November 26: Startups can be pioneers in bringing change due to the flexibility, willingness and courage they have to do something new, shared Lino Ahlering, managing director of…
November 26: Startups can be pioneers in bringing change due to the flexibility, willingness and courage they have to do something new, shared Lino Ahlering, managing director of…
November 26: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has expressed her concerns over the degrading fiscal discipline among governments…
November 26: The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has endorsed the proposal to graduate Nepal to the status of a middle-income developing nation from the category of least developed country (LDC) by…
November 25: Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd has bagged the ‘Best Startup of the Year 2021”…
November 25: Leading entrepreneurs, policymakers and business experts have underlined the need for government’s support to startups for their promotion and…
November 25: Nepal Rastra Bank’s (NRB) Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has said that the central bank is ready to address the barriers that startups and enterprises are facing in…
November 25: Top five startup companies that were shortlisted for the ‘Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards - Best Startup of the Year 2021’ have pitched their business…
November 25: The ‘Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards’ is all set to kick off today (November 25).…
November 25: The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) is issuing a repurchase agreement (repo) worth Rs 20 billion today (November 25). The repo will mature on December…
November 25: The European Union (EU) has expressed its commitment to the Green Resilient Inclusive Development of Nepal and its readiness to extend all possible support to Nepal in achieving its development…
November 25: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has stated that the budget and the budget system of the country are in a problematic…
November 24: The Election Commission (EC) has called upon political parties not to distribute their memberships to the sitting professors, teachers and officials working in the state-owned bodies or state-owned autonomous bodies of the federal, provincial and local…
November 24: The 13th meeting of the Joint Commission of Nepal and the European Union (EU) has commenced in Kathmandu today (November…
November 24: The foreign trade data of the current Fiscal Year (FY 2021/22) obtained from the country’s largest custom point in Birgunj shows that the economic activities that were affected by the pandemic is slowly returning back to…
November 24: The workers employed at the Integrated Check Post (ICP), Biratnagar have started a protest programme accusing the Trans Nepal Thread Services Pvt. Ltd. of being involved in labor exploitation.…
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14370', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘Lack of Favorable FDI Regulations Hurting Startup Investment’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 26: Startups can be pioneers in bringing change due to the flexibility, willingness and courage they have to do something new, shared Lino Ahlering, managing director of Daraz. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 26: Startups can be pioneers in bringing change due to the flexibility, willingness and courage they have to do something new, shared Lino Ahlering, managing director of Daraz. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards 2021 on Thursday, Ahlering said that disruptions and achieving change is often facilitated by startups.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I truly believe that startups can change the world,” said Ahlering, adding, “I have experienced it from my own country in Germany, where Berlin is probably the most vibrant startup capitals in the entire world. But they obviously need supporters to enable to do this.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He shared that Daraz is not a startup anymore, but “we as a company had a humble beginning”.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We started in 2014 as a very very small company, pretty much from scratch with a local team but with some foreign investment driven by a company called Rocket Internet. In 2018, Ddaraz got sold to Alibaba. And that was a change that we made during the transition from being a startup to a corporate, but still with the startup character.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He added that Daraz is just not a company builder but an ecosystem builder. It is not just Daraz growing that matters but the entire ecosystem, said Ahlering.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">But the big question, according to Ahlering, is why the startup scene is growing but not picking up pace as much as expected in Nepal?</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to him, lack of easier and favorable FDI regulations is the major hurdle in attracting new investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“There are smart entrepreneurs with excellent ideas and a huge market for execution of ideas but the investment is missing. So, investors should be provided with that favorable environment and FDI regulations,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ahlering argued that FDI is crucial but at the same time local investment is also important. The investors should be less interested in the immediate return and come up with the long-term vision for the development of the startup scene, he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Meanwhile, events like Newbiz Startup Summit awards is what we need to bring investors, startups and the stakeholders together and facilitate the discussion for the growth of the startup scene.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-26', 'modified' => '2021-11-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14115', 'image' => '20211126112928_IMG_5498.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-11-26 11:27:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14369', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'President Concerned Over Degrading Fiscal Discipline', 'sub_title' => 'Directs the Office of the Auditor General to ensure proper utilization of state funds', 'summary' => 'November 26: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has expressed her concerns over the degrading fiscal discipline among governments bodies. ', 'content' => '<p><em><span style="font-size:12px">President Bidya Devi Bhandari. Photo: RSS</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 26: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has expressed her concerns over the degrading fiscal discipline among governments bodies</span><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">. </span></strong><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Inaugurating a newly constructed building of the Auditor General amidst a programme on Thursday, the Head-of-the-State said the role of the Office of the Auditor General was vital in maintaining and promoting fiscal discipline. She further made it clear that the role of federal, provincial and local governments was equally important in implementing and establishing fiscal discipline. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the president expressed concerns stating that the volume of arrears is increasing every year despite measures to downsize it. The president underlined the need of finding a right approach to address the issue. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, the president also expressed her concern over the nation’s ballooning trade deficit and said, “It is a matter of concern that disproportionate ratio of export and import has led to the skyrocketing trade deficit and the nation’s dependence on agro-products has also increased.” </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She was of the opinion that the Office of the Auditor General could contribute to the entrepreneurship development of people for the building of self-sufficient economy. The president further expressed her hope that the Office of the Auditor General would play a leading role in the implementation of fiscal discipline and expressed her happiness over the decision to introduce an IT-enabled audit system, RSS reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that the scope of OAG jurisdictions had been expanded with the enforcement of federalism, the president urged the Office not to leave any stone unturned to fulfill its role to oversee whether the nation’s fund has been rightly utilised. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The total arrears worth Rs 676 billion of the government bodies have to be cleared, according to data submitted by the Auditor General Tanka Mani Sharma. The figure is increasing every year. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-26', 'modified' => '2021-11-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14114', 'image' => '20211126081528_NP_KTM_IMG_1881.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-26 08:14:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14368', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'UNGA Endorses Proposal to Graduate Nepal to Middle-Income Developing Country', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 26: The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has endorsed the proposal to graduate Nepal to the status of a middle-income developing nation from the category of least developed country (LDC) by 2026.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 26: The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has endorsed the proposal to graduate Nepal to the status of a middle-income developing nation from the category of least developed country (LDC) by 2026, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Economic and Social Council of the UN had presented the proposal in the UNGA for its endorsement. The UNGA passed the proposal on Wednesday, confirmed Amrit Bahadur Rai, chief of the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the UN. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Rai pledged on behalf of Nepal to do its best to undertake all required procedures for its structural changes within the next five years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Rai, the Government of Nepal has completed strategic efforts for the graduation. This is an opportunity for the country to raise its image in the international forum by creating structures for its economy within next five years, added Rai.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">RSS further reported that Nepal had met the criteria for its graduation in between 2015 and 2018. However, the country’s graduation to middle-income country had been affected by the 2015 earthquake and subsequently postponed citing that its economy was threatened by the disaster.