Recipe Of A Successful Business Model

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No Laughing Matter

The Sweet Rewards of Power

By Madan Lamsal

. . .
read more »

NEPSE

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			'title' => 'Recipe Of A Successful Business Model',
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			'content' => '<div>
	<img alt="Buddha's Delight August 2013" src="/userfiles/images/bd.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 375px; margin-left: 25px; margin-right: 25px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Venture Capitalists speak about new venture; they seek a business plan elaborating Forecasted ROI, Equity split, Break Even point, ROCE, Target segmentation etc. But how a business evolves? Opportunity can be found anywhere. If there is need-gap, an opportunity exists to bridge that. Optimists see opportunity even in Calamity while pessimists see Calamity in biggest opportunity. Fundamental of any business is about creating value for customers to cater to a need against a price. Any frustration can be the germination of an evolving business model. But what is it that makes some Businesses click while others perish?&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Let us take an example. Taxi Drivers haggling with fare and tampering meters are common sight in South Asia. They do that as the meter rate is not very high, trips are limited and they face extortions from multiple sources. Coupled with high maintenance and rent, what is left for the drivers? Poor chap has to earn his livelihood and support his family. But a Driver haggling with fare, tampering with Meter is very frustrating for us. Right? What do we do? Nothing. Curse the government, society, politicians. Even curse ourselves for being there. But facing such incidents multiple times, it never occurred to me that a Business Model can be envisioned. Till I heard about Nirmal!&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nirmal Kumar; this soft spoken, specially abled person is a 2008 graduate from IIM Ahmedabad. He comes from a modest background in Bihar where his father was a primary school teacher. One night, he was in an Auto Rickshaw in Ahmedabad and got overcharged. Though enraged, he did not curse like most of us. A business idea struck him. He entered with a deal with Drivers parking outside IIM Campus. Against an undertaking that proper fare will be charged, he provided them Free Newspaper and Health-cum-Personal Insurance cover. Starting initially with his own money, he started visiting corporates to draw from their CSR fund.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	With funds, Kumar increased the facilities for drivers and developed the brand &lsquo;G Auto&rsquo;. A business model was borne. The drivers benefitted with health care, children education and insurance. Gujarat CM Narendra Modi came for inauguration which helped in many ways. With the vehicles carrying advertisement, sizeable revenues generated. Finally Nirmal Foundation, a trust, formed with Kumar as Managing Director. Currently 21 paid employees are associated with the trust. Revenues from Advertisement, Corporate Donation, and Government funding help them breaking even. The Foundation ensures that any member breaching law will lose membership; but they also help the Driver in case of any unnecessary harassment from the authority.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	G-Auto voted second in the SMART Mobility Awards on transportation solution given by Michigan University. Recently, the Indian Union Urban Development Secretary has written to all states to emulate the model. Kumar, looking for expansion, met Delhi CM Sheila Dixit with plans for the national capital.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Kumar installed new technology like tamperproof computerized meter for positive, sustainable customer satisfaction. With the vehicles being monitored through GPRS, introduction of a Call Center and free Mobile Phone App; now customers can even request for a G-Auto delivered to his place. Imagine the power of this proposition, at late night with normal rate reliability. Usually a driver earns around 200/-IC per day in a normal system after clearing all expenses associated with the vehicle. They resort to unsavoury tactics as the ends cannot be met with limited earnings. But with theses upgradations, G-Auto gets more trips and volume compensated for low earnings per trip.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The strength of this model is it&rsquo;s a winning formula which offers wonderful returns to all stakeholders. This is the essence of any business plan. A business becomes successful if it caters to certain fundamental principles.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	1. The offering must satisfy a need &ndash; latent or explicit&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	2. It should create value for a set of people &ndash; either directly or indirectly&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	3. Customers should cherish their experience of association and return back to feel it again&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	4. The perceived value offered to the customers must be more than the price paid by them&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	5. It should offer positive profitable solution to all stakeholders; both the drivers and the Customers&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	6. It should remain relevant and evolve continuously by adapting to the changes happening in Macro Environment. Lots of flourishing businesses suffered due to lack of flexibility and vision! Remember Kodak and its bankruptcy filing?&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	At the end of the day, a business must be profitable and provide Shareholders more return than they would have got from a normal and secured depository route. A dream business in paper that does not make money for its shareholder is a living nightmare.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Business Model is like a vision, a dream and when people have a vision which satisfies all these fundamentals - they have a winning formula in their hand. It is the vision that matters. As Sam Walton correctly pointed out - &ldquo;Capital isn&rsquo;t scarce; vision is.&rdquo;</div>',
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	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Prof Ujjwal K Chowdhury</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Understanding Natural Disasters:&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Covering seven nations, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, South Asia is a region sensitive to disasters. The region has exhausted its land reserves, and is farming soils that are unsuitable for cultivation. Some 35% of productive land is affected by land degradation. South Asia has a population that is vulnerable to risks in terms of sudden fluctuations in markets and natural shocks arising from weather. This region is also marked by high disparities in income, health and education.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	South Asia&rsquo;s geography makes it particularly susceptible to natural disasters. According to the recently published World Risk Report 2012, countries like Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan exhibit a high level of vulnerability as demonstrated by their lack of coping capacities and adaptive capacities. In evaluating 173 countries for purposes of creating this year&rsquo;s World Risk Index, the report gave the following countries its global risk index ranking: Bangladesh (6th most risk-prone country of the world), Pakistan (66), India (71) and Nepal (99). There is a high level of variation within South Asia itself, but these rankings should not be misinterpreted to undermine the risk faced by these countries&mdash; particularly the poor&mdash;in the face of natural disaster.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Since 2004-2005, the region became a neighborhood of disasters. Besides recurring flood and drought, it also had to cope with the December 2004 tsunami. There was the October 2005 earthquake in the Himalayan range that killed of 75,000. Pakistan was ravaged by an earthquake in 2008, and floods in 2010. And recently Uttarakhand of India and parts of Nepal have experienced devastating floods due to cloudbursts.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Recent Natural Disasters in India:&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	In June 2013, the North Indian states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, some regions of Western Nepal and their adjoining areas experienced heavy rainfall that triggered devastating floods and landslides. Parts of Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, and some parts of Western Tibet also experienced heavy rainfall. By early July, more than 1,000 people have died with more than 6000 missing. Damage to bridges and roads left over 70,000 pilgrims and tourists trapped in various places, many of whom were rescued. As of 30 June 2013, about 300 - 400 people are said to be still stranded. Although Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker, based on various ground reports said that the death toll could cross 10,000, the official death toll in Uttarakhand (by 29 June 2013) was 842, and around 6000 missing.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Unprecedented destruction by the rainfall witnessed in Uttarakhand state was attributed, by environmentalists, to unscientific developmental activities undertaken in recent decades and this contributed to high level of loss of property and lives. Roads constructed in haphazard style, new resorts and hotels built on fragile river banks and more than 70 back to back hydro electric projects coming up across the river system of the state lead to a &ldquo;disaster waiting to happen&rdquo; as termed by certain environmentalists. As per environmental experts, the tunnels built and blasts undertaken for 70 hydro electric projects contributed to ecological imbalance in the state, with flow of river water restricted and the unscientific real estate activity contributed to higher number of landslides and more flood&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ecologists point out that the huge expansion of hydro-power projects and construction of roads to cope with the lakhs of tourists in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh has compounded the scale of the disaster.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The expansion of roads has proved a major destabilising factor combined as it is with plans to construct over 200 dams in this sensitive eco-zone. Data with the Uttarakhand state transport department bears this out.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The state has seen a 1000 per cent increase in vehicular traffic in the last eight years, with ecologists having forewarned about the correlation between tourism increase and the higher increase of landslides.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Learnings&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Two main lessons can be drawn from the Mahakali (Nepal, June 2013, at least 100 dead and more than 12,000 displaced) and Uttarakhand flood disasters: The severity of the disaster could have been mitigated with a better end-to-end information system and proper infrastructure planning would have reduced the damage.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Accordingly, we need to:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	A) Put in place institutional mechanisms that that can use technological advances in forecasting. Although some warnings were disseminated by the India Meteorological Organization about the possibility of high to intense rainfall, this information was not transmitted to the people at risk. There is a need to strengthen disaster management and preparedness mechanisms, which requires awareness and sensitization at various levels to ensure that early warning information is conveyed to end users well in advance.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	B) Set up more hydrometeorological stations on transboundary rivers. There is no river-level hydrological monitoring station on the Mahakali river for flood forecasting and early warning. It is recommended that a river monitoring station for early warning be set up jointly by Nepal and India to provide people with some lead-time and improve flood forecasting and management in the basin.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	C) &ldquo;Carefully plan infrastructure in the mountains.&rdquo; The Hindu newspaper put it succinctly when it said that damage could have been contained through proper policies, especially regarding infrastructure development. Many mountain roads are contributing a huge sediment load to our rivers and inviting landslides. Many of the settlements are located along flood plains and have developed over the years, encroaching the river banks and increasing the vulnerability to floods.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="Flood in Nepal" src="/userfiles/images/fLOOD.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 257px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 15px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Natural Disasters and Nepal:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Because of hazards and calamities such as landslides, avalanche, floods, flash floods, glacial lake outbursts etc., thousands of people are affected every year in Nepal. More than 1,000 people die annually in Nepal because of natural hazards, with almost 300 deaths due to floods and landslides alone. Heavy flooding in the past years has affected hundreds of families in eastern Nepal. Saptari is one of the most floodprone districts in the south eastern Terai region where heavy rains in 2007 affected over 50,000 households, displaced nearly 8,300 and destroyed over 3,500 houses. The 2007 South Asian floods killed eighty-four people in Nepal while 9,700 families were displaced. 28 of the country&rsquo;s 75 districts were affected.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	A survey done by ICIMOD and UNEP highlights that 26 lakes in Nepal are categorized as dangerous due to the threat of glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs). As highlighted by IPCC (2001), glacial melt is expected to increase under changed climate. According to some studies, almost 20 per cent of the present glaciated area above 5000 m altitude is likely to be snow and glacier free with an increase of air temperature by 1&ordm;C. Similarly, a 3-4&ordm;C temperature rise would result in the loss of 58 to 70 per cent of snow and glaciated areas with threat of GLOFs.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal is situated in the seismically active Himalayan mountain belt dominated by the northward movement of the Indian tectonic plate towards and below the Eurasian tectonic plate. The role of earthquakes is essentially to catch up with the rate of convergence of these plates. Every year, more than a thousand earthquakes of various magnitudes ranging from 2 to 5 on the Richter scale occur in the country. Nepal has a long record of destructive earthquakes that extends back to 1255 AD. According to historical evidence, Nepal has experienced nine major earthquakes over the last 700 years. Recurring earthquakes during the 20th century claimed more than 23,000 lives.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	How can South Asian countries fortify themselves in the face of inevitable natural disasters? Where Bangladesh seems to be taking steps to improve its resilience, countries like Nepal and Pakistan are struggling for solutions. Nepal may have ranked towards the middle of the World Risk Index at 99th out of the 173, but the country with a population of around 30 million people faces similar natural threats as Bangladesh. According to data compiled by the Disaster Preparedness Network Nepal (DPNN), 22,278 people in Nepal have lost their lives due to natural disasters since 1982. DPNN data also illustrates the natural disasters behind these fatalities &ndash; they are attributed to avalanches, earthquakes, floods and landslides, fire, pandemics, stampedes, and windstorm, hailstones and lightning. Although the demographics behind this figure has not been published, it would be a fair assumption based on the experience of other South Asian countries that those people with less stable homes &ndash; the urban poor &ndash; make up a significant fraction of the fatalities. DPNN Chairman Dr. Meen Bahadur Poudel notes that these fatalities are due to increase in the future.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	There are basic steps that can be taken in Kathmandu &ndash; and wider Nepal &ndash; to boost its resilience, such as enforcing building codes and executing emergency drills for the public. The National Society for Earthquake Technology, established in Nepal in 1988, has launched a program to make school buildings more earthquake-resistant. As a nationwide initiative, Nepal&rsquo;s Home Ministry has identified 83 areas in the Kathmandu Valley where infrastructure and food storage facilities will be built in the event of emergency. But more must be done to both prepare citizens for natural disasters and to update infrastructure to meet the region&rsquo;s seismic challenges.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Natural Disasters and Bangladesh:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	As per the Global Risk Index, Bangladesh has been declared the second most disaster-risk country in Asia&mdash;only after the Philippines&mdash;and sixth in the world after countries like Vanuatu, Tonga and Guatemala. Bangladesh is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons due to its exposure to seismic activity. The growing effects of climate change are also projected to exacerbate the country&rsquo;s exposure. In response, the Government of Bangladesh has taken steps this year to set up a national program for disaster risk reduction. In a June 2011 interview, Mohammad Abdul Qayyum, National Director of the Comprehensive Disaster Management Program, noted that state structural measures (i.e., building embankment, sea walls and anti-cyclone shelters), as well as non-structural measures (i.e., increasing individual and community preparedness, introducing community-managed early warning systems) are being put into place to reduce the potential impacts from natural disaster.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Recent Natural Disasters in Pakistan:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	In the year 2010, Pakistan was hit by worst floods in its history rendering 20 million people homeless and bringing one-fifth of the country under water. The floods, that left a trail of miseries that the affected population continues to battle even three years later, was a wakeup call for policy-makers, development experts, civil society and the general public that had not deemed climate change as well as the existing skewed development and resource distribution order as an important concern impacting the future of the country. The 2010 and later 2011 floods (in Sindh) exposed the extremely grim conditions that marked the daily lives of a large section of the population that had compromised access to basic amenities of life such as health, education, and shelter, and fundamental human rights, including decent livelihoods.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The story of Pakistan is a near cautionary tale for the rest of South Asia of what happens when institutions and systems are not in place to alleviate emergencies. Pakistan&rsquo;s plight since 2010 is well-documented. This year, at least 5.5 million people have been affected by flooding in the country: in late August, floods killed over 300 people and have damaged 1.2 million houses. Last year&rsquo;s floods affected 21 million people &ndash; both in rural and urban areas &ndash; and it is estimated that 800,000 families are still homeless in the wake of 2010&rsquo;s floods.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">The State Role &amp; the Samaritan&rsquo;s Dilemma&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	While developing countries bear the brunt of disasters, ironically these are also the countries which have made fewer efforts to adapt their physical environments to mitigate the impact of such disasters and to insure themselves against disaster risks, partly because of the disincentive known as the &ldquo;Samaritan&rsquo;s dilemma&rdquo; (i.e. nations may under-invest in protective measures since they expect foreign donors to help when such disasters strike).&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The Samaritan&rsquo;s dilemma, on the other hand, may arise from households and firms under-investing in insurance and undertaking adaptive measures on the presumption that governments would come to their rescue; governments may also under-invest in the hope that foreign donors would bail them out; and rich countries may find it difficult to scale down their ex post assistance in the absence of significant ex ante protective measures by governments in developing countries.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	New financial instruments (e.g. catastrophic bonds, swaps, and weather derivatives) have been devised to deal with disaster risk but with little impact.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Tackling Natural Disasters: Risk Mitigation&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Risk mitigation through adaptation of physical environment includes land use planning (e.g. avoiding construction on seismic fault lines, vulnerable coastal regions, and ensuring that buildings are resistant to hurricanes and earthquakes); prevention of soil erosion; building of dams for flood control, and seawalls to break storm surges. Governments could also promote farming practices so that farmers can cope better with climatic variations-drought resistant crops-and adapt to longer-term changes.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Adverse selection is a problem in disaster insurance but less than in other insurance markets, as many disasters can be predicted more accurately, as also the value of property at stake. In developing countries, however, specific problems arise from the thinness of insurance markets and ill-defined property rights.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Two other problems are arguably more serious. One is the difficulty of risk spreading and the second is linked to the Samaritan&rsquo;s dilemma. While risk-spreading in developing countries in general should not be difficult &mdash; since the losses they face are a small fraction of global resources &mdash; it often is because of the segmented and shallow insurance markets.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="Disaster Management" src="/userfiles/images/DISASTER.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 404px; margin-left: 25px; margin-right: 25px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Donor Concerns &amp; Issues in Disaster Mitigation:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Some observations regarding donor concerns and a more coordinated disaster prevention and mitigation strategy are made below.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull; A major strategic concern is mainstreaming of disaster prevention and mitigation among multilateral development agencies and governments. This rests on the presumption that the response to disasters has been reactive and tactical, and not strategic in the sense that the emergencies caused by natural hazards (e.g. floods, earthquakes) are not periodic but on-going in the context of highly vulnerable countries.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull; Recovery from a disaster and poverty reduction go hand in hand. Choices made during the initial phase could influence the outcomes in terms of poverty favourably or unfavourably over time.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">SAARC Framework on Disaster Management:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	It is also important to point out that a regional response to natural disasters, whether in the shape of the SAARC Framework on Disaster Management or other bilateral and trilateral institutional arrangements that states may think of, is extremely important.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In May 2011, the Secretary General of SAARC presented a draft SAARC Agreement on Rapid Response to Natural Disasters to the Inter-governmental meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He pointed out quoting global statistics, that over the past forty years, South Asia faced as many as 1,333 disasters that killed 980,000 people, affected 2.4 billion lives and damaged assets worth US$105 billion. This loss is by far the highest among the recorded disasters in various geographical regions.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The SAARC Disaster Management Centre (SDMC) was set up in October 2006 at the premises of National Institute of Disaster Management in New Delhi. The Centre has the mandate to serve eight Member Countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In a recent development, Seventeenth Summit of SAARC was held in Addu city of Maldives on 10-11 November 2011. In Addu declaration, member countries expressed their consciousness of the environmental degradation and particular vulnerabilities of the region to the threat of climate change. The declaration also welcomed the signing of the SAARC Agreement on Rapid Response to Natural Disasters.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Prior to this in May 2011 an inter-governmental meeting on draft SAARC Agreement on Rapid Response to Natural Disasters held in Colombo, Sri Lanka reached a broad consensus on the Agreement. This agreement was adopted in Seventeenth SAARC Summit held in Maldives in November 2011. The draft agreement based on the principle of respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity of all member states aims to put in place an effective mechanism for rapid response to disasters to achieve substantial reduction in loss of lives and loss of social, economic and environmental assets in times of a disaster.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In a more promising development, the Abu Dhabi Dialogue Group comprising seven states sharing the rivers rising in the Greater Himalayas is expected to meet this year to adopt a joint initiative to minimize the impact of melting of glaciers. The group comprising Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India and Nepal was set up in 2006 in Abu Dhabi. It would strive to achieve within ten years a cooperative and knowledge based partnership for managing fairly and developing the Himalayan River Systems to bring prosperity, peace and social harmony and environmental sustainability from the source to the sea.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'South Asia has a population that is vulnerable to risks in terms of sudden fluctuations in markets and natural shocks arising from weather. This region is also marked by high disparities in income, health and education.',
			'sortorder' => '1574',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1712',
			'article_category_id' => '171',
			'title' => 'Malaysia: Expanding Relations With Nepal',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<img alt="Nepal Malaysia Relationship" src="/userfiles/images/nepal%20malaysia.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 341px;" /></div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Sushila Budhathoki</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	On 3 July, 2013, two teams of Nepali players from Taekwondo and Table Tennis consisting 13 members in total went to Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia to participate in Second South Asian ITF Taekwondo Championship and Seventh Asia-Pacific Veteran&rsquo;s Table Tennis Championship respectively. On the Same day, around half of them were travelling to Malaysia and more than 600 Nepalis were heading there for jobs. Such a growing relation between Malaysia and Nepal in a people to people level has proved that Malaysia has become a preferred destination not only for employment but also for holidays and sports.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Malaysia achieved its Independence from Britain in 31 August 1957. The country is a federation of 13 states operating within a constitutional monarchy and the Government comprises the federal, state and local government. The real gross domestic product (GDP) in Malaysia grew by an average of 6.3 % per annum during 1970 to 2012. According to Malaysian Embassy in Nepal, Malaysia emerged from a low-income agricultural and commodity-based economy to a successful middle-income economy over the decades with the help of sustained rapid economic growth. This strong economic performance has helped improve the quality of life for Malaysians and supported widespread advances in education, health, infrastructure, housing and public amenities.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	According to the Embassy, the course of Malaysia&rsquo;s development was shaped by the vision, thinking and efforts of many of the country&rsquo;s great leaders and thinkers. Among many visions and policies to the launch of Vision 2020 in 1991, by the then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed outlined the aim of attaining developed nation status by the year 2020. And the country is now at the last phase of its journey towards 2020 target.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Nepal-Malaysia Relations&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	The diplomatic relations between Nepal and Malaysia dates back to 1st January, 1960. The 53 years of diplomatic relation between the two countries has been cordial and friendly from the start. In 2003, both the country established their residential missions in the capitals of the other country. Both the countries are members of the United Nations and the Non-aligned Movement. Malaysia recognized Nepal as a source country for foreign workers since the beginning of 2001. Currently around 500,000 Nepalis are believed to be presently working in various sectors in Malaysia.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Malaysia shares its development experiences and expertise with other developing countries through MTCP (Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme ). Nepal is currently ranked at 14th among 137 MTCP recipient member countries of Malaysia. According to Malaysian Embassy in Nepal, a total of 525 Nepali participants have attended various courses in agriculture, broadcasting, economic planning, archive, public administration and diplomacy under the programme. In 2008 a total of 239 students were enrolled in Public Higher Education Institutions and Private Higher Education Institutions in 2008, according to International Students Statistics by Minister for Higher Education Malaysia.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;"><img alt="Quick Guidance Malaysia" src="/userfiles/images/qgmalysia.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; width: 300px; height: 301px;" />Prospects in Tourism&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	The relationship between Nepal and Malaysia could get a height if the tourism sector is linked together. The tourism sector of Malaysia is the third largest foreign exchange earner of the country.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The country is also the ninth most-visited country in the world, with 24.7 million tourists visiting the country in 2011. Malaysia is celebrating VMY (Visit Malaysia Year) in 2014 and is expecting to receive 28.8 million in foreign tourist arrivals during VMY 2014. According to holidayhometimes.com, an initiative by TripVillas.com the country has targeted a $ 52.8 billion tourism receipt and 36 million tourist arrivals by 2020.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	There are islands and beaches, city excitement, nature and adventure and cultural attractions in Malaysia that lure tourists all around the world. The country has everything for the family,-theme parks, jungle trails, sports, water sports and one of the highest numbers of golf courses.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Malaysia is also promoting tourism Malaysia My Second Home, Medical Tourism, Education Tourism and Golf Tourism. Malaysia MY Second Home programme under Ministry of Tourism and Culture allows tourists to stay in Malaysia with a multiple entry social visit pass. Similarly, with more than 2000 courses the country is promoting Education Tourism and has been attracting students all over the world. And with well-equipped private hospitals, it is promoting medical tourism since 2009. Malaysia is preferred healthcare travel destination in the Asian region.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The growing number of Tourists from both the countries has been creating aspiration in expanding tourism. According to the data by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), a total of 663 Malaysian tourists visited Nepal in May 2012 while the number reached to 1609 in May 2013- a 142.7 per cent growth. Similarly, 7,831 and 11,681 Malaysians visited Nepal in 2011 and 2012 respectively while 2,192 Nepali tourists Nepalis visited Malaysia in 2012.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The Air Services Agreement between Nepal and Malaysia in 2007 allowed the carriers to operate up to 21 flights a week and direct air connection between the two capitals started in 2003. The presence of Malaysian budget carrier Air Asia X, Malaysian flag-carrier Malaysia Airlines and Nepal&rsquo;s national flag-carrier- Nepal Airlines have played the vital role in arranging daily flights between Kathmandu and Kuala Lumpur.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Trade and Investment&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Trade between the two countries is limited and is in favor of the Malaysia. Exports from Nepal mainly include paper, tobacco, flour, coffee, tea, mate and spices, electrical machinery and equipment, works of art, collectors` pieces and antiques. The imports from Malaysia include animal or vegetable fats, inorganic and organic chemicals, essential oils, perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations, plastics, edible vegetables, tubers, edible fruits and nuts.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="Export Import malaysia" src="/userfiles/images/exportimport%20form%20malaysia.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 77px;" /></div>
<div>
	According to MoFA, Foreign Direct Investment made by Malaysia in Nepal stands at Rs 245.18 Million in 13 different factories and industries creating 444 job opportunities. Malaysia-Nepal Business Council has already being established and active since 2008. In November 2011, Malaysian and Nepali companies signed six Memorandums of Understanding on education, training, trading and services. The country is also looking into the prospects of investing in the hydropower sector, or any other relevant areas in Nepal. They also negotiated with three Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) on investments in manufacturing, tourism and retail marketing.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="Malaysian Investment" src="/userfiles/images/malysian%20investment.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 80px;" /></div>',
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			'description' => 'On 3 July, 2013, two teams of Nepali players from Taekwondo and Table Tennis consisting 13 members in total went to Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia to participate in Second South Asian ITF Taekwondo Championship and Seventh Asia-Pacific Veteran’s Table Tennis Championship respectively.',
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	(int) 3 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1711',
			'article_category_id' => '150',
			'title' => 'Business Briefs (26 August - 01 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="John Player’s End of Season Sale" src="/userfiles/images/jp.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 29px;" />John Player&rsquo;s End of Season Sale</span></strong></div>
<div>
	John Players, premium men&rsquo;s wear from Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd has announced &lsquo;End of Season Sale&rsquo; that offers discount up to 50 per cent. The discounts are applicable on wide range of John Players garments. The discount can be availed at outlets of &nbsp;John Players at Bluebird Mall - Tripureshwor, Teendhara - Durbar Marg, &nbsp;City Center (1st Floor) &ndash; Kamalpokhari , Maitidevi Complex ( Maitidevi ), Civil Mall (Sundhara) and other leading garment stores across the country.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="TVS Phoenix 125" src="/userfiles/images/tvs(1).jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 113px;" />TVS Phoenix 125 Launched</span></strong></div>
<div>
	CG Moto Corp, the authorized distributor of TVS two-wheelers in Nepal has launched TVS Phoenix 125 in the market. According to a press release, Phoenix is a premium executive deluxe 125cc motorcycle and is one of the most feature-filled products. The 4-speed transmission of the motorcycle delivers 11 PS &nbsp;of power at 8000 rpm. The motorcycle is available in the market at an introductory price of Rs 169,900. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="Honda’s Showroom in Kohalpur" src="/userfiles/images/hnd.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 110px;" />Honda&rsquo;s Showroom in Kohalpur</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Honda has opened a new showroom in Kohalpur of Banke on 21 August. The showroom will deal in Honda motorcycles and scooters; ad will also provide the services of exchange and financing. The showroom sold twenty motorcycles on the day of inauguration, and also offered gifts, cash discounts and free helmets and accessories to the customers.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="Tata Safari " src="/userfiles/images/ts.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 102px;" />Tata Safari Storme in Pokhara</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Siprdai Trading has started the sale of Tata Safari Storme in Pokhara. Dubbed as the &lsquo;Real SUV&rsquo;, Storme is claimed to be the combination of luxury, power and off-road performance. The SUV is powered by a 2.2 litre VariCOR turbocharged engine delivering a maximum output of 140 ps and a peak torque of 320 NM. The price of Safari Storme starts from Rs 3.88 million.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="Food, Drinks and Hospitality Exhibition" src="/userfiles/images/fd.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 98px;" />Food, Drinks and Hospitality Exhibition from September 18</span></strong></div>
<div>
	House of Rajkarnicar Exhibitions and Events is going to organize Seagram&rsquo;s Royal Stag Food Drinks and Hospitality Exhibition 2013 from September 18. According to a press release, the Exhibition will be the first of its kind in Nepal focusing exclusively on food, beverage &amp; hospitality. The four-day event will have 150 exhibitors, two thematic pavilions and eight special events.&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'ohn Players, premium men’s wear from Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd has announced ‘End of Season Sale’ that offers discount up to 50 per cent.',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1710',
			'article_category_id' => '115',
			'title' => 'Tech Briefs (26 August - 01 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Keyboard to Get Rid of Facebook Addiction</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Two doctoral candidates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a new leyboard device that is capable of shocking users overindulging online. The developers of the keyboard, Robert R. Morris and Dan McDuff said that the keyboard is able to monitors application usage and if it senses that too much time is being spent on a particular website or application it give a shock to its users, asserting that the shock is just unpleasant and not dangerous.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">World&rsquo;s Most Precise Clock Deviced</span></strong></div>
<div>
	US scientists have said that they have built the world&rsquo;s most precise clock, whose ticking rate varies less than two parts in one quintillion, or 10 times better than any other. &ldquo;The clock, made from the element ytterbium, could be used for technological advancements beyond time-keeping, such as navigation systems, magnetic fields and temperature,&rdquo; National Institute of Standards and Technology physicist, Andrew Ludlow, said in a statement. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Sony Names PS4 Launch Dates</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Sony has announced the launch dates for its PlayStation 4 console.The next-generation games machine will become available in North America on 15 November and Europe on 29 November.Its rival Microsoft has only said that the Xbox One will go on sale some time the same month.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Microsoft CEO Ballmer to retire</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced Friday that he will retire within the next 12 months. &ldquo;There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time,&rdquo; Ballmer said. &ldquo;We have embarked on a new strategy with a new organization and we have an amazing senior leadership team.&rdquo;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Ultrafast Camera Designed to Work Like Human Retina</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Photos and videos are not lightweight files-they quickly add up to gigabytes of data which can be a dealbreaker a lot of research. Engineers at the Swiss company iniLabs created a better way-a camera that borrows its mechanics from the marvels of the human retina. &nbsp;The Dynamic Vision Sensor (DVS) works a lot like the human retina which makes for a hyper efficient and ultrafast camera. The individual neurons in our eyeballs don&rsquo;t actually record all of the information in our field of view; they just spot the changes in movement.&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'Two doctoral candidates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a new leyboard device that is capable of shocking users overindulging online.',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1709',
			'article_category_id' => '149',
			'title' => 'Zero-MSG Noodles',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Bhawani Timilsina</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>
				<img alt="Arun KC, Sales Director, Himalayan Snax and Noodles Pvt Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/akc.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 208px;" /></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td style="text-align: center;">
				<div>
					<strong>Arun KC</strong></div>
				<div>
					Sales Director, Himalayan Snax</div>
				<div>
					and Noodles Pvt Ltd</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
<div>
	Mayos instant noodle has retained its position as one of the largest selling brands in the Nepali market. &nbsp;&ldquo;With several years of expertise and commitment, we have carved a niche for ourselves in the market,&rdquo; says Arun KC, Sales Director of Himalayan Snax and Noodles Pvt Ltd (HSNPL). &nbsp;KC says that noodle consumers were long waiting for a distinct taste in their noodle snack. &ldquo;Sensing this opportunity, we launched Mayos noodle in 2000 and received an overwhelming response which for us quite excited.&rdquo;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Mayos noodle is now available as Mayos Cup Noodles with distinct additional flavours such as Mayos Khatta Meetha &amp; Mast Masala, chicken &amp; vegetarian package and Mayos Hot and Sour.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The company holds 25 per cent of the market share in the brown noodles selling market, KC says. With an aim to serve consumers with healthy products, the company is now producing noodles with OMEGA-3 (Fatty Acid) and has avoided the use of Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) after growing complaints from consumers. The company made this decision after conducting a research that found that use of MSG could damage the health of consumers. &ldquo;Being healthy as well as tasty, we can assure that the quality of our noodle is distinct from others,&rdquo; he adds.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	KC says that the company makes no compromise when it comes to the health and taste of the consumer. &ldquo;This is the reason why we have always been making an effort to come up with a wide variety of flavours.&rdquo; &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The company retails Mayos noodles at Rs 15 per pack of 75gms in both chicken and vegetable flavours with nutritional value per pack at 363 calories and 347.6 calories, respectively.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The company at first worked in collaboration with the Thai company Thai President Foods PLC. ShakaLaka Boom, Ru-Chee, Lekali, J-mee, Hurray, Doharee, Jhilke and Humpty Dumpty Krunchy King are other noodles brands under the HSNPL Company.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;&ldquo;In the beginning, the tagline &lsquo;It&rsquo;s the wonderful Mayos Noodles&rsquo; helped us strengthen our branding. We also came up with coupon schemes as a promotional campaign later on, KC recalls, claiming the brand has been successful as it has stayed in the minds and hearts of people.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	According to the KC, competition has increased as a wide range of noodles have emerged in recent times. &ldquo;We do focus on experimenting with innovative concepts help us identify with the interest of consumers,&rdquo; he mentions, with regard to this. &ldquo;In order to integrate novel flavours and packaging format, a mixed fortification of Vitamin A, Calcium, Iron and Proteins has been introduced to all flavours of Mayos products. The Vitamin A, Calcium and Iron components in in Shaka Laka Boom and Ru-Chee noodles was a part of our contribution to address malnutrition since 2007,&rdquo; he says.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Mayos products have also won fame in an international market. &ldquo;Throughout the years, our domestic markets as well as export markets have had constant expansion into leading regions,&rdquo; he says. &nbsp;&ldquo;We have grown up now from being a local product to an internationally recognized one over our 13-year-long journey, and our popularity has been driven by the trust of our consumers,&rdquo; he states.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In the seven years of operation in the export market, HSNPL has witnessed a lot of ups and downs, but it is the customers&rsquo; satisfaction policy helps HSNPL stand on its distinct value, KC reveals. &ldquo;Our main motto has always been customer satisfaction &ndash; whether it is for health reasons or satisfaction in taste,&rdquo; he says.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'Mayos instant noodle has retained its position as one of the largest selling brands in the Nepali market.',
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	(int) 6 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1708',
			'article_category_id' => '101',
