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			'id' => '1849',
			'article_category_id' => '141',
			'title' => 'News In Brief (23 - 29 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>EC Amends Time-table</strong></p>
<p>
	The Election Commission (EC) amended the election time-table last Thursday following a request of the government and the High Level Political Committee. According to the EC, it has rescheduled the time-table without altering the election date of November 19. The EC said that the dates for the candidates&rsquo; nominations for the first-past-the-post election and proportional election systems have been extended by a week.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Dahal Urges Envoy Sharma to Quit</strong></p>
<p>
	UCPN (Maoist) chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal has asked Nepali Ambassador to Qatar Dr Maya Kumari Sharma to resign from her post, according to Dahal&rsquo;s aide Shiva Khakurel. He made such a suggestion to Nepal&rsquo;s envoy to Qatar through a telephone conversation. Ambassador Sharma had been drawn into controversy following her statement in an interview calling Qatar an &lsquo;open jail&rsquo;.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Chinese Minister Calls on Prez Dr Yadav</strong></p>
<p>
	Visiting Minister of State Council Information Office of China, Cai Mingzhao called on President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav at the latter&rsquo;s official residence Shital Niwas last Friday. On the occasion, matters relating to Nepal-China relations and of mutual interest were discussed, according to the Office of the President.Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Wu Chuntai, senior officials of the Office of the President and Ministry of Foreign Affairs were present in the meeting. Minister Cai arrived in Nepal last Thursday leading a six-member delegation in his four-day official visit to Nepal.</p>',
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			'description' => 'The Election Commission (EC) amended the election time-table last Thursday following a request of the government and the High Level Political Committee. According to the EC, it has rescheduled the time-table without altering the election date of November 19. The EC said that the dates for the candidates’ nominations for the first-past-the-post election and proportional election systems have been extended by a week.',
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			'id' => '1848',
			'article_category_id' => '140',
			'title' => 'Govt For Polls Sans CPN-Maoist',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>By Sagar Ghimire</strong></p>
<p>
	The government and the High Level Political Committee (HLPC) have said they will move ahead with the plan to hold the election on the scheduled date of November 19 as the efforts to woo the agitating CPN-Maoist led 33-party alliance have been in vain. The talks between the HLPC and the agitating alliance broke down last Monday (September 16) after the CPN-Maoist remained adamant on its &lsquo;four-point&rsquo; proposal. The four-point proposal comprises of convening a Round-Table-Conference (RTC) to take decisions on the basis of consensus, dissolution of the Khil Raj Regmi-led government to form an all-party-government or Regmi&rsquo;s resignation from the post of Chief Justice to accept the current government, and the deferral of CA polls to April.</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;The demand on the four-point proposal of the CPN-Maoist to defer the polls was unacceptable to us,&rdquo; Nepali Congress vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel said, reasoning the failure of the talks. Likewise, CPN (UML) leader Raghuji Pant argued that the real intention of the CPN-Maoist was not to join the poll process. &ldquo;They are using the talks as a time-buying tactic,&rdquo; Pant said.</p>
<p>
	Blaming the HLPC and the government for the failure of the talks,CPN-Maoist secretary Dev Gurung reiterated that his party would not join the poll process unless their demands for Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi&rsquo;s resignation and the poll deferral, among others, are met.</p>
<p>
	Meanwhile, the government has signaled that it will now move ahead with its poll-plan even without the participation of the CPN-Maoist led agitating alliance. As per this decision, the government had forwarded an ordinance that provisions a 601-member size CA in accordance with agreements with some political parties last month. President Dr Ram Baran Yadav has endorsed the ordinance. While the government and the HLPC are planning to go ahead with their poll-plan, the agitating CPN-Maoist has said it will disrupt the election at any cost.</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;We have not closed the door for talks yet. However, if the government dares to move ahead with its poll plans unilaterally, we will foil it,&rdquo; CPN-Maoist secretary Gurung said holding a press conference last Tuesday at his party office in Buddhanagar.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
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			'description' => 'The government and the High Level Political Committee (HLPC) have said they will move ahead with the plan to hold the election on the scheduled date of November 19 as the efforts to woo the agitating CPN-Maoist led 33-party alliance have been in vain.',
			'sortorder' => '1709',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1847',
			'article_category_id' => '204',
			'title' => 'Glimpses Of The Event Tourism And Aviation Next 2013',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<div>
	<strong>Image 1</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The New Business Age family with the dignitaries and the award winners</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Image 2</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Former Miss Nepal Sadichha Shrestha with Sharad Pradhan of Nepal Tourism Board</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Image 3</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Panel discussion during the event moderated by Hotel Annapurna CEO Upaul Majumdar</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Image 4</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Dignitaries from the tourism related sectors during the event at Hotel Annapurna</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<p>
		<strong>PARTNERS&rsquo; </strong>VIEWS</p>
	<p>
		<br />
		<img alt="upual" src="/userfiles/images/upual.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: 169px; " /></p>
	<p>
		<strong>Upaul Majumdar</strong></p>
	<p>
		<strong>CEO of Hotel Annapurna</strong></p>
	<p>
		I personally think that despite having immense potential Nepal is yet to achieve the tourism goal as compare to other countries. Undoubtedly, this country has everything which makes it unique in terms of tourism but there should be a &lsquo;can-do&rsquo; attitude, and not just talk about the challenges. There should be a collective effort from all the tourism related sectors and I am sure in future making Nepal as one of the finest tourist destinations will not be a distant dream. There is some movement which has started this year. And many initiatives of uniting the different segment of the industry like hotels, travel &amp; tour agencies, air lines and department of tourism has been taken. This initiative should see some &ldquo;value driven&rdquo; benefit for all sectors.</p>
	<p>
		&nbsp;</p>
	<p>
		<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/qatar(2).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: 241px; height: 74px; " /></p>
	<p>
		<strong>Qatar Airways Spokesperson</strong></p>
	<p>
		Qatar Airways contribution to Nepal tourism has been very significant. Recently it helped in removing the obstructing radio antenna in Khumaltar. Qatar Airways has assisted in bringing new technology in aviation safety in Nepal through installation of a Required Navigation Performance &mdash; Authorisation Required (RNP-AR) approach into Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), becoming the first airline in the world to operate an aircraft with a new navigational approach in Nepal. Also it is the biggest international contributor for Nepalese tourism sector by bringing in more than one lakh people to Kathmandu. Qatar Airways has always been supporting any kind of tourism activities in Nepal. This conclave brought together various stake-holders from the tourism industry of Nepal. We discussed the various problems relating to tourism and the solutions we can use to improve the current situation.</p>
	<p>
		&nbsp;</p>
	<p>
		<img alt="sadichha" src="/userfiles/images/Sadichha.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: 170px; " /></p>
	<p>
		<strong>Sadichha Shrestha</strong></p>
	<p>
		<strong>Corporate Communication Officer, Ace Travels</strong></p>
	<p>
		We need an effective plan and focus on how to bring more tourists to Nepal. Unlike other countries where people make artificial islands, beaches etc to promote tourism, Nepal have its own unique natural beauty. This is a gift from god to us and we should protect it with good governance and with well researched business module to earn more revenue and generate employment. We should be proud of Nepal and there is an urgent need to promote Nepal&rsquo;s religious and spiritual places. We can also promote yoga, meditation and adventure tourism because I think these are the areas where we can attract more tourists.</p>
	<p>
		&nbsp;</p>
</div>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-23',
			'modified' => '2013-10-01',
			'keywords' => 'Tourism And Aviation Next 2013 cover story news & articles, cover story news & articles from Tourism And Aviation Next 2013 nepal, cover story headlines from nepal,  current and latest cover story news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali cover story economic news and events,  ongoing  cover',
			'description' => 'I personally think that despite having immense potential Nepal is yet to achieve the tourism goal as compare to other countries. Undoubtedly, this country has everything which makes it unique in terms of tourism but there should be a ‘can-do’ attitude, and not just talk about the challenges. There should be a collective effort from all the tourism related sectors and I am sure in future making Nepal as one of the finest tourist destinations will not be a distant dream.',
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	(int) 3 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1846',
			'article_category_id' => '135',
			'title' => 'Economic Expectations After Election',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<div>
	<strong>Prof Dr Yubraj Sangroula</strong></div>
<div>
	<div>
		<strong>Former Attorney General,</strong></div>
	<div>
		<strong>Founder and Executive Director of the Kathmandu School of Law (KSL)</strong><br />
		<br />
		&nbsp;</div>
</div>
<div>
	Looking at the past manifestoes of political parties, focus on poverty reduction and economic and social integration seems to be only a political gimmick to win votes. These manifestoes seem unrealistic and are made without enough homework. This election is no different from those held in the past. After the election, we can expect the same old talks by political parties on the restructuring of the state and its policies. The political parties&rsquo; commitment toward big projects like hydro power, roadways and transport are still &nbsp;to be proven. However, I am optimistic that these big projects will begin after the election - if not for the nation and the people, &nbsp;they will do it for personal benefit. As a professor, I would say that if the same situation of manipulating students into dirty politics of shutting universities down for months continues, a lot of colleges and universities will be forced to close for good.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="jagadish" src="/userfiles/images/jagadish.jpg" style="margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; " /></div>
<div>
	<strong>Jagadish Rathi</strong></div>
<div>
	<strong>Chairman, Tax and Revenue Committee, Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI)</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	We have faced more than a decade of conflict and several years of political instability. Therefore, this election brings hope for the economy. We are expecting concrete implementation of economic plans rather than speeches from political leaders. We are facing the worst power crisis ever and there has to be some short term plan to mitigate it. The long heard blathers of producing 10,000-20,000 MW of electricity has to be stopped and transmission lines must be installed instead. There is a lot to expect and demand for the economy after elections.<br />
	<br />
	Despite being an agriculture-based country, Nepal has failed to capitalize on agricultural products as it has not kept up with modern agro technologies to meet the supply deficit. Infrastructural barriers like poor road and transportation systems have also hindered the smooth functioning of business. We have not been able to cash on our tourism industry due to some obvious political reasons. Our tourism is based on pilgrimage sites like Lumbini, Janakpur, Muktinath and many others which we have not been able to build on. But we must look beyond to newer possibilities. In collaboration with the Nepal Tourism Board, we have a big opportunity to making the country an educational hub, and in order to meet this demand, construction of the next international airport in Nijgad must be resumed. All of these infrastructures have to be built and we have to realize that remittance cannot be a long term solution for the economy.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-23',
			'modified' => '0000-00-00',
			'keywords' => 'new business age voices news & articles, voices news & articles from new business age nepal, voices headlines from nepal,  current and latest voices news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali voices economic news and events, ongoing voices news of nepal',
			'description' => 'The upcoming election seems to be eagerly awaited for by all the sections of the Nepali society. This week, The Corporate Weekly brings the views of a legal expert and a business Leader:',
			'sortorder' => '1707',
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	(int) 4 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1845',
			'article_category_id' => '134',
			'title' => '‘Nepal Has The Capacity To Emerge As An Outsourcing Base Camp',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<div>
	Khem Raj Bhattarai is the founder and CEO of KRB Software Pvt Ltd. As an emerging software developer, the company is focused on producing management system products along with other services. Bhattarai talked to Sanjeev Sharma of The Corporate about the company&#39;s plans and his views on the Nepali software industry. Excerpts:</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What products and services does KRB Software offer?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	We are basically offering 16 software products. We are producing management system software products under the Kohinoor brand which are targeted to clients such as educational institutions, hotels/restaurants, hospitals/ clinics/ pharmacy, co-operative financial institutions, shopping malls, manpower, educational consultancies etc. We are also producing products for accounting, inventory control, point of sale (POS), human resource management and customer relation management. Besides these, we provide tailor-made software according to the need and demand of clients, tech consulting and software prototyping.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Besides these, what other projects are currently being worked on?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Currently we are focused on management system products. We plan to launch other service related products in the near future. KRB Software is planning to expand the hotel management system. We are also designing portals that will help individuals and companies manage their day-to-day work. Similarly, we are also looking to introduce some services based on business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) concepts.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>The majority of KRB&#39;s software is built using a web-based platform that can be accessed through mobile devices. Do you have any plan to enter the mobile application market?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Mobile devices are making computing tasks a lot easier. Regarding this, we are developing software using web-based platforms which allow the users to access the products through their mobile devices. The company is planning to enter the mobile apps markets and a mobile application developer team has been formed for the purpose. We are looking to develop the existing management system software products into mobile apps too. We are also planning to develop mobile games and astrology apps.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>While talking about software, security always emerges as a major concern. How do you ensure the security of your products?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In terms of data and system security, I can ensure you that our products are 100 per cent secure. The software are developed using the latest technology which are well shielded and protected. We provide a world class security system which cannot be breached by hackers. We have also developed a system which tracks our software products that are installed into the computers of individual clients. However, for optimal level of security, the machines of clients too should be well protected.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What is the response from your clients? How do you assess the prospect of tailor-made software to cater to the needs of Nepali clients?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	We are fully satisfied with the warm response from Nepali clients. Our domestic clients are gradually leaning towards locally produced software products. The user-friendly system, flexibility and customization are some of the main factors attracting Nepali clients.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What are the benefits of using software produced by your company compared to the products of big international names?&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As far as I know, there are very few management system software available in the Nepali market. Products from big international developers are not able to fulfill the need of Nepali clients. Our products are developed by Nepali engineers, developers and designers who are well aware of the needs of domestic clients. Besides this, our software products are also reasonably priced and highly efficient compared to foreign brands. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>KRB Software has outsourced for some Fortune 500 companies. How do you assess the prospect of an outsourcing market in Nepal?&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Yes, we have done outsourced tasks for some big multinational companies in the past. However, we experienced that the outsourcing market in Nepal is poorly managed. There is no policy regarding IT outsourcing. The banking rules of our country won&#39;t let us do direct financial transaction with the foreign companies. For instance, the Nepali financial system is not linked with the global online payment gateway PayPal. This is causing a big problem for receiving payments from foreign firms. Likewise, the outflow of IT manpower from the country is another problem. &nbsp;Nepali outsourcing market can witness a rapid growth if these issues are properly addressed. The outsourcing market could be a major foreign currency earner if properly taken care of. Looking at the current scenario of manpower production (software engineers, programmers, designers etc), Nepal possesses the capacity to emerge as an outsourcing base camp in Asia.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Nepal is witnessing a steady growth of software market. What are the challenges underlying the market?&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Sales of product and service are the most challenging aspects. We have to ensure our clients about security and convince them that the products will fulfill their needs. Pricing of the products is another challenge. Many developers are selling unbranded products at very cheap prices which is hampering healthy competition in the market. This is somehow affecting developers like us who are committed to sell quality products developed using standard procedures.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Are Nepali software developers getting any help from the government?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Sadly, the government is not helping the Nepali software industry. Many government offices and projects are using foreign products that cost thousands of dollars. This is resulting in a huge amount of capital flight. We can develop any type of high quality software products that will fulfill the need of governmental tasks. The government should start using locally produced software which will be of great help to us. We also encourage people to use domestic software products hoping that it will reduce capital and human resource flight from Nepal.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<br />
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'created' => '2013-09-23',
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			'description' => 'Khem Raj Bhattarai is the founder and CEO of KRB Software Pvt Ltd. As an emerging software developer, the company is focused on producing management system products along with other services. Bhattarai talked to Sanjeev Sharma of The Corporate about the company's plans and his views on the Nepali software industry. Excerpts:',
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			'title' => 'Award Winners Tourism And Aviation Next 2013',
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			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Amitabh Kant</strong></p>
<p>
	Lifetime Achievement in Promotion of Tourism in South Asia (He is the former joint secretary in the tourism ministry from 2001 to 2007 &amp; Chairman of Indian Tourism Development Council)</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;It was at the peak of this crisis, the Incredible India campaign to position India as a tourist destination was launched. But Every Crisis is an Opportunity and now tourism in India is a growing market. There is a need to raise Nepal&rsquo;s service standards, creating premium brand of experiential tourism, positioning of exotic Nepal, adding new international airport, additional terminals and new air-routes, domestic and foreign investments in tourism services etc. Thank you for this award&rdquo;</p>
<p>
	<br />
	<img alt="tourism" src="/userfiles/images/tourism(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: 300px; height: 207px; " /></p>
<p>
	<strong>Tourism Malaysia</strong></p>
<p>
	Best Asian Tourism Initiative (Award received by South Asia Director of Tourism Malaysia, Amran Abdul Rahman)</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;I am very happy to receive this award. Such event will boost the Nepal tourism industry but we need to focus and plan a well researched module to make Nepal one of the best tourist places in the world. In Malaysia people know Nepal more than India because of its long association and common features in terms of lifestyle. I am sure with such events we will have a strong bonding with Nepal in terms of tourisms.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
	<br />
	<img alt="megh bahadur kc" src="/userfiles/images/Megh.jpg" style="margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 300px; height: 185px; " /></p>
<p>
	<strong>Megh Bahadur Ale</strong></p>
<p>
	Best Eco-friendly Himalayan Tourism Initiative (He is the founder president of Nepal River Conservation Trust)</p>
<p>
	<br />
	&ldquo;This is for the first time I am receiving such award for my contribution towards nature in Nepal. I would like to request the people of Nepal and the government to save our Bagmati. I want more people to participate in the Bagmati River Festival and request them actively involved in raising awareness to conserve and preserve the beautiful Himalayan Rivers of Nepal. I don&rsquo;t have any word to express myself. I am extremely happy and thanks for the organiser for choosing me for such a prestigious award. I would like to pay my regards to New Business Age for giving me this honour and in future I will continue to dedicate myself in saving the eco system of Nepal. I think youths and school children will play a major role in saving this country from ecological hazards,&rdquo;</p>',
			'published' => true,
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			'description' => 'Lifetime Achievement in Promotion of Tourism in South Asia (He is the former joint secretary in the tourism ministry from 2001 to 2007 & Chairman of Indian Tourism Development Council)',
			'sortorder' => '1705',
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	(int) 6 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1843',
			'article_category_id' => '204',
			'title' => 'Challenges: Safe And Conducive Environment For Investment',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>People associated with the Nepali tourism and aviation stake-holders should come out with an action-plan for the industry.</strong></p>
<p>
	<br />
	<strong>Challenges: Safe and Conducive Environment for Investment</strong></p>
<p>
	<br />
	<strong>We are aware that the tourism industry in Nepal has taken some hard knocks in the last decade. Now is the time to move ahead.</strong></p>
<p style="margin-left:12.0pt;">
	<br />
	<br />
	By Shreejana Rana</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	We are all aware the tourism industry in Nepal has taken some hard knocks in the last decade. Young democracies are vulnerable to political instability, and sacrifices are inevitable. But we just cannot sit and stare idly at years of our hard work and investment being blownaway senselessly. Creative thinking and co-ordinated planning are imperative. Our children&rsquo;s futures are at stake. However, we as investors in the tourism industry, require a safe and conducive environment for us to invest further to enhance our products and services.</p>
<p>
	Honourable Minister of Tourism, this is where the Government of Nepal could engage more with all us stakeholders to create a friendly environment where we feel encouraged and safe to invest further to bring up our products and facilities to international standards. And it is my humble request to view us as partners &ndash; not just sharp business people &ndash; in the development of the industry and the country.</p>
<p>
	For far too long, we have neglected to nurture and prioritise quality in order to use tourism as a medium to further ties and appreciate the differences &ndash; and similarities &ndash; between countries and their cultures. In order to get the full benefit from tourism &ndash; not always measured in dollars &ndash; we all need to pull up our socks and raise the bar even higher.&nbsp;Investment in education, training, human resources, marketing, adoption of best practices and collaboration between the public and private sectors are imperative. Corporate structures have to be re-defined and standardization of services has to be implemented and monitored rigorously.</p>
<p>
	I would like to share with the officiating CEO, Nepal Tourism Board, Subash Nirola that Nepal Tourism Board has been playing a pro-active role ensuring all tourism stakeholders are aware of the issues affecting the industry. We appreciate this change in attitude. You can count on us to support your initiatives and look forward to more brainstorming sessions.&nbsp;We are extremely excited to have Amitabh Kant, the genius behind the &ldquo;Incredible India&rdquo; campaign in the event. I&rsquo;ll tell you why we hope to pick your creative brain and adopt your ideas shamelessly to increase the market-ability of Nepal.</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;Malaysia, Truly Asia&rdquo; campaign captured the imagination of travellers from all over the world. As a marketing campaign, it probably has no peers, and is a lesson to all of us. We will definitely share our views with the South Asia Director of Tourism Malaysia Amran Abdul Rahman on how to take Nepal in the global map in terms of tourism.<br />