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal was incorporated in the list of LDCs in 1971. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-26', 'modified' => '2021-11-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14113', 'image' => '20211126080157_istockphoto-1198589424-612x612.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-26 08:01:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14367', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Upaya City Cargo Bags ‘Best Startup of the Year 2021’ Award', 'sub_title' => 'Leaf Plus and Aama Agro Products picked as second and third best startup of the year amid Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit & Awards 2021', 'summary' => 'November 25: Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd has bagged the ‘Best Startup of the Year 2021” award.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 25: Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd has bagged the ‘Best Startup of the Year 2021” award. The startup was honored with the best startup of the year award during the “Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit & Awards 2021” organized by New Business Age Pvt Ltd, the publisher of Aarthik Abhiyan daily and New Business Age magazine. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Madan Lamsal, chairman of New Business Age, Muktinath Bank’s CEO Pradhuman Pokharel and jury members jointly handed over the awards to the winners amid a program held in Kathmandu on November 25. Along with the award, Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd bagged a cash prize of Rs 100,000 as well as a certificate of honor and a trophy. Likewise, Leaf Plus Pvt Ltd, won the “Second Best Startup of the Year 2021” that carries a purse of Rs 50,000, a certificate and a trophy. The second best startup is a socio-economic enterprise that aims to have an impactful contribution to the environment and society by producing and promoting areca leaf products. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Aama Agro Products (P) Ltd was announced the “Third Best Startup of the Year 2021”. The third best startup was presented a certificate, trophy and cash prize of Rs 25,000. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The other two startups--Nepal Agro Inputs Marketing & Entrepreneurship Services (NAMES) Pvt Ltd, Admana Technology Pvt Ltd, were honored with the best startups of the year 2021 from amongst five startups which reached to ‘the final five’. The top five startups had gone through an extensive selection process and were invited to the grand finale for their pitches before the jury and the audiences of the grand ceremony, according to the organizer. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the initial round, 40 startups were selected by the jury from a pool of 1,700 plus startups from across the country. Among the selected startups, 35 were selected during the shortlisting process. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/IMG-20211126-WA0001.jpg" style="height:409px; width:545px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The top 35 startups were also provided with an interactive training session on November 15. Prior to this training, all of the 1700 startups were provided with training on a hybrid platform on October 29.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Based on a pitch from the representatives of the top five startups during the award ceremony, the jury committee selected the top three startups of the year. The other two startups that made it to the ‘top five’ were also felicitated as “One of the Best Five Startups” during the award ceremony with letter of appreciation. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The jury committee had picked the best startups based on criteria like articulation of vision/mission statement, value proposition and market identification, team composition and calibre, innovation/USP/disruption, transaction-to-date, scalability and competitive strategy, IT used, creation story and the judgment of the jury, according to the organizer. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Tenzing Sonam Gonsar, founder and CEO of TEAM Ventures Pvt Ltd, Sumana Shrestha, founder and managing partner of Kosi Collaborative and Niraj Khanal, co-founder/CEO of Antarprerana were the members of the jury committee chaired by Siddhant Raj Pandey, CEO of Business Oxygen. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/IMG_4877.JPG" style="height:333px; width:796px" /></span></span></p> <p><strong><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Startup from each province recognized as emerging startup </span></span></strong></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During the ceremony, seven startups -- one from each province -- were honored as the emerging startup of the province. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Far West Infotech & Research Center of Kailali from Sudur Paschim, Jwala Krishi Tatha Pashupalan Udyog of Dailekh from Karnali and Ninja Infosys Pvt Ltd of Banke from Lumbini were awarded the emerging startup of the province. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Ek Call Home Solutions Pvt. Ltd of Kaski from Gandaki, Glocal Private Limited of Lalitpur from Bagamati, Namaste Recycle Traders of Janakpur from Province 2 and Himalayan Lush Industry of Jhapa from Province 1 were the other startups that were honored as emerging startup of the province during the ceremony.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the “Best Women-led Startup of the Year 2021” was awarded to Pure Joy Pvt Ltd. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Karkhana and Sparrow Pay Pvt Ltd (Khalti) received the “Special Recognition as Startup Success”. These two companies received special recognition for their success as startups. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The awards and honors were presented to startups under various categories amid presence of various dignitaries and guests including Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission Biswo Nath Poudel, Nepal Rastra Bank’s (NRB) Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari and FNCCI President Shekhar Golchha. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NPC Vice Chairman Poudel, who was also the chief guest, said that the government wants growth but is concerned about inequality. “It is better for a company with a thousand shareholder flourisn than a company with a single owner,” said Poudel. He added that the growth should not be Kathmandu centric. “Tharus of Madhes and people of Terai as well as other far off areas must experience growth, not just the ones who reside in Kathmandu,” added Poudel.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, NRB Governor highlighted that the role of the central bank is to encourage and promote startups.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“But it is the startups who have to take the risk,” said Governor Adhikari, adding that it is highly commendable to note that young entrepreneurs have shown courage to start new businesses even during the current crisis posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">FNCCI President Golchha said that testing times like these give rise to able persons while all the hard-earned achievements are lost during a period of ease. And this, according to Golchha, repeats like a cycle.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Anuj Mani Timilsina, CEO of Kumari Bank, the title sponsor of the event, said the Kumari Bank is ever ready to assist startups to resolve their problems related to auditing and other financial issues which new companies are likely to encounter. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, Madan Lamsal, who is also the editor-in-chief of New Business Age and Aarthik Abhiyan acknowledged that the government, financial sector, development partners and other organizations like FNCCI and NEYF are making efforts to promote startups and entrepreneurship in the country. “Those efforts have been successful to a large extent. Still, the pace of the growth of startups and development of entrepreneurship has not been at the desired or expected level,” said Lamsal, adding, “We believe this programme will complement those efforts toward promoting startups in the country.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Prior to the awards ceremony, a panel discussion was held where leading entrepreneurs, policymakers and business experts discussed challenges and opportunities facing the startup enterprises as well as policies to support their growth. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Juna Mathema, co-chairperson of Women Entrepreneurship Development Committee of FNCCI, Ashraya Dixit, manager of Operations of Hamro Patro and Kewal Prasad Bhandari, the member secretary of National Planning Commission were the panelists of the discussion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Lino Ahlering, MD of Daraz Nepal and Anjani Phuyal, Global CTO of Genese Solutions had shared their international business experiences.The NewBiz Startup Summit & Awards 2021 is part of the various annual events New Business Age Pvt. Ltd organizes every year for the growth and development of the corporate sector. It has successfully completed the 5th edition of Newbiz Conclave and Business Excellence Awards. Other successful annual events include Business Women Summit & Awards, Higher Secondary School Rating-Ranking-Awards, Business School Rating-Ranking Awards, Money Expo, FDI in </span></span><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal among others.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">This is the first edition of Newbiz Startup Summit & Awards with the theme 'Search for a Nepali Unicorn'. </span></span><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Kumari Bank Limited is the title sponsor of "Newbiz Startup Summit and Awards 2021" while Garima Bikas Bank Ltd is the co-sponsor of the event. The Startup & Innovation Committee of the FNCCI, Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum (NYEF) and Dish Home Fibernet are the associate partners. The summit and awards programme is supported by Citizen Life Insurance, IME, NLG Insurance Company Lth and Byanjan. The infra partner of the program is Mansiri Trading and the technical partner is Mango Tech.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14112', 'image' => '20211125073625_IMG_4858.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 19:26:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14365', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Experts Call for Favorable Government Policies to Promote Startups ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 25: Leading entrepreneurs, policymakers and business experts have underlined the need for government’s support to startups for their promotion and growth. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">November 25: Leading entrepreneurs, policymakers and business experts have underlined the need for government’s support to startups for their promotion and growth. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Speaking at a panel discussion entitled “Search for Nepal Unicorn: Success and Challenges” during the “Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit & Awards 2021”, they said that the government should come up with legislations, rules, regulations and policies that not only make it easier to start businesses but also facilities them to flourish and grow. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Juna Mathema, co-chairperson of the Women Entrepreneurship Development Committee of the FNCCI, said that startups require special treatment and special legal provisions for their growth. “To search and promote a Nepali unicorn, legal provisions should meet the requirements of the market. Firstly, we lack a definition for startup. All entrepreneurs are looked upon with the same perspective,” said Mathema. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">“We should have a national vision on entrepreneurship and develop a roadmap for its execution with startup-friendly initiatives, facilities, education and awareness if we want to see a unicorn in Nepal,” she said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Sharing about the growth of Hamro Patro, Ashraya Dixit, manager of operations at Hamro Patro Inc, said that his startup aspires to become a unicorn. He also said that they plan to transform Hamro Patro into an integrated platform of news, financial services and health services, among others. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">“I think that’s how we’re going to tackle this industry and bring in technological disruptions and digital transformations. We’re going hope that there is going to be enough young people that are going to bind this and enough people in government who care about these outcomes like you guys run well help you out,” said Dixit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Also speaking at the panel discussion, Kewal Prasad Bhandari, member secretary at the National Planning Commission, said that the government has been providing various incentives and facilities to promote startups in the country. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">“We have offered an income tax waiver for startups for five years. The budget has a provision providing a tax deduction for corporate houses for their investments in startups for the income tax purpose. Yes, they are not adequate,” he said. “The government should not do the business, it should be left to the private sector. We have to facilitate entrepreneurs and startups by creating a favorable environment for them to flourish and grow,” he added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Prior to the panel discussion, Lino Ahlering, MD of Daraz Nepal (Alibaba Group), and Anjani Phuyal, Global CTO of Genese Solutions, shared their international experiences. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Daraz Nepal’s MD Ahlering said that the startup scene in Nepal is growing but not picking up pace as much as it should. He pointed out the lack of easier and favorable FDI regulations that have become a major hurdle in attracting new investment for businesses in Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">“Daraz, being a big company, doesn't always have it easy to invest into the country. There are entrepreneurs with excellent ideas and a market is there but the investment is missing so investors should be provided with easier FDI regulations and incentives to invest in,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Anjani Phuyal, Global CTO at Genese Solution, echoed Daraz Nepal’s Managing Director Lino Ahlering in terms of the government’s threshold on foreign direct investment. Phuyal said that the threshold should be lowered as foreign investors may not come to Nepal to support startups with such a high threshold. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Nepal can become a destination where startups from Silicon Valley and other countries operate here, according to Anjani Phuyal, Global CTO at Genese Solution provided that the country prioritizes digitization to attract global companies and investors to the country while universities should adopt the latest curriculum including Cloud, AI/ML, Big Data and Digital Marketing.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">The panel discussion was moderated by Suman Shakya, an entrepreneur, consultant and a certified trainer. <br /> Shakya has been involved in multiple entrepreneurial ventures and as an adjunct faculty of marketing and strategy. </span></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">He asked questions that covered problems of startup enterprise, roles of banking institutions, policies to grow them. <br /> According to Shakya, the government is yet to define a startup in Nepal. “We are in search of unicorns. We need to have a vision to create a unicorn in Nepal. Once a Nepali company becomes a unicorn, there will be cascading effects here in the country,” said Shakya. “When we work in the business, SMEs or startup sector, we always have a perception that the government is not supporting us or there are so many bottlenecks. But, the story of other side does not come out. There are also so many good things that the government has been doing. May be it’s that people do not know about those initiatives,” he said. <br /> The government in preparing a working procedure which may define what a startup is, he said, summing up the opinions of panelists who called for a change in the government approach that looks all startups from the same lens. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14111', 'image' => '20211126091317_IMG-20211126-WA0000.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 18:16:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14366', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Central Bank Ready to Address Barriers Faced by Startups, says NRB Governor Adhikari', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 25: Nepal Rastra Bank’s (NRB) Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has said that the central bank is ready to address the barriers that startups and enterprises are facing in Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 25: Nepal Rastra Bank’s (NRB) Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has said that the central bank is ready to address the barriers that startups and enterprises are facing in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Addressing a function organized during the “Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit & Awards 2021” on Thursday, NRB Governor Adhikari said that the central bank wants to encourage startups, not discourage them. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“If any regulation or rule has been posing barriers, let us know. Our role is to encourage you, not discourage you,” said NRB Governor Adhikari. “I appreciate the courage and conviction to become an entrepreneur and do business despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. I urge you not to give up your efforts even if you fail in one startup,” he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to NRB Governor Adhikari, the central bank has automated the approval process of foreign investment without investors requiring to visit the banks to get the approval to bring investments. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We have capped the premium on the interest rates of banks so that those businesses who do not have voices do not suffer from the rising cost of borrowing. That should not be interpreted as an initiative of the central bank to fix the interest rate,” he added. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14110', 'image' => '20211125064453_IMG_5593.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 18:43:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14364', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Top Five Finalists Pitch Business Ideas at NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards', 'sub_title' => 'Best three startups to be announced and honored shortly ', 'summary' => 'November 25: Top five startup companies that were shortlisted for the ‘Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards - Best Startup of the Year 2021’ have pitched their business ideas. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 25: Top five startup companies that were shortlisted for the ‘Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards - Best Startup of the Year 2021’ have pitched their business ideas. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Representatives of all top five startups pitched their business ideas before a jury and participants of the grand finale that is underway at Radisson Hotel in Kathmandu. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The program is being organised by New Business Age Pvt Ltd, the publisher of New Business Age magazine and Aarthik Abhiyan daily. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Aama Agro Products (P) Ltd, Admana Technology (P) Ltd, Leaf Plus (P) Ltd, Nepal Agro Inputs Marketing & Entrepreneurship Services (NAMES) (P) Ltd and Upaya City Cargo (P) Ltd are the top five finalists that pitched their ideas. Their representatives pitched the business case of their startups to the jury panel. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Based on their presentation, the jury panel will now pick the top three winners while two remaining startups will also be felicitated as “One of the Best Five Startups”. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tenzin Sonam Gonsar, founder and CEO of TEAM Ventures Pvt Ltd, Sumana Shrestha, managing partner and founder of Kosi Collaborative and Niraj Khanal, co-founder/CEO of Antarprerana are the members of the jury that is led by Siddhant Raj Pandey, CEO of Business Oxygen (BO2). </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the organizer, the jury will pick the best startup, second best startup and third best startup shortly based on criteria like articulation of vision/mission statement, value proposition and market identification, team composition and calibre, innovation/USP/disruption, transaction-to-date, scalability and competitive strategy, IT used, creation story and judgment of jury.