			'title' => 'A Little Work, A Little Play',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong>--By Upashana Neupane &nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="Subodh Rana" src="/userfiles/images/mt.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;width: 200px; height: 225px;" />Balancing family life with a demanding professional one is a tough act to follow. However, Subodh Rana, CEO of Malla Travels and Trek Services, however, does not seem face much difficulty. Taking out time for his family or enjoying life beyond office hours is not a big deal for him. &ldquo;You just have to balance your work and family life simultaneously, and it is not that difficult,&rdquo; Rana says.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Being the CEO of a leading travel and trek company, Rana travels a lot which makes his life a continuous vacation sometimes. &ldquo;I travel a lot for my work or holidays. And though I spend a major chunk of my time in office doing office-related work, I make time to take my family along in my travels too,&rdquo; he says.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Rana shares that his favourite holiday destination is Malaysia. &ldquo;Because Malaysia is a liberal country and the culture and cuisine are very appropriate for Nepalis. I think it&rsquo;s a best destination for Nepalis,&rdquo; he says. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Apart from travelling, Rana indulges in two other things: Sports and Blogging.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	A big-time sports lover, Rana&rsquo;s favourite is Lawn Tennis. If you can&rsquo;t find him in office when he&rsquo;s not traveling, you&rsquo;ll definitely find him playing tennis. &ldquo;Tennis helps me keep physically fit,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It rejuvenates the energy inside me.&rdquo;&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Another equally big part of Rana&rsquo;s personality is that he is an active blogger. He engages himself in blogging whenever he gets spare time. &ldquo;I especially love to blog about history,&rdquo; he shares. &ldquo;As I am from a Rana family, the subject interests me over anything else.&rdquo; Blogging relaxes him from the everyday hustle bustle and gives mental satisfaction. &ldquo;Just as tennis is a physical exercise, blogging is a mental exercise for me,&rdquo; he shares.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Rana plans to holiday in Thailand next with his family. Keeping rejuvenated with his hobbies and his job, he definitely seems to find ample opportunity to break away from corporate monotony.</div>',
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			'description' => 'Balancing family life with a demanding professional one is a tough act to follow. However, Subodh Rana, CEO of Malla Travels and Trek Services, however, does not seem face much difficulty.',
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			'id' => '1707',
			'article_category_id' => '193',
			'title' => '“IT Sector Has Good Prospects With TV Broadcast Digitisation”',
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			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><img alt="Saroj Bajracharya, Managing Director of Soheto Nepal Pvt Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/sb.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 249px;" />Saroj Bajracharya</strong> is the Managing Director of Soheto Nepal Pvt Ltd &ndash; a company involved in various trading businesses. Soheto is the supplier of Sony Medical products and is also providing consultancy and integration services to TV and radio stations along with broadcasting equipments. Bajracharya spoke to The Corporate&rsquo;s <strong>Sanjeev Sharma</strong> about Soheto and his experience in business. <strong>Excerpts:</strong></span></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Could you brief us about your company?</strong></div>
<div>
	SOHETO Nepal was officially registered in 2006 as an authorised distributor of Sony broadcast and professional equipments in Nepal. We are the suppliers of Sony Medical products such as monitors, printers, cameras and recorders for medical diagnostics and imaging purposes. We have managed to expand our business to various sectors and have been focusing on providing services to the broadcast and telecom sector. We supply equipments, provide system design and integration services to TV and radio stations. &nbsp;In total, we have around 90 per cent of shares in the supply of equipments in the television broadcast sector. We also do computer hardware and software support, supply and consultancy business from sister companies Smart Enterprise and Smart Technology. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What motivated you to enter this sector?</strong></div>
<div>
	I graduated in Electronics and Communication Engineering in 1993 and felt that there is opportunity in IT business. In 1994, along with some friends, I embarked on computer trading business. At first, we assemble and supply computers to individuals and for commercial customers. I focused on the computer trading business for over a decade and got involved in the broadcast business 2006 onwards. In my experience, we got good exposure and an opportunity to work with various big companies while working in the broadcast business. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>How do you assess the IT market in Nepal?</strong></div>
<div>
	The sector is driven by emerging technologies. One should remain up-to&ndash;date in order to keep with the pace. Those who fail to move along with the times will be left behind. The demand in the market is constantly changing and we have been mobilising ourselves accordingly. Embracing new ventures helps to keep alive and fresh.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What challenges do you think the IT business in Nepal is facing?</strong></div>
<div>
	Purchasing power has been declining in recent times. The sales volume of professional cameras, for instance, has been decreasing as compared to the early years of its market presence. Political instability, too, has definitely had a negative impact on business.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What are your business plans as of now?</strong></div>
<div>
	We have been waiting to upgrade standards through television broadcast digitisation. The IT sector has good prospects with this.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What impact will digitisation have in the Nepali market?</strong></div>
<div>
	It is a demand of the time. It is challenging to switch over to new technology and it will not happen all of a sudden. Though people are now reluctant towards it, it will certainly have good impact.</div>',
			'published' => true,
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			'description' => 'Soheto is the supplier of Sony Medical products and is also providing consultancy and integration services to TV and radio stations along with broadcasting equipments.',
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	(int) 8 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1706',
			'article_category_id' => '116',
			'title' => 'Power Summit 2013 From Today',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	The Independent Power Producers&rsquo; Association Nepal (IPPAN) will host the Power Summit 2013, in Kathmandu, on August 26-27, to critically review the performance of the domestic hydropower sector, discuss hurdles preventing the sector&rsquo;s development, and identify ways to quicken the pace of the sector&rsquo;s development.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The two-day conference to be organised with a theme &lsquo;Hastening the pace of hydropower development&rsquo;, will be participated by high-ranking government officials, the private sector and delegates from over a dozen countries, including the US, China, India and Norway, among others.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;We are trying to make the conference as thematic as possible and most of the focus would be on finding why country&rsquo;s hydro sector has not been able to take off and obstructions that need to be removed so that development can gain momentum,&rdquo; IPPAN vice president Khadga Bahadur Bista said.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Although it is touted that Nepal has the potential to produce 83,000MW of electricity, the country so far has been able to tap less than 800MW of electricity from the rivers. As a result, hours-long power outage has become a norm in the country, which is affecting production at various industries and hindering country&rsquo;s economic development.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	To address these issues, the conference will discuss the status of hydro power projects required to meet domestic energy demands, electricity demand forecast, power market integration, transmission line and power market management, &nbsp;pricing strategies and foreign markets that can import electricity from Nepal.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;The conference will also delve into strategies on financing projects to meet domestic demands, risks associated with these projects, and mitigation measures,&rdquo; says an IPPAN statement. The conference will also discuss harmonisation of various laws for timely implementation of projects and ways to channelise investment of non-resident Nepalis.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;We shall, therefore, focus our deliberations under the following four categories &mdash; projects to meet domestic demand with domestic investment, projects to meet domestic demand with foreign investment, projects for power export with foreign investment, and power markets and their management and integration,&rdquo; Bista said.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The conference, to be jointly organised by PTC India Ltd and Non-Resident Nepalis Association, is being supported by the Energy Ministry and the Investment Board of Nepal.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'created' => '2013-08-27',
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			'description' => 'The Independent Power Producers’ Association Nepal (IPPAN) will host the Power Summit 2013, in Kathmandu, on August 26-27, to critically review the performance of the domestic hydropower sector, discuss hurdles preventing the sector’s development, and identify ways to quicken the pace of the sector’s development.',
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	(int) 9 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1705',
			'article_category_id' => '100',
			'title' => 'Tourism Briefs (26 August - 01 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Food Festival in Pokhara in December</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	The Restaurant and Bar Association of Kaski is organising the Second City REBAN Festival and Food Festival in December. Organising a press meet, KP Sharma, President of REBAN said that the festival is being organised from December 6 to 15. A total of 115 commercial stalls will be featured in the Festival, showcasing various cuisines as well as cultural programmes. Sharma said that organisers have formed a 24-member organising committee and 10 other coordinators for the successful execution of the festival. The estimated investment for the festival is around Rs 2.7 million, and the total income is expected to be around Rs 2.9 million. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">View Tower to Be Constructed In Dharche</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<img alt="Dharche trekking trail" src="/userfiles/images/DHH.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 94px;" />A view tower is to be constructed in Dharche trekking trail of at Lower Manaslu region of Gorkha with the motive to develop tourism activities. &ldquo;The feasibility study of the tower has reached its final stage,&rdquo; said Sane Gurung, President of Manaslu Tourism Development Committee. According to Gurung, the tower will be 3,200m high from where tourists can view the mountains. &ldquo;Though the total investment has not been fixed, we have estimated it to be around Rs 2 million,&rdquo; Gurung said. The committee has been searching for some donors for financial assistance. &ldquo;We have been holding talks with Gorkha District Tourism Development Committee for help and will complete the construction within a year,&rdquo; he said. Gurung informed that Lapu VDC has allocated Rs 100,000, Laprak VDC Rs 25, 000 and Thumi VDC Rs 29, 000 for the project. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Qatar Airways to Fly Dreamliners to India</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<img alt="Qatar Airways" src="/userfiles/images/QA(1).jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 102px;" />Qatar Airways will launch its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner flights to India next month. From 1 September 2013, the airline will commence daily Dreamliner services to both Delhi and Bengaluru, using the 254-seat aircraft. &ldquo;We are delighted to introduce Qatar Airways&rsquo; Dreamliner on two of our important Indian routes,&rdquo; said the Doha-based airline&rsquo;s CEO, Akbar Al Baker. Qatar Airways&rsquo; B787s offer 22 flat-bed business class seats, all with aisle access, and 232 seats in economy class, in a 3&ndash;3&ndash;3 layout. The Delhi and Bengaluru services will mark the first time Qatar Airways has flown its Dreamliners to destinations in the Asia Pacific region. (Traveldailymedia.com)</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">The Travel Preferences of Young and Old</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<img alt="The Travel Preferences of Young and Old" src="/userfiles/images/TRA.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 79px;" />Together, Germany and the UK represent Europe&rsquo;s largest travel source market. Commissioned by ITB Berlin, IPK International examined the travel preferences of both younger and older holidaymakers in a special analysis of the World Travel Monitor, which shows that at 19 per cent (13 million trips) Germans occupy close to one-fifth of Europe&rsquo;s entire holiday travel market for young people. In 2012, European 15 to 29 year-olds undertook a total of 69 million holiday trips abroad, whereas the corresponding figure for the UK was only six million (nine per cent). By contrast, the UK&rsquo;s older generation is ahead in the travel statistics. Of all the European holiday trips undertaken by the older generation close to one-fifth (19 per cent / 15 million trips) are by Britons, whereas the market share occupied by older Germans is 17 per cent (13.5 million trips). (Traveldailynews.com)</div>',
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			'description' => 'The Restaurant and Bar Association of Kaski is organising the Second City REBAN Festival and Food Festival in December.',
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	(int) 10 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1704',
			'article_category_id' => '157',
			'title' => 'Kakori’s Kingly Delights',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Sujan Tiwari</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Kakori Restaurant at Soaltee Crowne Plaza is one of the best destinations in Kathmandu to enjoy Indian cuisine. Kakori, named after a town in Lucknow, is open only for dinner and serves gourmet Punjabi, Kashmiri, Rajasthani, Awadhi and Nepali dishes. Balaram Pathak, Food and Beverage Director at Soaltee claims that Kakori is the best Indian fine dining restaurant in Kathmandu. &nbsp;&ldquo;We have specially trained manpower, we offer excellent service and scrumptious Indian delicacies in a classy ambience,&rdquo; says Pathak.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The restaurant is located by the swimming pool, and offers a secluded seating. The place is ideal for business as well as family gatherings. The setup reflects the regal era, and is a rich fusion of Nepali and Indian architecture. The place is adequately lit, and has highlighted niches on a white wall with antique artefacts. The seating is cosy and classy at the same time, perfect for spending long evenings. The kitchen is behind transparent glass so that customers can see how the food is being prepared. &nbsp;The major cutomers of Kakori are in-house guests of Soaltee, expatriates, corporate clients and the local people.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Kakori has on its menu assorted starters, mains and deserts, and specializes in kebabs, raan and biryanis among manu other dishes. The place is renowned for kakori kebabs, which is one of the best sellers here. Legend has it that one of the Nawabs of Lucknow once received a complaint from a British officer that the kebabs served at dinner were too coarse. Feeling insulted, the Nawab ordered his cooks to formulate a new kebab recipe. The cooks tried for ten days and finally came up with a kebab recipe that was very tender and juicy. This recipe is now renowned as Kakori Kebab, and the best place to enjoy those kebabs is at Kakori. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="kakori meny" src="/userfiles/images/1(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 15px;" /></div>
<div>
	One of the most popular dishes here is Raan-e-Awadh. It is a roasted lamb dish prepared with meticulous attention. For the dish, the lamb is first pot-roasted for more than six hours with salt and spices. It is then marinated in yogurt, nutmeg, chilli and other spices and butter basted. The lamb is finally cooked on a tandoor that gives it its signature smoky flavour. The lamb is very well cooked, evenly spiced and is very succulent. It can be enjoyed as a starter or main course. Another special starter at Kakori is Nasheela Jheenga. The dish is prepared by marinating Tiger Prawns in slat, pepper, ginger garlic paste and lemon juice. After a few hours, the prawns are marinated for the second time in yogurt, slat, yellow chilli, turmeric and other spices. The prawns are then grilled with cognac, butter, lemon juice and kebab masala. This could be one of the best prawn delicacies you have ever savoured.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	There are numerous other starters like Gulabi Salmon Tikka, Murgh Malai and Lahsooni Tangri. A few Nepali starters are also on the menu that includes Khasi ko Bhutuwa, a stir fried mutton dish and Chara Sandheko, a smoked chicken dish enjoyed cold. &nbsp;Kakori doesn&rsquo;t disappoint its vegetarian customers as it has many veg options too.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;Kakori&rsquo;s menu is quite extensive as there are plenty of main courses to choose from. There are many spicy veg and non-veg curries, biryanis and rice dishes, and different varieties of naan and rotis. Shorbas and the offered Daal varities also go very well with the freshly prepared naans and rice too. To put a sweet end to the meal, Kakori has a nice assortment of mouth watering desserts. Carrot and beetroot pudding, rasgulla, rasmalai and other traditional Indian desserts will keep you wanting for more.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	All in all, Kakori is a fine dining restaurant with delicious Indian cuisine, a soothing ambience and personalized service. Visit once and the dinner could be one of your most memorable ones.</div>',
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			'created' => '2013-08-27',
			'modified' => '2013-09-19',
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			'description' => 'Kakori Restaurant at Soaltee Crowne Plaza is one of the best destinations in Kathmandu to enjoy Indian cuisine.',
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	(int) 11 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1703',
			'article_category_id' => '99',
			'title' => 'Nepal Wins Best Print Promotion In TTF2013',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has bagged the &lsquo;Best Print Promotion&rsquo; award in Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF) 2013 at &nbsp;Ahmedabad, India. According to a press statement from NTB, the award was attributed to the excellent combination of content and substance of the Nepali stall in the Fair. NTB participated in the fair in Ahmedabad, Gujurat from 16-18 August 2013 with the aim of increasing awareness and educating Indian travellers on Nepal&#39;s tourism products and offerings targeting upcoming season of Dashara and Puja Holidays in Gujurat.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The three day fair attracted more than 20000 visitors. 100 stalls featuring a dozen Indian states along with destination countries Nepal, Thailand and Malaysia were present the fair. Commemorating this year as Mount Everest Diamond Jubilee Celebrations, Nepal was marketed as an ultimate adventure destination. According to the statement, Indian adventure enthusiasts are seen exploring various adventure travel options in recent days.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	NTB and the participating company from Nepal like Yeti Airlines Domestic, Monterosa Treks and Expedition, Nepal Holiday Maker Tours and Travel and Fishtail Tours and Travels among others engaged in both B2B and B2C promotion during the fair.Pilgrimage, Leisure, Soft Adventure Activities and Muktinath pilgrimage tour drew special attractions.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	India is the most significant market for the Nepalese tourism industry with approximately 1/3rd total market share. In 2012, Nepal received 165,815 tourists from India by air which is 20.6 per cent increase as compared to 2011. In the period of Jan-July 2013 itself, Nepal received 89,500 tourists from India.</div>',
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			'created' => '2013-08-27',
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			'description' => 'Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has bagged the ‘Best Print Promotion’ award in Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF) 2013 at  Ahmedabad, India.',
			'sortorder' => '1564',
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	(int) 12 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1702',
			'article_category_id' => '152',
			'title' => 'Focus Briefs (26 August - 01 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">CG Introduces New Range of ACs</span></strong></div>
<div>
	CG, a subsidiary of the Chaudhary Group introduced its new range of CG air conditioners in June this year. The company has rolled out four models of air conditioners: the CG- 09THCA, CG-12THCA, CG-18THCA and CG-24THCA. The new range of air conditioners comes with a built-in voltage stabiliser that works even on low voltage, the company said in a press statement. &ldquo;The benefits are very clear; it saves money as there is no need to buy an additional voltage stabiliser,&rdquo; the company said. The products are suitable for the Tarai region of the country that experiences high voltage fluctuation. CG Electronics has stated that the new air conditioners are quiet and calm, and have quick performance. Likewise, the devices come with a cordless luxury remote control. CG air conditioners have a compact design. &ldquo;It also has an &lsquo;excellent&rsquo; new look&mdash;mirror floral printed design that adds beauty to the consumers&rsquo; home as well as work. With their low power consumption feature, these devices have become more energy efficient and reduce the monthly power bill,&rdquo; the company further said. CG Electronics has priced the appliances in the range of Rs 40,580 to Rs 77,990. &nbsp;All products come with a 12-month warranty.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Panasonic Launches FSV Air Conditioners</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Panasonic, a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronic products and the Triveni Group, Panasonic&rsquo;s authorised distributor for Air Conditioners and Home Appliance products in Nepal, launched a full line up of FSV air conditioners in Nepal recently. Panasonic&rsquo;s FSV is a reverse cycle of the VRF system specifically designed for the most demanding application where precise cooling or heating load control is needed, such as in offices, shops and multi-storey apartments. The FSV system enables a single outdoor unit to power up to 64 indoor units. The indoor units can be a mix of Wall Mounted, Cassette, Mini Cassette and mid and Low Static Pressure ducted units with a total capacity of up to 60HP. The system offers users a variety of control options including group control, web control and building management system integration. Additionally, the FSV allows flexibility with piping design, allowing a height difference of up to 50m between outdoor and indoor units, and a maximum piping length&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	of 1,000m.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'CG, a subsidiary of the Chaudhary Group introduced its new range of CG air conditioners in June this year.',
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	(int) 13 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1701',
			'article_category_id' => '192',
			'title' => 'Yeti Air And Unilever Awarded Best Managed  And Joint Venture Companies In Nepal',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	Yeti Airlines was awarded &lsquo;Best Managed Company of the Year 2013&rsquo; by the New Business Age Pvt. Ltd. amid a ceremony titled &lsquo;Newbiz Conclave &amp; Business Excellence Awards Ceremony 2013&rsquo; in capital on last Saturday. The ceremony was organized by the New Business Age Pvt. Ltd. with a main sponsorship of Asian Paints.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Yeti was felicitated for its best air services even in the remote areas of Nepal. The awards were distributed in ten different categories.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Likewise, Unilever Nepal Ltd has bagged the Best Managed Joint Venture Company of the Year. The award was provided to Unilever for satisfying all the stakeholders of the company as well as regularly distributing high dividends to its shareholders.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In the commercial banks sector, Everest Bank Ltd. won the Best Managed Commercial Bank of the Year.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Clean Energy Development Bank Ltd has received Best Managed Development Bank of the year and Fewa Finance Ltd, which is headquartered at Pokhara, received Best Managed Finance Company.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal Life Insurance Company was awarded in the Best Managed Life Insurance Company category, while NLG Insurance Company won the Best Managed Non-life Insurance Company.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	During the ceremony, Shailaja Adhikari was also felicitated with the Women Entrepreneur of the Year. Affiliated with ICC group, she is an entrepreneur who has been investing on fashion designing and pre-school education.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Deepak Prakash Baskota, hailing from Panchthar, achieved the Social Entrepreneur of the Year for his entrepreneurship through Kanchanjangha Tea Estate and Research Centre.Karna Sakya was felicitated with the Newbiz Lifetime Achievement Award.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The thematic jury and the lead jury were formed to decide upon the awardees for 10 different categories. The Lead Jury was presided by the Soaltee Hotel Ltd Chairman Prabhakar Shamsher JB Rana. Each thematic jury had recommended three companies to the lead jury for the award. &ldquo;The selection of the awardees has been done in utmost fair manner,&rdquo; Rana told, adding that this type of program would encourage the private sector.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Award recipient for the Best Managed Company of the Year, Yeti Airlines Managing Director Vijay Shrestha, said they were feeling proud for being awarded. &ldquo;We are elated of being awarded for our works and this has further helped us to realize our responsibilities&rdquo;.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<hr />
	<h2>
		<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Awardees</span></strong></h2>
</div>
<div>
	<strong>Yeti Airlines:</strong> Best Managed Company of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Unilever Nepal Ltd:</strong> Best Managed Joint Venture Company of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Everest Bank:</strong> Best Managed Commercial Bank of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Clean Energy Development Bank:</strong> Best Managed Development Bank of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Fewa Finance Ltd:</strong> Best Managed Finance Company of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Karna Sakya: </strong>Newbiz Lifetime Achievement Award 2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Nepal Life Insurance Company Ltd:</strong> Best Managed Life Insurance Company of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>NLG Insurance Company Ltd:</strong> Best Managed Non-life Insurance Company of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	D<strong>eepak Prakash Banskota (Kanchanjungha Tea Estate):</strong> Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Shailaja Adhikari (ICC group):</strong> Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'Yeti Airlines was awarded ‘Best Managed Company of the Year 2013’ by the New Business Age Pvt. Ltd. amid a ceremony titled ‘Newbiz Conclave & Business Excellence Awards Ceremony 2013’ in capital on last Saturday.',
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			'title' => 'The Key Speakers At Newbiz Conclave & Business Excellence Awards Ceremony 2013',
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			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Management Essential for Economic Development</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Rameshore Khanal" src="/userfiles/images/rk.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;height: 157px; width: 150px;" />Rameshore Khanal</strong></div>
<div>
	Former Finance Secretary</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Various hurdles like political instability, labor strike, and corruption have created hindrances in the economic development of the Nepal. The main reason behind this is lack of good governance and economic management is the regulatory bodies of the government. Inability to complete the Melamchi hydro project is also the result of the irregularities. The common people and the industrialists are not being able to lead a life out of terror. The small and medium scale industries seem to work more hard in this context. Similarly, unnecessary disturbances regarding renew and registration of the new comers have also discouraged the industrialists. Private sector seems managed regarding the organizational governance of financial sector. The condition of other productive sector in Nepal is not satisfactory because of which the financial sector is not improving as expected. Recently the new generations are attracted towards the vocational education and this subject is being taught in most of the colleges out of valley. But still the education regarding the hydro power and other service sectors are not being given to the students. Efforts should be made to attract students in these sectors.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Private Sector is the Engine of Economic Development</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Suraj Vaidya President, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries" src="/userfiles/images/sv.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 163px;" />Suraj Vaidya</strong></div>
<div>
	President, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Private sector is the engine for economic development of the country. It provides the direction to the economy of the country. Having the important role in the development of the country, the government should provide facilities to the private sector. Private sector is the backbone of the prosperous society. The country is in vicious circle of political instability. There is necessity of some noble political leaders who can take the country out of this circle overcoming all the prevailing challenges.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	There is no point of discussing about election. It should be held anyhow. The economy of the country is also depended on local development. The election has been essential for development. There are a lot of possibilities of development in rural areas and the economic development of the country is possible only with the development of rural areas. The possibilities should be identified and commercialization of the local products should be done with standard pricing. Nearly 30 per cent of vegetable market in Kathmandu is covered by the vegetables from Dhading which can be increased more with the management of proper storage. Dhading is also being promoted as organic district in order to access and expand the market of vegetables produced in the district.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Private Sector Essential to Promote Tourism</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Amran Abdul Rahman Director, (Nepal and India) Malaysia Tourism" src="/userfiles/images/aar.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 162px;" />Amran Abdul Rahman</strong></div>
<div>
	Director, (Nepal and India) Malaysia Tourism</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Not only tourism sector, private sector is the medium of branding the whole nation because it comes in direct contact with the common people. A nation can be economically transformed through tourism but there needs to be cooperation between private sector and government. Malaysia comes in ninth position to attract largest number of tourists. A total of 25 million people had visited Malaysia in 2012. Nepal has immense potentialities in tourism sector which should be promoted with development of the areas and effective regulations. Nepal also had possibilities of business tourism and also can be appropriate for MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition) tourism.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">&nbsp;Innovation and Competition Creates Growth</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Wim Lancsweert Development Economist, Belgium" src="/userfiles/images/wl.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 163px;" />Wim Lancsweert</strong></div>
<div>
	Development Economist, Belgium</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Innovation and competition are the two important factors for growth. A multi dimensional entrepreneurship is essential for innovation and competition. The traditional way can&rsquo;t open the way for this. Impressive personality, cultural and organizational structure and regulations boosting entrepreneurship can only encourage entrepreneurs. There are two types of entrepreneurship: entrepreneurship by necessity and entrepreneurship by adequate opportunities. The nation need not expect anything from the entrepreneurs created by necessity but the entrepreneurs created by the opportunities can help in the economic development of whole nation. So it depends upon the regulations and the laws of the government which of entrepreneurship to encourage. I personally believe that the training and education regarding entrepreneurship can create an appropriate foundation of economic growth. After that financial access and investment friendly environment is essential.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Efforts to Attract Foreign Investment is Essential</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Sukanti Ghosh Managing Director, India APCO Worldwide" src="/userfiles/images/sg.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 167px;" />Sukanti Ghosh</strong></div>
<div>
	Managing Director, India APCO Worldwide</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The rapid economic growth of Gujarat has only been possible because of the clear vision and regular effort. The state was able to evaluate competitive quality and weakness because of which better industrial environment is formed there. The administration also helped to attract private investment and industrial friendly regulations. Additional private sector also invested after the improving condition of Gujarat. Then Gujarat administration started promoting private as well as national and international investment.</div>
<div>
	The investors are always in search of stable government and investment friendly environment where open market, rule of law and security are guaranteed. Similarly availability of skilled manpower and continuity of scientific research are also preferred by the investors. Similar environment in Gujarat was able to get the commitment of Rs 50 billion of investment from a 3-day summit held in January, 2013 in Gujarat. Nepal also should work in this sector in inviting foreign investment. It can take benefit from its neighboring countries, India and China. There are several sectors for investment in Nepal including hydro power, infrastructure development, manufacturing, tourism, agriculture and mines. &nbsp;Lands available in relatively cheaper prices, availability of manpower and high profit are some of the factors attracting investment.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Other Companies Should Learn From Award Winners</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Budhaditya Mukherjee CEO, Asian Paints Nepal Pvt. Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/bm.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 163px;" />Budhaditya Mukherjee</strong></div>
<div>
	CEO, Asian Paints Nepal Pvt. Ltd</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The Business Excellence Award 2013 has helped in enhancing the economic growth of the nation. This is also the appropriate point to focus in the economic development of Nepal. Most of the private sectors have been performing their tasks silently. Their task has contributed the whole nation and New Business Age has encouraged them with such awards. We are glad to work with such organization. The main motto of this award is to create positive inspiration for other organizations to work even better. The important aspect of this award ceremony is the jury part. We are hoping for the correct selection of the business houses by juries involved in this ceremony.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Should be focused in development of Business Brand</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Srikanth Srinivasamadhawan Managing Director, Unilever Nepal Limited" src="/userfiles/images/sss.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 165px;" />Srikanth Srinivasamadhawan</strong></div>
<div>
	Managing Director, Unilever Nepal Limited</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal has greater possibilities for the productive sectors from the economic point of view. The economic rate can be increased and achieved with the development of such industries. We have to keep focusing on the profit, consistency and responsibility along with the growth. There should be diversity in the production for the development and growth of the product. Unilever covers most of the market in Nepal because of the same policy. Similarly more storage and consumerism is also essential for establish the brand in the market. &nbsp;We should apply creative way to access the brands in the market. For the sustainable economic development, brand centered growth should be the focus. We are always focused on the development of Nepal that&rsquo;s why all the products of Unilever have been covered most of Nepali market.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Healthy and Active Financial Sector</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Rajan Singh Bhandary, President, Nepal Banker’s Association" src="/userfiles/images/rsb.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 165px;" />Rajan Singh Bhandary</strong></div>
<div>
	President, Nepal Banker&rsquo;s Association</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As Nepal is a small country, the financial sector of this country is also limited. Though small, the roles of financial sector are very important. The financial sector mobilizes with the sound economic condition of the country. A narrow economy of a country creates healthy environment in financial sector. Both of these sectors are equally important for a strong economy of the country.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	&nbsp;</h2>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Insuring Industrial Security</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Shankar Koirala, Minister for Finance, Industry and Commerce and Supplies" src="/userfiles/images/sk.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 165px;" />Shankar Koirala</strong></div>
<div>
	Minister for Finance, Industry and Commerce and Supplies</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	I was highly tempted to be a part of this event because of two reasons: one is the theme and the another, I was curious to see all the business leaders coming together and excited to know how they&rsquo;re doing and contributing to the country. I thank and congratulate New Business Age family for conducting the event. For achieving the target, government&rsquo;s effort too is not sufficient. To facilitate them everyone should work together. We acknowledge role of private sectors too for the economic growth of the country. This award ceremony will act as a challenge for them to do even more and maintain their position. We have to insure industrial security for the investors. Mobilization of domestic products should be assured and for that transportation facilities should be improved. Agriculture investment should grow and I feel that the ideas shared here will help us meet the target.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Employment should be Created within the Country</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada ,Governor, Nepal Rastra Bank" src="/userfiles/images/yrk.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;height: 163px; width: 150px;" />Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada</strong></div>
<div>
	Governor, Nepal Rastra Bank</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	It is a common dream of Nepali people to eliminate political instability and reduce poverty rate. And for that Economic growth is must. Last year, Service sector increased by 6 percent and the industry by 3 percent. It&rsquo;s not that difficult to achieve 7 per cent growth in our country. Industries in Nepal are running 50 per cent of its total capacity. If it increases to 80 per cent, then it will not be a difficult task to achieve the targeted growth of 7 per cent. Agriculture itself has capacity to grow more than 5 per cent of GDP. For that agro-based investment should be increased. Similarly, employment should be created within the country. Capacity utilization should be another major priority. Nepal needs development based on agriculture, hydropower and tourism. And employment opportunities should be created for middle class to grow.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	This is just the right time to do this kind of event and I congratulate NBA team for this.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>&nbsp;Public Commitment Necessary for Economic Prosperity</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Binod Chaudhary, president, Chaudhary Group" src="/userfiles/images/bc.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 163px;" />Binod Chaudhary</strong></div>
<div>
	president, Chaudhary Group</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal has more than half century experience and mandate of planned economic development attempt. Today&rsquo;s necessity is learning from our past and moving forward towards the development of Nepal. Nepal&rsquo;s industrial contribution in GDP has decreased to 5.6 percent which was 12 percent a decade ago. We all have common opinion in terms of economic development. We have to make public commitment for country&rsquo;s economic development. To achieve the target, we have to mechanise agriculture, commercialise herbs, vegetables and fruits. Tourism is another sector where we have to concentrate more.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Priority to Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Ashok Baid ,President, Birgunj Chamber of Commerce" src="/userfiles/images/ab.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 165px;" />Ashok Baid</strong></div>
<div>
	President, Birgunj Chamber of Commerce</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Country is only utilizing 30 per cent of its resources. There is much to do with this country. There should be growth in entrepreneurship, productivity and employment creation in Nepal. Nepal is utilizing only 40 percent of its industrial capacity. All the economic stakeholders should be serious about this issue. Birgunj should be prioritized because it occupies large economic and industrial space. Bara-Parsa corridor conservation must be prioritized. Government should play role in developing industrial relationship there. We can develop Birgunj as economic and industrial capital. We should accept public-private partnership for infrastructures development.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Business is an Engine for Development and Economic Growth</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Dr Ratnakar Adhikari ,Chief Executive Director, South Asian Watch on Trade Economics and Environment (SAWTEE)" src="/userfiles/images/dra.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 165px;" />Dr Ratnakar Adhikari</strong></div>
<div>
	Chief Executive Director, South Asian Watch on Trade Economics and Environment (SAWTEE)</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Business is the engine for economic growth and development. Business helps to make country prosper. It plays important role in creating employment, and helps in country&rsquo;s revenue collection too. Banking and Insurance sector should be emphasized to develop the business. It also helps in inviting foreign investment when investment increase, business gets competitive which helps for its sustainability. Technology development is equally important. To increase the business, industrial, energy, infrastructures development, skilled manpower and competitive policy is necessary.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>&nbsp;Structural change of production</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Joseph Silvanus, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/js.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 166px;" />Joseph Silvanus</strong></div>
<div>
	CEO, Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Ltd</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Finance sector can play role of engine in achieving 7 per cent economic growth. For that products structure needs to be changed. Structural changes can help in diversification of the products. And it helps in qualitative and quantitative development of the products too. Along with that we have to utilize the growing population of the country too. We have to use modern technology as per the time&rsquo;s need.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	&nbsp;</h2>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Concept of Rural and Small Scale Industries</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Dr Pronab Sen ,CEO, National Insurance Co Ltd (Nepal Operations)" src="/userfiles/images/dps.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 162px;" />Dr Pronab Sen</strong></div>
<div>
	CEO, National Insurance Co Ltd (Nepal Operations)</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Insurance is the risk management tools and about feeling secure. Insurance companies work as a substitute of government responsibilities. It helps to reduce capital forms and helps in investment and innovations. For better economic growth we have to ensure agro-based insurance too apart from hydro power and other insurances because our economy is directly based on agriculture.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	&nbsp;</h2>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Improve Technology to Compete with India and China</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Hari Bhakta Sharma, Vice-president, Confederation of Nepalese Industries" src="/userfiles/images/hbs.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 156px;" />Hari Bhakta Sharma</strong></div>
<div>
	Vice-president, Confederation of Nepalese Industries</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nature has a capacity to fulfill all our need but she cannot fulfill our greed. It is sad that the country where I live is 167th poorest in the world because of dollar appreciation. Thanks to the government. We have 2.5 billion people market and still far behind. There is no electricity and water. We only demand with no responsibility. We should try to improve our technology to compete with India and China. Once you learnt that, you will compete with rest of the world. I would like to request the government to change their policies at the earliest and would like to request our skilled manpower not to migrate to other countries.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'title' => 'Recipe Of A Successful Business Model',
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			'content' => '<div>