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>(Shreejana Rana is Director, CSR and R&amp;D, Hotel Annapurna)</strong><br />
	&nbsp;</p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-22',
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			'description' => 'We are all aware the tourism industry in Nepal has taken some hard knocks in the last decade. Young democracies are vulnerable to political instability, and sacrifices are inevitable.',
			'sortorder' => '1704',
			'image' => null,
			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'breaking_news' => false,
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	(int) 7 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1842',
			'article_category_id' => '204',
			'title' => 'Premium Tourism Paradigm For ‘Naturally Nepal’',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	<strong>Tourism And Aviation Next 2013</strong></p>
<p>
	<br />
	<strong>Premium Tourism Paradigm for &lsquo;Naturally Nepal&rsquo;</strong></p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	By Madan Lamsal</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	Come September 27 and the world will celebrate &lsquo;Tourism Day&rsquo;. Considering the third largest industry in the world and an engine to generate more employment as compare to other industries, we along with our partners have decided to come up with this event to promote tourism in Nepal and to honour those&mdash; globally and locally &mdash; who has done a commendable job in taking the tourism in the global map.</p>
<p>
	The Conference is basically to focus on Tourism and Aviation Next. This will help us to understand this industry much better and will give us the necessary information, analysis and views to take Nepal to the global platform on the World Tourism Day through various means of communications. And what could be more communicative then newspapers, magazines, portals, TV channel and radio.</p>
<p>
	For many years tourism in Nepal has been value-for-money, adventure-driven, backpackers&rsquo; tourism. But over the years the sheen is gradually fading despite a treasured destination for leisure, religious, adventure and nature tourism. It is unfortunate that the average spending per tourist was over 65 US dollars about a decade back but now it has come down to less than 40 US dollars a day.</p>
<p>
	The focus of our conference is to explore through deliberations and interactions of all major stake-holders of Nepal Tourism. If we can evolve a premium tourism model or paradigm then only we can generate more revenue under the banner of &ldquo;Naturally Nepal&rdquo;.</p>
<p>
	It is good to feel that the Tourism and Aviation Next meet brings together various leading stake-holders from Nepal Tourism Board, hotels, resorts, domestic airlines, helicopter services etc.</p>
<p>
	This meet is expected to lead a broad understanding on what can be the contours of such a premium tourism model and how can it be created, propagated, executed and benefited from. There is a need to focus on the rise of aviation sector in this country (both domestic and international) in Nepal. We are facing some challenges from meeting the quality, ways and means of increasing passenger load, technological innovations, and a sustainable business model.</p>
<p>
	But I am hopeful that together we can overcome such challenges in bringing more tourists to Nepal from across the world. Strong international and domestic aviation is at the heart of premium tourism in Nepal. Most of the domestic airlines and global aviation sector are not doing well financially in Nepal. Except a few, all have a revenue loss annually in their daily operations.</p>
<p>
	People associated with the Nepali tourism and aviation stake-holders should come out with an action-plan for the industry. Also, the government should look into the pro-active policy to promote tourism in Nepal. We should also learn from the concept of &lsquo;Incredible India&rsquo; and Gods Own Country conceptualised by Amitabh Kant, former joint secretary in the tourism ministry from 2001 to 2007 and Malaysia&rsquo;s rising tourism industry.</p>
<p>
	I hope this event becomes a landmark in the context of the second largest source of foreign exchange for Nepal and its further growth.&nbsp;Though it is a daunting task but together we can make a beautiful Nepal.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>(Madan Lamsal, Chairman of New Business Age Pvt Ltd)</strong></p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-22',
			'modified' => '2013-10-01',
			'keywords' => 'Tourism And Aviation Next 2013 cover story news & articles, cover story news & articles from Tourism And Aviation Next 2013 nepal, cover story headlines from nepal,  current and latest cover story news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali cover story economic news and events,  ongoing  cover',
			'description' => 'The average spending per tourist was over 65 US dollars about a decade back but now it has come down to less than 40 US dollars a day.',
			'sortorder' => '1703',
			'image' => null,
			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
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	(int) 8 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1841',
			'article_category_id' => '91',
			'title' => 'Positioning, Infra-structure & Investment: Mainstay Of Nepali Tourism Next',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	<strong>Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Sushil Ghimire, inaugurating Tourism and Aviation Next 2013. (From left) New Business Age Pvt Ltd Chairman Madan Lamsal, Incredible India pioneer Amitabh Kant and South Asia Director of Tourism Malaysia Amran Abdul Rahman.</strong></p>
<div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>Photo: Rukesh Shrestha/TC</strong><br />
		<br />
		<br />
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>Sell Authentic Experience &amp; Make It Premium</strong></div>
</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Vision: To achieve tourism turnover equal to 5% of the GDP by 2080 BS which is now less than 2%</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	By Ujjwal K Chowdhury</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As nations celebrate World Tourism Day on September 27, the top tourism officials, Nepali leaders of the industry, along with some top honchos of Malaysian and Indian tourism governance met on September 19 at Annapurna Hotel in the first edition of Tourism &amp; Aviation Next conference.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The core views that emerged from the day long exercise, partnered by New Business Age and Annapurna Hotel, and sponsored by Qatar Airways and Ace Travels, focused on: raising service standards, creating premium brand of experiential tourism apart from the existing largely value-for-money backpackers&rsquo; tourism, positioning of exotic Nepal, upgrading the tourism and hospitality infra-structure, adding new international airport, additional terminals and new air-routes, domestic and foreign investments in tourism services.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Tourism Goal: 5% of GDP by 2080 BS</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Opening the event, the Secretary of the Tourism Ministry, Sushil Ghimire, focused on why and how can Nepal achieve tourism turnover equal to 5% of the GDP by 2080 BS which is now less than 2%, how the national carrier Nepal Airlines is being strengthened, and why all major stake-holders&rsquo; views on a long-term future course of action is important in a private sector driven domain like that of tourism &amp; aviation. He set the tone, and the two guests from abroad took it to the next level with case-studies from tourism promotion by their nations.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Case-studies: India and Malaysia</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The former Tourism Secretary of India and of Kerala state, and the man behind Incredible India and God&rsquo;s Own Country Kerala branding, Amitabh Kant, lamented that the positioning, branding and pricing of an otherwise high-end premium exotic destination like Nepal has been actually very low. He rued that the focus has been on low-end mass tourism which also has not yet touched a million, while it now needs to be on niche high-end tourism promotion with a clear positioning. Noting that more than 1 billion people travelling and almost 9% of the global GDP has been in tourism across the world, employing 1 among every 11 people, Nepal needs to catch up with this burgeoning industry.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Moving from sun-sand-sea focused tourism, globally travelers are looking at authentic experience now and Nepal has a huge advantage in it. Explaining in details the Incredible India campaign, he noted that unique positioning and integrated marketing communication strategy and plan alone can take Nepal to the next level in this sector.&nbsp;Kant concluded expounding 6Cs for better tourism: civic governance, capacity building, communication strategy, convergence, community and civil aviation.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The South Asia Director of Tourism Malaysia, Amran Abdul Rahman later brought in a video based presentation to show how Malaysia has moved from &lsquo;Coca-cola tourism&rsquo; earlier as an add-on visit to people coming to Singapore twenty years ago to 13 million visitors in 2003 and finally to 25 million visitors in 2012. The target of 2014, declared as the Visit Malaysia Year, is now 36 million visitors with USD 44 billion income.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Malaysia could achieve this success due to infrastructure growth including the remarkable makeover of Kualalampur Airport, changing mindset of the people and government with tourism coming under special supervision directly by the Prime Minister, rural Malaysia being promoted heavily which also ensured ethnic amity, and focusing on MICE tourism through events heavily.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Tourism Next: Branding &amp; Capacity-building as Key Drivers</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The tourism next panel, moderated by the Annapurna CEO Upaul Majumdar, was an exciting journey of multiple perspectives by various industry experts on different facets. Upaul started with the need of a &lsquo;can-do&rsquo; attitude, and not just talk about the challenges.</div>
<div>
	The Soaltee Crowne Plaza GM Nalin Mandiratta focused on the need for a large Convention Centre for MICE tourism to grow, more sports tournaments in Nepal, dynamic and integrated destination marketing, creating One Nepal concept uniting efforts of various sections of the industry, and focusing on China and India more.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Madhusudan Acharya, the Vice President of the Nepal Association of Tours and Travel Agents, explained how the success of Apple denotes the success of unique positioning. The uniqueness of Nepal as a tourism destination needs similar positioning based on green initiatives and its ethnicity. He emphatically noted that tourism is both a cause and an effect of more holistic socio-economic growth. He noted that Nepal-China roads and Kathmandu&rsquo;s direct air connectivity with Chennai and Bengaluru are much needed pending measures.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nandini Lahe Thapa, the Senior Director of the Nepal Tourism Board in charge of international marketing, while noting that there has been relative maturity of Nepal as a tourism destination, it has been quite low at the high-end of the price-service spectrum. &ldquo;We have lowered our rates of other tourism services, but have an exponentially costly travel. Hotels have already set the bar higher, but travel trade still needs to come together and raise the standards with rational pricing,&rdquo; she noted. Promotion of new destinations possible, she told, if concrete proposals come to NTB from entrepreneurs.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Sumit Baral, the Senior Consultant with the International Finance Corporation, from the World Bank Group, working for its investment climate programs, with key focus on tourism programmes, informed that opposing child-labour so rampant in the carpet industry, Lufthansa dropped its Kathmandu sector adversely affecting German tourists&rsquo; travel to Nepal. Also, a diagnostic study categorically has shown that service standards decline has been the major factor behind lower per day spending by tourists. Noting that Nepal does not feature in luxury travel, he illustrated how Peru since 2000 has positioned itself as high-end destination, and how Maldives with almost same number of tourists like Nepal (little less than a million a year), actually has double the income from this sector.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Talking from the tourism technology perspective, Prerana Mimani, the Country Head of Amadeus, noted that the e-commerce route to promote Nepal is must and is still at a rudimentary level and it is possible to have collaboration with global travel portals with ethnicity focus for Nepal.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The PATA Chairman of Nepal, entrepreneur Suman Pandey, defended budget tourism noting it as an important part of the Nepali tourism eco-system and saying that it is a way of travel to experience the country in a different way. He poignantly noted, &ldquo;The seven days Golden Triangle plan is over-done and new tourism products are now necessary, as seen in the case of trekking tours being re-packaged as photography tours.&rdquo; Another very effective suggestion of Pandey has been the creation of events with potentials of global media visibility, as seen in the case of the earlier Nepali cabinet meeting at Everest base-camp.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Aviation Next: Start Small, But Act in Unison</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The final panel of the day, focusing on aviation ahead, was very ably moderated by Valentino Bagatsing, the Country Head of International Finance Corporation, of the World Bank group, who began by raising the issue of air-safety noting that there have been 70 accidents in 60 years last, 3 being in the last two years. He informed that IFC is on the task of safety management systems research and planning.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Bhola Bikram Thapa, the MD of President Travels, emphatically set the tone noting, &ldquo;Government should make stronger policies and facilitate processes, and not do business directly.&rdquo; He lamented that the need of more aircrafts for the national carrier, Nepal Airlines, is still not being done.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ghanshyam Acharya, Chief of Corporate Affairs, Simrik Airlines, noted that globally service sector has surpassed manufacturing, and in Nepal, three out of every four international traveler is airborne. The IATA Outlook for 2013 looks positively at $711 billion global tourism turnover. Blacktopping of many airports in Nepal has increased air safety and air-travel is now available to middle class as well. However, he lamented better regulatory support of policy-makers is necessary, and after 1998, no new aircraft has been flown by any domestic carrier.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Representing the government voice, Buddhisagar Lamichchane, the Joint Secretary of Civil Aviation, and Roshan Chitrakar, the Deputy Director General of the Air Navigation Services of CAAN, had some good news to share. Chitrakar informed about high pace of blacktopping and expansion of airports, fleet increment for national airlines being imminent, and one year compulsory Air Traffic Controllers&rsquo; training reduced to six-months first phase and then after some work experience another six months of second phase training to handle talent crunch in the industry.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Lamichchane informed about installation of navigational safety equipments, and emphasized the air safety standards in Nepal to be reasonably strong by global standards. Further, he said, &ldquo;Nepali air-routes integration with more global air-routes is underway. And the construction of a second international airport at Bara which will create a East-West air corridor, is also taking off soon. Further, the regulator and service provider functions of government with regards to aviation are being separated soon and a global consultancy is looking into this.&rdquo;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The Air India Country Head, TK Saha, defended the pricing strategy of his carrier noting that only 10-15 percent seats go vacant. He advocated new small aircraft routes and services for various potential sectors like Gaya-Lumbini, Patna-Kathmandu, and Varanasi-Pokhra.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ramdas Shivram, the Qatar Airways Country Head, brought in a basic issue with emphasis saying, &ldquo;Garbage management is poor in Kathmandu airport and for this a blended approach of awareness for passengers, training for staff, and strong punitive regulation is needed.&rdquo; He also advocated more efficient and faster immigration services, quest of quality tourism and not merely volumes, and focus to find and invest in new markets to expand Nepal tourism and aviation base. &ldquo;However, for all of these, commitment of all the stake-holders to what they believe and say is must,&rdquo; he said the last word.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The event ended on a very positive note awarding Megh Ale for outstanding eco-friendly Himalayan tourism initiative, Tourism Malaysia for best international tourism promotion initiative and Amitabh Kant for special lifetime achievement in promoting South Asian tourism and infrastructure.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The organizers expressed hope that such major industry initiative to relook at the world&rsquo;s third largest industry conglomerate: tourism-hospitality-aviation shall again be taken up next year in September and a reality check of the progress made over one year would be done.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-22',
			'modified' => '2013-10-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age cover story news & articles, cover story news & articles from new business age nepal, cover story headlines from nepal,  current and latest cover story news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali cover story economic news and events,  ongoing  cover story news of nepal',
			'description' => 'As nations celebrate World Tourism Day on September 27, the top tourism officials, Nepali leaders of the industry, along with some top honchos of Malaysian and Indian tourism governance met on September 19 at Annapurna Hotel in the first edition of Tourism & Aviation Next conference.',
			'sortorder' => '1702',
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	),
	(int) 9 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1840',
			'article_category_id' => '201',
			'title' => 'DIY (Design It Yourself) Sarees',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/Untitled-2%20(Copy)%20(Copy).jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;width: 284px; height: 600px;" />Teej just passed by with its glare of red and green, leaving us weary of the colours by now. Don&rsquo;t be fed up of the saree yet - there is more to this garment than colours devoted to the longevity of men. The saree can express female individuality just as much, given a little creativity and time.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ever looked at designer sarees and wondered when you would get an affordable deal to don one? Well, don&rsquo;t just look at magazine covers and TV channels in endless longing when you can get up with the DIY spirit and design it yourself!</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Inspired by a friend who ran a start up saree-designing company, I suggest to you in this new column that you need not fly to Delhi or Kolkata to purchase the latest look in the yard-long garment. Instead, you can scroll through some websites and get inspired by the works of high-end designers to create your own adaptation at a cheaper rate.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Consider some tips below in making your DIY saree:</strong></span></div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Experiment with georgette more than any other fabric as it can hold embroideries better than chiffon and it definitely beats cotton, silk, net or tissue in holding sequin designs, which are still in vogue.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Now that you have your fabric, opt for a simple design that your tailor easily achieve on the cloth. Take a look at some simple works by Satya Paul, Tarun Tahliani, Manish Malhotra or Sabyasachi Mukherjee and improvise on it. It may be as simple as adding a sequined border along your garment, and laying out small sequined floral patterns in the body of the saree.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Get creative in the colours you choose. If you are dark or light skinned, anything between midnight blue to sky blue, or fuchsia pink to red would work when it comes to sequins. Just make sure your patterns and sequin colours go well with each other. Don&rsquo;t pair a sky blue saree with bright green sequins, for example. Usually, it works when the sequins are a shade lighter than the fabric itself.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Mix and match your blouse and don&rsquo;t stick to the conventional manner of matching your blouse with the same colour as the saree. Maybe a white saree with a pink blouse? Or a light blue saree with gold-coloured blouse? Whatever befits your personality.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull; &nbsp;Finally, once you have your saree in hand, acknowledge the inspiration that produced it &ndash; which designer&rsquo;s work caught your eye? And how did you add your personal touch? The saree will be truly yours and a reflection of your individual taste.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'created' => '2013-09-18',
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			'description' => 'Teej just passed by with its glare of red and green, leaving us weary of the colours by now. Don’t be fed up of the saree yet - there is more to this garment than colours devoted to the longevity of men. The saree can express female individuality just as much, given a little creativity and time.',
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			'description' => 'Top Ten Losers',
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			'description' => 'Top Ten Gainers',
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			'description' => 'US Dollar Exchange Rate At Local Market',
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			'description' => 'Weekly Gold and Silver Price',
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			'article_category_id' => '108',
			'title' => 'Money Matters News In Brief (26 - 22 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>NRB Refutes Deadline Extension Reports</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has clarified that it has not extended the deadline to meet the minimum required capital (paid-up capital) for banking and financial institutions (BFIs). NRB has ruled out extension of the deadline following a news report claiming that it had extended the deadline to meet the minimum required capital. &nbsp;&ldquo;We have provisioned that the proposed bonus share distribution on Fiscal Year 2013-14 if approved by the NRB could be counted on the paid-up capital,&rdquo; NRB spokesperson Bhaskarmani Gyawali said. Through the monetary policy, the NRB had directed those bank and financial institutions, who are yet to meet the minimum paid-up capital, to do so by the end of FY 2013-14.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Tinau&rsquo;s Dividend Approved</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Tinau Development Bank Ltd, headquartered at Butwal, got an approval from Nepal Rastra Bank to distribute a 12.69 per cent dividend including 12 per cent as bonus shares. The bank has collected Rs 1.53 billion deposit and extended a total of Rs 1.12 billion as loan during the last Fiscal Year. It has earned a Rs 23.3 million as profit and has issued capital of Rs 200 million and paid up capital of 115 million with eight branches in operation.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Everest Announces Book Closure Date</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Everest Bank has announced the book closure for share trading from September 18 to October 10 for the upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM). Releasing a communiqu&eacute; last Wednesday, the bank stated that the 237th meeting of the Board of Directors (BoD) held on September 6 made such a decision. The details of the upcoming AGM will be made public laterby publishing a separate notice, the communiqu&eacute; added.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Siddhartha Development&rsquo;s &lsquo;SDBL Auto Loan&rsquo;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Siddhartha Development Bank Ltd has announced &lsquo;SDBL Auto Loan&rsquo; scheme for the coming Dashain festival. According to the scheme, the loans will be on 11.99 per cent per annum interest rate to purchase new and reconditioned vehicles with 60 per cent discount on service charge. The other features of the scheme include loans up to 80 per cent of the vehicle cost, seven years of moratorium period and a fixed interest rate for a year.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Garima&rsquo;s 25pc Dividend</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Garima Development Bank Ltd will propose a 25 per cent dividend distribution at its Annual General Meeting (AGM). &nbsp;According to the bank, it is going to propose 20 per cent bonus shares and 5 per cent cash dividend. The bank has collected a total amount of Rs 3 billion deposit and floated Rs 2.43 billion as a loan until the end of Fiscal Year 2012-13. Chief Executive Officer Govinda Prashad Dhakal informed that the bank earned an operating profit of Rs 96.1 million in the FY2012-13. He further said that the bank is planning to issue rights shares next month. The bank says that its paid-up capital will reach 374 million after issuing rights share and distributing the dividends.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Kaski Finance&rsquo;s 13pc Cash Dividend</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Pokhara based Kaski Finance Ltd will distribute 13 per cent cash dividend to its shareholders. &nbsp;The dividend will be distributed after approval from the Annual General Meeting of the Company, said Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Toya Raj Adhikari.</div>',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1849',
			'article_category_id' => '141',
			'title' => 'News In Brief (23 - 29 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>EC Amends Time-table</strong></p>
<p>
	The Election Commission (EC) amended the election time-table last Thursday following a request of the government and the High Level Political Committee. According to the EC, it has rescheduled the time-table without altering the election date of November 19. The EC said that the dates for the candidates&rsquo; nominations for the first-past-the-post election and proportional election systems have been extended by a week.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Dahal Urges Envoy Sharma to Quit</strong></p>
<p>
	UCPN (Maoist) chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal has asked Nepali Ambassador to Qatar Dr Maya Kumari Sharma to resign from her post, according to Dahal&rsquo;s aide Shiva Khakurel. He made such a suggestion to Nepal&rsquo;s envoy to Qatar through a telephone conversation. Ambassador Sharma had been drawn into controversy following her statement in an interview calling Qatar an &lsquo;open jail&rsquo;.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Chinese Minister Calls on Prez Dr Yadav</strong></p>