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The ‘Best Startup of the Year 2021’ would be provided a cash prize of Rs 100,000 along with a trophy and a certificate while the “Second Best Startup of the Year 2021” will receive a trophy, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 50,000. The startup securing the third position, or the “Third Best Startup of the Year 2021”, will be presented with a trophy, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 25,000. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the organiser, the jury had held several meetings, went through the information collected, set the judging criteria and prepared the shortlist of 40 out of more than 1700 startups throughout the country. After further in-depth information about the companies, 35 companies were shortlisted again, out of which top five companies were shortlisted for the finals. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Madan Lamsal, chairman of New Business Age Pvt Ltd, said that the programme aims at encouraging youths to embrace entrepreneurship that contributes to the overall economic development. The award intends to recognize and honor the best and promising startups of the country. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The government, financial sector, development partners and other organizations like FNCCI and NEYF are making efforts to promote startups and entrepreneurship in the country. Those efforts have been successful to a large extent. Still, the pace of growth of startups and development of entrepreneurship has not been at the desired or expected level,” said Lamsal, who is also the editor-in-chief of New Business Age and Aarthik Abhiyan. “We believe this programme will complement those efforts toward promoting startups in the country.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kumari Bank Limited is the title sponsor of Newbiz Startup Summit and Awards 2021 while Garima Bikas Bank Limited is the co-sponsor of the event. The Startup & Innovation Committee of the FNCCI, Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum and Dish Home Fibernet are the associate partners. The summit and awards programme is supported by Citizens Life Insurance, IME and NLG Insurance Company Limited. The infra partner of the program is Mansiri Trading and the technical partner is Mango Tech. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">New Business Age has been organizing various events in the corporate sector including Tourism Aviation, Money Expo, Higher Secondary School Rating-Ranking-Awards, Business School Rating-Ranking-Awards, FDI in Nepal, Newbiz Conclave and Business Excellence Awards. Earlier in January, New Business Age had organized “Newbiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2021’ to honor working and entrepreneurial women of Nepal in various categories. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Which are the top five startups that pitched their business ideas?</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Aama Agro Products, a Pokhara-based private sector agriculture company in Nepal, is committed to providing healthy Nepali products. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Admana Technology is a digital Ad network company that offers performance based solutions for advertisers i.e companies and media networks in the country. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Another startup that made it to the top five is Leaf Plus Pvt Ltd. It is a socio-economic enterprise that aims to have an impactful contribution to the environment and society by producing and promoting areca leaf products. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Agro Inputs Marketing & Entrepreneurship Services (NAMES) (P) Ltd is a multifaceted business company dedicated to marketing all kinds of agriculture inputs and services. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Upaya City Cargo provides an online marketplace for various business related services that range from registration to liquidation, along with all the compliance, financial and accounting work of individuals, small and medium enterprises and business organizations.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14109', 'image' => '20211125041215_IMG-20211125-WA0000.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 15:55:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14360', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards 2021’ Kicks Off', 'sub_title' => 'Three best startups to be awarded while during the event', 'summary' => 'November 25: The ‘Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards’ is all set to kick off today (November 25). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 25: The ‘Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards’ kicked off today (November 25) amid a programme at Radisson Hotel, Kathmandu. The program is being organized by the New Business Age Pvt Ltd as an initiative to recognize and honor a number of best-performing startups and to encourage innovative business ideas across the country, according to the organizer.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">‘Best Startup of the Year 2021’ would be provided a cash prize of Rs 100,000 along with a trophy and a certificate while the “Second Best Startup of the Year 2021” will receive a trophy, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 50,000. The startup bagging the third position, or the “Third Best Startup of the Year 2021”, will be presented with a trophy, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 25,000. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, seven startups, or one from each province, will also be felicitated during the ceremony as emerging startups from provinces. Similarly, a startup led by women will be honored with the "Best Women-led Startup of the Year 2021” while two businesses that started as startups and have now succeeded will be felicitated as “Special Recognition as Startup Success”.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prior to the presentation of the awards and honors, New Business Age Pvt Ltd is holding a panel discussion titled “Search for Nepal Unicorn: Success and Challenges” where leading entrepreneurs, policymakers and business experts will discuss problems faced by the startup enterprises as well as policies to support their growth. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Lino Ahlering, MD of Daraz Nepal (Alibaba Group), and Anjani Phuyal, Global CTO of Genese Solutions, are scheduled to share their international experiences during the programme. Juna Mathema, the co-chairperson of Women Entrepreneurship Development Committee, FNCCI; Ashraya Dixit, the manager of Operations of Hamro Patro; and Kewal Prasad Bhandari, the member secretary of National Planning Commission are the panelists in the panel discussion that will be moderated by Suman Shakya, an entrepreneur, consultant and certified trainer. The panelists will talk about the works done by the government to sustain startups in Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the organizer, the grand finale is a culmination of several activities over the last one year including the shortlisting of 40 out of 1,700 plus startups from across the country and collection of further in-depth information about them to prepare another shortlist of 30 startups. Similarly, two training programmes were also organized for the startups. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The training held on October 29 on hybrid platform was open to all and the second one held at the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) on November 15 was focused on the 30 shortlisted startups. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kumari Bank Limited is the title sponsor of Newbiz Startup Summit and Awards 2021 while the Garima Bikas Bank Limited is the co-sponsor of the event. The Startup & Innovation Committee of the FNCCI, Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum and Dish Home Fibernet are the associate partners. The summit and awards programme is supported by Citizen Life Insurance, IME and NLG Insurance Company Limited. The infra partner of the program is Mansiri Trading and the technical partner is Mango Tech.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">New Business Age has been organizing various events in the corporate sector including Tourism Aviation, Money Expo, Higher Secondary School Rating-Ranking-Awards, Business School Rating-Ranking-Awards, FDI in Nepal, Newbiz Conclave and Business Excellence Awards. Earlier in January, New Business Age had organized “Newbiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2021’ to honor working and entrepreneurial women of Nepal in various categories. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14108', 'image' => '20211125081219_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 08:11:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14363', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB to Issue Repo worth Rs 20 Billion ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 25: The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) is issuing a repurchase agreement (repo) worth Rs 20 billion today (November 25). The repo will mature on December 8. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 25: The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) is issuing a repurchase agreement (repo) worth Rs 20 billion today (November 25). The repo will mature on December 8. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The central bank is issuing the repo to prevent the shortage of investment capital in banks and financial systems. The central bank issues repo if there is shortage of liquidity in the banking system. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The central bank has been issuing repo continuously for the past few months to address the liquidity crunch in the banking system. The NRB on November 11 had issued repo worth Rs 20 billion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the central bank, 'A', 'B' and 'C' class banks and financial institutions can buy the repo through bidding. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14107', 'image' => '20211125010105_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 13:00:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14362', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'EU Commits to Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development of Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 25: The European Union (EU) has expressed its commitment to the Green Resilient Inclusive Development of Nepal and its readiness to extend all possible support to Nepal in achieving its development aspirations. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 25: The European Union (EU) has expressed its commitment to the Green Resilient Inclusive Development of Nepal and its readiness to extend all possible support to Nepal in achieving its development aspirations. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU made such commitment during the 13th meeting of the Joint Commission between Nepal and the European Union (EU) that was held in Kathmandu on November 24. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A broad range of issues of mutual interest featured during the meeting. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Set up in 1996, the Nepal-EU Joint Commission has proved to be a useful platform to further deepen the partnership between Nepal and the EU. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU and Nepal discussed the COVID-19 pandemic and cooperation in post-pandemic recovery. Nepal conveyed its gratitude to the EU for promptly extending the support of life-saving medical items and equipment when Nepal was struggling through the devastating second wave of the pandemic in the summer this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Thanking the EU for its important contribution to the COVAX Facility, Nepal shared the plan of vaccinating all eligible population by April 2022 and briefed on efforts being made by the government to contain COVID-19. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU welcomed Nepal’s plan to graduate from LDC status by 2026. In this respect, the EU expressed its commitment to the Green Resilient Inclusive Development of Nepal and its readiness to extend all possible support to Nepal in achieving its development aspirations. </span></span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stress on multilateral cooperation</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU and Nepal underlined the importance of effective multilateral cooperation, strengthening the World Health Organization and strengthening global capacity to respond to future pandemics. The two sides also underlined that vaccines are public goods, hence the need of ensuring equitable access. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal reiterated its appreciation for the EU’s strong support for the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) as well as for the extension of the initiative. Nepal and the EU agreed that the swift and full implementation of the DSSI by all official bilateral creditors should be a key priority in order to ensure predictability given the continuing financing pressures on the beneficiary countries owing to the pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU also appreciated the achievements made by Nepal in its socio-political transformation. It stressed the important role of civil society and media for strengthening democracy and good governance. The EU encouraged Nepal to further increase the participation of women in political life and the decision making process in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Joint Commission welcomed the lending activity of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in Nepal, which will focus on climate change adaptation and mitigation as well as improved connectivity and renewable energy in the coming years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, regarding people-to-people contacts, Nepal and the EU discussed ongoing higher education cooperation, whereby a growing number of Nepali students are studying in European universities. Nepal ranks among the top 20 countries worldwide in terms of students being awarded scholarships for Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree programmes. Since the launch of the cooperation about 800 students from Nepal benefited from the possibility to study on European universities. </span></span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">EU requested to lift ban on Nepali airlines</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal briefed on its efforts made to improve air safety, notably regarding the proposed new aviation legislation. Nepal appreciated the technical support received in its endeavour to improve air safety. In view of the necessary measures taken by Nepal and its need to reviving tourism sector for economic recovery, Nepal requested the EU to lift the ban on its airlines. The EU acknowledged the positive developments and effort made by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal and assured that a positive step will be taken in this direction once the necessary legislation is implemented. </span></span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Joint commitment to rules-based order</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Both sides reiterated their commitment to work together in the United Nations, World Trade Organization and other international fora supporting effective multilateralism and rules-based world order. They agreed on the importance of sincerely implementing the outcome of the COP26 held in Glasgow earlier this month and taking robust measures for climate action as well as meeting the financial commitments made to support the less resourceful countries in fighting the adverse impacts of climate change. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting was co-chaired by Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal from Nepal and Deputy Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific of the European External Affairs Service, Paola Pampaloni. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The next joint commission meeting will take place in Brussels in 2022. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14106', 'image' => '20211125125616_gogreen.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 12:55:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14361', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Admits Flaws in Budget System', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 25: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has stated that the budget and the budget system of the country are in a problematic state.', 'content' => '<p><em>Finance Minister Janardan Sharma felicitates Editorial Director of New Business Age Keshav Gautam during a programme on Wednesday.</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 25: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has stated that the budget and the budget system of the country are in a problematic state.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a programme organized by Nepal Association of Financial Journalists (NAFIJ) in the capital on Wednesday (November 24), Finance Minister Sharma admitted that the government has not been able to provide concession sought by the private sector as the country’s budget and budget system are in problematic state due to the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Finance Minister Sharma added that the government is ready to work together with the private sectors for the economic recovery.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the occasion, Chairperson of Nepal Chamber of Commerce Rajendra Malla pointed out the need to study the financial sector and promote productivity.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Acting President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) Krishna Prasad Adhikari said that the government has not been able to work as effectively as the private sector and urged the government to work in partnership with the private sector.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of Central Department of Economics at TU, Prof Dr Shivaraj Adhikari, said that the media should play the role of a watchdog.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Also speaking on the occasion, FNCCI Chairperson Shekhar Golchha said that the economic sector of the country has been facing challenge mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Mahaprasad Adhikari said that the financial sector has been gradually recovering.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><strong><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Gautam Felicitated</span></span></strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the programme, the organisers felicitated Editorial Director of New Business Age Keshav Gautam for his long-standing contribution to the field of journalism. Finance Minister Janardan Sharma felicitated Gautam on behalf of the organisers. Gautam was felicitated for his contribution to financial journalism for more than two decades. During the occasion, Gautam stressed on the need for investigative reporting.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14105', 'image' => '20211125093513_1637796137.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 09:33:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14359', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Election Commission Tells Political Parties not to Distribute Membership to Professionals ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 24: The Election Commission (EC) has called upon political parties not to distribute their memberships to the sitting professors, teachers and officials working in the state-owned bodies or state-owned autonomous bodies of the federal, provincial and local governments. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 24: The Election Commission (EC) has called upon political parties not to distribute their memberships to the sitting professors, teachers and officials working in the state-owned bodies or state-owned autonomous bodies of the federal, provincial and local governments. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EC has also stated that its attention has been drawn to the election of teachers, officials and professors as the representatives of the political parties in their national conventions. The EC has suggested that the political activities should be carried out in line with the prevailing laws. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a press statement on Tuesday, EC Spokesperson Shaligram Poudel said that the Clause 14 (2) of the Act on Political Parties, 2073 BS has a clear provision that the sitting officials of the Government of Nepal, provincial governments and local level or the professors, teachers or officials under the state-owned or state-owned autonomous institutions cannot become members of political parties. The EC further stated that the political parties too cannot distribute their membership to the individuals holding such public positions. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The commission has also mentioned that if the political parties were found electing public position holders as their officials, their positions would not be updated from the EC. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the EC has directed its district election offices and province election offices to remove the name of the public position holders from the list of the political parties' committees. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-24', 'modified' => '2021-11-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14104', 'image' => '20211124020029_EC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-24 13:59:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14358', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '13th Nepal-EU Joint Commission Meeting Kicks Off ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 24: The 13th meeting of the Joint Commission of Nepal and the European Union (EU) has commenced in Kathmandu today (November 24).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 24: The 13th meeting of the Joint Commission of Nepal and the European Union (EU) has commenced in Kathmandu today (November 24), focusing on the EU’s development assistance to Nepal in the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for the next six years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting will discuss about cooperation and trade between Nepal and the EU, civil aviation safety, contemporary political scenario, and partnership in socio-economic development, climate change issues and a wide range of issues of mutual interests, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministry further said that the meeting will also review the progress of the previous meeting.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Nepali delegation is being led by Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal while the Deputy Managing Director of the EU External Affairs for Asia and the Pacific, Paola Pampaloni is representing the EU during the meeting. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Nepali delegation comprises senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies; Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Ministry of Forest and Environment, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and the National Planning Commission. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU delegation incorporates Pampaloni and two others senior officials from Brussels, Belgium and EU Ambassador to Nepal Nona Deprez and her aides. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 12th meeting was held virtually last year due to COVID-19 crisis. Initially, it was agreed to organise the meeting biannually in Kathmandu and Brussels on the basis of rotation, while it has been taking place each year since the past five years. --RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-24', 'modified' => '2021-11-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14103', 'image' => '20211124014936_Flag-Pins-Nepal-European-Union.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-24 13:48:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14357', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Economic Activities Gain Momentum', 'sub_title' => 'Foreign Trade Through Birgunj Customs Increases by 92 Percent ', 'summary' => 'November 24: The foreign trade data of the current Fiscal Year (FY 2021/22) obtained from the country’s largest custom point in Birgunj shows that the economic activities that were affected by the pandemic is slowly returning back to normal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 24: The foreign trade data of the current Fiscal Year (FY 2021/22) obtained from the country’s largest custom point in Birgunj shows that the economic activities that were affected by the pandemic is slowly returning back to normal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Imports and exports through Birgunj customs have increased by 92 percent in the first four months of the current fiscal year. According to the Birgunj customs, this amount is significantly higher than the corresponding period of last fiscal year. Harihar Poudel, Chief Customs Officer of Birgunj Customs, said that transactions of Rs 264.27 billion took place via this customs point from mid-July to mid-November.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, this amount was Rs 137.60 billion. Last year, the lockdown and prohibitory order were imposed from March to control the pandemic. The market could not gain momentum even though it was reopened in September. Customs officials claim that the lockdown affected the volume of foreign trade. Adverse effects of the lockdown led to a decline in domestic production and foreign trade.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Foreign goods worth Rs 224.71 billion have been imported until mid-November through the Birgunj customs. During this period, domestic products worth Rs 39.56 billion were exported.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The data show that imports have increased by 80 percent in the last four months compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year. According to the Birgunj customs, export trade has increased by 218 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Goods worth Rs 125 billion were imported into the country during the first four months of the last fiscal year while goods worth Rs 12.44 billion were exported.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Petroleum products, vehicles, industrial raw materials and other goods are mostly imported from Birgunj. Likewise, refined edible oil, juice, drinks, textiles, scarves, etc. are exported from this checkpoint.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Most of the goods that entered through Birgunj customs were from India. While goods worth Rs 158 billion were imported from India, export to India accounted for Rs 38.2 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India is the largest market for export trade of Nepal. The trade deficit with India alone is equivalent to Rs 120 billion through Birgunj customs.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the customs office, goods worth Rs 13.89 billion were imported from China while the export to China amounted to Rs 13 million. Chairman of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry Subodh Kumar Gupta says that the size of foreign trade has increased as the economic activities which were halted during the pandemic have started gaining momentum. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-24', 'modified' => '2021-11-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14102', 'image' => '20211124013537_Birgunj.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-24 13:34:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14356', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'ICP Workers Stage Protest', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 24: The workers employed at the Integrated Check Post (ICP), Biratnagar have started a protest programme accusing the Trans Nepal Thread Services Pvt. Ltd. of being involved in labor exploitation. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 24: The workers employed at the Integrated Check Post (ICP), Biratnagar have started a protest programme accusing the Trans Nepal Thread Services Pvt. Ltd. of being involved in labor exploitation. The workers claim that they resorted to protest for not getting facilities as per the Labor Act while working under Trans Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There are about 300 workers working under the Trans Nepal at Biratnagar Customs. They organized a press conference outside the ICP on Monday and have warned the concerned authorities about intensifying the protest.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The workers say that despite multiple rounds of discussions and meetings with stakeholders regarding facilities as per the labor act, Trans Nepal has been turning a deaf ear to their requests. Shambhu Kumar Yadav, who has been working since a long time at the Biratnagar Customs expressed his discontent while sharing that they were forced to protest after their problems were not resolved in an amicable manner. “Even after working in the customs for so many years, even the minimum facility specified by the Labor Act has not been provided. Our demand for facilities as per the law has not been heard till now,” said Yadav.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Trans Nepal Thread Service Pvt. Ltd. had had been sub-contracted by the Intermodal Transport Development Committee for five years to manage the ICP. The contract was signed for Rs 350 million. The company supplies workers to the ICP through contractors.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The workers have placed forth a nine-point demand including facility as per the Labor Act. They have warned that the ICP will be closed from November 28 if their demands are not met.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, Laxmi Subba, the head of the office of Trans Nepal Thread Service Pvt. Ltd. has said that the workers working at the customs were independent workers and not their employees. “We are related in no way with them,” said Subba.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-24', 'modified' => '2021-11-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14101', 'image' => '20211124124441_02 ICP Biratnagar plaque_0.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-24 12:43:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14370', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘Lack of Favorable FDI Regulations Hurting Startup Investment’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 26: Startups can be pioneers in bringing change due to the flexibility, willingness and courage they have to do something new, shared Lino Ahlering, managing director of Daraz. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 26: Startups can be pioneers in bringing change due to the flexibility, willingness and courage they have to do something new, shared Lino Ahlering, managing director of Daraz. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards 2021 on Thursday, Ahlering said that disruptions and achieving change is often facilitated by startups.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I truly believe that startups can change the world,” said Ahlering, adding, “I have experienced it from my own country in Germany, where Berlin is probably the most vibrant startup capitals in the entire world. But they obviously need supporters to enable to do this.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He shared that Daraz is not a startup anymore, but “we as a company had a humble beginning”.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We started in 2014 as a very very small company, pretty much from scratch with a local team but with some foreign investment driven by a company called Rocket Internet. In 2018, Ddaraz got sold to Alibaba. And that was a change that we made during the transition from being a startup to a corporate, but still with the startup character.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He added that Daraz is just not a company builder but an ecosystem builder. It is not just Daraz growing that matters but the entire ecosystem, said Ahlering.