	<img alt="Buddha's Delight August 2013" src="/userfiles/images/bd.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 375px; margin-left: 25px; margin-right: 25px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Venture Capitalists speak about new venture; they seek a business plan elaborating Forecasted ROI, Equity split, Break Even point, ROCE, Target segmentation etc. But how a business evolves? Opportunity can be found anywhere. If there is need-gap, an opportunity exists to bridge that. Optimists see opportunity even in Calamity while pessimists see Calamity in biggest opportunity. Fundamental of any business is about creating value for customers to cater to a need against a price. Any frustration can be the germination of an evolving business model. But what is it that makes some Businesses click while others perish?&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Let us take an example. Taxi Drivers haggling with fare and tampering meters are common sight in South Asia. They do that as the meter rate is not very high, trips are limited and they face extortions from multiple sources. Coupled with high maintenance and rent, what is left for the drivers? Poor chap has to earn his livelihood and support his family. But a Driver haggling with fare, tampering with Meter is very frustrating for us. Right? What do we do? Nothing. Curse the government, society, politicians. Even curse ourselves for being there. But facing such incidents multiple times, it never occurred to me that a Business Model can be envisioned. Till I heard about Nirmal!&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nirmal Kumar; this soft spoken, specially abled person is a 2008 graduate from IIM Ahmedabad. He comes from a modest background in Bihar where his father was a primary school teacher. One night, he was in an Auto Rickshaw in Ahmedabad and got overcharged. Though enraged, he did not curse like most of us. A business idea struck him. He entered with a deal with Drivers parking outside IIM Campus. Against an undertaking that proper fare will be charged, he provided them Free Newspaper and Health-cum-Personal Insurance cover. Starting initially with his own money, he started visiting corporates to draw from their CSR fund.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	With funds, Kumar increased the facilities for drivers and developed the brand &lsquo;G Auto&rsquo;. A business model was borne. The drivers benefitted with health care, children education and insurance. Gujarat CM Narendra Modi came for inauguration which helped in many ways. With the vehicles carrying advertisement, sizeable revenues generated. Finally Nirmal Foundation, a trust, formed with Kumar as Managing Director. Currently 21 paid employees are associated with the trust. Revenues from Advertisement, Corporate Donation, and Government funding help them breaking even. The Foundation ensures that any member breaching law will lose membership; but they also help the Driver in case of any unnecessary harassment from the authority.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	G-Auto voted second in the SMART Mobility Awards on transportation solution given by Michigan University. Recently, the Indian Union Urban Development Secretary has written to all states to emulate the model. Kumar, looking for expansion, met Delhi CM Sheila Dixit with plans for the national capital.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Kumar installed new technology like tamperproof computerized meter for positive, sustainable customer satisfaction. With the vehicles being monitored through GPRS, introduction of a Call Center and free Mobile Phone App; now customers can even request for a G-Auto delivered to his place. Imagine the power of this proposition, at late night with normal rate reliability. Usually a driver earns around 200/-IC per day in a normal system after clearing all expenses associated with the vehicle. They resort to unsavoury tactics as the ends cannot be met with limited earnings. But with theses upgradations, G-Auto gets more trips and volume compensated for low earnings per trip.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The strength of this model is it&rsquo;s a winning formula which offers wonderful returns to all stakeholders. This is the essence of any business plan. A business becomes successful if it caters to certain fundamental principles.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	1. The offering must satisfy a need &ndash; latent or explicit&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	2. It should create value for a set of people &ndash; either directly or indirectly&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	3. Customers should cherish their experience of association and return back to feel it again&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	4. The perceived value offered to the customers must be more than the price paid by them&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	5. It should offer positive profitable solution to all stakeholders; both the drivers and the Customers&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	6. It should remain relevant and evolve continuously by adapting to the changes happening in Macro Environment. Lots of flourishing businesses suffered due to lack of flexibility and vision! Remember Kodak and its bankruptcy filing?&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	At the end of the day, a business must be profitable and provide Shareholders more return than they would have got from a normal and secured depository route. A dream business in paper that does not make money for its shareholder is a living nightmare.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Business Model is like a vision, a dream and when people have a vision which satisfies all these fundamentals - they have a winning formula in their hand. It is the vision that matters. As Sam Walton correctly pointed out - &ldquo;Capital isn&rsquo;t scarce; vision is.&rdquo;</div>',
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			'description' => 'Venture Capitalists speak about new venture; they seek a business plan elaborating Forecasted ROI, Equity split, Break Even point, ROCE, Target segmentation etc. But how a business evolves?',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1713',
			'article_category_id' => '166',
			'title' => 'South Asia & Recurring Natural Disasters',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Prof Ujjwal K Chowdhury</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Understanding Natural Disasters:&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Covering seven nations, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, South Asia is a region sensitive to disasters. The region has exhausted its land reserves, and is farming soils that are unsuitable for cultivation. Some 35% of productive land is affected by land degradation. South Asia has a population that is vulnerable to risks in terms of sudden fluctuations in markets and natural shocks arising from weather. This region is also marked by high disparities in income, health and education.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	South Asia&rsquo;s geography makes it particularly susceptible to natural disasters. According to the recently published World Risk Report 2012, countries like Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan exhibit a high level of vulnerability as demonstrated by their lack of coping capacities and adaptive capacities. In evaluating 173 countries for purposes of creating this year&rsquo;s World Risk Index, the report gave the following countries its global risk index ranking: Bangladesh (6th most risk-prone country of the world), Pakistan (66), India (71) and Nepal (99). There is a high level of variation within South Asia itself, but these rankings should not be misinterpreted to undermine the risk faced by these countries&mdash; particularly the poor&mdash;in the face of natural disaster.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Since 2004-2005, the region became a neighborhood of disasters. Besides recurring flood and drought, it also had to cope with the December 2004 tsunami. There was the October 2005 earthquake in the Himalayan range that killed of 75,000. Pakistan was ravaged by an earthquake in 2008, and floods in 2010. And recently Uttarakhand of India and parts of Nepal have experienced devastating floods due to cloudbursts.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Recent Natural Disasters in India:&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	In June 2013, the North Indian states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, some regions of Western Nepal and their adjoining areas experienced heavy rainfall that triggered devastating floods and landslides. Parts of Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, and some parts of Western Tibet also experienced heavy rainfall. By early July, more than 1,000 people have died with more than 6000 missing. Damage to bridges and roads left over 70,000 pilgrims and tourists trapped in various places, many of whom were rescued. As of 30 June 2013, about 300 - 400 people are said to be still stranded. Although Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker, based on various ground reports said that the death toll could cross 10,000, the official death toll in Uttarakhand (by 29 June 2013) was 842, and around 6000 missing.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Unprecedented destruction by the rainfall witnessed in Uttarakhand state was attributed, by environmentalists, to unscientific developmental activities undertaken in recent decades and this contributed to high level of loss of property and lives. Roads constructed in haphazard style, new resorts and hotels built on fragile river banks and more than 70 back to back hydro electric projects coming up across the river system of the state lead to a &ldquo;disaster waiting to happen&rdquo; as termed by certain environmentalists. As per environmental experts, the tunnels built and blasts undertaken for 70 hydro electric projects contributed to ecological imbalance in the state, with flow of river water restricted and the unscientific real estate activity contributed to higher number of landslides and more flood&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ecologists point out that the huge expansion of hydro-power projects and construction of roads to cope with the lakhs of tourists in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh has compounded the scale of the disaster.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The expansion of roads has proved a major destabilising factor combined as it is with plans to construct over 200 dams in this sensitive eco-zone. Data with the Uttarakhand state transport department bears this out.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The state has seen a 1000 per cent increase in vehicular traffic in the last eight years, with ecologists having forewarned about the correlation between tourism increase and the higher increase of landslides.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Learnings&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Two main lessons can be drawn from the Mahakali (Nepal, June 2013, at least 100 dead and more than 12,000 displaced) and Uttarakhand flood disasters: The severity of the disaster could have been mitigated with a better end-to-end information system and proper infrastructure planning would have reduced the damage.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Accordingly, we need to:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	A) Put in place institutional mechanisms that that can use technological advances in forecasting. Although some warnings were disseminated by the India Meteorological Organization about the possibility of high to intense rainfall, this information was not transmitted to the people at risk. There is a need to strengthen disaster management and preparedness mechanisms, which requires awareness and sensitization at various levels to ensure that early warning information is conveyed to end users well in advance.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	B) Set up more hydrometeorological stations on transboundary rivers. There is no river-level hydrological monitoring station on the Mahakali river for flood forecasting and early warning. It is recommended that a river monitoring station for early warning be set up jointly by Nepal and India to provide people with some lead-time and improve flood forecasting and management in the basin.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	C) &ldquo;Carefully plan infrastructure in the mountains.&rdquo; The Hindu newspaper put it succinctly when it said that damage could have been contained through proper policies, especially regarding infrastructure development. Many mountain roads are contributing a huge sediment load to our rivers and inviting landslides. Many of the settlements are located along flood plains and have developed over the years, encroaching the river banks and increasing the vulnerability to floods.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="Flood in Nepal" src="/userfiles/images/fLOOD.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 257px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 15px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Natural Disasters and Nepal:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Because of hazards and calamities such as landslides, avalanche, floods, flash floods, glacial lake outbursts etc., thousands of people are affected every year in Nepal. More than 1,000 people die annually in Nepal because of natural hazards, with almost 300 deaths due to floods and landslides alone. Heavy flooding in the past years has affected hundreds of families in eastern Nepal. Saptari is one of the most floodprone districts in the south eastern Terai region where heavy rains in 2007 affected over 50,000 households, displaced nearly 8,300 and destroyed over 3,500 houses. The 2007 South Asian floods killed eighty-four people in Nepal while 9,700 families were displaced. 28 of the country&rsquo;s 75 districts were affected.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	A survey done by ICIMOD and UNEP highlights that 26 lakes in Nepal are categorized as dangerous due to the threat of glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs). As highlighted by IPCC (2001), glacial melt is expected to increase under changed climate. According to some studies, almost 20 per cent of the present glaciated area above 5000 m altitude is likely to be snow and glacier free with an increase of air temperature by 1&ordm;C. Similarly, a 3-4&ordm;C temperature rise would result in the loss of 58 to 70 per cent of snow and glaciated areas with threat of GLOFs.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal is situated in the seismically active Himalayan mountain belt dominated by the northward movement of the Indian tectonic plate towards and below the Eurasian tectonic plate. The role of earthquakes is essentially to catch up with the rate of convergence of these plates. Every year, more than a thousand earthquakes of various magnitudes ranging from 2 to 5 on the Richter scale occur in the country. Nepal has a long record of destructive earthquakes that extends back to 1255 AD. According to historical evidence, Nepal has experienced nine major earthquakes over the last 700 years. Recurring earthquakes during the 20th century claimed more than 23,000 lives.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	How can South Asian countries fortify themselves in the face of inevitable natural disasters? Where Bangladesh seems to be taking steps to improve its resilience, countries like Nepal and Pakistan are struggling for solutions. Nepal may have ranked towards the middle of the World Risk Index at 99th out of the 173, but the country with a population of around 30 million people faces similar natural threats as Bangladesh. According to data compiled by the Disaster Preparedness Network Nepal (DPNN), 22,278 people in Nepal have lost their lives due to natural disasters since 1982. DPNN data also illustrates the natural disasters behind these fatalities &ndash; they are attributed to avalanches, earthquakes, floods and landslides, fire, pandemics, stampedes, and windstorm, hailstones and lightning. Although the demographics behind this figure has not been published, it would be a fair assumption based on the experience of other South Asian countries that those people with less stable homes &ndash; the urban poor &ndash; make up a significant fraction of the fatalities. DPNN Chairman Dr. Meen Bahadur Poudel notes that these fatalities are due to increase in the future.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	There are basic steps that can be taken in Kathmandu &ndash; and wider Nepal &ndash; to boost its resilience, such as enforcing building codes and executing emergency drills for the public. The National Society for Earthquake Technology, established in Nepal in 1988, has launched a program to make school buildings more earthquake-resistant. As a nationwide initiative, Nepal&rsquo;s Home Ministry has identified 83 areas in the Kathmandu Valley where infrastructure and food storage facilities will be built in the event of emergency. But more must be done to both prepare citizens for natural disasters and to update infrastructure to meet the region&rsquo;s seismic challenges.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Natural Disasters and Bangladesh:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	As per the Global Risk Index, Bangladesh has been declared the second most disaster-risk country in Asia&mdash;only after the Philippines&mdash;and sixth in the world after countries like Vanuatu, Tonga and Guatemala. Bangladesh is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons due to its exposure to seismic activity. The growing effects of climate change are also projected to exacerbate the country&rsquo;s exposure. In response, the Government of Bangladesh has taken steps this year to set up a national program for disaster risk reduction. In a June 2011 interview, Mohammad Abdul Qayyum, National Director of the Comprehensive Disaster Management Program, noted that state structural measures (i.e., building embankment, sea walls and anti-cyclone shelters), as well as non-structural measures (i.e., increasing individual and community preparedness, introducing community-managed early warning systems) are being put into place to reduce the potential impacts from natural disaster.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Recent Natural Disasters in Pakistan:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	In the year 2010, Pakistan was hit by worst floods in its history rendering 20 million people homeless and bringing one-fifth of the country under water. The floods, that left a trail of miseries that the affected population continues to battle even three years later, was a wakeup call for policy-makers, development experts, civil society and the general public that had not deemed climate change as well as the existing skewed development and resource distribution order as an important concern impacting the future of the country. The 2010 and later 2011 floods (in Sindh) exposed the extremely grim conditions that marked the daily lives of a large section of the population that had compromised access to basic amenities of life such as health, education, and shelter, and fundamental human rights, including decent livelihoods.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The story of Pakistan is a near cautionary tale for the rest of South Asia of what happens when institutions and systems are not in place to alleviate emergencies. Pakistan&rsquo;s plight since 2010 is well-documented. This year, at least 5.5 million people have been affected by flooding in the country: in late August, floods killed over 300 people and have damaged 1.2 million houses. Last year&rsquo;s floods affected 21 million people &ndash; both in rural and urban areas &ndash; and it is estimated that 800,000 families are still homeless in the wake of 2010&rsquo;s floods.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">The State Role &amp; the Samaritan&rsquo;s Dilemma&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	While developing countries bear the brunt of disasters, ironically these are also the countries which have made fewer efforts to adapt their physical environments to mitigate the impact of such disasters and to insure themselves against disaster risks, partly because of the disincentive known as the &ldquo;Samaritan&rsquo;s dilemma&rdquo; (i.e. nations may under-invest in protective measures since they expect foreign donors to help when such disasters strike).&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The Samaritan&rsquo;s dilemma, on the other hand, may arise from households and firms under-investing in insurance and undertaking adaptive measures on the presumption that governments would come to their rescue; governments may also under-invest in the hope that foreign donors would bail them out; and rich countries may find it difficult to scale down their ex post assistance in the absence of significant ex ante protective measures by governments in developing countries.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	New financial instruments (e.g. catastrophic bonds, swaps, and weather derivatives) have been devised to deal with disaster risk but with little impact.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Tackling Natural Disasters: Risk Mitigation&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Risk mitigation through adaptation of physical environment includes land use planning (e.g. avoiding construction on seismic fault lines, vulnerable coastal regions, and ensuring that buildings are resistant to hurricanes and earthquakes); prevention of soil erosion; building of dams for flood control, and seawalls to break storm surges. Governments could also promote farming practices so that farmers can cope better with climatic variations-drought resistant crops-and adapt to longer-term changes.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Adverse selection is a problem in disaster insurance but less than in other insurance markets, as many disasters can be predicted more accurately, as also the value of property at stake. In developing countries, however, specific problems arise from the thinness of insurance markets and ill-defined property rights.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Two other problems are arguably more serious. One is the difficulty of risk spreading and the second is linked to the Samaritan&rsquo;s dilemma. While risk-spreading in developing countries in general should not be difficult &mdash; since the losses they face are a small fraction of global resources &mdash; it often is because of the segmented and shallow insurance markets.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="Disaster Management" src="/userfiles/images/DISASTER.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 404px; margin-left: 25px; margin-right: 25px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Donor Concerns &amp; Issues in Disaster Mitigation:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Some observations regarding donor concerns and a more coordinated disaster prevention and mitigation strategy are made below.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull; A major strategic concern is mainstreaming of disaster prevention and mitigation among multilateral development agencies and governments. This rests on the presumption that the response to disasters has been reactive and tactical, and not strategic in the sense that the emergencies caused by natural hazards (e.g. floods, earthquakes) are not periodic but on-going in the context of highly vulnerable countries.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull; Recovery from a disaster and poverty reduction go hand in hand. Choices made during the initial phase could influence the outcomes in terms of poverty favourably or unfavourably over time.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">SAARC Framework on Disaster Management:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	It is also important to point out that a regional response to natural disasters, whether in the shape of the SAARC Framework on Disaster Management or other bilateral and trilateral institutional arrangements that states may think of, is extremely important.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In May 2011, the Secretary General of SAARC presented a draft SAARC Agreement on Rapid Response to Natural Disasters to the Inter-governmental meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He pointed out quoting global statistics, that over the past forty years, South Asia faced as many as 1,333 disasters that killed 980,000 people, affected 2.4 billion lives and damaged assets worth US$105 billion. This loss is by far the highest among the recorded disasters in various geographical regions.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The SAARC Disaster Management Centre (SDMC) was set up in October 2006 at the premises of National Institute of Disaster Management in New Delhi. The Centre has the mandate to serve eight Member Countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In a recent development, Seventeenth Summit of SAARC was held in Addu city of Maldives on 10-11 November 2011. In Addu declaration, member countries expressed their consciousness of the environmental degradation and particular vulnerabilities of the region to the threat of climate change. The declaration also welcomed the signing of the SAARC Agreement on Rapid Response to Natural Disasters.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Prior to this in May 2011 an inter-governmental meeting on draft SAARC Agreement on Rapid Response to Natural Disasters held in Colombo, Sri Lanka reached a broad consensus on the Agreement. This agreement was adopted in Seventeenth SAARC Summit held in Maldives in November 2011. The draft agreement based on the principle of respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity of all member states aims to put in place an effective mechanism for rapid response to disasters to achieve substantial reduction in loss of lives and loss of social, economic and environmental assets in times of a disaster.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In a more promising development, the Abu Dhabi Dialogue Group comprising seven states sharing the rivers rising in the Greater Himalayas is expected to meet this year to adopt a joint initiative to minimize the impact of melting of glaciers. The group comprising Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India and Nepal was set up in 2006 in Abu Dhabi. It would strive to achieve within ten years a cooperative and knowledge based partnership for managing fairly and developing the Himalayan River Systems to bring prosperity, peace and social harmony and environmental sustainability from the source to the sea.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'id' => '1712',
			'article_category_id' => '171',
			'title' => 'Malaysia: Expanding Relations With Nepal',
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	<img alt="Nepal Malaysia Relationship" src="/userfiles/images/nepal%20malaysia.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 341px;" /></div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Sushila Budhathoki</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	On 3 July, 2013, two teams of Nepali players from Taekwondo and Table Tennis consisting 13 members in total went to Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia to participate in Second South Asian ITF Taekwondo Championship and Seventh Asia-Pacific Veteran&rsquo;s Table Tennis Championship respectively. On the Same day, around half of them were travelling to Malaysia and more than 600 Nepalis were heading there for jobs. Such a growing relation between Malaysia and Nepal in a people to people level has proved that Malaysia has become a preferred destination not only for employment but also for holidays and sports.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Malaysia achieved its Independence from Britain in 31 August 1957. The country is a federation of 13 states operating within a constitutional monarchy and the Government comprises the federal, state and local government. The real gross domestic product (GDP) in Malaysia grew by an average of 6.3 % per annum during 1970 to 2012. According to Malaysian Embassy in Nepal, Malaysia emerged from a low-income agricultural and commodity-based economy to a successful middle-income economy over the decades with the help of sustained rapid economic growth. This strong economic performance has helped improve the quality of life for Malaysians and supported widespread advances in education, health, infrastructure, housing and public amenities.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	According to the Embassy, the course of Malaysia&rsquo;s development was shaped by the vision, thinking and efforts of many of the country&rsquo;s great leaders and thinkers. Among many visions and policies to the launch of Vision 2020 in 1991, by the then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed outlined the aim of attaining developed nation status by the year 2020. And the country is now at the last phase of its journey towards 2020 target.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Nepal-Malaysia Relations&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	The diplomatic relations between Nepal and Malaysia dates back to 1st January, 1960. The 53 years of diplomatic relation between the two countries has been cordial and friendly from the start. In 2003, both the country established their residential missions in the capitals of the other country. Both the countries are members of the United Nations and the Non-aligned Movement. Malaysia recognized Nepal as a source country for foreign workers since the beginning of 2001. Currently around 500,000 Nepalis are believed to be presently working in various sectors in Malaysia.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Malaysia shares its development experiences and expertise with other developing countries through MTCP (Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme ). Nepal is currently ranked at 14th among 137 MTCP recipient member countries of Malaysia. According to Malaysian Embassy in Nepal, a total of 525 Nepali participants have attended various courses in agriculture, broadcasting, economic planning, archive, public administration and diplomacy under the programme. In 2008 a total of 239 students were enrolled in Public Higher Education Institutions and Private Higher Education Institutions in 2008, according to International Students Statistics by Minister for Higher Education Malaysia.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;"><img alt="Quick Guidance Malaysia" src="/userfiles/images/qgmalysia.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; width: 300px; height: 301px;" />Prospects in Tourism&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	The relationship between Nepal and Malaysia could get a height if the tourism sector is linked together. The tourism sector of Malaysia is the third largest foreign exchange earner of the country.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The country is also the ninth most-visited country in the world, with 24.7 million tourists visiting the country in 2011. Malaysia is celebrating VMY (Visit Malaysia Year) in 2014 and is expecting to receive 28.8 million in foreign tourist arrivals during VMY 2014. According to holidayhometimes.com, an initiative by TripVillas.com the country has targeted a $ 52.8 billion tourism receipt and 36 million tourist arrivals by 2020.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	There are islands and beaches, city excitement, nature and adventure and cultural attractions in Malaysia that lure tourists all around the world. The country has everything for the family,-theme parks, jungle trails, sports, water sports and one of the highest numbers of golf courses.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Malaysia is also promoting tourism Malaysia My Second Home, Medical Tourism, Education Tourism and Golf Tourism. Malaysia MY Second Home programme under Ministry of Tourism and Culture allows tourists to stay in Malaysia with a multiple entry social visit pass. Similarly, with more than 2000 courses the country is promoting Education Tourism and has been attracting students all over the world. And with well-equipped private hospitals, it is promoting medical tourism since 2009. Malaysia is preferred healthcare travel destination in the Asian region.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The growing number of Tourists from both the countries has been creating aspiration in expanding tourism. According to the data by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), a total of 663 Malaysian tourists visited Nepal in May 2012 while the number reached to 1609 in May 2013- a 142.7 per cent growth. Similarly, 7,831 and 11,681 Malaysians visited Nepal in 2011 and 2012 respectively while 2,192 Nepali tourists Nepalis visited Malaysia in 2012.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The Air Services Agreement between Nepal and Malaysia in 2007 allowed the carriers to operate up to 21 flights a week and direct air connection between the two capitals started in 2003. The presence of Malaysian budget carrier Air Asia X, Malaysian flag-carrier Malaysia Airlines and Nepal&rsquo;s national flag-carrier- Nepal Airlines have played the vital role in arranging daily flights between Kathmandu and Kuala Lumpur.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Trade and Investment&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Trade between the two countries is limited and is in favor of the Malaysia. Exports from Nepal mainly include paper, tobacco, flour, coffee, tea, mate and spices, electrical machinery and equipment, works of art, collectors` pieces and antiques. The imports from Malaysia include animal or vegetable fats, inorganic and organic chemicals, essential oils, perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations, plastics, edible vegetables, tubers, edible fruits and nuts.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="Export Import malaysia" src="/userfiles/images/exportimport%20form%20malaysia.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 77px;" /></div>
<div>
	According to MoFA, Foreign Direct Investment made by Malaysia in Nepal stands at Rs 245.18 Million in 13 different factories and industries creating 444 job opportunities. Malaysia-Nepal Business Council has already being established and active since 2008. In November 2011, Malaysian and Nepali companies signed six Memorandums of Understanding on education, training, trading and services. The country is also looking into the prospects of investing in the hydropower sector, or any other relevant areas in Nepal. They also negotiated with three Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) on investments in manufacturing, tourism and retail marketing.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="Malaysian Investment" src="/userfiles/images/malysian%20investment.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 80px;" /></div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-08-27',
			'modified' => '0000-00-00',
			'keywords' => 'new business age bilateral relations news & articles, bilateral relations news & articles from new business age nepal, bilateral relations headlines from nepal,  current and latest bilateral relations news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali bilateral relations economic news and events,  on',
			'description' => 'On 3 July, 2013, two teams of Nepali players from Taekwondo and Table Tennis consisting 13 members in total went to Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia to participate in Second South Asian ITF Taekwondo Championship and Seventh Asia-Pacific Veteran’s Table Tennis Championship respectively.',
			'sortorder' => '1573',
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	(int) 3 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1711',
			'article_category_id' => '150',
			'title' => 'Business Briefs (26 August - 01 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="John Player’s End of Season Sale" src="/userfiles/images/jp.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 29px;" />John Player&rsquo;s End of Season Sale</span></strong></div>
<div>
	John Players, premium men&rsquo;s wear from Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd has announced &lsquo;End of Season Sale&rsquo; that offers discount up to 50 per cent. The discounts are applicable on wide range of John Players garments. The discount can be availed at outlets of &nbsp;John Players at Bluebird Mall - Tripureshwor, Teendhara - Durbar Marg, &nbsp;City Center (1st Floor) &ndash; Kamalpokhari , Maitidevi Complex ( Maitidevi ), Civil Mall (Sundhara) and other leading garment stores across the country.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="TVS Phoenix 125" src="/userfiles/images/tvs(1).jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 113px;" />TVS Phoenix 125 Launched</span></strong></div>
<div>
	CG Moto Corp, the authorized distributor of TVS two-wheelers in Nepal has launched TVS Phoenix 125 in the market. According to a press release, Phoenix is a premium executive deluxe 125cc motorcycle and is one of the most feature-filled products. The 4-speed transmission of the motorcycle delivers 11 PS &nbsp;of power at 8000 rpm. The motorcycle is available in the market at an introductory price of Rs 169,900. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="Honda’s Showroom in Kohalpur" src="/userfiles/images/hnd.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 110px;" />Honda&rsquo;s Showroom in Kohalpur</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Honda has opened a new showroom in Kohalpur of Banke on 21 August. The showroom will deal in Honda motorcycles and scooters; ad will also provide the services of exchange and financing. The showroom sold twenty motorcycles on the day of inauguration, and also offered gifts, cash discounts and free helmets and accessories to the customers.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="Tata Safari " src="/userfiles/images/ts.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 102px;" />Tata Safari Storme in Pokhara</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Siprdai Trading has started the sale of Tata Safari Storme in Pokhara. Dubbed as the &lsquo;Real SUV&rsquo;, Storme is claimed to be the combination of luxury, power and off-road performance. The SUV is powered by a 2.2 litre VariCOR turbocharged engine delivering a maximum output of 140 ps and a peak torque of 320 NM. The price of Safari Storme starts from Rs 3.88 million.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="Food, Drinks and Hospitality Exhibition" src="/userfiles/images/fd.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 98px;" />Food, Drinks and Hospitality Exhibition from September 18</span></strong></div>
<div>
	House of Rajkarnicar Exhibitions and Events is going to organize Seagram&rsquo;s Royal Stag Food Drinks and Hospitality Exhibition 2013 from September 18. According to a press release, the Exhibition will be the first of its kind in Nepal focusing exclusively on food, beverage &amp; hospitality. The four-day event will have 150 exhibitors, two thematic pavilions and eight special events.&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-08-27',
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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' => 'ohn Players, premium men’s wear from Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd has announced ‘End of Season Sale’ that offers discount up to 50 per cent.',
			'sortorder' => '1572',
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	(int) 4 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1710',
			'article_category_id' => '115',
			'title' => 'Tech Briefs (26 August - 01 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Keyboard to Get Rid of Facebook Addiction</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Two doctoral candidates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a new leyboard device that is capable of shocking users overindulging online. The developers of the keyboard, Robert R. Morris and Dan McDuff said that the keyboard is able to monitors application usage and if it senses that too much time is being spent on a particular website or application it give a shock to its users, asserting that the shock is just unpleasant and not dangerous.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">World&rsquo;s Most Precise Clock Deviced</span></strong></div>
<div>
	US scientists have said that they have built the world&rsquo;s most precise clock, whose ticking rate varies less than two parts in one quintillion, or 10 times better than any other. &ldquo;The clock, made from the element ytterbium, could be used for technological advancements beyond time-keeping, such as navigation systems, magnetic fields and temperature,&rdquo; National Institute of Standards and Technology physicist, Andrew Ludlow, said in a statement. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Sony Names PS4 Launch Dates</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Sony has announced the launch dates for its PlayStation 4 console.The next-generation games machine will become available in North America on 15 November and Europe on 29 November.Its rival Microsoft has only said that the Xbox One will go on sale some time the same month.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Microsoft CEO Ballmer to retire</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced Friday that he will retire within the next 12 months. &ldquo;There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time,&rdquo; Ballmer said. &ldquo;We have embarked on a new strategy with a new organization and we have an amazing senior leadership team.&rdquo;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Ultrafast Camera Designed to Work Like Human Retina</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Photos and videos are not lightweight files-they quickly add up to gigabytes of data which can be a dealbreaker a lot of research. Engineers at the Swiss company iniLabs created a better way-a camera that borrows its mechanics from the marvels of the human retina. &nbsp;The Dynamic Vision Sensor (DVS) works a lot like the human retina which makes for a hyper efficient and ultrafast camera. The individual neurons in our eyeballs don&rsquo;t actually record all of the information in our field of view; they just spot the changes in movement.&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'Two doctoral candidates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a new leyboard device that is capable of shocking users overindulging online.',
			'sortorder' => '1571',
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	(int) 5 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1709',
			'article_category_id' => '149',
			'title' => 'Zero-MSG Noodles',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Bhawani Timilsina</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>
				<img alt="Arun KC, Sales Director, Himalayan Snax and Noodles Pvt Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/akc.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 208px;" /></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td style="text-align: center;">
				<div>
					<strong>Arun KC</strong></div>
				<div>
					Sales Director, Himalayan Snax</div>
				<div>
					and Noodles Pvt Ltd</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
<div>
	Mayos instant noodle has retained its position as one of the largest selling brands in the Nepali market. &nbsp;&ldquo;With several years of expertise and commitment, we have carved a niche for ourselves in the market,&rdquo; says Arun KC, Sales Director of Himalayan Snax and Noodles Pvt Ltd (HSNPL). &nbsp;KC says that noodle consumers were long waiting for a distinct taste in their noodle snack. &ldquo;Sensing this opportunity, we launched Mayos noodle in 2000 and received an overwhelming response which for us quite excited.&rdquo;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Mayos noodle is now available as Mayos Cup Noodles with distinct additional flavours such as Mayos Khatta Meetha &amp; Mast Masala, chicken &amp; vegetarian package and Mayos Hot and Sour.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The company holds 25 per cent of the market share in the brown noodles selling market, KC says. With an aim to serve consumers with healthy products, the company is now producing noodles with OMEGA-3 (Fatty Acid) and has avoided the use of Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) after growing complaints from consumers. The company made this decision after conducting a research that found that use of MSG could damage the health of consumers. &ldquo;Being healthy as well as tasty, we can assure that the quality of our noodle is distinct from others,&rdquo; he adds.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	KC says that the company makes no compromise when it comes to the health and taste of the consumer. &ldquo;This is the reason why we have always been making an effort to come up with a wide variety of flavours.&rdquo; &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The company retails Mayos noodles at Rs 15 per pack of 75gms in both chicken and vegetable flavours with nutritional value per pack at 363 calories and 347.6 calories, respectively.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The company at first worked in collaboration with the Thai company Thai President Foods PLC. ShakaLaka Boom, Ru-Chee, Lekali, J-mee, Hurray, Doharee, Jhilke and Humpty Dumpty Krunchy King are other noodles brands under the HSNPL Company.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;&ldquo;In the beginning, the tagline &lsquo;It&rsquo;s the wonderful Mayos Noodles&rsquo; helped us strengthen our branding. We also came up with coupon schemes as a promotional campaign later on, KC recalls, claiming the brand has been successful as it has stayed in the minds and hearts of people.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	According to the KC, competition has increased as a wide range of noodles have emerged in recent times. &ldquo;We do focus on experimenting with innovative concepts help us identify with the interest of consumers,&rdquo; he mentions, with regard to this. &ldquo;In order to integrate novel flavours and packaging format, a mixed fortification of Vitamin A, Calcium, Iron and Proteins has been introduced to all flavours of Mayos products. The Vitamin A, Calcium and Iron components in in Shaka Laka Boom and Ru-Chee noodles was a part of our contribution to address malnutrition since 2007,&rdquo; he says.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Mayos products have also won fame in an international market. &ldquo;Throughout the years, our domestic markets as well as export markets have had constant expansion into leading regions,&rdquo; he says. &nbsp;&ldquo;We have grown up now from being a local product to an internationally recognized one over our 13-year-long journey, and our popularity has been driven by the trust of our consumers,&rdquo; he states.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In the seven years of operation in the export market, HSNPL has witnessed a lot of ups and downs, but it is the customers&rsquo; satisfaction policy helps HSNPL stand on its distinct value, KC reveals. &ldquo;Our main motto has always been customer satisfaction &ndash; whether it is for health reasons or satisfaction in taste,&rdquo; he says.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-08-27',
			'modified' => '2013-09-19',
			'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' => 'Mayos instant noodle has retained its position as one of the largest selling brands in the Nepali market.',
			'sortorder' => '1570',
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	(int) 6 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1708',
			'article_category_id' => '101',
			'title' => 'A Little Work, A Little Play',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong>--By Upashana Neupane &nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="Subodh Rana" src="/userfiles/images/mt.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;width: 200px; height: 225px;" />Balancing family life with a demanding professional one is a tough act to follow. However, Subodh Rana, CEO of Malla Travels and Trek Services, however, does not seem face much difficulty. Taking out time for his family or enjoying life beyond office hours is not a big deal for him. &ldquo;You just have to balance your work and family life simultaneously, and it is not that difficult,&rdquo; Rana says.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Being the CEO of a leading travel and trek company, Rana travels a lot which makes his life a continuous vacation sometimes. &ldquo;I travel a lot for my work or holidays. And though I spend a major chunk of my time in office doing office-related work, I make time to take my family along in my travels too,&rdquo; he says.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Rana shares that his favourite holiday destination is Malaysia. &ldquo;Because Malaysia is a liberal country and the culture and cuisine are very appropriate for Nepalis. I think it&rsquo;s a best destination for Nepalis,&rdquo; he says. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Apart from travelling, Rana indulges in two other things: Sports and Blogging.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	A big-time sports lover, Rana&rsquo;s favourite is Lawn Tennis. If you can&rsquo;t find him in office when he&rsquo;s not traveling, you&rsquo;ll definitely find him playing tennis. &ldquo;Tennis helps me keep physically fit,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It rejuvenates the energy inside me.&rdquo;&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Another equally big part of Rana&rsquo;s personality is that he is an active blogger. He engages himself in blogging whenever he gets spare time. &ldquo;I especially love to blog about history,&rdquo; he shares. &ldquo;As I am from a Rana family, the subject interests me over anything else.&rdquo; Blogging relaxes him from the everyday hustle bustle and gives mental satisfaction. &ldquo;Just as tennis is a physical exercise, blogging is a mental exercise for me,&rdquo; he shares.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Rana plans to holiday in Thailand next with his family. Keeping rejuvenated with his hobbies and his job, he definitely seems to find ample opportunity to break away from corporate monotony.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-08-27',