<p>
	Visiting Minister of State Council Information Office of China, Cai Mingzhao called on President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav at the latter&rsquo;s official residence Shital Niwas last Friday. On the occasion, matters relating to Nepal-China relations and of mutual interest were discussed, according to the Office of the President.Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Wu Chuntai, senior officials of the Office of the President and Ministry of Foreign Affairs were present in the meeting. Minister Cai arrived in Nepal last Thursday leading a six-member delegation in his four-day official visit to Nepal.</p>',
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			'description' => 'The Election Commission (EC) amended the election time-table last Thursday following a request of the government and the High Level Political Committee. According to the EC, it has rescheduled the time-table without altering the election date of November 19. The EC said that the dates for the candidates’ nominations for the first-past-the-post election and proportional election systems have been extended by a week.',
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			'id' => '1848',
			'article_category_id' => '140',
			'title' => 'Govt For Polls Sans CPN-Maoist',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>By Sagar Ghimire</strong></p>
<p>
	The government and the High Level Political Committee (HLPC) have said they will move ahead with the plan to hold the election on the scheduled date of November 19 as the efforts to woo the agitating CPN-Maoist led 33-party alliance have been in vain. The talks between the HLPC and the agitating alliance broke down last Monday (September 16) after the CPN-Maoist remained adamant on its &lsquo;four-point&rsquo; proposal. The four-point proposal comprises of convening a Round-Table-Conference (RTC) to take decisions on the basis of consensus, dissolution of the Khil Raj Regmi-led government to form an all-party-government or Regmi&rsquo;s resignation from the post of Chief Justice to accept the current government, and the deferral of CA polls to April.</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;The demand on the four-point proposal of the CPN-Maoist to defer the polls was unacceptable to us,&rdquo; Nepali Congress vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel said, reasoning the failure of the talks. Likewise, CPN (UML) leader Raghuji Pant argued that the real intention of the CPN-Maoist was not to join the poll process. &ldquo;They are using the talks as a time-buying tactic,&rdquo; Pant said.</p>
<p>
	Blaming the HLPC and the government for the failure of the talks,CPN-Maoist secretary Dev Gurung reiterated that his party would not join the poll process unless their demands for Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi&rsquo;s resignation and the poll deferral, among others, are met.</p>
<p>
	Meanwhile, the government has signaled that it will now move ahead with its poll-plan even without the participation of the CPN-Maoist led agitating alliance. As per this decision, the government had forwarded an ordinance that provisions a 601-member size CA in accordance with agreements with some political parties last month. President Dr Ram Baran Yadav has endorsed the ordinance. While the government and the HLPC are planning to go ahead with their poll-plan, the agitating CPN-Maoist has said it will disrupt the election at any cost.</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;We have not closed the door for talks yet. However, if the government dares to move ahead with its poll plans unilaterally, we will foil it,&rdquo; CPN-Maoist secretary Gurung said holding a press conference last Tuesday at his party office in Buddhanagar.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
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			'description' => 'The government and the High Level Political Committee (HLPC) have said they will move ahead with the plan to hold the election on the scheduled date of November 19 as the efforts to woo the agitating CPN-Maoist led 33-party alliance have been in vain.',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1847',
			'article_category_id' => '204',
			'title' => 'Glimpses Of The Event Tourism And Aviation Next 2013',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<div>
	<strong>Image 1</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The New Business Age family with the dignitaries and the award winners</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Image 2</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Former Miss Nepal Sadichha Shrestha with Sharad Pradhan of Nepal Tourism Board</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Image 3</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Panel discussion during the event moderated by Hotel Annapurna CEO Upaul Majumdar</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Image 4</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Dignitaries from the tourism related sectors during the event at Hotel Annapurna</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<p>
		<strong>PARTNERS&rsquo; </strong>VIEWS</p>
	<p>
		<br />
		<img alt="upual" src="/userfiles/images/upual.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: 169px; " /></p>
	<p>
		<strong>Upaul Majumdar</strong></p>
	<p>
		<strong>CEO of Hotel Annapurna</strong></p>
	<p>
		I personally think that despite having immense potential Nepal is yet to achieve the tourism goal as compare to other countries. Undoubtedly, this country has everything which makes it unique in terms of tourism but there should be a &lsquo;can-do&rsquo; attitude, and not just talk about the challenges. There should be a collective effort from all the tourism related sectors and I am sure in future making Nepal as one of the finest tourist destinations will not be a distant dream. There is some movement which has started this year. And many initiatives of uniting the different segment of the industry like hotels, travel &amp; tour agencies, air lines and department of tourism has been taken. This initiative should see some &ldquo;value driven&rdquo; benefit for all sectors.</p>
	<p>
		&nbsp;</p>
	<p>
		<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/qatar(2).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: 241px; height: 74px; " /></p>
	<p>
		<strong>Qatar Airways Spokesperson</strong></p>
	<p>
		Qatar Airways contribution to Nepal tourism has been very significant. Recently it helped in removing the obstructing radio antenna in Khumaltar. Qatar Airways has assisted in bringing new technology in aviation safety in Nepal through installation of a Required Navigation Performance &mdash; Authorisation Required (RNP-AR) approach into Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), becoming the first airline in the world to operate an aircraft with a new navigational approach in Nepal. Also it is the biggest international contributor for Nepalese tourism sector by bringing in more than one lakh people to Kathmandu. Qatar Airways has always been supporting any kind of tourism activities in Nepal. This conclave brought together various stake-holders from the tourism industry of Nepal. We discussed the various problems relating to tourism and the solutions we can use to improve the current situation.</p>
	<p>
		&nbsp;</p>
	<p>
		<img alt="sadichha" src="/userfiles/images/Sadichha.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: 170px; " /></p>
	<p>
		<strong>Sadichha Shrestha</strong></p>
	<p>
		<strong>Corporate Communication Officer, Ace Travels</strong></p>
	<p>
		We need an effective plan and focus on how to bring more tourists to Nepal. Unlike other countries where people make artificial islands, beaches etc to promote tourism, Nepal have its own unique natural beauty. This is a gift from god to us and we should protect it with good governance and with well researched business module to earn more revenue and generate employment. We should be proud of Nepal and there is an urgent need to promote Nepal&rsquo;s religious and spiritual places. We can also promote yoga, meditation and adventure tourism because I think these are the areas where we can attract more tourists.</p>
	<p>
		&nbsp;</p>
</div>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
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			'created' => '2013-09-23',
			'modified' => '2013-10-01',
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			'description' => 'I personally think that despite having immense potential Nepal is yet to achieve the tourism goal as compare to other countries. Undoubtedly, this country has everything which makes it unique in terms of tourism but there should be a ‘can-do’ attitude, and not just talk about the challenges. There should be a collective effort from all the tourism related sectors and I am sure in future making Nepal as one of the finest tourist destinations will not be a distant dream.',
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			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<div>
	<strong>Prof Dr Yubraj Sangroula</strong></div>
<div>
	<div>
		<strong>Former Attorney General,</strong></div>
	<div>
		<strong>Founder and Executive Director of the Kathmandu School of Law (KSL)</strong><br />
		<br />
		&nbsp;</div>
</div>
<div>
	Looking at the past manifestoes of political parties, focus on poverty reduction and economic and social integration seems to be only a political gimmick to win votes. These manifestoes seem unrealistic and are made without enough homework. This election is no different from those held in the past. After the election, we can expect the same old talks by political parties on the restructuring of the state and its policies. The political parties&rsquo; commitment toward big projects like hydro power, roadways and transport are still &nbsp;to be proven. However, I am optimistic that these big projects will begin after the election - if not for the nation and the people, &nbsp;they will do it for personal benefit. As a professor, I would say that if the same situation of manipulating students into dirty politics of shutting universities down for months continues, a lot of colleges and universities will be forced to close for good.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="jagadish" src="/userfiles/images/jagadish.jpg" style="margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; " /></div>
<div>
	<strong>Jagadish Rathi</strong></div>
<div>
	<strong>Chairman, Tax and Revenue Committee, Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI)</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	We have faced more than a decade of conflict and several years of political instability. Therefore, this election brings hope for the economy. We are expecting concrete implementation of economic plans rather than speeches from political leaders. We are facing the worst power crisis ever and there has to be some short term plan to mitigate it. The long heard blathers of producing 10,000-20,000 MW of electricity has to be stopped and transmission lines must be installed instead. There is a lot to expect and demand for the economy after elections.<br />
	<br />
	Despite being an agriculture-based country, Nepal has failed to capitalize on agricultural products as it has not kept up with modern agro technologies to meet the supply deficit. Infrastructural barriers like poor road and transportation systems have also hindered the smooth functioning of business. We have not been able to cash on our tourism industry due to some obvious political reasons. Our tourism is based on pilgrimage sites like Lumbini, Janakpur, Muktinath and many others which we have not been able to build on. But we must look beyond to newer possibilities. In collaboration with the Nepal Tourism Board, we have a big opportunity to making the country an educational hub, and in order to meet this demand, construction of the next international airport in Nijgad must be resumed. All of these infrastructures have to be built and we have to realize that remittance cannot be a long term solution for the economy.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-23',
			'modified' => '0000-00-00',
			'keywords' => 'new business age voices news & articles, voices news & articles from new business age nepal, voices headlines from nepal,  current and latest voices news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali voices economic news and events, ongoing voices news of nepal',
			'description' => 'The upcoming election seems to be eagerly awaited for by all the sections of the Nepali society. This week, The Corporate Weekly brings the views of a legal expert and a business Leader:',
			'sortorder' => '1707',
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	(int) 4 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1845',
			'article_category_id' => '134',
			'title' => '‘Nepal Has The Capacity To Emerge As An Outsourcing Base Camp',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<div>
	Khem Raj Bhattarai is the founder and CEO of KRB Software Pvt Ltd. As an emerging software developer, the company is focused on producing management system products along with other services. Bhattarai talked to Sanjeev Sharma of The Corporate about the company&#39;s plans and his views on the Nepali software industry. Excerpts:</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What products and services does KRB Software offer?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	We are basically offering 16 software products. We are producing management system software products under the Kohinoor brand which are targeted to clients such as educational institutions, hotels/restaurants, hospitals/ clinics/ pharmacy, co-operative financial institutions, shopping malls, manpower, educational consultancies etc. We are also producing products for accounting, inventory control, point of sale (POS), human resource management and customer relation management. Besides these, we provide tailor-made software according to the need and demand of clients, tech consulting and software prototyping.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Besides these, what other projects are currently being worked on?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Currently we are focused on management system products. We plan to launch other service related products in the near future. KRB Software is planning to expand the hotel management system. We are also designing portals that will help individuals and companies manage their day-to-day work. Similarly, we are also looking to introduce some services based on business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) concepts.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>The majority of KRB&#39;s software is built using a web-based platform that can be accessed through mobile devices. Do you have any plan to enter the mobile application market?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Mobile devices are making computing tasks a lot easier. Regarding this, we are developing software using web-based platforms which allow the users to access the products through their mobile devices. The company is planning to enter the mobile apps markets and a mobile application developer team has been formed for the purpose. We are looking to develop the existing management system software products into mobile apps too. We are also planning to develop mobile games and astrology apps.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>While talking about software, security always emerges as a major concern. How do you ensure the security of your products?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In terms of data and system security, I can ensure you that our products are 100 per cent secure. The software are developed using the latest technology which are well shielded and protected. We provide a world class security system which cannot be breached by hackers. We have also developed a system which tracks our software products that are installed into the computers of individual clients. However, for optimal level of security, the machines of clients too should be well protected.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What is the response from your clients? How do you assess the prospect of tailor-made software to cater to the needs of Nepali clients?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	We are fully satisfied with the warm response from Nepali clients. Our domestic clients are gradually leaning towards locally produced software products. The user-friendly system, flexibility and customization are some of the main factors attracting Nepali clients.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What are the benefits of using software produced by your company compared to the products of big international names?&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As far as I know, there are very few management system software available in the Nepali market. Products from big international developers are not able to fulfill the need of Nepali clients. Our products are developed by Nepali engineers, developers and designers who are well aware of the needs of domestic clients. Besides this, our software products are also reasonably priced and highly efficient compared to foreign brands. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>KRB Software has outsourced for some Fortune 500 companies. How do you assess the prospect of an outsourcing market in Nepal?&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Yes, we have done outsourced tasks for some big multinational companies in the past. However, we experienced that the outsourcing market in Nepal is poorly managed. There is no policy regarding IT outsourcing. The banking rules of our country won&#39;t let us do direct financial transaction with the foreign companies. For instance, the Nepali financial system is not linked with the global online payment gateway PayPal. This is causing a big problem for receiving payments from foreign firms. Likewise, the outflow of IT manpower from the country is another problem. &nbsp;Nepali outsourcing market can witness a rapid growth if these issues are properly addressed. The outsourcing market could be a major foreign currency earner if properly taken care of. Looking at the current scenario of manpower production (software engineers, programmers, designers etc), Nepal possesses the capacity to emerge as an outsourcing base camp in Asia.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Nepal is witnessing a steady growth of software market. What are the challenges underlying the market?&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Sales of product and service are the most challenging aspects. We have to ensure our clients about security and convince them that the products will fulfill their needs. Pricing of the products is another challenge. Many developers are selling unbranded products at very cheap prices which is hampering healthy competition in the market. This is somehow affecting developers like us who are committed to sell quality products developed using standard procedures.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Are Nepali software developers getting any help from the government?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Sadly, the government is not helping the Nepali software industry. Many government offices and projects are using foreign products that cost thousands of dollars. This is resulting in a huge amount of capital flight. We can develop any type of high quality software products that will fulfill the need of governmental tasks. The government should start using locally produced software which will be of great help to us. We also encourage people to use domestic software products hoping that it will reduce capital and human resource flight from Nepal.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<br />
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'Khem Raj Bhattarai is the founder and CEO of KRB Software Pvt Ltd. As an emerging software developer, the company is focused on producing management system products along with other services. Bhattarai talked to Sanjeev Sharma of The Corporate about the company's plans and his views on the Nepali software industry. Excerpts:',
			'sortorder' => '1706',
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	(int) 5 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1844',
			'article_category_id' => '204',
			'title' => 'Award Winners Tourism And Aviation Next 2013',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Amitabh Kant</strong></p>
<p>
	Lifetime Achievement in Promotion of Tourism in South Asia (He is the former joint secretary in the tourism ministry from 2001 to 2007 &amp; Chairman of Indian Tourism Development Council)</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;It was at the peak of this crisis, the Incredible India campaign to position India as a tourist destination was launched. But Every Crisis is an Opportunity and now tourism in India is a growing market. There is a need to raise Nepal&rsquo;s service standards, creating premium brand of experiential tourism, positioning of exotic Nepal, adding new international airport, additional terminals and new air-routes, domestic and foreign investments in tourism services etc. Thank you for this award&rdquo;</p>
<p>
	<br />
	<img alt="tourism" src="/userfiles/images/tourism(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: 300px; height: 207px; " /></p>
<p>
	<strong>Tourism Malaysia</strong></p>
<p>
	Best Asian Tourism Initiative (Award received by South Asia Director of Tourism Malaysia, Amran Abdul Rahman)</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;I am very happy to receive this award. Such event will boost the Nepal tourism industry but we need to focus and plan a well researched module to make Nepal one of the best tourist places in the world. In Malaysia people know Nepal more than India because of its long association and common features in terms of lifestyle. I am sure with such events we will have a strong bonding with Nepal in terms of tourisms.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
	<br />
	<img alt="megh bahadur kc" src="/userfiles/images/Megh.jpg" style="margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 300px; height: 185px; " /></p>
<p>
	<strong>Megh Bahadur Ale</strong></p>
<p>
	Best Eco-friendly Himalayan Tourism Initiative (He is the founder president of Nepal River Conservation Trust)</p>
<p>
	<br />
	&ldquo;This is for the first time I am receiving such award for my contribution towards nature in Nepal. I would like to request the people of Nepal and the government to save our Bagmati. I want more people to participate in the Bagmati River Festival and request them actively involved in raising awareness to conserve and preserve the beautiful Himalayan Rivers of Nepal. I don&rsquo;t have any word to express myself. I am extremely happy and thanks for the organiser for choosing me for such a prestigious award. I would like to pay my regards to New Business Age for giving me this honour and in future I will continue to dedicate myself in saving the eco system of Nepal. I think youths and school children will play a major role in saving this country from ecological hazards,&rdquo;</p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-22',
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			'description' => 'Lifetime Achievement in Promotion of Tourism in South Asia (He is the former joint secretary in the tourism ministry from 2001 to 2007 & Chairman of Indian Tourism Development Council)',
			'sortorder' => '1705',
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	(int) 6 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1843',
			'article_category_id' => '204',
			'title' => 'Challenges: Safe And Conducive Environment For Investment',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>People associated with the Nepali tourism and aviation stake-holders should come out with an action-plan for the industry.</strong></p>
<p>
	<br />
	<strong>Challenges: Safe and Conducive Environment for Investment</strong></p>
<p>
	<br />
	<strong>We are aware that the tourism industry in Nepal has taken some hard knocks in the last decade. Now is the time to move ahead.</strong></p>
<p style="margin-left:12.0pt;">
	<br />
	<br />
	By Shreejana Rana</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	We are all aware the tourism industry in Nepal has taken some hard knocks in the last decade. Young democracies are vulnerable to political instability, and sacrifices are inevitable. But we just cannot sit and stare idly at years of our hard work and investment being blownaway senselessly. Creative thinking and co-ordinated planning are imperative. Our children&rsquo;s futures are at stake. However, we as investors in the tourism industry, require a safe and conducive environment for us to invest further to enhance our products and services.</p>
<p>
	Honourable Minister of Tourism, this is where the Government of Nepal could engage more with all us stakeholders to create a friendly environment where we feel encouraged and safe to invest further to bring up our products and facilities to international standards. And it is my humble request to view us as partners &ndash; not just sharp business people &ndash; in the development of the industry and the country.</p>
<p>
	For far too long, we have neglected to nurture and prioritise quality in order to use tourism as a medium to further ties and appreciate the differences &ndash; and similarities &ndash; between countries and their cultures. In order to get the full benefit from tourism &ndash; not always measured in dollars &ndash; we all need to pull up our socks and raise the bar even higher.&nbsp;Investment in education, training, human resources, marketing, adoption of best practices and collaboration between the public and private sectors are imperative. Corporate structures have to be re-defined and standardization of services has to be implemented and monitored rigorously.</p>
<p>
	I would like to share with the officiating CEO, Nepal Tourism Board, Subash Nirola that Nepal Tourism Board has been playing a pro-active role ensuring all tourism stakeholders are aware of the issues affecting the industry. We appreciate this change in attitude. You can count on us to support your initiatives and look forward to more brainstorming sessions.&nbsp;We are extremely excited to have Amitabh Kant, the genius behind the &ldquo;Incredible India&rdquo; campaign in the event. I&rsquo;ll tell you why we hope to pick your creative brain and adopt your ideas shamelessly to increase the market-ability of Nepal.</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;Malaysia, Truly Asia&rdquo; campaign captured the imagination of travellers from all over the world. As a marketing campaign, it probably has no peers, and is a lesson to all of us. We will definitely share our views with the South Asia Director of Tourism Malaysia Amran Abdul Rahman on how to take Nepal in the global map in terms of tourism.<br />
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>(Shreejana Rana is Director, CSR and R&amp;D, Hotel Annapurna)</strong><br />
	&nbsp;</p>',
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			'description' => 'We are all aware the tourism industry in Nepal has taken some hard knocks in the last decade. Young democracies are vulnerable to political instability, and sacrifices are inevitable.',
			'sortorder' => '1704',
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	(int) 7 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1842',
			'article_category_id' => '204',
			'title' => 'Premium Tourism Paradigm For ‘Naturally Nepal’',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	<strong>Tourism And Aviation Next 2013</strong></p>
<p>
	<br />
	<strong>Premium Tourism Paradigm for &lsquo;Naturally Nepal&rsquo;</strong></p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	By Madan Lamsal</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	Come September 27 and the world will celebrate &lsquo;Tourism Day&rsquo;. Considering the third largest industry in the world and an engine to generate more employment as compare to other industries, we along with our partners have decided to come up with this event to promote tourism in Nepal and to honour those&mdash; globally and locally &mdash; who has done a commendable job in taking the tourism in the global map.</p>
