase in July, marking the third straight month of gains.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>US House Defies Obama on Funding Bill&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	The House approved a spending bill early Sunday morning that would fund the government through Dec. 15, but tacked on amendments that would delay the federal health care law known as Obamacare for one year and repeal the medical device tax, a move that sets up a showdown with Senate Democrats and increases the probability of a government shutdown Tuesday.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>UK Moves to Block Bankers&rsquo; Bonus Cap</strong></span></div>
<div>
	A plan to cap bankers&rsquo; bonuses will be tested in Europe&rsquo;s top court after the U.K. government challenged the measure, claiming it would increase financial risks rather than reduce them.EU policymakers are hoping to limit bonuses for any banker earning more than 500,000 euros a year. The maximum payout would be equal to annual salary or twice salary if a majority of shareholders approve.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>India Current Account Gap Seen Widening&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	India&rsquo;s current account deficit, which hit a record high in the last fiscal year, is expected to rise in the June quarter from the previous three-month period before easing due to sharp fall in gold imports and improving exports. Five economists predicted the June quarter current account deficit (CAD) would rise to $23-25 billion, or 4.8-5.4 percent of gross domestic production (GDP), from $18.1 billion, or 3.6 percent, in the March quarter.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Switzerland Leads in Global Energy Ranking</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Switzerland and a handful of countries in Europe led the way in a global ranking of energy efficiency, access to resources and environmental sustainability. China ranked 78th and the United States was 15th, according to the report by the World Energy Council, a London-based group that promotes sustainable power. Canada came in sixth and France was 10th, while the worst showing of all 129 countries was made by Zimbabwe.&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'Japan’s core consumer inflation in August hit its highest level in nearly five years, while prices of personal electronics rose for the first time since 1992 - signs Japan may be emerging from 15 years of nagging deflation. Core consumer prices, which include oil products but exclude volatile prices of fresh food, rose 0.8 percent in August from a year earlier after a 0.7 percent increase in July, marking the third straight month of gains.',
			'sortorder' => '1739',
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	(int) 2 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1877',
			'article_category_id' => '138',
			'title' => '2015 DV Programme To Open From October 1st',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The 2015 US Diversity Visa lottery programme is all set to start from October 1st, Tuesday. According to a press release by the US Embassy in Kathmandu, the application period for the DV programme will open at noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST), October 1st and closes at noon, Eastern Standard Time, November 2nd, 2013. The embassy urged the DV entrants to apply early. &ldquo;The US Embassy reminds applicants that there is NO FEE to enter the DV lottery,&rdquo; says the release. &nbsp;The embassy recommends against using a consultant to assist entrants with their applications. The release suggested the entrants to consider using their family member, friend or other trusted person, in case if they need assistance. &ldquo;No matter who provides assistance, you are solely responsible for your own application,&rdquo; states the embassy.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The release informed that the entries for the DV-2015 Diversity Visa lottery to be submitted electronically during the registration period. &ldquo;Applicants may access the electronic Diversity Visa entry form (E-DV) at www.dvlottery.state.gov during the registration period,&rdquo; says the release. The embassy also informed the entrants to list their spouse and unmarried children under age od 21 at the time of application. &ldquo;Submissions without the inclusion of these family members will invalidate your entry. You may submit only one application. &nbsp;Duplicates will disqualify you from being selected,&rdquo; the embassy further states.&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-30',
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			'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 2015 US Diversity Visa lottery programme is all set to start from October 1st, Tuesday. According to a press release by the US Embassy in Kathmandu, the application period for the DV programme will open at noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST), October 1st and closes at noon, Eastern Standard Time, November 2nd, 2013. The embassy urged the DV entrants to apply early.',
			'sortorder' => '1738',
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	(int) 3 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1876',
			'article_category_id' => '138',
			'title' => 'ADB Recognises Oustanding Projects',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recognized four projects of Nepal for helping to improve water supply and sanitation services, air safety standards and the lives of the rural poor and farmers in the country. According to a press statement by the bank, the projects that won the awards are the Rural Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Sector Project, the Community Managed Irrigated Agriculture Sector Project and the Second Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project and the Air Transport Capacity Enhancement Project all of which are supported by ADB. &nbsp;Finance Secretary Shanta Raj Subedi presented the Outstanding Project Management Team Awards to the winning teams at a special ceremony held in conjunction with ADB&rsquo;s annual Country Portfolio Review meeting organized by ADB with the Government of Nepal.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&#39;The Rural Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Sector Project is helping to reduce poverty in isolated areas of Nepal by improving connectivity, enhancing economic and employment opportunities, and increasing rural access to markets and social services,&#39; says the statement. Similarly, the bank said that the Second Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project is helping to improve access to water and sanitation services in 20 small towns by developing additional water sources, construction of water treatment facilities and storage tanks, private latrines, public toilets, wastewater management facilities, and storm water drainage. &#39;The Community Managed Irrigated Agriculture Sector Project is helping improve the agriculture productivity and sustainability of existing small and medium farmer managed irrigation systems suffering from low water deficiency and cropping intensity. A total of 178,285 farmers are expected to benefit from the improved water accessibility,&#39; the bank informed in the statement.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Similarly, the Secondary Town Integrated Urban Environmental Improvement Project is helping improve the quality of urban life in key regional centers through effective, efficient, and reliable delivery of improved and affordable municipal services. &nbsp; Likewise, the Air Transport Capacity Enhancement Project is helping improve the country&#39;s airports and civil aviation safety standards. The project is helping to improve safety and capacity at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu, and three domestic airports - Lukla, Rara and Simikot - that serve remote areas inaccessible by road. &quot;These awards recognize the projects teams&#39; efficiency in implementation and achievement of targets,&rdquo; said Kenichi Yokoyama, ADB&rsquo;s Country Director for Nepal. &ldquo;We appreciate the efforts made by the project teams in delivering the desired results on the ground as well as enhancing overall portfolio performance.&rdquo;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-30',
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			'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 Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recognized four projects of Nepal for helping to improve water supply and sanitation services, air safety standards and the lives of the rural poor and farmers in the country. According to a press statement by the bank, the projects that won the awards are the Rural Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Sector Project, the Community Managed Irrigated Agriculture Sector Project and the Second Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project and the Air Transport Capacity Enhancement Project all of which are supported by ADB.',
