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Of the total planned expenditure of Rs 517.2 billion, only 30.3 per cent was spent largely due to the lower than expected capital spending. The slow pace of spending so far indicates that the capital budget will likely continue to be under spent as in the previous years,” the report noted. “In addition to the improvements in agriculture production, both domestic and foreign investment commitments increased remarkably in the first half of FY 2014.” </div> <div> </div> <div> The bank said that there is an urgent need to ramp up both the quantum and quality of capital spending as it not only ‘crowds in’ private investments, but also helps create the foundations for the lackluster growth to take off on an employment-centric, high, inclusive and sustainable growth path.</div> <div> </div> <div> According to the report, Nepal may not meet its yearly revenue target this year due to the depreciation of the Nepali rupee against the US dollar which is slowing down import demand in the country. “Even though the Rs 163.4 billion revenue mobilized in the first half of FY 2014 is 21.5 per cent is higher than the revenue mobilized in the corresponding period in FY 2013, it still is lower than the half-year target set for this fiscal year,” it said. </div> <div> </div> <div> Similarly, the bank forecasted the inflation rate to stand at 10 per cent in FY 2014, higher than the government’s target of 8.5 per cent. “Despite the expected improvement in agriculture harvest, the wage pressures, the persistently high price level in India, the rise in administered fuel prices, lower interest rates, the persistently weak Nepali rupee and the supply-side constraints, average annual consumer price index (CPI) inflation in FY 2014 is forecast at 10 per cent,” ADB mentioned. The bank informed that inflation averaged 9.1 per cent in the first half of FY 2014, down from 10.7 per cent in the corresponding period in FY 2013. The decline in prices is mainly driven by the sharp slowdown in non-food and services prices. However, the persistence of the high inflation level is supported by rising food and beverage prices, which averaged 11.5 per cent in the first half of FY 2014 against 9.8 per cent during the same period in FY 2013, the report notes.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-03-09', 'modified' => '2014-03-24', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth will rise to 4.5 per cent this fiscal year, a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report has projected. “The positive political outlook, expected increase in agriculture production following a favorable monsoon, modest improvement in capital expenditure following the timely full FY 2014 budget, and a strong services sector performance supported by remittance income are expected to boost gross domestic product (GDP) growth (at basic prices) to 4.5 per cent in FY 2014, up from 3.6 per cent in FY 2013,” the Manila-based regional development bank in its latest macroeconomic update for Nepal informed.', 'sortorder' => '2606', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2687', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal Climbs Four Spots Up In GRI', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Sanjeev Sharma</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Retirement security of Nepali workers is seen improving as retired public and private sector employees are receiving more benefits, a latest global report shows. The 2014 Global Retirement Index (GRI), ranked Nepal 114th, up four spots from 118th in 2013. The report published by Paris-based Natixis Global Asset Management, the world’s 13th largest asset management company with USD 392.96 in assets, finds Nepal’s performance improving, though slowly, over the past year. The report ranks 150 countries based on four broad factors such as health care, finances, economic well-being and quality of life. Nepal’s achieved an overall score of 40 per cent in the index, which was 39 per cent last year. </div> <div> </div> <div> The country scored 35 per cent and 39 per cent in sub-indices of health and finances in retirement respectively. In the finances in retirement sub-index, Nepal scored 39 per cent falling eight spots to 148th from 140 in 2013. Similarly, the country also poorly performed in quality of life sub-index where it scored 39 per cent and ranked 132nd, down 5 spots from last year’s 127th. However, Nepal comparatively fared well in material well-being sub-index with a score of 47 per cent. </div> <div> </div> <div> The country’s southern and northern neighbours, India and China, meanwhile ranked 104th and 69th respectively. India’s position declined three spots in the index, whereas, China climbed upfour spots. The report pointed India as the worst performing nation among BRIC nationthis year. “The main upset being its performance in the finances in retirement sub-index where it dropped from 20th to 128th place,” Natixis said in the report. “In addition it continues its mediocre performance in the health and quality of life sub-indices.” </div> <div> </div> <div> Sri Lanka was the highest ranking South Asian nation with 86th position in 2014 GRI, climbing 5 spots from 91th in 2013. Bangladesh and Pakistan also climbed higher in the index with 105th and 102nd spots respectively. Last year, Bangladesh ranked 112th, whereas, Pakistan was placed at 107th. </div> <div> </div> <div> European countries took eight of the top 10 spots, buoyed by strong social programs for older citizens. Switzerland claimed the top spot pushing Norway to second place in 2014 GRI. Austria, Sweden, Australia, Denmark, Germany, Finland, New Zealand and Luxembourg occupied the remaining top 10 spots. United States, meanwhile, remained unchanged from last year’s 19th position. United Kingdom climbed to 18th spot from 20 in 2013. Japan was seen as the worst performer among developed nations. The country dropped 12 spots to 27th in the index. Despite the domination of European countries, the report warns that the long-term financial security of retirees in developed economies is under pressure. “Ageing populations and increasing high old-age dependency ratios, a historically prolonged period of low interest rates and high levels of sovereign debt are testing the resilience of retirement systems and fuelling uncertainty,” it said. African countries Togo, Burindi, Niger, Comoros and Zimbabwe occupied the bottom five spots in the index.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-03-03', 'modified' => '2014-03-10', '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' => 'Retirement security of Nepali workers is seen improving as retired public and private sector employees are receiving more benefits, a latest global report shows. The 2014 Global Retirement Index (GRI), ranked Nepal 114th, up four spots from 118th in 2013.', 'sortorder' => '2570', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2657', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Report Stresses Need For Bold Moves Toward Gender Equality At Work', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<p> </p> <p> A new report by the World Bank Group stresses the need for bold, coordinated actions to advance equal opportunities for women in the world of work, such as addressing gender biases early, expanding women’s access to property and finance, and raising legal retirement ages— with major payoffs in tackling poverty.<br /> <br /> By virtually every global measure, women are more economically excluded than men, according to ‘Gender at Work.’ “Trends suggest women’s labor force participation worldwide over the last two decades has stagnated, dropping from 57 to 55 percent globally. This is despite accumulating evidence that jobs benefit women, families, businesses, and communities,” the report informs.<br /> <br /> The report says since women face multiple constraints to jobs, starting early and extending throughout their lives, progressive, broad-based, and coordinated policy action is needed to close gender gaps. A companion to the 2013 World Development Report on jobs, it says options should include mainstreaming gender equality into jobs and growth strategies, reforming legal systems, and engaging the private sector in innovative solutions to promote gender equality.<br /> <br /> It also says social norms can exacerbate the deprivation and constraints women face. Nearly four in 10 people globally—close to one half in developing countries—agree that when jobs are scarce, men are more entitled to them than women. Common constraints faced by the most disadvantaged women include lack of mobility, time, and skills, exposure to violence, and the absence of basic legal rights.<br /> <br /> In Latin America and the Caribbean, women’s labor force participation has risen by 35 percent since 1990. Analysis by the World Bank Group has found that in 2010, extreme poverty would have been 30 percent higher and average income inequality 28 percent higher, were it not for women’s increased income through increased labor earnings, access to pensions, and labor force participation from 2000-2010.<br /> <br /> Country-level diagnostics are vital to help governments in determining the best policies and more involvement by the private sector—by far the largest source of jobs—is critical, the report says. The private sector can lead the way by creating family-friendly working environment and policies, attracting women into non-traditional roles and sectors, and reviewing human resource policies and systems for addressing discrimination and harassment, the report suggests. Accordingly, it said that more investment is needed to fill major gaps in data and knowledge.<br /> <br /> To advance gender equality at work, the report recommends governments target actions that cover a woman’s life cycle—saying interventions that focus only on women of productive age start too late and end too early. Biases can begin very early in life, sometimes in subtle ways, making it ultimately difficult and costly to resolve inequality.<br /> <br /> The report warns that ageing populations in the developing world will become increasingly important for governments to consider. Through 2050, the old-age dependency ratio in developing countries is expected to soar by 144 percent, during which time the child dependency ratio is projected to fall by 20 percent, altering the nature of the care burden in families and societies.</p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-23', 'modified' => '2014-03-03', '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' => 'A new report by the World Bank Group stresses the need for bold, coordinated actions to advance equal opportunities for women in the world of work, such as addressing gender biases early, expanding women’s access to property and finance, and raising legal retirement ages— with major payoffs in tackling poverty.', 'sortorder' => '2532', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2591', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal Among Top 20 Fragile LDC ODA Recipients', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Sanjeev Sharma</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal is among the world’s top 20 fragile countries to receive official development assistance (ODA) from multilateral and bilateral donors, according to a new OECD report. The report entitled ‘Fragile States 2014: Domestic Revenue Mobilisation’ informs that Nepal received USD 892 million in ODA in 2011. The report prepared by OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) totalled the country’s net ODA atUSD 8.17 billion from 2000-2011. ODA per capita in Nepal was recorded at USD 29 in 2011.</div> <div> </div> <div> The report has characterised 51 countries (both LDCs and non-LDCs) as the fragile states that are unable to meet their population’s expectations or manage changes in expectations and capacity through the political process. According to OECD, ODA to fragile states declined to USD 53.40 billion in 2011 from record high of USD 67.35 billion in 2005. “Aid has declined by 2.4 per cent in 2011 and will continue its downward trend,” says the report.”Meanwhile, the share of the world’s poor found in fragile states is set to rise to a half by 2018.”</div> <div> </div> <div> These countries saw a total inflow of ODA at USD 547.19 billion from 2000-2011. Among 51 countries, Afghanistan was the highest recipient, receiving net ODA of USD 45.43 billion from 2000-2011. The war-ravaged country saw significant increase in foreign financial and technical assistance after the fall of Taliban regime in 2001. Pakistan also received note worthy amount of ODA over the last decade with USD 28.51 billion being allocated to it. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, meanwhile, acknowledged net ODA of USD 19.76 billion and USD 9.02 billion respectively. OECD listed Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Kenya as the top five fragile ODA recipients in 2011. Similarly, the global economic body noted United States, European Union, International Development Association (IDA), United Kingdom and Japan as the top five ODA providers to fragile states in 2011. </div> <div> </div> <div> The report informed that Nepal received a net country programmable aid (CPA) of USD 10.25 billion from 2000-2013. Similarly, OECD’s outlook projected that the country will receive USD 3.08 billion in CPA during 2014-2016. However, aid inflow in Nepal is seen fluctuating as the country witnessed a 5 per cent decline in CPA in 2010-2011. In 2008-2009 Nepal observed a sharp rise in CPA by 32 per cent followed by a 1 per cent increase in 2009-2010.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>“Donors doing too little to strengthen domestic revenues in fragile states”</strong></span></div> <div> The report warns international donors that they are not doing enough to help fragile states increase their domestic revenue stating that only a tiny fraction of development aid goes into programmes aimed at improving tax collection. The report finds that just 0.07 per cent of ODA to fragile states is directed towards building accountable tax systems. “Donors pledged as far back as 2002 to make it a priority to help poor countries mobilise more domestic revenues. Yet fragile states still collect less than 14 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) in taxes on average, well below the 20 per cent level considered necessary to meet poverty goals,” states the report. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to the report, Afghanistan has received by far the most support in this area, notably from the International Development Association (IDA) for trade facilitation and from the US for public financial management. Haiti and Nepal remained next in line to receive this aid. “Haiti mainly benefitted from US technical assistancefor public financial management, while Korean aid inNepal helped modernise the customs system, and Germany and Denmark supported its revenue and tax administration,” says the report. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-17', 'modified' => '2014-02-21', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal is among the world’s top 20 fragile countries to receive official development assistance (ODA) from multilateral and bilateral donors, according to a new OECD report. The report entitled ‘Fragile States 2014: Domestic Revenue Mobilisation’ informs that Nepal received USD 892 million in ODA in 2011.', 'sortorder' => '2490', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2551', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal Among The Weakest In Securing Property Rights', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal is among the weakest countries in terms of securing property rights, a latest global report shows. According to the International Property Rights Index (IPRI) 2013, published by Washington, DC-based Property Rights Alliance (PRA), Nepal ranked101 among 130 countries in the overall index. Nepal stood at the bottom in Asia region,where the country ranked 15 among 18 Asian countries. </div> <div> </div> <div> The index comprises of three key sub-indexes: Legal and Political Environment, Physical Property Rights and Intellectual Property Rights. The overall grading scale of the IPRI ranges from 0 to 10, where 10 indicates the highest value for a property rights system and 0 the lowest value within a country. Similarly, Nepal also fell among the weakest in securing intellectual property rights. With a score of 4.2 points, Nepal ranks 95 in intellectual property rights sub-index. It also fared poorly in terms of protecting intellectual property rights, patent protection and copyright protection. </div> <div> </div> <div> Likewise, Nepal ranked 113 in legal and political environment sub-indexwith a meagre score of 3.3 points. The country’s performance in judicial independence, rule of law, political stability, and control of corruption were also seen below par in the index, according to the report. </div> <div> </div> <div> However, Nepal performed better in physical property rights sub-index where it scored 6.0 points and ranked 68. In terms of protecting physical property rights the country scored a mediocre 5.0 points. Meanwhile the country performed strongly in registration of physical properties with a score of 9.5 points and achieving 6thspot among 130 countries in the index. </div> <div> </div> <div> The IPRI 2013 has placed Nepal’s southern and northern neighbours - India and China- on 57th position in the index. Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh ranked 76, 118 and 126 respectively. According to the report, Singapore is the highest-ranking Asian country (rank-7, score-8.1 points). Finland, Sweden, New Zealand, Norway, Netherlands and Switzerland dominated the top-five spots whereas, Bangladesh, Libya, Venezuela, Burundi and Haiti were the bottom-five countries in IPRI 2013.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-09', 'modified' => '2014-02-17', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal is among the weakest countries in terms of securing property rights, a latest global report shows. According to the International Property Rights Index (IPRI) 2013, published by Washington, DC-based Property Rights Alliance (PRA), Nepal ranked101 among 130 countries in the overall index. Nepal stood at the bottom in Asia region,where the country ranked 15 among 18 Asian countries.', 'sortorder' => '2431', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2544', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal Ranks Better Than India & Pakistan In Environmental Performance', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By TC correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal has improved its environmental performance in the past decade, a latest report by the Yale University shows. According to the 2014 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), Nepal witnessed a progress of 4.96 per cent from 2000 to 2012, achieving a rank of 139th out of 178 countries. The country’s overall score was 37 with noticeable improvements being marked in agriculture and forest. The index comprises of nine key indicators reflecting the performance of individual countries. The indicators include Health Impact, Air Quality, Water and Sanitation, Water resources, Agriculture, Forests, Fisheries, Biodiversity and Habit and Climate and Energy along with 20 sub-indicators. With a score of 100, Nepal ranked 1st in the world in agriculture subsidy-sub indicator. Similarly, the country also ranked 66th in pesticide regulation with a score of 84. Likewise, Nepal ranked 26th in forests sub-index with score of 63.12.</div> <div> </div> <div> However, in terms of air quality, Nepal performed poorly (ranked at 177), according to the report. Over the past decade, Nepal saw its air quality dropping by 42.75 per cent with all three sub-indicators showing degradation due to rising air pollution. The country’s sub-indicator for household air quality declined 18.18 per cent whereas, average exposure to PM 2.5 air particulate decreased 33.5 per cent and PM 2.5 exceedance changed by 100 per cent over the past decade. </div> <div> </div> <div> In South Asia region, Sri Lanka is the highest ranking country (69), followed by Bhutan (103), Nepal (139), Pakistan (148), India (155) and Bangladesh (169). Afghanistan is the worst performer in the region (174). India ranked much lower than its emerging economies peers like Brazil (77), Russia (73) and South Africa at 72nd position. Meanwhile, China ranked 118th in the index. Switzerland topped the ranking followed by Luxembourg, Australia, Singapore, and Czech Republic. Among countries with the largest economies, Germany ranked the highest in the sixth spot followed by the United Kingdom in 12th, Canada 24th, Japan 26th, France 27th, and the United States in 33rd. In the 2014 EPI, Somalia was the poorest performer (178) accompanied by Mali (177), Haiti (176), Lesotho (175). </div> <div> </div> <div> The EPI report urged policymakers across the world to introduce and implement effective policies to protect the global environment. “The EPI documents the tangible benefits that arise when policymakers pursue strong environmental performance and the damage that manifests when they do not,” it said. The authors of the report hoped 2014 EPI results would initiate meaningful conversation among countries to understand how they perform on a range of high-priority environmental issues. First published in 2002, EPI was developed from the Pilot Environmental Performance Index, and designed to supplement the environmental targets set forth in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-08', 'modified' => '2014-02-09', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal has improved its environmental performance in the past decade, a latest report by the Yale University shows. According to the 2014 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), Nepal witnessed a progress of 4.96 per cent from 2000 to 2012, achieving a rank of 139th out of 178 countries. The country’s overall score was 37 with noticeable improvements being marked in agriculture and forest.', 'sortorder' => '2394', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2453', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'South Asia To See Decline In Capital Inflow: World Bank', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> South Asia along with other developing regions across the globe may face the risk of declining capital inflow, says a new World Bank report. According to the Global Economic Prospect (GEP) 2014 report, developing nations are vulnerable to the rise in interest rates, which is likely to result in the volatility of capital flow. The global lender pointed to the tapering of quantitative easing (QE) in United States as the main reason for this. In mid-December, Federal Reserve, the US central bank decided to scale back its bond buying programme- from USD 85 billion per month to USD 75 billion per month- amid the country’s improving economic prospects. </div> <div> </div> <div> The Washington-based bank in its report warned that adverse reaction of financial markets to the ending of QE might leave the world’s developing nations starved of capital. “According to simulations, abrupt changes in market expectations, resulting in global bond yields increasing by 100 to 200 basis points within a couple of quarters, could lead to a sharp reduction in capital inflows to developing countries by between 50 and 80 percent for several months,” the bank said in its report. The bank also mentioned that countries with a substantial expansion of domestic credit over the last five years, deteriorating current account balances, high levels of foreign and short-term debt and over-valued exchange rates could be more at risk in current circumstances. </div> <div> </div> <div> The bank said that there would be moderate impact on developing nations if this adjustment happened in an orderly manner. The World Bank expects the global interest rates to rise slowly to reach 3.6 per cent by mid-2016 following an orderly trajectory regarding the process of normalisation of activity and policy in high-income countries. “However, should the adjustment be disorderly, as it was in response to speculation about when a taper might begin during the spring and summer of 2013, interest rates could rise more quickly,” said the report. </div> <div> </div> <div> The report urges developing countries to implement structural reforms that would help raise the capacity of their economies, if they are to regain their pre-crisis growth rates.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Global Growth Picking Up</strong></span></div> <div> The report informed that growth in South Asia expanded at a modest 4.6 percent in 2013, reflecting weakness in India amid high inflation, and current account and government deficits. “Regional growth is projected to improve to 5.7 percent in 2014, rising to 6.7 percent in 2016, led mainly by recovering import demand by high-income economies and regional investment,” says the report. The report, however, said that projected pickup will depend on macroeconomic stability, sustained policy reforms, and progress in reducing supply side constraints. “The main risks to the outlook are fiscal and policy reforms going off-track; uncertainties related to elections in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and India; entrenchment of inflation expectations; and a disorderly adjustment of capital flows in response to US tapering,” it said.</div> <div> </div> <div> The World Bank expects a gradual increase in global growth from this year. According to the report, global growth will pick up from 2.4 per cent in 2013 to 3.2 per cent this year, and to 3.4 per cent in 2015. It believes much of the acceleration will be due to an improvement in economic conditions in high-income countries, where for the first time in five years all three of the main regions – the US, Europe and Japan – will be growing. “Global economic indicators show improvement. But one does not have to be especially astute to see there are dangers that lurk beneath the surface. The Euro Area is out of recession but per capita incomes are still declining in several countries. We expect developing country growth to rise above 5 percent in 2014, with some countries doing considerably better, with Angola at 8 percent, China 7.7 percent, and India at 6.2 percent. But it is important to avoid policy stasis so that the green shoots don’t turn into brown stubble,” said Kaushik Basu, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist at the World Bank.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-20', 'modified' => '2014-01-27', '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' => 'South Asia along with other developing regions across the globe may face the risk of declining capital inflow, says a new World Bank report. According to the Global Economic Prospect (GEP) 2014 report, developing nations are vulnerable to the rise in interest rates, which is likely to result in the volatility of capital flow. The global lender pointed to the tapering of quantitative easing (QE) in United States as the main reason for this. In mid-December, Federal Reserve, the US central bank decided to scale back its bond buying programme- from USD 85 billion per month to USD 75 billion per month- amid the country’s improving economic prospects.', 'sortorder' => '2302', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2411', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'India Alludes To More Liberal FDI Regime In Coming Weeks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> India's Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on 1st January, Wednesday indicated further liberalisation of the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy in the coming weeks.</div> <div> </div> <div> "The government will continue its endeavour for liberalising the FDI policy further in the coming weeks to ensure that India retains its leadership position for attracting foreign investments," Sharma said in a statement.</div> <div> </div> <div> The commerce ministry is working towards allowing FDI in railways and e-commerce. Last year, the government had relaxed FDI norms in sectors including telecom, defence, PSU oil refineries, commodity bourses, power exchanges and stock exchanges.</div> <div> </div> <div> Over a year after India eased FDI norms for multi-brand retail, the first investment proposal came through two weeks ago when British retailer Tesco sought entry into the country's $500 billion retail sector in partnership with Tata's Trent. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board cleared Tesco's $110-million investment plan on December 30. Sharma had indicated last week that there would be more multi-brand retail proposals before the end of the current financial year. "The decisions of the government have resonated with the global community and we have seen results in the last few months," the minister said, adding that India was rated as the most-favoured investment destination destination globally in 2013.</div> <div> </div> <div> The ministry is now working to relax FDI norms in railways and construction activities. FDI in the April-October period stood at $12.6 billion, down 15% from a year ago. Sharma said the coming months would see a greater push for development of industrial corridors and work would begin for establishing newcities along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). The $90-billion DMIC project is aimed at creating mega industrial infrastructure along the Delhi-Mumbai Rail Freight Corridor, which is under implementation. Japan is providing financial and technical aid for the project, which will cover seven states totaling 1,483 km.</div> <div> </div> <div> "I expect that with greater foreign investment and technology collaborations, Indian manufacturing will alsomove up the value chain and acquire greater competitiveness globally," Sharma said. The minister said the country had done reasonably well in exports in the first eight months of the fiscal despite weak demand in traditional markets. "I am sure that in the remaining period of this financial year, exports will show a strong and dynamic growth,"Sharmasaid.</div> <div> </div> <div> In April-November 2013, exports grew by 6.27% to $ 204 billion while imports aggregated $304 billion.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-06', 'modified' => '2014-01-07', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'India's Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on 1st January, Wednesday indicated further liberalisation of the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy in the coming weeks.', 'sortorder' => '2268', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2410', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Obesity Quadruples To Nearly 1 Bn In Developing World', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> The number of overweight and obese adults in the developing world has almost quadrupled to around one billion since 1980, says a report from a UK think tank. The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) said one in three people worldwide was now overweight and urged governments to do more to influence diets. In the UK, 64% of adults are classed as being overweight or obese.</div> <div> </div> <div> The report predicts a “huge increase” in heart attacks, strokes and diabetes. Globally, the percentage of adults who were overweight or obese - classed as having a body mass index greater than 25 - grew from 23% to 34% between 1980 and 2008. The majority of this increase was seen in the developing world, particularly in countries where incomes were rising, such as Egypt and Mexico.