<p>
	The Conference is basically to focus on Tourism and Aviation Next. This will help us to understand this industry much better and will give us the necessary information, analysis and views to take Nepal to the global platform on the World Tourism Day through various means of communications. And what could be more communicative then newspapers, magazines, portals, TV channel and radio.</p>
<p>
	For many years tourism in Nepal has been value-for-money, adventure-driven, backpackers&rsquo; tourism. But over the years the sheen is gradually fading despite a treasured destination for leisure, religious, adventure and nature tourism. It is unfortunate that the average spending per tourist was over 65 US dollars about a decade back but now it has come down to less than 40 US dollars a day.</p>
<p>
	The focus of our conference is to explore through deliberations and interactions of all major stake-holders of Nepal Tourism. If we can evolve a premium tourism model or paradigm then only we can generate more revenue under the banner of &ldquo;Naturally Nepal&rdquo;.</p>
<p>
	It is good to feel that the Tourism and Aviation Next meet brings together various leading stake-holders from Nepal Tourism Board, hotels, resorts, domestic airlines, helicopter services etc.</p>
<p>
	This meet is expected to lead a broad understanding on what can be the contours of such a premium tourism model and how can it be created, propagated, executed and benefited from. There is a need to focus on the rise of aviation sector in this country (both domestic and international) in Nepal. We are facing some challenges from meeting the quality, ways and means of increasing passenger load, technological innovations, and a sustainable business model.</p>
<p>
	But I am hopeful that together we can overcome such challenges in bringing more tourists to Nepal from across the world. Strong international and domestic aviation is at the heart of premium tourism in Nepal. Most of the domestic airlines and global aviation sector are not doing well financially in Nepal. Except a few, all have a revenue loss annually in their daily operations.</p>
<p>
	People associated with the Nepali tourism and aviation stake-holders should come out with an action-plan for the industry. Also, the government should look into the pro-active policy to promote tourism in Nepal. We should also learn from the concept of &lsquo;Incredible India&rsquo; and Gods Own Country conceptualised by Amitabh Kant, former joint secretary in the tourism ministry from 2001 to 2007 and Malaysia&rsquo;s rising tourism industry.</p>
<p>
	I hope this event becomes a landmark in the context of the second largest source of foreign exchange for Nepal and its further growth.&nbsp;Though it is a daunting task but together we can make a beautiful Nepal.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>(Madan Lamsal, Chairman of New Business Age Pvt Ltd)</strong></p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-22',
			'modified' => '2013-10-01',
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			'description' => 'The average spending per tourist was over 65 US dollars about a decade back but now it has come down to less than 40 US dollars a day.',
			'sortorder' => '1703',
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	(int) 8 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1841',
			'article_category_id' => '91',
			'title' => 'Positioning, Infra-structure & Investment: Mainstay Of Nepali Tourism Next',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	<strong>Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Sushil Ghimire, inaugurating Tourism and Aviation Next 2013. (From left) New Business Age Pvt Ltd Chairman Madan Lamsal, Incredible India pioneer Amitabh Kant and South Asia Director of Tourism Malaysia Amran Abdul Rahman.</strong></p>
<div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>Photo: Rukesh Shrestha/TC</strong><br />
		<br />
		<br />
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>Sell Authentic Experience &amp; Make It Premium</strong></div>
</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Vision: To achieve tourism turnover equal to 5% of the GDP by 2080 BS which is now less than 2%</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	By Ujjwal K Chowdhury</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As nations celebrate World Tourism Day on September 27, the top tourism officials, Nepali leaders of the industry, along with some top honchos of Malaysian and Indian tourism governance met on September 19 at Annapurna Hotel in the first edition of Tourism &amp; Aviation Next conference.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The core views that emerged from the day long exercise, partnered by New Business Age and Annapurna Hotel, and sponsored by Qatar Airways and Ace Travels, focused on: raising service standards, creating premium brand of experiential tourism apart from the existing largely value-for-money backpackers&rsquo; tourism, positioning of exotic Nepal, upgrading the tourism and hospitality infra-structure, adding new international airport, additional terminals and new air-routes, domestic and foreign investments in tourism services.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Tourism Goal: 5% of GDP by 2080 BS</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Opening the event, the Secretary of the Tourism Ministry, Sushil Ghimire, focused on why and how can Nepal achieve tourism turnover equal to 5% of the GDP by 2080 BS which is now less than 2%, how the national carrier Nepal Airlines is being strengthened, and why all major stake-holders&rsquo; views on a long-term future course of action is important in a private sector driven domain like that of tourism &amp; aviation. He set the tone, and the two guests from abroad took it to the next level with case-studies from tourism promotion by their nations.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Case-studies: India and Malaysia</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The former Tourism Secretary of India and of Kerala state, and the man behind Incredible India and God&rsquo;s Own Country Kerala branding, Amitabh Kant, lamented that the positioning, branding and pricing of an otherwise high-end premium exotic destination like Nepal has been actually very low. He rued that the focus has been on low-end mass tourism which also has not yet touched a million, while it now needs to be on niche high-end tourism promotion with a clear positioning. Noting that more than 1 billion people travelling and almost 9% of the global GDP has been in tourism across the world, employing 1 among every 11 people, Nepal needs to catch up with this burgeoning industry.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Moving from sun-sand-sea focused tourism, globally travelers are looking at authentic experience now and Nepal has a huge advantage in it. Explaining in details the Incredible India campaign, he noted that unique positioning and integrated marketing communication strategy and plan alone can take Nepal to the next level in this sector.&nbsp;Kant concluded expounding 6Cs for better tourism: civic governance, capacity building, communication strategy, convergence, community and civil aviation.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The South Asia Director of Tourism Malaysia, Amran Abdul Rahman later brought in a video based presentation to show how Malaysia has moved from &lsquo;Coca-cola tourism&rsquo; earlier as an add-on visit to people coming to Singapore twenty years ago to 13 million visitors in 2003 and finally to 25 million visitors in 2012. The target of 2014, declared as the Visit Malaysia Year, is now 36 million visitors with USD 44 billion income.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Malaysia could achieve this success due to infrastructure growth including the remarkable makeover of Kualalampur Airport, changing mindset of the people and government with tourism coming under special supervision directly by the Prime Minister, rural Malaysia being promoted heavily which also ensured ethnic amity, and focusing on MICE tourism through events heavily.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Tourism Next: Branding &amp; Capacity-building as Key Drivers</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The tourism next panel, moderated by the Annapurna CEO Upaul Majumdar, was an exciting journey of multiple perspectives by various industry experts on different facets. Upaul started with the need of a &lsquo;can-do&rsquo; attitude, and not just talk about the challenges.</div>
<div>
	The Soaltee Crowne Plaza GM Nalin Mandiratta focused on the need for a large Convention Centre for MICE tourism to grow, more sports tournaments in Nepal, dynamic and integrated destination marketing, creating One Nepal concept uniting efforts of various sections of the industry, and focusing on China and India more.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Madhusudan Acharya, the Vice President of the Nepal Association of Tours and Travel Agents, explained how the success of Apple denotes the success of unique positioning. The uniqueness of Nepal as a tourism destination needs similar positioning based on green initiatives and its ethnicity. He emphatically noted that tourism is both a cause and an effect of more holistic socio-economic growth. He noted that Nepal-China roads and Kathmandu&rsquo;s direct air connectivity with Chennai and Bengaluru are much needed pending measures.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nandini Lahe Thapa, the Senior Director of the Nepal Tourism Board in charge of international marketing, while noting that there has been relative maturity of Nepal as a tourism destination, it has been quite low at the high-end of the price-service spectrum. &ldquo;We have lowered our rates of other tourism services, but have an exponentially costly travel. Hotels have already set the bar higher, but travel trade still needs to come together and raise the standards with rational pricing,&rdquo; she noted. Promotion of new destinations possible, she told, if concrete proposals come to NTB from entrepreneurs.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Sumit Baral, the Senior Consultant with the International Finance Corporation, from the World Bank Group, working for its investment climate programs, with key focus on tourism programmes, informed that opposing child-labour so rampant in the carpet industry, Lufthansa dropped its Kathmandu sector adversely affecting German tourists&rsquo; travel to Nepal. Also, a diagnostic study categorically has shown that service standards decline has been the major factor behind lower per day spending by tourists. Noting that Nepal does not feature in luxury travel, he illustrated how Peru since 2000 has positioned itself as high-end destination, and how Maldives with almost same number of tourists like Nepal (little less than a million a year), actually has double the income from this sector.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Talking from the tourism technology perspective, Prerana Mimani, the Country Head of Amadeus, noted that the e-commerce route to promote Nepal is must and is still at a rudimentary level and it is possible to have collaboration with global travel portals with ethnicity focus for Nepal.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The PATA Chairman of Nepal, entrepreneur Suman Pandey, defended budget tourism noting it as an important part of the Nepali tourism eco-system and saying that it is a way of travel to experience the country in a different way. He poignantly noted, &ldquo;The seven days Golden Triangle plan is over-done and new tourism products are now necessary, as seen in the case of trekking tours being re-packaged as photography tours.&rdquo; Another very effective suggestion of Pandey has been the creation of events with potentials of global media visibility, as seen in the case of the earlier Nepali cabinet meeting at Everest base-camp.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Aviation Next: Start Small, But Act in Unison</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The final panel of the day, focusing on aviation ahead, was very ably moderated by Valentino Bagatsing, the Country Head of International Finance Corporation, of the World Bank group, who began by raising the issue of air-safety noting that there have been 70 accidents in 60 years last, 3 being in the last two years. He informed that IFC is on the task of safety management systems research and planning.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Bhola Bikram Thapa, the MD of President Travels, emphatically set the tone noting, &ldquo;Government should make stronger policies and facilitate processes, and not do business directly.&rdquo; He lamented that the need of more aircrafts for the national carrier, Nepal Airlines, is still not being done.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ghanshyam Acharya, Chief of Corporate Affairs, Simrik Airlines, noted that globally service sector has surpassed manufacturing, and in Nepal, three out of every four international traveler is airborne. The IATA Outlook for 2013 looks positively at $711 billion global tourism turnover. Blacktopping of many airports in Nepal has increased air safety and air-travel is now available to middle class as well. However, he lamented better regulatory support of policy-makers is necessary, and after 1998, no new aircraft has been flown by any domestic carrier.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Representing the government voice, Buddhisagar Lamichchane, the Joint Secretary of Civil Aviation, and Roshan Chitrakar, the Deputy Director General of the Air Navigation Services of CAAN, had some good news to share. Chitrakar informed about high pace of blacktopping and expansion of airports, fleet increment for national airlines being imminent, and one year compulsory Air Traffic Controllers&rsquo; training reduced to six-months first phase and then after some work experience another six months of second phase training to handle talent crunch in the industry.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Lamichchane informed about installation of navigational safety equipments, and emphasized the air safety standards in Nepal to be reasonably strong by global standards. Further, he said, &ldquo;Nepali air-routes integration with more global air-routes is underway. And the construction of a second international airport at Bara which will create a East-West air corridor, is also taking off soon. Further, the regulator and service provider functions of government with regards to aviation are being separated soon and a global consultancy is looking into this.&rdquo;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The Air India Country Head, TK Saha, defended the pricing strategy of his carrier noting that only 10-15 percent seats go vacant. He advocated new small aircraft routes and services for various potential sectors like Gaya-Lumbini, Patna-Kathmandu, and Varanasi-Pokhra.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ramdas Shivram, the Qatar Airways Country Head, brought in a basic issue with emphasis saying, &ldquo;Garbage management is poor in Kathmandu airport and for this a blended approach of awareness for passengers, training for staff, and strong punitive regulation is needed.&rdquo; He also advocated more efficient and faster immigration services, quest of quality tourism and not merely volumes, and focus to find and invest in new markets to expand Nepal tourism and aviation base. &ldquo;However, for all of these, commitment of all the stake-holders to what they believe and say is must,&rdquo; he said the last word.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The event ended on a very positive note awarding Megh Ale for outstanding eco-friendly Himalayan tourism initiative, Tourism Malaysia for best international tourism promotion initiative and Amitabh Kant for special lifetime achievement in promoting South Asian tourism and infrastructure.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The organizers expressed hope that such major industry initiative to relook at the world&rsquo;s third largest industry conglomerate: tourism-hospitality-aviation shall again be taken up next year in September and a reality check of the progress made over one year would be done.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-22',
			'modified' => '2013-10-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age cover story news & articles, cover story news & articles from new business age nepal, cover story headlines from nepal,  current and latest cover story news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali cover story economic news and events,  ongoing  cover story news of nepal',
			'description' => 'As nations celebrate World Tourism Day on September 27, the top tourism officials, Nepali leaders of the industry, along with some top honchos of Malaysian and Indian tourism governance met on September 19 at Annapurna Hotel in the first edition of Tourism & Aviation Next conference.',
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	(int) 9 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1840',
			'article_category_id' => '201',
			'title' => 'DIY (Design It Yourself) Sarees',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/Untitled-2%20(Copy)%20(Copy).jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;width: 284px; height: 600px;" />Teej just passed by with its glare of red and green, leaving us weary of the colours by now. Don&rsquo;t be fed up of the saree yet - there is more to this garment than colours devoted to the longevity of men. The saree can express female individuality just as much, given a little creativity and time.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ever looked at designer sarees and wondered when you would get an affordable deal to don one? Well, don&rsquo;t just look at magazine covers and TV channels in endless longing when you can get up with the DIY spirit and design it yourself!</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Inspired by a friend who ran a start up saree-designing company, I suggest to you in this new column that you need not fly to Delhi or Kolkata to purchase the latest look in the yard-long garment. Instead, you can scroll through some websites and get inspired by the works of high-end designers to create your own adaptation at a cheaper rate.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Consider some tips below in making your DIY saree:</strong></span></div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Experiment with georgette more than any other fabric as it can hold embroideries better than chiffon and it definitely beats cotton, silk, net or tissue in holding sequin designs, which are still in vogue.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Now that you have your fabric, opt for a simple design that your tailor easily achieve on the cloth. Take a look at some simple works by Satya Paul, Tarun Tahliani, Manish Malhotra or Sabyasachi Mukherjee and improvise on it. It may be as simple as adding a sequined border along your garment, and laying out small sequined floral patterns in the body of the saree.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Get creative in the colours you choose. If you are dark or light skinned, anything between midnight blue to sky blue, or fuchsia pink to red would work when it comes to sequins. Just make sure your patterns and sequin colours go well with each other. Don&rsquo;t pair a sky blue saree with bright green sequins, for example. Usually, it works when the sequins are a shade lighter than the fabric itself.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Mix and match your blouse and don&rsquo;t stick to the conventional manner of matching your blouse with the same colour as the saree. Maybe a white saree with a pink blouse? Or a light blue saree with gold-coloured blouse? Whatever befits your personality.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull; &nbsp;Finally, once you have your saree in hand, acknowledge the inspiration that produced it &ndash; which designer&rsquo;s work caught your eye? And how did you add your personal touch? The saree will be truly yours and a reflection of your individual taste.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-18',
			'modified' => '2013-09-23',
			'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' => 'Teej just passed by with its glare of red and green, leaving us weary of the colours by now. Don’t be fed up of the saree yet - there is more to this garment than colours devoted to the longevity of men. The saree can express female individuality just as much, given a little creativity and time.',
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			'title' => 'Top Ten Losers (8 -15 September 2013)',
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			'content' => '',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-17',
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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' => 'Top Ten Losers',
			'sortorder' => '1700',
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			'title' => 'Top Ten Gainers (8 -15 September 2013)',
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			'content' => '',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-17',
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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' => 'Top Ten Gainers',
			'sortorder' => '1699',
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			'title' => 'US Dollar Exchange Rate At Local Market (8 -15 September 2013)',
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			'content' => '',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-17',
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			'description' => 'US Dollar Exchange Rate At Local Market',
			'sortorder' => '1698',
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			'article_category_id' => '112',
			'title' => 'Weekly Gold And Silver Price (8 - 15 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-17',
			'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' => 'Weekly Gold and Silver Price',
			'sortorder' => '1697',
			'image' => null,
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1835',
			'article_category_id' => '108',
			'title' => 'Money Matters News In Brief (26 - 22 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>NRB Refutes Deadline Extension Reports</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has clarified that it has not extended the deadline to meet the minimum required capital (paid-up capital) for banking and financial institutions (BFIs). NRB has ruled out extension of the deadline following a news report claiming that it had extended the deadline to meet the minimum required capital. &nbsp;&ldquo;We have provisioned that the proposed bonus share distribution on Fiscal Year 2013-14 if approved by the NRB could be counted on the paid-up capital,&rdquo; NRB spokesperson Bhaskarmani Gyawali said. Through the monetary policy, the NRB had directed those bank and financial institutions, who are yet to meet the minimum paid-up capital, to do so by the end of FY 2013-14.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Tinau&rsquo;s Dividend Approved</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Tinau Development Bank Ltd, headquartered at Butwal, got an approval from Nepal Rastra Bank to distribute a 12.69 per cent dividend including 12 per cent as bonus shares. The bank has collected Rs 1.53 billion deposit and extended a total of Rs 1.12 billion as loan during the last Fiscal Year. It has earned a Rs 23.3 million as profit and has issued capital of Rs 200 million and paid up capital of 115 million with eight branches in operation.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Everest Announces Book Closure Date</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Everest Bank has announced the book closure for share trading from September 18 to October 10 for the upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM). Releasing a communiqu&eacute; last Wednesday, the bank stated that the 237th meeting of the Board of Directors (BoD) held on September 6 made such a decision. The details of the upcoming AGM will be made public laterby publishing a separate notice, the communiqu&eacute; added.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Siddhartha Development&rsquo;s &lsquo;SDBL Auto Loan&rsquo;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Siddhartha Development Bank Ltd has announced &lsquo;SDBL Auto Loan&rsquo; scheme for the coming Dashain festival. According to the scheme, the loans will be on 11.99 per cent per annum interest rate to purchase new and reconditioned vehicles with 60 per cent discount on service charge. The other features of the scheme include loans up to 80 per cent of the vehicle cost, seven years of moratorium period and a fixed interest rate for a year.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Garima&rsquo;s 25pc Dividend</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Garima Development Bank Ltd will propose a 25 per cent dividend distribution at its Annual General Meeting (AGM). &nbsp;According to the bank, it is going to propose 20 per cent bonus shares and 5 per cent cash dividend. The bank has collected a total amount of Rs 3 billion deposit and floated Rs 2.43 billion as a loan until the end of Fiscal Year 2012-13. Chief Executive Officer Govinda Prashad Dhakal informed that the bank earned an operating profit of Rs 96.1 million in the FY2012-13. He further said that the bank is planning to issue rights shares next month. The bank says that its paid-up capital will reach 374 million after issuing rights share and distributing the dividends.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Kaski Finance&rsquo;s 13pc Cash Dividend</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Pokhara based Kaski Finance Ltd will distribute 13 per cent cash dividend to its shareholders. &nbsp;The dividend will be distributed after approval from the Annual General Meeting of the Company, said Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Toya Raj Adhikari.</div>',
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			'description' => 'Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has clarified that it has not extended the deadline to meet the minimum required capital (paid-up capital) for banking and financial institutions (BFIs).',
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			'id' => '1849',
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	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>EC Amends Time-table</strong></p>
<p>
	The Election Commission (EC) amended the election time-table last Thursday following a request of the government and the High Level Political Committee. According to the EC, it has rescheduled the time-table without altering the election date of November 19. The EC said that the dates for the candidates&rsquo; nominations for the first-past-the-post election and proportional election systems have been extended by a week.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Dahal Urges Envoy Sharma to Quit</strong></p>
<p>
	UCPN (Maoist) chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal has asked Nepali Ambassador to Qatar Dr Maya Kumari Sharma to resign from her post, according to Dahal&rsquo;s aide Shiva Khakurel. He made such a suggestion to Nepal&rsquo;s envoy to Qatar through a telephone conversation. Ambassador Sharma had been drawn into controversy following her statement in an interview calling Qatar an &lsquo;open jail&rsquo;.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Chinese Minister Calls on Prez Dr Yadav</strong></p>
<p>
	Visiting Minister of State Council Information Office of China, Cai Mingzhao called on President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav at the latter&rsquo;s official residence Shital Niwas last Friday. On the occasion, matters relating to Nepal-China relations and of mutual interest were discussed, according to the Office of the President.Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Wu Chuntai, senior officials of the Office of the President and Ministry of Foreign Affairs were present in the meeting. Minister Cai arrived in Nepal last Thursday leading a six-member delegation in his four-day official visit to Nepal.</p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-23',