			'sortorder' => '1737',
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	(int) 4 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1875',
			'article_category_id' => '137',
			'title' => 'Economic Freedom: Hong Kong, Singapore On Top, US Falls In Rankings',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The United States has fallen 15 places since 2000 in the global ranking of economic freedom, while Hong Kong and Singapore maintained their top spots. &nbsp;The &lsquo;Economic Freedom of the World&rsquo; report 2013, compiled by Canada&rsquo;s Fraser Institute, ranks Hong Kong first with an overall Economic Freedom Rating of 8.97, followed by Singapore (8.73). In the area of credit market regulations, both the East Asian City States scored 10 out of 10. The United States is positioned as the world&rsquo;s 17th freest economy behind nations such as New Zealand, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, Mauritius, Finland, Bahrain, Canada, and Australia, who are in the top ten. Throughout most of the period from 1980 to 2000, the United States was ranked as the world&rsquo;s third-freest economy, behind Hong Kong and Singapore. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The U.S. ratings and rankings have fallen in all five areas of the EFW index. The worst reduction was in the area of Legal System and Property Rights, where the rating had slid to 6.93, placing the United States 38th worldwide, tied with Venezuela. The report blames the slippage of the United States, once considered a bastion of economic freedom, on &lsquo;overspending, weakening rule of law, and regulatory overkill on the part of the U.S. government.&rsquo; Major countries that ranked below the United States include Germany, Japan, South Korea, France, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Brazil, and India. China, despite being a major economic power, is ranked as low as 123rd in a list of 152 countries. Eight of the ten lowest-rated countries are located in Africa, with Myanmar and Venezuela ending up in last place.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The index published in the report, which was compiled using data and surveys from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Economic Forum, measures the degree to which the policies and institutions of countries are supportive of economic freedom. The cornerstones of economic freedom are personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to compete, and security of privately owned property. The degree of economic freedom to rank countries was measured using five criteria: size of government, legal system and property rights, sound money, freedom to trade internationally, and regulation.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The average chain-linked economic freedom rating for the countries has increased from 5.34 in 1980 to 6.87 in 2011. &nbsp;Nations that are economically free out-perform non-free &nbsp;nations in indicators of well-being. Nations in the top quartile of economic freedom had an average per-capita GDP of $36,446 in 2011, compared to $4,382 for nations in the bottom quartile in the same period. Life expectancy is 79.2 years in nations in the top quartile compared to 60.2 years in those in the bottom quartile. Political and civil liberties are considerably higher in economically free nations than in less free nations.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<hr />
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong><span style="font-size:16px;">Nepal Falls among Least Economically Free Countries</span></strong></div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		Meanwhile, Nepal remained among the least economically free countries in the report for this year. The report states that the degradations in terms of the legal structures and security of property rights and size of the government weighed down on the economic freedom of the country. Nepal ranked 125th out of 152 countries in the report. According to the report, Nepal scored 6.19 out of 10. This marked the further degradation of economic freedom in Nepal. &nbsp;Last year, the country was placed in 110th position out of 144 nations and scored 6.33 points in the index.&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		The &lsquo;Economic Freedom of the World Report 2013&rsquo; further emphasized the Nepal government size to be reduced. Regarding the area of &lsquo;size of government&rsquo; in the index, Nepal scored 7.6 in 2013 (31st position in the world) against 8.34 of the previous year. The area of &lsquo;freedom to trade internationally&rsquo; also declined to 6.4 (118th in the world) which scored 6.74 in 2012.</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		However, the report also showed that Nepal made little progress regarding areas of &lsquo;legal structures and ensuring property rights to its citizens&rsquo; with a score of 4.2 (126th in the world) this year against 3.85 of 2012. Similarly, the country also performed better in the areas of &lsquo;access to sound money&rsquo; and &lsquo;regulations on credit, labour and business.&rsquo; With the improvements in taming of inflation and money growth in the financial system, the area of access to sound money improved slightly to 6.3 (136th in the world) from last year&rsquo;s 6.26. Likewise, the area of regulations on credit, labour and business also rose to 6.5 (109th in the world) from 6.47 last year.</div>
</div>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-30',
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			'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 United States has fallen 15 places since 2000 in the global ranking of economic freedom, while Hong Kong and Singapore maintained their top spots.  The ‘Economic Freedom of the World’ report 2013, compiled by Canada’s Fraser Institute, ranks Hong Kong first with an overall Economic Freedom Rating of 8.97, followed by Singapore (8.73). In the area of credit market regulations, both the East Asian City States scored 10 out of 10.',
			'sortorder' => '1736',
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	(int) 5 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1874',
			'article_category_id' => '134',
			'title' => '‘Flagship Carrier Should Be Revived For Tourism Growth’',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<span style="font-size:16px;"><img alt="Sagar Pandey" src="/userfiles/images/inter.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;width: 200px; height: 186px;" />The thought that the private sector should now take the lead in boosting the tourism industry is gaining momentum. That one in four visitors to Nepal go trekking should say something about the popularity of this activity in the country. Around 1000 trekking agencies are affiliated with the Trekking Agencies&rsquo; Association of Nepal (TAAN).&nbsp;Sagar Pandey, Executive Chairman of the Himalayan Glacier Trekking, was elected as the General Secretary of TAAN at the recently held general convention of the association. &nbsp;The Corporate&rsquo;s &nbsp;Sagar Ghimire, spoke to Pandey this week about the challenges and problems of trekking agencies and their role in private sector-led tourism development. <strong>Excerpts:</strong></span></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Can it be inferred from the political leverage seen during the general convention of TAAN that the association is under the control of political parties rather than trekking agencies?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Though I cannot rule out the inclination of an individual towards a certain political party, TAAN is a purely professional association representing professional trekking agencies. We do not hold any political baggage so we are a non-political entity.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">What are the challenges and problems in running trekking agencies?&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Tax/VAT for this service sector, illegal trekking operations threatening our cottage industries and penetration of international investment in this business, among others, are short term challenges we are dealing with. Long term problems include the collapse of trekking routes due to the expansion of roads, development of tourism infrastructure, developing new trekking trails, promoting tourism and policy reforms.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Also, since this is a service sector, 13 per cent VAT/tax is too high for us to afford. It is not judicious to charge the service sector VAT as much as the manufacturing sector is charged. All entrepreneurs should be brought under the VAT, and the government should lower it to 4/5 per cent as is the international practice.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Are trekking agencies dissatisfied with the government&rsquo;s attitude for tourism development?