</div> <div> </div> <div> The ODI’s Future Diets report says this is due to changing diets and a shift from eating cereals and grains to the consumption of more fats, sugar, oils and animal produce. A total of 904 million people in developing countries are now classed as overweight or above, with a BMI of more than 25, up from 250 million in 1980. This compares to 557 million in high-income countries. Over the same period, the global population nearly doubled.</div> <div> </div> <div> At the same time, however, under-nourishment is still recognised to be a problem for hundreds of millions of people in the developing world, particularly children. Using data published in Population Health Metrics last year, the researchers looked at changing overweight and obesity rates across the regions of the world and by individual country.</div> <div> </div> <div> The regions of North Africa, the Middle East and Latin America saw large increases in overweight and obesity rates to a level on a par with Europe, around 58%. While North America still has the highest percentage of overweight adults at 70%, regions such as Australasia and southern Latin America are now not far behind with 63%.</div> <div> </div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/lt%20(Copy).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 354px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Diet linked to income</strong></span></div> <div> The greatest growth in overweight people occurred in south east Asia, where the percentage tripled from a lower starting point of 7% to 22%. Among individual countries, the report found that overweight and obesity rates had almost doubled in China and Mexico, and risen by a third in South Africa since 1980. Many countries in the Middle East also had a high percentage of overweight adults. One of the report authors, Steve Wiggins, said there were likely to be multiple reasons for the increases.</div> <div> </div> <div> “People with higher incomes have the ability to choose the kind of foods they want. Changes in lifestyle, the increasing availability of processed foods, advertising, media influences... have all led to dietary changes.”</div> <div> </div> <div> The report cites the example of South Korea where efforts to preserve the country’s traditional diet have included public campaigns and large-scale meal preparation training for women.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> <span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Nepal too is Facing Obesity Linked Health Risks</strong></span></p> </div> <div> Though no comprehensive study on obesity in Nepal has been conducted in recent years, some serious health problems related to change in lifestyle and nutrition have emerged among Nepalis. With growing number of patients with diabetes, heart diseases, blood pressure, liver and kidney related problems visiting the doctors on a regular basis, experts are warning about the increasing health hazards especially to the urban population. Obesity is seen as the major contributing factor for these medical conditions. Studies have suggested that obesity in Nepal has risen to 10 per cent in 2006 from 1.6 per cent of 1996. Senior Cardiologist Dr Prakash Raj Regmi sees the change of dietary habits as the main reason. “Rising consumption of foods with low nutritional value but high calorie and trans fat is the major contributor,” opines Regmi who is actively involved in Nepal Heart Foundation. “The change in dietary routine such as less eating in morning meals and high consumption in the evening/night is causing the bellies of people to grow significantly.” He recommends lowering the consumption of diets with high calorie but low nutrition such as rice, potato, sugar and sweets. Similarly, Dr Regmi suggests the government to form a non-communicable disease policy to ensure the safeguarding of health of ordinary citizens. </div> <div> </div> <div> A World Bank report published in 2011 revealed the scale of increasing health risks in South Asia region. The report entitled “Capitalizing on Demographic Transition: Tackling Non-communicable Diseases in South Asia” identified heart diseases as the major factor of death among South Asians of age group 15-69. The report also found that heart problems along with other non-communicable disease account for 60 per cent of the lives lost due to degrading health among Nepalis.</div> <div> </div> <div> As the household income rises, Nepali urban population is more capable in purchasing high calorie foods. Similarly, the changing lifestyle trend of urban youths is another area of concern. “Lack of effective physical activities and stationary lifestyle combined with unhealthy food are contributing to the obesity rise in Nepal,” says Gunja Lal Hirachan, owner of Jasmine Fitness Club and Spa. According to him, Nepali adults over the age of 30 years are not the only victims of this problem. “Now-a-days we are seeing many overweight teenagers, who are possibly facing various health hazards in their young age,” informs Hirachan. “Proper health and physical education, fitness awareness and restrictions in sales of unhealthy food will reduce obesity in youths.”</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-06', 'modified' => '2014-01-20', '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 number of overweight and obese adults in the developing world has almost quadrupled to around one billion since 1980, says a report from a UK think tank. The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) said one in three people worldwide was now overweight and urged governments to do more to influence diets. In the UK, 64% of adults are classed as being overweight or obese.', 'sortorder' => '2253', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2361', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Investors Run Away From Gold In 2013', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Gold, once the much-loved asset turned the most unloved investment tool in 2013 as investors flee from its long-time save haven appeal. This, year the yellow metal took a plunge of nearly 30 per cent, marking the biggest yearly decline since 1981. After 12 years of straight gains, the international bullion market witnessed an unexpected crash in mid-April when gold prices dropped by more than USD 200 in just two days of trading - from USD 1,525/oz to USD 1,321/oz. Triggered by the news that debt-stricken Cyprus is selling some of its reserve to manage its financial bailout, bullion prices tumbled as panic selling hit values of physical as well as paper gold. This was followed by another sharp decline in June when gold price fell to a three-year low of USD 1,180/oz. </div> <div> </div> <div> Outflows from gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have hit a record this year. SPDR Gold Trust — the world’s largest gold ETF has seen its holdings reduce by 546 tonnes — down 40 per cent. Jewellery demand too took a knock. In the September quarter, the World Gold Council reported that global jewellery demand fell 3 per cent to 474.9 tonnes. Steep decline of demand in India, the world’s second largest gold consumer contributed to this. This year, Indian government tightened gold imports to curb rising trade deficit and current account deficit which are seen as major areas of concern to dampen the already sluggish economic growth of </div> <div> the country. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Reasons for Gold Price Decline</strong></span></div> <div> Gold reached to its all-time high (USD 1920/oz) in September 2011, when Standard & Poor’s (S & P) downgraded the ‘AAA’ credit rating of United States by one notch to ‘AA+’ amid the budget showdown in the US Congress. The expanding Eurozone debt crisis, slowdown in developing countries, fears of inflation and worries of global recession largely helped gold prices to climb up. However, as the global economic recovery unwinds at a faster pace, interest of investors began a shift towards stocks. </div> <div> </div> <div> US equities made a strong come back this year. Improving job market conditions pick up in the manufacturing sector, rising property prices and increased consumer confidence, built optimism about equity investments. The dollar too strengthened.</div> <div> </div> <div> The dollar index which measures performance of the greenback against six major currencies moved up to 81.9 by February from 79.6 at the beginning of the year. This made global funds parked in emerging markets to move back to US equities. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index hit a five-year high in February. So, gold lost its mojo. The metal dropped below the USD 1,600/oz mark in February, touching a low of USD 1,575/oz. After the June low, gold market witnessed relative stability, supported by physical buying in China and bets that the Federal Reserve may delay tapering. But gold has been unable to rise significantly as improving US economy dulled its demand. The final blow came with the Fed announcing beginning of the taper on December 18. On December 19, gold hit a low of $1,187.4/ounce — a three-year low.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>The year ahead</strong></span></div> <div> Gold prices can edge little higher in 2014, if there is renewed demand from emerging markets and gold import curbs are lifted in India. But, in the first half, prices may mostly remain weak and see a range-bound movement unless there is a surprise from inflation numbers. If outflows from gold ETFs continue, and physical demand for the metal remains weak, it will be negative for gold and prices can move further down.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-30', 'modified' => '2014-01-06', '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' => 'Gold, once the much-loved asset turned the most unloved investment tool in 2013 as investors flee from its long-time save haven appeal. This, year the yellow metal took a plunge of nearly 30 per cent, marking the biggest yearly decline since 1981. After 12 years of straight gains, the international bullion market witnessed an unexpected crash in mid-April when gold prices dropped by more than USD 200 in just two days of trading - from USD 1,525/oz to USD 1,321/oz.', 'sortorder' => '2251', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2321', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal And The World News In Brief (23 - 29 December 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>EU Stripped from AAA Credit Rating </strong></span></div> <div> The European Union lost its top credit rating from Standard & Poor’s on Friday, which cited the deteriorating creditworthiness of the bloc’s 28 member nations. S&P cut its long-term rating on the EU to AA+, with a stable outlook, from AAA and maintained its short-term rating at A-1+. The downgrade came after S&P last month lowered its AAA rating on the Netherlands. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Buffett Adds $37 mn a Day to His Fortune in 2013</strong></span></div> <div> American business magnate Warren Buffett made a fortune of about $37 million per day in 2013, according to Wealth-X, making him the billionaire who made the most money this year. With a gain of $12.7 billion in 2013, Buffett’s net worth at the end of the year stands at $59.1 billion. Microsoft Chairman, Bill Gates, added $11.5 billion to his personal fortune in 2013, ending the year with assets totalling $72.6 billion. Gates is also the richest person on the list.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>GSK to Scrap Targets for Sales Reps</strong></span></div> <div> GlaxoSmithKline will no longer reward sales staff based on how many drugs they sell, marking a big shift in the way the pharmaceutical industry deals with doctors. The British drugs giant said that the changes, which will be introduced from next year, come as GSK and other drugs firms face intense scrutiny in China over claims they bribed doctors to use their products.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Indian Markets Readies for Inflation-Link Bonds</strong></span></div> <div> The Indian finance ministry announced the launch of inflation-linked bonds starting from Monday as part of its strategy to wean Indians away from gold by offering them a real rate of return that exceeds consumer price inflation (CPI). The Inflation Indexed National Savings Securities-Cumulative (IINSS-C) bonds will offer investors a return that’s 1.5% more than inflation based on the consumer price index .</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>US Third-quarter Growth Raised to 4.1% </strong></span></div> <div> The US economy grew at its fastest pace in almost two years in the third quarter while business spending was stronger than previously estimated, pointing to some underlying strength that should be sustained. Gross domestic product grew at a 4.1 per cent annual rate instead of the 3.6 per cent pace reported earlier this month, the Commerce Department said in its third estimate on Friday.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-23', 'modified' => '2013-12-23', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The European Union lost its top credit rating from Standard & Poor’s on Friday, which cited the deteriorating creditworthiness of the bloc’s 28 member nations. S&P cut its long-term rating on the EU to AA+, with a stable outlook, from AAA and maintained its short-term rating at A-1+. The downgrade came after S&P last month lowered its AAA rating on the Netherlands.', 'sortorder' => '2167', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2319', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'US Fed Reserve Dilutes Stimulus', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> Federal Reserve officials decided Wednesday to start gradually reducing their massive economic stimulus program. Beginning in January, the Fed will buy $75 billion in bonds each month, down from the $85 billion it had been buying since September 2012.</div> <div> </div> <div> “In light of the cumulative progress toward maximum employment and the improvement in the outlook for labor market conditions, the Committee decided to modestly reduce the pace of its asset purchases,” the Fed said in a statement. The Fed decided to cut back on both types of bond purchases -- mortgage-backed securities and Treasuries -- by $5 billion per month each.The bond-buying program has become so large, it’s expected to push the Fed’s assets to $4 trillion this week -- money the Fed basically created out of thin air. The new cut represents the beginning of a gradual wind-down process which Wall Street has nicknamed “tapering.”</div> <div> </div> <div> But the complete end to Fed stimulus is still probably years away. Fed officials have been stressing lately that tapering does not mean “tightening.” In fact, the Fed extended its commitment to keep short-term interest rates “exceptionally low” until either the unemployment rate falls to around 6.5% or the inflation rate exceeds 2.5% a year. At a press conference immediately following the announcement, Bernanke stressed that the Fed’s actions did not amount to a withdrawal of support for the economy. “Nothing we did today was intended to reduce accommodation,” he said. Most officials expect rates to rise in 2015, despite the fact that inflation will likely still be below the target at that point.</div> <div> </div> <div> Bernanke also explained that the Fed had “enhanced” its forward guidance on keeping interest rates low.</div> <div> </div> <div> “The committee is determined to avoid inflation that is too low, as well as inflation that is too high,” Bernanke said. But rates will remain low for a while, so consumers can still expect to lock in historically cheap rates on mortgages, car or business loans, albeit probably not at the record lows seen earlier this year. Stocks jumped following the announcement, with the Dow gaining 200 points after the news.</div> <div> </div> <div> Traditionally, the Fed has used low interest rates to stimulate the economy in times of stress, but in the most recent financial crisis, it was forced to take unprecedented measures. First, the Fed slashed its key interest rate to near-zero in 2008. Next, in a program known as “quantitative easing,” or QE, the Fed started buying bonds like U.S. Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities in an attempt to lower long-term interest rates too. That second move came in three rounds that have since been nicknamed QE1, QE2 and QE3. Among them, QE3 was the only program that wasn’t given an explicit end-date. Instead, the Fed said it was looking for substantial improvement in the job market.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> <strong style="font-size: 14px;">Little Impact on Nepal</strong></p> </div> <div> In mid-2013 talks about the Fed’s QE tapering had impacted Nepal while rattling the world markets. The US dollar soared to record high levels following Fed’s indication that it will eventually put an end to the flow of cheap money in coming months. Nepal’s economy, which is considered more insulated to international events (due to non-integration in the global market) also suffered from this. Nepali Rupee, which maintains exchange rate-peg with the Indian Rupee, was hardest hit by the QE taper woes. The weakening of INR caused Nepali Rupee to slide historically against the US dollar. The devaluation mainly contributed to Nepal’s fast rising inflation rate and prices of imported good in the local market. The sharp devaluation of NPR initiated a debate, whether NPR should continue its exchange rate-peg with INR. </div> <div> </div> <div> However, the scenario after the Fed’s latest decision looks different compared to the mid-2013. Experts say that QE tapering might have little or no impact on Nepali economy. “Compared to the scenario in May-June, Nepali economy is in more comfortable place,” says Krishna Bahadur Manandhar, former Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank. According to him, the global financial markets seem to have adjusted their fears on QE tapering. The depreciation of Nepali rupee was caused by devaluation of INR against the US dollar. Problems within the Indian economy such as the widening current account deficit (CAD) and trade deficit were blamed as the main factors for currency weakening. Despite various obstacles, India has effectively managed to overcome these problems in recent months. “With measures like hike in gold import duties, India has narrowed CAD and trade deficit,” Manandhar said adding, “India’s forex reserve has also risen significantly in past seven months.” He opines that these developments help to check the currency devaluation and spillover effects of Indian economy. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-23', 'modified' => '2013-12-23', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Federal Reserve officials decided Wednesday to start gradually reducing their massive economic stimulus program. Beginning in January, the Fed will buy $75 billion in bonds each month, down from the $85 billion it had been buying since September 2012.', 'sortorder' => '2165', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2270', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal Edges Up In Energy Ranking', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal has marked a slight improvement in the use and development of modern energy resources, a latest report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) shows. According to the Global Energy Architecture Performance Index (EAPI) 2014, Nepal ranked 103rd out of in the index. The Geneva-based organisation in collaboration with Irish multinational firm Accenture accessed energy systems of 124 countries around the world to prepare the report. Nepal received a total score of 0.42 (out of one) in the index which is measured through three sub-indices -- Economic Growth and Development basket, Environmental Sustainability basket and Energy Access and Security basket. Last year Nepal with a score of 0.39 ranked 101st out of 105 countries in the index. Neighboring India and China were placed at 69th and 85th position, respectively. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka and Pakistan were ranked at 70th and 96th position. In the South Asia region, Nepal was only ahead of Bangladesh (114th). </div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal scored 0.31 in the Economic Growth and Development Basket which measures GDP per unit of energy use, fuel imports/exports and electricity prices for industry. According to the WEF report, Nepal’s GDP per unit of energy is priced at USD 3.66. Whereas, fuel imports of the country accounted 6 per cent of the GDP in 2013. Nepal fared particularly well in Environmental Sustainability basket with a score of 0.63. India scored 0.41 and China achieved 0.35 in the sub-index. The sub-index reveals the rising trend of the use of alternative energy sources such as the biomass in Nepal. WEF reported that the use of alternative energy in the country increased by 87 per cent in 2013 compared to last year. Meanwhile, use of alternative energy sources in India rose just by 28 per cent. Nepal’s pollution level was also seen lower as it scored 27 in PM10, country level (micrograms per cubic meter) sub-index. In India, the PM10 level was recorded 52. Similarly, the air pollution marred China received 59 in the sub-index. </div> <div> </div> <div> In the Energy Access and Security basket, Nepal performed lower with a score of 0.33. According to the sub-index, 82 per cent of the Nepalis rely on solid fuels (timber, animal dung and coal etc.) for cooking purposes. However, electrification rate in the country was recorded higher at 76 per cent. India’s electrification rate was 75 per cent in the sub-index. China’s electrification rate, meanwhile, was seen at staggering 100 per cent. The EAPI 2014 revealed the poor state of energy security and access in Nepal. It further stressed that the country need to speed up its energy development projects and deploy effective energy management policies to ramp up the efforts. The Report finds that many developing countries still struggle to supply citizens with basic energy needs, providing electricity to less than 50 per cent of their total population. It also highlights the over-dependence of many energy systems, with 32 per cent of countries dependent on imports to meet more than half of their energy needs.</div> <div> </div> <div> Norway was the top listed country in the index followed by New Zealand, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Colombia, Spain, Costa Rica and Latvia. The world’s industrial giants, United States and Japan were ranked 37th and 38th respectively. Cambodia (120th), Tanzania (121st), Benin (122nd), Lebanon (123rd) and Yemen (124th) were the bottom ranking countries in the index.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-16', 'modified' => '2013-12-23', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal has marked a slight improvement in the use and development of modern energy resources, a latest report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) shows. According to the Global Energy Architecture Performance Index (EAPI) 2014, Nepal ranked 103rd out of in the index. The Geneva-based organisation in collaboration with Irish multinational firm Accenture accessed energy systems of 124 countries around the world to prepare the report. Nepal received a total score of 0.42 (out of one) in the index which is measured through three sub-indices', 'sortorder' => '2160', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2229', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Corruption Perception Index 2013: Nepal Sees Decline In Corruption Level', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal has experienced a significant downfall in corruption in 2013. Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2013, placed Nepal in 116th position out of 177 countries. Nepal achieved ascore of 31on a scale of 0-100, while 0 indicating the most corrupted and 100 indicating no corruption. Last year, Nepal ranked 139th with a score of 27.</div> <div> </div> <div> The Berlin-based global anti-corruption watchdog reported alertness of the Commission of Investigation on Abuse of Authority (CIAA) and a slew of actions takenon related cases as factors contributing to decline in corruption. Countries achieving a score less than 50 points have been listed as the most corrupt. TI prepared the report in co-operation with Bertelsmann Foundation, The World Bank, World Economic Forum, Global Justice Project and Global Insight. </div> <div> </div> <div> The report also mentions that around 40 percent Nepali have given bribe atleast once in their lifetime. Similarly, 80 percent of Nepali confessed that it is much easier to get work done in government organisations if there is someone of their acquaintance. Likewise, most Nepali also admitted that political parties are the most corrupted ones in the nation. Meanwhile, Nepal’s neighbours, India and China are placed at 94th and 80th positions respectively. Bhutan was seen as the cleanest country in the South Asia region (31st position) with a score of 63. Likewise, Sri Lanka achieved 91st position whereas corruption level in Pakistan (127th) and Bangladesh (136th) was seen relatively high. Afghanistan (175th)was declared the most corrupt nation in the South Asia with a score of 8. </div> <div> </div> <div> This year’s CPI figured that 69 percent of the world’s countries are seriously corrupt. Regionally, Eastern Europe and Central Asia ranked the worst, Western Europe and the European Union (EU) the best. The report declares Denmark and New Zealand to be the most clean countries, both sharing a score of 91 points. Similarly, Finland and Sweden stand in the third position with a score of 89 points whereas Norway and Singapore share the 5th position in the ranking with a score of 86 points.</div> <div> </div> <div> According to the report, the most corrupt countries are: North Korea, Somalia and Afghanistan with all three nations sharing the highest spot of 175th position in the index. TI reported that 66 percent of the countries in the North and South American Region are seriously corrupt. Similarly, 64 percent of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region are most corrupt.Likewise, 95 per cent of the EU countries (including the Eastern and Western Europe) and 23 per cent nations of Central Asia were labeled as seriously corrupt. Also, 84 per cent of the countries in Middle East and North Africa region and 90 per cent of Sub- Saharan African nations fell into the category of seriously corrupt countries.” The need for greater accountability is clear, and leaders cannot look the other way. But recognizing the problems is only the first step- governments need to turn pledges into actions,” states the report.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-09', 'modified' => '2013-12-17', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal has experienced a significant downfall in corruption in 2013. Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2013, placed Nepal in 116th position out of 177 countries. Nepal achieved ascore of 31on a scale of 0-100, while 0 indicating the most corrupted and 100 indicating no corruption. Last year, Nepal ranked 139th with a score of 27.', 'sortorder' => '2108', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2191', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'South Asia Leads World In Suffering', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <span style="font-size: 12px;">S</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">uffering, on average, has increased worldwide in the past several years, and nowhere more than in South Asia, a latest Gallop worldwide poll shows. According to a report published by the US-based opinion poll agency on 26th November, Tuesday, one in seven adults worldwide rated their lives poorly enough to be considered suffering in 2012. ‘South Asia led the world in suffering at 24%, followed by 21% in the Balkans and the Middle East and North Africa. South Asia clearly registers the biggest increase in suffering during this period and because of its large population, it is mostly responsible for the worldwide uptick. Suffering in the region has increased enormously since the beginning of the global financial and economic crisis, averaging 12% between 2006 and 2008, and 22% between 2010 and 2012.” states the report. The agency said that comparing average suffering for 2006-2008 with the average for 2010-2012, suffering increased by three percentage points worldwide. </span></div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>India Mainly Drives Deterioration of Well-Being in South Asia</strong></span></div> <div> According to the Gallop report, the massive increase in suffering among South Asians is largely attributable to negative developments in India, the region’s giant. Average suffering in India more than doubled between 2006 to 2008 and 2010 to 2012. In 2012, a full quarter of Indians were suffering. “The significant deterioration in Indians’ well-being is likely to be rooted in the country’s disappointing economic performance,” says the report. India’s growth rate has now sunk from 9.4% in the first quarter of 2010 to 4.4% in the second quarter of 2013, the worst quarterly rate since 2002.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> <strong style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size:16px;">Nepal no Better</span></strong></p> </div> <div> India’s northern neighbor Nepal has fared no better, said the report adding that average suffering there increased by 17 percentage points between 2006-2008 and 2010-2012. “Yet because of its relatively small population, the increase in suffering had a negligible effect on the regional average. Since Nepal abolished the monarchy five years ago, the country has been mired in a political crisis that has paralysed the economy,” Gallop said. </div> <div> </div> <div> Other big increases in suffering in recent years have been registered in Armenia (+17 points) and Greece (+13 points). Greece’s economic collapse, record unemployment, and drastic austerity measures contributed to suffering reaching 26% in 2012. Gallup’s trend data clearly show Armenians souring in recent years on issues such as their standard of living, and rising frustration with their leaders.</div> <div> </div> <div> Most countries with the biggest decreases in suffering, comparing the three-year average from 2006 to 2008 with that from 2010 to 2012, are from Sub-Saharan Africa. Suffering in Zimbabwe has decreased by as much as 38 percentage points. “After years of hyperinflation, the Zimbabwean government finally abandoned the country’s currency in 2009. As a result, the economy started growing again, improving the lives of many Zimbabweans,” states the report. Similarly, Latin America and the Caribbean also defied the global trend. Between 2010 and 2012, residents of the region were on average less likely to be suffering than they were before the outbreak of the global economic crisis.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-02', 'modified' => '2013-12-02', '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' => 'Suffering, on average, has increased worldwide in the past several years, and nowhere more than in South Asia, a latest Gallop worldwide poll shows. According to a report published by the US-based opinion poll agency on 26th November, Tuesday, one in seven adults worldwide rated their lives poorly enough to be considered suffering in 2012.', 'sortorder' => '2037', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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Of the total planned expenditure of Rs 517.2 billion, only 30.3 per cent was spent largely due to the lower than expected capital spending. The slow pace of spending so far indicates that the capital budget will likely continue to be under spent as in the previous years,” the report noted. “In addition to the improvements in agriculture production, both domestic and foreign investment commitments increased remarkably in the first half of FY 2014.” </div> <div> </div> <div> The bank said that there is an urgent need to ramp up both the quantum and quality of capital spending as it not only ‘crowds in’ private investments, but also helps create the foundations for the lackluster growth to take off on an employment-centric, high, inclusive and sustainable growth path.