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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' => 'Balancing family life with a demanding professional one is a tough act to follow. However, Subodh Rana, CEO of Malla Travels and Trek Services, however, does not seem face much difficulty.',
			'sortorder' => '1569',
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	(int) 7 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1707',
			'article_category_id' => '193',
			'title' => '“IT Sector Has Good Prospects With TV Broadcast Digitisation”',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><img alt="Saroj Bajracharya, Managing Director of Soheto Nepal Pvt Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/sb.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 249px;" />Saroj Bajracharya</strong> is the Managing Director of Soheto Nepal Pvt Ltd &ndash; a company involved in various trading businesses. Soheto is the supplier of Sony Medical products and is also providing consultancy and integration services to TV and radio stations along with broadcasting equipments. Bajracharya spoke to The Corporate&rsquo;s <strong>Sanjeev Sharma</strong> about Soheto and his experience in business. <strong>Excerpts:</strong></span></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Could you brief us about your company?</strong></div>
<div>
	SOHETO Nepal was officially registered in 2006 as an authorised distributor of Sony broadcast and professional equipments in Nepal. We are the suppliers of Sony Medical products such as monitors, printers, cameras and recorders for medical diagnostics and imaging purposes. We have managed to expand our business to various sectors and have been focusing on providing services to the broadcast and telecom sector. We supply equipments, provide system design and integration services to TV and radio stations. &nbsp;In total, we have around 90 per cent of shares in the supply of equipments in the television broadcast sector. We also do computer hardware and software support, supply and consultancy business from sister companies Smart Enterprise and Smart Technology. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What motivated you to enter this sector?</strong></div>
<div>
	I graduated in Electronics and Communication Engineering in 1993 and felt that there is opportunity in IT business. In 1994, along with some friends, I embarked on computer trading business. At first, we assemble and supply computers to individuals and for commercial customers. I focused on the computer trading business for over a decade and got involved in the broadcast business 2006 onwards. In my experience, we got good exposure and an opportunity to work with various big companies while working in the broadcast business. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>How do you assess the IT market in Nepal?</strong></div>
<div>
	The sector is driven by emerging technologies. One should remain up-to&ndash;date in order to keep with the pace. Those who fail to move along with the times will be left behind. The demand in the market is constantly changing and we have been mobilising ourselves accordingly. Embracing new ventures helps to keep alive and fresh.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What challenges do you think the IT business in Nepal is facing?</strong></div>
<div>
	Purchasing power has been declining in recent times. The sales volume of professional cameras, for instance, has been decreasing as compared to the early years of its market presence. Political instability, too, has definitely had a negative impact on business.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What are your business plans as of now?</strong></div>
<div>
	We have been waiting to upgrade standards through television broadcast digitisation. The IT sector has good prospects with this.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What impact will digitisation have in the Nepali market?</strong></div>
<div>
	It is a demand of the time. It is challenging to switch over to new technology and it will not happen all of a sudden. Though people are now reluctant towards it, it will certainly have good impact.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-08-27',
			'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' => 'Soheto is the supplier of Sony Medical products and is also providing consultancy and integration services to TV and radio stations along with broadcasting equipments.',
			'sortorder' => '1568',
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	(int) 8 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1706',
			'article_category_id' => '116',
			'title' => 'Power Summit 2013 From Today',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	The Independent Power Producers&rsquo; Association Nepal (IPPAN) will host the Power Summit 2013, in Kathmandu, on August 26-27, to critically review the performance of the domestic hydropower sector, discuss hurdles preventing the sector&rsquo;s development, and identify ways to quicken the pace of the sector&rsquo;s development.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The two-day conference to be organised with a theme &lsquo;Hastening the pace of hydropower development&rsquo;, will be participated by high-ranking government officials, the private sector and delegates from over a dozen countries, including the US, China, India and Norway, among others.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;We are trying to make the conference as thematic as possible and most of the focus would be on finding why country&rsquo;s hydro sector has not been able to take off and obstructions that need to be removed so that development can gain momentum,&rdquo; IPPAN vice president Khadga Bahadur Bista said.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Although it is touted that Nepal has the potential to produce 83,000MW of electricity, the country so far has been able to tap less than 800MW of electricity from the rivers. As a result, hours-long power outage has become a norm in the country, which is affecting production at various industries and hindering country&rsquo;s economic development.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	To address these issues, the conference will discuss the status of hydro power projects required to meet domestic energy demands, electricity demand forecast, power market integration, transmission line and power market management, &nbsp;pricing strategies and foreign markets that can import electricity from Nepal.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;The conference will also delve into strategies on financing projects to meet domestic demands, risks associated with these projects, and mitigation measures,&rdquo; says an IPPAN statement. The conference will also discuss harmonisation of various laws for timely implementation of projects and ways to channelise investment of non-resident Nepalis.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;We shall, therefore, focus our deliberations under the following four categories &mdash; projects to meet domestic demand with domestic investment, projects to meet domestic demand with foreign investment, projects for power export with foreign investment, and power markets and their management and integration,&rdquo; Bista said.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The conference, to be jointly organised by PTC India Ltd and Non-Resident Nepalis Association, is being supported by the Energy Ministry and the Investment Board of Nepal.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-08-27',
			'modified' => '0000-00-00',
			'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal',
			'description' => 'The Independent Power Producers’ Association Nepal (IPPAN) will host the Power Summit 2013, in Kathmandu, on August 26-27, to critically review the performance of the domestic hydropower sector, discuss hurdles preventing the sector’s development, and identify ways to quicken the pace of the sector’s development.',
			'sortorder' => '1567',
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	(int) 9 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1705',
			'article_category_id' => '100',
			'title' => 'Tourism Briefs (26 August - 01 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Food Festival in Pokhara in December</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	The Restaurant and Bar Association of Kaski is organising the Second City REBAN Festival and Food Festival in December. Organising a press meet, KP Sharma, President of REBAN said that the festival is being organised from December 6 to 15. A total of 115 commercial stalls will be featured in the Festival, showcasing various cuisines as well as cultural programmes. Sharma said that organisers have formed a 24-member organising committee and 10 other coordinators for the successful execution of the festival. The estimated investment for the festival is around Rs 2.7 million, and the total income is expected to be around Rs 2.9 million. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">View Tower to Be Constructed In Dharche</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<img alt="Dharche trekking trail" src="/userfiles/images/DHH.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 94px;" />A view tower is to be constructed in Dharche trekking trail of at Lower Manaslu region of Gorkha with the motive to develop tourism activities. &ldquo;The feasibility study of the tower has reached its final stage,&rdquo; said Sane Gurung, President of Manaslu Tourism Development Committee. According to Gurung, the tower will be 3,200m high from where tourists can view the mountains. &ldquo;Though the total investment has not been fixed, we have estimated it to be around Rs 2 million,&rdquo; Gurung said. The committee has been searching for some donors for financial assistance. &ldquo;We have been holding talks with Gorkha District Tourism Development Committee for help and will complete the construction within a year,&rdquo; he said. Gurung informed that Lapu VDC has allocated Rs 100,000, Laprak VDC Rs 25, 000 and Thumi VDC Rs 29, 000 for the project. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Qatar Airways to Fly Dreamliners to India</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<img alt="Qatar Airways" src="/userfiles/images/QA(1).jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 102px;" />Qatar Airways will launch its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner flights to India next month. From 1 September 2013, the airline will commence daily Dreamliner services to both Delhi and Bengaluru, using the 254-seat aircraft. &ldquo;We are delighted to introduce Qatar Airways&rsquo; Dreamliner on two of our important Indian routes,&rdquo; said the Doha-based airline&rsquo;s CEO, Akbar Al Baker. Qatar Airways&rsquo; B787s offer 22 flat-bed business class seats, all with aisle access, and 232 seats in economy class, in a 3&ndash;3&ndash;3 layout. The Delhi and Bengaluru services will mark the first time Qatar Airways has flown its Dreamliners to destinations in the Asia Pacific region. (Traveldailymedia.com)</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">The Travel Preferences of Young and Old</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<img alt="The Travel Preferences of Young and Old" src="/userfiles/images/TRA.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 79px;" />Together, Germany and the UK represent Europe&rsquo;s largest travel source market. Commissioned by ITB Berlin, IPK International examined the travel preferences of both younger and older holidaymakers in a special analysis of the World Travel Monitor, which shows that at 19 per cent (13 million trips) Germans occupy close to one-fifth of Europe&rsquo;s entire holiday travel market for young people. In 2012, European 15 to 29 year-olds undertook a total of 69 million holiday trips abroad, whereas the corresponding figure for the UK was only six million (nine per cent). By contrast, the UK&rsquo;s older generation is ahead in the travel statistics. Of all the European holiday trips undertaken by the older generation close to one-fifth (19 per cent / 15 million trips) are by Britons, whereas the market share occupied by older Germans is 17 per cent (13.5 million trips). (Traveldailynews.com)</div>',
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			'description' => 'The Restaurant and Bar Association of Kaski is organising the Second City REBAN Festival and Food Festival in December.',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1704',
			'article_category_id' => '157',
			'title' => 'Kakori’s Kingly Delights',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Sujan Tiwari</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Kakori Restaurant at Soaltee Crowne Plaza is one of the best destinations in Kathmandu to enjoy Indian cuisine. Kakori, named after a town in Lucknow, is open only for dinner and serves gourmet Punjabi, Kashmiri, Rajasthani, Awadhi and Nepali dishes. Balaram Pathak, Food and Beverage Director at Soaltee claims that Kakori is the best Indian fine dining restaurant in Kathmandu. &nbsp;&ldquo;We have specially trained manpower, we offer excellent service and scrumptious Indian delicacies in a classy ambience,&rdquo; says Pathak.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The restaurant is located by the swimming pool, and offers a secluded seating. The place is ideal for business as well as family gatherings. The setup reflects the regal era, and is a rich fusion of Nepali and Indian architecture. The place is adequately lit, and has highlighted niches on a white wall with antique artefacts. The seating is cosy and classy at the same time, perfect for spending long evenings. The kitchen is behind transparent glass so that customers can see how the food is being prepared. &nbsp;The major cutomers of Kakori are in-house guests of Soaltee, expatriates, corporate clients and the local people.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Kakori has on its menu assorted starters, mains and deserts, and specializes in kebabs, raan and biryanis among manu other dishes. The place is renowned for kakori kebabs, which is one of the best sellers here. Legend has it that one of the Nawabs of Lucknow once received a complaint from a British officer that the kebabs served at dinner were too coarse. Feeling insulted, the Nawab ordered his cooks to formulate a new kebab recipe. The cooks tried for ten days and finally came up with a kebab recipe that was very tender and juicy. This recipe is now renowned as Kakori Kebab, and the best place to enjoy those kebabs is at Kakori. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="kakori meny" src="/userfiles/images/1(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 15px;" /></div>
<div>
	One of the most popular dishes here is Raan-e-Awadh. It is a roasted lamb dish prepared with meticulous attention. For the dish, the lamb is first pot-roasted for more than six hours with salt and spices. It is then marinated in yogurt, nutmeg, chilli and other spices and butter basted. The lamb is finally cooked on a tandoor that gives it its signature smoky flavour. The lamb is very well cooked, evenly spiced and is very succulent. It can be enjoyed as a starter or main course. Another special starter at Kakori is Nasheela Jheenga. The dish is prepared by marinating Tiger Prawns in slat, pepper, ginger garlic paste and lemon juice. After a few hours, the prawns are marinated for the second time in yogurt, slat, yellow chilli, turmeric and other spices. The prawns are then grilled with cognac, butter, lemon juice and kebab masala. This could be one of the best prawn delicacies you have ever savoured.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	There are numerous other starters like Gulabi Salmon Tikka, Murgh Malai and Lahsooni Tangri. A few Nepali starters are also on the menu that includes Khasi ko Bhutuwa, a stir fried mutton dish and Chara Sandheko, a smoked chicken dish enjoyed cold. &nbsp;Kakori doesn&rsquo;t disappoint its vegetarian customers as it has many veg options too.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;Kakori&rsquo;s menu is quite extensive as there are plenty of main courses to choose from. There are many spicy veg and non-veg curries, biryanis and rice dishes, and different varieties of naan and rotis. Shorbas and the offered Daal varities also go very well with the freshly prepared naans and rice too. To put a sweet end to the meal, Kakori has a nice assortment of mouth watering desserts. Carrot and beetroot pudding, rasgulla, rasmalai and other traditional Indian desserts will keep you wanting for more.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	All in all, Kakori is a fine dining restaurant with delicious Indian cuisine, a soothing ambience and personalized service. Visit once and the dinner could be one of your most memorable ones.</div>',
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			'created' => '2013-08-27',
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			'description' => 'Kakori Restaurant at Soaltee Crowne Plaza is one of the best destinations in Kathmandu to enjoy Indian cuisine.',
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	(int) 11 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1703',
			'article_category_id' => '99',
			'title' => 'Nepal Wins Best Print Promotion In TTF2013',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has bagged the &lsquo;Best Print Promotion&rsquo; award in Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF) 2013 at &nbsp;Ahmedabad, India. According to a press statement from NTB, the award was attributed to the excellent combination of content and substance of the Nepali stall in the Fair. NTB participated in the fair in Ahmedabad, Gujurat from 16-18 August 2013 with the aim of increasing awareness and educating Indian travellers on Nepal&#39;s tourism products and offerings targeting upcoming season of Dashara and Puja Holidays in Gujurat.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The three day fair attracted more than 20000 visitors. 100 stalls featuring a dozen Indian states along with destination countries Nepal, Thailand and Malaysia were present the fair. Commemorating this year as Mount Everest Diamond Jubilee Celebrations, Nepal was marketed as an ultimate adventure destination. According to the statement, Indian adventure enthusiasts are seen exploring various adventure travel options in recent days.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	NTB and the participating company from Nepal like Yeti Airlines Domestic, Monterosa Treks and Expedition, Nepal Holiday Maker Tours and Travel and Fishtail Tours and Travels among others engaged in both B2B and B2C promotion during the fair.Pilgrimage, Leisure, Soft Adventure Activities and Muktinath pilgrimage tour drew special attractions.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	India is the most significant market for the Nepalese tourism industry with approximately 1/3rd total market share. In 2012, Nepal received 165,815 tourists from India by air which is 20.6 per cent increase as compared to 2011. In the period of Jan-July 2013 itself, Nepal received 89,500 tourists from India.</div>',
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			'description' => 'Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has bagged the ‘Best Print Promotion’ award in Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF) 2013 at  Ahmedabad, India.',
			'sortorder' => '1564',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1702',
			'article_category_id' => '152',
			'title' => 'Focus Briefs (26 August - 01 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">CG Introduces New Range of ACs</span></strong></div>
<div>
	CG, a subsidiary of the Chaudhary Group introduced its new range of CG air conditioners in June this year. The company has rolled out four models of air conditioners: the CG- 09THCA, CG-12THCA, CG-18THCA and CG-24THCA. The new range of air conditioners comes with a built-in voltage stabiliser that works even on low voltage, the company said in a press statement. &ldquo;The benefits are very clear; it saves money as there is no need to buy an additional voltage stabiliser,&rdquo; the company said. The products are suitable for the Tarai region of the country that experiences high voltage fluctuation. CG Electronics has stated that the new air conditioners are quiet and calm, and have quick performance. Likewise, the devices come with a cordless luxury remote control. CG air conditioners have a compact design. &ldquo;It also has an &lsquo;excellent&rsquo; new look&mdash;mirror floral printed design that adds beauty to the consumers&rsquo; home as well as work. With their low power consumption feature, these devices have become more energy efficient and reduce the monthly power bill,&rdquo; the company further said. CG Electronics has priced the appliances in the range of Rs 40,580 to Rs 77,990. &nbsp;All products come with a 12-month warranty.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Panasonic Launches FSV Air Conditioners</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Panasonic, a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronic products and the Triveni Group, Panasonic&rsquo;s authorised distributor for Air Conditioners and Home Appliance products in Nepal, launched a full line up of FSV air conditioners in Nepal recently. Panasonic&rsquo;s FSV is a reverse cycle of the VRF system specifically designed for the most demanding application where precise cooling or heating load control is needed, such as in offices, shops and multi-storey apartments. The FSV system enables a single outdoor unit to power up to 64 indoor units. The indoor units can be a mix of Wall Mounted, Cassette, Mini Cassette and mid and Low Static Pressure ducted units with a total capacity of up to 60HP. The system offers users a variety of control options including group control, web control and building management system integration. Additionally, the FSV allows flexibility with piping design, allowing a height difference of up to 50m between outdoor and indoor units, and a maximum piping length&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	of 1,000m.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'CG, a subsidiary of the Chaudhary Group introduced its new range of CG air conditioners in June this year.',
			'sortorder' => '1563',
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	(int) 13 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1701',
			'article_category_id' => '192',
			'title' => 'Yeti Air And Unilever Awarded Best Managed  And Joint Venture Companies In Nepal',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	Yeti Airlines was awarded &lsquo;Best Managed Company of the Year 2013&rsquo; by the New Business Age Pvt. Ltd. amid a ceremony titled &lsquo;Newbiz Conclave &amp; Business Excellence Awards Ceremony 2013&rsquo; in capital on last Saturday. The ceremony was organized by the New Business Age Pvt. Ltd. with a main sponsorship of Asian Paints.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Yeti was felicitated for its best air services even in the remote areas of Nepal. The awards were distributed in ten different categories.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Likewise, Unilever Nepal Ltd has bagged the Best Managed Joint Venture Company of the Year. The award was provided to Unilever for satisfying all the stakeholders of the company as well as regularly distributing high dividends to its shareholders.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In the commercial banks sector, Everest Bank Ltd. won the Best Managed Commercial Bank of the Year.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Clean Energy Development Bank Ltd has received Best Managed Development Bank of the year and Fewa Finance Ltd, which is headquartered at Pokhara, received Best Managed Finance Company.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal Life Insurance Company was awarded in the Best Managed Life Insurance Company category, while NLG Insurance Company won the Best Managed Non-life Insurance Company.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	During the ceremony, Shailaja Adhikari was also felicitated with the Women Entrepreneur of the Year. Affiliated with ICC group, she is an entrepreneur who has been investing on fashion designing and pre-school education.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Deepak Prakash Baskota, hailing from Panchthar, achieved the Social Entrepreneur of the Year for his entrepreneurship through Kanchanjangha Tea Estate and Research Centre.Karna Sakya was felicitated with the Newbiz Lifetime Achievement Award.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The thematic jury and the lead jury were formed to decide upon the awardees for 10 different categories. The Lead Jury was presided by the Soaltee Hotel Ltd Chairman Prabhakar Shamsher JB Rana. Each thematic jury had recommended three companies to the lead jury for the award. &ldquo;The selection of the awardees has been done in utmost fair manner,&rdquo; Rana told, adding that this type of program would encourage the private sector.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Award recipient for the Best Managed Company of the Year, Yeti Airlines Managing Director Vijay Shrestha, said they were feeling proud for being awarded. &ldquo;We are elated of being awarded for our works and this has further helped us to realize our responsibilities&rdquo;.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<hr />
	<h2>
		<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Awardees</span></strong></h2>
</div>
<div>
	<strong>Yeti Airlines:</strong> Best Managed Company of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Unilever Nepal Ltd:</strong> Best Managed Joint Venture Company of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Everest Bank:</strong> Best Managed Commercial Bank of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Clean Energy Development Bank:</strong> Best Managed Development Bank of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Fewa Finance Ltd:</strong> Best Managed Finance Company of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Karna Sakya: </strong>Newbiz Lifetime Achievement Award 2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Nepal Life Insurance Company Ltd:</strong> Best Managed Life Insurance Company of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>NLG Insurance Company Ltd:</strong> Best Managed Non-life Insurance Company of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	D<strong>eepak Prakash Banskota (Kanchanjungha Tea Estate):</strong> Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Shailaja Adhikari (ICC group):</strong> Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'created' => '2013-08-26',
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			'description' => 'Yeti Airlines was awarded ‘Best Managed Company of the Year 2013’ by the New Business Age Pvt. Ltd. amid a ceremony titled ‘Newbiz Conclave & Business Excellence Awards Ceremony 2013’ in capital on last Saturday.',
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	(int) 14 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1700',
			'article_category_id' => '192',
			'title' => 'The Key Speakers At Newbiz Conclave & Business Excellence Awards Ceremony 2013',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Management Essential for Economic Development</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Rameshore Khanal" src="/userfiles/images/rk.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;height: 157px; width: 150px;" />Rameshore Khanal</strong></div>
<div>
	Former Finance Secretary</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Various hurdles like political instability, labor strike, and corruption have created hindrances in the economic development of the Nepal. The main reason behind this is lack of good governance and economic management is the regulatory bodies of the government. Inability to complete the Melamchi hydro project is also the result of the irregularities. The common people and the industrialists are not being able to lead a life out of terror. The small and medium scale industries seem to work more hard in this context. Similarly, unnecessary disturbances regarding renew and registration of the new comers have also discouraged the industrialists. Private sector seems managed regarding the organizational governance of financial sector. The condition of other productive sector in Nepal is not satisfactory because of which the financial sector is not improving as expected. Recently the new generations are attracted towards the vocational education and this subject is being taught in most of the colleges out of valley. But still the education regarding the hydro power and other service sectors are not being given to the students. Efforts should be made to attract students in these sectors.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Private Sector is the Engine of Economic Development</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Suraj Vaidya President, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries" src="/userfiles/images/sv.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 163px;" />Suraj Vaidya</strong></div>
<div>
	President, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Private sector is the engine for economic development of the country. It provides the direction to the economy of the country. Having the important role in the development of the country, the government should provide facilities to the private sector. Private sector is the backbone of the prosperous society. The country is in vicious circle of political instability. There is necessity of some noble political leaders who can take the country out of this circle overcoming all the prevailing challenges.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	There is no point of discussing about election. It should be held anyhow. The economy of the country is also depended on local development. The election has been essential for development. There are a lot of possibilities of development in rural areas and the economic development of the country is possible only with the development of rural areas. The possibilities should be identified and commercialization of the local products should be done with standard pricing. Nearly 30 per cent of vegetable market in Kathmandu is covered by the vegetables from Dhading which can be increased more with the management of proper storage. Dhading is also being promoted as organic district in order to access and expand the market of vegetables produced in the district.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Private Sector Essential to Promote Tourism</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Amran Abdul Rahman Director, (Nepal and India) Malaysia Tourism" src="/userfiles/images/aar.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 162px;" />Amran Abdul Rahman</strong></div>
<div>
	Director, (Nepal and India) Malaysia Tourism</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Not only tourism sector, private sector is the medium of branding the whole nation because it comes in direct contact with the common people. A nation can be economically transformed through tourism but there needs to be cooperation between private sector and government. Malaysia comes in ninth position to attract largest number of tourists. A total of 25 million people had visited Malaysia in 2012. Nepal has immense potentialities in tourism sector which should be promoted with development of the areas and effective regulations. Nepal also had possibilities of business tourism and also can be appropriate for MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition) tourism.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">&nbsp;Innovation and Competition Creates Growth</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Wim Lancsweert Development Economist, Belgium" src="/userfiles/images/wl.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 163px;" />Wim Lancsweert</strong></div>
<div>
	Development Economist, Belgium</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Innovation and competition are the two important factors for growth. A multi dimensional entrepreneurship is essential for innovation and competition. The traditional way can&rsquo;t open the way for this. Impressive personality, cultural and organizational structure and regulations boosting entrepreneurship can only encourage entrepreneurs. There are two types of entrepreneurship: entrepreneurship by necessity and entrepreneurship by adequate opportunities. The nation need not expect anything from the entrepreneurs created by necessity but the entrepreneurs created by the opportunities can help in the economic development of whole nation. So it depends upon the regulations and the laws of the government which of entrepreneurship to encourage. I personally believe that the training and education regarding entrepreneurship can create an appropriate foundation of economic growth. After that financial access and investment friendly environment is essential.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Efforts to Attract Foreign Investment is Essential</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Sukanti Ghosh Managing Director, India APCO Worldwide" src="/userfiles/images/sg.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 167px;" />Sukanti Ghosh</strong></div>
<div>
	Managing Director, India APCO Worldwide</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The rapid economic growth of Gujarat has only been possible because of the clear vision and regular effort. The state was able to evaluate competitive quality and weakness because of which better industrial environment is formed there. The administration also helped to attract private investment and industrial friendly regulations. Additional private sector also invested after the improving condition of Gujarat. Then Gujarat administration started promoting private as well as national and international investment.</div>
<div>
	The investors are always in search of stable government and investment friendly environment where open market, rule of law and security are guaranteed. Similarly availability of skilled manpower and continuity of scientific research are also preferred by the investors. Similar environment in Gujarat was able to get the commitment of Rs 50 billion of investment from a 3-day summit held in January, 2013 in Gujarat. Nepal also should work in this sector in inviting foreign investment. It can take benefit from its neighboring countries, India and China. There are several sectors for investment in Nepal including hydro power, infrastructure development, manufacturing, tourism, agriculture and mines. &nbsp;Lands available in relatively cheaper prices, availability of manpower and high profit are some of the factors attracting investment.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Other Companies Should Learn From Award Winners</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Budhaditya Mukherjee CEO, Asian Paints Nepal Pvt. Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/bm.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 163px;" />Budhaditya Mukherjee</strong></div>
<div>
	CEO, Asian Paints Nepal Pvt. Ltd</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The Business Excellence Award 2013 has helped in enhancing the economic growth of the nation. This is also the appropriate point to focus in the economic development of Nepal. Most of the private sectors have been performing their tasks silently. Their task has contributed the whole nation and New Business Age has encouraged them with such awards. We are glad to work with such organization. The main motto of this award is to create positive inspiration for other organizations to work even better. The important aspect of this award ceremony is the jury part. We are hoping for the correct selection of the business houses by juries involved in this ceremony.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Should be focused in development of Business Brand</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Srikanth Srinivasamadhawan Managing Director, Unilever Nepal Limited" src="/userfiles/images/sss.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 165px;" />Srikanth Srinivasamadhawan</strong></div>
<div>
	Managing Director, Unilever Nepal Limited</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal has greater possibilities for the productive sectors from the economic point of view. The economic rate can be increased and achieved with the development of such industries. We have to keep focusing on the profit, consistency and responsibility along with the growth. There should be diversity in the production for the development and growth of the product. Unilever covers most of the market in Nepal because of the same policy. Similarly more storage and consumerism is also essential for establish the brand in the market. &nbsp;We should apply creative way to access the brands in the market. For the sustainable economic development, brand centered growth should be the focus. We are always focused on the development of Nepal that&rsquo;s why all the products of Unilever have been covered most of Nepali market.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Healthy and Active Financial Sector</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Rajan Singh Bhandary, President, Nepal Banker’s Association" src="/userfiles/images/rsb.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 165px;" />Rajan Singh Bhandary</strong></div>
<div>
	President, Nepal Banker&rsquo;s Association</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As Nepal is a small country, the financial sector of this country is also limited. Though small, the roles of financial sector are very important. The financial sector mobilizes with the sound economic condition of the country. A narrow economy of a country creates healthy environment in financial sector. Both of these sectors are equally important for a strong economy of the country.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	&nbsp;</h2>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Insuring Industrial Security</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Shankar Koirala, Minister for Finance, Industry and Commerce and Supplies" src="/userfiles/images/sk.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 165px;" />Shankar Koirala</strong></div>
<div>
	Minister for Finance, Industry and Commerce and Supplies</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	I was highly tempted to be a part of this event because of two reasons: one is the theme and the another, I was curious to see all the business leaders coming together and excited to know how they&rsquo;re doing and contributing to the country. I thank and congratulate New Business Age family for conducting the event. For achieving the target, government&rsquo;s effort too is not sufficient. To facilitate them everyone should work together. We acknowledge role of private sectors too for the economic growth of the country. This award ceremony will act as a challenge for them to do even more and maintain their position. We have to insure industrial security for the investors. Mobilization of domestic products should be assured and for that transportation facilities should be improved. Agriculture investment should grow and I feel that the ideas shared here will help us meet the target.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Employment should be Created within the Country</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada ,Governor, Nepal Rastra Bank" src="/userfiles/images/yrk.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;height: 163px; width: 150px;" />Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada</strong></div>
<div>
	Governor, Nepal Rastra Bank</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	It is a common dream of Nepali people to eliminate political instability and reduce poverty rate. And for that Economic growth is must. Last year, Service sector increased by 6 percent and the industry by 3 percent. It&rsquo;s not that difficult to achieve 7 per cent growth in our country. Industries in Nepal are running 50 per cent of its total capacity. If it increases to 80 per cent, then it will not be a difficult task to achieve the targeted growth of 7 per cent. Agriculture itself has capacity to grow more than 5 per cent of GDP. For that agro-based investment should be increased. Similarly, employment should be created within the country. Capacity utilization should be another major priority. Nepal needs development based on agriculture, hydropower and tourism. And employment opportunities should be created for middle class to grow.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	This is just the right time to do this kind of event and I congratulate NBA team for this.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>&nbsp;Public Commitment Necessary for Economic Prosperity</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Binod Chaudhary, president, Chaudhary Group" src="/userfiles/images/bc.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 163px;" />Binod Chaudhary</strong></div>
<div>
	president, Chaudhary Group</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal has more than half century experience and mandate of planned economic development attempt. Today&rsquo;s necessity is learning from our past and moving forward towards the development of Nepal. Nepal&rsquo;s industrial contribution in GDP has decreased to 5.6 percent which was 12 percent a decade ago. We all have common opinion in terms of economic development. We have to make public commitment for country&rsquo;s economic development. To achieve the target, we have to mechanise agriculture, commercialise herbs, vegetables and fruits. Tourism is another sector where we have to concentrate more.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Priority to Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Ashok Baid ,President, Birgunj Chamber of Commerce" src="/userfiles/images/ab.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 165px;" />Ashok Baid</strong></div>
<div>
	President, Birgunj Chamber of Commerce</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Country is only utilizing 30 per cent of its resources. There is much to do with this country. There should be growth in entrepreneurship, productivity and employment creation in Nepal. Nepal is utilizing only 40 percent of its industrial capacity. All the economic stakeholders should be serious about this issue. Birgunj should be prioritized because it occupies large economic and industrial space. Bara-Parsa corridor conservation must be prioritized. Government should play role in developing industrial relationship there. We can develop Birgunj as economic and industrial capital. We should accept public-private partnership for infrastructures development.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Business is an Engine for Development and Economic Growth</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Dr Ratnakar Adhikari ,Chief Executive Director, South Asian Watch on Trade Economics and Environment (SAWTEE)" src="/userfiles/images/dra.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 165px;" />Dr Ratnakar Adhikari</strong></div>
<div>
	Chief Executive Director, South Asian Watch on Trade Economics and Environment (SAWTEE)</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Business is the engine for economic growth and development. Business helps to make country prosper. It plays important role in creating employment, and helps in country&rsquo;s revenue collection too. Banking and Insurance sector should be emphasized to develop the business. It also helps in inviting foreign investment when investment increase, business gets competitive which helps for its sustainability. Technology development is equally important. To increase the business, industrial, energy, infrastructures development, skilled manpower and competitive policy is necessary.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>&nbsp;Structural change of production</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Joseph Silvanus, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/js.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 166px;" />Joseph Silvanus</strong></div>
<div>
	CEO, Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Ltd</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Finance sector can play role of engine in achieving 7 per cent economic growth. For that products structure needs to be changed. Structural changes can help in diversification of the products. And it helps in qualitative and quantitative development of the products too. Along with that we have to utilize the growing population of the country too. We have to use modern technology as per the time&rsquo;s need.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	&nbsp;</h2>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Concept of Rural and Small Scale Industries</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Dr Pronab Sen ,CEO, National Insurance Co Ltd (Nepal Operations)" src="/userfiles/images/dps.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 162px;" />Dr Pronab Sen</strong></div>
<div>
	CEO, National Insurance Co Ltd (Nepal Operations)</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Insurance is the risk management tools and about feeling secure. Insurance companies work as a substitute of government responsibilities. It helps to reduce capital forms and helps in investment and innovations. For better economic growth we have to ensure agro-based insurance too apart from hydro power and other insurances because our economy is directly based on agriculture.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	&nbsp;</h2>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Improve Technology to Compete with India and China</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Hari Bhakta Sharma, Vice-president, Confederation of Nepalese Industries" src="/userfiles/images/hbs.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 156px;" />Hari Bhakta Sharma</strong></div>
<div>
	Vice-president, Confederation of Nepalese Industries</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nature has a capacity to fulfill all our need but she cannot fulfill our greed. It is sad that the country where I live is 167th poorest in the world because of dollar appreciation. Thanks to the government. We have 2.5 billion people market and still far behind. There is no electricity and water. We only demand with no responsibility. We should try to improve our technology to compete with India and China. Once you learnt that, you will compete with rest of the world. I would like to request the government to change their policies at the earliest and would like to request our skilled manpower not to migrate to other countries.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'id' => '1714',
			'article_category_id' => '169',
			'title' => 'Recipe Of A Successful Business Model',
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			'content' => '<div>