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	The recently commemorated international tourism &nbsp;day was just an opportunity for the government to repeat its rhetoric on the importance of tourism for the country&rsquo;s economic growth. Unfortunately, no effective plans toward such sector were presented. There is no research on how tourists make their plans, what the international trends are in tourism, why tourists come to Nepal, and what should be our strategies. Even after one and a half years of the completion of Nepal Tourism Year (NTY), the report of the event is yet to be prepared. How do you review the performance of stakeholders with this laid back approach?</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>What are the marketing and promotional plans of TAAN to brand Nepal as the world&rsquo;s best trekking destination in the international market?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Apart from participating in world exhibitions and trade fairs and using international media, we think reviving our flagship national carrier Nepal Airlines Corporation which connects Nepal to the world can double the number of tourists. Provided that our national carriers has flights to multiple countries, the arrival of tourists can increase significantly. We will pressure the government for this.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>It is said that the price undercutting by trekking agencies is responsible for the decline of tourists&rsquo; spending despite a rise in their numbers. What will TAAN do to curb such practices?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	With the lack of correct data, we make evaluations through hypotheses or the record of the World Bank or other multilateral agencies. The concerned agency should come up with a proper data keeping system which will help us address this problem. Undercutting of price also results from a competitive market. Gone are the days when tourists used to come without information of the price. We cannot fix the price of any package in a free market. However, we can only create awareness about ethical practices through various forums. We cannot stop them even if they run their agencies on a loss by providing services at low prices.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Acknowledging the role of the private sector, a provision has been made for the private sector&rsquo;s representation in the Nepal Tourism Board. What is your assessment of its performance?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Interactions with representatives of the tourism sector, have shown that the planning, execution and other roles of the NTB have not been up to our expectations. The post of Chief Executive Officer of NTB has been vacant for the past two years. We maintained that there should be representation on the board of NTB from professional associations like TAAN and NATTA. Only this can ensure true representation of the private sector as well as avoid controversies and politicisation.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>What are some future plans in developing new trekking trails?&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	There is a need for parallel trails where previous ones have collapsed due to road expansion. Since our geography is complicated, we must collaborate with the government for developing trekking trails. We have been stuck with the same old trails like Annapurna and Langtang trails, but we have to make new trails that encompass the mountains stretching across the country.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>How is revenue collected from the distribution of Trekkers&rsquo; Management Information System (TIMS) cards?</strong></span></div>
<div>
	The revenue of TIMS is for developing infrastructures, promoting, conserving and maintaining trekking trails. A committee was formed for the monitoring of the TIMS revenue. We will plan to spend this money constructively following the report from this committee.&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
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			'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 thought that the private sector should now take the lead in boosting the tourism industry is gaining momentum. That one in four visitors to Nepal go trekking should say something about the popularity of this activity in the country. Around 1000 trekking agencies are affiliated with the Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN). Sagar Pandey, Executive Chairman of the Himalayan Glacier Trekking, was elected as the General Secretary of TAAN at the recently held general convention of the association.',
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	(int) 6 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1873',
			'article_category_id' => '122',
			'title' => 'The Everest Group: Climbing Higher',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong>--By Gaurav Aryal</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px;">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>
				<img alt="Sanjeev Saraff ,CEO ,Everest Group" src="/userfiles/images/ss(1).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 220px;" /></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
				<div align="center">
					<div>
						<strong>Sanjeev Saraff</strong></div>
					<div>
						CEO, Everest Group</div>
				</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
<div>
	Everest Group Nepal is a pioneer group of companies in the sectors where it has had involvement since its inception. Whether it is petroleum product imports, operation of a cardboard factory or the paper industry, the Everest Group has been a pathfinder in Nepal in these sectors.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The group has begun an expansion drive with plans to venture into the pharmaceutical industry and to add new plants and production capacity in some of its factories. The Everest Group plans to bring its pharmaceutical company, Himalayan Parental and Pharmaceutical Company, into operation by next year. This new company will be producing life saving drugs and intravenous fluids. Sanjeev Saraff, CEO of the group, claims that it will be the first company of its kind in Nepal and that it will install the latest technology that has never been used in Nepal.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The group has recently set up a new factory for producing non-woven fabrics. Everest Plasto has already started production. Saraff says that it is also one of the first factories in Nepal to produce non-woven fabrics.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Likewise, Saraff reveals that the group is coming up with another sugar mill, Himalayan Sugar Mill in Mirchaiya. He says that the manufacturing unit is under construction and will be brought into operation in the next two years. Saraff says that the unit plans to sell electricity produced in its own thermal plant to the government during the winter season.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Local Targets</strong></span></div>
<div>
	According to Saraff, the group has always kept the local market and local raw materials on priority for all its productions. He says, &ldquo;We have been successful only in those industries where the raw material has been Nepali and the market in Nepal.&rdquo; Whether it is the paper factory or the sugar factory, the group has always been using local raw materials and targeting Nepal as its prime market. Saraff says that the group once tried its hands on copper processing by importing raw materials and exporting the final products. He says that it turned out to be a sort of trading business and did not perform well. However, the group still owns and operates Everest Wire factory that has majority market shares in the Tarai region.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The group targets Nepal as its prime market for upcoming pharmaceutical ventures as well. Saraff says that 100 per cent of life saving drugs and IV fluids are imported and the factory aims for import substitution.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Market Coverage</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Saraff claims that the Everest Paper Mills&rsquo; production covers majority of the local market while the sugar mill also has leading market share among half a dozen other Nepali companies.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	He says that the group&rsquo;s only strategy to conquer the market is through quality assurance and its dealer network. Saraff further explains that some of the dealers have worked with the group since its establishment.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The prime markets for Everest Groups&rsquo; products are Kathmandu, Pokhara and markets in the Tarai region. The secret of a strong relationship with its dealer network is to keep them happy, according to Saraff. However, the group has not considered branding as its major marketing tool. &ldquo;Our products are commodities rather than consumer goods. So, we do not require branding as such,&rdquo; he explains. &nbsp;However, the group has been carrying out campaigns to inform its clients about the right use of products to extract maximum value out of it. Marketing activities through billboards and other media, though, are not carried out.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	When asked about group branding, Saraff says, &ldquo;We have less concentrated on group branding. Hopefully, we will get into it once we grow bigger.&rdquo;&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Competition</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Saraff says that the group has been facing unethical competition from smuggled products through the open border of Nepal and India. &ldquo;We decided not to compete with those products as it would be useless to compete with illegal products,&rdquo; he says. He acknowledges the quality and competitiveness of peer companies and says, &ldquo;Manufacturers of Nepal are equally competitive. So, the competition is more on offering quality than on price.&rdquo; Saraff expects the government to control the smuggling of goods that have been a threat to legitimate companies.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Turning Point</strong></span></div>