			'modified' => '0000-00-00',
			'keywords' => 'Nepal Political Economic News cover story news & articles, cover story news & articles from Nepal Political Economic News nepal, cover story headlines from nepal,  current and latest cover story news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali cover story economic news and events,  ongoing  cover s',
			'description' => 'The Election Commission (EC) amended the election time-table last Thursday following a request of the government and the High Level Political Committee. According to the EC, it has rescheduled the time-table without altering the election date of November 19. The EC said that the dates for the candidates’ nominations for the first-past-the-post election and proportional election systems have been extended by a week.',
			'sortorder' => '1710',
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	(int) 1 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1848',
			'article_category_id' => '140',
			'title' => 'Govt For Polls Sans CPN-Maoist',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>By Sagar Ghimire</strong></p>
<p>
	The government and the High Level Political Committee (HLPC) have said they will move ahead with the plan to hold the election on the scheduled date of November 19 as the efforts to woo the agitating CPN-Maoist led 33-party alliance have been in vain. The talks between the HLPC and the agitating alliance broke down last Monday (September 16) after the CPN-Maoist remained adamant on its &lsquo;four-point&rsquo; proposal. The four-point proposal comprises of convening a Round-Table-Conference (RTC) to take decisions on the basis of consensus, dissolution of the Khil Raj Regmi-led government to form an all-party-government or Regmi&rsquo;s resignation from the post of Chief Justice to accept the current government, and the deferral of CA polls to April.</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;The demand on the four-point proposal of the CPN-Maoist to defer the polls was unacceptable to us,&rdquo; Nepali Congress vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel said, reasoning the failure of the talks. Likewise, CPN (UML) leader Raghuji Pant argued that the real intention of the CPN-Maoist was not to join the poll process. &ldquo;They are using the talks as a time-buying tactic,&rdquo; Pant said.</p>
<p>
	Blaming the HLPC and the government for the failure of the talks,CPN-Maoist secretary Dev Gurung reiterated that his party would not join the poll process unless their demands for Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi&rsquo;s resignation and the poll deferral, among others, are met.</p>
<p>
	Meanwhile, the government has signaled that it will now move ahead with its poll-plan even without the participation of the CPN-Maoist led agitating alliance. As per this decision, the government had forwarded an ordinance that provisions a 601-member size CA in accordance with agreements with some political parties last month. President Dr Ram Baran Yadav has endorsed the ordinance. While the government and the HLPC are planning to go ahead with their poll-plan, the agitating CPN-Maoist has said it will disrupt the election at any cost.</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;We have not closed the door for talks yet. However, if the government dares to move ahead with its poll plans unilaterally, we will foil it,&rdquo; CPN-Maoist secretary Gurung said holding a press conference last Tuesday at his party office in Buddhanagar.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-23',
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			'keywords' => 'Nepal Political Economic News cover story news & articles, cover story news & articles from Nepal Political Economic News nepal, cover story headlines from nepal,  current and latest cover story news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali cover story economic news and events,  ongoing  cover s',
			'description' => 'The government and the High Level Political Committee (HLPC) have said they will move ahead with the plan to hold the election on the scheduled date of November 19 as the efforts to woo the agitating CPN-Maoist led 33-party alliance have been in vain.',
			'sortorder' => '1709',
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	(int) 2 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1847',
			'article_category_id' => '204',
			'title' => 'Glimpses Of The Event Tourism And Aviation Next 2013',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<div>
	<strong>Image 1</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The New Business Age family with the dignitaries and the award winners</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Image 2</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Former Miss Nepal Sadichha Shrestha with Sharad Pradhan of Nepal Tourism Board</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Image 3</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Panel discussion during the event moderated by Hotel Annapurna CEO Upaul Majumdar</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Image 4</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Dignitaries from the tourism related sectors during the event at Hotel Annapurna</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<p>
		<strong>PARTNERS&rsquo; </strong>VIEWS</p>
	<p>
		<br />
		<img alt="upual" src="/userfiles/images/upual.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: 169px; " /></p>
	<p>
		<strong>Upaul Majumdar</strong></p>
	<p>
		<strong>CEO of Hotel Annapurna</strong></p>
	<p>
		I personally think that despite having immense potential Nepal is yet to achieve the tourism goal as compare to other countries. Undoubtedly, this country has everything which makes it unique in terms of tourism but there should be a &lsquo;can-do&rsquo; attitude, and not just talk about the challenges. There should be a collective effort from all the tourism related sectors and I am sure in future making Nepal as one of the finest tourist destinations will not be a distant dream. There is some movement which has started this year. And many initiatives of uniting the different segment of the industry like hotels, travel &amp; tour agencies, air lines and department of tourism has been taken. This initiative should see some &ldquo;value driven&rdquo; benefit for all sectors.</p>
	<p>
		&nbsp;</p>
	<p>
		<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/qatar(2).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: 241px; height: 74px; " /></p>
	<p>
		<strong>Qatar Airways Spokesperson</strong></p>
	<p>
		Qatar Airways contribution to Nepal tourism has been very significant. Recently it helped in removing the obstructing radio antenna in Khumaltar. Qatar Airways has assisted in bringing new technology in aviation safety in Nepal through installation of a Required Navigation Performance &mdash; Authorisation Required (RNP-AR) approach into Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), becoming the first airline in the world to operate an aircraft with a new navigational approach in Nepal. Also it is the biggest international contributor for Nepalese tourism sector by bringing in more than one lakh people to Kathmandu. Qatar Airways has always been supporting any kind of tourism activities in Nepal. This conclave brought together various stake-holders from the tourism industry of Nepal. We discussed the various problems relating to tourism and the solutions we can use to improve the current situation.</p>
	<p>
		&nbsp;</p>
	<p>
		<img alt="sadichha" src="/userfiles/images/Sadichha.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: 170px; " /></p>
	<p>
		<strong>Sadichha Shrestha</strong></p>
	<p>
		<strong>Corporate Communication Officer, Ace Travels</strong></p>
	<p>
		We need an effective plan and focus on how to bring more tourists to Nepal. Unlike other countries where people make artificial islands, beaches etc to promote tourism, Nepal have its own unique natural beauty. This is a gift from god to us and we should protect it with good governance and with well researched business module to earn more revenue and generate employment. We should be proud of Nepal and there is an urgent need to promote Nepal&rsquo;s religious and spiritual places. We can also promote yoga, meditation and adventure tourism because I think these are the areas where we can attract more tourists.</p>
	<p>
		&nbsp;</p>
</div>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-23',
			'modified' => '2013-10-01',
			'keywords' => 'Tourism And Aviation Next 2013 cover story news & articles, cover story news & articles from Tourism And Aviation Next 2013 nepal, cover story headlines from nepal,  current and latest cover story news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali cover story economic news and events,  ongoing  cover',
			'description' => 'I personally think that despite having immense potential Nepal is yet to achieve the tourism goal as compare to other countries. Undoubtedly, this country has everything which makes it unique in terms of tourism but there should be a ‘can-do’ attitude, and not just talk about the challenges. There should be a collective effort from all the tourism related sectors and I am sure in future making Nepal as one of the finest tourist destinations will not be a distant dream.',
			'sortorder' => '1708',
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	(int) 3 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1846',
			'article_category_id' => '135',
			'title' => 'Economic Expectations After Election',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<div>
	<strong>Prof Dr Yubraj Sangroula</strong></div>
<div>
	<div>
		<strong>Former Attorney General,</strong></div>
	<div>
		<strong>Founder and Executive Director of the Kathmandu School of Law (KSL)</strong><br />
		<br />
		&nbsp;</div>
</div>
<div>
	Looking at the past manifestoes of political parties, focus on poverty reduction and economic and social integration seems to be only a political gimmick to win votes. These manifestoes seem unrealistic and are made without enough homework. This election is no different from those held in the past. After the election, we can expect the same old talks by political parties on the restructuring of the state and its policies. The political parties&rsquo; commitment toward big projects like hydro power, roadways and transport are still &nbsp;to be proven. However, I am optimistic that these big projects will begin after the election - if not for the nation and the people, &nbsp;they will do it for personal benefit. As a professor, I would say that if the same situation of manipulating students into dirty politics of shutting universities down for months continues, a lot of colleges and universities will be forced to close for good.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="jagadish" src="/userfiles/images/jagadish.jpg" style="margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; " /></div>
<div>
	<strong>Jagadish Rathi</strong></div>
<div>
	<strong>Chairman, Tax and Revenue Committee, Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI)</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	We have faced more than a decade of conflict and several years of political instability. Therefore, this election brings hope for the economy. We are expecting concrete implementation of economic plans rather than speeches from political leaders. We are facing the worst power crisis ever and there has to be some short term plan to mitigate it. The long heard blathers of producing 10,000-20,000 MW of electricity has to be stopped and transmission lines must be installed instead. There is a lot to expect and demand for the economy after elections.<br />
	<br />
	Despite being an agriculture-based country, Nepal has failed to capitalize on agricultural products as it has not kept up with modern agro technologies to meet the supply deficit. Infrastructural barriers like poor road and transportation systems have also hindered the smooth functioning of business. We have not been able to cash on our tourism industry due to some obvious political reasons. Our tourism is based on pilgrimage sites like Lumbini, Janakpur, Muktinath and many others which we have not been able to build on. But we must look beyond to newer possibilities. In collaboration with the Nepal Tourism Board, we have a big opportunity to making the country an educational hub, and in order to meet this demand, construction of the next international airport in Nijgad must be resumed. All of these infrastructures have to be built and we have to realize that remittance cannot be a long term solution for the economy.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-23',
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			'keywords' => 'new business age voices news & articles, voices news & articles from new business age nepal, voices headlines from nepal,  current and latest voices news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali voices economic news and events, ongoing voices news of nepal',
			'description' => 'The upcoming election seems to be eagerly awaited for by all the sections of the Nepali society. This week, The Corporate Weekly brings the views of a legal expert and a business Leader:',
			'sortorder' => '1707',
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	(int) 4 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1845',
			'article_category_id' => '134',
			'title' => '‘Nepal Has The Capacity To Emerge As An Outsourcing Base Camp',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<div>
	Khem Raj Bhattarai is the founder and CEO of KRB Software Pvt Ltd. As an emerging software developer, the company is focused on producing management system products along with other services. Bhattarai talked to Sanjeev Sharma of The Corporate about the company&#39;s plans and his views on the Nepali software industry. Excerpts:</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What products and services does KRB Software offer?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	We are basically offering 16 software products. We are producing management system software products under the Kohinoor brand which are targeted to clients such as educational institutions, hotels/restaurants, hospitals/ clinics/ pharmacy, co-operative financial institutions, shopping malls, manpower, educational consultancies etc. We are also producing products for accounting, inventory control, point of sale (POS), human resource management and customer relation management. Besides these, we provide tailor-made software according to the need and demand of clients, tech consulting and software prototyping.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Besides these, what other projects are currently being worked on?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Currently we are focused on management system products. We plan to launch other service related products in the near future. KRB Software is planning to expand the hotel management system. We are also designing portals that will help individuals and companies manage their day-to-day work. Similarly, we are also looking to introduce some services based on business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) concepts.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>The majority of KRB&#39;s software is built using a web-based platform that can be accessed through mobile devices. Do you have any plan to enter the mobile application market?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Mobile devices are making computing tasks a lot easier. Regarding this, we are developing software using web-based platforms which allow the users to access the products through their mobile devices. The company is planning to enter the mobile apps markets and a mobile application developer team has been formed for the purpose. We are looking to develop the existing management system software products into mobile apps too. We are also planning to develop mobile games and astrology apps.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>While talking about software, security always emerges as a major concern. How do you ensure the security of your products?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In terms of data and system security, I can ensure you that our products are 100 per cent secure. The software are developed using the latest technology which are well shielded and protected. We provide a world class security system which cannot be breached by hackers. We have also developed a system which tracks our software products that are installed into the computers of individual clients. However, for optimal level of security, the machines of clients too should be well protected.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What is the response from your clients? How do you assess the prospect of tailor-made software to cater to the needs of Nepali clients?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	We are fully satisfied with the warm response from Nepali clients. Our domestic clients are gradually leaning towards locally produced software products. The user-friendly system, flexibility and customization are some of the main factors attracting Nepali clients.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What are the benefits of using software produced by your company compared to the products of big international names?&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As far as I know, there are very few management system software available in the Nepali market. Products from big international developers are not able to fulfill the need of Nepali clients. Our products are developed by Nepali engineers, developers and designers who are well aware of the needs of domestic clients. Besides this, our software products are also reasonably priced and highly efficient compared to foreign brands. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>KRB Software has outsourced for some Fortune 500 companies. How do you assess the prospect of an outsourcing market in Nepal?&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Yes, we have done outsourced tasks for some big multinational companies in the past. However, we experienced that the outsourcing market in Nepal is poorly managed. There is no policy regarding IT outsourcing. The banking rules of our country won&#39;t let us do direct financial transaction with the foreign companies. For instance, the Nepali financial system is not linked with the global online payment gateway PayPal. This is causing a big problem for receiving payments from foreign firms. Likewise, the outflow of IT manpower from the country is another problem. &nbsp;Nepali outsourcing market can witness a rapid growth if these issues are properly addressed. The outsourcing market could be a major foreign currency earner if properly taken care of. Looking at the current scenario of manpower production (software engineers, programmers, designers etc), Nepal possesses the capacity to emerge as an outsourcing base camp in Asia.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Nepal is witnessing a steady growth of software market. What are the challenges underlying the market?&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Sales of product and service are the most challenging aspects. We have to ensure our clients about security and convince them that the products will fulfill their needs. Pricing of the products is another challenge. Many developers are selling unbranded products at very cheap prices which is hampering healthy competition in the market. This is somehow affecting developers like us who are committed to sell quality products developed using standard procedures.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Are Nepali software developers getting any help from the government?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Sadly, the government is not helping the Nepali software industry. Many government offices and projects are using foreign products that cost thousands of dollars. This is resulting in a huge amount of capital flight. We can develop any type of high quality software products that will fulfill the need of governmental tasks. The government should start using locally produced software which will be of great help to us. We also encourage people to use domestic software products hoping that it will reduce capital and human resource flight from Nepal.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<br />
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'Khem Raj Bhattarai is the founder and CEO of KRB Software Pvt Ltd. As an emerging software developer, the company is focused on producing management system products along with other services. Bhattarai talked to Sanjeev Sharma of The Corporate about the company's plans and his views on the Nepali software industry. Excerpts:',
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	(int) 5 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1844',
			'article_category_id' => '204',
			'title' => 'Award Winners Tourism And Aviation Next 2013',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Amitabh Kant</strong></p>
<p>
	Lifetime Achievement in Promotion of Tourism in South Asia (He is the former joint secretary in the tourism ministry from 2001 to 2007 &amp; Chairman of Indian Tourism Development Council)</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;It was at the peak of this crisis, the Incredible India campaign to position India as a tourist destination was launched. But Every Crisis is an Opportunity and now tourism in India is a growing market. There is a need to raise Nepal&rsquo;s service standards, creating premium brand of experiential tourism, positioning of exotic Nepal, adding new international airport, additional terminals and new air-routes, domestic and foreign investments in tourism services etc. Thank you for this award&rdquo;</p>
<p>
	<br />
	<img alt="tourism" src="/userfiles/images/tourism(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: 300px; height: 207px; " /></p>
<p>
	<strong>Tourism Malaysia</strong></p>
<p>
	Best Asian Tourism Initiative (Award received by South Asia Director of Tourism Malaysia, Amran Abdul Rahman)</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;I am very happy to receive this award. Such event will boost the Nepal tourism industry but we need to focus and plan a well researched module to make Nepal one of the best tourist places in the world. In Malaysia people know Nepal more than India because of its long association and common features in terms of lifestyle. I am sure with such events we will have a strong bonding with Nepal in terms of tourisms.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
	<br />
	<img alt="megh bahadur kc" src="/userfiles/images/Megh.jpg" style="margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 300px; height: 185px; " /></p>
<p>
	<strong>Megh Bahadur Ale</strong></p>
<p>
	Best Eco-friendly Himalayan Tourism Initiative (He is the founder president of Nepal River Conservation Trust)</p>
<p>
	<br />
	&ldquo;This is for the first time I am receiving such award for my contribution towards nature in Nepal. I would like to request the people of Nepal and the government to save our Bagmati. I want more people to participate in the Bagmati River Festival and request them actively involved in raising awareness to conserve and preserve the beautiful Himalayan Rivers of Nepal. I don&rsquo;t have any word to express myself. I am extremely happy and thanks for the organiser for choosing me for such a prestigious award. I would like to pay my regards to New Business Age for giving me this honour and in future I will continue to dedicate myself in saving the eco system of Nepal. I think youths and school children will play a major role in saving this country from ecological hazards,&rdquo;</p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-22',
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			'description' => 'Lifetime Achievement in Promotion of Tourism in South Asia (He is the former joint secretary in the tourism ministry from 2001 to 2007 & Chairman of Indian Tourism Development Council)',
			'sortorder' => '1705',
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	(int) 6 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1843',
			'article_category_id' => '204',
			'title' => 'Challenges: Safe And Conducive Environment For Investment',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>People associated with the Nepali tourism and aviation stake-holders should come out with an action-plan for the industry.</strong></p>
<p>
	<br />
	<strong>Challenges: Safe and Conducive Environment for Investment</strong></p>
<p>
	<br />
	<strong>We are aware that the tourism industry in Nepal has taken some hard knocks in the last decade. Now is the time to move ahead.</strong></p>
<p style="margin-left:12.0pt;">
	<br />
	<br />
	By Shreejana Rana</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	We are all aware the tourism industry in Nepal has taken some hard knocks in the last decade. Young democracies are vulnerable to political instability, and sacrifices are inevitable. But we just cannot sit and stare idly at years of our hard work and investment being blownaway senselessly. Creative thinking and co-ordinated planning are imperative. Our children&rsquo;s futures are at stake. However, we as investors in the tourism industry, require a safe and conducive environment for us to invest further to enhance our products and services.</p>
<p>
	Honourable Minister of Tourism, this is where the Government of Nepal could engage more with all us stakeholders to create a friendly environment where we feel encouraged and safe to invest further to bring up our products and facilities to international standards. And it is my humble request to view us as partners &ndash; not just sharp business people &ndash; in the development of the industry and the country.</p>
<p>
	For far too long, we have neglected to nurture and prioritise quality in order to use tourism as a medium to further ties and appreciate the differences &ndash; and similarities &ndash; between countries and their cultures. In order to get the full benefit from tourism &ndash; not always measured in dollars &ndash; we all need to pull up our socks and raise the bar even higher.&nbsp;Investment in education, training, human resources, marketing, adoption of best practices and collaboration between the public and private sectors are imperative. Corporate structures have to be re-defined and standardization of services has to be implemented and monitored rigorously.</p>
<p>
	I would like to share with the officiating CEO, Nepal Tourism Board, Subash Nirola that Nepal Tourism Board has been playing a pro-active role ensuring all tourism stakeholders are aware of the issues affecting the industry. We appreciate this change in attitude. You can count on us to support your initiatives and look forward to more brainstorming sessions.&nbsp;We are extremely excited to have Amitabh Kant, the genius behind the &ldquo;Incredible India&rdquo; campaign in the event. I&rsquo;ll tell you why we hope to pick your creative brain and adopt your ideas shamelessly to increase the market-ability of Nepal.</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;Malaysia, Truly Asia&rdquo; campaign captured the imagination of travellers from all over the world. As a marketing campaign, it probably has no peers, and is a lesson to all of us. We will definitely share our views with the South Asia Director of Tourism Malaysia Amran Abdul Rahman on how to take Nepal in the global map in terms of tourism.<br />
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>(Shreejana Rana is Director, CSR and R&amp;D, Hotel Annapurna)</strong><br />
	&nbsp;</p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-22',
			'modified' => '2013-10-01',
			'keywords' => 'Tourism And Aviation Next 2013 cover story news & articles, cover story news & articles from Tourism And Aviation Next 2013 nepal, cover story headlines from nepal,  current and latest cover story news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali cover story economic news and events,  ongoing  cover',