	<img alt="Buddha's Delight August 2013" src="/userfiles/images/bd.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 375px; margin-left: 25px; margin-right: 25px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Venture Capitalists speak about new venture; they seek a business plan elaborating Forecasted ROI, Equity split, Break Even point, ROCE, Target segmentation etc. But how a business evolves? Opportunity can be found anywhere. If there is need-gap, an opportunity exists to bridge that. Optimists see opportunity even in Calamity while pessimists see Calamity in biggest opportunity. Fundamental of any business is about creating value for customers to cater to a need against a price. Any frustration can be the germination of an evolving business model. But what is it that makes some Businesses click while others perish?&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Let us take an example. Taxi Drivers haggling with fare and tampering meters are common sight in South Asia. They do that as the meter rate is not very high, trips are limited and they face extortions from multiple sources. Coupled with high maintenance and rent, what is left for the drivers? Poor chap has to earn his livelihood and support his family. But a Driver haggling with fare, tampering with Meter is very frustrating for us. Right? What do we do? Nothing. Curse the government, society, politicians. Even curse ourselves for being there. But facing such incidents multiple times, it never occurred to me that a Business Model can be envisioned. Till I heard about Nirmal!&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nirmal Kumar; this soft spoken, specially abled person is a 2008 graduate from IIM Ahmedabad. He comes from a modest background in Bihar where his father was a primary school teacher. One night, he was in an Auto Rickshaw in Ahmedabad and got overcharged. Though enraged, he did not curse like most of us. A business idea struck him. He entered with a deal with Drivers parking outside IIM Campus. Against an undertaking that proper fare will be charged, he provided them Free Newspaper and Health-cum-Personal Insurance cover. Starting initially with his own money, he started visiting corporates to draw from their CSR fund.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	With funds, Kumar increased the facilities for drivers and developed the brand &lsquo;G Auto&rsquo;. A business model was borne. The drivers benefitted with health care, children education and insurance. Gujarat CM Narendra Modi came for inauguration which helped in many ways. With the vehicles carrying advertisement, sizeable revenues generated. Finally Nirmal Foundation, a trust, formed with Kumar as Managing Director. Currently 21 paid employees are associated with the trust. Revenues from Advertisement, Corporate Donation, and Government funding help them breaking even. The Foundation ensures that any member breaching law will lose membership; but they also help the Driver in case of any unnecessary harassment from the authority.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	G-Auto voted second in the SMART Mobility Awards on transportation solution given by Michigan University. Recently, the Indian Union Urban Development Secretary has written to all states to emulate the model. Kumar, looking for expansion, met Delhi CM Sheila Dixit with plans for the national capital.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Kumar installed new technology like tamperproof computerized meter for positive, sustainable customer satisfaction. With the vehicles being monitored through GPRS, introduction of a Call Center and free Mobile Phone App; now customers can even request for a G-Auto delivered to his place. Imagine the power of this proposition, at late night with normal rate reliability. Usually a driver earns around 200/-IC per day in a normal system after clearing all expenses associated with the vehicle. They resort to unsavoury tactics as the ends cannot be met with limited earnings. But with theses upgradations, G-Auto gets more trips and volume compensated for low earnings per trip.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The strength of this model is it&rsquo;s a winning formula which offers wonderful returns to all stakeholders. This is the essence of any business plan. A business becomes successful if it caters to certain fundamental principles.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	1. The offering must satisfy a need &ndash; latent or explicit&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	2. It should create value for a set of people &ndash; either directly or indirectly&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	3. Customers should cherish their experience of association and return back to feel it again&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	4. The perceived value offered to the customers must be more than the price paid by them&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	5. It should offer positive profitable solution to all stakeholders; both the drivers and the Customers&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	6. It should remain relevant and evolve continuously by adapting to the changes happening in Macro Environment. Lots of flourishing businesses suffered due to lack of flexibility and vision! Remember Kodak and its bankruptcy filing?&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	At the end of the day, a business must be profitable and provide Shareholders more return than they would have got from a normal and secured depository route. A dream business in paper that does not make money for its shareholder is a living nightmare.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Business Model is like a vision, a dream and when people have a vision which satisfies all these fundamentals - they have a winning formula in their hand. It is the vision that matters. As Sam Walton correctly pointed out - &ldquo;Capital isn&rsquo;t scarce; vision is.&rdquo;</div>',
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			'description' => 'Venture Capitalists speak about new venture; they seek a business plan elaborating Forecasted ROI, Equity split, Break Even point, ROCE, Target segmentation etc. But how a business evolves?',
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	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Prof Ujjwal K Chowdhury</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Understanding Natural Disasters:&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Covering seven nations, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, South Asia is a region sensitive to disasters. The region has exhausted its land reserves, and is farming soils that are unsuitable for cultivation. Some 35% of productive land is affected by land degradation. South Asia has a population that is vulnerable to risks in terms of sudden fluctuations in markets and natural shocks arising from weather. This region is also marked by high disparities in income, health and education.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	South Asia&rsquo;s geography makes it particularly susceptible to natural disasters. According to the recently published World Risk Report 2012, countries like Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan exhibit a high level of vulnerability as demonstrated by their lack of coping capacities and adaptive capacities. In evaluating 173 countries for purposes of creating this year&rsquo;s World Risk Index, the report gave the following countries its global risk index ranking: Bangladesh (6th most risk-prone country of the world), Pakistan (66), India (71) and Nepal (99). There is a high level of variation within South Asia itself, but these rankings should not be misinterpreted to undermine the risk faced by these countries&mdash; particularly the poor&mdash;in the face of natural disaster.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Since 2004-2005, the region became a neighborhood of disasters. Besides recurring flood and drought, it also had to cope with the December 2004 tsunami. There was the October 2005 earthquake in the Himalayan range that killed of 75,000. Pakistan was ravaged by an earthquake in 2008, and floods in 2010. And recently Uttarakhand of India and parts of Nepal have experienced devastating floods due to cloudbursts.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Recent Natural Disasters in India:&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	In June 2013, the North Indian states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, some regions of Western Nepal and their adjoining areas experienced heavy rainfall that triggered devastating floods and landslides. Parts of Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, and some parts of Western Tibet also experienced heavy rainfall. By early July, more than 1,000 people have died with more than 6000 missing. Damage to bridges and roads left over 70,000 pilgrims and tourists trapped in various places, many of whom were rescued. As of 30 June 2013, about 300 - 400 people are said to be still stranded. Although Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker, based on various ground reports said that the death toll could cross 10,000, the official death toll in Uttarakhand (by 29 June 2013) was 842, and around 6000 missing.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Unprecedented destruction by the rainfall witnessed in Uttarakhand state was attributed, by environmentalists, to unscientific developmental activities undertaken in recent decades and this contributed to high level of loss of property and lives. Roads constructed in haphazard style, new resorts and hotels built on fragile river banks and more than 70 back to back hydro electric projects coming up across the river system of the state lead to a &ldquo;disaster waiting to happen&rdquo; as termed by certain environmentalists. As per environmental experts, the tunnels built and blasts undertaken for 70 hydro electric projects contributed to ecological imbalance in the state, with flow of river water restricted and the unscientific real estate activity contributed to higher number of landslides and more flood&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ecologists point out that the huge expansion of hydro-power projects and construction of roads to cope with the lakhs of tourists in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh has compounded the scale of the disaster.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The expansion of roads has proved a major destabilising factor combined as it is with plans to construct over 200 dams in this sensitive eco-zone. Data with the Uttarakhand state transport department bears this out.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The state has seen a 1000 per cent increase in vehicular traffic in the last eight years, with ecologists having forewarned about the correlation between tourism increase and the higher increase of landslides.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Learnings&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Two main lessons can be drawn from the Mahakali (Nepal, June 2013, at least 100 dead and more than 12,000 displaced) and Uttarakhand flood disasters: The severity of the disaster could have been mitigated with a better end-to-end information system and proper infrastructure planning would have reduced the damage.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Accordingly, we need to:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	A) Put in place institutional mechanisms that that can use technological advances in forecasting. Although some warnings were disseminated by the India Meteorological Organization about the possibility of high to intense rainfall, this information was not transmitted to the people at risk. There is a need to strengthen disaster management and preparedness mechanisms, which requires awareness and sensitization at various levels to ensure that early warning information is conveyed to end users well in advance.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	B) Set up more hydrometeorological stations on transboundary rivers. There is no river-level hydrological monitoring station on the Mahakali river for flood forecasting and early warning. It is recommended that a river monitoring station for early warning be set up jointly by Nepal and India to provide people with some lead-time and improve flood forecasting and management in the basin.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	C) &ldquo;Carefully plan infrastructure in the mountains.&rdquo; The Hindu newspaper put it succinctly when it said that damage could have been contained through proper policies, especially regarding infrastructure development. Many mountain roads are contributing a huge sediment load to our rivers and inviting landslides. Many of the settlements are located along flood plains and have developed over the years, encroaching the river banks and increasing the vulnerability to floods.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="Flood in Nepal" src="/userfiles/images/fLOOD.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 257px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 15px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Natural Disasters and Nepal:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Because of hazards and calamities such as landslides, avalanche, floods, flash floods, glacial lake outbursts etc., thousands of people are affected every year in Nepal. More than 1,000 people die annually in Nepal because of natural hazards, with almost 300 deaths due to floods and landslides alone. Heavy flooding in the past years has affected hundreds of families in eastern Nepal. Saptari is one of the most floodprone districts in the south eastern Terai region where heavy rains in 2007 affected over 50,000 households, displaced nearly 8,300 and destroyed over 3,500 houses. The 2007 South Asian floods killed eighty-four people in Nepal while 9,700 families were displaced. 28 of the country&rsquo;s 75 districts were affected.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	A survey done by ICIMOD and UNEP highlights that 26 lakes in Nepal are categorized as dangerous due to the threat of glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs). As highlighted by IPCC (2001), glacial melt is expected to increase under changed climate. According to some studies, almost 20 per cent of the present glaciated area above 5000 m altitude is likely to be snow and glacier free with an increase of air temperature by 1&ordm;C. Similarly, a 3-4&ordm;C temperature rise would result in the loss of 58 to 70 per cent of snow and glaciated areas with threat of GLOFs.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal is situated in the seismically active Himalayan mountain belt dominated by the northward movement of the Indian tectonic plate towards and below the Eurasian tectonic plate. The role of earthquakes is essentially to catch up with the rate of convergence of these plates. Every year, more than a thousand earthquakes of various magnitudes ranging from 2 to 5 on the Richter scale occur in the country. Nepal has a long record of destructive earthquakes that extends back to 1255 AD. According to historical evidence, Nepal has experienced nine major earthquakes over the last 700 years. Recurring earthquakes during the 20th century claimed more than 23,000 lives.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	How can South Asian countries fortify themselves in the face of inevitable natural disasters? Where Bangladesh seems to be taking steps to improve its resilience, countries like Nepal and Pakistan are struggling for solutions. Nepal may have ranked towards the middle of the World Risk Index at 99th out of the 173, but the country with a population of around 30 million people faces similar natural threats as Bangladesh. According to data compiled by the Disaster Preparedness Network Nepal (DPNN), 22,278 people in Nepal have lost their lives due to natural disasters since 1982. DPNN data also illustrates the natural disasters behind these fatalities &ndash; they are attributed to avalanches, earthquakes, floods and landslides, fire, pandemics, stampedes, and windstorm, hailstones and lightning. Although the demographics behind this figure has not been published, it would be a fair assumption based on the experience of other South Asian countries that those people with less stable homes &ndash; the urban poor &ndash; make up a significant fraction of the fatalities. DPNN Chairman Dr. Meen Bahadur Poudel notes that these fatalities are due to increase in the future.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	There are basic steps that can be taken in Kathmandu &ndash; and wider Nepal &ndash; to boost its resilience, such as enforcing building codes and executing emergency drills for the public. The National Society for Earthquake Technology, established in Nepal in 1988, has launched a program to make school buildings more earthquake-resistant. As a nationwide initiative, Nepal&rsquo;s Home Ministry has identified 83 areas in the Kathmandu Valley where infrastructure and food storage facilities will be built in the event of emergency. But more must be done to both prepare citizens for natural disasters and to update infrastructure to meet the region&rsquo;s seismic challenges.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Natural Disasters and Bangladesh:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	As per the Global Risk Index, Bangladesh has been declared the second most disaster-risk country in Asia&mdash;only after the Philippines&mdash;and sixth in the world after countries like Vanuatu, Tonga and Guatemala. Bangladesh is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons due to its exposure to seismic activity. The growing effects of climate change are also projected to exacerbate the country&rsquo;s exposure. In response, the Government of Bangladesh has taken steps this year to set up a national program for disaster risk reduction. In a June 2011 interview, Mohammad Abdul Qayyum, National Director of the Comprehensive Disaster Management Program, noted that state structural measures (i.e., building embankment, sea walls and anti-cyclone shelters), as well as non-structural measures (i.e., increasing individual and community preparedness, introducing community-managed early warning systems) are being put into place to reduce the potential impacts from natural disaster.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Recent Natural Disasters in Pakistan:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	In the year 2010, Pakistan was hit by worst floods in its history rendering 20 million people homeless and bringing one-fifth of the country under water. The floods, that left a trail of miseries that the affected population continues to battle even three years later, was a wakeup call for policy-makers, development experts, civil society and the general public that had not deemed climate change as well as the existing skewed development and resource distribution order as an important concern impacting the future of the country. The 2010 and later 2011 floods (in Sindh) exposed the extremely grim conditions that marked the daily lives of a large section of the population that had compromised access to basic amenities of life such as health, education, and shelter, and fundamental human rights, including decent livelihoods.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The story of Pakistan is a near cautionary tale for the rest of South Asia of what happens when institutions and systems are not in place to alleviate emergencies. Pakistan&rsquo;s plight since 2010 is well-documented. This year, at least 5.5 million people have been affected by flooding in the country: in late August, floods killed over 300 people and have damaged 1.2 million houses. Last year&rsquo;s floods affected 21 million people &ndash; both in rural and urban areas &ndash; and it is estimated that 800,000 families are still homeless in the wake of 2010&rsquo;s floods.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">The State Role &amp; the Samaritan&rsquo;s Dilemma&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	While developing countries bear the brunt of disasters, ironically these are also the countries which have made fewer efforts to adapt their physical environments to mitigate the impact of such disasters and to insure themselves against disaster risks, partly because of the disincentive known as the &ldquo;Samaritan&rsquo;s dilemma&rdquo; (i.e. nations may under-invest in protective measures since they expect foreign donors to help when such disasters strike).&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The Samaritan&rsquo;s dilemma, on the other hand, may arise from households and firms under-investing in insurance and undertaking adaptive measures on the presumption that governments would come to their rescue; governments may also under-invest in the hope that foreign donors would bail them out; and rich countries may find it difficult to scale down their ex post assistance in the absence of significant ex ante protective measures by governments in developing countries.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	New financial instruments (e.g. catastrophic bonds, swaps, and weather derivatives) have been devised to deal with disaster risk but with little impact.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Tackling Natural Disasters: Risk Mitigation&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Risk mitigation through adaptation of physical environment includes land use planning (e.g. avoiding construction on seismic fault lines, vulnerable coastal regions, and ensuring that buildings are resistant to hurricanes and earthquakes); prevention of soil erosion; building of dams for flood control, and seawalls to break storm surges. Governments could also promote farming practices so that farmers can cope better with climatic variations-drought resistant crops-and adapt to longer-term changes.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Adverse selection is a problem in disaster insurance but less than in other insurance markets, as many disasters can be predicted more accurately, as also the value of property at stake. In developing countries, however, specific problems arise from the thinness of insurance markets and ill-defined property rights.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Two other problems are arguably more serious. One is the difficulty of risk spreading and the second is linked to the Samaritan&rsquo;s dilemma. While risk-spreading in developing countries in general should not be difficult &mdash; since the losses they face are a small fraction of global resources &mdash; it often is because of the segmented and shallow insurance markets.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="Disaster Management" src="/userfiles/images/DISASTER.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 404px; margin-left: 25px; margin-right: 25px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Donor Concerns &amp; Issues in Disaster Mitigation:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Some observations regarding donor concerns and a more coordinated disaster prevention and mitigation strategy are made below.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull; A major strategic concern is mainstreaming of disaster prevention and mitigation among multilateral development agencies and governments. This rests on the presumption that the response to disasters has been reactive and tactical, and not strategic in the sense that the emergencies caused by natural hazards (e.g. floods, earthquakes) are not periodic but on-going in the context of highly vulnerable countries.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull; Recovery from a disaster and poverty reduction go hand in hand. Choices made during the initial phase could influence the outcomes in terms of poverty favourably or unfavourably over time.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">SAARC Framework on Disaster Management:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	It is also important to point out that a regional response to natural disasters, whether in the shape of the SAARC Framework on Disaster Management or other bilateral and trilateral institutional arrangements that states may think of, is extremely important.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In May 2011, the Secretary General of SAARC presented a draft SAARC Agreement on Rapid Response to Natural Disasters to the Inter-governmental meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He pointed out quoting global statistics, that over the past forty years, South Asia faced as many as 1,333 disasters that killed 980,000 people, affected 2.4 billion lives and damaged assets worth US$105 billion. This loss is by far the highest among the recorded disasters in various geographical regions.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The SAARC Disaster Management Centre (SDMC) was set up in October 2006 at the premises of National Institute of Disaster Management in New Delhi. The Centre has the mandate to serve eight Member Countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In a recent development, Seventeenth Summit of SAARC was held in Addu city of Maldives on 10-11 November 2011. In Addu declaration, member countries expressed their consciousness of the environmental degradation and particular vulnerabilities of the region to the threat of climate change. The declaration also welcomed the signing of the SAARC Agreement on Rapid Response to Natural Disasters.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Prior to this in May 2011 an inter-governmental meeting on draft SAARC Agreement on Rapid Response to Natural Disasters held in Colombo, Sri Lanka reached a broad consensus on the Agreement. This agreement was adopted in Seventeenth SAARC Summit held in Maldives in November 2011. The draft agreement based on the principle of respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity of all member states aims to put in place an effective mechanism for rapid response to disasters to achieve substantial reduction in loss of lives and loss of social, economic and environmental assets in times of a disaster.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In a more promising development, the Abu Dhabi Dialogue Group comprising seven states sharing the rivers rising in the Greater Himalayas is expected to meet this year to adopt a joint initiative to minimize the impact of melting of glaciers. The group comprising Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India and Nepal was set up in 2006 in Abu Dhabi. It would strive to achieve within ten years a cooperative and knowledge based partnership for managing fairly and developing the Himalayan River Systems to bring prosperity, peace and social harmony and environmental sustainability from the source to the sea.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'South Asia has a population that is vulnerable to risks in terms of sudden fluctuations in markets and natural shocks arising from weather. This region is also marked by high disparities in income, health and education.',
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	(int) 2 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1712',
			'article_category_id' => '171',
			'title' => 'Malaysia: Expanding Relations With Nepal',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<img alt="Nepal Malaysia Relationship" src="/userfiles/images/nepal%20malaysia.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 341px;" /></div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Sushila Budhathoki</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	On 3 July, 2013, two teams of Nepali players from Taekwondo and Table Tennis consisting 13 members in total went to Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia to participate in Second South Asian ITF Taekwondo Championship and Seventh Asia-Pacific Veteran&rsquo;s Table Tennis Championship respectively. On the Same day, around half of them were travelling to Malaysia and more than 600 Nepalis were heading there for jobs. Such a growing relation between Malaysia and Nepal in a people to people level has proved that Malaysia has become a preferred destination not only for employment but also for holidays and sports.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Malaysia achieved its Independence from Britain in 31 August 1957. The country is a federation of 13 states operating within a constitutional monarchy and the Government comprises the federal, state and local government. The real gross domestic product (GDP) in Malaysia grew by an average of 6.3 % per annum during 1970 to 2012. According to Malaysian Embassy in Nepal, Malaysia emerged from a low-income agricultural and commodity-based economy to a successful middle-income economy over the decades with the help of sustained rapid economic growth. This strong economic performance has helped improve the quality of life for Malaysians and supported widespread advances in education, health, infrastructure, housing and public amenities.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	According to the Embassy, the course of Malaysia&rsquo;s development was shaped by the vision, thinking and efforts of many of the country&rsquo;s great leaders and thinkers. Among many visions and policies to the launch of Vision 2020 in 1991, by the then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed outlined the aim of attaining developed nation status by the year 2020. And the country is now at the last phase of its journey towards 2020 target.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Nepal-Malaysia Relations&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	The diplomatic relations between Nepal and Malaysia dates back to 1st January, 1960. The 53 years of diplomatic relation between the two countries has been cordial and friendly from the start. In 2003, both the country established their residential missions in the capitals of the other country. Both the countries are members of the United Nations and the Non-aligned Movement. Malaysia recognized Nepal as a source country for foreign workers since the beginning of 2001. Currently around 500,000 Nepalis are believed to be presently working in various sectors in Malaysia.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Malaysia shares its development experiences and expertise with other developing countries through MTCP (Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme ). Nepal is currently ranked at 14th among 137 MTCP recipient member countries of Malaysia. According to Malaysian Embassy in Nepal, a total of 525 Nepali participants have attended various courses in agriculture, broadcasting, economic planning, archive, public administration and diplomacy under the programme. In 2008 a total of 239 students were enrolled in Public Higher Education Institutions and Private Higher Education Institutions in 2008, according to International Students Statistics by Minister for Higher Education Malaysia.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;"><img alt="Quick Guidance Malaysia" src="/userfiles/images/qgmalysia.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; width: 300px; height: 301px;" />Prospects in Tourism&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	The relationship between Nepal and Malaysia could get a height if the tourism sector is linked together. The tourism sector of Malaysia is the third largest foreign exchange earner of the country.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The country is also the ninth most-visited country in the world, with 24.7 million tourists visiting the country in 2011. Malaysia is celebrating VMY (Visit Malaysia Year) in 2014 and is expecting to receive 28.8 million in foreign tourist arrivals during VMY 2014. According to holidayhometimes.com, an initiative by TripVillas.com the country has targeted a $ 52.8 billion tourism receipt and 36 million tourist arrivals by 2020.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	There are islands and beaches, city excitement, nature and adventure and cultural attractions in Malaysia that lure tourists all around the world. The country has everything for the family,-theme parks, jungle trails, sports, water sports and one of the highest numbers of golf courses.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Malaysia is also promoting tourism Malaysia My Second Home, Medical Tourism, Education Tourism and Golf Tourism. Malaysia MY Second Home programme under Ministry of Tourism and Culture allows tourists to stay in Malaysia with a multiple entry social visit pass. Similarly, with more than 2000 courses the country is promoting Education Tourism and has been attracting students all over the world. And with well-equipped private hospitals, it is promoting medical tourism since 2009. Malaysia is preferred healthcare travel destination in the Asian region.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The growing number of Tourists from both the countries has been creating aspiration in expanding tourism. According to the data by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), a total of 663 Malaysian tourists visited Nepal in May 2012 while the number reached to 1609 in May 2013- a 142.7 per cent growth. Similarly, 7,831 and 11,681 Malaysians visited Nepal in 2011 and 2012 respectively while 2,192 Nepali tourists Nepalis visited Malaysia in 2012.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The Air Services Agreement between Nepal and Malaysia in 2007 allowed the carriers to operate up to 21 flights a week and direct air connection between the two capitals started in 2003. The presence of Malaysian budget carrier Air Asia X, Malaysian flag-carrier Malaysia Airlines and Nepal&rsquo;s national flag-carrier- Nepal Airlines have played the vital role in arranging daily flights between Kathmandu and Kuala Lumpur.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Trade and Investment&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Trade between the two countries is limited and is in favor of the Malaysia. Exports from Nepal mainly include paper, tobacco, flour, coffee, tea, mate and spices, electrical machinery and equipment, works of art, collectors` pieces and antiques. The imports from Malaysia include animal or vegetable fats, inorganic and organic chemicals, essential oils, perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations, plastics, edible vegetables, tubers, edible fruits and nuts.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="Export Import malaysia" src="/userfiles/images/exportimport%20form%20malaysia.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 77px;" /></div>
<div>
	According to MoFA, Foreign Direct Investment made by Malaysia in Nepal stands at Rs 245.18 Million in 13 different factories and industries creating 444 job opportunities. Malaysia-Nepal Business Council has already being established and active since 2008. In November 2011, Malaysian and Nepali companies signed six Memorandums of Understanding on education, training, trading and services. The country is also looking into the prospects of investing in the hydropower sector, or any other relevant areas in Nepal. They also negotiated with three Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) on investments in manufacturing, tourism and retail marketing.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="Malaysian Investment" src="/userfiles/images/malysian%20investment.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 80px;" /></div>',
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			'created' => '2013-08-27',
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			'keywords' => 'new business age bilateral relations news & articles, bilateral relations news & articles from new business age nepal, bilateral relations headlines from nepal,  current and latest bilateral relations news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali bilateral relations economic news and events,  on',
			'description' => 'On 3 July, 2013, two teams of Nepali players from Taekwondo and Table Tennis consisting 13 members in total went to Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia to participate in Second South Asian ITF Taekwondo Championship and Seventh Asia-Pacific Veteran’s Table Tennis Championship respectively.',
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	(int) 3 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1711',
			'article_category_id' => '150',
			'title' => 'Business Briefs (26 August - 01 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="John Player’s End of Season Sale" src="/userfiles/images/jp.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 29px;" />John Player&rsquo;s End of Season Sale</span></strong></div>
<div>
	John Players, premium men&rsquo;s wear from Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd has announced &lsquo;End of Season Sale&rsquo; that offers discount up to 50 per cent. The discounts are applicable on wide range of John Players garments. The discount can be availed at outlets of &nbsp;John Players at Bluebird Mall - Tripureshwor, Teendhara - Durbar Marg, &nbsp;City Center (1st Floor) &ndash; Kamalpokhari , Maitidevi Complex ( Maitidevi ), Civil Mall (Sundhara) and other leading garment stores across the country.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="TVS Phoenix 125" src="/userfiles/images/tvs(1).jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 113px;" />TVS Phoenix 125 Launched</span></strong></div>
<div>
	CG Moto Corp, the authorized distributor of TVS two-wheelers in Nepal has launched TVS Phoenix 125 in the market. According to a press release, Phoenix is a premium executive deluxe 125cc motorcycle and is one of the most feature-filled products. The 4-speed transmission of the motorcycle delivers 11 PS &nbsp;of power at 8000 rpm. The motorcycle is available in the market at an introductory price of Rs 169,900. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="Honda’s Showroom in Kohalpur" src="/userfiles/images/hnd.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 110px;" />Honda&rsquo;s Showroom in Kohalpur</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Honda has opened a new showroom in Kohalpur of Banke on 21 August. The showroom will deal in Honda motorcycles and scooters; ad will also provide the services of exchange and financing. The showroom sold twenty motorcycles on the day of inauguration, and also offered gifts, cash discounts and free helmets and accessories to the customers.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="Tata Safari " src="/userfiles/images/ts.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 102px;" />Tata Safari Storme in Pokhara</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Siprdai Trading has started the sale of Tata Safari Storme in Pokhara. Dubbed as the &lsquo;Real SUV&rsquo;, Storme is claimed to be the combination of luxury, power and off-road performance. The SUV is powered by a 2.2 litre VariCOR turbocharged engine delivering a maximum output of 140 ps and a peak torque of 320 NM. The price of Safari Storme starts from Rs 3.88 million.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="Food, Drinks and Hospitality Exhibition" src="/userfiles/images/fd.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 98px;" />Food, Drinks and Hospitality Exhibition from September 18</span></strong></div>
<div>
	House of Rajkarnicar Exhibitions and Events is going to organize Seagram&rsquo;s Royal Stag Food Drinks and Hospitality Exhibition 2013 from September 18. According to a press release, the Exhibition will be the first of its kind in Nepal focusing exclusively on food, beverage &amp; hospitality. The four-day event will have 150 exhibitors, two thematic pavilions and eight special events.&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
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			'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal',
			'description' => 'ohn Players, premium men’s wear from Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd has announced ‘End of Season Sale’ that offers discount up to 50 per cent.',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1710',
			'article_category_id' => '115',
			'title' => 'Tech Briefs (26 August - 01 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Keyboard to Get Rid of Facebook Addiction</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Two doctoral candidates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a new leyboard device that is capable of shocking users overindulging online. The developers of the keyboard, Robert R. Morris and Dan McDuff said that the keyboard is able to monitors application usage and if it senses that too much time is being spent on a particular website or application it give a shock to its users, asserting that the shock is just unpleasant and not dangerous.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">World&rsquo;s Most Precise Clock Deviced</span></strong></div>
<div>
	US scientists have said that they have built the world&rsquo;s most precise clock, whose ticking rate varies less than two parts in one quintillion, or 10 times better than any other. &ldquo;The clock, made from the element ytterbium, could be used for technological advancements beyond time-keeping, such as navigation systems, magnetic fields and temperature,&rdquo; National Institute of Standards and Technology physicist, Andrew Ludlow, said in a statement. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Sony Names PS4 Launch Dates</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Sony has announced the launch dates for its PlayStation 4 console.The next-generation games machine will become available in North America on 15 November and Europe on 29 November.Its rival Microsoft has only said that the Xbox One will go on sale some time the same month.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Microsoft CEO Ballmer to retire</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced Friday that he will retire within the next 12 months. &ldquo;There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time,&rdquo; Ballmer said. &ldquo;We have embarked on a new strategy with a new organization and we have an amazing senior leadership team.&rdquo;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Ultrafast Camera Designed to Work Like Human Retina</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Photos and videos are not lightweight files-they quickly add up to gigabytes of data which can be a dealbreaker a lot of research. Engineers at the Swiss company iniLabs created a better way-a camera that borrows its mechanics from the marvels of the human retina. &nbsp;The Dynamic Vision Sensor (DVS) works a lot like the human retina which makes for a hyper efficient and ultrafast camera. The individual neurons in our eyeballs don&rsquo;t actually record all of the information in our field of view; they just spot the changes in movement.&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
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			'description' => 'Two doctoral candidates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a new leyboard device that is capable of shocking users overindulging online.',
			'sortorder' => '1571',
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	(int) 5 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1709',
			'article_category_id' => '149',
			'title' => 'Zero-MSG Noodles',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Bhawani Timilsina</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>
				<img alt="Arun KC, Sales Director, Himalayan Snax and Noodles Pvt Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/akc.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 208px;" /></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td style="text-align: center;">
				<div>
					<strong>Arun KC</strong></div>
				<div>
					Sales Director, Himalayan Snax</div>
				<div>
					and Noodles Pvt Ltd</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
<div>
	Mayos instant noodle has retained its position as one of the largest selling brands in the Nepali market. &nbsp;&ldquo;With several years of expertise and commitment, we have carved a niche for ourselves in the market,&rdquo; says Arun KC, Sales Director of Himalayan Snax and Noodles Pvt Ltd (HSNPL). &nbsp;KC says that noodle consumers were long waiting for a distinct taste in their noodle snack. &ldquo;Sensing this opportunity, we launched Mayos noodle in 2000 and received an overwhelming response which for us quite excited.&rdquo;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Mayos noodle is now available as Mayos Cup Noodles with distinct additional flavours such as Mayos Khatta Meetha &amp; Mast Masala, chicken &amp; vegetarian package and Mayos Hot and Sour.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The company holds 25 per cent of the market share in the brown noodles selling market, KC says. With an aim to serve consumers with healthy products, the company is now producing noodles with OMEGA-3 (Fatty Acid) and has avoided the use of Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) after growing complaints from consumers. The company made this decision after conducting a research that found that use of MSG could damage the health of consumers. &ldquo;Being healthy as well as tasty, we can assure that the quality of our noodle is distinct from others,&rdquo; he adds.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	KC says that the company makes no compromise when it comes to the health and taste of the consumer. &ldquo;This is the reason why we have always been making an effort to come up with a wide variety of flavours.&rdquo; &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The company retails Mayos noodles at Rs 15 per pack of 75gms in both chicken and vegetable flavours with nutritional value per pack at 363 calories and 347.6 calories, respectively.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The company at first worked in collaboration with the Thai company Thai President Foods PLC. ShakaLaka Boom, Ru-Chee, Lekali, J-mee, Hurray, Doharee, Jhilke and Humpty Dumpty Krunchy King are other noodles brands under the HSNPL Company.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;&ldquo;In the beginning, the tagline &lsquo;It&rsquo;s the wonderful Mayos Noodles&rsquo; helped us strengthen our branding. We also came up with coupon schemes as a promotional campaign later on, KC recalls, claiming the brand has been successful as it has stayed in the minds and hearts of people.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	According to the KC, competition has increased as a wide range of noodles have emerged in recent times. &ldquo;We do focus on experimenting with innovative concepts help us identify with the interest of consumers,&rdquo; he mentions, with regard to this. &ldquo;In order to integrate novel flavours and packaging format, a mixed fortification of Vitamin A, Calcium, Iron and Proteins has been introduced to all flavours of Mayos products. The Vitamin A, Calcium and Iron components in in Shaka Laka Boom and Ru-Chee noodles was a part of our contribution to address malnutrition since 2007,&rdquo; he says.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Mayos products have also won fame in an international market. &ldquo;Throughout the years, our domestic markets as well as export markets have had constant expansion into leading regions,&rdquo; he says. &nbsp;&ldquo;We have grown up now from being a local product to an internationally recognized one over our 13-year-long journey, and our popularity has been driven by the trust of our consumers,&rdquo; he states.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In the seven years of operation in the export market, HSNPL has witnessed a lot of ups and downs, but it is the customers&rsquo; satisfaction policy helps HSNPL stand on its distinct value, KC reveals. &ldquo;Our main motto has always been customer satisfaction &ndash; whether it is for health reasons or satisfaction in taste,&rdquo; he says.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-08-27',
			'modified' => '2013-09-19',
			'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' => 'Mayos instant noodle has retained its position as one of the largest selling brands in the Nepali market.',
			'sortorder' => '1570',
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	(int) 6 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1708',
			'article_category_id' => '101',