</div> <div> </div> <div> According to the report, Nepal may not meet its yearly revenue target this year due to the depreciation of the Nepali rupee against the US dollar which is slowing down import demand in the country. “Even though the Rs 163.4 billion revenue mobilized in the first half of FY 2014 is 21.5 per cent is higher than the revenue mobilized in the corresponding period in FY 2013, it still is lower than the half-year target set for this fiscal year,” it said. </div> <div> </div> <div> Similarly, the bank forecasted the inflation rate to stand at 10 per cent in FY 2014, higher than the government’s target of 8.5 per cent. “Despite the expected improvement in agriculture harvest, the wage pressures, the persistently high price level in India, the rise in administered fuel prices, lower interest rates, the persistently weak Nepali rupee and the supply-side constraints, average annual consumer price index (CPI) inflation in FY 2014 is forecast at 10 per cent,” ADB mentioned. The bank informed that inflation averaged 9.1 per cent in the first half of FY 2014, down from 10.7 per cent in the corresponding period in FY 2013. The decline in prices is mainly driven by the sharp slowdown in non-food and services prices. However, the persistence of the high inflation level is supported by rising food and beverage prices, which averaged 11.5 per cent in the first half of FY 2014 against 9.8 per cent during the same period in FY 2013, the report notes.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-03-09', 'modified' => '2014-03-24', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth will rise to 4.5 per cent this fiscal year, a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report has projected. “The positive political outlook, expected increase in agriculture production following a favorable monsoon, modest improvement in capital expenditure following the timely full FY 2014 budget, and a strong services sector performance supported by remittance income are expected to boost gross domestic product (GDP) growth (at basic prices) to 4.5 per cent in FY 2014, up from 3.6 per cent in FY 2013,” the Manila-based regional development bank in its latest macroeconomic update for Nepal informed.', 'sortorder' => '2606', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2687', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal Climbs Four Spots Up In GRI', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Sanjeev Sharma</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Retirement security of Nepali workers is seen improving as retired public and private sector employees are receiving more benefits, a latest global report shows. The 2014 Global Retirement Index (GRI), ranked Nepal 114th, up four spots from 118th in 2013. The report published by Paris-based Natixis Global Asset Management, the world’s 13th largest asset management company with USD 392.96 in assets, finds Nepal’s performance improving, though slowly, over the past year. The report ranks 150 countries based on four broad factors such as health care, finances, economic well-being and quality of life. Nepal’s achieved an overall score of 40 per cent in the index, which was 39 per cent last year. </div> <div> </div> <div> The country scored 35 per cent and 39 per cent in sub-indices of health and finances in retirement respectively. In the finances in retirement sub-index, Nepal scored 39 per cent falling eight spots to 148th from 140 in 2013. Similarly, the country also poorly performed in quality of life sub-index where it scored 39 per cent and ranked 132nd, down 5 spots from last year’s 127th. However, Nepal comparatively fared well in material well-being sub-index with a score of 47 per cent. </div> <div> </div> <div> The country’s southern and northern neighbours, India and China, meanwhile ranked 104th and 69th respectively. India’s position declined three spots in the index, whereas, China climbed upfour spots. The report pointed India as the worst performing nation among BRIC nationthis year. “The main upset being its performance in the finances in retirement sub-index where it dropped from 20th to 128th place,” Natixis said in the report. “In addition it continues its mediocre performance in the health and quality of life sub-indices.” </div> <div> </div> <div> Sri Lanka was the highest ranking South Asian nation with 86th position in 2014 GRI, climbing 5 spots from 91th in 2013. Bangladesh and Pakistan also climbed higher in the index with 105th and 102nd spots respectively. Last year, Bangladesh ranked 112th, whereas, Pakistan was placed at 107th. </div> <div> </div> <div> European countries took eight of the top 10 spots, buoyed by strong social programs for older citizens. Switzerland claimed the top spot pushing Norway to second place in 2014 GRI. Austria, Sweden, Australia, Denmark, Germany, Finland, New Zealand and Luxembourg occupied the remaining top 10 spots. United States, meanwhile, remained unchanged from last year’s 19th position. United Kingdom climbed to 18th spot from 20 in 2013. Japan was seen as the worst performer among developed nations. The country dropped 12 spots to 27th in the index. Despite the domination of European countries, the report warns that the long-term financial security of retirees in developed economies is under pressure. “Ageing populations and increasing high old-age dependency ratios, a historically prolonged period of low interest rates and high levels of sovereign debt are testing the resilience of retirement systems and fuelling uncertainty,” it said. African countries Togo, Burindi, Niger, Comoros and Zimbabwe occupied the bottom five spots in the index.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-03-03', 'modified' => '2014-03-10', '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' => 'Retirement security of Nepali workers is seen improving as retired public and private sector employees are receiving more benefits, a latest global report shows. The 2014 Global Retirement Index (GRI), ranked Nepal 114th, up four spots from 118th in 2013.', 'sortorder' => '2570', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2657', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Report Stresses Need For Bold Moves Toward Gender Equality At Work', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<p> </p> <p> A new report by the World Bank Group stresses the need for bold, coordinated actions to advance equal opportunities for women in the world of work, such as addressing gender biases early, expanding women’s access to property and finance, and raising legal retirement ages— with major payoffs in tackling poverty.<br /> <br /> By virtually every global measure, women are more economically excluded than men, according to ‘Gender at Work.’ “Trends suggest women’s labor force participation worldwide over the last two decades has stagnated, dropping from 57 to 55 percent globally. This is despite accumulating evidence that jobs benefit women, families, businesses, and communities,” the report informs.<br /> <br /> The report says since women face multiple constraints to jobs, starting early and extending throughout their lives, progressive, broad-based, and coordinated policy action is needed to close gender gaps. A companion to the 2013 World Development Report on jobs, it says options should include mainstreaming gender equality into jobs and growth strategies, reforming legal systems, and engaging the private sector in innovative solutions to promote gender equality.<br /> <br /> It also says social norms can exacerbate the deprivation and constraints women face. Nearly four in 10 people globally—close to one half in developing countries—agree that when jobs are scarce, men are more entitled to them than women. Common constraints faced by the most disadvantaged women include lack of mobility, time, and skills, exposure to violence, and the absence of basic legal rights.<br /> <br /> In Latin America and the Caribbean, women’s labor force participation has risen by 35 percent since 1990. Analysis by the World Bank Group has found that in 2010, extreme poverty would have been 30 percent higher and average income inequality 28 percent higher, were it not for women’s increased income through increased labor earnings, access to pensions, and labor force participation from 2000-2010.<br /> <br /> Country-level diagnostics are vital to help governments in determining the best policies and more involvement by the private sector—by far the largest source of jobs—is critical, the report says. The private sector can lead the way by creating family-friendly working environment and policies, attracting women into non-traditional roles and sectors, and reviewing human resource policies and systems for addressing discrimination and harassment, the report suggests. Accordingly, it said that more investment is needed to fill major gaps in data and knowledge.<br /> <br /> To advance gender equality at work, the report recommends governments target actions that cover a woman’s life cycle—saying interventions that focus only on women of productive age start too late and end too early. Biases can begin very early in life, sometimes in subtle ways, making it ultimately difficult and costly to resolve inequality.<br /> <br /> The report warns that ageing populations in the developing world will become increasingly important for governments to consider. Through 2050, the old-age dependency ratio in developing countries is expected to soar by 144 percent, during which time the child dependency ratio is projected to fall by 20 percent, altering the nature of the care burden in families and societies.</p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-23', 'modified' => '2014-03-03', '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' => 'A new report by the World Bank Group stresses the need for bold, coordinated actions to advance equal opportunities for women in the world of work, such as addressing gender biases early, expanding women’s access to property and finance, and raising legal retirement ages— with major payoffs in tackling poverty.', 'sortorder' => '2532', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2591', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal Among Top 20 Fragile LDC ODA Recipients', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Sanjeev Sharma</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal is among the world’s top 20 fragile countries to receive official development assistance (ODA) from multilateral and bilateral donors, according to a new OECD report. The report entitled ‘Fragile States 2014: Domestic Revenue Mobilisation’ informs that Nepal received USD 892 million in ODA in 2011. The report prepared by OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) totalled the country’s net ODA atUSD 8.17 billion from 2000-2011. ODA per capita in Nepal was recorded at USD 29 in 2011.</div> <div> </div> <div> The report has characterised 51 countries (both LDCs and non-LDCs) as the fragile states that are unable to meet their population’s expectations or manage changes in expectations and capacity through the political process. According to OECD, ODA to fragile states declined to USD 53.40 billion in 2011 from record high of USD 67.35 billion in 2005. “Aid has declined by 2.4 per cent in 2011 and will continue its downward trend,” says the report.”Meanwhile, the share of the world’s poor found in fragile states is set to rise to a half by 2018.”</div> <div> </div> <div> These countries saw a total inflow of ODA at USD 547.19 billion from 2000-2011. Among 51 countries, Afghanistan was the highest recipient, receiving net ODA of USD 45.43 billion from 2000-2011. The war-ravaged country saw significant increase in foreign financial and technical assistance after the fall of Taliban regime in 2001. Pakistan also received note worthy amount of ODA over the last decade with USD 28.51 billion being allocated to it. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, meanwhile, acknowledged net ODA of USD 19.76 billion and USD 9.02 billion respectively. OECD listed Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Kenya as the top five fragile ODA recipients in 2011. Similarly, the global economic body noted United States, European Union, International Development Association (IDA), United Kingdom and Japan as the top five ODA providers to fragile states in 2011. </div> <div> </div> <div> The report informed that Nepal received a net country programmable aid (CPA) of USD 10.25 billion from 2000-2013. Similarly, OECD’s outlook projected that the country will receive USD 3.08 billion in CPA during 2014-2016. However, aid inflow in Nepal is seen fluctuating as the country witnessed a 5 per cent decline in CPA in 2010-2011. In 2008-2009 Nepal observed a sharp rise in CPA by 32 per cent followed by a 1 per cent increase in 2009-2010.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>“Donors doing too little to strengthen domestic revenues in fragile states”</strong></span></div> <div> The report warns international donors that they are not doing enough to help fragile states increase their domestic revenue stating that only a tiny fraction of development aid goes into programmes aimed at improving tax collection. The report finds that just 0.07 per cent of ODA to fragile states is directed towards building accountable tax systems. “Donors pledged as far back as 2002 to make it a priority to help poor countries mobilise more domestic revenues. Yet fragile states still collect less than 14 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) in taxes on average, well below the 20 per cent level considered necessary to meet poverty goals,” states the report. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to the report, Afghanistan has received by far the most support in this area, notably from the International Development Association (IDA) for trade facilitation and from the US for public financial management. Haiti and Nepal remained next in line to receive this aid. “Haiti mainly benefitted from US technical assistancefor public financial management, while Korean aid inNepal helped modernise the customs system, and Germany and Denmark supported its revenue and tax administration,” says the report. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-17', 'modified' => '2014-02-21', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal is among the world’s top 20 fragile countries to receive official development assistance (ODA) from multilateral and bilateral donors, according to a new OECD report. The report entitled ‘Fragile States 2014: Domestic Revenue Mobilisation’ informs that Nepal received USD 892 million in ODA in 2011.', 'sortorder' => '2490', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2551', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal Among The Weakest In Securing Property Rights', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal is among the weakest countries in terms of securing property rights, a latest global report shows. According to the International Property Rights Index (IPRI) 2013, published by Washington, DC-based Property Rights Alliance (PRA), Nepal ranked101 among 130 countries in the overall index. Nepal stood at the bottom in Asia region,where the country ranked 15 among 18 Asian countries. </div> <div> </div> <div> The index comprises of three key sub-indexes: Legal and Political Environment, Physical Property Rights and Intellectual Property Rights. The overall grading scale of the IPRI ranges from 0 to 10, where 10 indicates the highest value for a property rights system and 0 the lowest value within a country. Similarly, Nepal also fell among the weakest in securing intellectual property rights. With a score of 4.2 points, Nepal ranks 95 in intellectual property rights sub-index. It also fared poorly in terms of protecting intellectual property rights, patent protection and copyright protection. </div> <div> </div> <div> Likewise, Nepal ranked 113 in legal and political environment sub-indexwith a meagre score of 3.3 points. The country’s performance in judicial independence, rule of law, political stability, and control of corruption were also seen below par in the index, according to the report. </div> <div> </div> <div> However, Nepal performed better in physical property rights sub-index where it scored 6.0 points and ranked 68. In terms of protecting physical property rights the country scored a mediocre 5.0 points. Meanwhile the country performed strongly in registration of physical properties with a score of 9.5 points and achieving 6thspot among 130 countries in the index. </div> <div> </div> <div> The IPRI 2013 has placed Nepal’s southern and northern neighbours - India and China- on 57th position in the index. Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh ranked 76, 118 and 126 respectively. According to the report, Singapore is the highest-ranking Asian country (rank-7, score-8.1 points). Finland, Sweden, New Zealand, Norway, Netherlands and Switzerland dominated the top-five spots whereas, Bangladesh, Libya, Venezuela, Burundi and Haiti were the bottom-five countries in IPRI 2013.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-09', 'modified' => '2014-02-17', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal is among the weakest countries in terms of securing property rights, a latest global report shows. According to the International Property Rights Index (IPRI) 2013, published by Washington, DC-based Property Rights Alliance (PRA), Nepal ranked101 among 130 countries in the overall index. Nepal stood at the bottom in Asia region,where the country ranked 15 among 18 Asian countries.', 'sortorder' => '2431', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2544', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal Ranks Better Than India & Pakistan In Environmental Performance', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By TC correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal has improved its environmental performance in the past decade, a latest report by the Yale University shows. According to the 2014 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), Nepal witnessed a progress of 4.96 per cent from 2000 to 2012, achieving a rank of 139th out of 178 countries. The country’s overall score was 37 with noticeable improvements being marked in agriculture and forest. The index comprises of nine key indicators reflecting the performance of individual countries. The indicators include Health Impact, Air Quality, Water and Sanitation, Water resources, Agriculture, Forests, Fisheries, Biodiversity and Habit and Climate and Energy along with 20 sub-indicators. With a score of 100, Nepal ranked 1st in the world in agriculture subsidy-sub indicator. Similarly, the country also ranked 66th in pesticide regulation with a score of 84. Likewise, Nepal ranked 26th in forests sub-index with score of 63.12.</div> <div> </div> <div> However, in terms of air quality, Nepal performed poorly (ranked at 177), according to the report. Over the past decade, Nepal saw its air quality dropping by 42.75 per cent with all three sub-indicators showing degradation due to rising air pollution. The country’s sub-indicator for household air quality declined 18.18 per cent whereas, average exposure to PM 2.5 air particulate decreased 33.5 per cent and PM 2.5 exceedance changed by 100 per cent over the past decade. </div> <div> </div> <div> In South Asia region, Sri Lanka is the highest ranking country (69), followed by Bhutan (103), Nepal (139), Pakistan (148), India (155) and Bangladesh (169). Afghanistan is the worst performer in the region (174). India ranked much lower than its emerging economies peers like Brazil (77), Russia (73) and South Africa at 72nd position. Meanwhile, China ranked 118th in the index. Switzerland topped the ranking followed by Luxembourg, Australia, Singapore, and Czech Republic. Among countries with the largest economies, Germany ranked the highest in the sixth spot followed by the United Kingdom in 12th, Canada 24th, Japan 26th, France 27th, and the United States in 33rd. In the 2014 EPI, Somalia was the poorest performer (178) accompanied by Mali (177), Haiti (176), Lesotho (175). </div> <div> </div> <div> The EPI report urged policymakers across the world to introduce and implement effective policies to protect the global environment. “The EPI documents the tangible benefits that arise when policymakers pursue strong environmental performance and the damage that manifests when they do not,” it said. The authors of the report hoped 2014 EPI results would initiate meaningful conversation among countries to understand how they perform on a range of high-priority environmental issues. First published in 2002, EPI was developed from the Pilot Environmental Performance Index, and designed to supplement the environmental targets set forth in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-08', 'modified' => '2014-02-09', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal has improved its environmental performance in the past decade, a latest report by the Yale University shows. According to the 2014 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), Nepal witnessed a progress of 4.96 per cent from 2000 to 2012, achieving a rank of 139th out of 178 countries. The country’s overall score was 37 with noticeable improvements being marked in agriculture and forest.', 'sortorder' => '2394', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2453', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'South Asia To See Decline In Capital Inflow: World Bank', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> South Asia along with other developing regions across the globe may face the risk of declining capital inflow, says a new World Bank report. According to the Global Economic Prospect (GEP) 2014 report, developing nations are vulnerable to the rise in interest rates, which is likely to result in the volatility of capital flow. The global lender pointed to the tapering of quantitative easing (QE) in United States as the main reason for this. In mid-December, Federal Reserve, the US central bank decided to scale back its bond buying programme- from USD 85 billion per month to USD 75 billion per month- amid the country’s improving economic prospects. </div> <div> </div> <div> The Washington-based bank in its report warned that adverse reaction of financial markets to the ending of QE might leave the world’s developing nations starved of capital. “According to simulations, abrupt changes in market expectations, resulting in global bond yields increasing by 100 to 200 basis points within a couple of quarters, could lead to a sharp reduction in capital inflows to developing countries by between 50 and 80 percent for several months,” the bank said in its report. The bank also mentioned that countries with a substantial expansion of domestic credit over the last five years, deteriorating current account balances, high levels of foreign and short-term debt and over-valued exchange rates could be more at risk in current circumstances. </div> <div> </div> <div> The bank said that there would be moderate impact on developing nations if this adjustment happened in an orderly manner. The World Bank expects the global interest rates to rise slowly to reach 3.6 per cent by mid-2016 following an orderly trajectory regarding the process of normalisation of activity and policy in high-income countries. “However, should the adjustment be disorderly, as it was in response to speculation about when a taper might begin during the spring and summer of 2013, interest rates could rise more quickly,” said the report. </div> <div> </div> <div> The report urges developing countries to implement structural reforms that would help raise the capacity of their economies, if they are to regain their pre-crisis growth rates.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Global Growth Picking Up</strong></span></div> <div> The report informed that growth in South Asia expanded at a modest 4.6 percent in 2013, reflecting weakness in India amid high inflation, and current account and government deficits. “Regional growth is projected to improve to 5.7 percent in 2014, rising to 6.7 percent in 2016, led mainly by recovering import demand by high-income economies and regional investment,” says the report. The report, however, said that projected pickup will depend on macroeconomic stability, sustained policy reforms, and progress in reducing supply side constraints. “The main risks to the outlook are fiscal and policy reforms going off-track; uncertainties related to elections in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and India; entrenchment of inflation expectations; and a disorderly adjustment of capital flows in response to US tapering,” it said.</div> <div> </div> <div> The World Bank expects a gradual increase in global growth from this year. According to the report, global growth will pick up from 2.4 per cent in 2013 to 3.2 per cent this year, and to 3.4 per cent in 2015. It believes much of the acceleration will be due to an improvement in economic conditions in high-income countries, where for the first time in five years all three of the main regions – the US, Europe and Japan – will be growing. “Global economic indicators show improvement. But one does not have to be especially astute to see there are dangers that lurk beneath the surface. The Euro Area is out of recession but per capita incomes are still declining in several countries. We expect developing country growth to rise above 5 percent in 2014, with some countries doing considerably better, with Angola at 8 percent, China 7.7 percent, and India at 6.2 percent. But it is important to avoid policy stasis so that the green shoots don’t turn into brown stubble,” said Kaushik Basu, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist at the World Bank.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-20', 'modified' => '2014-01-27', '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' => 'South Asia along with other developing regions across the globe may face the risk of declining capital inflow, says a new World Bank report. According to the Global Economic Prospect (GEP) 2014 report, developing nations are vulnerable to the rise in interest rates, which is likely to result in the volatility of capital flow. The global lender pointed to the tapering of quantitative easing (QE) in United States as the main reason for this. In mid-December, Federal Reserve, the US central bank decided to scale back its bond buying programme- from USD 85 billion per month to USD 75 billion per month- amid the country’s improving economic prospects.', 'sortorder' => '2302', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2411', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'India Alludes To More Liberal FDI Regime In Coming Weeks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> India's Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on 1st January, Wednesday indicated further liberalisation of the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy in the coming weeks.</div> <div> </div> <div> "The government will continue its endeavour for liberalising the FDI policy further in the coming weeks to ensure that India retains its leadership position for attracting foreign investments," Sharma said in a statement.</div> <div> </div> <div> The commerce ministry is working towards allowing FDI in railways and e-commerce. Last year, the government had relaxed FDI norms in sectors including telecom, defence, PSU oil refineries, commodity bourses, power exchanges and stock exchanges.</div> <div> </div> <div> Over a year after India eased FDI norms for multi-brand retail, the first investment proposal came through two weeks ago when British retailer Tesco sought entry into the country's $500 billion retail sector in partnership with Tata's Trent. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board cleared Tesco's $110-million investment plan on December 30. Sharma had indicated last week that there would be more multi-brand retail proposals before the end of the current financial year. "The decisions of the government have resonated with the global community and we have seen results in the last few months," the minister said, adding that India was rated as the most-favoured investment destination destination globally in 2013.</div> <div> </div> <div> The ministry is now working to relax FDI norms in railways and construction activities. FDI in the April-October period stood at $12.6 billion, down 15% from a year ago. Sharma said the coming months would see a greater push for development of industrial corridors and work would begin for establishing newcities along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). The $90-billion DMIC project is aimed at creating mega industrial infrastructure along the Delhi-Mumbai Rail Freight Corridor, which is under implementation. Japan is providing financial and technical aid for the project, which will cover seven states totaling 1,483 km.</div> <div> </div> <div> "I expect that with greater foreign investment and technology collaborations, Indian manufacturing will alsomove up the value chain and acquire greater competitiveness globally," Sharma said. The minister said the country had done reasonably well in exports in the first eight months of the fiscal despite weak demand in traditional markets. "I am sure that in the remaining period of this financial year, exports will show a strong and dynamic growth,"Sharmasaid.</div> <div> </div> <div> In April-November 2013, exports grew by 6.27% to $ 204 billion while imports aggregated $304 billion.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-06', 'modified' => '2014-01-07', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'India's Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on 1st January, Wednesday indicated further liberalisation of the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy in the coming weeks.', 'sortorder' => '2268', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2410', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Obesity Quadruples To Nearly 1 Bn In Developing World', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> The number of overweight and obese adults in the developing world has almost quadrupled to around one billion since 1980, says a report from a UK think tank. The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) said one in three people worldwide was now overweight and urged governments to do more to influence diets. In the UK, 64% of adults are classed as being overweight or obese.</div> <div> </div> <div> The report predicts a “huge increase” in heart attacks, strokes and diabetes. Globally, the percentage of adults who were overweight or obese - classed as having a body mass index greater than 25 - grew from 23% to 34% between 1980 and 2008. The majority of this increase was seen in the developing world, particularly in countries where incomes were rising, such as Egypt and Mexico.</div> <div> </div> <div> The ODI’s Future Diets report says this is due to changing diets and a shift from eating cereals and grains to the consumption of more fats, sugar, oils and animal produce. A total of 904 million people in developing countries are now classed as overweight or above, with a BMI of more than 25, up from 250 million in 1980. This compares to 557 million in high-income countries. Over the same period, the global population nearly doubled.