<div>
	The group had a major set-back when Everest Paper Mill was bombed during the Maoist insurgency. Saraff recalls that it was the first private sector factory to be targeted during the conflict. The bombing in 2005 left the factory completely destroyed. &ldquo;We did not lose hope and we rebuilt the factory within two months&rsquo; time. Bankers and others too appreciated our efforts,&rdquo; says Saraff. He adds that the group rebuilt a new and better factory immediately.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Management</strong></span></div>
<div>
	The group employs around 2500 people in four of its companies in operation. A strong human resource department has been looking after all human resource management activities. Entire management duties are given to this department. The department deals with labour issues as and when they arise. Saraff recalls the closure of one of the group&rsquo;s factory for two months after labours came up with &ldquo;unreasonable demands&rdquo;. &nbsp;&ldquo;We made them realise that we were not going to bow down. We have been handling issues of labours and workers pretty well and the human resource department is pretty effective and strong,&rdquo; he explains.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The management responsibilities of all four companies are handled independently by the management team assigned for each company. The team is headed by members of the extended Saraff family. He says that the group is still a family-owned business more than a corporate group. Second generation businesspersons educated abroad have been taking up responsibility and taking the business to new heights.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The corporate headquarter of the group is located in Janakpur, the place of origin of the group. While the Kathmandu office has been working as a liaison office to look after bureaucratic activities and maintaining relationship with banks, among other activities.</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="10" width="99%">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td bgcolor="#E5E4E2">
				<div>
					<strong style="font-size: 16px;">History&nbsp;</strong></div>
				<div>
					<div>
						Dina Nath Saraff, father of Sanjeev Saraff is the founder of the Everest Group. Senior Saraff started his own import-export firm &lsquo;Brij Mohan Dina Nath&rsquo; in Janakpur that dealt initially with importing clothing materials from India, Soda Ash and various kinds of spices from Malaysia and Indonesia. The firm was also involved in rice exports to India.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						Similarly, Saraff acquired the sole agency of ESSO and of Brooke Bond tea in the 50s and 60s for Nepal and started marketing their petroleum products such as, Petrol, Diesel, LDO, engine oil, Kerosene oil, etc even before the Nepal Oil Corporation was established. By mid 1960s, he established another firm, Everest Trading Company, along with the Jhunjhunwalas in Biratnagar and started exporting jute to millers in India.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						In the late 60s, Saraff established Janakpur Soap Factory that manufactured various grades of soap and marketed it under brand names Natraj and OX. &nbsp;Similarly, a decade later, he and his son established Everest Cardboard Industry Pvt Ltd, the first in the country to manufacture corrugated boxes from Kraft paper imported from India and Sweden. &nbsp;During that phase, he also established Tiger Tea Company whose raw materials were imported from India, blended and packed in Nepal and sold in Nepal under the brand name Tiger.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						The group continued to grow and passed onto the second generation. Though some industries were closed in the process, its flagship production line such as paper and sugar has continued to rise. The group is now planning to expand its capacity and area of business in the near future.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Flagship Companies of Everest Group:</strong></span></div>
					<ul>
						<li>
							Everest Paper Mill Pvt Ltd</li>
						<li>
							Everest Sugar and Chemical Industries Pvt Ltd</li>
						<li>
							Everest Wire Industry</li>
						<li>
							Everest Plasto</li>
					</ul>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Trading</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						The group feels proud about exporting paper pulps to Japan. In the past, the group used to import paper and chemicals as raw materials. The group also tried its hand on importing fertilizers but stopped later. The group wishes that the country allows international trading in Nepal to export goods to&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						third countries.</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Plans</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						The group wants to carve its own path in business without following what others are doing. Saraff says that his group is looking into new sectors for business and also hints that the group will be investing in the tourism sector in the next two to three years and will also explore new possibilities in food products the group had expertise on in the past.&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						&nbsp;</div>
					<div>
						<span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Corporate Social Responsibilities</strong></span></div>
					<div>
						The group does not have overt corporate social activities but is carrying out several activities on its own. The group provides scholarships to 25 to 30 children every year from underprivileged families under the Bhagwati Devi Trust, named after Saraff&rsquo;s grandmother. The trust has been annually sponsoring 40 to 50 children for their education. Similarly, Saraff considers Everest Paper Mills&rsquo; paper recycling plant a socially responsible activity of the group. &ldquo;We are recycling waste paper and contributing to clean the country along with utilising agricultural residues,&rdquo; says Saraff.&nbsp;</div>
				</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-29',
			'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' => 'The Everest Group, having around fi ve decades of business experience in Nepal has plans to expand its current line of business while exploring fresh opportunities in new sectors.',
			'sortorder' => '1734',
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			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
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	),
	(int) 7 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1872',
			'article_category_id' => '91',