			'description' => 'We are all aware the tourism industry in Nepal has taken some hard knocks in the last decade. Young democracies are vulnerable to political instability, and sacrifices are inevitable.',
			'sortorder' => '1704',
			'image' => null,
			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'breaking_news' => false,
			'main_news' => false,
			'in_scroller' => false,
			'user_id' => '0'
		)
	),
	(int) 7 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1842',
			'article_category_id' => '204',
			'title' => 'Premium Tourism Paradigm For ‘Naturally Nepal’',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	<strong>Tourism And Aviation Next 2013</strong></p>
<p>
	<br />
	<strong>Premium Tourism Paradigm for &lsquo;Naturally Nepal&rsquo;</strong></p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	By Madan Lamsal</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	Come September 27 and the world will celebrate &lsquo;Tourism Day&rsquo;. Considering the third largest industry in the world and an engine to generate more employment as compare to other industries, we along with our partners have decided to come up with this event to promote tourism in Nepal and to honour those&mdash; globally and locally &mdash; who has done a commendable job in taking the tourism in the global map.</p>
<p>
	The Conference is basically to focus on Tourism and Aviation Next. This will help us to understand this industry much better and will give us the necessary information, analysis and views to take Nepal to the global platform on the World Tourism Day through various means of communications. And what could be more communicative then newspapers, magazines, portals, TV channel and radio.</p>
<p>
	For many years tourism in Nepal has been value-for-money, adventure-driven, backpackers&rsquo; tourism. But over the years the sheen is gradually fading despite a treasured destination for leisure, religious, adventure and nature tourism. It is unfortunate that the average spending per tourist was over 65 US dollars about a decade back but now it has come down to less than 40 US dollars a day.</p>
<p>
	The focus of our conference is to explore through deliberations and interactions of all major stake-holders of Nepal Tourism. If we can evolve a premium tourism model or paradigm then only we can generate more revenue under the banner of &ldquo;Naturally Nepal&rdquo;.</p>
<p>
	It is good to feel that the Tourism and Aviation Next meet brings together various leading stake-holders from Nepal Tourism Board, hotels, resorts, domestic airlines, helicopter services etc.</p>
<p>
	This meet is expected to lead a broad understanding on what can be the contours of such a premium tourism model and how can it be created, propagated, executed and benefited from. There is a need to focus on the rise of aviation sector in this country (both domestic and international) in Nepal. We are facing some challenges from meeting the quality, ways and means of increasing passenger load, technological innovations, and a sustainable business model.</p>
<p>
	But I am hopeful that together we can overcome such challenges in bringing more tourists to Nepal from across the world. Strong international and domestic aviation is at the heart of premium tourism in Nepal. Most of the domestic airlines and global aviation sector are not doing well financially in Nepal. Except a few, all have a revenue loss annually in their daily operations.</p>
<p>
	People associated with the Nepali tourism and aviation stake-holders should come out with an action-plan for the industry. Also, the government should look into the pro-active policy to promote tourism in Nepal. We should also learn from the concept of &lsquo;Incredible India&rsquo; and Gods Own Country conceptualised by Amitabh Kant, former joint secretary in the tourism ministry from 2001 to 2007 and Malaysia&rsquo;s rising tourism industry.</p>
<p>
	I hope this event becomes a landmark in the context of the second largest source of foreign exchange for Nepal and its further growth.&nbsp;Though it is a daunting task but together we can make a beautiful Nepal.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>(Madan Lamsal, Chairman of New Business Age Pvt Ltd)</strong></p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-22',
			'modified' => '2013-10-01',
			'keywords' => 'Tourism And Aviation Next 2013 cover story news & articles, cover story news & articles from Tourism And Aviation Next 2013 nepal, cover story headlines from nepal,  current and latest cover story news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali cover story economic news and events,  ongoing  cover',
			'description' => 'The average spending per tourist was over 65 US dollars about a decade back but now it has come down to less than 40 US dollars a day.',
			'sortorder' => '1703',
			'image' => null,
			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'breaking_news' => false,
			'main_news' => false,
			'in_scroller' => false,
			'user_id' => '0'
		)
	),
	(int) 8 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1841',
			'article_category_id' => '91',
			'title' => 'Positioning, Infra-structure & Investment: Mainstay Of Nepali Tourism Next',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	<strong>Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Sushil Ghimire, inaugurating Tourism and Aviation Next 2013. (From left) New Business Age Pvt Ltd Chairman Madan Lamsal, Incredible India pioneer Amitabh Kant and South Asia Director of Tourism Malaysia Amran Abdul Rahman.</strong></p>
<div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>Photo: Rukesh Shrestha/TC</strong><br />
		<br />
		<br />
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>Sell Authentic Experience &amp; Make It Premium</strong></div>
</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Vision: To achieve tourism turnover equal to 5% of the GDP by 2080 BS which is now less than 2%</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	By Ujjwal K Chowdhury</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As nations celebrate World Tourism Day on September 27, the top tourism officials, Nepali leaders of the industry, along with some top honchos of Malaysian and Indian tourism governance met on September 19 at Annapurna Hotel in the first edition of Tourism &amp; Aviation Next conference.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The core views that emerged from the day long exercise, partnered by New Business Age and Annapurna Hotel, and sponsored by Qatar Airways and Ace Travels, focused on: raising service standards, creating premium brand of experiential tourism apart from the existing largely value-for-money backpackers&rsquo; tourism, positioning of exotic Nepal, upgrading the tourism and hospitality infra-structure, adding new international airport, additional terminals and new air-routes, domestic and foreign investments in tourism services.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Tourism Goal: 5% of GDP by 2080 BS</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Opening the event, the Secretary of the Tourism Ministry, Sushil Ghimire, focused on why and how can Nepal achieve tourism turnover equal to 5% of the GDP by 2080 BS which is now less than 2%, how the national carrier Nepal Airlines is being strengthened, and why all major stake-holders&rsquo; views on a long-term future course of action is important in a private sector driven domain like that of tourism &amp; aviation. He set the tone, and the two guests from abroad took it to the next level with case-studies from tourism promotion by their nations.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Case-studies: India and Malaysia</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The former Tourism Secretary of India and of Kerala state, and the man behind Incredible India and God&rsquo;s Own Country Kerala branding, Amitabh Kant, lamented that the positioning, branding and pricing of an otherwise high-end premium exotic destination like Nepal has been actually very low. He rued that the focus has been on low-end mass tourism which also has not yet touched a million, while it now needs to be on niche high-end tourism promotion with a clear positioning. Noting that more than 1 billion people travelling and almost 9% of the global GDP has been in tourism across the world, employing 1 among every 11 people, Nepal needs to catch up with this burgeoning industry.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Moving from sun-sand-sea focused tourism, globally travelers are looking at authentic experience now and Nepal has a huge advantage in it. Explaining in details the Incredible India campaign, he noted that unique positioning and integrated marketing communication strategy and plan alone can take Nepal to the next level in this sector.&nbsp;Kant concluded expounding 6Cs for better tourism: civic governance, capacity building, communication strategy, convergence, community and civil aviation.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The South Asia Director of Tourism Malaysia, Amran Abdul Rahman later brought in a video based presentation to show how Malaysia has moved from &lsquo;Coca-cola tourism&rsquo; earlier as an add-on visit to people coming to Singapore twenty years ago to 13 million visitors in 2003 and finally to 25 million visitors in 2012. The target of 2014, declared as the Visit Malaysia Year, is now 36 million visitors with USD 44 billion income.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Malaysia could achieve this success due to infrastructure growth including the remarkable makeover of Kualalampur Airport, changing mindset of the people and government with tourism coming under special supervision directly by the Prime Minister, rural Malaysia being promoted heavily which also ensured ethnic amity, and focusing on MICE tourism through events heavily.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Tourism Next: Branding &amp; Capacity-building as Key Drivers</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The tourism next panel, moderated by the Annapurna CEO Upaul Majumdar, was an exciting journey of multiple perspectives by various industry experts on different facets. Upaul started with the need of a &lsquo;can-do&rsquo; attitude, and not just talk about the challenges.</div>
<div>
	The Soaltee Crowne Plaza GM Nalin Mandiratta focused on the need for a large Convention Centre for MICE tourism to grow, more sports tournaments in Nepal, dynamic and integrated destination marketing, creating One Nepal concept uniting efforts of various sections of the industry, and focusing on China and India more.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Madhusudan Acharya, the Vice President of the Nepal Association of Tours and Travel Agents, explained how the success of Apple denotes the success of unique positioning. The uniqueness of Nepal as a tourism destination needs similar positioning based on green initiatives and its ethnicity. He emphatically noted that tourism is both a cause and an effect of more holistic socio-economic growth. He noted that Nepal-China roads and Kathmandu&rsquo;s direct air connectivity with Chennai and Bengaluru are much needed pending measures.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nandini Lahe Thapa, the Senior Director of the Nepal Tourism Board in charge of international marketing, while noting that there has been relative maturity of Nepal as a tourism destination, it has been quite low at the high-end of the price-service spectrum. &ldquo;We have lowered our rates of other tourism services, but have an exponentially costly travel. Hotels have already set the bar higher, but travel trade still needs to come together and raise the standards with rational pricing,&rdquo; she noted. Promotion of new destinations possible, she told, if concrete proposals come to NTB from entrepreneurs.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Sumit Baral, the Senior Consultant with the International Finance Corporation, from the World Bank Group, working for its investment climate programs, with key focus on tourism programmes, informed that opposing child-labour so rampant in the carpet industry, Lufthansa dropped its Kathmandu sector adversely affecting German tourists&rsquo; travel to Nepal. Also, a diagnostic study categorically has shown that service standards decline has been the major factor behind lower per day spending by tourists. Noting that Nepal does not feature in luxury travel, he illustrated how Peru since 2000 has positioned itself as high-end destination, and how Maldives with almost same number of tourists like Nepal (little less than a million a year), actually has double the income from this sector.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Talking from the tourism technology perspective, Prerana Mimani, the Country Head of Amadeus, noted that the e-commerce route to promote Nepal is must and is still at a rudimentary level and it is possible to have collaboration with global travel portals with ethnicity focus for Nepal.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The PATA Chairman of Nepal, entrepreneur Suman Pandey, defended budget tourism noting it as an important part of the Nepali tourism eco-system and saying that it is a way of travel to experience the country in a different way. He poignantly noted, &ldquo;The seven days Golden Triangle plan is over-done and new tourism products are now necessary, as seen in the case of trekking tours being re-packaged as photography tours.&rdquo; Another very effective suggestion of Pandey has been the creation of events with potentials of global media visibility, as seen in the case of the earlier Nepali cabinet meeting at Everest base-camp.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Aviation Next: Start Small, But Act in Unison</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The final panel of the day, focusing on aviation ahead, was very ably moderated by Valentino Bagatsing, the Country Head of International Finance Corporation, of the World Bank group, who began by raising the issue of air-safety noting that there have been 70 accidents in 60 years last, 3 being in the last two years. He informed that IFC is on the task of safety management systems research and planning.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Bhola Bikram Thapa, the MD of President Travels, emphatically set the tone noting, &ldquo;Government should make stronger policies and facilitate processes, and not do business directly.&rdquo; He lamented that the need of more aircrafts for the national carrier, Nepal Airlines, is still not being done.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ghanshyam Acharya, Chief of Corporate Affairs, Simrik Airlines, noted that globally service sector has surpassed manufacturing, and in Nepal, three out of every four international traveler is airborne. The IATA Outlook for 2013 looks positively at $711 billion global tourism turnover. Blacktopping of many airports in Nepal has increased air safety and air-travel is now available to middle class as well. However, he lamented better regulatory support of policy-makers is necessary, and after 1998, no new aircraft has been flown by any domestic carrier.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Representing the government voice, Buddhisagar Lamichchane, the Joint Secretary of Civil Aviation, and Roshan Chitrakar, the Deputy Director General of the Air Navigation Services of CAAN, had some good news to share. Chitrakar informed about high pace of blacktopping and expansion of airports, fleet increment for national airlines being imminent, and one year compulsory Air Traffic Controllers&rsquo; training reduced to six-months first phase and then after some work experience another six months of second phase training to handle talent crunch in the industry.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Lamichchane informed about installation of navigational safety equipments, and emphasized the air safety standards in Nepal to be reasonably strong by global standards. Further, he said, &ldquo;Nepali air-routes integration with more global air-routes is underway. And the construction of a second international airport at Bara which will create a East-West air corridor, is also taking off soon. Further, the regulator and service provider functions of government with regards to aviation are being separated soon and a global consultancy is looking into this.&rdquo;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The Air India Country Head, TK Saha, defended the pricing strategy of his carrier noting that only 10-15 percent seats go vacant. He advocated new small aircraft routes and services for various potential sectors like Gaya-Lumbini, Patna-Kathmandu, and Varanasi-Pokhra.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ramdas Shivram, the Qatar Airways Country Head, brought in a basic issue with emphasis saying, &ldquo;Garbage management is poor in Kathmandu airport and for this a blended approach of awareness for passengers, training for staff, and strong punitive regulation is needed.&rdquo; He also advocated more efficient and faster immigration services, quest of quality tourism and not merely volumes, and focus to find and invest in new markets to expand Nepal tourism and aviation base. &ldquo;However, for all of these, commitment of all the stake-holders to what they believe and say is must,&rdquo; he said the last word.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The event ended on a very positive note awarding Megh Ale for outstanding eco-friendly Himalayan tourism initiative, Tourism Malaysia for best international tourism promotion initiative and Amitabh Kant for special lifetime achievement in promoting South Asian tourism and infrastructure.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The organizers expressed hope that such major industry initiative to relook at the world&rsquo;s third largest industry conglomerate: tourism-hospitality-aviation shall again be taken up next year in September and a reality check of the progress made over one year would be done.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-22',
			'modified' => '2013-10-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age cover story news & articles, cover story news & articles from new business age nepal, cover story headlines from nepal,  current and latest cover story news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali cover story economic news and events,  ongoing  cover story news of nepal',
			'description' => 'As nations celebrate World Tourism Day on September 27, the top tourism officials, Nepali leaders of the industry, along with some top honchos of Malaysian and Indian tourism governance met on September 19 at Annapurna Hotel in the first edition of Tourism & Aviation Next conference.',
			'sortorder' => '1702',
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			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'breaking_news' => false,
			'main_news' => false,
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			'user_id' => '0'
		)
	),
	(int) 9 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1840',
			'article_category_id' => '201',
			'title' => 'DIY (Design It Yourself) Sarees',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/Untitled-2%20(Copy)%20(Copy).jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;width: 284px; height: 600px;" />Teej just passed by with its glare of red and green, leaving us weary of the colours by now. Don&rsquo;t be fed up of the saree yet - there is more to this garment than colours devoted to the longevity of men. The saree can express female individuality just as much, given a little creativity and time.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ever looked at designer sarees and wondered when you would get an affordable deal to don one? Well, don&rsquo;t just look at magazine covers and TV channels in endless longing when you can get up with the DIY spirit and design it yourself!</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Inspired by a friend who ran a start up saree-designing company, I suggest to you in this new column that you need not fly to Delhi or Kolkata to purchase the latest look in the yard-long garment. Instead, you can scroll through some websites and get inspired by the works of high-end designers to create your own adaptation at a cheaper rate.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Consider some tips below in making your DIY saree:</strong></span></div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Experiment with georgette more than any other fabric as it can hold embroideries better than chiffon and it definitely beats cotton, silk, net or tissue in holding sequin designs, which are still in vogue.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Now that you have your fabric, opt for a simple design that your tailor easily achieve on the cloth. Take a look at some simple works by Satya Paul, Tarun Tahliani, Manish Malhotra or Sabyasachi Mukherjee and improvise on it. It may be as simple as adding a sequined border along your garment, and laying out small sequined floral patterns in the body of the saree.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Get creative in the colours you choose. If you are dark or light skinned, anything between midnight blue to sky blue, or fuchsia pink to red would work when it comes to sequins. Just make sure your patterns and sequin colours go well with each other. Don&rsquo;t pair a sky blue saree with bright green sequins, for example. Usually, it works when the sequins are a shade lighter than the fabric itself.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Mix and match your blouse and don&rsquo;t stick to the conventional manner of matching your blouse with the same colour as the saree. Maybe a white saree with a pink blouse? Or a light blue saree with gold-coloured blouse? Whatever befits your personality.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull; &nbsp;Finally, once you have your saree in hand, acknowledge the inspiration that produced it &ndash; which designer&rsquo;s work caught your eye? And how did you add your personal touch? The saree will be truly yours and a reflection of your individual taste.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-18',
			'modified' => '2013-09-23',
			'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' => 'Teej just passed by with its glare of red and green, leaving us weary of the colours by now. Don’t be fed up of the saree yet - there is more to this garment than colours devoted to the longevity of men. The saree can express female individuality just as much, given a little creativity and time.',
			'sortorder' => '1701',
			'image' => null,
			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'breaking_news' => false,
			'main_news' => false,
			'in_scroller' => false,
			'user_id' => '0'
		)
	),
	(int) 10 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1839',
			'article_category_id' => '110',
			'title' => 'Top Ten Losers (8 -15 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-17',
			'modified' => '0000-00-00',
			'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal',
			'description' => 'Top Ten Losers',
			'sortorder' => '1700',
			'image' => null,
			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'breaking_news' => false,
			'main_news' => false,
			'in_scroller' => false,
			'user_id' => '0'
		)
	),
	(int) 11 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1838',
			'article_category_id' => '111',
			'title' => 'Top Ten Gainers (8 -15 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-17',
			'modified' => '0000-00-00',
			'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal',
			'description' => 'Top Ten Gainers',
			'sortorder' => '1699',
			'image' => null,
			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'breaking_news' => false,
			'main_news' => false,
			'in_scroller' => false,
			'user_id' => '0'
		)
	),
	(int) 12 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1837',
			'article_category_id' => '113',
			'title' => 'US Dollar Exchange Rate At Local Market (8 -15 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
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			'description' => 'US Dollar Exchange Rate At Local Market',
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			'description' => 'Weekly Gold and Silver Price',
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			'title' => 'Money Matters News In Brief (26 - 22 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>NRB Refutes Deadline Extension Reports</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has clarified that it has not extended the deadline to meet the minimum required capital (paid-up capital) for banking and financial institutions (BFIs). NRB has ruled out extension of the deadline following a news report claiming that it had extended the deadline to meet the minimum required capital. &nbsp;&ldquo;We have provisioned that the proposed bonus share distribution on Fiscal Year 2013-14 if approved by the NRB could be counted on the paid-up capital,&rdquo; NRB spokesperson Bhaskarmani Gyawali said. Through the monetary policy, the NRB had directed those bank and financial institutions, who are yet to meet the minimum paid-up capital, to do so by the end of FY 2013-14.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Tinau&rsquo;s Dividend Approved</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Tinau Development Bank Ltd, headquartered at Butwal, got an approval from Nepal Rastra Bank to distribute a 12.69 per cent dividend including 12 per cent as bonus shares. The bank has collected Rs 1.53 billion deposit and extended a total of Rs 1.12 billion as loan during the last Fiscal Year. It has earned a Rs 23.3 million as profit and has issued capital of Rs 200 million and paid up capital of 115 million with eight branches in operation.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Everest Announces Book Closure Date</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Everest Bank has announced the book closure for share trading from September 18 to October 10 for the upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM). Releasing a communiqu&eacute; last Wednesday, the bank stated that the 237th meeting of the Board of Directors (BoD) held on September 6 made such a decision. The details of the upcoming AGM will be made public laterby publishing a separate notice, the communiqu&eacute; added.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Siddhartha Development&rsquo;s &lsquo;SDBL Auto Loan&rsquo;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Siddhartha Development Bank Ltd has announced &lsquo;SDBL Auto Loan&rsquo; scheme for the coming Dashain festival. According to the scheme, the loans will be on 11.99 per cent per annum interest rate to purchase new and reconditioned vehicles with 60 per cent discount on service charge. The other features of the scheme include loans up to 80 per cent of the vehicle cost, seven years of moratorium period and a fixed interest rate for a year.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Garima&rsquo;s 25pc Dividend</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Garima Development Bank Ltd will propose a 25 per cent dividend distribution at its Annual General Meeting (AGM). &nbsp;According to the bank, it is going to propose 20 per cent bonus shares and 5 per cent cash dividend. The bank has collected a total amount of Rs 3 billion deposit and floated Rs 2.43 billion as a loan until the end of Fiscal Year 2012-13. Chief Executive Officer Govinda Prashad Dhakal informed that the bank earned an operating profit of Rs 96.1 million in the FY2012-13. He further said that the bank is planning to issue rights shares next month. The bank says that its paid-up capital will reach 374 million after issuing rights share and distributing the dividends.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Kaski Finance&rsquo;s 13pc Cash Dividend</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Pokhara based Kaski Finance Ltd will distribute 13 per cent cash dividend to its shareholders. &nbsp;The dividend will be distributed after approval from the Annual General Meeting of the Company, said Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Toya Raj Adhikari.</div>',