</div> <div> </div> <div> At the same time, however, under-nourishment is still recognised to be a problem for hundreds of millions of people in the developing world, particularly children. Using data published in Population Health Metrics last year, the researchers looked at changing overweight and obesity rates across the regions of the world and by individual country.</div> <div> </div> <div> The regions of North Africa, the Middle East and Latin America saw large increases in overweight and obesity rates to a level on a par with Europe, around 58%. While North America still has the highest percentage of overweight adults at 70%, regions such as Australasia and southern Latin America are now not far behind with 63%.</div> <div> </div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/lt%20(Copy).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 354px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Diet linked to income</strong></span></div> <div> The greatest growth in overweight people occurred in south east Asia, where the percentage tripled from a lower starting point of 7% to 22%. Among individual countries, the report found that overweight and obesity rates had almost doubled in China and Mexico, and risen by a third in South Africa since 1980. Many countries in the Middle East also had a high percentage of overweight adults. One of the report authors, Steve Wiggins, said there were likely to be multiple reasons for the increases.</div> <div> </div> <div> “People with higher incomes have the ability to choose the kind of foods they want. Changes in lifestyle, the increasing availability of processed foods, advertising, media influences... have all led to dietary changes.”</div> <div> </div> <div> The report cites the example of South Korea where efforts to preserve the country’s traditional diet have included public campaigns and large-scale meal preparation training for women.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> <span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Nepal too is Facing Obesity Linked Health Risks</strong></span></p> </div> <div> Though no comprehensive study on obesity in Nepal has been conducted in recent years, some serious health problems related to change in lifestyle and nutrition have emerged among Nepalis. With growing number of patients with diabetes, heart diseases, blood pressure, liver and kidney related problems visiting the doctors on a regular basis, experts are warning about the increasing health hazards especially to the urban population. Obesity is seen as the major contributing factor for these medical conditions. Studies have suggested that obesity in Nepal has risen to 10 per cent in 2006 from 1.6 per cent of 1996. Senior Cardiologist Dr Prakash Raj Regmi sees the change of dietary habits as the main reason. “Rising consumption of foods with low nutritional value but high calorie and trans fat is the major contributor,” opines Regmi who is actively involved in Nepal Heart Foundation. “The change in dietary routine such as less eating in morning meals and high consumption in the evening/night is causing the bellies of people to grow significantly.” He recommends lowering the consumption of diets with high calorie but low nutrition such as rice, potato, sugar and sweets. Similarly, Dr Regmi suggests the government to form a non-communicable disease policy to ensure the safeguarding of health of ordinary citizens. </div> <div> </div> <div> A World Bank report published in 2011 revealed the scale of increasing health risks in South Asia region. The report entitled “Capitalizing on Demographic Transition: Tackling Non-communicable Diseases in South Asia” identified heart diseases as the major factor of death among South Asians of age group 15-69. The report also found that heart problems along with other non-communicable disease account for 60 per cent of the lives lost due to degrading health among Nepalis.</div> <div> </div> <div> As the household income rises, Nepali urban population is more capable in purchasing high calorie foods. Similarly, the changing lifestyle trend of urban youths is another area of concern. “Lack of effective physical activities and stationary lifestyle combined with unhealthy food are contributing to the obesity rise in Nepal,” says Gunja Lal Hirachan, owner of Jasmine Fitness Club and Spa. According to him, Nepali adults over the age of 30 years are not the only victims of this problem. “Now-a-days we are seeing many overweight teenagers, who are possibly facing various health hazards in their young age,” informs Hirachan. “Proper health and physical education, fitness awareness and restrictions in sales of unhealthy food will reduce obesity in youths.”</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-06', 'modified' => '2014-01-20', '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 number of overweight and obese adults in the developing world has almost quadrupled to around one billion since 1980, says a report from a UK think tank. The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) said one in three people worldwide was now overweight and urged governments to do more to influence diets. In the UK, 64% of adults are classed as being overweight or obese.', 'sortorder' => '2253', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2361', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Investors Run Away From Gold In 2013', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Gold, once the much-loved asset turned the most unloved investment tool in 2013 as investors flee from its long-time save haven appeal. This, year the yellow metal took a plunge of nearly 30 per cent, marking the biggest yearly decline since 1981. After 12 years of straight gains, the international bullion market witnessed an unexpected crash in mid-April when gold prices dropped by more than USD 200 in just two days of trading - from USD 1,525/oz to USD 1,321/oz. Triggered by the news that debt-stricken Cyprus is selling some of its reserve to manage its financial bailout, bullion prices tumbled as panic selling hit values of physical as well as paper gold. This was followed by another sharp decline in June when gold price fell to a three-year low of USD 1,180/oz. </div> <div> </div> <div> Outflows from gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have hit a record this year. SPDR Gold Trust — the world’s largest gold ETF has seen its holdings reduce by 546 tonnes — down 40 per cent. Jewellery demand too took a knock. In the September quarter, the World Gold Council reported that global jewellery demand fell 3 per cent to 474.9 tonnes. Steep decline of demand in India, the world’s second largest gold consumer contributed to this. This year, Indian government tightened gold imports to curb rising trade deficit and current account deficit which are seen as major areas of concern to dampen the already sluggish economic growth of </div> <div> the country. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Reasons for Gold Price Decline</strong></span></div> <div> Gold reached to its all-time high (USD 1920/oz) in September 2011, when Standard & Poor’s (S & P) downgraded the ‘AAA’ credit rating of United States by one notch to ‘AA+’ amid the budget showdown in the US Congress. The expanding Eurozone debt crisis, slowdown in developing countries, fears of inflation and worries of global recession largely helped gold prices to climb up. However, as the global economic recovery unwinds at a faster pace, interest of investors began a shift towards stocks. </div> <div> </div> <div> US equities made a strong come back this year. Improving job market conditions pick up in the manufacturing sector, rising property prices and increased consumer confidence, built optimism about equity investments. The dollar too strengthened.</div> <div> </div> <div> The dollar index which measures performance of the greenback against six major currencies moved up to 81.9 by February from 79.6 at the beginning of the year. This made global funds parked in emerging markets to move back to US equities. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index hit a five-year high in February. So, gold lost its mojo. The metal dropped below the USD 1,600/oz mark in February, touching a low of USD 1,575/oz. After the June low, gold market witnessed relative stability, supported by physical buying in China and bets that the Federal Reserve may delay tapering. But gold has been unable to rise significantly as improving US economy dulled its demand. The final blow came with the Fed announcing beginning of the taper on December 18. On December 19, gold hit a low of $1,187.4/ounce — a three-year low.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>The year ahead</strong></span></div> <div> Gold prices can edge little higher in 2014, if there is renewed demand from emerging markets and gold import curbs are lifted in India. But, in the first half, prices may mostly remain weak and see a range-bound movement unless there is a surprise from inflation numbers. If outflows from gold ETFs continue, and physical demand for the metal remains weak, it will be negative for gold and prices can move further down.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-30', 'modified' => '2014-01-06', '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' => 'Gold, once the much-loved asset turned the most unloved investment tool in 2013 as investors flee from its long-time save haven appeal. This, year the yellow metal took a plunge of nearly 30 per cent, marking the biggest yearly decline since 1981. After 12 years of straight gains, the international bullion market witnessed an unexpected crash in mid-April when gold prices dropped by more than USD 200 in just two days of trading - from USD 1,525/oz to USD 1,321/oz.', 'sortorder' => '2251', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2321', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal And The World News In Brief (23 - 29 December 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>EU Stripped from AAA Credit Rating </strong></span></div> <div> The European Union lost its top credit rating from Standard & Poor’s on Friday, which cited the deteriorating creditworthiness of the bloc’s 28 member nations. S&P cut its long-term rating on the EU to AA+, with a stable outlook, from AAA and maintained its short-term rating at A-1+. The downgrade came after S&P last month lowered its AAA rating on the Netherlands. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Buffett Adds $37 mn a Day to His Fortune in 2013</strong></span></div> <div> American business magnate Warren Buffett made a fortune of about $37 million per day in 2013, according to Wealth-X, making him the billionaire who made the most money this year. With a gain of $12.7 billion in 2013, Buffett’s net worth at the end of the year stands at $59.1 billion. Microsoft Chairman, Bill Gates, added $11.5 billion to his personal fortune in 2013, ending the year with assets totalling $72.6 billion. Gates is also the richest person on the list.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>GSK to Scrap Targets for Sales Reps</strong></span></div> <div> GlaxoSmithKline will no longer reward sales staff based on how many drugs they sell, marking a big shift in the way the pharmaceutical industry deals with doctors. The British drugs giant said that the changes, which will be introduced from next year, come as GSK and other drugs firms face intense scrutiny in China over claims they bribed doctors to use their products.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Indian Markets Readies for Inflation-Link Bonds</strong></span></div> <div> The Indian finance ministry announced the launch of inflation-linked bonds starting from Monday as part of its strategy to wean Indians away from gold by offering them a real rate of return that exceeds consumer price inflation (CPI). The Inflation Indexed National Savings Securities-Cumulative (IINSS-C) bonds will offer investors a return that’s 1.5% more than inflation based on the consumer price index .</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>US Third-quarter Growth Raised to 4.1% </strong></span></div> <div> The US economy grew at its fastest pace in almost two years in the third quarter while business spending was stronger than previously estimated, pointing to some underlying strength that should be sustained. Gross domestic product grew at a 4.1 per cent annual rate instead of the 3.6 per cent pace reported earlier this month, the Commerce Department said in its third estimate on Friday.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-23', 'modified' => '2013-12-23', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The European Union lost its top credit rating from Standard & Poor’s on Friday, which cited the deteriorating creditworthiness of the bloc’s 28 member nations. S&P cut its long-term rating on the EU to AA+, with a stable outlook, from AAA and maintained its short-term rating at A-1+. The downgrade came after S&P last month lowered its AAA rating on the Netherlands.', 'sortorder' => '2167', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2319', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'US Fed Reserve Dilutes Stimulus', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> Federal Reserve officials decided Wednesday to start gradually reducing their massive economic stimulus program. Beginning in January, the Fed will buy $75 billion in bonds each month, down from the $85 billion it had been buying since September 2012.</div> <div> </div> <div> “In light of the cumulative progress toward maximum employment and the improvement in the outlook for labor market conditions, the Committee decided to modestly reduce the pace of its asset purchases,” the Fed said in a statement. The Fed decided to cut back on both types of bond purchases -- mortgage-backed securities and Treasuries -- by $5 billion per month each.The bond-buying program has become so large, it’s expected to push the Fed’s assets to $4 trillion this week -- money the Fed basically created out of thin air. The new cut represents the beginning of a gradual wind-down process which Wall Street has nicknamed “tapering.”</div> <div> </div> <div> But the complete end to Fed stimulus is still probably years away. Fed officials have been stressing lately that tapering does not mean “tightening.” In fact, the Fed extended its commitment to keep short-term interest rates “exceptionally low” until either the unemployment rate falls to around 6.5% or the inflation rate exceeds 2.5% a year. At a press conference immediately following the announcement, Bernanke stressed that the Fed’s actions did not amount to a withdrawal of support for the economy. “Nothing we did today was intended to reduce accommodation,” he said. Most officials expect rates to rise in 2015, despite the fact that inflation will likely still be below the target at that point.</div> <div> </div> <div> Bernanke also explained that the Fed had “enhanced” its forward guidance on keeping interest rates low.</div> <div> </div> <div> “The committee is determined to avoid inflation that is too low, as well as inflation that is too high,” Bernanke said. But rates will remain low for a while, so consumers can still expect to lock in historically cheap rates on mortgages, car or business loans, albeit probably not at the record lows seen earlier this year. Stocks jumped following the announcement, with the Dow gaining 200 points after the news.</div> <div> </div> <div> Traditionally, the Fed has used low interest rates to stimulate the economy in times of stress, but in the most recent financial crisis, it was forced to take unprecedented measures. First, the Fed slashed its key interest rate to near-zero in 2008. Next, in a program known as “quantitative easing,” or QE, the Fed started buying bonds like U.S. Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities in an attempt to lower long-term interest rates too. That second move came in three rounds that have since been nicknamed QE1, QE2 and QE3. Among them, QE3 was the only program that wasn’t given an explicit end-date. Instead, the Fed said it was looking for substantial improvement in the job market.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> <strong style="font-size: 14px;">Little Impact on Nepal</strong></p> </div> <div> In mid-2013 talks about the Fed’s QE tapering had impacted Nepal while rattling the world markets. The US dollar soared to record high levels following Fed’s indication that it will eventually put an end to the flow of cheap money in coming months. Nepal’s economy, which is considered more insulated to international events (due to non-integration in the global market) also suffered from this. Nepali Rupee, which maintains exchange rate-peg with the Indian Rupee, was hardest hit by the QE taper woes. The weakening of INR caused Nepali Rupee to slide historically against the US dollar. The devaluation mainly contributed to Nepal’s fast rising inflation rate and prices of imported good in the local market. The sharp devaluation of NPR initiated a debate, whether NPR should continue its exchange rate-peg with INR. </div> <div> </div> <div> However, the scenario after the Fed’s latest decision looks different compared to the mid-2013. Experts say that QE tapering might have little or no impact on Nepali economy. “Compared to the scenario in May-June, Nepali economy is in more comfortable place,” says Krishna Bahadur Manandhar, former Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank. According to him, the global financial markets seem to have adjusted their fears on QE tapering. The depreciation of Nepali rupee was caused by devaluation of INR against the US dollar. Problems within the Indian economy such as the widening current account deficit (CAD) and trade deficit were blamed as the main factors for currency weakening. Despite various obstacles, India has effectively managed to overcome these problems in recent months. “With measures like hike in gold import duties, India has narrowed CAD and trade deficit,” Manandhar said adding, “India’s forex reserve has also risen significantly in past seven months.” He opines that these developments help to check the currency devaluation and spillover effects of Indian economy. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-23', 'modified' => '2013-12-23', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Federal Reserve officials decided Wednesday to start gradually reducing their massive economic stimulus program. Beginning in January, the Fed will buy $75 billion in bonds each month, down from the $85 billion it had been buying since September 2012.', 'sortorder' => '2165', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2270', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal Edges Up In Energy Ranking', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal has marked a slight improvement in the use and development of modern energy resources, a latest report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) shows. According to the Global Energy Architecture Performance Index (EAPI) 2014, Nepal ranked 103rd out of in the index. The Geneva-based organisation in collaboration with Irish multinational firm Accenture accessed energy systems of 124 countries around the world to prepare the report. Nepal received a total score of 0.42 (out of one) in the index which is measured through three sub-indices -- Economic Growth and Development basket, Environmental Sustainability basket and Energy Access and Security basket. Last year Nepal with a score of 0.39 ranked 101st out of 105 countries in the index. Neighboring India and China were placed at 69th and 85th position, respectively. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka and Pakistan were ranked at 70th and 96th position. In the South Asia region, Nepal was only ahead of Bangladesh (114th). </div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal scored 0.31 in the Economic Growth and Development Basket which measures GDP per unit of energy use, fuel imports/exports and electricity prices for industry. According to the WEF report, Nepal’s GDP per unit of energy is priced at USD 3.66. Whereas, fuel imports of the country accounted 6 per cent of the GDP in 2013. Nepal fared particularly well in Environmental Sustainability basket with a score of 0.63. India scored 0.41 and China achieved 0.35 in the sub-index. The sub-index reveals the rising trend of the use of alternative energy sources such as the biomass in Nepal. WEF reported that the use of alternative energy in the country increased by 87 per cent in 2013 compared to last year. Meanwhile, use of alternative energy sources in India rose just by 28 per cent. Nepal’s pollution level was also seen lower as it scored 27 in PM10, country level (micrograms per cubic meter) sub-index. In India, the PM10 level was recorded 52. Similarly, the air pollution marred China received 59 in the sub-index. </div> <div> </div> <div> In the Energy Access and Security basket, Nepal performed lower with a score of 0.33. According to the sub-index, 82 per cent of the Nepalis rely on solid fuels (timber, animal dung and coal etc.) for cooking purposes. However, electrification rate in the country was recorded higher at 76 per cent. India’s electrification rate was 75 per cent in the sub-index. China’s electrification rate, meanwhile, was seen at staggering 100 per cent. The EAPI 2014 revealed the poor state of energy security and access in Nepal. It further stressed that the country need to speed up its energy development projects and deploy effective energy management policies to ramp up the efforts. The Report finds that many developing countries still struggle to supply citizens with basic energy needs, providing electricity to less than 50 per cent of their total population. It also highlights the over-dependence of many energy systems, with 32 per cent of countries dependent on imports to meet more than half of their energy needs.</div> <div> </div> <div> Norway was the top listed country in the index followed by New Zealand, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Colombia, Spain, Costa Rica and Latvia. The world’s industrial giants, United States and Japan were ranked 37th and 38th respectively. Cambodia (120th), Tanzania (121st), Benin (122nd), Lebanon (123rd) and Yemen (124th) were the bottom ranking countries in the index.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-16', 'modified' => '2013-12-23', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal has marked a slight improvement in the use and development of modern energy resources, a latest report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) shows. According to the Global Energy Architecture Performance Index (EAPI) 2014, Nepal ranked 103rd out of in the index. The Geneva-based organisation in collaboration with Irish multinational firm Accenture accessed energy systems of 124 countries around the world to prepare the report. Nepal received a total score of 0.42 (out of one) in the index which is measured through three sub-indices', 'sortorder' => '2160', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2229', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Corruption Perception Index 2013: Nepal Sees Decline In Corruption Level', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal has experienced a significant downfall in corruption in 2013. Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2013, placed Nepal in 116th position out of 177 countries. Nepal achieved ascore of 31on a scale of 0-100, while 0 indicating the most corrupted and 100 indicating no corruption. Last year, Nepal ranked 139th with a score of 27.</div> <div> </div> <div> The Berlin-based global anti-corruption watchdog reported alertness of the Commission of Investigation on Abuse of Authority (CIAA) and a slew of actions takenon related cases as factors contributing to decline in corruption. Countries achieving a score less than 50 points have been listed as the most corrupt. TI prepared the report in co-operation with Bertelsmann Foundation, The World Bank, World Economic Forum, Global Justice Project and Global Insight. </div> <div> </div> <div> The report also mentions that around 40 percent Nepali have given bribe atleast once in their lifetime. Similarly, 80 percent of Nepali confessed that it is much easier to get work done in government organisations if there is someone of their acquaintance. Likewise, most Nepali also admitted that political parties are the most corrupted ones in the nation. Meanwhile, Nepal’s neighbours, India and China are placed at 94th and 80th positions respectively. Bhutan was seen as the cleanest country in the South Asia region (31st position) with a score of 63. Likewise, Sri Lanka achieved 91st position whereas corruption level in Pakistan (127th) and Bangladesh (136th) was seen relatively high. Afghanistan (175th)was declared the most corrupt nation in the South Asia with a score of 8. </div> <div> </div> <div> This year’s CPI figured that 69 percent of the world’s countries are seriously corrupt. Regionally, Eastern Europe and Central Asia ranked the worst, Western Europe and the European Union (EU) the best. The report declares Denmark and New Zealand to be the most clean countries, both sharing a score of 91 points. Similarly, Finland and Sweden stand in the third position with a score of 89 points whereas Norway and Singapore share the 5th position in the ranking with a score of 86 points.</div> <div> </div> <div> According to the report, the most corrupt countries are: North Korea, Somalia and Afghanistan with all three nations sharing the highest spot of 175th position in the index. TI reported that 66 percent of the countries in the North and South American Region are seriously corrupt. Similarly, 64 percent of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region are most corrupt.Likewise, 95 per cent of the EU countries (including the Eastern and Western Europe) and 23 per cent nations of Central Asia were labeled as seriously corrupt. Also, 84 per cent of the countries in Middle East and North Africa region and 90 per cent of Sub- Saharan African nations fell into the category of seriously corrupt countries.” The need for greater accountability is clear, and leaders cannot look the other way. But recognizing the problems is only the first step- governments need to turn pledges into actions,” states the report.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-09', 'modified' => '2013-12-17', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal has experienced a significant downfall in corruption in 2013. Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2013, placed Nepal in 116th position out of 177 countries. Nepal achieved ascore of 31on a scale of 0-100, while 0 indicating the most corrupted and 100 indicating no corruption. Last year, Nepal ranked 139th with a score of 27.', 'sortorder' => '2108', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2191', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'South Asia Leads World In Suffering', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <span style="font-size: 12px;">S</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">uffering, on average, has increased worldwide in the past several years, and nowhere more than in South Asia, a latest Gallop worldwide poll shows. According to a report published by the US-based opinion poll agency on 26th November, Tuesday, one in seven adults worldwide rated their lives poorly enough to be considered suffering in 2012. ‘South Asia led the world in suffering at 24%, followed by 21% in the Balkans and the Middle East and North Africa. South Asia clearly registers the biggest increase in suffering during this period and because of its large population, it is mostly responsible for the worldwide uptick. Suffering in the region has increased enormously since the beginning of the global financial and economic crisis, averaging 12% between 2006 and 2008, and 22% between 2010 and 2012.” states the report. The agency said that comparing average suffering for 2006-2008 with the average for 2010-2012, suffering increased by three percentage points worldwide. </span></div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>India Mainly Drives Deterioration of Well-Being in South Asia</strong></span></div> <div> According to the Gallop report, the massive increase in suffering among South Asians is largely attributable to negative developments in India, the region’s giant. Average suffering in India more than doubled between 2006 to 2008 and 2010 to 2012. In 2012, a full quarter of Indians were suffering. “The significant deterioration in Indians’ well-being is likely to be rooted in the country’s disappointing economic performance,” says the report. India’s growth rate has now sunk from 9.4% in the first quarter of 2010 to 4.4% in the second quarter of 2013, the worst quarterly rate since 2002.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> <strong style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size:16px;">Nepal no Better</span></strong></p> </div> <div> India’s northern neighbor Nepal has fared no better, said the report adding that average suffering there increased by 17 percentage points between 2006-2008 and 2010-2012. “Yet because of its relatively small population, the increase in suffering had a negligible effect on the regional average. Since Nepal abolished the monarchy five years ago, the country has been mired in a political crisis that has paralysed the economy,” Gallop said. </div> <div> </div> <div> Other big increases in suffering in recent years have been registered in Armenia (+17 points) and Greece (+13 points). Greece’s economic collapse, record unemployment, and drastic austerity measures contributed to suffering reaching 26% in 2012. Gallup’s trend data clearly show Armenians souring in recent years on issues such as their standard of living, and rising frustration with their leaders.</div> <div> </div> <div> Most countries with the biggest decreases in suffering, comparing the three-year average from 2006 to 2008 with that from 2010 to 2012, are from Sub-Saharan Africa. Suffering in Zimbabwe has decreased by as much as 38 percentage points. “After years of hyperinflation, the Zimbabwean government finally abandoned the country’s currency in 2009. As a result, the economy started growing again, improving the lives of many Zimbabweans,” states the report. Similarly, Latin America and the Caribbean also defied the global trend. Between 2010 and 2012, residents of the region were on average less likely to be suffering than they were before the outbreak of the global economic crisis.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-02', 'modified' => '2013-12-02', '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' => 'Suffering, on average, has increased worldwide in the past several years, and nowhere more than in South Asia, a latest Gallop worldwide poll shows. 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Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2726', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal Vying For 4.5% GDP Growth In 2014: ADB', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth will rise to 4.5 per cent this fiscal year, a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report has projected. “The positive political outlook, expected increase in agriculture production following a favorable monsoon, modest improvement in capital expenditure following the timely full FY 2014 budget, and a strong services sector performance supported by remittance income are expected to boost gross domestic product (GDP) growth (at basic prices) to 4.5 per cent in FY 2014, up from 3.6 per cent in FY 2013,” the Manila-based regional development bank in its latest macroeconomic update for Nepal informed. </div> <div> </div> <div> The bank, however, mentioned that the forecast is lower than the government’s projection of 5.5 per cent GDP growth due to less than expected increase in capital spending and a slightly lower services sector. “Despite the timely full budget, expenditure performance was not satisfactory in the first half of FY 2014. Of the total planned expenditure of Rs 517.2 billion, only 30.3 per cent was spent largely due to the lower than expected capital spending. The slow pace of spending so far indicates that the capital budget will likely continue to be under spent as in the previous years,” the report noted. “In addition to the improvements in agriculture production, both domestic and foreign investment commitments increased remarkably in the first half of FY 2014.” </div> <div> </div> <div> The bank said that there is an urgent need to ramp up both the quantum and quality of capital spending as it not only ‘crowds in’ private investments, but also helps create the foundations for the lackluster growth to take off on an employment-centric, high, inclusive and sustainable growth path.