			'title' => 'Nepal Certified As Full Member Of ISO',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal has been certified with full membership of the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) during the 36th AGM of ISO in St. Petersberg, Russia. The membership will come into effect from January, 2014. Nepal is the 5th country in South Asia to be certified with full membership of ISO. Before this, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were certified as members.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Minister for Commerce and Supplies, Shanker Prasad Koirala formally announced the ISO certification of Nepal amidst a programme at the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology on Thursday. Koirala said, &ldquo;This certification has brought immense possibilities along with challenges which we have to utilize and face.&rdquo; He said that both government and private sector should work hand-in-hand for this.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal is certified as a full ISO member after being a correspondent member of ISO for 21 years. &ldquo;To get full membership of ISO is historical in itself,&rdquo; said the Secretary at the Ministry of Industries, Krishna Gyawali. He added, &ldquo;We have to pay around Rs 2.6 million to ISO for the membership but this will bring us a lot of opportunities and ways to profit.&rdquo; Gyanwali urged concerned departments and the private sector to be more sensible in maintaining quality of production.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ram Adhar Shah, Director General of the Bureau said that with the membership certification, Nepal has received opportunities to work with the world community in quality matters. He also said that this can contribute to Nepal&rsquo;s export business as ISO is a significant trade tool.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Established in 1949 AD, ISO has done quality standardization of more than 19,500 goods. Similarly, the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology also has done quality standardization of around 950 goods among which 12 are compulsory quality standards.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-29',
			'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 is the 5th country in South Asia to be certifi ed with full membership of ISO.',
			'sortorder' => '1733',
			'image' => null,
			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'breaking_news' => false,
			'main_news' => false,
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			'user_id' => '0'
		)
	),
	(int) 8 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1871',
			'article_category_id' => '91',
			'title' => 'Hydropower Companies In IPO Rush',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong>--By TC Correspondent&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Once seen as a depressed sector, the Nepali energy industry is now becoming the centre of attraction among investors. The flocking of hydropower companies for share market listing is indicative of this. In recent months, Nepali hydropower companies have been rushing for initial public offerings (IPOs). Five hydropower developers have filed for IPO in the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON). Some among them are said to have been permitted for issuing all kinds of shares, while IPO requests of some companies are under process.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Sanimamai Hydropower Ltd has closed the first round of IPO process which was carried on from September 20-24. Under this, the company sold shares &nbsp;allocated to the project-afftected areas. In the next round, shares will be sold to the general public. Meanwhile, Ridi Hydropower Development Comapany, Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Ltd, Varun Hydropower Company and Arun Valley Development Company Ltd are preparing for share issuance.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Sanimamai Hydropower&#39;s IPO saw an astounding demand of company&#39;s shares. The company which received IPO permit from SEBON on September 4 received share applications worth Rs 2.53 billion, 25 times more than demanded. &quot;We have estimated the application to be 10 times more than the offered,&quot; informed Tuk Prasad Paudel, CEO of Sanimamai Hydropower. The company which is developing the 22 MW Mai hydropower project in Ilam district is also constructing the 7 MW Mai Cascade Hydro project. &quot;Shareholders will receive 5 per cent dividends in the second year after the projects start generating electricity,&quot;said Paudel. According to Paudel, the company plans to raise the dividends to 10 per cent and 15 percent in 3rd and 4th year respectively.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Similarly, Ridi Hydropower issued shares worth Rs 30 million to the local residents of the project area on 28th September. Varun Hydropower is issuing shares worth Rs 24.3 million to the local residents in the project site. Likewise, Upper Tamakoshi is set to issue primary shares worth Rs 25.416 million whereas Arun Valley Hydropower is preparing for the issuance of rights shares worth Rs 350 million.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	There are only four hydropower developers listed in the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) till date. Butwal Power Company Ltd, Chilime Hydropower Company Ltd, Arun Valley Hydropower Company Ltd and National Hydropower Company Ltd are the developers maintaining their presence in the share market thus far. According to data released by NEPSE, the total number of listed shares of the four developers reached 44.525 million (worth Rs 4.45 billion on face value). The share transaction of the companies also saw a staggering growth of 79 per cent in the fiscal year 2012-13 compared to the previous fiscal year.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Share market experts see the IPO rush of hydropower companies as a good investment opportunity. &quot;The risks are less and the returns are larger in hydropower companies compared to other sectors,&quot; says stock market analyst Rabindra Bhattarai. &quot;Currently, there is less competition in the hydropower sector with certainty of return.&quot; Bhattarai terms the IPO rush of power developers as the &#39;next market boom.&#39; He also points out to the IPOs as a medium of fund raising for new hydropower projects. &quot;This will definitely help build new projects and generate more electricity,&quot; he adds.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Share investor Uddab Shiwakoti also agrees with Bhattarai&#39;s view. &quot;Initial capital investment in power companies is high, though the operating cost is low,&quot; he says. &quot;According to cost-benefit analyses, we can clearly see that the investment flow is tending towards the hydropower sector.&quot;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-29',
			'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' => 'In recent months, Nepali hydropower companies have been rushing for initial public offerings (IPOs).Five hydropower developers have fi led for IPO in the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON).',
			'sortorder' => '1732',
			'image' => null,
			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
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	),
	(int) 9 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1870',
			'article_category_id' => '34',
			'title' => 'Website Usage Instruction',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	This is a small piece of technical Advice for internet user regarding their browser.</p>
<p>
	<br />
	Your internet browser&#39;s cache stores certain information (snapshots) of webpages and images you visit on your computer or mobile device so that they&#39;ll load more quickly upon future visits and while navigating through websites that use the same images on multiple pages so that you do not download them repeatedly.</p>
<p>
	The problem is that many websites often change things, so chances are fairly good that you will not see any of these changes because you are looking at one of the snapshots stored on your computer.</p>
<p>
	To avoid this problem, it is important to clear your browser cache on a regular basis.</p>
<p>
	Clearing your cookies and cache can significantly improve the speed and performance of your browser.</p>
<p>
	Here are instructions with screenshots on how to clear the cache for all major browsers.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	Visual Instruction on clearing cache on the browser</p>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.wikihow.com/Clear-Your-Browser's-Cache">http://www.wikihow.com/Clear-Your-Browser&#39;s-Cache</a><br />
	<br />
	Short browser technical info on clearing cache on browser</p>
<p>
	<a href="http://help.surveymonkey.com/articles/en_US/kb/How-do-I-clear-my-cookies-and-cache-or-temporary-internet-files">http://help.surveymonkey.com/articles/en_US/kb/How-do-I-clear-my-cookies-and-cache-or-temporary-internet-files</a></p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-25',
			'modified' => '0000-00-00',
			'keywords' => 'new business age biz news news & articles, biz news news & articles from new business age nepal, biz news headlines from nepal,  current and latest biz news news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali biz news economic news and events,  ongoing biz news news of nepal',
			'description' => 'Your internet browser's cache stores certain information (snapshots) of webpages and images you visit on your computer or mobile device so that they'll load more quickly upon future visits and while navigating through websites that use the same images on multiple pages so that you do not download them repeatedly.',
			'sortorder' => '1731',
			'image' => null,
			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'breaking_news' => false,