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			'title' => 'News In Brief (23 - 29 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>EC Amends Time-table</strong></p>
<p>
	The Election Commission (EC) amended the election time-table last Thursday following a request of the government and the High Level Political Committee. According to the EC, it has rescheduled the time-table without altering the election date of November 19. The EC said that the dates for the candidates&rsquo; nominations for the first-past-the-post election and proportional election systems have been extended by a week.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Dahal Urges Envoy Sharma to Quit</strong></p>
<p>
	UCPN (Maoist) chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal has asked Nepali Ambassador to Qatar Dr Maya Kumari Sharma to resign from her post, according to Dahal&rsquo;s aide Shiva Khakurel. He made such a suggestion to Nepal&rsquo;s envoy to Qatar through a telephone conversation. Ambassador Sharma had been drawn into controversy following her statement in an interview calling Qatar an &lsquo;open jail&rsquo;.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Chinese Minister Calls on Prez Dr Yadav</strong></p>
<p>
	Visiting Minister of State Council Information Office of China, Cai Mingzhao called on President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav at the latter&rsquo;s official residence Shital Niwas last Friday. On the occasion, matters relating to Nepal-China relations and of mutual interest were discussed, according to the Office of the President.Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Wu Chuntai, senior officials of the Office of the President and Ministry of Foreign Affairs were present in the meeting. Minister Cai arrived in Nepal last Thursday leading a six-member delegation in his four-day official visit to Nepal.</p>',
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			'description' => 'The Election Commission (EC) amended the election time-table last Thursday following a request of the government and the High Level Political Committee. According to the EC, it has rescheduled the time-table without altering the election date of November 19. The EC said that the dates for the candidates’ nominations for the first-past-the-post election and proportional election systems have been extended by a week.',
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			'title' => 'Govt For Polls Sans CPN-Maoist',
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			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>By Sagar Ghimire</strong></p>
<p>
	The government and the High Level Political Committee (HLPC) have said they will move ahead with the plan to hold the election on the scheduled date of November 19 as the efforts to woo the agitating CPN-Maoist led 33-party alliance have been in vain. The talks between the HLPC and the agitating alliance broke down last Monday (September 16) after the CPN-Maoist remained adamant on its &lsquo;four-point&rsquo; proposal. The four-point proposal comprises of convening a Round-Table-Conference (RTC) to take decisions on the basis of consensus, dissolution of the Khil Raj Regmi-led government to form an all-party-government or Regmi&rsquo;s resignation from the post of Chief Justice to accept the current government, and the deferral of CA polls to April.</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;The demand on the four-point proposal of the CPN-Maoist to defer the polls was unacceptable to us,&rdquo; Nepali Congress vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel said, reasoning the failure of the talks. Likewise, CPN (UML) leader Raghuji Pant argued that the real intention of the CPN-Maoist was not to join the poll process. &ldquo;They are using the talks as a time-buying tactic,&rdquo; Pant said.</p>
<p>
	Blaming the HLPC and the government for the failure of the talks,CPN-Maoist secretary Dev Gurung reiterated that his party would not join the poll process unless their demands for Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi&rsquo;s resignation and the poll deferral, among others, are met.</p>
<p>
	Meanwhile, the government has signaled that it will now move ahead with its poll-plan even without the participation of the CPN-Maoist led agitating alliance. As per this decision, the government had forwarded an ordinance that provisions a 601-member size CA in accordance with agreements with some political parties last month. President Dr Ram Baran Yadav has endorsed the ordinance. While the government and the HLPC are planning to go ahead with their poll-plan, the agitating CPN-Maoist has said it will disrupt the election at any cost.</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;We have not closed the door for talks yet. However, if the government dares to move ahead with its poll plans unilaterally, we will foil it,&rdquo; CPN-Maoist secretary Gurung said holding a press conference last Tuesday at his party office in Buddhanagar.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
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			'description' => 'The government and the High Level Political Committee (HLPC) have said they will move ahead with the plan to hold the election on the scheduled date of November 19 as the efforts to woo the agitating CPN-Maoist led 33-party alliance have been in vain.',
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			'id' => '1847',
			'article_category_id' => '204',
			'title' => 'Glimpses Of The Event Tourism And Aviation Next 2013',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<div>
	<strong>Image 1</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The New Business Age family with the dignitaries and the award winners</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Image 2</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Former Miss Nepal Sadichha Shrestha with Sharad Pradhan of Nepal Tourism Board</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Image 3</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Panel discussion during the event moderated by Hotel Annapurna CEO Upaul Majumdar</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Image 4</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Dignitaries from the tourism related sectors during the event at Hotel Annapurna</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<p>
		<strong>PARTNERS&rsquo; </strong>VIEWS</p>
	<p>
		<br />
		<img alt="upual" src="/userfiles/images/upual.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: 169px; " /></p>
	<p>
		<strong>Upaul Majumdar</strong></p>
	<p>
		<strong>CEO of Hotel Annapurna</strong></p>
	<p>
		I personally think that despite having immense potential Nepal is yet to achieve the tourism goal as compare to other countries. Undoubtedly, this country has everything which makes it unique in terms of tourism but there should be a &lsquo;can-do&rsquo; attitude, and not just talk about the challenges. There should be a collective effort from all the tourism related sectors and I am sure in future making Nepal as one of the finest tourist destinations will not be a distant dream. There is some movement which has started this year. And many initiatives of uniting the different segment of the industry like hotels, travel &amp; tour agencies, air lines and department of tourism has been taken. This initiative should see some &ldquo;value driven&rdquo; benefit for all sectors.</p>
	<p>
		&nbsp;</p>
	<p>
		<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/qatar(2).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: 241px; height: 74px; " /></p>
	<p>
		<strong>Qatar Airways Spokesperson</strong></p>
	<p>
		Qatar Airways contribution to Nepal tourism has been very significant. Recently it helped in removing the obstructing radio antenna in Khumaltar. Qatar Airways has assisted in bringing new technology in aviation safety in Nepal through installation of a Required Navigation Performance &mdash; Authorisation Required (RNP-AR) approach into Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), becoming the first airline in the world to operate an aircraft with a new navigational approach in Nepal. Also it is the biggest international contributor for Nepalese tourism sector by bringing in more than one lakh people to Kathmandu. Qatar Airways has always been supporting any kind of tourism activities in Nepal. This conclave brought together various stake-holders from the tourism industry of Nepal. We discussed the various problems relating to tourism and the solutions we can use to improve the current situation.</p>
	<p>
		&nbsp;</p>
	<p>
		<img alt="sadichha" src="/userfiles/images/Sadichha.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: 170px; " /></p>
	<p>
		<strong>Sadichha Shrestha</strong></p>
	<p>
		<strong>Corporate Communication Officer, Ace Travels</strong></p>
	<p>
		We need an effective plan and focus on how to bring more tourists to Nepal. Unlike other countries where people make artificial islands, beaches etc to promote tourism, Nepal have its own unique natural beauty. This is a gift from god to us and we should protect it with good governance and with well researched business module to earn more revenue and generate employment. We should be proud of Nepal and there is an urgent need to promote Nepal&rsquo;s religious and spiritual places. We can also promote yoga, meditation and adventure tourism because I think these are the areas where we can attract more tourists.</p>
	<p>
		&nbsp;</p>
</div>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-23',
			'modified' => '2013-10-01',
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			'description' => 'I personally think that despite having immense potential Nepal is yet to achieve the tourism goal as compare to other countries. Undoubtedly, this country has everything which makes it unique in terms of tourism but there should be a ‘can-do’ attitude, and not just talk about the challenges. There should be a collective effort from all the tourism related sectors and I am sure in future making Nepal as one of the finest tourist destinations will not be a distant dream.',
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			'id' => '1846',
			'article_category_id' => '135',
			'title' => 'Economic Expectations After Election',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<div>
	<strong>Prof Dr Yubraj Sangroula</strong></div>
<div>
	<div>
		<strong>Former Attorney General,</strong></div>
	<div>
		<strong>Founder and Executive Director of the Kathmandu School of Law (KSL)</strong><br />
		<br />
		&nbsp;</div>
</div>
<div>
	Looking at the past manifestoes of political parties, focus on poverty reduction and economic and social integration seems to be only a political gimmick to win votes. These manifestoes seem unrealistic and are made without enough homework. This election is no different from those held in the past. After the election, we can expect the same old talks by political parties on the restructuring of the state and its policies. The political parties&rsquo; commitment toward big projects like hydro power, roadways and transport are still &nbsp;to be proven. However, I am optimistic that these big projects will begin after the election - if not for the nation and the people, &nbsp;they will do it for personal benefit. As a professor, I would say that if the same situation of manipulating students into dirty politics of shutting universities down for months continues, a lot of colleges and universities will be forced to close for good.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="jagadish" src="/userfiles/images/jagadish.jpg" style="margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; " /></div>
<div>
	<strong>Jagadish Rathi</strong></div>
<div>
	<strong>Chairman, Tax and Revenue Committee, Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI)</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	We have faced more than a decade of conflict and several years of political instability. Therefore, this election brings hope for the economy. We are expecting concrete implementation of economic plans rather than speeches from political leaders. We are facing the worst power crisis ever and there has to be some short term plan to mitigate it. The long heard blathers of producing 10,000-20,000 MW of electricity has to be stopped and transmission lines must be installed instead. There is a lot to expect and demand for the economy after elections.<br />
	<br />
	Despite being an agriculture-based country, Nepal has failed to capitalize on agricultural products as it has not kept up with modern agro technologies to meet the supply deficit. Infrastructural barriers like poor road and transportation systems have also hindered the smooth functioning of business. We have not been able to cash on our tourism industry due to some obvious political reasons. Our tourism is based on pilgrimage sites like Lumbini, Janakpur, Muktinath and many others which we have not been able to build on. But we must look beyond to newer possibilities. In collaboration with the Nepal Tourism Board, we have a big opportunity to making the country an educational hub, and in order to meet this demand, construction of the next international airport in Nijgad must be resumed. All of these infrastructures have to be built and we have to realize that remittance cannot be a long term solution for the economy.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'The upcoming election seems to be eagerly awaited for by all the sections of the Nepali society. This week, The Corporate Weekly brings the views of a legal expert and a business Leader:',
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			'id' => '1845',
			'article_category_id' => '134',
			'title' => '‘Nepal Has The Capacity To Emerge As An Outsourcing Base Camp',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<div>
	Khem Raj Bhattarai is the founder and CEO of KRB Software Pvt Ltd. As an emerging software developer, the company is focused on producing management system products along with other services. Bhattarai talked to Sanjeev Sharma of The Corporate about the company&#39;s plans and his views on the Nepali software industry. Excerpts:</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What products and services does KRB Software offer?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	We are basically offering 16 software products. We are producing management system software products under the Kohinoor brand which are targeted to clients such as educational institutions, hotels/restaurants, hospitals/ clinics/ pharmacy, co-operative financial institutions, shopping malls, manpower, educational consultancies etc. We are also producing products for accounting, inventory control, point of sale (POS), human resource management and customer relation management. Besides these, we provide tailor-made software according to the need and demand of clients, tech consulting and software prototyping.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Besides these, what other projects are currently being worked on?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Currently we are focused on management system products. We plan to launch other service related products in the near future. KRB Software is planning to expand the hotel management system. We are also designing portals that will help individuals and companies manage their day-to-day work. Similarly, we are also looking to introduce some services based on business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) concepts.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>The majority of KRB&#39;s software is built using a web-based platform that can be accessed through mobile devices. Do you have any plan to enter the mobile application market?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Mobile devices are making computing tasks a lot easier. Regarding this, we are developing software using web-based platforms which allow the users to access the products through their mobile devices. The company is planning to enter the mobile apps markets and a mobile application developer team has been formed for the purpose. We are looking to develop the existing management system software products into mobile apps too. We are also planning to develop mobile games and astrology apps.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>While talking about software, security always emerges as a major concern. How do you ensure the security of your products?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In terms of data and system security, I can ensure you that our products are 100 per cent secure. The software are developed using the latest technology which are well shielded and protected. We provide a world class security system which cannot be breached by hackers. We have also developed a system which tracks our software products that are installed into the computers of individual clients. However, for optimal level of security, the machines of clients too should be well protected.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What is the response from your clients? How do you assess the prospect of tailor-made software to cater to the needs of Nepali clients?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	We are fully satisfied with the warm response from Nepali clients. Our domestic clients are gradually leaning towards locally produced software products. The user-friendly system, flexibility and customization are some of the main factors attracting Nepali clients.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What are the benefits of using software produced by your company compared to the products of big international names?&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As far as I know, there are very few management system software available in the Nepali market. Products from big international developers are not able to fulfill the need of Nepali clients. Our products are developed by Nepali engineers, developers and designers who are well aware of the needs of domestic clients. Besides this, our software products are also reasonably priced and highly efficient compared to foreign brands. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>KRB Software has outsourced for some Fortune 500 companies. How do you assess the prospect of an outsourcing market in Nepal?&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Yes, we have done outsourced tasks for some big multinational companies in the past. However, we experienced that the outsourcing market in Nepal is poorly managed. There is no policy regarding IT outsourcing. The banking rules of our country won&#39;t let us do direct financial transaction with the foreign companies. For instance, the Nepali financial system is not linked with the global online payment gateway PayPal. This is causing a big problem for receiving payments from foreign firms. Likewise, the outflow of IT manpower from the country is another problem. &nbsp;Nepali outsourcing market can witness a rapid growth if these issues are properly addressed. The outsourcing market could be a major foreign currency earner if properly taken care of. Looking at the current scenario of manpower production (software engineers, programmers, designers etc), Nepal possesses the capacity to emerge as an outsourcing base camp in Asia.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Nepal is witnessing a steady growth of software market. What are the challenges underlying the market?&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Sales of product and service are the most challenging aspects. We have to ensure our clients about security and convince them that the products will fulfill their needs. Pricing of the products is another challenge. Many developers are selling unbranded products at very cheap prices which is hampering healthy competition in the market. This is somehow affecting developers like us who are committed to sell quality products developed using standard procedures.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Are Nepali software developers getting any help from the government?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Sadly, the government is not helping the Nepali software industry. Many government offices and projects are using foreign products that cost thousands of dollars. This is resulting in a huge amount of capital flight. We can develop any type of high quality software products that will fulfill the need of governmental tasks. The government should start using locally produced software which will be of great help to us. We also encourage people to use domestic software products hoping that it will reduce capital and human resource flight from Nepal.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<br />
	&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-23',
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			'keywords' => 'new business age  interview news & articles, interview news & articles from new business age nepal, interview headlines from nepal,  current and latest interview news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali interview economic news and events,  ongoing  interview news of nepal',
			'description' => 'Khem Raj Bhattarai is the founder and CEO of KRB Software Pvt Ltd. As an emerging software developer, the company is focused on producing management system products along with other services. Bhattarai talked to Sanjeev Sharma of The Corporate about the company's plans and his views on the Nepali software industry. Excerpts:',
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	(int) 5 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1844',
			'article_category_id' => '204',
			'title' => 'Award Winners Tourism And Aviation Next 2013',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>Amitabh Kant</strong></p>
<p>
	Lifetime Achievement in Promotion of Tourism in South Asia (He is the former joint secretary in the tourism ministry from 2001 to 2007 &amp; Chairman of Indian Tourism Development Council)</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;It was at the peak of this crisis, the Incredible India campaign to position India as a tourist destination was launched. But Every Crisis is an Opportunity and now tourism in India is a growing market. There is a need to raise Nepal&rsquo;s service standards, creating premium brand of experiential tourism, positioning of exotic Nepal, adding new international airport, additional terminals and new air-routes, domestic and foreign investments in tourism services etc. Thank you for this award&rdquo;</p>
<p>
	<br />
	<img alt="tourism" src="/userfiles/images/tourism(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: 300px; height: 207px; " /></p>
<p>
	<strong>Tourism Malaysia</strong></p>
<p>
	Best Asian Tourism Initiative (Award received by South Asia Director of Tourism Malaysia, Amran Abdul Rahman)</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;I am very happy to receive this award. Such event will boost the Nepal tourism industry but we need to focus and plan a well researched module to make Nepal one of the best tourist places in the world. In Malaysia people know Nepal more than India because of its long association and common features in terms of lifestyle. I am sure with such events we will have a strong bonding with Nepal in terms of tourisms.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
	<br />
	<img alt="megh bahadur kc" src="/userfiles/images/Megh.jpg" style="margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 300px; height: 185px; " /></p>
<p>
	<strong>Megh Bahadur Ale</strong></p>
<p>
	Best Eco-friendly Himalayan Tourism Initiative (He is the founder president of Nepal River Conservation Trust)</p>
<p>
	<br />
	&ldquo;This is for the first time I am receiving such award for my contribution towards nature in Nepal. I would like to request the people of Nepal and the government to save our Bagmati. I want more people to participate in the Bagmati River Festival and request them actively involved in raising awareness to conserve and preserve the beautiful Himalayan Rivers of Nepal. I don&rsquo;t have any word to express myself. I am extremely happy and thanks for the organiser for choosing me for such a prestigious award. I would like to pay my regards to New Business Age for giving me this honour and in future I will continue to dedicate myself in saving the eco system of Nepal. I think youths and school children will play a major role in saving this country from ecological hazards,&rdquo;</p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-22',
			'modified' => '2013-10-01',
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			'description' => 'Lifetime Achievement in Promotion of Tourism in South Asia (He is the former joint secretary in the tourism ministry from 2001 to 2007 & Chairman of Indian Tourism Development Council)',
			'sortorder' => '1705',
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	(int) 6 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1843',
			'article_category_id' => '204',
			'title' => 'Challenges: Safe And Conducive Environment For Investment',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>People associated with the Nepali tourism and aviation stake-holders should come out with an action-plan for the industry.</strong></p>
<p>
	<br />
	<strong>Challenges: Safe and Conducive Environment for Investment</strong></p>
<p>
	<br />
	<strong>We are aware that the tourism industry in Nepal has taken some hard knocks in the last decade. Now is the time to move ahead.</strong></p>
<p style="margin-left:12.0pt;">
	<br />
	<br />
	By Shreejana Rana</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	We are all aware the tourism industry in Nepal has taken some hard knocks in the last decade. Young democracies are vulnerable to political instability, and sacrifices are inevitable. But we just cannot sit and stare idly at years of our hard work and investment being blownaway senselessly. Creative thinking and co-ordinated planning are imperative. Our children&rsquo;s futures are at stake. However, we as investors in the tourism industry, require a safe and conducive environment for us to invest further to enhance our products and services.</p>
<p>
	Honourable Minister of Tourism, this is where the Government of Nepal could engage more with all us stakeholders to create a friendly environment where we feel encouraged and safe to invest further to bring up our products and facilities to international standards. And it is my humble request to view us as partners &ndash; not just sharp business people &ndash; in the development of the industry and the country.</p>
<p>
	For far too long, we have neglected to nurture and prioritise quality in order to use tourism as a medium to further ties and appreciate the differences &ndash; and similarities &ndash; between countries and their cultures. In order to get the full benefit from tourism &ndash; not always measured in dollars &ndash; we all need to pull up our socks and raise the bar even higher.&nbsp;Investment in education, training, human resources, marketing, adoption of best practices and collaboration between the public and private sectors are imperative. Corporate structures have to be re-defined and standardization of services has to be implemented and monitored rigorously.</p>
<p>
	I would like to share with the officiating CEO, Nepal Tourism Board, Subash Nirola that Nepal Tourism Board has been playing a pro-active role ensuring all tourism stakeholders are aware of the issues affecting the industry. We appreciate this change in attitude. You can count on us to support your initiatives and look forward to more brainstorming sessions.&nbsp;We are extremely excited to have Amitabh Kant, the genius behind the &ldquo;Incredible India&rdquo; campaign in the event. I&rsquo;ll tell you why we hope to pick your creative brain and adopt your ideas shamelessly to increase the market-ability of Nepal.</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;Malaysia, Truly Asia&rdquo; campaign captured the imagination of travellers from all over the world. As a marketing campaign, it probably has no peers, and is a lesson to all of us. We will definitely share our views with the South Asia Director of Tourism Malaysia Amran Abdul Rahman on how to take Nepal in the global map in terms of tourism.<br />
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>(Shreejana Rana is Director, CSR and R&amp;D, Hotel Annapurna)</strong><br />