</div> <div> </div> <div> According to the report, Nepal may not meet its yearly revenue target this year due to the depreciation of the Nepali rupee against the US dollar which is slowing down import demand in the country. “Even though the Rs 163.4 billion revenue mobilized in the first half of FY 2014 is 21.5 per cent is higher than the revenue mobilized in the corresponding period in FY 2013, it still is lower than the half-year target set for this fiscal year,” it said. </div> <div> </div> <div> Similarly, the bank forecasted the inflation rate to stand at 10 per cent in FY 2014, higher than the government’s target of 8.5 per cent. “Despite the expected improvement in agriculture harvest, the wage pressures, the persistently high price level in India, the rise in administered fuel prices, lower interest rates, the persistently weak Nepali rupee and the supply-side constraints, average annual consumer price index (CPI) inflation in FY 2014 is forecast at 10 per cent,” ADB mentioned. The bank informed that inflation averaged 9.1 per cent in the first half of FY 2014, down from 10.7 per cent in the corresponding period in FY 2013. The decline in prices is mainly driven by the sharp slowdown in non-food and services prices. However, the persistence of the high inflation level is supported by rising food and beverage prices, which averaged 11.5 per cent in the first half of FY 2014 against 9.8 per cent during the same period in FY 2013, the report notes.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-03-09', 'modified' => '2014-03-24', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth will rise to 4.5 per cent this fiscal year, a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report has projected. “The positive political outlook, expected increase in agriculture production following a favorable monsoon, modest improvement in capital expenditure following the timely full FY 2014 budget, and a strong services sector performance supported by remittance income are expected to boost gross domestic product (GDP) growth (at basic prices) to 4.5 per cent in FY 2014, up from 3.6 per cent in FY 2013,” the Manila-based regional development bank in its latest macroeconomic update for Nepal informed.', 'sortorder' => '2606', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2687', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal Climbs Four Spots Up In GRI', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Sanjeev Sharma</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Retirement security of Nepali workers is seen improving as retired public and private sector employees are receiving more benefits, a latest global report shows. The 2014 Global Retirement Index (GRI), ranked Nepal 114th, up four spots from 118th in 2013. The report published by Paris-based Natixis Global Asset Management, the world’s 13th largest asset management company with USD 392.96 in assets, finds Nepal’s performance improving, though slowly, over the past year. The report ranks 150 countries based on four broad factors such as health care, finances, economic well-being and quality of life. Nepal’s achieved an overall score of 40 per cent in the index, which was 39 per cent last year. </div> <div> </div> <div> The country scored 35 per cent and 39 per cent in sub-indices of health and finances in retirement respectively. In the finances in retirement sub-index, Nepal scored 39 per cent falling eight spots to 148th from 140 in 2013. Similarly, the country also poorly performed in quality of life sub-index where it scored 39 per cent and ranked 132nd, down 5 spots from last year’s 127th. However, Nepal comparatively fared well in material well-being sub-index with a score of 47 per cent. </div> <div> </div> <div> The country’s southern and northern neighbours, India and China, meanwhile ranked 104th and 69th respectively. India’s position declined three spots in the index, whereas, China climbed upfour spots. The report pointed India as the worst performing nation among BRIC nationthis year. “The main upset being its performance in the finances in retirement sub-index where it dropped from 20th to 128th place,” Natixis said in the report. “In addition it continues its mediocre performance in the health and quality of life sub-indices.” </div> <div> </div> <div> Sri Lanka was the highest ranking South Asian nation with 86th position in 2014 GRI, climbing 5 spots from 91th in 2013. Bangladesh and Pakistan also climbed higher in the index with 105th and 102nd spots respectively. Last year, Bangladesh ranked 112th, whereas, Pakistan was placed at 107th. </div> <div> </div> <div> European countries took eight of the top 10 spots, buoyed by strong social programs for older citizens. Switzerland claimed the top spot pushing Norway to second place in 2014 GRI. Austria, Sweden, Australia, Denmark, Germany, Finland, New Zealand and Luxembourg occupied the remaining top 10 spots. United States, meanwhile, remained unchanged from last year’s 19th position. United Kingdom climbed to 18th spot from 20 in 2013. Japan was seen as the worst performer among developed nations. The country dropped 12 spots to 27th in the index. Despite the domination of European countries, the report warns that the long-term financial security of retirees in developed economies is under pressure. “Ageing populations and increasing high old-age dependency ratios, a historically prolonged period of low interest rates and high levels of sovereign debt are testing the resilience of retirement systems and fuelling uncertainty,” it said. African countries Togo, Burindi, Niger, Comoros and Zimbabwe occupied the bottom five spots in the index.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-03-03', 'modified' => '2014-03-10', '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' => 'Retirement security of Nepali workers is seen improving as retired public and private sector employees are receiving more benefits, a latest global report shows. The 2014 Global Retirement Index (GRI), ranked Nepal 114th, up four spots from 118th in 2013.', 'sortorder' => '2570', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2657', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Report Stresses Need For Bold Moves Toward Gender Equality At Work', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<p> </p> <p> A new report by the World Bank Group stresses the need for bold, coordinated actions to advance equal opportunities for women in the world of work, such as addressing gender biases early, expanding women’s access to property and finance, and raising legal retirement ages— with major payoffs in tackling poverty.<br /> <br /> By virtually every global measure, women are more economically excluded than men, according to ‘Gender at Work.’ “Trends suggest women’s labor force participation worldwide over the last two decades has stagnated, dropping from 57 to 55 percent globally. This is despite accumulating evidence that jobs benefit women, families, businesses, and communities,” the report informs.<br /> <br /> The report says since women face multiple constraints to jobs, starting early and extending throughout their lives, progressive, broad-based, and coordinated policy action is needed to close gender gaps. A companion to the 2013 World Development Report on jobs, it says options should include mainstreaming gender equality into jobs and growth strategies, reforming legal systems, and engaging the private sector in innovative solutions to promote gender equality.<br /> <br /> It also says social norms can exacerbate the deprivation and constraints women face. Nearly four in 10 people globally—close to one half in developing countries—agree that when jobs are scarce, men are more entitled to them than women. Common constraints faced by the most disadvantaged women include lack of mobility, time, and skills, exposure to violence, and the absence of basic legal rights.<br /> <br /> In Latin America and the Caribbean, women’s labor force participation has risen by 35 percent since 1990. Analysis by the World Bank Group has found that in 2010, extreme poverty would have been 30 percent higher and average income inequality 28 percent higher, were it not for women’s increased income through increased labor earnings, access to pensions, and labor force participation from 2000-2010.<br /> <br /> Country-level diagnostics are vital to help governments in determining the best policies and more involvement by the private sector—by far the largest source of jobs—is critical, the report says. The private sector can lead the way by creating family-friendly working environment and policies, attracting women into non-traditional roles and sectors, and reviewing human resource policies and systems for addressing discrimination and harassment, the report suggests. Accordingly, it said that more investment is needed to fill major gaps in data and knowledge.<br /> <br /> To advance gender equality at work, the report recommends governments target actions that cover a woman’s life cycle—saying interventions that focus only on women of productive age start too late and end too early. Biases can begin very early in life, sometimes in subtle ways, making it ultimately difficult and costly to resolve inequality.<br /> <br /> The report warns that ageing populations in the developing world will become increasingly important for governments to consider. Through 2050, the old-age dependency ratio in developing countries is expected to soar by 144 percent, during which time the child dependency ratio is projected to fall by 20 percent, altering the nature of the care burden in families and societies.</p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-23', 'modified' => '2014-03-03', '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' => 'A new report by the World Bank Group stresses the need for bold, coordinated actions to advance equal opportunities for women in the world of work, such as addressing gender biases early, expanding women’s access to property and finance, and raising legal retirement ages— with major payoffs in tackling poverty.', 'sortorder' => '2532', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2591', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal Among Top 20 Fragile LDC ODA Recipients', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Sanjeev Sharma</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal is among the world’s top 20 fragile countries to receive official development assistance (ODA) from multilateral and bilateral donors, according to a new OECD report. The report entitled ‘Fragile States 2014: Domestic Revenue Mobilisation’ informs that Nepal received USD 892 million in ODA in 2011. The report prepared by OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) totalled the country’s net ODA atUSD 8.17 billion from 2000-2011. ODA per capita in Nepal was recorded at USD 29 in 2011.</div> <div> </div> <div> The report has characterised 51 countries (both LDCs and non-LDCs) as the fragile states that are unable to meet their population’s expectations or manage changes in expectations and capacity through the political process. According to OECD, ODA to fragile states declined to USD 53.40 billion in 2011 from record high of USD 67.35 billion in 2005. “Aid has declined by 2.4 per cent in 2011 and will continue its downward trend,” says the report.”Meanwhile, the share of the world’s poor found in fragile states is set to rise to a half by 2018.”</div> <div> </div> <div> These countries saw a total inflow of ODA at USD 547.19 billion from 2000-2011. Among 51 countries, Afghanistan was the highest recipient, receiving net ODA of USD 45.43 billion from 2000-2011. The war-ravaged country saw significant increase in foreign financial and technical assistance after the fall of Taliban regime in 2001. Pakistan also received note worthy amount of ODA over the last decade with USD 28.51 billion being allocated to it. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, meanwhile, acknowledged net ODA of USD 19.76 billion and USD 9.02 billion respectively. OECD listed Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Kenya as the top five fragile ODA recipients in 2011. Similarly, the global economic body noted United States, European Union, International Development Association (IDA), United Kingdom and Japan as the top five ODA providers to fragile states in 2011. </div> <div> </div> <div> The report informed that Nepal received a net country programmable aid (CPA) of USD 10.25 billion from 2000-2013. Similarly, OECD’s outlook projected that the country will receive USD 3.08 billion in CPA during 2014-2016. However, aid inflow in Nepal is seen fluctuating as the country witnessed a 5 per cent decline in CPA in 2010-2011. In 2008-2009 Nepal observed a sharp rise in CPA by 32 per cent followed by a 1 per cent increase in 2009-2010.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>“Donors doing too little to strengthen domestic revenues in fragile states”</strong></span></div> <div> The report warns international donors that they are not doing enough to help fragile states increase their domestic revenue stating that only a tiny fraction of development aid goes into programmes aimed at improving tax collection. The report finds that just 0.07 per cent of ODA to fragile states is directed towards building accountable tax systems. “Donors pledged as far back as 2002 to make it a priority to help poor countries mobilise more domestic revenues. Yet fragile states still collect less than 14 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) in taxes on average, well below the 20 per cent level considered necessary to meet poverty goals,” states the report. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to the report, Afghanistan has received by far the most support in this area, notably from the International Development Association (IDA) for trade facilitation and from the US for public financial management. Haiti and Nepal remained next in line to receive this aid. “Haiti mainly benefitted from US technical assistancefor public financial management, while Korean aid inNepal helped modernise the customs system, and Germany and Denmark supported its revenue and tax administration,” says the report. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-17', 'modified' => '2014-02-21', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal is among the world’s top 20 fragile countries to receive official development assistance (ODA) from multilateral and bilateral donors, according to a new OECD report. The report entitled ‘Fragile States 2014: Domestic Revenue Mobilisation’ informs that Nepal received USD 892 million in ODA in 2011.', 'sortorder' => '2490', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2551', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal Among The Weakest In Securing Property Rights', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal is among the weakest countries in terms of securing property rights, a latest global report shows. According to the International Property Rights Index (IPRI) 2013, published by Washington, DC-based Property Rights Alliance (PRA), Nepal ranked101 among 130 countries in the overall index. Nepal stood at the bottom in Asia region,where the country ranked 15 among 18 Asian countries. </div> <div> </div> <div> The index comprises of three key sub-indexes: Legal and Political Environment, Physical Property Rights and Intellectual Property Rights. The overall grading scale of the IPRI ranges from 0 to 10, where 10 indicates the highest value for a property rights system and 0 the lowest value within a country. Similarly, Nepal also fell among the weakest in securing intellectual property rights. With a score of 4.2 points, Nepal ranks 95 in intellectual property rights sub-index. It also fared poorly in terms of protecting intellectual property rights, patent protection and copyright protection. </div> <div> </div> <div> Likewise, Nepal ranked 113 in legal and political environment sub-indexwith a meagre score of 3.3 points. The country’s performance in judicial independence, rule of law, political stability, and control of corruption were also seen below par in the index, according to the report. </div> <div> </div> <div> However, Nepal performed better in physical property rights sub-index where it scored 6.0 points and ranked 68. In terms of protecting physical property rights the country scored a mediocre 5.0 points. Meanwhile the country performed strongly in registration of physical properties with a score of 9.5 points and achieving 6thspot among 130 countries in the index. </div> <div> </div> <div> The IPRI 2013 has placed Nepal’s southern and northern neighbours - India and China- on 57th position in the index. Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh ranked 76, 118 and 126 respectively. According to the report, Singapore is the highest-ranking Asian country (rank-7, score-8.1 points). Finland, Sweden, New Zealand, Norway, Netherlands and Switzerland dominated the top-five spots whereas, Bangladesh, Libya, Venezuela, Burundi and Haiti were the bottom-five countries in IPRI 2013.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-09', 'modified' => '2014-02-17', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal is among the weakest countries in terms of securing property rights, a latest global report shows. According to the International Property Rights Index (IPRI) 2013, published by Washington, DC-based Property Rights Alliance (PRA), Nepal ranked101 among 130 countries in the overall index. Nepal stood at the bottom in Asia region,where the country ranked 15 among 18 Asian countries.', 'sortorder' => '2431', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2544', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal Ranks Better Than India & Pakistan In Environmental Performance', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By TC correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal has improved its environmental performance in the past decade, a latest report by the Yale University shows. According to the 2014 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), Nepal witnessed a progress of 4.96 per cent from 2000 to 2012, achieving a rank of 139th out of 178 countries. The country’s overall score was 37 with noticeable improvements being marked in agriculture and forest. The index comprises of nine key indicators reflecting the performance of individual countries. The indicators include Health Impact, Air Quality, Water and Sanitation, Water resources, Agriculture, Forests, Fisheries, Biodiversity and Habit and Climate and Energy along with 20 sub-indicators. With a score of 100, Nepal ranked 1st in the world in agriculture subsidy-sub indicator. Similarly, the country also ranked 66th in pesticide regulation with a score of 84. Likewise, Nepal ranked 26th in forests sub-index with score of 63.12.</div> <div> </div> <div> However, in terms of air quality, Nepal performed poorly (ranked at 177), according to the report. Over the past decade, Nepal saw its air quality dropping by 42.75 per cent with all three sub-indicators showing degradation due to rising air pollution. The country’s sub-indicator for household air quality declined 18.18 per cent whereas, average exposure to PM 2.5 air particulate decreased 33.5 per cent and PM 2.5 exceedance changed by 100 per cent over the past decade. </div> <div> </div> <div> In South Asia region, Sri Lanka is the highest ranking country (69), followed by Bhutan (103), Nepal (139), Pakistan (148), India (155) and Bangladesh (169). Afghanistan is the worst performer in the region (174). India ranked much lower than its emerging economies peers like Brazil (77), Russia (73) and South Africa at 72nd position. Meanwhile, China ranked 118th in the index. Switzerland topped the ranking followed by Luxembourg, Australia, Singapore, and Czech Republic. Among countries with the largest economies, Germany ranked the highest in the sixth spot followed by the United Kingdom in 12th, Canada 24th, Japan 26th, France 27th, and the United States in 33rd. In the 2014 EPI, Somalia was the poorest performer (178) accompanied by Mali (177), Haiti (176), Lesotho (175). </div> <div> </div> <div> The EPI report urged policymakers across the world to introduce and implement effective policies to protect the global environment. “The EPI documents the tangible benefits that arise when policymakers pursue strong environmental performance and the damage that manifests when they do not,” it said. The authors of the report hoped 2014 EPI results would initiate meaningful conversation among countries to understand how they perform on a range of high-priority environmental issues. First published in 2002, EPI was developed from the Pilot Environmental Performance Index, and designed to supplement the environmental targets set forth in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-08', 'modified' => '2014-02-09', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal has improved its environmental performance in the past decade, a latest report by the Yale University shows. According to the 2014 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), Nepal witnessed a progress of 4.96 per cent from 2000 to 2012, achieving a rank of 139th out of 178 countries. The country’s overall score was 37 with noticeable improvements being marked in agriculture and forest.', 'sortorder' => '2394', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2453', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'South Asia To See Decline In Capital Inflow: World Bank', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> South Asia along with other developing regions across the globe may face the risk of declining capital inflow, says a new World Bank report. According to the Global Economic Prospect (GEP) 2014 report, developing nations are vulnerable to the rise in interest rates, which is likely to result in the volatility of capital flow. The global lender pointed to the tapering of quantitative easing (QE) in United States as the main reason for this. In mid-December, Federal Reserve, the US central bank decided to scale back its bond buying programme- from USD 85 billion per month to USD 75 billion per month- amid the country’s improving economic prospects. </div> <div> </div> <div> The Washington-based bank in its report warned that adverse reaction of financial markets to the ending of QE might leave the world’s developing nations starved of capital. “According to simulations, abrupt changes in market expectations, resulting in global bond yields increasing by 100 to 200 basis points within a couple of quarters, could lead to a sharp reduction in capital inflows to developing countries by between 50 and 80 percent for several months,” the bank said in its report. The bank also mentioned that countries with a substantial expansion of domestic credit over the last five years, deteriorating current account balances, high levels of foreign and short-term debt and over-valued exchange rates could be more at risk in current circumstances. </div> <div> </div> <div> The bank said that there would be moderate impact on developing nations if this adjustment happened in an orderly manner. The World Bank expects the global interest rates to rise slowly to reach 3.6 per cent by mid-2016 following an orderly trajectory regarding the process of normalisation of activity and policy in high-income countries. “However, should the adjustment be disorderly, as it was in response to speculation about when a taper might begin during the spring and summer of 2013, interest rates could rise more quickly,” said the report. </div> <div> </div> <div> The report urges developing countries to implement structural reforms that would help raise the capacity of their economies, if they are to regain their pre-crisis growth rates.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Global Growth Picking Up</strong></span></div> <div> The report informed that growth in South Asia expanded at a modest 4.6 percent in 2013, reflecting weakness in India amid high inflation, and current account and government deficits. “Regional growth is projected to improve to 5.7 percent in 2014, rising to 6.7 percent in 2016, led mainly by recovering import demand by high-income economies and regional investment,” says the report. The report, however, said that projected pickup will depend on macroeconomic stability, sustained policy reforms, and progress in reducing supply side constraints. “The main risks to the outlook are fiscal and policy reforms going off-track; uncertainties related to elections in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and India; entrenchment of inflation expectations; and a disorderly adjustment of capital flows in response to US tapering,” it said.</div> <div> </div> <div> The World Bank expects a gradual increase in global growth from this year. According to the report, global growth will pick up from 2.4 per cent in 2013 to 3.2 per cent this year, and to 3.4 per cent in 2015. It believes much of the acceleration will be due to an improvement in economic conditions in high-income countries, where for the first time in five years all three of the main regions – the US, Europe and Japan – will be growing. “Global economic indicators show improvement. But one does not have to be especially astute to see there are dangers that lurk beneath the surface. The Euro Area is out of recession but per capita incomes are still declining in several countries. We expect developing country growth to rise above 5 percent in 2014, with some countries doing considerably better, with Angola at 8 percent, China 7.7 percent, and India at 6.2 percent. But it is important to avoid policy stasis so that the green shoots don’t turn into brown stubble,” said Kaushik Basu, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist at the World Bank.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-20', 'modified' => '2014-01-27', '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' => 'South Asia along with other developing regions across the globe may face the risk of declining capital inflow, says a new World Bank report. According to the Global Economic Prospect (GEP) 2014 report, developing nations are vulnerable to the rise in interest rates, which is likely to result in the volatility of capital flow. The global lender pointed to the tapering of quantitative easing (QE) in United States as the main reason for this. In mid-December, Federal Reserve, the US central bank decided to scale back its bond buying programme- from USD 85 billion per month to USD 75 billion per month- amid the country’s improving economic prospects.', 'sortorder' => '2302', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2411', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'India Alludes To More Liberal FDI Regime In Coming Weeks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> India's Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on 1st January, Wednesday indicated further liberalisation of the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy in the coming weeks.</div> <div> </div> <div> "The government will continue its endeavour for liberalising the FDI policy further in the coming weeks to ensure that India retains its leadership position for attracting foreign investments," Sharma said in a statement.</div> <div> </div> <div> The commerce ministry is working towards allowing FDI in railways and e-commerce. Last year, the government had relaxed FDI norms in sectors including telecom, defence, PSU oil refineries, commodity bourses, power exchanges and stock exchanges.</div> <div> </div> <div> Over a year after India eased FDI norms for multi-brand retail, the first investment proposal came through two weeks ago when British retailer Tesco sought entry into the country's $500 billion retail sector in partnership with Tata's Trent. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board cleared Tesco's $110-million investment plan on December 30. Sharma had indicated last week that there would be more multi-brand retail proposals before the end of the current financial year. "The decisions of the government have resonated with the global community and we have seen results in the last few months," the minister said, adding that India was rated as the most-favoured investment destination destination globally in 2013.</div> <div> </div> <div> The ministry is now working to relax FDI norms in railways and construction activities. FDI in the April-October period stood at $12.6 billion, down 15% from a year ago. Sharma said the coming months would see a greater push for development of industrial corridors and work would begin for establishing newcities along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). The $90-billion DMIC project is aimed at creating mega industrial infrastructure along the Delhi-Mumbai Rail Freight Corridor, which is under implementation. Japan is providing financial and technical aid for the project, which will cover seven states totaling 1,483 km.</div> <div> </div> <div> "I expect that with greater foreign investment and technology collaborations, Indian manufacturing will alsomove up the value chain and acquire greater competitiveness globally," Sharma said. The minister said the country had done reasonably well in exports in the first eight months of the fiscal despite weak demand in traditional markets. "I am sure that in the remaining period of this financial year, exports will show a strong and dynamic growth,"Sharmasaid.</div> <div> </div> <div> In April-November 2013, exports grew by 6.27% to $ 204 billion while imports aggregated $304 billion.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-06', 'modified' => '2014-01-07', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'India's Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on 1st January, Wednesday indicated further liberalisation of the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy in the coming weeks.', 'sortorder' => '2268', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2410', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Obesity Quadruples To Nearly 1 Bn In Developing World', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> The number of overweight and obese adults in the developing world has almost quadrupled to around one billion since 1980, says a report from a UK think tank. The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) said one in three people worldwide was now overweight and urged governments to do more to influence diets. In the UK, 64% of adults are classed as being overweight or obese.</div> <div> </div> <div> The report predicts a “huge increase” in heart attacks, strokes and diabetes. Globally, the percentage of adults who were overweight or obese - classed as having a body mass index greater than 25 - grew from 23% to 34% between 1980 and 2008. The majority of this increase was seen in the developing world, particularly in countries where incomes were rising, such as Egypt and Mexico.