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			'user_id' => '0'
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	),
	(int) 10 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1869',
			'article_category_id' => '37',
			'title' => 'The Gold Price Paradox',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The price of yellow metal (gold) has fallen sharply by more than 25 per cent in the international market during last four consecutive business months.</div>
<div>
	And to be more precise it is the biggest drop in the last 35 years. Market study revealed that it has fallen approximately 30 per cent per ounce in 2013 only.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The steep fall in the gold price drew mixed reactions and different opinions among bullion experts, economists, buyers, central bankers as well as the bullion traders.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Some of them fear that the gold price will further go down in the near future citing the Cyprus crises, which is planning to sell off a huge gold reserve worth 400m Euros.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Not the least, the unanticipated slowdown in the Chinese economic growth, continuous improvements in the US markets and decline in demand from India drove the yellow metal to fall further to the worry.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	A section of market experts have argued that the recent fall in gold price is not supported by the fundamentals rather it is the result of speculation in derivatives markets following the untested rumors and sparked declines across commodities. Hence they believed that the gold price will go up after the biggest plunge.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	According them, the price of gold will be backed by good demand from physical investors, arbitrators and jewelers.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In June 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected that the gold prices will increase in near future. They have also researched experts view and analysts about the movement of gold price.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	According to the Bombay Bullion Association (BBA) the gold price will go up as the Asian buyers have stepped up their purchase following its fall in terms of price, imports by India, which is the world&rsquo;s biggest consumer. BBA expected that the demand for gold in India is likely to jump by 36 percent in the 2013.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, Goldman Sachs Group, an American multinational investment banking firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients, predicted that the gold price may drop below USD 1000 per ounce within this year as the biggest hedge funds have reduced bets on gold at higher prices. Similarly, another school of thought argued that the investment on exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to gold have dropped by USD 37.2 billion in the first half of 2013, the fastest fall in last five years. In this back drop, they expected that the price of gold will further drop.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	At the same time, central banks that hold large gold reserves are also divided in to two fractions fueling the controversy on gold price movement. The central bankers are also being the part of paradox whether gold is cheap enough to increase investment as the price is USD 750 cheaper per ounce since the record high in November, 2011.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The central bank of Sri Lanka and Scotland already said that the falling prices are an opportunity for nations to raise gold reserves. But the central banks of Korea and Australia said the plunge in gold price is not a big concern because gold has no intrinsic value and holding the yellow metal is part of a long-term strategy for diversifying currency reserves.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Likewise, Deutsche Bank said that the gold has entered a new reality and may reach as low as USD 1050 an ounce to bring its valuation back to the historical averages. The trend line draw from the USD 435 an ounce, average of 2005, also indicates that the inflation adjusted price of gold should now be hanging around the psychological level of USD 1000 per ounce. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Regarding the determinants of gold price, various scholars have conducted scientific studies with well researched econometric models and attempted to draw conclusions about the determinants of the gold price. Traditionally, most of the empirical studies closes down to three major findings, which emerge with respect to the analysis of long-run determinants of gold price.</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>First, there is a long-term relationship between the price of gold and the US inflation indicated by the consumer price index.</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Second, the global inflation and gold price move together in a statistically significant long-run relationship. This evidence substantiates the belief that gold is a long-term hedge against inflation.</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Third, an external shocks that causes a deviation from this long-term relationship and there is a slow reversion back towards it.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	This means, although there is a possibility of seasonal variation as well as cyclical movement in the gold price in short and medium term, in the long run it will be guided by the global inflation in general and US inflation in particular.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In effect, the consequences of external shocks, there may be the deviation from the long-term relationship between the price of gold and the US inflation. This attracted the scholars and analyst to think beyond the long-run determinants and that the US economy as well as the USD is only the counterpart of the gold in international market. They attempted to analyze the short-run determinants of gold price taking other factors than US inflation and USD into consideration. Accordingly, the short-run analysis found that there is a positive relationship between gold price movements and changes in global interest rate along with major macroeconomic variables, US inflation volatility and credit as well as operation risk in the major financial markets of the world.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/ep7%20(Copy).jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 284px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Some other studies have revealed that there is a negative relationship between changes in the gold price and changes in the US dollar trade-weighted exchange rate against the major currencies, which are included in the basket of global reserve currencies. However, the findings reveal that the significant negative parameter on the &ldquo;error correction mechanism&rdquo; reflects the slow return of the gold price to its long-run relationship. These findings are in accordance with the theoretical framework put forward that the gold is safe haven for the versatile investors and one of the assets class for government and the central banks. Besides, there are some fundamentals of demand and of supply, which can influence the price of gold as in case of other commodities in perfect competition market.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	However, some of the empirical studies reveal that there was no significant relationship between changes in gold price and its physical demand. Rather the price of gold has been driving by the virtual demand generated from the derivatives markets since there are hundreds times higher demand than that of the actual gold production across the world. Such artificial demand has especially been created by the speculators who want to mint money over the fluctuating price of any assets including gold. Every time they were trying to catch changes in gold price citing the change in world inflation, interest rate volatility, world income and the unproved rumors like central bank X is planning to sell this much of gold or huge gold reserve is identified in Y country etc.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Against these theoretical as well as hardnosed backgrounds, there is a major unresolved issue that gold is the most attractive as well as the most risky asset worldwide. The crucial question one may ask include &mdash; Is gold the long-run hedge of US inflation? If so, is that matters for countries other than the US? Was there positive relationship between the price of gold and the US inflation during the recent financial crisis when the US inflation was almost zero or negative in some quarters but gold price was breaking record high successively? These are the crucial questions that no study or school of thought can answer correctly.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	But the fact is this is the glitter of gold and will remain same in the future as well. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<em>(Writer is Deputy Director at Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) )</em></div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-25',