			'title' => 'A Little Work, A Little Play',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong>--By Upashana Neupane &nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="Subodh Rana" src="/userfiles/images/mt.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;width: 200px; height: 225px;" />Balancing family life with a demanding professional one is a tough act to follow. However, Subodh Rana, CEO of Malla Travels and Trek Services, however, does not seem face much difficulty. Taking out time for his family or enjoying life beyond office hours is not a big deal for him. &ldquo;You just have to balance your work and family life simultaneously, and it is not that difficult,&rdquo; Rana says.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Being the CEO of a leading travel and trek company, Rana travels a lot which makes his life a continuous vacation sometimes. &ldquo;I travel a lot for my work or holidays. And though I spend a major chunk of my time in office doing office-related work, I make time to take my family along in my travels too,&rdquo; he says.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Rana shares that his favourite holiday destination is Malaysia. &ldquo;Because Malaysia is a liberal country and the culture and cuisine are very appropriate for Nepalis. I think it&rsquo;s a best destination for Nepalis,&rdquo; he says. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Apart from travelling, Rana indulges in two other things: Sports and Blogging.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	A big-time sports lover, Rana&rsquo;s favourite is Lawn Tennis. If you can&rsquo;t find him in office when he&rsquo;s not traveling, you&rsquo;ll definitely find him playing tennis. &ldquo;Tennis helps me keep physically fit,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It rejuvenates the energy inside me.&rdquo;&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Another equally big part of Rana&rsquo;s personality is that he is an active blogger. He engages himself in blogging whenever he gets spare time. &ldquo;I especially love to blog about history,&rdquo; he shares. &ldquo;As I am from a Rana family, the subject interests me over anything else.&rdquo; Blogging relaxes him from the everyday hustle bustle and gives mental satisfaction. &ldquo;Just as tennis is a physical exercise, blogging is a mental exercise for me,&rdquo; he shares.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Rana plans to holiday in Thailand next with his family. Keeping rejuvenated with his hobbies and his job, he definitely seems to find ample opportunity to break away from corporate monotony.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-08-27',
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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' => 'Balancing family life with a demanding professional one is a tough act to follow. However, Subodh Rana, CEO of Malla Travels and Trek Services, however, does not seem face much difficulty.',
			'sortorder' => '1569',
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	(int) 7 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1707',
			'article_category_id' => '193',
			'title' => '“IT Sector Has Good Prospects With TV Broadcast Digitisation”',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><img alt="Saroj Bajracharya, Managing Director of Soheto Nepal Pvt Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/sb.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 249px;" />Saroj Bajracharya</strong> is the Managing Director of Soheto Nepal Pvt Ltd &ndash; a company involved in various trading businesses. Soheto is the supplier of Sony Medical products and is also providing consultancy and integration services to TV and radio stations along with broadcasting equipments. Bajracharya spoke to The Corporate&rsquo;s <strong>Sanjeev Sharma</strong> about Soheto and his experience in business. <strong>Excerpts:</strong></span></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Could you brief us about your company?</strong></div>
<div>
	SOHETO Nepal was officially registered in 2006 as an authorised distributor of Sony broadcast and professional equipments in Nepal. We are the suppliers of Sony Medical products such as monitors, printers, cameras and recorders for medical diagnostics and imaging purposes. We have managed to expand our business to various sectors and have been focusing on providing services to the broadcast and telecom sector. We supply equipments, provide system design and integration services to TV and radio stations. &nbsp;In total, we have around 90 per cent of shares in the supply of equipments in the television broadcast sector. We also do computer hardware and software support, supply and consultancy business from sister companies Smart Enterprise and Smart Technology. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What motivated you to enter this sector?</strong></div>
<div>
	I graduated in Electronics and Communication Engineering in 1993 and felt that there is opportunity in IT business. In 1994, along with some friends, I embarked on computer trading business. At first, we assemble and supply computers to individuals and for commercial customers. I focused on the computer trading business for over a decade and got involved in the broadcast business 2006 onwards. In my experience, we got good exposure and an opportunity to work with various big companies while working in the broadcast business. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>How do you assess the IT market in Nepal?</strong></div>
<div>
	The sector is driven by emerging technologies. One should remain up-to&ndash;date in order to keep with the pace. Those who fail to move along with the times will be left behind. The demand in the market is constantly changing and we have been mobilising ourselves accordingly. Embracing new ventures helps to keep alive and fresh.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What challenges do you think the IT business in Nepal is facing?</strong></div>
<div>
	Purchasing power has been declining in recent times. The sales volume of professional cameras, for instance, has been decreasing as compared to the early years of its market presence. Political instability, too, has definitely had a negative impact on business.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What are your business plans as of now?</strong></div>
<div>
	We have been waiting to upgrade standards through television broadcast digitisation. The IT sector has good prospects with this.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What impact will digitisation have in the Nepali market?</strong></div>
<div>
	It is a demand of the time. It is challenging to switch over to new technology and it will not happen all of a sudden. Though people are now reluctant towards it, it will certainly have good impact.</div>',
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			'description' => 'Soheto is the supplier of Sony Medical products and is also providing consultancy and integration services to TV and radio stations along with broadcasting equipments.',
			'sortorder' => '1568',
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	(int) 8 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1706',
			'article_category_id' => '116',
			'title' => 'Power Summit 2013 From Today',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	The Independent Power Producers&rsquo; Association Nepal (IPPAN) will host the Power Summit 2013, in Kathmandu, on August 26-27, to critically review the performance of the domestic hydropower sector, discuss hurdles preventing the sector&rsquo;s development, and identify ways to quicken the pace of the sector&rsquo;s development.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The two-day conference to be organised with a theme &lsquo;Hastening the pace of hydropower development&rsquo;, will be participated by high-ranking government officials, the private sector and delegates from over a dozen countries, including the US, China, India and Norway, among others.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;We are trying to make the conference as thematic as possible and most of the focus would be on finding why country&rsquo;s hydro sector has not been able to take off and obstructions that need to be removed so that development can gain momentum,&rdquo; IPPAN vice president Khadga Bahadur Bista said.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Although it is touted that Nepal has the potential to produce 83,000MW of electricity, the country so far has been able to tap less than 800MW of electricity from the rivers. As a result, hours-long power outage has become a norm in the country, which is affecting production at various industries and hindering country&rsquo;s economic development.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	To address these issues, the conference will discuss the status of hydro power projects required to meet domestic energy demands, electricity demand forecast, power market integration, transmission line and power market management, &nbsp;pricing strategies and foreign markets that can import electricity from Nepal.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;The conference will also delve into strategies on financing projects to meet domestic demands, risks associated with these projects, and mitigation measures,&rdquo; says an IPPAN statement. The conference will also discuss harmonisation of various laws for timely implementation of projects and ways to channelise investment of non-resident Nepalis.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;We shall, therefore, focus our deliberations under the following four categories &mdash; projects to meet domestic demand with domestic investment, projects to meet domestic demand with foreign investment, projects for power export with foreign investment, and power markets and their management and integration,&rdquo; Bista said.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The conference, to be jointly organised by PTC India Ltd and Non-Resident Nepalis Association, is being supported by the Energy Ministry and the Investment Board of Nepal.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'created' => '2013-08-27',
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			'description' => 'The Independent Power Producers’ Association Nepal (IPPAN) will host the Power Summit 2013, in Kathmandu, on August 26-27, to critically review the performance of the domestic hydropower sector, discuss hurdles preventing the sector’s development, and identify ways to quicken the pace of the sector’s development.',
			'sortorder' => '1567',
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	(int) 9 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1705',
			'article_category_id' => '100',
			'title' => 'Tourism Briefs (26 August - 01 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Food Festival in Pokhara in December</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	The Restaurant and Bar Association of Kaski is organising the Second City REBAN Festival and Food Festival in December. Organising a press meet, KP Sharma, President of REBAN said that the festival is being organised from December 6 to 15. A total of 115 commercial stalls will be featured in the Festival, showcasing various cuisines as well as cultural programmes. Sharma said that organisers have formed a 24-member organising committee and 10 other coordinators for the successful execution of the festival. The estimated investment for the festival is around Rs 2.7 million, and the total income is expected to be around Rs 2.9 million. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">View Tower to Be Constructed In Dharche</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<img alt="Dharche trekking trail" src="/userfiles/images/DHH.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 94px;" />A view tower is to be constructed in Dharche trekking trail of at Lower Manaslu region of Gorkha with the motive to develop tourism activities. &ldquo;The feasibility study of the tower has reached its final stage,&rdquo; said Sane Gurung, President of Manaslu Tourism Development Committee. According to Gurung, the tower will be 3,200m high from where tourists can view the mountains. &ldquo;Though the total investment has not been fixed, we have estimated it to be around Rs 2 million,&rdquo; Gurung said. The committee has been searching for some donors for financial assistance. &ldquo;We have been holding talks with Gorkha District Tourism Development Committee for help and will complete the construction within a year,&rdquo; he said. Gurung informed that Lapu VDC has allocated Rs 100,000, Laprak VDC Rs 25, 000 and Thumi VDC Rs 29, 000 for the project. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Qatar Airways to Fly Dreamliners to India</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<img alt="Qatar Airways" src="/userfiles/images/QA(1).jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 102px;" />Qatar Airways will launch its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner flights to India next month. From 1 September 2013, the airline will commence daily Dreamliner services to both Delhi and Bengaluru, using the 254-seat aircraft. &ldquo;We are delighted to introduce Qatar Airways&rsquo; Dreamliner on two of our important Indian routes,&rdquo; said the Doha-based airline&rsquo;s CEO, Akbar Al Baker. Qatar Airways&rsquo; B787s offer 22 flat-bed business class seats, all with aisle access, and 232 seats in economy class, in a 3&ndash;3&ndash;3 layout. The Delhi and Bengaluru services will mark the first time Qatar Airways has flown its Dreamliners to destinations in the Asia Pacific region. (Traveldailymedia.com)</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">The Travel Preferences of Young and Old</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<img alt="The Travel Preferences of Young and Old" src="/userfiles/images/TRA.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 79px;" />Together, Germany and the UK represent Europe&rsquo;s largest travel source market. Commissioned by ITB Berlin, IPK International examined the travel preferences of both younger and older holidaymakers in a special analysis of the World Travel Monitor, which shows that at 19 per cent (13 million trips) Germans occupy close to one-fifth of Europe&rsquo;s entire holiday travel market for young people. In 2012, European 15 to 29 year-olds undertook a total of 69 million holiday trips abroad, whereas the corresponding figure for the UK was only six million (nine per cent). By contrast, the UK&rsquo;s older generation is ahead in the travel statistics. Of all the European holiday trips undertaken by the older generation close to one-fifth (19 per cent / 15 million trips) are by Britons, whereas the market share occupied by older Germans is 17 per cent (13.5 million trips). (Traveldailynews.com)</div>',
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			'description' => 'The Restaurant and Bar Association of Kaski is organising the Second City REBAN Festival and Food Festival in December.',
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	(int) 10 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1704',
			'article_category_id' => '157',
			'title' => 'Kakori’s Kingly Delights',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Sujan Tiwari</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Kakori Restaurant at Soaltee Crowne Plaza is one of the best destinations in Kathmandu to enjoy Indian cuisine. Kakori, named after a town in Lucknow, is open only for dinner and serves gourmet Punjabi, Kashmiri, Rajasthani, Awadhi and Nepali dishes. Balaram Pathak, Food and Beverage Director at Soaltee claims that Kakori is the best Indian fine dining restaurant in Kathmandu. &nbsp;&ldquo;We have specially trained manpower, we offer excellent service and scrumptious Indian delicacies in a classy ambience,&rdquo; says Pathak.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The restaurant is located by the swimming pool, and offers a secluded seating. The place is ideal for business as well as family gatherings. The setup reflects the regal era, and is a rich fusion of Nepali and Indian architecture. The place is adequately lit, and has highlighted niches on a white wall with antique artefacts. The seating is cosy and classy at the same time, perfect for spending long evenings. The kitchen is behind transparent glass so that customers can see how the food is being prepared. &nbsp;The major cutomers of Kakori are in-house guests of Soaltee, expatriates, corporate clients and the local people.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Kakori has on its menu assorted starters, mains and deserts, and specializes in kebabs, raan and biryanis among manu other dishes. The place is renowned for kakori kebabs, which is one of the best sellers here. Legend has it that one of the Nawabs of Lucknow once received a complaint from a British officer that the kebabs served at dinner were too coarse. Feeling insulted, the Nawab ordered his cooks to formulate a new kebab recipe. The cooks tried for ten days and finally came up with a kebab recipe that was very tender and juicy. This recipe is now renowned as Kakori Kebab, and the best place to enjoy those kebabs is at Kakori. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="kakori meny" src="/userfiles/images/1(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 15px;" /></div>
<div>
	One of the most popular dishes here is Raan-e-Awadh. It is a roasted lamb dish prepared with meticulous attention. For the dish, the lamb is first pot-roasted for more than six hours with salt and spices. It is then marinated in yogurt, nutmeg, chilli and other spices and butter basted. The lamb is finally cooked on a tandoor that gives it its signature smoky flavour. The lamb is very well cooked, evenly spiced and is very succulent. It can be enjoyed as a starter or main course. Another special starter at Kakori is Nasheela Jheenga. The dish is prepared by marinating Tiger Prawns in slat, pepper, ginger garlic paste and lemon juice. After a few hours, the prawns are marinated for the second time in yogurt, slat, yellow chilli, turmeric and other spices. The prawns are then grilled with cognac, butter, lemon juice and kebab masala. This could be one of the best prawn delicacies you have ever savoured.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	There are numerous other starters like Gulabi Salmon Tikka, Murgh Malai and Lahsooni Tangri. A few Nepali starters are also on the menu that includes Khasi ko Bhutuwa, a stir fried mutton dish and Chara Sandheko, a smoked chicken dish enjoyed cold. &nbsp;Kakori doesn&rsquo;t disappoint its vegetarian customers as it has many veg options too.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;Kakori&rsquo;s menu is quite extensive as there are plenty of main courses to choose from. There are many spicy veg and non-veg curries, biryanis and rice dishes, and different varieties of naan and rotis. Shorbas and the offered Daal varities also go very well with the freshly prepared naans and rice too. To put a sweet end to the meal, Kakori has a nice assortment of mouth watering desserts. Carrot and beetroot pudding, rasgulla, rasmalai and other traditional Indian desserts will keep you wanting for more.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	All in all, Kakori is a fine dining restaurant with delicious Indian cuisine, a soothing ambience and personalized service. Visit once and the dinner could be one of your most memorable ones.</div>',
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			'description' => 'Kakori Restaurant at Soaltee Crowne Plaza is one of the best destinations in Kathmandu to enjoy Indian cuisine.',
			'sortorder' => '1565',
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	(int) 11 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1703',
			'article_category_id' => '99',
			'title' => 'Nepal Wins Best Print Promotion In TTF2013',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has bagged the &lsquo;Best Print Promotion&rsquo; award in Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF) 2013 at &nbsp;Ahmedabad, India. According to a press statement from NTB, the award was attributed to the excellent combination of content and substance of the Nepali stall in the Fair. NTB participated in the fair in Ahmedabad, Gujurat from 16-18 August 2013 with the aim of increasing awareness and educating Indian travellers on Nepal&#39;s tourism products and offerings targeting upcoming season of Dashara and Puja Holidays in Gujurat.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The three day fair attracted more than 20000 visitors. 100 stalls featuring a dozen Indian states along with destination countries Nepal, Thailand and Malaysia were present the fair. Commemorating this year as Mount Everest Diamond Jubilee Celebrations, Nepal was marketed as an ultimate adventure destination. According to the statement, Indian adventure enthusiasts are seen exploring various adventure travel options in recent days.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	NTB and the participating company from Nepal like Yeti Airlines Domestic, Monterosa Treks and Expedition, Nepal Holiday Maker Tours and Travel and Fishtail Tours and Travels among others engaged in both B2B and B2C promotion during the fair.Pilgrimage, Leisure, Soft Adventure Activities and Muktinath pilgrimage tour drew special attractions.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	India is the most significant market for the Nepalese tourism industry with approximately 1/3rd total market share. In 2012, Nepal received 165,815 tourists from India by air which is 20.6 per cent increase as compared to 2011. In the period of Jan-July 2013 itself, Nepal received 89,500 tourists from India.</div>',
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			'description' => 'Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has bagged the ‘Best Print Promotion’ award in Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF) 2013 at  Ahmedabad, India.',
			'sortorder' => '1564',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1702',
			'article_category_id' => '152',
			'title' => 'Focus Briefs (26 August - 01 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">CG Introduces New Range of ACs</span></strong></div>
<div>
	CG, a subsidiary of the Chaudhary Group introduced its new range of CG air conditioners in June this year. The company has rolled out four models of air conditioners: the CG- 09THCA, CG-12THCA, CG-18THCA and CG-24THCA. The new range of air conditioners comes with a built-in voltage stabiliser that works even on low voltage, the company said in a press statement. &ldquo;The benefits are very clear; it saves money as there is no need to buy an additional voltage stabiliser,&rdquo; the company said. The products are suitable for the Tarai region of the country that experiences high voltage fluctuation. CG Electronics has stated that the new air conditioners are quiet and calm, and have quick performance. Likewise, the devices come with a cordless luxury remote control. CG air conditioners have a compact design. &ldquo;It also has an &lsquo;excellent&rsquo; new look&mdash;mirror floral printed design that adds beauty to the consumers&rsquo; home as well as work. With their low power consumption feature, these devices have become more energy efficient and reduce the monthly power bill,&rdquo; the company further said. CG Electronics has priced the appliances in the range of Rs 40,580 to Rs 77,990. &nbsp;All products come with a 12-month warranty.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Panasonic Launches FSV Air Conditioners</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Panasonic, a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronic products and the Triveni Group, Panasonic&rsquo;s authorised distributor for Air Conditioners and Home Appliance products in Nepal, launched a full line up of FSV air conditioners in Nepal recently. Panasonic&rsquo;s FSV is a reverse cycle of the VRF system specifically designed for the most demanding application where precise cooling or heating load control is needed, such as in offices, shops and multi-storey apartments. The FSV system enables a single outdoor unit to power up to 64 indoor units. The indoor units can be a mix of Wall Mounted, Cassette, Mini Cassette and mid and Low Static Pressure ducted units with a total capacity of up to 60HP. The system offers users a variety of control options including group control, web control and building management system integration. Additionally, the FSV allows flexibility with piping design, allowing a height difference of up to 50m between outdoor and indoor units, and a maximum piping length&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	of 1,000m.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'CG, a subsidiary of the Chaudhary Group introduced its new range of CG air conditioners in June this year.',
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	(int) 13 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1701',
			'article_category_id' => '192',
			'title' => 'Yeti Air And Unilever Awarded Best Managed  And Joint Venture Companies In Nepal',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	Yeti Airlines was awarded &lsquo;Best Managed Company of the Year 2013&rsquo; by the New Business Age Pvt. Ltd. amid a ceremony titled &lsquo;Newbiz Conclave &amp; Business Excellence Awards Ceremony 2013&rsquo; in capital on last Saturday. The ceremony was organized by the New Business Age Pvt. Ltd. with a main sponsorship of Asian Paints.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Yeti was felicitated for its best air services even in the remote areas of Nepal. The awards were distributed in ten different categories.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Likewise, Unilever Nepal Ltd has bagged the Best Managed Joint Venture Company of the Year. The award was provided to Unilever for satisfying all the stakeholders of the company as well as regularly distributing high dividends to its shareholders.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In the commercial banks sector, Everest Bank Ltd. won the Best Managed Commercial Bank of the Year.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Clean Energy Development Bank Ltd has received Best Managed Development Bank of the year and Fewa Finance Ltd, which is headquartered at Pokhara, received Best Managed Finance Company.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal Life Insurance Company was awarded in the Best Managed Life Insurance Company category, while NLG Insurance Company won the Best Managed Non-life Insurance Company.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	During the ceremony, Shailaja Adhikari was also felicitated with the Women Entrepreneur of the Year. Affiliated with ICC group, she is an entrepreneur who has been investing on fashion designing and pre-school education.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Deepak Prakash Baskota, hailing from Panchthar, achieved the Social Entrepreneur of the Year for his entrepreneurship through Kanchanjangha Tea Estate and Research Centre.Karna Sakya was felicitated with the Newbiz Lifetime Achievement Award.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The thematic jury and the lead jury were formed to decide upon the awardees for 10 different categories. The Lead Jury was presided by the Soaltee Hotel Ltd Chairman Prabhakar Shamsher JB Rana. Each thematic jury had recommended three companies to the lead jury for the award. &ldquo;The selection of the awardees has been done in utmost fair manner,&rdquo; Rana told, adding that this type of program would encourage the private sector.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Award recipient for the Best Managed Company of the Year, Yeti Airlines Managing Director Vijay Shrestha, said they were feeling proud for being awarded. &ldquo;We are elated of being awarded for our works and this has further helped us to realize our responsibilities&rdquo;.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<hr />
	<h2>
		<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Awardees</span></strong></h2>
</div>
<div>
	<strong>Yeti Airlines:</strong> Best Managed Company of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Unilever Nepal Ltd:</strong> Best Managed Joint Venture Company of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Everest Bank:</strong> Best Managed Commercial Bank of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Clean Energy Development Bank:</strong> Best Managed Development Bank of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Fewa Finance Ltd:</strong> Best Managed Finance Company of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Karna Sakya: </strong>Newbiz Lifetime Achievement Award 2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Nepal Life Insurance Company Ltd:</strong> Best Managed Life Insurance Company of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>NLG Insurance Company Ltd:</strong> Best Managed Non-life Insurance Company of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	D<strong>eepak Prakash Banskota (Kanchanjungha Tea Estate):</strong> Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Shailaja Adhikari (ICC group):</strong> Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'created' => '2013-08-26',
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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' => 'Yeti Airlines was awarded ‘Best Managed Company of the Year 2013’ by the New Business Age Pvt. Ltd. amid a ceremony titled ‘Newbiz Conclave & Business Excellence Awards Ceremony 2013’ in capital on last Saturday.',
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	(int) 14 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1700',
			'article_category_id' => '192',
			'title' => 'The Key Speakers At Newbiz Conclave & Business Excellence Awards Ceremony 2013',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Management Essential for Economic Development</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Rameshore Khanal" src="/userfiles/images/rk.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;height: 157px; width: 150px;" />Rameshore Khanal</strong></div>
<div>
	Former Finance Secretary</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Various hurdles like political instability, labor strike, and corruption have created hindrances in the economic development of the Nepal. The main reason behind this is lack of good governance and economic management is the regulatory bodies of the government. Inability to complete the Melamchi hydro project is also the result of the irregularities. The common people and the industrialists are not being able to lead a life out of terror. The small and medium scale industries seem to work more hard in this context. Similarly, unnecessary disturbances regarding renew and registration of the new comers have also discouraged the industrialists. Private sector seems managed regarding the organizational governance of financial sector. The condition of other productive sector in Nepal is not satisfactory because of which the financial sector is not improving as expected. Recently the new generations are attracted towards the vocational education and this subject is being taught in most of the colleges out of valley. But still the education regarding the hydro power and other service sectors are not being given to the students. Efforts should be made to attract students in these sectors.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Private Sector is the Engine of Economic Development</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Suraj Vaidya President, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries" src="/userfiles/images/sv.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 163px;" />Suraj Vaidya</strong></div>
<div>
	President, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Private sector is the engine for economic development of the country. It provides the direction to the economy of the country. Having the important role in the development of the country, the government should provide facilities to the private sector. Private sector is the backbone of the prosperous society. The country is in vicious circle of political instability. There is necessity of some noble political leaders who can take the country out of this circle overcoming all the prevailing challenges.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	There is no point of discussing about election. It should be held anyhow. The economy of the country is also depended on local development. The election has been essential for development. There are a lot of possibilities of development in rural areas and the economic development of the country is possible only with the development of rural areas. The possibilities should be identified and commercialization of the local products should be done with standard pricing. Nearly 30 per cent of vegetable market in Kathmandu is covered by the vegetables from Dhading which can be increased more with the management of proper storage. Dhading is also being promoted as organic district in order to access and expand the market of vegetables produced in the district.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Private Sector Essential to Promote Tourism</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Amran Abdul Rahman Director, (Nepal and India) Malaysia Tourism" src="/userfiles/images/aar.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 162px;" />Amran Abdul Rahman</strong></div>
<div>
	Director, (Nepal and India) Malaysia Tourism</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Not only tourism sector, private sector is the medium of branding the whole nation because it comes in direct contact with the common people. A nation can be economically transformed through tourism but there needs to be cooperation between private sector and government. Malaysia comes in ninth position to attract largest number of tourists. A total of 25 million people had visited Malaysia in 2012. Nepal has immense potentialities in tourism sector which should be promoted with development of the areas and effective regulations. Nepal also had possibilities of business tourism and also can be appropriate for MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition) tourism.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">&nbsp;Innovation and Competition Creates Growth</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Wim Lancsweert Development Economist, Belgium" src="/userfiles/images/wl.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 163px;" />Wim Lancsweert</strong></div>
<div>
	Development Economist, Belgium</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Innovation and competition are the two important factors for growth. A multi dimensional entrepreneurship is essential for innovation and competition. The traditional way can&rsquo;t open the way for this. Impressive personality, cultural and organizational structure and regulations boosting entrepreneurship can only encourage entrepreneurs. There are two types of entrepreneurship: entrepreneurship by necessity and entrepreneurship by adequate opportunities. The nation need not expect anything from the entrepreneurs created by necessity but the entrepreneurs created by the opportunities can help in the economic development of whole nation. So it depends upon the regulations and the laws of the government which of entrepreneurship to encourage. I personally believe that the training and education regarding entrepreneurship can create an appropriate foundation of economic growth. After that financial access and investment friendly environment is essential.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Efforts to Attract Foreign Investment is Essential</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Sukanti Ghosh Managing Director, India APCO Worldwide" src="/userfiles/images/sg.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 167px;" />Sukanti Ghosh</strong></div>
<div>
	Managing Director, India APCO Worldwide</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The rapid economic growth of Gujarat has only been possible because of the clear vision and regular effort. The state was able to evaluate competitive quality and weakness because of which better industrial environment is formed there. The administration also helped to attract private investment and industrial friendly regulations. Additional private sector also invested after the improving condition of Gujarat. Then Gujarat administration started promoting private as well as national and international investment.</div>
<div>
	The investors are always in search of stable government and investment friendly environment where open market, rule of law and security are guaranteed. Similarly availability of skilled manpower and continuity of scientific research are also preferred by the investors. Similar environment in Gujarat was able to get the commitment of Rs 50 billion of investment from a 3-day summit held in January, 2013 in Gujarat. Nepal also should work in this sector in inviting foreign investment. It can take benefit from its neighboring countries, India and China. There are several sectors for investment in Nepal including hydro power, infrastructure development, manufacturing, tourism, agriculture and mines. &nbsp;Lands available in relatively cheaper prices, availability of manpower and high profit are some of the factors attracting investment.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Other Companies Should Learn From Award Winners</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Budhaditya Mukherjee CEO, Asian Paints Nepal Pvt. Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/bm.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 163px;" />Budhaditya Mukherjee</strong></div>
<div>
	CEO, Asian Paints Nepal Pvt. Ltd</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The Business Excellence Award 2013 has helped in enhancing the economic growth of the nation. This is also the appropriate point to focus in the economic development of Nepal. Most of the private sectors have been performing their tasks silently. Their task has contributed the whole nation and New Business Age has encouraged them with such awards. We are glad to work with such organization. The main motto of this award is to create positive inspiration for other organizations to work even better. The important aspect of this award ceremony is the jury part. We are hoping for the correct selection of the business houses by juries involved in this ceremony.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Should be focused in development of Business Brand</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Srikanth Srinivasamadhawan Managing Director, Unilever Nepal Limited" src="/userfiles/images/sss.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 165px;" />Srikanth Srinivasamadhawan</strong></div>
<div>
	Managing Director, Unilever Nepal Limited</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal has greater possibilities for the productive sectors from the economic point of view. The economic rate can be increased and achieved with the development of such industries. We have to keep focusing on the profit, consistency and responsibility along with the growth. There should be diversity in the production for the development and growth of the product. Unilever covers most of the market in Nepal because of the same policy. Similarly more storage and consumerism is also essential for establish the brand in the market. &nbsp;We should apply creative way to access the brands in the market. For the sustainable economic development, brand centered growth should be the focus. We are always focused on the development of Nepal that&rsquo;s why all the products of Unilever have been covered most of Nepali market.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Healthy and Active Financial Sector</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Rajan Singh Bhandary, President, Nepal Banker’s Association" src="/userfiles/images/rsb.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 165px;" />Rajan Singh Bhandary</strong></div>
<div>
	President, Nepal Banker&rsquo;s Association</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As Nepal is a small country, the financial sector of this country is also limited. Though small, the roles of financial sector are very important. The financial sector mobilizes with the sound economic condition of the country. A narrow economy of a country creates healthy environment in financial sector. Both of these sectors are equally important for a strong economy of the country.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	&nbsp;</h2>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Insuring Industrial Security</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Shankar Koirala, Minister for Finance, Industry and Commerce and Supplies" src="/userfiles/images/sk.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 165px;" />Shankar Koirala</strong></div>
<div>
	Minister for Finance, Industry and Commerce and Supplies</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	I was highly tempted to be a part of this event because of two reasons: one is the theme and the another, I was curious to see all the business leaders coming together and excited to know how they&rsquo;re doing and contributing to the country. I thank and congratulate New Business Age family for conducting the event. For achieving the target, government&rsquo;s effort too is not sufficient. To facilitate them everyone should work together. We acknowledge role of private sectors too for the economic growth of the country. This award ceremony will act as a challenge for them to do even more and maintain their position. We have to insure industrial security for the investors. Mobilization of domestic products should be assured and for that transportation facilities should be improved. Agriculture investment should grow and I feel that the ideas shared here will help us meet the target.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Employment should be Created within the Country</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada ,Governor, Nepal Rastra Bank" src="/userfiles/images/yrk.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;height: 163px; width: 150px;" />Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada</strong></div>
<div>
	Governor, Nepal Rastra Bank</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	It is a common dream of Nepali people to eliminate political instability and reduce poverty rate. And for that Economic growth is must. Last year, Service sector increased by 6 percent and the industry by 3 percent. It&rsquo;s not that difficult to achieve 7 per cent growth in our country. Industries in Nepal are running 50 per cent of its total capacity. If it increases to 80 per cent, then it will not be a difficult task to achieve the targeted growth of 7 per cent. Agriculture itself has capacity to grow more than 5 per cent of GDP. For that agro-based investment should be increased. Similarly, employment should be created within the country. Capacity utilization should be another major priority. Nepal needs development based on agriculture, hydropower and tourism. And employment opportunities should be created for middle class to grow.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	This is just the right time to do this kind of event and I congratulate NBA team for this.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>&nbsp;Public Commitment Necessary for Economic Prosperity</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Binod Chaudhary, president, Chaudhary Group" src="/userfiles/images/bc.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 163px;" />Binod Chaudhary</strong></div>
<div>
	president, Chaudhary Group</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal has more than half century experience and mandate of planned economic development attempt. Today&rsquo;s necessity is learning from our past and moving forward towards the development of Nepal. Nepal&rsquo;s industrial contribution in GDP has decreased to 5.6 percent which was 12 percent a decade ago. We all have common opinion in terms of economic development. We have to make public commitment for country&rsquo;s economic development. To achieve the target, we have to mechanise agriculture, commercialise herbs, vegetables and fruits. Tourism is another sector where we have to concentrate more.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Priority to Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Ashok Baid ,President, Birgunj Chamber of Commerce" src="/userfiles/images/ab.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 165px;" />Ashok Baid</strong></div>
<div>
	President, Birgunj Chamber of Commerce</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Country is only utilizing 30 per cent of its resources. There is much to do with this country. There should be growth in entrepreneurship, productivity and employment creation in Nepal. Nepal is utilizing only 40 percent of its industrial capacity. All the economic stakeholders should be serious about this issue. Birgunj should be prioritized because it occupies large economic and industrial space. Bara-Parsa corridor conservation must be prioritized. Government should play role in developing industrial relationship there. We can develop Birgunj as economic and industrial capital. We should accept public-private partnership for infrastructures development.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Business is an Engine for Development and Economic Growth</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Dr Ratnakar Adhikari ,Chief Executive Director, South Asian Watch on Trade Economics and Environment (SAWTEE)" src="/userfiles/images/dra.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 165px;" />Dr Ratnakar Adhikari</strong></div>
<div>
	Chief Executive Director, South Asian Watch on Trade Economics and Environment (SAWTEE)</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Business is the engine for economic growth and development. Business helps to make country prosper. It plays important role in creating employment, and helps in country&rsquo;s revenue collection too. Banking and Insurance sector should be emphasized to develop the business. It also helps in inviting foreign investment when investment increase, business gets competitive which helps for its sustainability. Technology development is equally important. To increase the business, industrial, energy, infrastructures development, skilled manpower and competitive policy is necessary.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>&nbsp;Structural change of production</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Joseph Silvanus, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/js.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 166px;" />Joseph Silvanus</strong></div>
<div>
	CEO, Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Ltd</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Finance sector can play role of engine in achieving 7 per cent economic growth. For that products structure needs to be changed. Structural changes can help in diversification of the products. And it helps in qualitative and quantitative development of the products too. Along with that we have to utilize the growing population of the country too. We have to use modern technology as per the time&rsquo;s need.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	&nbsp;</h2>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Concept of Rural and Small Scale Industries</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Dr Pronab Sen ,CEO, National Insurance Co Ltd (Nepal Operations)" src="/userfiles/images/dps.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 162px;" />Dr Pronab Sen</strong></div>
<div>
	CEO, National Insurance Co Ltd (Nepal Operations)</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Insurance is the risk management tools and about feeling secure. Insurance companies work as a substitute of government responsibilities. It helps to reduce capital forms and helps in investment and innovations. For better economic growth we have to ensure agro-based insurance too apart from hydro power and other insurances because our economy is directly based on agriculture.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	&nbsp;</h2>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Improve Technology to Compete with India and China</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Hari Bhakta Sharma, Vice-president, Confederation of Nepalese Industries" src="/userfiles/images/hbs.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 156px;" />Hari Bhakta Sharma</strong></div>
<div>
	Vice-president, Confederation of Nepalese Industries</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nature has a capacity to fulfill all our need but she cannot fulfill our greed. It is sad that the country where I live is 167th poorest in the world because of dollar appreciation. Thanks to the government. We have 2.5 billion people market and still far behind. There is no electricity and water. We only demand with no responsibility. We should try to improve our technology to compete with India and China. Once you learnt that, you will compete with rest of the world. I would like to request the government to change their policies at the earliest and would like to request our skilled manpower not to migrate to other countries.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'The Business Excellence Award 2013 has helped in enhancing the economic growth of the nation. This is also the appropriate point to focus in the economic development of Nepal. Most of the private sectors have been performing their tasks silently.',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1714',
			'article_category_id' => '169',