</div> <div> </div> <div> The ODI’s Future Diets report says this is due to changing diets and a shift from eating cereals and grains to the consumption of more fats, sugar, oils and animal produce. A total of 904 million people in developing countries are now classed as overweight or above, with a BMI of more than 25, up from 250 million in 1980. This compares to 557 million in high-income countries. Over the same period, the global population nearly doubled.</div> <div> </div> <div> At the same time, however, under-nourishment is still recognised to be a problem for hundreds of millions of people in the developing world, particularly children. Using data published in Population Health Metrics last year, the researchers looked at changing overweight and obesity rates across the regions of the world and by individual country.</div> <div> </div> <div> The regions of North Africa, the Middle East and Latin America saw large increases in overweight and obesity rates to a level on a par with Europe, around 58%. While North America still has the highest percentage of overweight adults at 70%, regions such as Australasia and southern Latin America are now not far behind with 63%.</div> <div> </div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/lt%20(Copy).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 354px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Diet linked to income</strong></span></div> <div> The greatest growth in overweight people occurred in south east Asia, where the percentage tripled from a lower starting point of 7% to 22%. Among individual countries, the report found that overweight and obesity rates had almost doubled in China and Mexico, and risen by a third in South Africa since 1980. Many countries in the Middle East also had a high percentage of overweight adults. One of the report authors, Steve Wiggins, said there were likely to be multiple reasons for the increases.</div> <div> </div> <div> “People with higher incomes have the ability to choose the kind of foods they want. Changes in lifestyle, the increasing availability of processed foods, advertising, media influences... have all led to dietary changes.”</div> <div> </div> <div> The report cites the example of South Korea where efforts to preserve the country’s traditional diet have included public campaigns and large-scale meal preparation training for women.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> <span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Nepal too is Facing Obesity Linked Health Risks</strong></span></p> </div> <div> Though no comprehensive study on obesity in Nepal has been conducted in recent years, some serious health problems related to change in lifestyle and nutrition have emerged among Nepalis. With growing number of patients with diabetes, heart diseases, blood pressure, liver and kidney related problems visiting the doctors on a regular basis, experts are warning about the increasing health hazards especially to the urban population. Obesity is seen as the major contributing factor for these medical conditions. Studies have suggested that obesity in Nepal has risen to 10 per cent in 2006 from 1.6 per cent of 1996. Senior Cardiologist Dr Prakash Raj Regmi sees the change of dietary habits as the main reason. “Rising consumption of foods with low nutritional value but high calorie and trans fat is the major contributor,” opines Regmi who is actively involved in Nepal Heart Foundation. “The change in dietary routine such as less eating in morning meals and high consumption in the evening/night is causing the bellies of people to grow significantly.” He recommends lowering the consumption of diets with high calorie but low nutrition such as rice, potato, sugar and sweets. Similarly, Dr Regmi suggests the government to form a non-communicable disease policy to ensure the safeguarding of health of ordinary citizens. </div> <div> </div> <div> A World Bank report published in 2011 revealed the scale of increasing health risks in South Asia region. The report entitled “Capitalizing on Demographic Transition: Tackling Non-communicable Diseases in South Asia” identified heart diseases as the major factor of death among South Asians of age group 15-69. The report also found that heart problems along with other non-communicable disease account for 60 per cent of the lives lost due to degrading health among Nepalis.</div> <div> </div> <div> As the household income rises, Nepali urban population is more capable in purchasing high calorie foods. Similarly, the changing lifestyle trend of urban youths is another area of concern. “Lack of effective physical activities and stationary lifestyle combined with unhealthy food are contributing to the obesity rise in Nepal,” says Gunja Lal Hirachan, owner of Jasmine Fitness Club and Spa. According to him, Nepali adults over the age of 30 years are not the only victims of this problem. “Now-a-days we are seeing many overweight teenagers, who are possibly facing various health hazards in their young age,” informs Hirachan. “Proper health and physical education, fitness awareness and restrictions in sales of unhealthy food will reduce obesity in youths.”</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-06', 'modified' => '2014-01-20', '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 number of overweight and obese adults in the developing world has almost quadrupled to around one billion since 1980, says a report from a UK think tank. The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) said one in three people worldwide was now overweight and urged governments to do more to influence diets. In the UK, 64% of adults are classed as being overweight or obese.', 'sortorder' => '2253', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2361', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Investors Run Away From Gold In 2013', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Gold, once the much-loved asset turned the most unloved investment tool in 2013 as investors flee from its long-time save haven appeal. This, year the yellow metal took a plunge of nearly 30 per cent, marking the biggest yearly decline since 1981. After 12 years of straight gains, the international bullion market witnessed an unexpected crash in mid-April when gold prices dropped by more than USD 200 in just two days of trading - from USD 1,525/oz to USD 1,321/oz. Triggered by the news that debt-stricken Cyprus is selling some of its reserve to manage its financial bailout, bullion prices tumbled as panic selling hit values of physical as well as paper gold. This was followed by another sharp decline in June when gold price fell to a three-year low of USD 1,180/oz. </div> <div> </div> <div> Outflows from gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have hit a record this year. SPDR Gold Trust — the world’s largest gold ETF has seen its holdings reduce by 546 tonnes — down 40 per cent. Jewellery demand too took a knock. In the September quarter, the World Gold Council reported that global jewellery demand fell 3 per cent to 474.9 tonnes. Steep decline of demand in India, the world’s second largest gold consumer contributed to this. This year, Indian government tightened gold imports to curb rising trade deficit and current account deficit which are seen as major areas of concern to dampen the already sluggish economic growth of </div> <div> the country. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Reasons for Gold Price Decline</strong></span></div> <div> Gold reached to its all-time high (USD 1920/oz) in September 2011, when Standard & Poor’s (S & P) downgraded the ‘AAA’ credit rating of United States by one notch to ‘AA+’ amid the budget showdown in the US Congress. The expanding Eurozone debt crisis, slowdown in developing countries, fears of inflation and worries of global recession largely helped gold prices to climb up. However, as the global economic recovery unwinds at a faster pace, interest of investors began a shift towards stocks. </div> <div> </div> <div> US equities made a strong come back this year. Improving job market conditions pick up in the manufacturing sector, rising property prices and increased consumer confidence, built optimism about equity investments. The dollar too strengthened.</div> <div> </div> <div> The dollar index which measures performance of the greenback against six major currencies moved up to 81.9 by February from 79.6 at the beginning of the year. This made global funds parked in emerging markets to move back to US equities. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index hit a five-year high in February. So, gold lost its mojo. The metal dropped below the USD 1,600/oz mark in February, touching a low of USD 1,575/oz. After the June low, gold market witnessed relative stability, supported by physical buying in China and bets that the Federal Reserve may delay tapering. But gold has been unable to rise significantly as improving US economy dulled its demand. The final blow came with the Fed announcing beginning of the taper on December 18. On December 19, gold hit a low of $1,187.4/ounce — a three-year low.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>The year ahead</strong></span></div> <div> Gold prices can edge little higher in 2014, if there is renewed demand from emerging markets and gold import curbs are lifted in India. But, in the first half, prices may mostly remain weak and see a range-bound movement unless there is a surprise from inflation numbers. If outflows from gold ETFs continue, and physical demand for the metal remains weak, it will be negative for gold and prices can move further down.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-30', 'modified' => '2014-01-06', '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' => 'Gold, once the much-loved asset turned the most unloved investment tool in 2013 as investors flee from its long-time save haven appeal. This, year the yellow metal took a plunge of nearly 30 per cent, marking the biggest yearly decline since 1981. After 12 years of straight gains, the international bullion market witnessed an unexpected crash in mid-April when gold prices dropped by more than USD 200 in just two days of trading - from USD 1,525/oz to USD 1,321/oz.', 'sortorder' => '2251', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2321', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal And The World News In Brief (23 - 29 December 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>EU Stripped from AAA Credit Rating </strong></span></div> <div> The European Union lost its top credit rating from Standard & Poor’s on Friday, which cited the deteriorating creditworthiness of the bloc’s 28 member nations. S&P cut its long-term rating on the EU to AA+, with a stable outlook, from AAA and maintained its short-term rating at A-1+. The downgrade came after S&P last month lowered its AAA rating on the Netherlands. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Buffett Adds $37 mn a Day to His Fortune in 2013</strong></span></div> <div> American business magnate Warren Buffett made a fortune of about $37 million per day in 2013, according to Wealth-X, making him the billionaire who made the most money this year. With a gain of $12.7 billion in 2013, Buffett’s net worth at the end of the year stands at $59.1 billion. Microsoft Chairman, Bill Gates, added $11.5 billion to his personal fortune in 2013, ending the year with assets totalling $72.6 billion. Gates is also the richest person on the list.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>GSK to Scrap Targets for Sales Reps</strong></span></div> <div> GlaxoSmithKline will no longer reward sales staff based on how many drugs they sell, marking a big shift in the way the pharmaceutical industry deals with doctors. The British drugs giant said that the changes, which will be introduced from next year, come as GSK and other drugs firms face intense scrutiny in China over claims they bribed doctors to use their products.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Indian Markets Readies for Inflation-Link Bonds</strong></span></div> <div> The Indian finance ministry announced the launch of inflation-linked bonds starting from Monday as part of its strategy to wean Indians away from gold by offering them a real rate of return that exceeds consumer price inflation (CPI). The Inflation Indexed National Savings Securities-Cumulative (IINSS-C) bonds will offer investors a return that’s 1.5% more than inflation based on the consumer price index .</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>US Third-quarter Growth Raised to 4.1% </strong></span></div> <div> The US economy grew at its fastest pace in almost two years in the third quarter while business spending was stronger than previously estimated, pointing to some underlying strength that should be sustained. Gross domestic product grew at a 4.1 per cent annual rate instead of the 3.6 per cent pace reported earlier this month, the Commerce Department said in its third estimate on Friday.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-23', 'modified' => '2013-12-23', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The European Union lost its top credit rating from Standard & Poor’s on Friday, which cited the deteriorating creditworthiness of the bloc’s 28 member nations. S&P cut its long-term rating on the EU to AA+, with a stable outlook, from AAA and maintained its short-term rating at A-1+. The downgrade came after S&P last month lowered its AAA rating on the Netherlands.', 'sortorder' => '2167', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2319', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'US Fed Reserve Dilutes Stimulus', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> Federal Reserve officials decided Wednesday to start gradually reducing their massive economic stimulus program. Beginning in January, the Fed will buy $75 billion in bonds each month, down from the $85 billion it had been buying since September 2012.</div> <div> </div> <div> “In light of the cumulative progress toward maximum employment and the improvement in the outlook for labor market conditions, the Committee decided to modestly reduce the pace of its asset purchases,” the Fed said in a statement. The Fed decided to cut back on both types of bond purchases -- mortgage-backed securities and Treasuries -- by $5 billion per month each.The bond-buying program has become so large, it’s expected to push the Fed’s assets to $4 trillion this week -- money the Fed basically created out of thin air. The new cut represents the beginning of a gradual wind-down process which Wall Street has nicknamed “tapering.”</div> <div> </div> <div> But the complete end to Fed stimulus is still probably years away. Fed officials have been stressing lately that tapering does not mean “tightening.” In fact, the Fed extended its commitment to keep short-term interest rates “exceptionally low” until either the unemployment rate falls to around 6.5% or the inflation rate exceeds 2.5% a year. At a press conference immediately following the announcement, Bernanke stressed that the Fed’s actions did not amount to a withdrawal of support for the economy. “Nothing we did today was intended to reduce accommodation,” he said. Most officials expect rates to rise in 2015, despite the fact that inflation will likely still be below the target at that point.</div> <div> </div> <div> Bernanke also explained that the Fed had “enhanced” its forward guidance on keeping interest rates low.</div> <div> </div> <div> “The committee is determined to avoid inflation that is too low, as well as inflation that is too high,” Bernanke said. But rates will remain low for a while, so consumers can still expect to lock in historically cheap rates on mortgages, car or business loans, albeit probably not at the record lows seen earlier this year. Stocks jumped following the announcement, with the Dow gaining 200 points after the news.</div> <div> </div> <div> Traditionally, the Fed has used low interest rates to stimulate the economy in times of stress, but in the most recent financial crisis, it was forced to take unprecedented measures. First, the Fed slashed its key interest rate to near-zero in 2008. Next, in a program known as “quantitative easing,” or QE, the Fed started buying bonds like U.S. Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities in an attempt to lower long-term interest rates too. That second move came in three rounds that have since been nicknamed QE1, QE2 and QE3. Among them, QE3 was the only program that wasn’t given an explicit end-date. Instead, the Fed said it was looking for substantial improvement in the job market.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> <strong style="font-size: 14px;">Little Impact on Nepal</strong></p> </div> <div> In mid-2013 talks about the Fed’s QE tapering had impacted Nepal while rattling the world markets. The US dollar soared to record high levels following Fed’s indication that it will eventually put an end to the flow of cheap money in coming months. Nepal’s economy, which is considered more insulated to international events (due to non-integration in the global market) also suffered from this. Nepali Rupee, which maintains exchange rate-peg with the Indian Rupee, was hardest hit by the QE taper woes. The weakening of INR caused Nepali Rupee to slide historically against the US dollar. The devaluation mainly contributed to Nepal’s fast rising inflation rate and prices of imported good in the local market. The sharp devaluation of NPR initiated a debate, whether NPR should continue its exchange rate-peg with INR. </div> <div> </div> <div> However, the scenario after the Fed’s latest decision looks different compared to the mid-2013. Experts say that QE tapering might have little or no impact on Nepali economy. “Compared to the scenario in May-June, Nepali economy is in more comfortable place,” says Krishna Bahadur Manandhar, former Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank. According to him, the global financial markets seem to have adjusted their fears on QE tapering. The depreciation of Nepali rupee was caused by devaluation of INR against the US dollar. Problems within the Indian economy such as the widening current account deficit (CAD) and trade deficit were blamed as the main factors for currency weakening. Despite various obstacles, India has effectively managed to overcome these problems in recent months. “With measures like hike in gold import duties, India has narrowed CAD and trade deficit,” Manandhar said adding, “India’s forex reserve has also risen significantly in past seven months.” He opines that these developments help to check the currency devaluation and spillover effects of Indian economy. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-23', 'modified' => '2013-12-23', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Federal Reserve officials decided Wednesday to start gradually reducing their massive economic stimulus program. Beginning in January, the Fed will buy $75 billion in bonds each month, down from the $85 billion it had been buying since September 2012.', 'sortorder' => '2165', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2270', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal Edges Up In Energy Ranking', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal has marked a slight improvement in the use and development of modern energy resources, a latest report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) shows. According to the Global Energy Architecture Performance Index (EAPI) 2014, Nepal ranked 103rd out of in the index. The Geneva-based organisation in collaboration with Irish multinational firm Accenture accessed energy systems of 124 countries around the world to prepare the report. Nepal received a total score of 0.42 (out of one) in the index which is measured through three sub-indices -- Economic Growth and Development basket, Environmental Sustainability basket and Energy Access and Security basket. Last year Nepal with a score of 0.39 ranked 101st out of 105 countries in the index. Neighboring India and China were placed at 69th and 85th position, respectively. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka and Pakistan were ranked at 70th and 96th position. In the South Asia region, Nepal was only ahead of Bangladesh (114th). </div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal scored 0.31 in the Economic Growth and Development Basket which measures GDP per unit of energy use, fuel imports/exports and electricity prices for industry. According to the WEF report, Nepal’s GDP per unit of energy is priced at USD 3.66. Whereas, fuel imports of the country accounted 6 per cent of the GDP in 2013. Nepal fared particularly well in Environmental Sustainability basket with a score of 0.63. India scored 0.41 and China achieved 0.35 in the sub-index. The sub-index reveals the rising trend of the use of alternative energy sources such as the biomass in Nepal. WEF reported that the use of alternative energy in the country increased by 87 per cent in 2013 compared to last year. Meanwhile, use of alternative energy sources in India rose just by 28 per cent. Nepal’s pollution level was also seen lower as it scored 27 in PM10, country level (micrograms per cubic meter) sub-index. In India, the PM10 level was recorded 52. Similarly, the air pollution marred China received 59 in the sub-index. </div> <div> </div> <div> In the Energy Access and Security basket, Nepal performed lower with a score of 0.33. According to the sub-index, 82 per cent of the Nepalis rely on solid fuels (timber, animal dung and coal etc.) for cooking purposes. However, electrification rate in the country was recorded higher at 76 per cent. India’s electrification rate was 75 per cent in the sub-index. China’s electrification rate, meanwhile, was seen at staggering 100 per cent. The EAPI 2014 revealed the poor state of energy security and access in Nepal. It further stressed that the country need to speed up its energy development projects and deploy effective energy management policies to ramp up the efforts. The Report finds that many developing countries still struggle to supply citizens with basic energy needs, providing electricity to less than 50 per cent of their total population. It also highlights the over-dependence of many energy systems, with 32 per cent of countries dependent on imports to meet more than half of their energy needs.</div> <div> </div> <div> Norway was the top listed country in the index followed by New Zealand, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Colombia, Spain, Costa Rica and Latvia. The world’s industrial giants, United States and Japan were ranked 37th and 38th respectively. Cambodia (120th), Tanzania (121st), Benin (122nd), Lebanon (123rd) and Yemen (124th) were the bottom ranking countries in the index.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-16', 'modified' => '2013-12-23', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal has marked a slight improvement in the use and development of modern energy resources, a latest report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) shows. According to the Global Energy Architecture Performance Index (EAPI) 2014, Nepal ranked 103rd out of in the index. The Geneva-based organisation in collaboration with Irish multinational firm Accenture accessed energy systems of 124 countries around the world to prepare the report. Nepal received a total score of 0.42 (out of one) in the index which is measured through three sub-indices', 'sortorder' => '2160', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2229', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Corruption Perception Index 2013: Nepal Sees Decline In Corruption Level', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal has experienced a significant downfall in corruption in 2013. Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2013, placed Nepal in 116th position out of 177 countries. Nepal achieved ascore of 31on a scale of 0-100, while 0 indicating the most corrupted and 100 indicating no corruption. Last year, Nepal ranked 139th with a score of 27.</div> <div> </div> <div> The Berlin-based global anti-corruption watchdog reported alertness of the Commission of Investigation on Abuse of Authority (CIAA) and a slew of actions takenon related cases as factors contributing to decline in corruption. Countries achieving a score less than 50 points have been listed as the most corrupt. TI prepared the report in co-operation with Bertelsmann Foundation, The World Bank, World Economic Forum, Global Justice Project and Global Insight. </div> <div> </div> <div> The report also mentions that around 40 percent Nepali have given bribe atleast once in their lifetime. Similarly, 80 percent of Nepali confessed that it is much easier to get work done in government organisations if there is someone of their acquaintance. Likewise, most Nepali also admitted that political parties are the most corrupted ones in the nation. Meanwhile, Nepal’s neighbours, India and China are placed at 94th and 80th positions respectively. Bhutan was seen as the cleanest country in the South Asia region (31st position) with a score of 63. Likewise, Sri Lanka achieved 91st position whereas corruption level in Pakistan (127th) and Bangladesh (136th) was seen relatively high. Afghanistan (175th)was declared the most corrupt nation in the South Asia with a score of 8. </div> <div> </div> <div> This year’s CPI figured that 69 percent of the world’s countries are seriously corrupt. Regionally, Eastern Europe and Central Asia ranked the worst, Western Europe and the European Union (EU) the best. The report declares Denmark and New Zealand to be the most clean countries, both sharing a score of 91 points. Similarly, Finland and Sweden stand in the third position with a score of 89 points whereas Norway and Singapore share the 5th position in the ranking with a score of 86 points.</div> <div> </div> <div> According to the report, the most corrupt countries are: North Korea, Somalia and Afghanistan with all three nations sharing the highest spot of 175th position in the index. TI reported that 66 percent of the countries in the North and South American Region are seriously corrupt. Similarly, 64 percent of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region are most corrupt.Likewise, 95 per cent of the EU countries (including the Eastern and Western Europe) and 23 per cent nations of Central Asia were labeled as seriously corrupt. Also, 84 per cent of the countries in Middle East and North Africa region and 90 per cent of Sub- Saharan African nations fell into the category of seriously corrupt countries.” The need for greater accountability is clear, and leaders cannot look the other way. But recognizing the problems is only the first step- governments need to turn pledges into actions,” states the report.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-09', 'modified' => '2013-12-17', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal has experienced a significant downfall in corruption in 2013. Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2013, placed Nepal in 116th position out of 177 countries. Nepal achieved ascore of 31on a scale of 0-100, while 0 indicating the most corrupted and 100 indicating no corruption. Last year, Nepal ranked 139th with a score of 27.', 'sortorder' => '2108', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2191', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'South Asia Leads World In Suffering', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <span style="font-size: 12px;">S</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">uffering, on average, has increased worldwide in the past several years, and nowhere more than in South Asia, a latest Gallop worldwide poll shows. According to a report published by the US-based opinion poll agency on 26th November, Tuesday, one in seven adults worldwide rated their lives poorly enough to be considered suffering in 2012. ‘South Asia led the world in suffering at 24%, followed by 21% in the Balkans and the Middle East and North Africa. South Asia clearly registers the biggest increase in suffering during this period and because of its large population, it is mostly responsible for the worldwide uptick. Suffering in the region has increased enormously since the beginning of the global financial and economic crisis, averaging 12% between 2006 and 2008, and 22% between 2010 and 2012.” states the report. The agency said that comparing average suffering for 2006-2008 with the average for 2010-2012, suffering increased by three percentage points worldwide. </span></div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>India Mainly Drives Deterioration of Well-Being in South Asia</strong></span></div> <div> According to the Gallop report, the massive increase in suffering among South Asians is largely attributable to negative developments in India, the region’s giant. Average suffering in India more than doubled between 2006 to 2008 and 2010 to 2012. In 2012, a full quarter of Indians were suffering. “The significant deterioration in Indians’ well-being is likely to be rooted in the country’s disappointing economic performance,” says the report. India’s growth rate has now sunk from 9.4% in the first quarter of 2010 to 4.4% in the second quarter of 2013, the worst quarterly rate since 2002.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> <strong style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size:16px;">Nepal no Better</span></strong></p> </div> <div> India’s northern neighbor Nepal has fared no better, said the report adding that average suffering there increased by 17 percentage points between 2006-2008 and 2010-2012. “Yet because of its relatively small population, the increase in suffering had a negligible effect on the regional average. Since Nepal abolished the monarchy five years ago, the country has been mired in a political crisis that has paralysed the economy,” Gallop said. </div> <div> </div> <div> Other big increases in suffering in recent years have been registered in Armenia (+17 points) and Greece (+13 points). Greece’s economic collapse, record unemployment, and drastic austerity measures contributed to suffering reaching 26% in 2012. Gallup’s trend data clearly show Armenians souring in recent years on issues such as their standard of living, and rising frustration with their leaders.</div> <div> </div> <div> Most countries with the biggest decreases in suffering, comparing the three-year average from 2006 to 2008 with that from 2010 to 2012, are from Sub-Saharan Africa. Suffering in Zimbabwe has decreased by as much as 38 percentage points. “After years of hyperinflation, the Zimbabwean government finally abandoned the country’s currency in 2009. As a result, the economy started growing again, improving the lives of many Zimbabweans,” states the report. Similarly, Latin America and the Caribbean also defied the global trend. Between 2010 and 2012, residents of the region were on average less likely to be suffering than they were before the outbreak of the global economic crisis.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-02', 'modified' => '2013-12-02', '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' => 'Suffering, on average, has increased worldwide in the past several years, and nowhere more than in South Asia, a latest Gallop worldwide poll shows. According to a report published by the US-based opinion poll agency on 26th November, Tuesday, one in seven adults worldwide rated their lives poorly enough to be considered suffering in 2012.', 'sortorder' => '2037', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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Of the total planned expenditure of Rs 517.2 billion, only 30.3 per cent was spent largely due to the lower than expected capital spending. The slow pace of spending so far indicates that the capital budget will likely continue to be under spent as in the previous years,” the report noted. “In addition to the improvements in agriculture production, both domestic and foreign investment commitments increased remarkably in the first half of FY 2014.” </div> <div> </div> <div> The bank said that there is an urgent need to ramp up both the quantum and quality of capital spending as it not only ‘crowds in’ private investments, but also helps create the foundations for the lackluster growth to take off on an employment-centric, high, inclusive and sustainable growth path.