			'modified' => '0000-00-00',
			'keywords' => 'new business age economy & policy news & articles, economy & policy news & articles from new business age nepal, economy & policy headlines from nepal,  current and latest economy & policy news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali economy & policy economic news and events,  ongoing  economy',
			'description' => 'The price of yellow metal (gold) has fallen sharply by more than 25 per cent in the international market during last four consecutive business months.',
			'sortorder' => '1730',
			'image' => null,
			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
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	(int) 11 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1868',
			'article_category_id' => '201',
			'title' => 'Business Briefs',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<div>
	<img alt="qatar" src="/userfiles/images/fas_qatar.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 200px; height: 61px; " /></div>
<div>
	<strong>Qatar&rsquo;s Special Fares</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Qatar Airways is offering customers in Kathmandu a special promotion of discounted fares on Economy Class and Premium cabin fares for one month. The special discounted fares started from 14 September 2013 and will end on 14 October 2013. The offer is applicable for various destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The travel validity is till 14th October 2013.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="canvas" src="/userfiles/images/canvas.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 150px; height: 91px; " /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Canvas Lite A92 in Market</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Micromax has launched Canvas Lite A92 in the market. The phone is powered by a 1GHz dual core processor and runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. For imaging, the phone has a 5 Megapixel primary camera and a 0.3 Megapixel secondary camera. A92 sports a 5.0&rdquo; capacitive full touch screen, 32 GB expandable memory and comes with a 2000 mAh battery. &nbsp;Other features of the phone include gravity sensor, proximity sensor, light sensor, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS support.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<br />
	<img alt="weekofforunte" src="/userfiles/images/Weekoffortune.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 150px; height: 150px; " /></div>
<div>
	<strong>Civil Mall&rsquo;s Festive Offer</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Civil Mall has launches a program named &lsquo;Tata Indica V2 Civil Mall Dashain Tihar Mahotsav 2070&rsquo; on the occasion of Dashain and Tihar. The main attraction of the program is &lsquo;Touch and Win a Car&rsquo;, in which a person continuously touching the allotted car for the longest period will receive a Tata Indica V2. In addition, shoppers at Civil Mall can win daily gifts like tickets for Dubai trip, diamond necklace, TV, refrigerator and washing machines.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<br />
	<img alt="samsung" src="/userfiles/images/samsung12.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 150px; height: 129px; " /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Samsung&rsquo;s &lsquo;Buy SMS Win&rsquo; Offer</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	International Marketing Services Pvt Ltd (IMS} has introduced a new scheme named Samsung &lsquo;Buy SMS Win&rsquo; for this festive season. Under this scheme, customers purchasing Samsung mobiles from the authorized Samsung Shop from September 17 till November 15, 2013 can get a chance to win a total of 114 Galaxy Note 2 every day in daily lucky draw, a total of 38 Galaxy Note 3 in Daily Bumper and 6 Bajaj Pulsar bike, weekly. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<br />
	<img alt="whirlpool" src="/userfiles/images/whirlpool(1).jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 150px; height: 115px; " /></div>
<div>
	<strong>Whirlpool&rsquo;s &lsquo;Houseful Pocketful&rsquo; Offer</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Whirlpool has announced an offer named &lsquo;Houseful Pocketful Offer&rsquo; on the occasion of Dashain and Tihar. On every purchase, customers get a discount of Rs 200, Rs 500 and Rs 1000 or a range of prizes including microwave oven, vacuum cleaners, refrigerators and washing machines and triple door refrigerators. The offer started from 20 September.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-23',
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			'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' => 'Qatar Airways is offering customers in Kathmandu a special promotion of discounted fares on Economy Class and Premium cabin fares for one month. The special discounted fares started from 14 September 2013 and will end on 14 October 2013. The offer is applicable for various destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The travel validity is till 14th October 2013.',
			'sortorder' => '1729',
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	(int) 12 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1867',
			'article_category_id' => '201',
			'title' => 'Tech Briefs (23 - 29 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Samsung Unveils UHD TV</strong></p>
<p align="left">
	Him Electronics, authorized distributor of Samsung in Nepal, launched a new series of Ultra High Definition (UHD) Televisions and refrigerators in the Nepali market on 18 September 2013. Speaking at the launching event, Managing Director of Him Electronics Shekhar Golchha said, &ldquo;Samsung has occupied 27.7 per cent of the global market of televisions. The latest model of Samsung TV is available in 65 and 55 inches with more than 8 million pixels which helps bring out intricate and detailed pictures.&nbsp;</p>
<p align="left">
	The UHD TV S9 has been recognized for it stunning picture quality, 3D performance and sound quality, as stated in the press release.&nbsp; UHD TV series offers a revolutionary voice command recognition system and intuitive motion sensing. In order to enable the basic functions such as changing channels or the volume, one has to say &lsquo;HI TV&rsquo; or wave a hand. In addition, users can also use videos, photos and other available apps in the TV to share content through social media like Facebook and Twitter. The price of the 65 inch and 55 inch UHD TV is Rs 800,000 and Rs 750,000, respectively.</p>
<p align="left">
	Similarly, the BEE 5 star rating Samsung Refrigerator 3050 series provides facility to store food with a minimum consumption of electricity as it uses LED lights and the digital Inverter Compressor. The refrigerator also has a decade-long warranty facility. The cost of a refrigerator varies from Rs 33.000 to Rs 45, 000.</p>
<p>
	<br />
	<strong>Nexus Partners with Polycom</strong></p>
<p>
	Nexus Solutions Pvt Ltd has announced a partnership with Polycom. Nexus, a newly established IT Solutions&rsquo; Company of Nepal, has become a Polycom authorized partner with this partnership. Polycom is an industry leader in unified communications and collaboration. Organizations from a wide variety of industries work with Polycom standards-based audio and video conferencing solutions to easily collaborate &lsquo;face to face&rsquo; interaction saving time, cost and carbon emissions associated with gathering the people in one place. Nexus Solutions provides the complete suite of Polycom solutions including SoundStation audio-conferencing and Group Series 300, 500, 700 video-conferencing products.</p>
<p align="left">
	<br />
	<strong>NAS Solutions Suite Launched</strong></p>
<p>
	Meanwhile, Nexus Solutions Pvt Ltd has launched the complete suite of Network Attached Storage (NAS) solutions provider Synology products in Nepal. The suite houses products ranging from 2 drives to 106 drive for the SOHO, SMB and Enterprise markets. The products are based on Synology&rsquo;s award winning DiskStation Manager (DSM) software and supports full integration with Active Directory, VMware, Hyper-V, Citrix, and other similar software products. The key benefits of the products include Hybrid RAID, unmatched scalability, software feature set and ease of use backed by industry-leading support. Synology has won numerous awards including NAS Manufacturer of the Year, NAS Product of the Year, Editor&rsquo;s Choice Award, and Readers&rsquo; Choice Award, among others. The company is dedicated to develop high-performance, reliable, versatile, and environmentally-friendly products.</p>
<p>
	<br />
	<strong>Neo Showroom Opens at Jawalakhel</strong></p>
<p>