	&nbsp;</p>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-22',
			'modified' => '2013-10-01',
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			'description' => 'We are all aware the tourism industry in Nepal has taken some hard knocks in the last decade. Young democracies are vulnerable to political instability, and sacrifices are inevitable.',
			'sortorder' => '1704',
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	(int) 7 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1842',
			'article_category_id' => '204',
			'title' => 'Premium Tourism Paradigm For ‘Naturally Nepal’',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	<strong>Tourism And Aviation Next 2013</strong></p>
<p>
	<br />
	<strong>Premium Tourism Paradigm for &lsquo;Naturally Nepal&rsquo;</strong></p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	By Madan Lamsal</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	Come September 27 and the world will celebrate &lsquo;Tourism Day&rsquo;. Considering the third largest industry in the world and an engine to generate more employment as compare to other industries, we along with our partners have decided to come up with this event to promote tourism in Nepal and to honour those&mdash; globally and locally &mdash; who has done a commendable job in taking the tourism in the global map.</p>
<p>
	The Conference is basically to focus on Tourism and Aviation Next. This will help us to understand this industry much better and will give us the necessary information, analysis and views to take Nepal to the global platform on the World Tourism Day through various means of communications. And what could be more communicative then newspapers, magazines, portals, TV channel and radio.</p>
<p>
	For many years tourism in Nepal has been value-for-money, adventure-driven, backpackers&rsquo; tourism. But over the years the sheen is gradually fading despite a treasured destination for leisure, religious, adventure and nature tourism. It is unfortunate that the average spending per tourist was over 65 US dollars about a decade back but now it has come down to less than 40 US dollars a day.</p>
<p>
	The focus of our conference is to explore through deliberations and interactions of all major stake-holders of Nepal Tourism. If we can evolve a premium tourism model or paradigm then only we can generate more revenue under the banner of &ldquo;Naturally Nepal&rdquo;.</p>
<p>
	It is good to feel that the Tourism and Aviation Next meet brings together various leading stake-holders from Nepal Tourism Board, hotels, resorts, domestic airlines, helicopter services etc.</p>
<p>
	This meet is expected to lead a broad understanding on what can be the contours of such a premium tourism model and how can it be created, propagated, executed and benefited from. There is a need to focus on the rise of aviation sector in this country (both domestic and international) in Nepal. We are facing some challenges from meeting the quality, ways and means of increasing passenger load, technological innovations, and a sustainable business model.</p>
<p>
	But I am hopeful that together we can overcome such challenges in bringing more tourists to Nepal from across the world. Strong international and domestic aviation is at the heart of premium tourism in Nepal. Most of the domestic airlines and global aviation sector are not doing well financially in Nepal. Except a few, all have a revenue loss annually in their daily operations.</p>
<p>
	People associated with the Nepali tourism and aviation stake-holders should come out with an action-plan for the industry. Also, the government should look into the pro-active policy to promote tourism in Nepal. We should also learn from the concept of &lsquo;Incredible India&rsquo; and Gods Own Country conceptualised by Amitabh Kant, former joint secretary in the tourism ministry from 2001 to 2007 and Malaysia&rsquo;s rising tourism industry.</p>
<p>
	I hope this event becomes a landmark in the context of the second largest source of foreign exchange for Nepal and its further growth.&nbsp;Though it is a daunting task but together we can make a beautiful Nepal.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<strong>(Madan Lamsal, Chairman of New Business Age Pvt Ltd)</strong></p>',
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			'created' => '2013-09-22',
			'modified' => '2013-10-01',
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			'description' => 'The average spending per tourist was over 65 US dollars about a decade back but now it has come down to less than 40 US dollars a day.',
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	(int) 8 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1841',
			'article_category_id' => '91',
			'title' => 'Positioning, Infra-structure & Investment: Mainstay Of Nepali Tourism Next',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<p>
	<strong>Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Sushil Ghimire, inaugurating Tourism and Aviation Next 2013. (From left) New Business Age Pvt Ltd Chairman Madan Lamsal, Incredible India pioneer Amitabh Kant and South Asia Director of Tourism Malaysia Amran Abdul Rahman.</strong></p>
<div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>Photo: Rukesh Shrestha/TC</strong><br />
		<br />
		<br />
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		&nbsp;</div>
	<div>
		<strong>Sell Authentic Experience &amp; Make It Premium</strong></div>
</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Vision: To achieve tourism turnover equal to 5% of the GDP by 2080 BS which is now less than 2%</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	By Ujjwal K Chowdhury</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As nations celebrate World Tourism Day on September 27, the top tourism officials, Nepali leaders of the industry, along with some top honchos of Malaysian and Indian tourism governance met on September 19 at Annapurna Hotel in the first edition of Tourism &amp; Aviation Next conference.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The core views that emerged from the day long exercise, partnered by New Business Age and Annapurna Hotel, and sponsored by Qatar Airways and Ace Travels, focused on: raising service standards, creating premium brand of experiential tourism apart from the existing largely value-for-money backpackers&rsquo; tourism, positioning of exotic Nepal, upgrading the tourism and hospitality infra-structure, adding new international airport, additional terminals and new air-routes, domestic and foreign investments in tourism services.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Tourism Goal: 5% of GDP by 2080 BS</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Opening the event, the Secretary of the Tourism Ministry, Sushil Ghimire, focused on why and how can Nepal achieve tourism turnover equal to 5% of the GDP by 2080 BS which is now less than 2%, how the national carrier Nepal Airlines is being strengthened, and why all major stake-holders&rsquo; views on a long-term future course of action is important in a private sector driven domain like that of tourism &amp; aviation. He set the tone, and the two guests from abroad took it to the next level with case-studies from tourism promotion by their nations.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Case-studies: India and Malaysia</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The former Tourism Secretary of India and of Kerala state, and the man behind Incredible India and God&rsquo;s Own Country Kerala branding, Amitabh Kant, lamented that the positioning, branding and pricing of an otherwise high-end premium exotic destination like Nepal has been actually very low. He rued that the focus has been on low-end mass tourism which also has not yet touched a million, while it now needs to be on niche high-end tourism promotion with a clear positioning. Noting that more than 1 billion people travelling and almost 9% of the global GDP has been in tourism across the world, employing 1 among every 11 people, Nepal needs to catch up with this burgeoning industry.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Moving from sun-sand-sea focused tourism, globally travelers are looking at authentic experience now and Nepal has a huge advantage in it. Explaining in details the Incredible India campaign, he noted that unique positioning and integrated marketing communication strategy and plan alone can take Nepal to the next level in this sector.&nbsp;Kant concluded expounding 6Cs for better tourism: civic governance, capacity building, communication strategy, convergence, community and civil aviation.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The South Asia Director of Tourism Malaysia, Amran Abdul Rahman later brought in a video based presentation to show how Malaysia has moved from &lsquo;Coca-cola tourism&rsquo; earlier as an add-on visit to people coming to Singapore twenty years ago to 13 million visitors in 2003 and finally to 25 million visitors in 2012. The target of 2014, declared as the Visit Malaysia Year, is now 36 million visitors with USD 44 billion income.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Malaysia could achieve this success due to infrastructure growth including the remarkable makeover of Kualalampur Airport, changing mindset of the people and government with tourism coming under special supervision directly by the Prime Minister, rural Malaysia being promoted heavily which also ensured ethnic amity, and focusing on MICE tourism through events heavily.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Tourism Next: Branding &amp; Capacity-building as Key Drivers</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The tourism next panel, moderated by the Annapurna CEO Upaul Majumdar, was an exciting journey of multiple perspectives by various industry experts on different facets. Upaul started with the need of a &lsquo;can-do&rsquo; attitude, and not just talk about the challenges.</div>
<div>
	The Soaltee Crowne Plaza GM Nalin Mandiratta focused on the need for a large Convention Centre for MICE tourism to grow, more sports tournaments in Nepal, dynamic and integrated destination marketing, creating One Nepal concept uniting efforts of various sections of the industry, and focusing on China and India more.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Madhusudan Acharya, the Vice President of the Nepal Association of Tours and Travel Agents, explained how the success of Apple denotes the success of unique positioning. The uniqueness of Nepal as a tourism destination needs similar positioning based on green initiatives and its ethnicity. He emphatically noted that tourism is both a cause and an effect of more holistic socio-economic growth. He noted that Nepal-China roads and Kathmandu&rsquo;s direct air connectivity with Chennai and Bengaluru are much needed pending measures.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nandini Lahe Thapa, the Senior Director of the Nepal Tourism Board in charge of international marketing, while noting that there has been relative maturity of Nepal as a tourism destination, it has been quite low at the high-end of the price-service spectrum. &ldquo;We have lowered our rates of other tourism services, but have an exponentially costly travel. Hotels have already set the bar higher, but travel trade still needs to come together and raise the standards with rational pricing,&rdquo; she noted. Promotion of new destinations possible, she told, if concrete proposals come to NTB from entrepreneurs.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Sumit Baral, the Senior Consultant with the International Finance Corporation, from the World Bank Group, working for its investment climate programs, with key focus on tourism programmes, informed that opposing child-labour so rampant in the carpet industry, Lufthansa dropped its Kathmandu sector adversely affecting German tourists&rsquo; travel to Nepal. Also, a diagnostic study categorically has shown that service standards decline has been the major factor behind lower per day spending by tourists. Noting that Nepal does not feature in luxury travel, he illustrated how Peru since 2000 has positioned itself as high-end destination, and how Maldives with almost same number of tourists like Nepal (little less than a million a year), actually has double the income from this sector.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Talking from the tourism technology perspective, Prerana Mimani, the Country Head of Amadeus, noted that the e-commerce route to promote Nepal is must and is still at a rudimentary level and it is possible to have collaboration with global travel portals with ethnicity focus for Nepal.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The PATA Chairman of Nepal, entrepreneur Suman Pandey, defended budget tourism noting it as an important part of the Nepali tourism eco-system and saying that it is a way of travel to experience the country in a different way. He poignantly noted, &ldquo;The seven days Golden Triangle plan is over-done and new tourism products are now necessary, as seen in the case of trekking tours being re-packaged as photography tours.&rdquo; Another very effective suggestion of Pandey has been the creation of events with potentials of global media visibility, as seen in the case of the earlier Nepali cabinet meeting at Everest base-camp.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Aviation Next: Start Small, But Act in Unison</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The final panel of the day, focusing on aviation ahead, was very ably moderated by Valentino Bagatsing, the Country Head of International Finance Corporation, of the World Bank group, who began by raising the issue of air-safety noting that there have been 70 accidents in 60 years last, 3 being in the last two years. He informed that IFC is on the task of safety management systems research and planning.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Bhola Bikram Thapa, the MD of President Travels, emphatically set the tone noting, &ldquo;Government should make stronger policies and facilitate processes, and not do business directly.&rdquo; He lamented that the need of more aircrafts for the national carrier, Nepal Airlines, is still not being done.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ghanshyam Acharya, Chief of Corporate Affairs, Simrik Airlines, noted that globally service sector has surpassed manufacturing, and in Nepal, three out of every four international traveler is airborne. The IATA Outlook for 2013 looks positively at $711 billion global tourism turnover. Blacktopping of many airports in Nepal has increased air safety and air-travel is now available to middle class as well. However, he lamented better regulatory support of policy-makers is necessary, and after 1998, no new aircraft has been flown by any domestic carrier.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Representing the government voice, Buddhisagar Lamichchane, the Joint Secretary of Civil Aviation, and Roshan Chitrakar, the Deputy Director General of the Air Navigation Services of CAAN, had some good news to share. Chitrakar informed about high pace of blacktopping and expansion of airports, fleet increment for national airlines being imminent, and one year compulsory Air Traffic Controllers&rsquo; training reduced to six-months first phase and then after some work experience another six months of second phase training to handle talent crunch in the industry.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Lamichchane informed about installation of navigational safety equipments, and emphasized the air safety standards in Nepal to be reasonably strong by global standards. Further, he said, &ldquo;Nepali air-routes integration with more global air-routes is underway. And the construction of a second international airport at Bara which will create a East-West air corridor, is also taking off soon. Further, the regulator and service provider functions of government with regards to aviation are being separated soon and a global consultancy is looking into this.&rdquo;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The Air India Country Head, TK Saha, defended the pricing strategy of his carrier noting that only 10-15 percent seats go vacant. He advocated new small aircraft routes and services for various potential sectors like Gaya-Lumbini, Patna-Kathmandu, and Varanasi-Pokhra.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ramdas Shivram, the Qatar Airways Country Head, brought in a basic issue with emphasis saying, &ldquo;Garbage management is poor in Kathmandu airport and for this a blended approach of awareness for passengers, training for staff, and strong punitive regulation is needed.&rdquo; He also advocated more efficient and faster immigration services, quest of quality tourism and not merely volumes, and focus to find and invest in new markets to expand Nepal tourism and aviation base. &ldquo;However, for all of these, commitment of all the stake-holders to what they believe and say is must,&rdquo; he said the last word.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The event ended on a very positive note awarding Megh Ale for outstanding eco-friendly Himalayan tourism initiative, Tourism Malaysia for best international tourism promotion initiative and Amitabh Kant for special lifetime achievement in promoting South Asian tourism and infrastructure.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The organizers expressed hope that such major industry initiative to relook at the world&rsquo;s third largest industry conglomerate: tourism-hospitality-aviation shall again be taken up next year in September and a reality check of the progress made over one year would be done.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-22',
			'modified' => '2013-10-01',
			'keywords' => 'new business age cover story news & articles, cover story news & articles from new business age nepal, cover story headlines from nepal,  current and latest cover story news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali cover story economic news and events,  ongoing  cover story news of nepal',
			'description' => 'As nations celebrate World Tourism Day on September 27, the top tourism officials, Nepali leaders of the industry, along with some top honchos of Malaysian and Indian tourism governance met on September 19 at Annapurna Hotel in the first edition of Tourism & Aviation Next conference.',
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	(int) 9 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1840',
			'article_category_id' => '201',
			'title' => 'DIY (Design It Yourself) Sarees',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/Untitled-2%20(Copy)%20(Copy).jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;width: 284px; height: 600px;" />Teej just passed by with its glare of red and green, leaving us weary of the colours by now. Don&rsquo;t be fed up of the saree yet - there is more to this garment than colours devoted to the longevity of men. The saree can express female individuality just as much, given a little creativity and time.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ever looked at designer sarees and wondered when you would get an affordable deal to don one? Well, don&rsquo;t just look at magazine covers and TV channels in endless longing when you can get up with the DIY spirit and design it yourself!</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Inspired by a friend who ran a start up saree-designing company, I suggest to you in this new column that you need not fly to Delhi or Kolkata to purchase the latest look in the yard-long garment. Instead, you can scroll through some websites and get inspired by the works of high-end designers to create your own adaptation at a cheaper rate.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Consider some tips below in making your DIY saree:</strong></span></div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Experiment with georgette more than any other fabric as it can hold embroideries better than chiffon and it definitely beats cotton, silk, net or tissue in holding sequin designs, which are still in vogue.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Now that you have your fabric, opt for a simple design that your tailor easily achieve on the cloth. Take a look at some simple works by Satya Paul, Tarun Tahliani, Manish Malhotra or Sabyasachi Mukherjee and improvise on it. It may be as simple as adding a sequined border along your garment, and laying out small sequined floral patterns in the body of the saree.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Get creative in the colours you choose. If you are dark or light skinned, anything between midnight blue to sky blue, or fuchsia pink to red would work when it comes to sequins. Just make sure your patterns and sequin colours go well with each other. Don&rsquo;t pair a sky blue saree with bright green sequins, for example. Usually, it works when the sequins are a shade lighter than the fabric itself.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Mix and match your blouse and don&rsquo;t stick to the conventional manner of matching your blouse with the same colour as the saree. Maybe a white saree with a pink blouse? Or a light blue saree with gold-coloured blouse? Whatever befits your personality.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull; &nbsp;Finally, once you have your saree in hand, acknowledge the inspiration that produced it &ndash; which designer&rsquo;s work caught your eye? And how did you add your personal touch? The saree will be truly yours and a reflection of your individual taste.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-18',
			'modified' => '2013-09-23',
			'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' => 'Teej just passed by with its glare of red and green, leaving us weary of the colours by now. Don’t be fed up of the saree yet - there is more to this garment than colours devoted to the longevity of men. The saree can express female individuality just as much, given a little creativity and time.',
			'sortorder' => '1701',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1839',
			'article_category_id' => '110',
			'title' => 'Top Ten Losers (8 -15 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-17',
			'modified' => '0000-00-00',
			'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal',
			'description' => 'Top Ten Losers',
			'sortorder' => '1700',
			'image' => null,
			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'breaking_news' => false,
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	(int) 11 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1838',
			'article_category_id' => '111',
			'title' => 'Top Ten Gainers (8 -15 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-17',
			'modified' => '0000-00-00',
			'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal',
			'description' => 'Top Ten Gainers',
			'sortorder' => '1699',
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			'id' => '1837',
			'article_category_id' => '113',
			'title' => 'US Dollar Exchange Rate At Local Market (8 -15 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-17',
			'modified' => '0000-00-00',
			'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal',
			'description' => 'US Dollar Exchange Rate At Local Market',
			'sortorder' => '1698',
			'image' => null,
			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
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	(int) 13 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1836',
			'article_category_id' => '112',
			'title' => 'Weekly Gold And Silver Price (8 - 15 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-09-17',
			'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' => 'Weekly Gold and Silver Price',
			'sortorder' => '1697',
			'image' => null,
			'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
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			'in_scroller' => false,
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	(int) 14 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1835',
			'article_category_id' => '108',
			'title' => 'Money Matters News In Brief (26 - 22 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>NRB Refutes Deadline Extension Reports</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has clarified that it has not extended the deadline to meet the minimum required capital (paid-up capital) for banking and financial institutions (BFIs). NRB has ruled out extension of the deadline following a news report claiming that it had extended the deadline to meet the minimum required capital. &nbsp;&ldquo;We have provisioned that the proposed bonus share distribution on Fiscal Year 2013-14 if approved by the NRB could be counted on the paid-up capital,&rdquo; NRB spokesperson Bhaskarmani Gyawali said. Through the monetary policy, the NRB had directed those bank and financial institutions, who are yet to meet the minimum paid-up capital, to do so by the end of FY 2013-14.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Tinau&rsquo;s Dividend Approved</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Tinau Development Bank Ltd, headquartered at Butwal, got an approval from Nepal Rastra Bank to distribute a 12.69 per cent dividend including 12 per cent as bonus shares. The bank has collected Rs 1.53 billion deposit and extended a total of Rs 1.12 billion as loan during the last Fiscal Year. It has earned a Rs 23.3 million as profit and has issued capital of Rs 200 million and paid up capital of 115 million with eight branches in operation.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Everest Announces Book Closure Date</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Everest Bank has announced the book closure for share trading from September 18 to October 10 for the upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM). Releasing a communiqu&eacute; last Wednesday, the bank stated that the 237th meeting of the Board of Directors (BoD) held on September 6 made such a decision. The details of the upcoming AGM will be made public laterby publishing a separate notice, the communiqu&eacute; added.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Siddhartha Development&rsquo;s &lsquo;SDBL Auto Loan&rsquo;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Siddhartha Development Bank Ltd has announced &lsquo;SDBL Auto Loan&rsquo; scheme for the coming Dashain festival. According to the scheme, the loans will be on 11.99 per cent per annum interest rate to purchase new and reconditioned vehicles with 60 per cent discount on service charge. The other features of the scheme include loans up to 80 per cent of the vehicle cost, seven years of moratorium period and a fixed interest rate for a year.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Garima&rsquo;s 25pc Dividend</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Garima Development Bank Ltd will propose a 25 per cent dividend distribution at its Annual General Meeting (AGM). &nbsp;According to the bank, it is going to propose 20 per cent bonus shares and 5 per cent cash dividend. The bank has collected a total amount of Rs 3 billion deposit and floated Rs 2.43 billion as a loan until the end of Fiscal Year 2012-13. Chief Executive Officer Govinda Prashad Dhakal informed that the bank earned an operating profit of Rs 96.1 million in the FY2012-13. He further said that the bank is planning to issue rights shares next month. The bank says that its paid-up capital will reach 374 million after issuing rights share and distributing the dividends.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Kaski Finance&rsquo;s 13pc Cash Dividend</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Pokhara based Kaski Finance Ltd will distribute 13 per cent cash dividend to its shareholders. &nbsp;The dividend will be distributed after approval from the Annual General Meeting of the Company, said Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Toya Raj Adhikari.</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' => 'Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has clarified that it has not extended the deadline to meet the minimum required capital (paid-up capital) for banking and financial institutions (BFIs).',
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