</div> <div> </div> <div> According to the report, Nepal may not meet its yearly revenue target this year due to the depreciation of the Nepali rupee against the US dollar which is slowing down import demand in the country. “Even though the Rs 163.4 billion revenue mobilized in the first half of FY 2014 is 21.5 per cent is higher than the revenue mobilized in the corresponding period in FY 2013, it still is lower than the half-year target set for this fiscal year,” it said. </div> <div> </div> <div> Similarly, the bank forecasted the inflation rate to stand at 10 per cent in FY 2014, higher than the government’s target of 8.5 per cent. “Despite the expected improvement in agriculture harvest, the wage pressures, the persistently high price level in India, the rise in administered fuel prices, lower interest rates, the persistently weak Nepali rupee and the supply-side constraints, average annual consumer price index (CPI) inflation in FY 2014 is forecast at 10 per cent,” ADB mentioned. The bank informed that inflation averaged 9.1 per cent in the first half of FY 2014, down from 10.7 per cent in the corresponding period in FY 2013. The decline in prices is mainly driven by the sharp slowdown in non-food and services prices. However, the persistence of the high inflation level is supported by rising food and beverage prices, which averaged 11.5 per cent in the first half of FY 2014 against 9.8 per cent during the same period in FY 2013, the report notes.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-03-09', 'modified' => '2014-03-24', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth will rise to 4.5 per cent this fiscal year, a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report has projected. “The positive political outlook, expected increase in agriculture production following a favorable monsoon, modest improvement in capital expenditure following the timely full FY 2014 budget, and a strong services sector performance supported by remittance income are expected to boost gross domestic product (GDP) growth (at basic prices) to 4.5 per cent in FY 2014, up from 3.6 per cent in FY 2013,” the Manila-based regional development bank in its latest macroeconomic update for Nepal informed.', 'sortorder' => '2606', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2687', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal Climbs Four Spots Up In GRI', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Sanjeev Sharma</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Retirement security of Nepali workers is seen improving as retired public and private sector employees are receiving more benefits, a latest global report shows. The 2014 Global Retirement Index (GRI), ranked Nepal 114th, up four spots from 118th in 2013. The report published by Paris-based Natixis Global Asset Management, the world’s 13th largest asset management company with USD 392.96 in assets, finds Nepal’s performance improving, though slowly, over the past year. The report ranks 150 countries based on four broad factors such as health care, finances, economic well-being and quality of life. Nepal’s achieved an overall score of 40 per cent in the index, which was 39 per cent last year. </div> <div> </div> <div> The country scored 35 per cent and 39 per cent in sub-indices of health and finances in retirement respectively. In the finances in retirement sub-index, Nepal scored 39 per cent falling eight spots to 148th from 140 in 2013. Similarly, the country also poorly performed in quality of life sub-index where it scored 39 per cent and ranked 132nd, down 5 spots from last year’s 127th. However, Nepal comparatively fared well in material well-being sub-index with a score of 47 per cent. </div> <div> </div> <div> The country’s southern and northern neighbours, India and China, meanwhile ranked 104th and 69th respectively. India’s position declined three spots in the index, whereas, China climbed upfour spots. The report pointed India as the worst performing nation among BRIC nationthis year. “The main upset being its performance in the finances in retirement sub-index where it dropped from 20th to 128th place,” Natixis said in the report. “In addition it continues its mediocre performance in the health and quality of life sub-indices.” </div> <div> </div> <div> Sri Lanka was the highest ranking South Asian nation with 86th position in 2014 GRI, climbing 5 spots from 91th in 2013. Bangladesh and Pakistan also climbed higher in the index with 105th and 102nd spots respectively. Last year, Bangladesh ranked 112th, whereas, Pakistan was placed at 107th. </div> <div> </div> <div> European countries took eight of the top 10 spots, buoyed by strong social programs for older citizens. Switzerland claimed the top spot pushing Norway to second place in 2014 GRI. Austria, Sweden, Australia, Denmark, Germany, Finland, New Zealand and Luxembourg occupied the remaining top 10 spots. United States, meanwhile, remained unchanged from last year’s 19th position. United Kingdom climbed to 18th spot from 20 in 2013. Japan was seen as the worst performer among developed nations. The country dropped 12 spots to 27th in the index. Despite the domination of European countries, the report warns that the long-term financial security of retirees in developed economies is under pressure. “Ageing populations and increasing high old-age dependency ratios, a historically prolonged period of low interest rates and high levels of sovereign debt are testing the resilience of retirement systems and fuelling uncertainty,” it said. African countries Togo, Burindi, Niger, Comoros and Zimbabwe occupied the bottom five spots in the index.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-03-03', 'modified' => '2014-03-10', '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' => 'Retirement security of Nepali workers is seen improving as retired public and private sector employees are receiving more benefits, a latest global report shows. The 2014 Global Retirement Index (GRI), ranked Nepal 114th, up four spots from 118th in 2013.', 'sortorder' => '2570', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2657', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Report Stresses Need For Bold Moves Toward Gender Equality At Work', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<p> </p> <p> A new report by the World Bank Group stresses the need for bold, coordinated actions to advance equal opportunities for women in the world of work, such as addressing gender biases early, expanding women’s access to property and finance, and raising legal retirement ages— with major payoffs in tackling poverty.<br /> <br /> By virtually every global measure, women are more economically excluded than men, according to ‘Gender at Work.’ “Trends suggest women’s labor force participation worldwide over the last two decades has stagnated, dropping from 57 to 55 percent globally. This is despite accumulating evidence that jobs benefit women, families, businesses, and communities,” the report informs.<br /> <br /> The report says since women face multiple constraints to jobs, starting early and extending throughout their lives, progressive, broad-based, and coordinated policy action is needed to close gender gaps. A companion to the 2013 World Development Report on jobs, it says options should include mainstreaming gender equality into jobs and growth strategies, reforming legal systems, and engaging the private sector in innovative solutions to promote gender equality.<br /> <br /> It also says social norms can exacerbate the deprivation and constraints women face. Nearly four in 10 people globally—close to one half in developing countries—agree that when jobs are scarce, men are more entitled to them than women. Common constraints faced by the most disadvantaged women include lack of mobility, time, and skills, exposure to violence, and the absence of basic legal rights.<br /> <br /> In Latin America and the Caribbean, women’s labor force participation has risen by 35 percent since 1990. Analysis by the World Bank Group has found that in 2010, extreme poverty would have been 30 percent higher and average income inequality 28 percent higher, were it not for women’s increased income through increased labor earnings, access to pensions, and labor force participation from 2000-2010.<br /> <br /> Country-level diagnostics are vital to help governments in determining the best policies and more involvement by the private sector—by far the largest source of jobs—is critical, the report says. The private sector can lead the way by creating family-friendly working environment and policies, attracting women into non-traditional roles and sectors, and reviewing human resource policies and systems for addressing discrimination and harassment, the report suggests. Accordingly, it said that more investment is needed to fill major gaps in data and knowledge.<br /> <br /> To advance gender equality at work, the report recommends governments target actions that cover a woman’s life cycle—saying interventions that focus only on women of productive age start too late and end too early. Biases can begin very early in life, sometimes in subtle ways, making it ultimately difficult and costly to resolve inequality.<br /> <br /> The report warns that ageing populations in the developing world will become increasingly important for governments to consider. Through 2050, the old-age dependency ratio in developing countries is expected to soar by 144 percent, during which time the child dependency ratio is projected to fall by 20 percent, altering the nature of the care burden in families and societies.</p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-23', 'modified' => '2014-03-03', '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' => 'A new report by the World Bank Group stresses the need for bold, coordinated actions to advance equal opportunities for women in the world of work, such as addressing gender biases early, expanding women’s access to property and finance, and raising legal retirement ages— with major payoffs in tackling poverty.', 'sortorder' => '2532', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2591', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal Among Top 20 Fragile LDC ODA Recipients', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Sanjeev Sharma</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal is among the world’s top 20 fragile countries to receive official development assistance (ODA) from multilateral and bilateral donors, according to a new OECD report. The report entitled ‘Fragile States 2014: Domestic Revenue Mobilisation’ informs that Nepal received USD 892 million in ODA in 2011. The report prepared by OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) totalled the country’s net ODA atUSD 8.17 billion from 2000-2011. ODA per capita in Nepal was recorded at USD 29 in 2011.</div> <div> </div> <div> The report has characterised 51 countries (both LDCs and non-LDCs) as the fragile states that are unable to meet their population’s expectations or manage changes in expectations and capacity through the political process. According to OECD, ODA to fragile states declined to USD 53.40 billion in 2011 from record high of USD 67.35 billion in 2005. “Aid has declined by 2.4 per cent in 2011 and will continue its downward trend,” says the report.”Meanwhile, the share of the world’s poor found in fragile states is set to rise to a half by 2018.”</div> <div> </div> <div> These countries saw a total inflow of ODA at USD 547.19 billion from 2000-2011. Among 51 countries, Afghanistan was the highest recipient, receiving net ODA of USD 45.43 billion from 2000-2011. The war-ravaged country saw significant increase in foreign financial and technical assistance after the fall of Taliban regime in 2001. Pakistan also received note worthy amount of ODA over the last decade with USD 28.51 billion being allocated to it. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, meanwhile, acknowledged net ODA of USD 19.76 billion and USD 9.02 billion respectively. OECD listed Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Kenya as the top five fragile ODA recipients in 2011. Similarly, the global economic body noted United States, European Union, International Development Association (IDA), United Kingdom and Japan as the top five ODA providers to fragile states in 2011. </div> <div> </div> <div> The report informed that Nepal received a net country programmable aid (CPA) of USD 10.25 billion from 2000-2013. Similarly, OECD’s outlook projected that the country will receive USD 3.08 billion in CPA during 2014-2016. However, aid inflow in Nepal is seen fluctuating as the country witnessed a 5 per cent decline in CPA in 2010-2011. In 2008-2009 Nepal observed a sharp rise in CPA by 32 per cent followed by a 1 per cent increase in 2009-2010.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>“Donors doing too little to strengthen domestic revenues in fragile states”</strong></span></div> <div> The report warns international donors that they are not doing enough to help fragile states increase their domestic revenue stating that only a tiny fraction of development aid goes into programmes aimed at improving tax collection. The report finds that just 0.07 per cent of ODA to fragile states is directed towards building accountable tax systems. “Donors pledged as far back as 2002 to make it a priority to help poor countries mobilise more domestic revenues. Yet fragile states still collect less than 14 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) in taxes on average, well below the 20 per cent level considered necessary to meet poverty goals,” states the report. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to the report, Afghanistan has received by far the most support in this area, notably from the International Development Association (IDA) for trade facilitation and from the US for public financial management. Haiti and Nepal remained next in line to receive this aid. “Haiti mainly benefitted from US technical assistancefor public financial management, while Korean aid inNepal helped modernise the customs system, and Germany and Denmark supported its revenue and tax administration,” says the report. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-17', 'modified' => '2014-02-21', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal is among the world’s top 20 fragile countries to receive official development assistance (ODA) from multilateral and bilateral donors, according to a new OECD report. The report entitled ‘Fragile States 2014: Domestic Revenue Mobilisation’ informs that Nepal received USD 892 million in ODA in 2011.', 'sortorder' => '2490', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2551', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal Among The Weakest In Securing Property Rights', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal is among the weakest countries in terms of securing property rights, a latest global report shows. According to the International Property Rights Index (IPRI) 2013, published by Washington, DC-based Property Rights Alliance (PRA), Nepal ranked101 among 130 countries in the overall index. Nepal stood at the bottom in Asia region,where the country ranked 15 among 18 Asian countries. </div> <div> </div> <div> The index comprises of three key sub-indexes: Legal and Political Environment, Physical Property Rights and Intellectual Property Rights. The overall grading scale of the IPRI ranges from 0 to 10, where 10 indicates the highest value for a property rights system and 0 the lowest value within a country. Similarly, Nepal also fell among the weakest in securing intellectual property rights. With a score of 4.2 points, Nepal ranks 95 in intellectual property rights sub-index. It also fared poorly in terms of protecting intellectual property rights, patent protection and copyright protection. </div> <div> </div> <div> Likewise, Nepal ranked 113 in legal and political environment sub-indexwith a meagre score of 3.3 points. The country’s performance in judicial independence, rule of law, political stability, and control of corruption were also seen below par in the index, according to the report. </div> <div> </div> <div> However, Nepal performed better in physical property rights sub-index where it scored 6.0 points and ranked 68. In terms of protecting physical property rights the country scored a mediocre 5.0 points. Meanwhile the country performed strongly in registration of physical properties with a score of 9.5 points and achieving 6thspot among 130 countries in the index. </div> <div> </div> <div> The IPRI 2013 has placed Nepal’s southern and northern neighbours - India and China- on 57th position in the index. Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh ranked 76, 118 and 126 respectively. According to the report, Singapore is the highest-ranking Asian country (rank-7, score-8.1 points). Finland, Sweden, New Zealand, Norway, Netherlands and Switzerland dominated the top-five spots whereas, Bangladesh, Libya, Venezuela, Burundi and Haiti were the bottom-five countries in IPRI 2013.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-09', 'modified' => '2014-02-17', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal is among the weakest countries in terms of securing property rights, a latest global report shows. According to the International Property Rights Index (IPRI) 2013, published by Washington, DC-based Property Rights Alliance (PRA), Nepal ranked101 among 130 countries in the overall index. Nepal stood at the bottom in Asia region,where the country ranked 15 among 18 Asian countries.', 'sortorder' => '2431', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2544', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal Ranks Better Than India & Pakistan In Environmental Performance', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By TC correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal has improved its environmental performance in the past decade, a latest report by the Yale University shows. According to the 2014 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), Nepal witnessed a progress of 4.96 per cent from 2000 to 2012, achieving a rank of 139th out of 178 countries. The country’s overall score was 37 with noticeable improvements being marked in agriculture and forest. The index comprises of nine key indicators reflecting the performance of individual countries. The indicators include Health Impact, Air Quality, Water and Sanitation, Water resources, Agriculture, Forests, Fisheries, Biodiversity and Habit and Climate and Energy along with 20 sub-indicators. With a score of 100, Nepal ranked 1st in the world in agriculture subsidy-sub indicator. Similarly, the country also ranked 66th in pesticide regulation with a score of 84. Likewise, Nepal ranked 26th in forests sub-index with score of 63.12.</div> <div> </div> <div> However, in terms of air quality, Nepal performed poorly (ranked at 177), according to the report. Over the past decade, Nepal saw its air quality dropping by 42.75 per cent with all three sub-indicators showing degradation due to rising air pollution. The country’s sub-indicator for household air quality declined 18.18 per cent whereas, average exposure to PM 2.5 air particulate decreased 33.5 per cent and PM 2.5 exceedance changed by 100 per cent over the past decade. </div> <div> </div> <div> In South Asia region, Sri Lanka is the highest ranking country (69), followed by Bhutan (103), Nepal (139), Pakistan (148), India (155) and Bangladesh (169). Afghanistan is the worst performer in the region (174). India ranked much lower than its emerging economies peers like Brazil (77), Russia (73) and South Africa at 72nd position. Meanwhile, China ranked 118th in the index. Switzerland topped the ranking followed by Luxembourg, Australia, Singapore, and Czech Republic. Among countries with the largest economies, Germany ranked the highest in the sixth spot followed by the United Kingdom in 12th, Canada 24th, Japan 26th, France 27th, and the United States in 33rd. In the 2014 EPI, Somalia was the poorest performer (178) accompanied by Mali (177), Haiti (176), Lesotho (175). </div> <div> </div> <div> The EPI report urged policymakers across the world to introduce and implement effective policies to protect the global environment. “The EPI documents the tangible benefits that arise when policymakers pursue strong environmental performance and the damage that manifests when they do not,” it said. The authors of the report hoped 2014 EPI results would initiate meaningful conversation among countries to understand how they perform on a range of high-priority environmental issues. First published in 2002, EPI was developed from the Pilot Environmental Performance Index, and designed to supplement the environmental targets set forth in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-08', 'modified' => '2014-02-09', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal has improved its environmental performance in the past decade, a latest report by the Yale University shows. According to the 2014 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), Nepal witnessed a progress of 4.96 per cent from 2000 to 2012, achieving a rank of 139th out of 178 countries. The country’s overall score was 37 with noticeable improvements being marked in agriculture and forest.', 'sortorder' => '2394', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2453', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'South Asia To See Decline In Capital Inflow: World Bank', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> South Asia along with other developing regions across the globe may face the risk of declining capital inflow, says a new World Bank report. According to the Global Economic Prospect (GEP) 2014 report, developing nations are vulnerable to the rise in interest rates, which is likely to result in the volatility of capital flow. The global lender pointed to the tapering of quantitative easing (QE) in United States as the main reason for this. In mid-December, Federal Reserve, the US central bank decided to scale back its bond buying programme- from USD 85 billion per month to USD 75 billion per month- amid the country’s improving economic prospects. </div> <div> </div> <div> The Washington-based bank in its report warned that adverse reaction of financial markets to the ending of QE might leave the world’s developing nations starved of capital. “According to simulations, abrupt changes in market expectations, resulting in global bond yields increasing by 100 to 200 basis points within a couple of quarters, could lead to a sharp reduction in capital inflows to developing countries by between 50 and 80 percent for several months,” the bank said in its report. The bank also mentioned that countries with a substantial expansion of domestic credit over the last five years, deteriorating current account balances, high levels of foreign and short-term debt and over-valued exchange rates could be more at risk in current circumstances. </div> <div> </div> <div> The bank said that there would be moderate impact on developing nations if this adjustment happened in an orderly manner. The World Bank expects the global interest rates to rise slowly to reach 3.6 per cent by mid-2016 following an orderly trajectory regarding the process of normalisation of activity and policy in high-income countries. “However, should the adjustment be disorderly, as it was in response to speculation about when a taper might begin during the spring and summer of 2013, interest rates could rise more quickly,” said the report. </div> <div> </div> <div> The report urges developing countries to implement structural reforms that would help raise the capacity of their economies, if they are to regain their pre-crisis growth rates.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Global Growth Picking Up</strong></span></div> <div> The report informed that growth in South Asia expanded at a modest 4.6 percent in 2013, reflecting weakness in India amid high inflation, and current account and government deficits. “Regional growth is projected to improve to 5.7 percent in 2014, rising to 6.7 percent in 2016, led mainly by recovering import demand by high-income economies and regional investment,” says the report. The report, however, said that projected pickup will depend on macroeconomic stability, sustained policy reforms, and progress in reducing supply side constraints. “The main risks to the outlook are fiscal and policy reforms going off-track; uncertainties related to elections in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and India; entrenchment of inflation expectations; and a disorderly adjustment of capital flows in response to US tapering,” it said.</div> <div> </div> <div> The World Bank expects a gradual increase in global growth from this year. According to the report, global growth will pick up from 2.4 per cent in 2013 to 3.2 per cent this year, and to 3.4 per cent in 2015. It believes much of the acceleration will be due to an improvement in economic conditions in high-income countries, where for the first time in five years all three of the main regions – the US, Europe and Japan – will be growing. “Global economic indicators show improvement. But one does not have to be especially astute to see there are dangers that lurk beneath the surface. The Euro Area is out of recession but per capita incomes are still declining in several countries. We expect developing country growth to rise above 5 percent in 2014, with some countries doing considerably better, with Angola at 8 percent, China 7.7 percent, and India at 6.2 percent. But it is important to avoid policy stasis so that the green shoots don’t turn into brown stubble,” said Kaushik Basu, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist at the World Bank.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-20', 'modified' => '2014-01-27', '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' => 'South Asia along with other developing regions across the globe may face the risk of declining capital inflow, says a new World Bank report. According to the Global Economic Prospect (GEP) 2014 report, developing nations are vulnerable to the rise in interest rates, which is likely to result in the volatility of capital flow. The global lender pointed to the tapering of quantitative easing (QE) in United States as the main reason for this. In mid-December, Federal Reserve, the US central bank decided to scale back its bond buying programme- from USD 85 billion per month to USD 75 billion per month- amid the country’s improving economic prospects.', 'sortorder' => '2302', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2411', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'India Alludes To More Liberal FDI Regime In Coming Weeks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> India's Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on 1st January, Wednesday indicated further liberalisation of the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy in the coming weeks.</div> <div> </div> <div> "The government will continue its endeavour for liberalising the FDI policy further in the coming weeks to ensure that India retains its leadership position for attracting foreign investments," Sharma said in a statement.</div> <div> </div> <div> The commerce ministry is working towards allowing FDI in railways and e-commerce. Last year, the government had relaxed FDI norms in sectors including telecom, defence, PSU oil refineries, commodity bourses, power exchanges and stock exchanges.</div> <div> </div> <div> Over a year after India eased FDI norms for multi-brand retail, the first investment proposal came through two weeks ago when British retailer Tesco sought entry into the country's $500 billion retail sector in partnership with Tata's Trent. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board cleared Tesco's $110-million investment plan on December 30. Sharma had indicated last week that there would be more multi-brand retail proposals before the end of the current financial year. "The decisions of the government have resonated with the global community and we have seen results in the last few months," the minister said, adding that India was rated as the most-favoured investment destination destination globally in 2013.</div> <div> </div> <div> The ministry is now working to relax FDI norms in railways and construction activities. FDI in the April-October period stood at $12.6 billion, down 15% from a year ago. Sharma said the coming months would see a greater push for development of industrial corridors and work would begin for establishing newcities along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). The $90-billion DMIC project is aimed at creating mega industrial infrastructure along the Delhi-Mumbai Rail Freight Corridor, which is under implementation. Japan is providing financial and technical aid for the project, which will cover seven states totaling 1,483 km.</div> <div> </div> <div> "I expect that with greater foreign investment and technology collaborations, Indian manufacturing will alsomove up the value chain and acquire greater competitiveness globally," Sharma said. The minister said the country had done reasonably well in exports in the first eight months of the fiscal despite weak demand in traditional markets. "I am sure that in the remaining period of this financial year, exports will show a strong and dynamic growth,"Sharmasaid.</div> <div> </div> <div> In April-November 2013, exports grew by 6.27% to $ 204 billion while imports aggregated $304 billion.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-06', 'modified' => '2014-01-07', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'India's Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on 1st January, Wednesday indicated further liberalisation of the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy in the coming weeks.', 'sortorder' => '2268', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2410', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Obesity Quadruples To Nearly 1 Bn In Developing World', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> The number of overweight and obese adults in the developing world has almost quadrupled to around one billion since 1980, says a report from a UK think tank. The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) said one in three people worldwide was now overweight and urged governments to do more to influence diets. In the UK, 64% of adults are classed as being overweight or obese.</div> <div> </div> <div> The report predicts a “huge increase” in heart attacks, strokes and diabetes. Globally, the percentage of adults who were overweight or obese - classed as having a body mass index greater than 25 - grew from 23% to 34% between 1980 and 2008. The majority of this increase was seen in the developing world, particularly in countries where incomes were rising, such as Egypt and Mexico.</div> <div> </div> <div> The ODI’s Future Diets report says this is due to changing diets and a shift from eating cereals and grains to the consumption of more fats, sugar, oils and animal produce. A total of 904 million people in developing countries are now classed as overweight or above, with a BMI of more than 25, up from 250 million in 1980. This compares to 557 million in high-income countries. Over the same period, the global population nearly doubled.</div> <div> </div> <div> At the same time, however, under-nourishment is still recognised to be a problem for hundreds of millions of people in the developing world, particularly children. Using data published in Population Health Metrics last year, the researchers looked at changing overweight and obesity rates across the regions of the world and by individual country.