	Neoteric Nepal, has opened a new showroom Neo Store in Jawalakhel of Lalitpur. &ldquo;The Neo Store is the largest IT showroom in Nepal till date,&rdquo; claims a press statement from the company. According to the statement, the showroom is a one-stop shop for the buyers of tech products. &ldquo;Neo store houses wide variety of smartphones, laptops, tablet and accessories of various international brands,&rdquo; says the release.&nbsp; The branded ICT products distributor expects that the store will fulfill the needs of IT products buyers of lalitpur.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
			'published' => true,
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			'description' => 'Him Electronics, authorized distributor of Samsung in Nepal, launched a new series of Ultra High Definition (UHD) Televisions and refrigerators in the Nepali market on 18 September 2013. Speaking at the launching event, Managing Director of Him Electronics Shekhar Golchha said, “Samsung has occupied 27.7 per cent of the global market of televisions. The latest model of Samsung TV is available in 65 and 55 inches with more than 8 million pixels which helps bring out intricate and detailed pictures.',
			'sortorder' => '1728',
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	(int) 13 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1866',
			'article_category_id' => '201',
			'title' => 'For The Suave Professional',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	<strong>BY Alisha Giri</strong></p>
<p align="left">
	The popular idiom &lsquo;Clothes Make the Man&rsquo; might as well give away to a new saying: &lsquo;Shoes Make the Suave Man&rsquo;.&nbsp; With increased emphasis on footwear in today&rsquo;s fashion, it becomes imperative to watch what your feet wear to work. &nbsp;Good footwear adds a splendid amount of style and class to one&rsquo;s wardrobe. In fact, shoes can make a whole outfit look different - a fact that inspired me to write a shoe guide for this column this week.I suggest some suave pairs of shoes for men &ndash; formal and casual - to strut their style at work.</p>
<p>
	<strong>Oxfords (AKA Balmoral):</strong></p>
<p>
	With a classic style in colours brown and black which give the formal, elegant and dressy look, Oxfords go well with dress pants but not jeans. Black is always better for a formal look than brown, which is a little more causal. Derived from the half-boots called Oxonians that was a rage at Oxford University in the 1800s, the contemporary shoes come in a range of styles that speak to the cosmopolitan man with an intellectual bent.</p>
<p align="left">
	<br />
	<strong>Derby (aka Bl&uuml;chers):</strong></p>
<p>
	The Derbies are similar to the Oxfords but the difference is in the lacing style which makes this shoe style less formal compared to the classic Oxford. You can get a pair in any colour, brogue or non brogue, cap-toed, wing tipped, as well as in many different types of leather and linen. The Derbies are for smart-casual dressing such as jeans, dress shorts and sport coats. They are less suited for suits but do make a good shoe choice for business attire on rainy days due to their more rugged construction.</p>
<p align="left">
	Casual business attire with slacks and sports coat as much as dark wash jeans and cardigan sweaters look good on these shoes.</p>
<p align="left">
	<br />
	<strong>Loafers</strong></p>
<p>
	Comfortable and versatile loafers are the traveling businessman&rsquo;s best friend. The sleeker and simpler the design, the more formal it is.&nbsp; Loafers look great with jeans and dress pants, as well as with suits when not wearing a necktie. Blace loafers are best for formal wear for men whereas loafer pumps made from shiny black patent leather as best for a formal look for women. Typical is a grosgrain ribbon decoration on the cap of the shoe. Formal pumps are only suited for formal black tie or white tie ensembles which are typically worn for these two formal dress codes.</p>
<p align="left">
	&nbsp;</p>
<p align="left">
	<strong><em>(Giri is Planning and Communication Manager at Wiz International.)</em></strong></p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
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			'created' => '2013-09-23',
			'modified' => '2013-09-23',
			'keywords' => 'With increased emphasis on footwear in today’s fashion, it becomes imperative to watch what your feet wear to work.',
			'description' => 'The popular idiom ‘Clothes Make the Man’ might as well give away to a new saying: ‘Shoes Make the Suave Man’.  With increased emphasis on footwear in today’s fashion, it becomes imperative to watch what your feet wear to work.  Good footwear adds a splendid amount of style and class to one’s wardrobe. In fact, shoes can make a whole outfit look different - a fact that inspired me to write a shoe guide for this column this week.I suggest some suave pairs of shoes for men – formal and casual - to strut their style at work.',
			'sortorder' => '1727',
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	(int) 14 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1865',
			'article_category_id' => '122',
			'title' => 'At A Glance Yeti Brand',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Brief History</strong></p>
<p>
	The Yeti brand was born in 1966 with the establishment of Yeti Travels and it was well known after the success of Yeti Airlines though the aviation company was established much later. Yeti Airlines started its domestic flight with a single DHC-6/300 Twin Otter aircraft in 1998. Today, the company is one of the largest domestic airlines with a fleet of 14 aircrafts. The company expanded its reach to remote districts with two DHC-6/300 Series Twin Otter aircrafts and started services to Lukla, Phaplu, Lamidanda, Rumjatar and Simikot. Within a period of one and a half decades, the airline now flies with a fleet of seven British Aerospace Jetstream-41s, covering major cities within Nepal from the mountains and hills to the Tarai region.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Some Subsidiaries of Yeti Group</strong><br />
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Yeti Mountain Home</strong></p>
<p>
	<img alt="yetimountain" src="/userfiles/images/yetimountain.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; " /></p>
<p>
	Yeti Mountain Home is a group of comfort lodges operating in the Khumbu/Everest region. The company claims these are amongst the world&rsquo;s highest luxury lodges, offering panoramic views of some of the highest mountains of the Himalaya. Each of these lodges have 15 to 20 rooms with modern amenities. Half a dozen lodges are operating under the Yeti Mountain Home brand. These include YMH Lukla, YMH Phakding, YMH Monjo, YMH Namche, YMH Thame and YMH Kongde.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Gokarna Forest Resort</strong></p>
<p>
	<img alt="gokarna" src="/userfiles/images/gokarna.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; " /></p>
<p>
	The Yeti Group acquired the management of Gokarna Forest Resort from October 2010 from the Singapore-based company LM Suvir Brothers Private Limited. The resort also houses one of the best golf courses in Asia, spread over 470 acres of land. The resort has 90 rooms and spa services among other top notch luxury services.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Tara Air</strong></p>
<p>
	<img alt="taraair" src="/userfiles/images/taraair.jpg" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; " /></p>
<p>
	Tara Air, the subsidiary of Yeti Airlines is one of the biggest airline service providers in the mountain region. According to the company, it is guided by the mission of helping develop the rural Nepal. So, its services are concentrated in the hills and mountain destinations across the country. The airline has a fleet of six STOL aircrafts, comprising of four Twin Otter (DHC 6/300) and two Dornier (DO 228) aircrafts. The airline operates both scheduled and chartered flights.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Thamserku Trekking</strong></p>
<p>
	This trekking and holiday service provider has been serving more than 4000 clients each year with agents in nine countries. Thamserku has been established as a group of companies offering trekking and adventure tourism services through its subsidiaries namely, Thamserku Trekking, Thamserku Expedition and Luxe Nepal. The company offers services ranging from classic trekking programmes to wild and exciting journeys in the remote mountains, and easy peaks and scaling mountains taller than 8000 metres.</p>',
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file not found!

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BFIN to Host Conference in Kathmandu on Wednesday

Price of Gold Reaches All-Time High in Nepal

FOREX

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)

Bullion

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

Petroleum

Petrol	1 Liter	106.00
Diesel	1 Liter	95.00
Kerosene	1 Liter	95.00
LP Gas	1 Cylinder	1375.00