			'title' => 'Recipe Of A Successful Business Model',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<img alt="Buddha's Delight August 2013" src="/userfiles/images/bd.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 375px; margin-left: 25px; margin-right: 25px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Venture Capitalists speak about new venture; they seek a business plan elaborating Forecasted ROI, Equity split, Break Even point, ROCE, Target segmentation etc. But how a business evolves? Opportunity can be found anywhere. If there is need-gap, an opportunity exists to bridge that. Optimists see opportunity even in Calamity while pessimists see Calamity in biggest opportunity. Fundamental of any business is about creating value for customers to cater to a need against a price. Any frustration can be the germination of an evolving business model. But what is it that makes some Businesses click while others perish?&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Let us take an example. Taxi Drivers haggling with fare and tampering meters are common sight in South Asia. They do that as the meter rate is not very high, trips are limited and they face extortions from multiple sources. Coupled with high maintenance and rent, what is left for the drivers? Poor chap has to earn his livelihood and support his family. But a Driver haggling with fare, tampering with Meter is very frustrating for us. Right? What do we do? Nothing. Curse the government, society, politicians. Even curse ourselves for being there. But facing such incidents multiple times, it never occurred to me that a Business Model can be envisioned. Till I heard about Nirmal!&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nirmal Kumar; this soft spoken, specially abled person is a 2008 graduate from IIM Ahmedabad. He comes from a modest background in Bihar where his father was a primary school teacher. One night, he was in an Auto Rickshaw in Ahmedabad and got overcharged. Though enraged, he did not curse like most of us. A business idea struck him. He entered with a deal with Drivers parking outside IIM Campus. Against an undertaking that proper fare will be charged, he provided them Free Newspaper and Health-cum-Personal Insurance cover. Starting initially with his own money, he started visiting corporates to draw from their CSR fund.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	With funds, Kumar increased the facilities for drivers and developed the brand &lsquo;G Auto&rsquo;. A business model was borne. The drivers benefitted with health care, children education and insurance. Gujarat CM Narendra Modi came for inauguration which helped in many ways. With the vehicles carrying advertisement, sizeable revenues generated. Finally Nirmal Foundation, a trust, formed with Kumar as Managing Director. Currently 21 paid employees are associated with the trust. Revenues from Advertisement, Corporate Donation, and Government funding help them breaking even. The Foundation ensures that any member breaching law will lose membership; but they also help the Driver in case of any unnecessary harassment from the authority.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	G-Auto voted second in the SMART Mobility Awards on transportation solution given by Michigan University. Recently, the Indian Union Urban Development Secretary has written to all states to emulate the model. Kumar, looking for expansion, met Delhi CM Sheila Dixit with plans for the national capital.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Kumar installed new technology like tamperproof computerized meter for positive, sustainable customer satisfaction. With the vehicles being monitored through GPRS, introduction of a Call Center and free Mobile Phone App; now customers can even request for a G-Auto delivered to his place. Imagine the power of this proposition, at late night with normal rate reliability. Usually a driver earns around 200/-IC per day in a normal system after clearing all expenses associated with the vehicle. They resort to unsavoury tactics as the ends cannot be met with limited earnings. But with theses upgradations, G-Auto gets more trips and volume compensated for low earnings per trip.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The strength of this model is it&rsquo;s a winning formula which offers wonderful returns to all stakeholders. This is the essence of any business plan. A business becomes successful if it caters to certain fundamental principles.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	1. The offering must satisfy a need &ndash; latent or explicit&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	2. It should create value for a set of people &ndash; either directly or indirectly&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	3. Customers should cherish their experience of association and return back to feel it again&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	4. The perceived value offered to the customers must be more than the price paid by them&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	5. It should offer positive profitable solution to all stakeholders; both the drivers and the Customers&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	6. It should remain relevant and evolve continuously by adapting to the changes happening in Macro Environment. Lots of flourishing businesses suffered due to lack of flexibility and vision! Remember Kodak and its bankruptcy filing?&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	At the end of the day, a business must be profitable and provide Shareholders more return than they would have got from a normal and secured depository route. A dream business in paper that does not make money for its shareholder is a living nightmare.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Business Model is like a vision, a dream and when people have a vision which satisfies all these fundamentals - they have a winning formula in their hand. It is the vision that matters. As Sam Walton correctly pointed out - &ldquo;Capital isn&rsquo;t scarce; vision is.&rdquo;</div>',
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			'description' => 'Venture Capitalists speak about new venture; they seek a business plan elaborating Forecasted ROI, Equity split, Break Even point, ROCE, Target segmentation etc. But how a business evolves?',
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			'id' => '1713',
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			'title' => 'South Asia & Recurring Natural Disasters',
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	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Prof Ujjwal K Chowdhury</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Understanding Natural Disasters:&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Covering seven nations, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, South Asia is a region sensitive to disasters. The region has exhausted its land reserves, and is farming soils that are unsuitable for cultivation. Some 35% of productive land is affected by land degradation. South Asia has a population that is vulnerable to risks in terms of sudden fluctuations in markets and natural shocks arising from weather. This region is also marked by high disparities in income, health and education.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	South Asia&rsquo;s geography makes it particularly susceptible to natural disasters. According to the recently published World Risk Report 2012, countries like Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan exhibit a high level of vulnerability as demonstrated by their lack of coping capacities and adaptive capacities. In evaluating 173 countries for purposes of creating this year&rsquo;s World Risk Index, the report gave the following countries its global risk index ranking: Bangladesh (6th most risk-prone country of the world), Pakistan (66), India (71) and Nepal (99). There is a high level of variation within South Asia itself, but these rankings should not be misinterpreted to undermine the risk faced by these countries&mdash; particularly the poor&mdash;in the face of natural disaster.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Since 2004-2005, the region became a neighborhood of disasters. Besides recurring flood and drought, it also had to cope with the December 2004 tsunami. There was the October 2005 earthquake in the Himalayan range that killed of 75,000. Pakistan was ravaged by an earthquake in 2008, and floods in 2010. And recently Uttarakhand of India and parts of Nepal have experienced devastating floods due to cloudbursts.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Recent Natural Disasters in India:&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	In June 2013, the North Indian states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, some regions of Western Nepal and their adjoining areas experienced heavy rainfall that triggered devastating floods and landslides. Parts of Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, and some parts of Western Tibet also experienced heavy rainfall. By early July, more than 1,000 people have died with more than 6000 missing. Damage to bridges and roads left over 70,000 pilgrims and tourists trapped in various places, many of whom were rescued. As of 30 June 2013, about 300 - 400 people are said to be still stranded. Although Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker, based on various ground reports said that the death toll could cross 10,000, the official death toll in Uttarakhand (by 29 June 2013) was 842, and around 6000 missing.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Unprecedented destruction by the rainfall witnessed in Uttarakhand state was attributed, by environmentalists, to unscientific developmental activities undertaken in recent decades and this contributed to high level of loss of property and lives. Roads constructed in haphazard style, new resorts and hotels built on fragile river banks and more than 70 back to back hydro electric projects coming up across the river system of the state lead to a &ldquo;disaster waiting to happen&rdquo; as termed by certain environmentalists. As per environmental experts, the tunnels built and blasts undertaken for 70 hydro electric projects contributed to ecological imbalance in the state, with flow of river water restricted and the unscientific real estate activity contributed to higher number of landslides and more flood&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Ecologists point out that the huge expansion of hydro-power projects and construction of roads to cope with the lakhs of tourists in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh has compounded the scale of the disaster.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The expansion of roads has proved a major destabilising factor combined as it is with plans to construct over 200 dams in this sensitive eco-zone. Data with the Uttarakhand state transport department bears this out.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The state has seen a 1000 per cent increase in vehicular traffic in the last eight years, with ecologists having forewarned about the correlation between tourism increase and the higher increase of landslides.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Learnings&nbsp;</strong></span></div>
<div>
	Two main lessons can be drawn from the Mahakali (Nepal, June 2013, at least 100 dead and more than 12,000 displaced) and Uttarakhand flood disasters: The severity of the disaster could have been mitigated with a better end-to-end information system and proper infrastructure planning would have reduced the damage.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Accordingly, we need to:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	A) Put in place institutional mechanisms that that can use technological advances in forecasting. Although some warnings were disseminated by the India Meteorological Organization about the possibility of high to intense rainfall, this information was not transmitted to the people at risk. There is a need to strengthen disaster management and preparedness mechanisms, which requires awareness and sensitization at various levels to ensure that early warning information is conveyed to end users well in advance.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	B) Set up more hydrometeorological stations on transboundary rivers. There is no river-level hydrological monitoring station on the Mahakali river for flood forecasting and early warning. It is recommended that a river monitoring station for early warning be set up jointly by Nepal and India to provide people with some lead-time and improve flood forecasting and management in the basin.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	C) &ldquo;Carefully plan infrastructure in the mountains.&rdquo; The Hindu newspaper put it succinctly when it said that damage could have been contained through proper policies, especially regarding infrastructure development. Many mountain roads are contributing a huge sediment load to our rivers and inviting landslides. Many of the settlements are located along flood plains and have developed over the years, encroaching the river banks and increasing the vulnerability to floods.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="Flood in Nepal" src="/userfiles/images/fLOOD.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 257px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 15px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Natural Disasters and Nepal:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Because of hazards and calamities such as landslides, avalanche, floods, flash floods, glacial lake outbursts etc., thousands of people are affected every year in Nepal. More than 1,000 people die annually in Nepal because of natural hazards, with almost 300 deaths due to floods and landslides alone. Heavy flooding in the past years has affected hundreds of families in eastern Nepal. Saptari is one of the most floodprone districts in the south eastern Terai region where heavy rains in 2007 affected over 50,000 households, displaced nearly 8,300 and destroyed over 3,500 houses. The 2007 South Asian floods killed eighty-four people in Nepal while 9,700 families were displaced. 28 of the country&rsquo;s 75 districts were affected.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	A survey done by ICIMOD and UNEP highlights that 26 lakes in Nepal are categorized as dangerous due to the threat of glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs). As highlighted by IPCC (2001), glacial melt is expected to increase under changed climate. According to some studies, almost 20 per cent of the present glaciated area above 5000 m altitude is likely to be snow and glacier free with an increase of air temperature by 1&ordm;C. Similarly, a 3-4&ordm;C temperature rise would result in the loss of 58 to 70 per cent of snow and glaciated areas with threat of GLOFs.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal is situated in the seismically active Himalayan mountain belt dominated by the northward movement of the Indian tectonic plate towards and below the Eurasian tectonic plate. The role of earthquakes is essentially to catch up with the rate of convergence of these plates. Every year, more than a thousand earthquakes of various magnitudes ranging from 2 to 5 on the Richter scale occur in the country. Nepal has a long record of destructive earthquakes that extends back to 1255 AD. According to historical evidence, Nepal has experienced nine major earthquakes over the last 700 years. Recurring earthquakes during the 20th century claimed more than 23,000 lives.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	How can South Asian countries fortify themselves in the face of inevitable natural disasters? Where Bangladesh seems to be taking steps to improve its resilience, countries like Nepal and Pakistan are struggling for solutions. Nepal may have ranked towards the middle of the World Risk Index at 99th out of the 173, but the country with a population of around 30 million people faces similar natural threats as Bangladesh. According to data compiled by the Disaster Preparedness Network Nepal (DPNN), 22,278 people in Nepal have lost their lives due to natural disasters since 1982. DPNN data also illustrates the natural disasters behind these fatalities &ndash; they are attributed to avalanches, earthquakes, floods and landslides, fire, pandemics, stampedes, and windstorm, hailstones and lightning. Although the demographics behind this figure has not been published, it would be a fair assumption based on the experience of other South Asian countries that those people with less stable homes &ndash; the urban poor &ndash; make up a significant fraction of the fatalities. DPNN Chairman Dr. Meen Bahadur Poudel notes that these fatalities are due to increase in the future.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	There are basic steps that can be taken in Kathmandu &ndash; and wider Nepal &ndash; to boost its resilience, such as enforcing building codes and executing emergency drills for the public. The National Society for Earthquake Technology, established in Nepal in 1988, has launched a program to make school buildings more earthquake-resistant. As a nationwide initiative, Nepal&rsquo;s Home Ministry has identified 83 areas in the Kathmandu Valley where infrastructure and food storage facilities will be built in the event of emergency. But more must be done to both prepare citizens for natural disasters and to update infrastructure to meet the region&rsquo;s seismic challenges.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Natural Disasters and Bangladesh:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	As per the Global Risk Index, Bangladesh has been declared the second most disaster-risk country in Asia&mdash;only after the Philippines&mdash;and sixth in the world after countries like Vanuatu, Tonga and Guatemala. Bangladesh is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons due to its exposure to seismic activity. The growing effects of climate change are also projected to exacerbate the country&rsquo;s exposure. In response, the Government of Bangladesh has taken steps this year to set up a national program for disaster risk reduction. In a June 2011 interview, Mohammad Abdul Qayyum, National Director of the Comprehensive Disaster Management Program, noted that state structural measures (i.e., building embankment, sea walls and anti-cyclone shelters), as well as non-structural measures (i.e., increasing individual and community preparedness, introducing community-managed early warning systems) are being put into place to reduce the potential impacts from natural disaster.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Recent Natural Disasters in Pakistan:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	In the year 2010, Pakistan was hit by worst floods in its history rendering 20 million people homeless and bringing one-fifth of the country under water. The floods, that left a trail of miseries that the affected population continues to battle even three years later, was a wakeup call for policy-makers, development experts, civil society and the general public that had not deemed climate change as well as the existing skewed development and resource distribution order as an important concern impacting the future of the country. The 2010 and later 2011 floods (in Sindh) exposed the extremely grim conditions that marked the daily lives of a large section of the population that had compromised access to basic amenities of life such as health, education, and shelter, and fundamental human rights, including decent livelihoods.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The story of Pakistan is a near cautionary tale for the rest of South Asia of what happens when institutions and systems are not in place to alleviate emergencies. Pakistan&rsquo;s plight since 2010 is well-documented. This year, at least 5.5 million people have been affected by flooding in the country: in late August, floods killed over 300 people and have damaged 1.2 million houses. Last year&rsquo;s floods affected 21 million people &ndash; both in rural and urban areas &ndash; and it is estimated that 800,000 families are still homeless in the wake of 2010&rsquo;s floods.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">The State Role &amp; the Samaritan&rsquo;s Dilemma&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	While developing countries bear the brunt of disasters, ironically these are also the countries which have made fewer efforts to adapt their physical environments to mitigate the impact of such disasters and to insure themselves against disaster risks, partly because of the disincentive known as the &ldquo;Samaritan&rsquo;s dilemma&rdquo; (i.e. nations may under-invest in protective measures since they expect foreign donors to help when such disasters strike).&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The Samaritan&rsquo;s dilemma, on the other hand, may arise from households and firms under-investing in insurance and undertaking adaptive measures on the presumption that governments would come to their rescue; governments may also under-invest in the hope that foreign donors would bail them out; and rich countries may find it difficult to scale down their ex post assistance in the absence of significant ex ante protective measures by governments in developing countries.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	New financial instruments (e.g. catastrophic bonds, swaps, and weather derivatives) have been devised to deal with disaster risk but with little impact.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Tackling Natural Disasters: Risk Mitigation&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Risk mitigation through adaptation of physical environment includes land use planning (e.g. avoiding construction on seismic fault lines, vulnerable coastal regions, and ensuring that buildings are resistant to hurricanes and earthquakes); prevention of soil erosion; building of dams for flood control, and seawalls to break storm surges. Governments could also promote farming practices so that farmers can cope better with climatic variations-drought resistant crops-and adapt to longer-term changes.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Adverse selection is a problem in disaster insurance but less than in other insurance markets, as many disasters can be predicted more accurately, as also the value of property at stake. In developing countries, however, specific problems arise from the thinness of insurance markets and ill-defined property rights.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Two other problems are arguably more serious. One is the difficulty of risk spreading and the second is linked to the Samaritan&rsquo;s dilemma. While risk-spreading in developing countries in general should not be difficult &mdash; since the losses they face are a small fraction of global resources &mdash; it often is because of the segmented and shallow insurance markets.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="Disaster Management" src="/userfiles/images/DISASTER.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 404px; margin-left: 25px; margin-right: 25px;" /></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Donor Concerns &amp; Issues in Disaster Mitigation:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Some observations regarding donor concerns and a more coordinated disaster prevention and mitigation strategy are made below.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull; A major strategic concern is mainstreaming of disaster prevention and mitigation among multilateral development agencies and governments. This rests on the presumption that the response to disasters has been reactive and tactical, and not strategic in the sense that the emergencies caused by natural hazards (e.g. floods, earthquakes) are not periodic but on-going in the context of highly vulnerable countries.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&bull; Recovery from a disaster and poverty reduction go hand in hand. Choices made during the initial phase could influence the outcomes in terms of poverty favourably or unfavourably over time.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">SAARC Framework on Disaster Management:&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	It is also important to point out that a regional response to natural disasters, whether in the shape of the SAARC Framework on Disaster Management or other bilateral and trilateral institutional arrangements that states may think of, is extremely important.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In May 2011, the Secretary General of SAARC presented a draft SAARC Agreement on Rapid Response to Natural Disasters to the Inter-governmental meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He pointed out quoting global statistics, that over the past forty years, South Asia faced as many as 1,333 disasters that killed 980,000 people, affected 2.4 billion lives and damaged assets worth US$105 billion. This loss is by far the highest among the recorded disasters in various geographical regions.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The SAARC Disaster Management Centre (SDMC) was set up in October 2006 at the premises of National Institute of Disaster Management in New Delhi. The Centre has the mandate to serve eight Member Countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In a recent development, Seventeenth Summit of SAARC was held in Addu city of Maldives on 10-11 November 2011. In Addu declaration, member countries expressed their consciousness of the environmental degradation and particular vulnerabilities of the region to the threat of climate change. The declaration also welcomed the signing of the SAARC Agreement on Rapid Response to Natural Disasters.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Prior to this in May 2011 an inter-governmental meeting on draft SAARC Agreement on Rapid Response to Natural Disasters held in Colombo, Sri Lanka reached a broad consensus on the Agreement. This agreement was adopted in Seventeenth SAARC Summit held in Maldives in November 2011. The draft agreement based on the principle of respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity of all member states aims to put in place an effective mechanism for rapid response to disasters to achieve substantial reduction in loss of lives and loss of social, economic and environmental assets in times of a disaster.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In a more promising development, the Abu Dhabi Dialogue Group comprising seven states sharing the rivers rising in the Greater Himalayas is expected to meet this year to adopt a joint initiative to minimize the impact of melting of glaciers. The group comprising Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India and Nepal was set up in 2006 in Abu Dhabi. It would strive to achieve within ten years a cooperative and knowledge based partnership for managing fairly and developing the Himalayan River Systems to bring prosperity, peace and social harmony and environmental sustainability from the source to the sea.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'South Asia has a population that is vulnerable to risks in terms of sudden fluctuations in markets and natural shocks arising from weather. This region is also marked by high disparities in income, health and education.',
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	(int) 2 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1712',
			'article_category_id' => '171',
			'title' => 'Malaysia: Expanding Relations With Nepal',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<img alt="Nepal Malaysia Relationship" src="/userfiles/images/nepal%20malaysia.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 341px;" /></div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Sushila Budhathoki</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	On 3 July, 2013, two teams of Nepali players from Taekwondo and Table Tennis consisting 13 members in total went to Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia to participate in Second South Asian ITF Taekwondo Championship and Seventh Asia-Pacific Veteran&rsquo;s Table Tennis Championship respectively. On the Same day, around half of them were travelling to Malaysia and more than 600 Nepalis were heading there for jobs. Such a growing relation between Malaysia and Nepal in a people to people level has proved that Malaysia has become a preferred destination not only for employment but also for holidays and sports.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Malaysia achieved its Independence from Britain in 31 August 1957. The country is a federation of 13 states operating within a constitutional monarchy and the Government comprises the federal, state and local government. The real gross domestic product (GDP) in Malaysia grew by an average of 6.3 % per annum during 1970 to 2012. According to Malaysian Embassy in Nepal, Malaysia emerged from a low-income agricultural and commodity-based economy to a successful middle-income economy over the decades with the help of sustained rapid economic growth. This strong economic performance has helped improve the quality of life for Malaysians and supported widespread advances in education, health, infrastructure, housing and public amenities.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	According to the Embassy, the course of Malaysia&rsquo;s development was shaped by the vision, thinking and efforts of many of the country&rsquo;s great leaders and thinkers. Among many visions and policies to the launch of Vision 2020 in 1991, by the then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed outlined the aim of attaining developed nation status by the year 2020. And the country is now at the last phase of its journey towards 2020 target.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Nepal-Malaysia Relations&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	The diplomatic relations between Nepal and Malaysia dates back to 1st January, 1960. The 53 years of diplomatic relation between the two countries has been cordial and friendly from the start. In 2003, both the country established their residential missions in the capitals of the other country. Both the countries are members of the United Nations and the Non-aligned Movement. Malaysia recognized Nepal as a source country for foreign workers since the beginning of 2001. Currently around 500,000 Nepalis are believed to be presently working in various sectors in Malaysia.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Malaysia shares its development experiences and expertise with other developing countries through MTCP (Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme ). Nepal is currently ranked at 14th among 137 MTCP recipient member countries of Malaysia. According to Malaysian Embassy in Nepal, a total of 525 Nepali participants have attended various courses in agriculture, broadcasting, economic planning, archive, public administration and diplomacy under the programme. In 2008 a total of 239 students were enrolled in Public Higher Education Institutions and Private Higher Education Institutions in 2008, according to International Students Statistics by Minister for Higher Education Malaysia.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;"><img alt="Quick Guidance Malaysia" src="/userfiles/images/qgmalysia.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; width: 300px; height: 301px;" />Prospects in Tourism&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	The relationship between Nepal and Malaysia could get a height if the tourism sector is linked together. The tourism sector of Malaysia is the third largest foreign exchange earner of the country.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The country is also the ninth most-visited country in the world, with 24.7 million tourists visiting the country in 2011. Malaysia is celebrating VMY (Visit Malaysia Year) in 2014 and is expecting to receive 28.8 million in foreign tourist arrivals during VMY 2014. According to holidayhometimes.com, an initiative by TripVillas.com the country has targeted a $ 52.8 billion tourism receipt and 36 million tourist arrivals by 2020.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	There are islands and beaches, city excitement, nature and adventure and cultural attractions in Malaysia that lure tourists all around the world. The country has everything for the family,-theme parks, jungle trails, sports, water sports and one of the highest numbers of golf courses.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Malaysia is also promoting tourism Malaysia My Second Home, Medical Tourism, Education Tourism and Golf Tourism. Malaysia MY Second Home programme under Ministry of Tourism and Culture allows tourists to stay in Malaysia with a multiple entry social visit pass. Similarly, with more than 2000 courses the country is promoting Education Tourism and has been attracting students all over the world. And with well-equipped private hospitals, it is promoting medical tourism since 2009. Malaysia is preferred healthcare travel destination in the Asian region.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The growing number of Tourists from both the countries has been creating aspiration in expanding tourism. According to the data by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), a total of 663 Malaysian tourists visited Nepal in May 2012 while the number reached to 1609 in May 2013- a 142.7 per cent growth. Similarly, 7,831 and 11,681 Malaysians visited Nepal in 2011 and 2012 respectively while 2,192 Nepali tourists Nepalis visited Malaysia in 2012.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The Air Services Agreement between Nepal and Malaysia in 2007 allowed the carriers to operate up to 21 flights a week and direct air connection between the two capitals started in 2003. The presence of Malaysian budget carrier Air Asia X, Malaysian flag-carrier Malaysia Airlines and Nepal&rsquo;s national flag-carrier- Nepal Airlines have played the vital role in arranging daily flights between Kathmandu and Kuala Lumpur.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Trade and Investment&nbsp;</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Trade between the two countries is limited and is in favor of the Malaysia. Exports from Nepal mainly include paper, tobacco, flour, coffee, tea, mate and spices, electrical machinery and equipment, works of art, collectors` pieces and antiques. The imports from Malaysia include animal or vegetable fats, inorganic and organic chemicals, essential oils, perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations, plastics, edible vegetables, tubers, edible fruits and nuts.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="Export Import malaysia" src="/userfiles/images/exportimport%20form%20malaysia.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 77px;" /></div>
<div>
	According to MoFA, Foreign Direct Investment made by Malaysia in Nepal stands at Rs 245.18 Million in 13 different factories and industries creating 444 job opportunities. Malaysia-Nepal Business Council has already being established and active since 2008. In November 2011, Malaysian and Nepali companies signed six Memorandums of Understanding on education, training, trading and services. The country is also looking into the prospects of investing in the hydropower sector, or any other relevant areas in Nepal. They also negotiated with three Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) on investments in manufacturing, tourism and retail marketing.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="Malaysian Investment" src="/userfiles/images/malysian%20investment.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 80px;" /></div>',
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			'description' => 'On 3 July, 2013, two teams of Nepali players from Taekwondo and Table Tennis consisting 13 members in total went to Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia to participate in Second South Asian ITF Taekwondo Championship and Seventh Asia-Pacific Veteran’s Table Tennis Championship respectively.',
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	(int) 3 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1711',
			'article_category_id' => '150',
			'title' => 'Business Briefs (26 August - 01 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="John Player’s End of Season Sale" src="/userfiles/images/jp.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 29px;" />John Player&rsquo;s End of Season Sale</span></strong></div>
<div>
	John Players, premium men&rsquo;s wear from Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd has announced &lsquo;End of Season Sale&rsquo; that offers discount up to 50 per cent. The discounts are applicable on wide range of John Players garments. The discount can be availed at outlets of &nbsp;John Players at Bluebird Mall - Tripureshwor, Teendhara - Durbar Marg, &nbsp;City Center (1st Floor) &ndash; Kamalpokhari , Maitidevi Complex ( Maitidevi ), Civil Mall (Sundhara) and other leading garment stores across the country.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="TVS Phoenix 125" src="/userfiles/images/tvs(1).jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 113px;" />TVS Phoenix 125 Launched</span></strong></div>
<div>
	CG Moto Corp, the authorized distributor of TVS two-wheelers in Nepal has launched TVS Phoenix 125 in the market. According to a press release, Phoenix is a premium executive deluxe 125cc motorcycle and is one of the most feature-filled products. The 4-speed transmission of the motorcycle delivers 11 PS &nbsp;of power at 8000 rpm. The motorcycle is available in the market at an introductory price of Rs 169,900. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="Honda’s Showroom in Kohalpur" src="/userfiles/images/hnd.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 110px;" />Honda&rsquo;s Showroom in Kohalpur</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Honda has opened a new showroom in Kohalpur of Banke on 21 August. The showroom will deal in Honda motorcycles and scooters; ad will also provide the services of exchange and financing. The showroom sold twenty motorcycles on the day of inauguration, and also offered gifts, cash discounts and free helmets and accessories to the customers.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="Tata Safari " src="/userfiles/images/ts.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 102px;" />Tata Safari Storme in Pokhara</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Siprdai Trading has started the sale of Tata Safari Storme in Pokhara. Dubbed as the &lsquo;Real SUV&rsquo;, Storme is claimed to be the combination of luxury, power and off-road performance. The SUV is powered by a 2.2 litre VariCOR turbocharged engine delivering a maximum output of 140 ps and a peak torque of 320 NM. The price of Safari Storme starts from Rs 3.88 million.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><img alt="Food, Drinks and Hospitality Exhibition" src="/userfiles/images/fd.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 98px;" />Food, Drinks and Hospitality Exhibition from September 18</span></strong></div>
<div>
	House of Rajkarnicar Exhibitions and Events is going to organize Seagram&rsquo;s Royal Stag Food Drinks and Hospitality Exhibition 2013 from September 18. According to a press release, the Exhibition will be the first of its kind in Nepal focusing exclusively on food, beverage &amp; hospitality. The four-day event will have 150 exhibitors, two thematic pavilions and eight special events.&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'ohn Players, premium men’s wear from Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd has announced ‘End of Season Sale’ that offers discount up to 50 per cent.',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1710',
			'article_category_id' => '115',
			'title' => 'Tech Briefs (26 August - 01 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Keyboard to Get Rid of Facebook Addiction</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Two doctoral candidates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a new leyboard device that is capable of shocking users overindulging online. The developers of the keyboard, Robert R. Morris and Dan McDuff said that the keyboard is able to monitors application usage and if it senses that too much time is being spent on a particular website or application it give a shock to its users, asserting that the shock is just unpleasant and not dangerous.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">World&rsquo;s Most Precise Clock Deviced</span></strong></div>
<div>
	US scientists have said that they have built the world&rsquo;s most precise clock, whose ticking rate varies less than two parts in one quintillion, or 10 times better than any other. &ldquo;The clock, made from the element ytterbium, could be used for technological advancements beyond time-keeping, such as navigation systems, magnetic fields and temperature,&rdquo; National Institute of Standards and Technology physicist, Andrew Ludlow, said in a statement. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Sony Names PS4 Launch Dates</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Sony has announced the launch dates for its PlayStation 4 console.The next-generation games machine will become available in North America on 15 November and Europe on 29 November.Its rival Microsoft has only said that the Xbox One will go on sale some time the same month.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Microsoft CEO Ballmer to retire</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced Friday that he will retire within the next 12 months. &ldquo;There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time,&rdquo; Ballmer said. &ldquo;We have embarked on a new strategy with a new organization and we have an amazing senior leadership team.&rdquo;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Ultrafast Camera Designed to Work Like Human Retina</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Photos and videos are not lightweight files-they quickly add up to gigabytes of data which can be a dealbreaker a lot of research. Engineers at the Swiss company iniLabs created a better way-a camera that borrows its mechanics from the marvels of the human retina. &nbsp;The Dynamic Vision Sensor (DVS) works a lot like the human retina which makes for a hyper efficient and ultrafast camera. The individual neurons in our eyeballs don&rsquo;t actually record all of the information in our field of view; they just spot the changes in movement.&nbsp;</div>',
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	(int) 5 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1709',
			'article_category_id' => '149',
			'title' => 'Zero-MSG Noodles',
			'sub_title' => '',
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			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Bhawani Timilsina</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>
				<img alt="Arun KC, Sales Director, Himalayan Snax and Noodles Pvt Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/akc.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 208px;" /></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td style="text-align: center;">
				<div>
					<strong>Arun KC</strong></div>
				<div>
					Sales Director, Himalayan Snax</div>
				<div>
					and Noodles Pvt Ltd</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
<div>
	Mayos instant noodle has retained its position as one of the largest selling brands in the Nepali market. &nbsp;&ldquo;With several years of expertise and commitment, we have carved a niche for ourselves in the market,&rdquo; says Arun KC, Sales Director of Himalayan Snax and Noodles Pvt Ltd (HSNPL). &nbsp;KC says that noodle consumers were long waiting for a distinct taste in their noodle snack. &ldquo;Sensing this opportunity, we launched Mayos noodle in 2000 and received an overwhelming response which for us quite excited.&rdquo;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Mayos noodle is now available as Mayos Cup Noodles with distinct additional flavours such as Mayos Khatta Meetha &amp; Mast Masala, chicken &amp; vegetarian package and Mayos Hot and Sour.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The company holds 25 per cent of the market share in the brown noodles selling market, KC says. With an aim to serve consumers with healthy products, the company is now producing noodles with OMEGA-3 (Fatty Acid) and has avoided the use of Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) after growing complaints from consumers. The company made this decision after conducting a research that found that use of MSG could damage the health of consumers. &ldquo;Being healthy as well as tasty, we can assure that the quality of our noodle is distinct from others,&rdquo; he adds.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	KC says that the company makes no compromise when it comes to the health and taste of the consumer. &ldquo;This is the reason why we have always been making an effort to come up with a wide variety of flavours.&rdquo; &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The company retails Mayos noodles at Rs 15 per pack of 75gms in both chicken and vegetable flavours with nutritional value per pack at 363 calories and 347.6 calories, respectively.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The company at first worked in collaboration with the Thai company Thai President Foods PLC. ShakaLaka Boom, Ru-Chee, Lekali, J-mee, Hurray, Doharee, Jhilke and Humpty Dumpty Krunchy King are other noodles brands under the HSNPL Company.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;&ldquo;In the beginning, the tagline &lsquo;It&rsquo;s the wonderful Mayos Noodles&rsquo; helped us strengthen our branding. We also came up with coupon schemes as a promotional campaign later on, KC recalls, claiming the brand has been successful as it has stayed in the minds and hearts of people.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	According to the KC, competition has increased as a wide range of noodles have emerged in recent times. &ldquo;We do focus on experimenting with innovative concepts help us identify with the interest of consumers,&rdquo; he mentions, with regard to this. &ldquo;In order to integrate novel flavours and packaging format, a mixed fortification of Vitamin A, Calcium, Iron and Proteins has been introduced to all flavours of Mayos products. The Vitamin A, Calcium and Iron components in in Shaka Laka Boom and Ru-Chee noodles was a part of our contribution to address malnutrition since 2007,&rdquo; he says.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Mayos products have also won fame in an international market. &ldquo;Throughout the years, our domestic markets as well as export markets have had constant expansion into leading regions,&rdquo; he says. &nbsp;&ldquo;We have grown up now from being a local product to an internationally recognized one over our 13-year-long journey, and our popularity has been driven by the trust of our consumers,&rdquo; he states.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In the seven years of operation in the export market, HSNPL has witnessed a lot of ups and downs, but it is the customers&rsquo; satisfaction policy helps HSNPL stand on its distinct value, KC reveals. &ldquo;Our main motto has always been customer satisfaction &ndash; whether it is for health reasons or satisfaction in taste,&rdquo; he says.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-08-27',
			'modified' => '2013-09-19',
			'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' => 'Mayos instant noodle has retained its position as one of the largest selling brands in the Nepali market.',
			'sortorder' => '1570',
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	(int) 6 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1708',
			'article_category_id' => '101',