</div> <div> </div> <div> The regions of North Africa, the Middle East and Latin America saw large increases in overweight and obesity rates to a level on a par with Europe, around 58%. While North America still has the highest percentage of overweight adults at 70%, regions such as Australasia and southern Latin America are now not far behind with 63%.</div> <div> </div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/lt%20(Copy).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 354px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Diet linked to income</strong></span></div> <div> The greatest growth in overweight people occurred in south east Asia, where the percentage tripled from a lower starting point of 7% to 22%. Among individual countries, the report found that overweight and obesity rates had almost doubled in China and Mexico, and risen by a third in South Africa since 1980. Many countries in the Middle East also had a high percentage of overweight adults. One of the report authors, Steve Wiggins, said there were likely to be multiple reasons for the increases.</div> <div> </div> <div> “People with higher incomes have the ability to choose the kind of foods they want. Changes in lifestyle, the increasing availability of processed foods, advertising, media influences... have all led to dietary changes.”</div> <div> </div> <div> The report cites the example of South Korea where efforts to preserve the country’s traditional diet have included public campaigns and large-scale meal preparation training for women.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> <span style="font-size:16px;"><strong>Nepal too is Facing Obesity Linked Health Risks</strong></span></p> </div> <div> Though no comprehensive study on obesity in Nepal has been conducted in recent years, some serious health problems related to change in lifestyle and nutrition have emerged among Nepalis. With growing number of patients with diabetes, heart diseases, blood pressure, liver and kidney related problems visiting the doctors on a regular basis, experts are warning about the increasing health hazards especially to the urban population. Obesity is seen as the major contributing factor for these medical conditions. Studies have suggested that obesity in Nepal has risen to 10 per cent in 2006 from 1.6 per cent of 1996. Senior Cardiologist Dr Prakash Raj Regmi sees the change of dietary habits as the main reason. “Rising consumption of foods with low nutritional value but high calorie and trans fat is the major contributor,” opines Regmi who is actively involved in Nepal Heart Foundation. “The change in dietary routine such as less eating in morning meals and high consumption in the evening/night is causing the bellies of people to grow significantly.” He recommends lowering the consumption of diets with high calorie but low nutrition such as rice, potato, sugar and sweets. Similarly, Dr Regmi suggests the government to form a non-communicable disease policy to ensure the safeguarding of health of ordinary citizens. </div> <div> </div> <div> A World Bank report published in 2011 revealed the scale of increasing health risks in South Asia region. The report entitled “Capitalizing on Demographic Transition: Tackling Non-communicable Diseases in South Asia” identified heart diseases as the major factor of death among South Asians of age group 15-69. The report also found that heart problems along with other non-communicable disease account for 60 per cent of the lives lost due to degrading health among Nepalis.</div> <div> </div> <div> As the household income rises, Nepali urban population is more capable in purchasing high calorie foods. Similarly, the changing lifestyle trend of urban youths is another area of concern. “Lack of effective physical activities and stationary lifestyle combined with unhealthy food are contributing to the obesity rise in Nepal,” says Gunja Lal Hirachan, owner of Jasmine Fitness Club and Spa. According to him, Nepali adults over the age of 30 years are not the only victims of this problem. “Now-a-days we are seeing many overweight teenagers, who are possibly facing various health hazards in their young age,” informs Hirachan. “Proper health and physical education, fitness awareness and restrictions in sales of unhealthy food will reduce obesity in youths.”</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-06', 'modified' => '2014-01-20', '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 number of overweight and obese adults in the developing world has almost quadrupled to around one billion since 1980, says a report from a UK think tank. The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) said one in three people worldwide was now overweight and urged governments to do more to influence diets. In the UK, 64% of adults are classed as being overweight or obese.', 'sortorder' => '2253', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2361', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Investors Run Away From Gold In 2013', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Gold, once the much-loved asset turned the most unloved investment tool in 2013 as investors flee from its long-time save haven appeal. This, year the yellow metal took a plunge of nearly 30 per cent, marking the biggest yearly decline since 1981. After 12 years of straight gains, the international bullion market witnessed an unexpected crash in mid-April when gold prices dropped by more than USD 200 in just two days of trading - from USD 1,525/oz to USD 1,321/oz. Triggered by the news that debt-stricken Cyprus is selling some of its reserve to manage its financial bailout, bullion prices tumbled as panic selling hit values of physical as well as paper gold. This was followed by another sharp decline in June when gold price fell to a three-year low of USD 1,180/oz. </div> <div> </div> <div> Outflows from gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have hit a record this year. SPDR Gold Trust — the world’s largest gold ETF has seen its holdings reduce by 546 tonnes — down 40 per cent. Jewellery demand too took a knock. In the September quarter, the World Gold Council reported that global jewellery demand fell 3 per cent to 474.9 tonnes. Steep decline of demand in India, the world’s second largest gold consumer contributed to this. This year, Indian government tightened gold imports to curb rising trade deficit and current account deficit which are seen as major areas of concern to dampen the already sluggish economic growth of </div> <div> the country. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Reasons for Gold Price Decline</strong></span></div> <div> Gold reached to its all-time high (USD 1920/oz) in September 2011, when Standard & Poor’s (S & P) downgraded the ‘AAA’ credit rating of United States by one notch to ‘AA+’ amid the budget showdown in the US Congress. The expanding Eurozone debt crisis, slowdown in developing countries, fears of inflation and worries of global recession largely helped gold prices to climb up. However, as the global economic recovery unwinds at a faster pace, interest of investors began a shift towards stocks. </div> <div> </div> <div> US equities made a strong come back this year. Improving job market conditions pick up in the manufacturing sector, rising property prices and increased consumer confidence, built optimism about equity investments. The dollar too strengthened.</div> <div> </div> <div> The dollar index which measures performance of the greenback against six major currencies moved up to 81.9 by February from 79.6 at the beginning of the year. This made global funds parked in emerging markets to move back to US equities. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index hit a five-year high in February. So, gold lost its mojo. The metal dropped below the USD 1,600/oz mark in February, touching a low of USD 1,575/oz. After the June low, gold market witnessed relative stability, supported by physical buying in China and bets that the Federal Reserve may delay tapering. But gold has been unable to rise significantly as improving US economy dulled its demand. The final blow came with the Fed announcing beginning of the taper on December 18. On December 19, gold hit a low of $1,187.4/ounce — a three-year low.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>The year ahead</strong></span></div> <div> Gold prices can edge little higher in 2014, if there is renewed demand from emerging markets and gold import curbs are lifted in India. But, in the first half, prices may mostly remain weak and see a range-bound movement unless there is a surprise from inflation numbers. If outflows from gold ETFs continue, and physical demand for the metal remains weak, it will be negative for gold and prices can move further down.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-30', 'modified' => '2014-01-06', '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' => 'Gold, once the much-loved asset turned the most unloved investment tool in 2013 as investors flee from its long-time save haven appeal. This, year the yellow metal took a plunge of nearly 30 per cent, marking the biggest yearly decline since 1981. After 12 years of straight gains, the international bullion market witnessed an unexpected crash in mid-April when gold prices dropped by more than USD 200 in just two days of trading - from USD 1,525/oz to USD 1,321/oz.', 'sortorder' => '2251', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2321', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal And The World News In Brief (23 - 29 December 2013)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>EU Stripped from AAA Credit Rating </strong></span></div> <div> The European Union lost its top credit rating from Standard & Poor’s on Friday, which cited the deteriorating creditworthiness of the bloc’s 28 member nations. S&P cut its long-term rating on the EU to AA+, with a stable outlook, from AAA and maintained its short-term rating at A-1+. The downgrade came after S&P last month lowered its AAA rating on the Netherlands. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Buffett Adds $37 mn a Day to His Fortune in 2013</strong></span></div> <div> American business magnate Warren Buffett made a fortune of about $37 million per day in 2013, according to Wealth-X, making him the billionaire who made the most money this year. With a gain of $12.7 billion in 2013, Buffett’s net worth at the end of the year stands at $59.1 billion. Microsoft Chairman, Bill Gates, added $11.5 billion to his personal fortune in 2013, ending the year with assets totalling $72.6 billion. Gates is also the richest person on the list.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>GSK to Scrap Targets for Sales Reps</strong></span></div> <div> GlaxoSmithKline will no longer reward sales staff based on how many drugs they sell, marking a big shift in the way the pharmaceutical industry deals with doctors. The British drugs giant said that the changes, which will be introduced from next year, come as GSK and other drugs firms face intense scrutiny in China over claims they bribed doctors to use their products.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Indian Markets Readies for Inflation-Link Bonds</strong></span></div> <div> The Indian finance ministry announced the launch of inflation-linked bonds starting from Monday as part of its strategy to wean Indians away from gold by offering them a real rate of return that exceeds consumer price inflation (CPI). The Inflation Indexed National Savings Securities-Cumulative (IINSS-C) bonds will offer investors a return that’s 1.5% more than inflation based on the consumer price index .</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>US Third-quarter Growth Raised to 4.1% </strong></span></div> <div> The US economy grew at its fastest pace in almost two years in the third quarter while business spending was stronger than previously estimated, pointing to some underlying strength that should be sustained. Gross domestic product grew at a 4.1 per cent annual rate instead of the 3.6 per cent pace reported earlier this month, the Commerce Department said in its third estimate on Friday.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-23', 'modified' => '2013-12-23', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The European Union lost its top credit rating from Standard & Poor’s on Friday, which cited the deteriorating creditworthiness of the bloc’s 28 member nations. S&P cut its long-term rating on the EU to AA+, with a stable outlook, from AAA and maintained its short-term rating at A-1+. The downgrade came after S&P last month lowered its AAA rating on the Netherlands.', 'sortorder' => '2167', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2319', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'US Fed Reserve Dilutes Stimulus', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> Federal Reserve officials decided Wednesday to start gradually reducing their massive economic stimulus program. Beginning in January, the Fed will buy $75 billion in bonds each month, down from the $85 billion it had been buying since September 2012.</div> <div> </div> <div> “In light of the cumulative progress toward maximum employment and the improvement in the outlook for labor market conditions, the Committee decided to modestly reduce the pace of its asset purchases,” the Fed said in a statement. The Fed decided to cut back on both types of bond purchases -- mortgage-backed securities and Treasuries -- by $5 billion per month each.The bond-buying program has become so large, it’s expected to push the Fed’s assets to $4 trillion this week -- money the Fed basically created out of thin air. The new cut represents the beginning of a gradual wind-down process which Wall Street has nicknamed “tapering.”</div> <div> </div> <div> But the complete end to Fed stimulus is still probably years away. Fed officials have been stressing lately that tapering does not mean “tightening.” In fact, the Fed extended its commitment to keep short-term interest rates “exceptionally low” until either the unemployment rate falls to around 6.5% or the inflation rate exceeds 2.5% a year. At a press conference immediately following the announcement, Bernanke stressed that the Fed’s actions did not amount to a withdrawal of support for the economy. “Nothing we did today was intended to reduce accommodation,” he said. Most officials expect rates to rise in 2015, despite the fact that inflation will likely still be below the target at that point.</div> <div> </div> <div> Bernanke also explained that the Fed had “enhanced” its forward guidance on keeping interest rates low.</div> <div> </div> <div> “The committee is determined to avoid inflation that is too low, as well as inflation that is too high,” Bernanke said. But rates will remain low for a while, so consumers can still expect to lock in historically cheap rates on mortgages, car or business loans, albeit probably not at the record lows seen earlier this year. Stocks jumped following the announcement, with the Dow gaining 200 points after the news.</div> <div> </div> <div> Traditionally, the Fed has used low interest rates to stimulate the economy in times of stress, but in the most recent financial crisis, it was forced to take unprecedented measures. First, the Fed slashed its key interest rate to near-zero in 2008. Next, in a program known as “quantitative easing,” or QE, the Fed started buying bonds like U.S. Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities in an attempt to lower long-term interest rates too. That second move came in three rounds that have since been nicknamed QE1, QE2 and QE3. Among them, QE3 was the only program that wasn’t given an explicit end-date. Instead, the Fed said it was looking for substantial improvement in the job market.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> <strong style="font-size: 14px;">Little Impact on Nepal</strong></p> </div> <div> In mid-2013 talks about the Fed’s QE tapering had impacted Nepal while rattling the world markets. The US dollar soared to record high levels following Fed’s indication that it will eventually put an end to the flow of cheap money in coming months. Nepal’s economy, which is considered more insulated to international events (due to non-integration in the global market) also suffered from this. Nepali Rupee, which maintains exchange rate-peg with the Indian Rupee, was hardest hit by the QE taper woes. The weakening of INR caused Nepali Rupee to slide historically against the US dollar. The devaluation mainly contributed to Nepal’s fast rising inflation rate and prices of imported good in the local market. The sharp devaluation of NPR initiated a debate, whether NPR should continue its exchange rate-peg with INR. </div> <div> </div> <div> However, the scenario after the Fed’s latest decision looks different compared to the mid-2013. Experts say that QE tapering might have little or no impact on Nepali economy. “Compared to the scenario in May-June, Nepali economy is in more comfortable place,” says Krishna Bahadur Manandhar, former Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank. According to him, the global financial markets seem to have adjusted their fears on QE tapering. The depreciation of Nepali rupee was caused by devaluation of INR against the US dollar. Problems within the Indian economy such as the widening current account deficit (CAD) and trade deficit were blamed as the main factors for currency weakening. Despite various obstacles, India has effectively managed to overcome these problems in recent months. “With measures like hike in gold import duties, India has narrowed CAD and trade deficit,” Manandhar said adding, “India’s forex reserve has also risen significantly in past seven months.” He opines that these developments help to check the currency devaluation and spillover effects of Indian economy. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-23', 'modified' => '2013-12-23', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Federal Reserve officials decided Wednesday to start gradually reducing their massive economic stimulus program. Beginning in January, the Fed will buy $75 billion in bonds each month, down from the $85 billion it had been buying since September 2012.', 'sortorder' => '2165', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2270', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Nepal Edges Up In Energy Ranking', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal has marked a slight improvement in the use and development of modern energy resources, a latest report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) shows. According to the Global Energy Architecture Performance Index (EAPI) 2014, Nepal ranked 103rd out of in the index. The Geneva-based organisation in collaboration with Irish multinational firm Accenture accessed energy systems of 124 countries around the world to prepare the report. Nepal received a total score of 0.42 (out of one) in the index which is measured through three sub-indices -- Economic Growth and Development basket, Environmental Sustainability basket and Energy Access and Security basket. Last year Nepal with a score of 0.39 ranked 101st out of 105 countries in the index. Neighboring India and China were placed at 69th and 85th position, respectively. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka and Pakistan were ranked at 70th and 96th position. In the South Asia region, Nepal was only ahead of Bangladesh (114th). </div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal scored 0.31 in the Economic Growth and Development Basket which measures GDP per unit of energy use, fuel imports/exports and electricity prices for industry. According to the WEF report, Nepal’s GDP per unit of energy is priced at USD 3.66. Whereas, fuel imports of the country accounted 6 per cent of the GDP in 2013. Nepal fared particularly well in Environmental Sustainability basket with a score of 0.63. India scored 0.41 and China achieved 0.35 in the sub-index. The sub-index reveals the rising trend of the use of alternative energy sources such as the biomass in Nepal. WEF reported that the use of alternative energy in the country increased by 87 per cent in 2013 compared to last year. Meanwhile, use of alternative energy sources in India rose just by 28 per cent. Nepal’s pollution level was also seen lower as it scored 27 in PM10, country level (micrograms per cubic meter) sub-index. In India, the PM10 level was recorded 52. Similarly, the air pollution marred China received 59 in the sub-index. </div> <div> </div> <div> In the Energy Access and Security basket, Nepal performed lower with a score of 0.33. According to the sub-index, 82 per cent of the Nepalis rely on solid fuels (timber, animal dung and coal etc.) for cooking purposes. However, electrification rate in the country was recorded higher at 76 per cent. India’s electrification rate was 75 per cent in the sub-index. China’s electrification rate, meanwhile, was seen at staggering 100 per cent. The EAPI 2014 revealed the poor state of energy security and access in Nepal. It further stressed that the country need to speed up its energy development projects and deploy effective energy management policies to ramp up the efforts. The Report finds that many developing countries still struggle to supply citizens with basic energy needs, providing electricity to less than 50 per cent of their total population. It also highlights the over-dependence of many energy systems, with 32 per cent of countries dependent on imports to meet more than half of their energy needs.</div> <div> </div> <div> Norway was the top listed country in the index followed by New Zealand, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Colombia, Spain, Costa Rica and Latvia. The world’s industrial giants, United States and Japan were ranked 37th and 38th respectively. Cambodia (120th), Tanzania (121st), Benin (122nd), Lebanon (123rd) and Yemen (124th) were the bottom ranking countries in the index.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-16', 'modified' => '2013-12-23', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal has marked a slight improvement in the use and development of modern energy resources, a latest report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) shows. According to the Global Energy Architecture Performance Index (EAPI) 2014, Nepal ranked 103rd out of in the index. The Geneva-based organisation in collaboration with Irish multinational firm Accenture accessed energy systems of 124 countries around the world to prepare the report. Nepal received a total score of 0.42 (out of one) in the index which is measured through three sub-indices', 'sortorder' => '2160', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2229', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'Corruption Perception Index 2013: Nepal Sees Decline In Corruption Level', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal has experienced a significant downfall in corruption in 2013. Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2013, placed Nepal in 116th position out of 177 countries. Nepal achieved ascore of 31on a scale of 0-100, while 0 indicating the most corrupted and 100 indicating no corruption. Last year, Nepal ranked 139th with a score of 27.</div> <div> </div> <div> The Berlin-based global anti-corruption watchdog reported alertness of the Commission of Investigation on Abuse of Authority (CIAA) and a slew of actions takenon related cases as factors contributing to decline in corruption. Countries achieving a score less than 50 points have been listed as the most corrupt. TI prepared the report in co-operation with Bertelsmann Foundation, The World Bank, World Economic Forum, Global Justice Project and Global Insight. </div> <div> </div> <div> The report also mentions that around 40 percent Nepali have given bribe atleast once in their lifetime. Similarly, 80 percent of Nepali confessed that it is much easier to get work done in government organisations if there is someone of their acquaintance. Likewise, most Nepali also admitted that political parties are the most corrupted ones in the nation. Meanwhile, Nepal’s neighbours, India and China are placed at 94th and 80th positions respectively. Bhutan was seen as the cleanest country in the South Asia region (31st position) with a score of 63. Likewise, Sri Lanka achieved 91st position whereas corruption level in Pakistan (127th) and Bangladesh (136th) was seen relatively high. Afghanistan (175th)was declared the most corrupt nation in the South Asia with a score of 8. </div> <div> </div> <div> This year’s CPI figured that 69 percent of the world’s countries are seriously corrupt. Regionally, Eastern Europe and Central Asia ranked the worst, Western Europe and the European Union (EU) the best. The report declares Denmark and New Zealand to be the most clean countries, both sharing a score of 91 points. Similarly, Finland and Sweden stand in the third position with a score of 89 points whereas Norway and Singapore share the 5th position in the ranking with a score of 86 points.</div> <div> </div> <div> According to the report, the most corrupt countries are: North Korea, Somalia and Afghanistan with all three nations sharing the highest spot of 175th position in the index. TI reported that 66 percent of the countries in the North and South American Region are seriously corrupt. Similarly, 64 percent of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region are most corrupt.Likewise, 95 per cent of the EU countries (including the Eastern and Western Europe) and 23 per cent nations of Central Asia were labeled as seriously corrupt. Also, 84 per cent of the countries in Middle East and North Africa region and 90 per cent of Sub- Saharan African nations fell into the category of seriously corrupt countries.” The need for greater accountability is clear, and leaders cannot look the other way. But recognizing the problems is only the first step- governments need to turn pledges into actions,” states the report.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-09', 'modified' => '2013-12-17', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal has experienced a significant downfall in corruption in 2013. Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2013, placed Nepal in 116th position out of 177 countries. Nepal achieved ascore of 31on a scale of 0-100, while 0 indicating the most corrupted and 100 indicating no corruption. Last year, Nepal ranked 139th with a score of 27.', 'sortorder' => '2108', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2191', 'article_category_id' => '137', 'title' => 'South Asia Leads World In Suffering', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <span style="font-size: 12px;">S</span><span style="font-size: 12px;">uffering, on average, has increased worldwide in the past several years, and nowhere more than in South Asia, a latest Gallop worldwide poll shows. According to a report published by the US-based opinion poll agency on 26th November, Tuesday, one in seven adults worldwide rated their lives poorly enough to be considered suffering in 2012. ‘South Asia led the world in suffering at 24%, followed by 21% in the Balkans and the Middle East and North Africa. South Asia clearly registers the biggest increase in suffering during this period and because of its large population, it is mostly responsible for the worldwide uptick. Suffering in the region has increased enormously since the beginning of the global financial and economic crisis, averaging 12% between 2006 and 2008, and 22% between 2010 and 2012.” states the report. The agency said that comparing average suffering for 2006-2008 with the average for 2010-2012, suffering increased by three percentage points worldwide. </span></div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>India Mainly Drives Deterioration of Well-Being in South Asia</strong></span></div> <div> According to the Gallop report, the massive increase in suffering among South Asians is largely attributable to negative developments in India, the region’s giant. Average suffering in India more than doubled between 2006 to 2008 and 2010 to 2012. In 2012, a full quarter of Indians were suffering. “The significant deterioration in Indians’ well-being is likely to be rooted in the country’s disappointing economic performance,” says the report. India’s growth rate has now sunk from 9.4% in the first quarter of 2010 to 4.4% in the second quarter of 2013, the worst quarterly rate since 2002.</div> <div> </div> <div> <hr /> <p> <strong style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size:16px;">Nepal no Better</span></strong></p> </div> <div> India’s northern neighbor Nepal has fared no better, said the report adding that average suffering there increased by 17 percentage points between 2006-2008 and 2010-2012. “Yet because of its relatively small population, the increase in suffering had a negligible effect on the regional average. Since Nepal abolished the monarchy five years ago, the country has been mired in a political crisis that has paralysed the economy,” Gallop said. </div> <div> </div> <div> Other big increases in suffering in recent years have been registered in Armenia (+17 points) and Greece (+13 points). Greece’s economic collapse, record unemployment, and drastic austerity measures contributed to suffering reaching 26% in 2012. Gallup’s trend data clearly show Armenians souring in recent years on issues such as their standard of living, and rising frustration with their leaders.</div> <div> </div> <div> Most countries with the biggest decreases in suffering, comparing the three-year average from 2006 to 2008 with that from 2010 to 2012, are from Sub-Saharan Africa. Suffering in Zimbabwe has decreased by as much as 38 percentage points. “After years of hyperinflation, the Zimbabwean government finally abandoned the country’s currency in 2009. As a result, the economy started growing again, improving the lives of many Zimbabweans,” states the report. Similarly, Latin America and the Caribbean also defied the global trend. Between 2010 and 2012, residents of the region were on average less likely to be suffering than they were before the outbreak of the global economic crisis.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-02', 'modified' => '2013-12-02', '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' => 'Suffering, on average, has increased worldwide in the past several years, and nowhere more than in South Asia, a latest Gallop worldwide poll shows. According to a report published by the US-based opinion poll agency on 26th November, Tuesday, one in seven adults worldwide rated their lives poorly enough to be considered suffering in 2012.', 'sortorder' => '2037', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
| Currency | Unit |
Buy | Sell |
| U.S. Dollar | 1 | 121.23 | 121.83 |
| European Euro | 1 | 131.65 | 132.31 |
| UK Pound Sterling | 1 | 142.47 | 143.18 |
| Swiss Franc | 1 | 124.29 | 124.90 |
| Australian Dollar | 1 | 71.69 | 72.05 |
| Canadian Dollar | 1 | 83.90 | 84.32 |
| Japanese Yen | 10 | 10.94 | 11.00 |
| Chinese Yuan | 1 | 17.17 | 17.26 |
| Saudi Arabian Riyal | 1 | 32.27 | 32.43 |
| UAE Dirham | 1 | 33.01 | 33.17 |
| Malaysian Ringgit | 1 | 27.36 | 27.50 |
| South Korean Won | 100 | 9.77 | 9.82 |
Update: 2020-03-25 | Source: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)
| Fine Gold | 1 tola | 77000.00 |
| Tejabi Gold | 1 tola | 76700.00 |
| Silver | 1 tola | 720.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
Source: Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association
| Petrol | 1 Liter | 106.00 |
| Diesel | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| Kerosene | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| LP Gas | 1 Cylinder | 1375.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