			'title' => 'A Little Work, A Little Play',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong>--By Upashana Neupane &nbsp;</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="Subodh Rana" src="/userfiles/images/mt.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;width: 200px; height: 225px;" />Balancing family life with a demanding professional one is a tough act to follow. However, Subodh Rana, CEO of Malla Travels and Trek Services, however, does not seem face much difficulty. Taking out time for his family or enjoying life beyond office hours is not a big deal for him. &ldquo;You just have to balance your work and family life simultaneously, and it is not that difficult,&rdquo; Rana says.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Being the CEO of a leading travel and trek company, Rana travels a lot which makes his life a continuous vacation sometimes. &ldquo;I travel a lot for my work or holidays. And though I spend a major chunk of my time in office doing office-related work, I make time to take my family along in my travels too,&rdquo; he says.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Rana shares that his favourite holiday destination is Malaysia. &ldquo;Because Malaysia is a liberal country and the culture and cuisine are very appropriate for Nepalis. I think it&rsquo;s a best destination for Nepalis,&rdquo; he says. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Apart from travelling, Rana indulges in two other things: Sports and Blogging.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	A big-time sports lover, Rana&rsquo;s favourite is Lawn Tennis. If you can&rsquo;t find him in office when he&rsquo;s not traveling, you&rsquo;ll definitely find him playing tennis. &ldquo;Tennis helps me keep physically fit,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It rejuvenates the energy inside me.&rdquo;&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Another equally big part of Rana&rsquo;s personality is that he is an active blogger. He engages himself in blogging whenever he gets spare time. &ldquo;I especially love to blog about history,&rdquo; he shares. &ldquo;As I am from a Rana family, the subject interests me over anything else.&rdquo; Blogging relaxes him from the everyday hustle bustle and gives mental satisfaction. &ldquo;Just as tennis is a physical exercise, blogging is a mental exercise for me,&rdquo; he shares.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Rana plans to holiday in Thailand next with his family. Keeping rejuvenated with his hobbies and his job, he definitely seems to find ample opportunity to break away from corporate monotony.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-08-27',
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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' => 'Balancing family life with a demanding professional one is a tough act to follow. However, Subodh Rana, CEO of Malla Travels and Trek Services, however, does not seem face much difficulty.',
			'sortorder' => '1569',
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	(int) 7 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1707',
			'article_category_id' => '193',
			'title' => '“IT Sector Has Good Prospects With TV Broadcast Digitisation”',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong><img alt="Saroj Bajracharya, Managing Director of Soheto Nepal Pvt Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/sb.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 200px; height: 249px;" />Saroj Bajracharya</strong> is the Managing Director of Soheto Nepal Pvt Ltd &ndash; a company involved in various trading businesses. Soheto is the supplier of Sony Medical products and is also providing consultancy and integration services to TV and radio stations along with broadcasting equipments. Bajracharya spoke to The Corporate&rsquo;s <strong>Sanjeev Sharma</strong> about Soheto and his experience in business. <strong>Excerpts:</strong></span></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Could you brief us about your company?</strong></div>
<div>
	SOHETO Nepal was officially registered in 2006 as an authorised distributor of Sony broadcast and professional equipments in Nepal. We are the suppliers of Sony Medical products such as monitors, printers, cameras and recorders for medical diagnostics and imaging purposes. We have managed to expand our business to various sectors and have been focusing on providing services to the broadcast and telecom sector. We supply equipments, provide system design and integration services to TV and radio stations. &nbsp;In total, we have around 90 per cent of shares in the supply of equipments in the television broadcast sector. We also do computer hardware and software support, supply and consultancy business from sister companies Smart Enterprise and Smart Technology. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What motivated you to enter this sector?</strong></div>
<div>
	I graduated in Electronics and Communication Engineering in 1993 and felt that there is opportunity in IT business. In 1994, along with some friends, I embarked on computer trading business. At first, we assemble and supply computers to individuals and for commercial customers. I focused on the computer trading business for over a decade and got involved in the broadcast business 2006 onwards. In my experience, we got good exposure and an opportunity to work with various big companies while working in the broadcast business. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>How do you assess the IT market in Nepal?</strong></div>
<div>
	The sector is driven by emerging technologies. One should remain up-to&ndash;date in order to keep with the pace. Those who fail to move along with the times will be left behind. The demand in the market is constantly changing and we have been mobilising ourselves accordingly. Embracing new ventures helps to keep alive and fresh.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What challenges do you think the IT business in Nepal is facing?</strong></div>
<div>
	Purchasing power has been declining in recent times. The sales volume of professional cameras, for instance, has been decreasing as compared to the early years of its market presence. Political instability, too, has definitely had a negative impact on business.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What are your business plans as of now?</strong></div>
<div>
	We have been waiting to upgrade standards through television broadcast digitisation. The IT sector has good prospects with this.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>What impact will digitisation have in the Nepali market?</strong></div>
<div>
	It is a demand of the time. It is challenging to switch over to new technology and it will not happen all of a sudden. Though people are now reluctant towards it, it will certainly have good impact.</div>',
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			'description' => 'Soheto is the supplier of Sony Medical products and is also providing consultancy and integration services to TV and radio stations along with broadcasting equipments.',
			'sortorder' => '1568',
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	(int) 8 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1706',
			'article_category_id' => '116',
			'title' => 'Power Summit 2013 From Today',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	The Independent Power Producers&rsquo; Association Nepal (IPPAN) will host the Power Summit 2013, in Kathmandu, on August 26-27, to critically review the performance of the domestic hydropower sector, discuss hurdles preventing the sector&rsquo;s development, and identify ways to quicken the pace of the sector&rsquo;s development.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The two-day conference to be organised with a theme &lsquo;Hastening the pace of hydropower development&rsquo;, will be participated by high-ranking government officials, the private sector and delegates from over a dozen countries, including the US, China, India and Norway, among others.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;We are trying to make the conference as thematic as possible and most of the focus would be on finding why country&rsquo;s hydro sector has not been able to take off and obstructions that need to be removed so that development can gain momentum,&rdquo; IPPAN vice president Khadga Bahadur Bista said.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Although it is touted that Nepal has the potential to produce 83,000MW of electricity, the country so far has been able to tap less than 800MW of electricity from the rivers. As a result, hours-long power outage has become a norm in the country, which is affecting production at various industries and hindering country&rsquo;s economic development.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	To address these issues, the conference will discuss the status of hydro power projects required to meet domestic energy demands, electricity demand forecast, power market integration, transmission line and power market management, &nbsp;pricing strategies and foreign markets that can import electricity from Nepal.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;The conference will also delve into strategies on financing projects to meet domestic demands, risks associated with these projects, and mitigation measures,&rdquo; says an IPPAN statement. The conference will also discuss harmonisation of various laws for timely implementation of projects and ways to channelise investment of non-resident Nepalis.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&ldquo;We shall, therefore, focus our deliberations under the following four categories &mdash; projects to meet domestic demand with domestic investment, projects to meet domestic demand with foreign investment, projects for power export with foreign investment, and power markets and their management and integration,&rdquo; Bista said.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The conference, to be jointly organised by PTC India Ltd and Non-Resident Nepalis Association, is being supported by the Energy Ministry and the Investment Board of Nepal.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'created' => '2013-08-27',
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			'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal',
			'description' => 'The Independent Power Producers’ Association Nepal (IPPAN) will host the Power Summit 2013, in Kathmandu, on August 26-27, to critically review the performance of the domestic hydropower sector, discuss hurdles preventing the sector’s development, and identify ways to quicken the pace of the sector’s development.',
			'sortorder' => '1567',
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	(int) 9 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1705',
			'article_category_id' => '100',
			'title' => 'Tourism Briefs (26 August - 01 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Food Festival in Pokhara in December</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	The Restaurant and Bar Association of Kaski is organising the Second City REBAN Festival and Food Festival in December. Organising a press meet, KP Sharma, President of REBAN said that the festival is being organised from December 6 to 15. A total of 115 commercial stalls will be featured in the Festival, showcasing various cuisines as well as cultural programmes. Sharma said that organisers have formed a 24-member organising committee and 10 other coordinators for the successful execution of the festival. The estimated investment for the festival is around Rs 2.7 million, and the total income is expected to be around Rs 2.9 million. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">View Tower to Be Constructed In Dharche</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<img alt="Dharche trekking trail" src="/userfiles/images/DHH.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 94px;" />A view tower is to be constructed in Dharche trekking trail of at Lower Manaslu region of Gorkha with the motive to develop tourism activities. &ldquo;The feasibility study of the tower has reached its final stage,&rdquo; said Sane Gurung, President of Manaslu Tourism Development Committee. According to Gurung, the tower will be 3,200m high from where tourists can view the mountains. &ldquo;Though the total investment has not been fixed, we have estimated it to be around Rs 2 million,&rdquo; Gurung said. The committee has been searching for some donors for financial assistance. &ldquo;We have been holding talks with Gorkha District Tourism Development Committee for help and will complete the construction within a year,&rdquo; he said. Gurung informed that Lapu VDC has allocated Rs 100,000, Laprak VDC Rs 25, 000 and Thumi VDC Rs 29, 000 for the project. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Qatar Airways to Fly Dreamliners to India</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<img alt="Qatar Airways" src="/userfiles/images/QA(1).jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 102px;" />Qatar Airways will launch its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner flights to India next month. From 1 September 2013, the airline will commence daily Dreamliner services to both Delhi and Bengaluru, using the 254-seat aircraft. &ldquo;We are delighted to introduce Qatar Airways&rsquo; Dreamliner on two of our important Indian routes,&rdquo; said the Doha-based airline&rsquo;s CEO, Akbar Al Baker. Qatar Airways&rsquo; B787s offer 22 flat-bed business class seats, all with aisle access, and 232 seats in economy class, in a 3&ndash;3&ndash;3 layout. The Delhi and Bengaluru services will mark the first time Qatar Airways has flown its Dreamliners to destinations in the Asia Pacific region. (Traveldailymedia.com)</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">The Travel Preferences of Young and Old</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<img alt="The Travel Preferences of Young and Old" src="/userfiles/images/TRA.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 79px;" />Together, Germany and the UK represent Europe&rsquo;s largest travel source market. Commissioned by ITB Berlin, IPK International examined the travel preferences of both younger and older holidaymakers in a special analysis of the World Travel Monitor, which shows that at 19 per cent (13 million trips) Germans occupy close to one-fifth of Europe&rsquo;s entire holiday travel market for young people. In 2012, European 15 to 29 year-olds undertook a total of 69 million holiday trips abroad, whereas the corresponding figure for the UK was only six million (nine per cent). By contrast, the UK&rsquo;s older generation is ahead in the travel statistics. Of all the European holiday trips undertaken by the older generation close to one-fifth (19 per cent / 15 million trips) are by Britons, whereas the market share occupied by older Germans is 17 per cent (13.5 million trips). (Traveldailynews.com)</div>',
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			'description' => 'The Restaurant and Bar Association of Kaski is organising the Second City REBAN Festival and Food Festival in December.',
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	(int) 10 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1704',
			'article_category_id' => '157',
			'title' => 'Kakori’s Kingly Delights',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>--By Sujan Tiwari</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Kakori Restaurant at Soaltee Crowne Plaza is one of the best destinations in Kathmandu to enjoy Indian cuisine. Kakori, named after a town in Lucknow, is open only for dinner and serves gourmet Punjabi, Kashmiri, Rajasthani, Awadhi and Nepali dishes. Balaram Pathak, Food and Beverage Director at Soaltee claims that Kakori is the best Indian fine dining restaurant in Kathmandu. &nbsp;&ldquo;We have specially trained manpower, we offer excellent service and scrumptious Indian delicacies in a classy ambience,&rdquo; says Pathak.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The restaurant is located by the swimming pool, and offers a secluded seating. The place is ideal for business as well as family gatherings. The setup reflects the regal era, and is a rich fusion of Nepali and Indian architecture. The place is adequately lit, and has highlighted niches on a white wall with antique artefacts. The seating is cosy and classy at the same time, perfect for spending long evenings. The kitchen is behind transparent glass so that customers can see how the food is being prepared. &nbsp;The major cutomers of Kakori are in-house guests of Soaltee, expatriates, corporate clients and the local people.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Kakori has on its menu assorted starters, mains and deserts, and specializes in kebabs, raan and biryanis among manu other dishes. The place is renowned for kakori kebabs, which is one of the best sellers here. Legend has it that one of the Nawabs of Lucknow once received a complaint from a British officer that the kebabs served at dinner were too coarse. Feeling insulted, the Nawab ordered his cooks to formulate a new kebab recipe. The cooks tried for ten days and finally came up with a kebab recipe that was very tender and juicy. This recipe is now renowned as Kakori Kebab, and the best place to enjoy those kebabs is at Kakori. &nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<img alt="kakori meny" src="/userfiles/images/1(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 15px;" /></div>
<div>
	One of the most popular dishes here is Raan-e-Awadh. It is a roasted lamb dish prepared with meticulous attention. For the dish, the lamb is first pot-roasted for more than six hours with salt and spices. It is then marinated in yogurt, nutmeg, chilli and other spices and butter basted. The lamb is finally cooked on a tandoor that gives it its signature smoky flavour. The lamb is very well cooked, evenly spiced and is very succulent. It can be enjoyed as a starter or main course. Another special starter at Kakori is Nasheela Jheenga. The dish is prepared by marinating Tiger Prawns in slat, pepper, ginger garlic paste and lemon juice. After a few hours, the prawns are marinated for the second time in yogurt, slat, yellow chilli, turmeric and other spices. The prawns are then grilled with cognac, butter, lemon juice and kebab masala. This could be one of the best prawn delicacies you have ever savoured.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	There are numerous other starters like Gulabi Salmon Tikka, Murgh Malai and Lahsooni Tangri. A few Nepali starters are also on the menu that includes Khasi ko Bhutuwa, a stir fried mutton dish and Chara Sandheko, a smoked chicken dish enjoyed cold. &nbsp;Kakori doesn&rsquo;t disappoint its vegetarian customers as it has many veg options too.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;Kakori&rsquo;s menu is quite extensive as there are plenty of main courses to choose from. There are many spicy veg and non-veg curries, biryanis and rice dishes, and different varieties of naan and rotis. Shorbas and the offered Daal varities also go very well with the freshly prepared naans and rice too. To put a sweet end to the meal, Kakori has a nice assortment of mouth watering desserts. Carrot and beetroot pudding, rasgulla, rasmalai and other traditional Indian desserts will keep you wanting for more.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	All in all, Kakori is a fine dining restaurant with delicious Indian cuisine, a soothing ambience and personalized service. Visit once and the dinner could be one of your most memorable ones.</div>',
			'published' => true,
			'created' => '2013-08-27',
			'modified' => '2013-09-19',
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			'description' => 'Kakori Restaurant at Soaltee Crowne Plaza is one of the best destinations in Kathmandu to enjoy Indian cuisine.',
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	(int) 11 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1703',
			'article_category_id' => '99',
			'title' => 'Nepal Wins Best Print Promotion In TTF2013',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has bagged the &lsquo;Best Print Promotion&rsquo; award in Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF) 2013 at &nbsp;Ahmedabad, India. According to a press statement from NTB, the award was attributed to the excellent combination of content and substance of the Nepali stall in the Fair. NTB participated in the fair in Ahmedabad, Gujurat from 16-18 August 2013 with the aim of increasing awareness and educating Indian travellers on Nepal&#39;s tourism products and offerings targeting upcoming season of Dashara and Puja Holidays in Gujurat.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The three day fair attracted more than 20000 visitors. 100 stalls featuring a dozen Indian states along with destination countries Nepal, Thailand and Malaysia were present the fair. Commemorating this year as Mount Everest Diamond Jubilee Celebrations, Nepal was marketed as an ultimate adventure destination. According to the statement, Indian adventure enthusiasts are seen exploring various adventure travel options in recent days.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	NTB and the participating company from Nepal like Yeti Airlines Domestic, Monterosa Treks and Expedition, Nepal Holiday Maker Tours and Travel and Fishtail Tours and Travels among others engaged in both B2B and B2C promotion during the fair.Pilgrimage, Leisure, Soft Adventure Activities and Muktinath pilgrimage tour drew special attractions.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	India is the most significant market for the Nepalese tourism industry with approximately 1/3rd total market share. In 2012, Nepal received 165,815 tourists from India by air which is 20.6 per cent increase as compared to 2011. In the period of Jan-July 2013 itself, Nepal received 89,500 tourists from India.</div>',
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			'description' => 'Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has bagged the ‘Best Print Promotion’ award in Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF) 2013 at  Ahmedabad, India.',
			'sortorder' => '1564',
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	(int) 12 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1702',
			'article_category_id' => '152',
			'title' => 'Focus Briefs (26 August - 01 September 2013)',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">CG Introduces New Range of ACs</span></strong></div>
<div>
	CG, a subsidiary of the Chaudhary Group introduced its new range of CG air conditioners in June this year. The company has rolled out four models of air conditioners: the CG- 09THCA, CG-12THCA, CG-18THCA and CG-24THCA. The new range of air conditioners comes with a built-in voltage stabiliser that works even on low voltage, the company said in a press statement. &ldquo;The benefits are very clear; it saves money as there is no need to buy an additional voltage stabiliser,&rdquo; the company said. The products are suitable for the Tarai region of the country that experiences high voltage fluctuation. CG Electronics has stated that the new air conditioners are quiet and calm, and have quick performance. Likewise, the devices come with a cordless luxury remote control. CG air conditioners have a compact design. &ldquo;It also has an &lsquo;excellent&rsquo; new look&mdash;mirror floral printed design that adds beauty to the consumers&rsquo; home as well as work. With their low power consumption feature, these devices have become more energy efficient and reduce the monthly power bill,&rdquo; the company further said. CG Electronics has priced the appliances in the range of Rs 40,580 to Rs 77,990. &nbsp;All products come with a 12-month warranty.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Panasonic Launches FSV Air Conditioners</span></strong></div>
<div>
	Panasonic, a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronic products and the Triveni Group, Panasonic&rsquo;s authorised distributor for Air Conditioners and Home Appliance products in Nepal, launched a full line up of FSV air conditioners in Nepal recently. Panasonic&rsquo;s FSV is a reverse cycle of the VRF system specifically designed for the most demanding application where precise cooling or heating load control is needed, such as in offices, shops and multi-storey apartments. The FSV system enables a single outdoor unit to power up to 64 indoor units. The indoor units can be a mix of Wall Mounted, Cassette, Mini Cassette and mid and Low Static Pressure ducted units with a total capacity of up to 60HP. The system offers users a variety of control options including group control, web control and building management system integration. Additionally, the FSV allows flexibility with piping design, allowing a height difference of up to 50m between outdoor and indoor units, and a maximum piping length&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	of 1,000m.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'CG, a subsidiary of the Chaudhary Group introduced its new range of CG air conditioners in June this year.',
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	(int) 13 => array(
		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1701',
			'article_category_id' => '192',
			'title' => 'Yeti Air And Unilever Awarded Best Managed  And Joint Venture Companies In Nepal',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<div>
	Yeti Airlines was awarded &lsquo;Best Managed Company of the Year 2013&rsquo; by the New Business Age Pvt. Ltd. amid a ceremony titled &lsquo;Newbiz Conclave &amp; Business Excellence Awards Ceremony 2013&rsquo; in capital on last Saturday. The ceremony was organized by the New Business Age Pvt. Ltd. with a main sponsorship of Asian Paints.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Yeti was felicitated for its best air services even in the remote areas of Nepal. The awards were distributed in ten different categories.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Likewise, Unilever Nepal Ltd has bagged the Best Managed Joint Venture Company of the Year. The award was provided to Unilever for satisfying all the stakeholders of the company as well as regularly distributing high dividends to its shareholders.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	In the commercial banks sector, Everest Bank Ltd. won the Best Managed Commercial Bank of the Year.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Clean Energy Development Bank Ltd has received Best Managed Development Bank of the year and Fewa Finance Ltd, which is headquartered at Pokhara, received Best Managed Finance Company.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal Life Insurance Company was awarded in the Best Managed Life Insurance Company category, while NLG Insurance Company won the Best Managed Non-life Insurance Company.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	During the ceremony, Shailaja Adhikari was also felicitated with the Women Entrepreneur of the Year. Affiliated with ICC group, she is an entrepreneur who has been investing on fashion designing and pre-school education.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Deepak Prakash Baskota, hailing from Panchthar, achieved the Social Entrepreneur of the Year for his entrepreneurship through Kanchanjangha Tea Estate and Research Centre.Karna Sakya was felicitated with the Newbiz Lifetime Achievement Award.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The thematic jury and the lead jury were formed to decide upon the awardees for 10 different categories. The Lead Jury was presided by the Soaltee Hotel Ltd Chairman Prabhakar Shamsher JB Rana. Each thematic jury had recommended three companies to the lead jury for the award. &ldquo;The selection of the awardees has been done in utmost fair manner,&rdquo; Rana told, adding that this type of program would encourage the private sector.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Award recipient for the Best Managed Company of the Year, Yeti Airlines Managing Director Vijay Shrestha, said they were feeling proud for being awarded. &ldquo;We are elated of being awarded for our works and this has further helped us to realize our responsibilities&rdquo;.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<hr />
	<h2>
		<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Awardees</span></strong></h2>
</div>
<div>
	<strong>Yeti Airlines:</strong> Best Managed Company of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Unilever Nepal Ltd:</strong> Best Managed Joint Venture Company of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Everest Bank:</strong> Best Managed Commercial Bank of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Clean Energy Development Bank:</strong> Best Managed Development Bank of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Fewa Finance Ltd:</strong> Best Managed Finance Company of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Karna Sakya: </strong>Newbiz Lifetime Achievement Award 2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Nepal Life Insurance Company Ltd:</strong> Best Managed Life Insurance Company of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>NLG Insurance Company Ltd:</strong> Best Managed Non-life Insurance Company of the Year-2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	D<strong>eepak Prakash Banskota (Kanchanjungha Tea Estate):</strong> Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Shailaja Adhikari (ICC group):</strong> Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2013</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
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			'description' => 'Yeti Airlines was awarded ‘Best Managed Company of the Year 2013’ by the New Business Age Pvt. Ltd. amid a ceremony titled ‘Newbiz Conclave & Business Excellence Awards Ceremony 2013’ in capital on last Saturday.',
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		'Article' => array(
			'id' => '1700',
			'article_category_id' => '192',
			'title' => 'The Key Speakers At Newbiz Conclave & Business Excellence Awards Ceremony 2013',
			'sub_title' => '',
			'summary' => null,
			'content' => '<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Management Essential for Economic Development</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Rameshore Khanal" src="/userfiles/images/rk.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;height: 157px; width: 150px;" />Rameshore Khanal</strong></div>
<div>
	Former Finance Secretary</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Various hurdles like political instability, labor strike, and corruption have created hindrances in the economic development of the Nepal. The main reason behind this is lack of good governance and economic management is the regulatory bodies of the government. Inability to complete the Melamchi hydro project is also the result of the irregularities. The common people and the industrialists are not being able to lead a life out of terror. The small and medium scale industries seem to work more hard in this context. Similarly, unnecessary disturbances regarding renew and registration of the new comers have also discouraged the industrialists. Private sector seems managed regarding the organizational governance of financial sector. The condition of other productive sector in Nepal is not satisfactory because of which the financial sector is not improving as expected. Recently the new generations are attracted towards the vocational education and this subject is being taught in most of the colleges out of valley. But still the education regarding the hydro power and other service sectors are not being given to the students. Efforts should be made to attract students in these sectors.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Private Sector is the Engine of Economic Development</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Suraj Vaidya President, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries" src="/userfiles/images/sv.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 163px;" />Suraj Vaidya</strong></div>
<div>
	President, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Private sector is the engine for economic development of the country. It provides the direction to the economy of the country. Having the important role in the development of the country, the government should provide facilities to the private sector. Private sector is the backbone of the prosperous society. The country is in vicious circle of political instability. There is necessity of some noble political leaders who can take the country out of this circle overcoming all the prevailing challenges.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	There is no point of discussing about election. It should be held anyhow. The economy of the country is also depended on local development. The election has been essential for development. There are a lot of possibilities of development in rural areas and the economic development of the country is possible only with the development of rural areas. The possibilities should be identified and commercialization of the local products should be done with standard pricing. Nearly 30 per cent of vegetable market in Kathmandu is covered by the vegetables from Dhading which can be increased more with the management of proper storage. Dhading is also being promoted as organic district in order to access and expand the market of vegetables produced in the district.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Private Sector Essential to Promote Tourism</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Amran Abdul Rahman Director, (Nepal and India) Malaysia Tourism" src="/userfiles/images/aar.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 162px;" />Amran Abdul Rahman</strong></div>
<div>
	Director, (Nepal and India) Malaysia Tourism</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Not only tourism sector, private sector is the medium of branding the whole nation because it comes in direct contact with the common people. A nation can be economically transformed through tourism but there needs to be cooperation between private sector and government. Malaysia comes in ninth position to attract largest number of tourists. A total of 25 million people had visited Malaysia in 2012. Nepal has immense potentialities in tourism sector which should be promoted with development of the areas and effective regulations. Nepal also had possibilities of business tourism and also can be appropriate for MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition) tourism.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">&nbsp;Innovation and Competition Creates Growth</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Wim Lancsweert Development Economist, Belgium" src="/userfiles/images/wl.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 163px;" />Wim Lancsweert</strong></div>
<div>
	Development Economist, Belgium</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Innovation and competition are the two important factors for growth. A multi dimensional entrepreneurship is essential for innovation and competition. The traditional way can&rsquo;t open the way for this. Impressive personality, cultural and organizational structure and regulations boosting entrepreneurship can only encourage entrepreneurs. There are two types of entrepreneurship: entrepreneurship by necessity and entrepreneurship by adequate opportunities. The nation need not expect anything from the entrepreneurs created by necessity but the entrepreneurs created by the opportunities can help in the economic development of whole nation. So it depends upon the regulations and the laws of the government which of entrepreneurship to encourage. I personally believe that the training and education regarding entrepreneurship can create an appropriate foundation of economic growth. After that financial access and investment friendly environment is essential.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Efforts to Attract Foreign Investment is Essential</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Sukanti Ghosh Managing Director, India APCO Worldwide" src="/userfiles/images/sg.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 167px;" />Sukanti Ghosh</strong></div>
<div>
	Managing Director, India APCO Worldwide</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The rapid economic growth of Gujarat has only been possible because of the clear vision and regular effort. The state was able to evaluate competitive quality and weakness because of which better industrial environment is formed there. The administration also helped to attract private investment and industrial friendly regulations. Additional private sector also invested after the improving condition of Gujarat. Then Gujarat administration started promoting private as well as national and international investment.</div>
<div>
	The investors are always in search of stable government and investment friendly environment where open market, rule of law and security are guaranteed. Similarly availability of skilled manpower and continuity of scientific research are also preferred by the investors. Similar environment in Gujarat was able to get the commitment of Rs 50 billion of investment from a 3-day summit held in January, 2013 in Gujarat. Nepal also should work in this sector in inviting foreign investment. It can take benefit from its neighboring countries, India and China. There are several sectors for investment in Nepal including hydro power, infrastructure development, manufacturing, tourism, agriculture and mines. &nbsp;Lands available in relatively cheaper prices, availability of manpower and high profit are some of the factors attracting investment.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Other Companies Should Learn From Award Winners</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Budhaditya Mukherjee CEO, Asian Paints Nepal Pvt. Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/bm.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 163px;" />Budhaditya Mukherjee</strong></div>
<div>
	CEO, Asian Paints Nepal Pvt. Ltd</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The Business Excellence Award 2013 has helped in enhancing the economic growth of the nation. This is also the appropriate point to focus in the economic development of Nepal. Most of the private sectors have been performing their tasks silently. Their task has contributed the whole nation and New Business Age has encouraged them with such awards. We are glad to work with such organization. The main motto of this award is to create positive inspiration for other organizations to work even better. The important aspect of this award ceremony is the jury part. We are hoping for the correct selection of the business houses by juries involved in this ceremony.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Should be focused in development of Business Brand</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Srikanth Srinivasamadhawan Managing Director, Unilever Nepal Limited" src="/userfiles/images/sss.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 165px;" />Srikanth Srinivasamadhawan</strong></div>
<div>
	Managing Director, Unilever Nepal Limited</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal has greater possibilities for the productive sectors from the economic point of view. The economic rate can be increased and achieved with the development of such industries. We have to keep focusing on the profit, consistency and responsibility along with the growth. There should be diversity in the production for the development and growth of the product. Unilever covers most of the market in Nepal because of the same policy. Similarly more storage and consumerism is also essential for establish the brand in the market. &nbsp;We should apply creative way to access the brands in the market. For the sustainable economic development, brand centered growth should be the focus. We are always focused on the development of Nepal that&rsquo;s why all the products of Unilever have been covered most of Nepali market.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Healthy and Active Financial Sector</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Rajan Singh Bhandary, President, Nepal Banker’s Association" src="/userfiles/images/rsb.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 165px;" />Rajan Singh Bhandary</strong></div>
<div>
	President, Nepal Banker&rsquo;s Association</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	As Nepal is a small country, the financial sector of this country is also limited. Though small, the roles of financial sector are very important. The financial sector mobilizes with the sound economic condition of the country. A narrow economy of a country creates healthy environment in financial sector. Both of these sectors are equally important for a strong economy of the country.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	&nbsp;</h2>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Insuring Industrial Security</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Shankar Koirala, Minister for Finance, Industry and Commerce and Supplies" src="/userfiles/images/sk.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 165px;" />Shankar Koirala</strong></div>
<div>
	Minister for Finance, Industry and Commerce and Supplies</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	I was highly tempted to be a part of this event because of two reasons: one is the theme and the another, I was curious to see all the business leaders coming together and excited to know how they&rsquo;re doing and contributing to the country. I thank and congratulate New Business Age family for conducting the event. For achieving the target, government&rsquo;s effort too is not sufficient. To facilitate them everyone should work together. We acknowledge role of private sectors too for the economic growth of the country. This award ceremony will act as a challenge for them to do even more and maintain their position. We have to insure industrial security for the investors. Mobilization of domestic products should be assured and for that transportation facilities should be improved. Agriculture investment should grow and I feel that the ideas shared here will help us meet the target.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Employment should be Created within the Country</span></strong></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada ,Governor, Nepal Rastra Bank" src="/userfiles/images/yrk.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;height: 163px; width: 150px;" />Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada</strong></div>
<div>
	Governor, Nepal Rastra Bank</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	It is a common dream of Nepali people to eliminate political instability and reduce poverty rate. And for that Economic growth is must. Last year, Service sector increased by 6 percent and the industry by 3 percent. It&rsquo;s not that difficult to achieve 7 per cent growth in our country. Industries in Nepal are running 50 per cent of its total capacity. If it increases to 80 per cent, then it will not be a difficult task to achieve the targeted growth of 7 per cent. Agriculture itself has capacity to grow more than 5 per cent of GDP. For that agro-based investment should be increased. Similarly, employment should be created within the country. Capacity utilization should be another major priority. Nepal needs development based on agriculture, hydropower and tourism. And employment opportunities should be created for middle class to grow.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	This is just the right time to do this kind of event and I congratulate NBA team for this.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>&nbsp;Public Commitment Necessary for Economic Prosperity</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Binod Chaudhary, president, Chaudhary Group" src="/userfiles/images/bc.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 163px;" />Binod Chaudhary</strong></div>
<div>
	president, Chaudhary Group</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nepal has more than half century experience and mandate of planned economic development attempt. Today&rsquo;s necessity is learning from our past and moving forward towards the development of Nepal. Nepal&rsquo;s industrial contribution in GDP has decreased to 5.6 percent which was 12 percent a decade ago. We all have common opinion in terms of economic development. We have to make public commitment for country&rsquo;s economic development. To achieve the target, we have to mechanise agriculture, commercialise herbs, vegetables and fruits. Tourism is another sector where we have to concentrate more.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Priority to Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Ashok Baid ,President, Birgunj Chamber of Commerce" src="/userfiles/images/ab.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 165px;" />Ashok Baid</strong></div>
<div>
	President, Birgunj Chamber of Commerce</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Country is only utilizing 30 per cent of its resources. There is much to do with this country. There should be growth in entrepreneurship, productivity and employment creation in Nepal. Nepal is utilizing only 40 percent of its industrial capacity. All the economic stakeholders should be serious about this issue. Birgunj should be prioritized because it occupies large economic and industrial space. Bara-Parsa corridor conservation must be prioritized. Government should play role in developing industrial relationship there. We can develop Birgunj as economic and industrial capital. We should accept public-private partnership for infrastructures development.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Business is an Engine for Development and Economic Growth</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Dr Ratnakar Adhikari ,Chief Executive Director, South Asian Watch on Trade Economics and Environment (SAWTEE)" src="/userfiles/images/dra.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 165px;" />Dr Ratnakar Adhikari</strong></div>
<div>
	Chief Executive Director, South Asian Watch on Trade Economics and Environment (SAWTEE)</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Business is the engine for economic growth and development. Business helps to make country prosper. It plays important role in creating employment, and helps in country&rsquo;s revenue collection too. Banking and Insurance sector should be emphasized to develop the business. It also helps in inviting foreign investment when investment increase, business gets competitive which helps for its sustainability. Technology development is equally important. To increase the business, industrial, energy, infrastructures development, skilled manpower and competitive policy is necessary.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>&nbsp;Structural change of production</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Joseph Silvanus, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/js.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 166px;" />Joseph Silvanus</strong></div>
<div>
	CEO, Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Ltd</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Finance sector can play role of engine in achieving 7 per cent economic growth. For that products structure needs to be changed. Structural changes can help in diversification of the products. And it helps in qualitative and quantitative development of the products too. Along with that we have to utilize the growing population of the country too. We have to use modern technology as per the time&rsquo;s need.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	&nbsp;</h2>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Concept of Rural and Small Scale Industries</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Dr Pronab Sen ,CEO, National Insurance Co Ltd (Nepal Operations)" src="/userfiles/images/dps.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 162px;" />Dr Pronab Sen</strong></div>
<div>
	CEO, National Insurance Co Ltd (Nepal Operations)</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Insurance is the risk management tools and about feeling secure. Insurance companies work as a substitute of government responsibilities. It helps to reduce capital forms and helps in investment and innovations. For better economic growth we have to ensure agro-based insurance too apart from hydro power and other insurances because our economy is directly based on agriculture.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<h2>
	&nbsp;</h2>
<h2>
	<span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Improve Technology to Compete with India and China</strong></span></h2>
<div>
	<strong><img alt="Hari Bhakta Sharma, Vice-president, Confederation of Nepalese Industries" src="/userfiles/images/hbs.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;width: 150px; height: 156px;" />Hari Bhakta Sharma</strong></div>
<div>
	Vice-president, Confederation of Nepalese Industries</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Nature has a capacity to fulfill all our need but she cannot fulfill our greed. It is sad that the country where I live is 167th poorest in the world because of dollar appreciation. Thanks to the government. We have 2.5 billion people market and still far behind. There is no electricity and water. We only demand with no responsibility. We should try to improve our technology to compete with India and China. Once you learnt that, you will compete with rest of the world. I would like to request the government to change their policies at the earliest and would like to request our skilled manpower not to migrate to other countries.&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>',
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Malaysian Ringgit	1	27.36	27.50
South Korean Won	100	9.77	9.82

Update: 2020-03-25 | Source: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)

Bullion

Fine Gold	1 tola	77000.00
Tejabi Gold	1 tola	76700.00
Silver	1 tola	720.00

Update : 2020-03-25

Source: Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association

Petroleum

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