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">But the big question, according to Ahlering, is why the startup scene is growing but not picking up pace as much as expected in Nepal?</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to him, lack of easier and favorable FDI regulations is the major hurdle in attracting new investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“There are smart entrepreneurs with excellent ideas and a huge market for execution of ideas but the investment is missing. So, investors should be provided with that favorable environment and FDI regulations,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ahlering argued that FDI is crucial but at the same time local investment is also important. The investors should be less interested in the immediate return and come up with the long-term vision for the development of the startup scene, he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Meanwhile, events like Newbiz Startup Summit awards is what we need to bring investors, startups and the stakeholders together and facilitate the discussion for the growth of the startup scene.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-26', 'modified' => '2021-11-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14115', 'image' => '20211126112928_IMG_5498.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-11-26 11:27:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14369', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'President Concerned Over Degrading Fiscal Discipline', 'sub_title' => 'Directs the Office of the Auditor General to ensure proper utilization of state funds', 'summary' => 'November 26: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has expressed her concerns over the degrading fiscal discipline among governments bodies. ', 'content' => '<p><em><span style="font-size:12px">President Bidya Devi Bhandari. Photo: RSS</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 26: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has expressed her concerns over the degrading fiscal discipline among governments bodies</span><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">. </span></strong><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Inaugurating a newly constructed building of the Auditor General amidst a programme on Thursday, the Head-of-the-State said the role of the Office of the Auditor General was vital in maintaining and promoting fiscal discipline. She further made it clear that the role of federal, provincial and local governments was equally important in implementing and establishing fiscal discipline. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the president expressed concerns stating that the volume of arrears is increasing every year despite measures to downsize it. The president underlined the need of finding a right approach to address the issue. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, the president also expressed her concern over the nation’s ballooning trade deficit and said, “It is a matter of concern that disproportionate ratio of export and import has led to the skyrocketing trade deficit and the nation’s dependence on agro-products has also increased.” </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She was of the opinion that the Office of the Auditor General could contribute to the entrepreneurship development of people for the building of self-sufficient economy. The president further expressed her hope that the Office of the Auditor General would play a leading role in the implementation of fiscal discipline and expressed her happiness over the decision to introduce an IT-enabled audit system, RSS reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that the scope of OAG jurisdictions had been expanded with the enforcement of federalism, the president urged the Office not to leave any stone unturned to fulfill its role to oversee whether the nation’s fund has been rightly utilised. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The total arrears worth Rs 676 billion of the government bodies have to be cleared, according to data submitted by the Auditor General Tanka Mani Sharma. The figure is increasing every year. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-26', 'modified' => '2021-11-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14114', 'image' => '20211126081528_NP_KTM_IMG_1881.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-26 08:14:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14368', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'UNGA Endorses Proposal to Graduate Nepal to Middle-Income Developing Country', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 26: The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has endorsed the proposal to graduate Nepal to the status of a middle-income developing nation from the category of least developed country (LDC) by 2026.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 26: The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has endorsed the proposal to graduate Nepal to the status of a middle-income developing nation from the category of least developed country (LDC) by 2026, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Economic and Social Council of the UN had presented the proposal in the UNGA for its endorsement. The UNGA passed the proposal on Wednesday, confirmed Amrit Bahadur Rai, chief of the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the UN. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Rai pledged on behalf of Nepal to do its best to undertake all required procedures for its structural changes within the next five years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Rai, the Government of Nepal has completed strategic efforts for the graduation. This is an opportunity for the country to raise its image in the international forum by creating structures for its economy within next five years, added Rai.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">RSS further reported that Nepal had met the criteria for its graduation in between 2015 and 2018. However, the country’s graduation to middle-income country had been affected by the 2015 earthquake and subsequently postponed citing that its economy was threatened by the disaster.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal was incorporated in the list of LDCs in 1971. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-26', 'modified' => '2021-11-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14113', 'image' => '20211126080157_istockphoto-1198589424-612x612.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-26 08:01:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14367', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Upaya City Cargo Bags ‘Best Startup of the Year 2021’ Award', 'sub_title' => 'Leaf Plus and Aama Agro Products picked as second and third best startup of the year amid Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit & Awards 2021', 'summary' => 'November 25: Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd has bagged the ‘Best Startup of the Year 2021” award.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 25: Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd has bagged the ‘Best Startup of the Year 2021” award. The startup was honored with the best startup of the year award during the “Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit & Awards 2021” organized by New Business Age Pvt Ltd, the publisher of Aarthik Abhiyan daily and New Business Age magazine. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Madan Lamsal, chairman of New Business Age, Muktinath Bank’s CEO Pradhuman Pokharel and jury members jointly handed over the awards to the winners amid a program held in Kathmandu on November 25. Along with the award, Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd bagged a cash prize of Rs 100,000 as well as a certificate of honor and a trophy. Likewise, Leaf Plus Pvt Ltd, won the “Second Best Startup of the Year 2021” that carries a purse of Rs 50,000, a certificate and a trophy. The second best startup is a socio-economic enterprise that aims to have an impactful contribution to the environment and society by producing and promoting areca leaf products. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Aama Agro Products (P) Ltd was announced the “Third Best Startup of the Year 2021”. The third best startup was presented a certificate, trophy and cash prize of Rs 25,000. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The other two startups--Nepal Agro Inputs Marketing & Entrepreneurship Services (NAMES) Pvt Ltd, Admana Technology Pvt Ltd, were honored with the best startups of the year 2021 from amongst five startups which reached to ‘the final five’. The top five startups had gone through an extensive selection process and were invited to the grand finale for their pitches before the jury and the audiences of the grand ceremony, according to the organizer. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the initial round, 40 startups were selected by the jury from a pool of 1,700 plus startups from across the country. Among the selected startups, 35 were selected during the shortlisting process. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/IMG-20211126-WA0001.jpg" style="height:409px; width:545px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The top 35 startups were also provided with an interactive training session on November 15. Prior to this training, all of the 1700 startups were provided with training on a hybrid platform on October 29.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Based on a pitch from the representatives of the top five startups during the award ceremony, the jury committee selected the top three startups of the year. The other two startups that made it to the ‘top five’ were also felicitated as “One of the Best Five Startups” during the award ceremony with letter of appreciation. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The jury committee had picked the best startups based on criteria like articulation of vision/mission statement, value proposition and market identification, team composition and calibre, innovation/USP/disruption, transaction-to-date, scalability and competitive strategy, IT used, creation story and the judgment of the jury, according to the organizer. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Tenzing Sonam Gonsar, founder and CEO of TEAM Ventures Pvt Ltd, Sumana Shrestha, founder and managing partner of Kosi Collaborative and Niraj Khanal, co-founder/CEO of Antarprerana were the members of the jury committee chaired by Siddhant Raj Pandey, CEO of Business Oxygen. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/IMG_4877.JPG" style="height:333px; width:796px" /></span></span></p> <p><strong><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Startup from each province recognized as emerging startup </span></span></strong></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During the ceremony, seven startups -- one from each province -- were honored as the emerging startup of the province. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Far West Infotech & Research Center of Kailali from Sudur Paschim, Jwala Krishi Tatha Pashupalan Udyog of Dailekh from Karnali and Ninja Infosys Pvt Ltd of Banke from Lumbini were awarded the emerging startup of the province. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Ek Call Home Solutions Pvt. Ltd of Kaski from Gandaki, Glocal Private Limited of Lalitpur from Bagamati, Namaste Recycle Traders of Janakpur from Province 2 and Himalayan Lush Industry of Jhapa from Province 1 were the other startups that were honored as emerging startup of the province during the ceremony.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the “Best Women-led Startup of the Year 2021” was awarded to Pure Joy Pvt Ltd. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Karkhana and Sparrow Pay Pvt Ltd (Khalti) received the “Special Recognition as Startup Success”. These two companies received special recognition for their success as startups. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The awards and honors were presented to startups under various categories amid presence of various dignitaries and guests including Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission Biswo Nath Poudel, Nepal Rastra Bank’s (NRB) Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari and FNCCI President Shekhar Golchha. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NPC Vice Chairman Poudel, who was also the chief guest, said that the government wants growth but is concerned about inequality. “It is better for a company with a thousand shareholder flourisn than a company with a single owner,” said Poudel. He added that the growth should not be Kathmandu centric. “Tharus of Madhes and people of Terai as well as other far off areas must experience growth, not just the ones who reside in Kathmandu,” added Poudel.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, NRB Governor highlighted that the role of the central bank is to encourage and promote startups.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“But it is the startups who have to take the risk,” said Governor Adhikari, adding that it is highly commendable to note that young entrepreneurs have shown courage to start new businesses even during the current crisis posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">FNCCI President Golchha said that testing times like these give rise to able persons while all the hard-earned achievements are lost during a period of ease. And this, according to Golchha, repeats like a cycle.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Anuj Mani Timilsina, CEO of Kumari Bank, the title sponsor of the event, said the Kumari Bank is ever ready to assist startups to resolve their problems related to auditing and other financial issues which new companies are likely to encounter. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, Madan Lamsal, who is also the editor-in-chief of New Business Age and Aarthik Abhiyan acknowledged that the government, financial sector, development partners and other organizations like FNCCI and NEYF are making efforts to promote startups and entrepreneurship in the country. “Those efforts have been successful to a large extent. Still, the pace of the growth of startups and development of entrepreneurship has not been at the desired or expected level,” said Lamsal, adding, “We believe this programme will complement those efforts toward promoting startups in the country.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Prior to the awards ceremony, a panel discussion was held where leading entrepreneurs, policymakers and business experts discussed challenges and opportunities facing the startup enterprises as well as policies to support their growth. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Juna Mathema, co-chairperson of Women Entrepreneurship Development Committee of FNCCI, Ashraya Dixit, manager of Operations of Hamro Patro and Kewal Prasad Bhandari, the member secretary of National Planning Commission were the panelists of the discussion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Lino Ahlering, MD of Daraz Nepal and Anjani Phuyal, Global CTO of Genese Solutions had shared their international business experiences.The NewBiz Startup Summit & Awards 2021 is part of the various annual events New Business Age Pvt. Ltd organizes every year for the growth and development of the corporate sector. It has successfully completed the 5th edition of Newbiz Conclave and Business Excellence Awards. Other successful annual events include Business Women Summit & Awards, Higher Secondary School Rating-Ranking-Awards, Business School Rating-Ranking Awards, Money Expo, FDI in </span></span><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal among others.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">This is the first edition of Newbiz Startup Summit & Awards with the theme 'Search for a Nepali Unicorn'. </span></span><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Kumari Bank Limited is the title sponsor of "Newbiz Startup Summit and Awards 2021" while Garima Bikas Bank Ltd is the co-sponsor of the event. The Startup & Innovation Committee of the FNCCI, Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum (NYEF) and Dish Home Fibernet are the associate partners. The summit and awards programme is supported by Citizen Life Insurance, IME, NLG Insurance Company Lth and Byanjan. The infra partner of the program is Mansiri Trading and the technical partner is Mango Tech.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14112', 'image' => '20211125073625_IMG_4858.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 19:26:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14365', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Experts Call for Favorable Government Policies to Promote Startups ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 25: Leading entrepreneurs, policymakers and business experts have underlined the need for government’s support to startups for their promotion and growth. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">November 25: Leading entrepreneurs, policymakers and business experts have underlined the need for government’s support to startups for their promotion and growth. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Speaking at a panel discussion entitled “Search for Nepal Unicorn: Success and Challenges” during the “Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit & Awards 2021”, they said that the government should come up with legislations, rules, regulations and policies that not only make it easier to start businesses but also facilities them to flourish and grow. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Juna Mathema, co-chairperson of the Women Entrepreneurship Development Committee of the FNCCI, said that startups require special treatment and special legal provisions for their growth. “To search and promote a Nepali unicorn, legal provisions should meet the requirements of the market. Firstly, we lack a definition for startup. All entrepreneurs are looked upon with the same perspective,” said Mathema. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">“We should have a national vision on entrepreneurship and develop a roadmap for its execution with startup-friendly initiatives, facilities, education and awareness if we want to see a unicorn in Nepal,” she said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Sharing about the growth of Hamro Patro, Ashraya Dixit, manager of operations at Hamro Patro Inc, said that his startup aspires to become a unicorn. He also said that they plan to transform Hamro Patro into an integrated platform of news, financial services and health services, among others. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">“I think that’s how we’re going to tackle this industry and bring in technological disruptions and digital transformations. We’re going hope that there is going to be enough young people that are going to bind this and enough people in government who care about these outcomes like you guys run well help you out,” said Dixit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Also speaking at the panel discussion, Kewal Prasad Bhandari, member secretary at the National Planning Commission, said that the government has been providing various incentives and facilities to promote startups in the country. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">“We have offered an income tax waiver for startups for five years. The budget has a provision providing a tax deduction for corporate houses for their investments in startups for the income tax purpose. Yes, they are not adequate,” he said. “The government should not do the business, it should be left to the private sector. We have to facilitate entrepreneurs and startups by creating a favorable environment for them to flourish and grow,” he added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Prior to the panel discussion, Lino Ahlering, MD of Daraz Nepal (Alibaba Group), and Anjani Phuyal, Global CTO of Genese Solutions, shared their international experiences. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Daraz Nepal’s MD Ahlering said that the startup scene in Nepal is growing but not picking up pace as much as it should. He pointed out the lack of easier and favorable FDI regulations that have become a major hurdle in attracting new investment for businesses in Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">“Daraz, being a big company, doesn't always have it easy to invest into the country. There are entrepreneurs with excellent ideas and a market is there but the investment is missing so investors should be provided with easier FDI regulations and incentives to invest in,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Anjani Phuyal, Global CTO at Genese Solution, echoed Daraz Nepal’s Managing Director Lino Ahlering in terms of the government’s threshold on foreign direct investment. Phuyal said that the threshold should be lowered as foreign investors may not come to Nepal to support startups with such a high threshold. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Nepal can become a destination where startups from Silicon Valley and other countries operate here, according to Anjani Phuyal, Global CTO at Genese Solution provided that the country prioritizes digitization to attract global companies and investors to the country while universities should adopt the latest curriculum including Cloud, AI/ML, Big Data and Digital Marketing.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">The panel discussion was moderated by Suman Shakya, an entrepreneur, consultant and a certified trainer. <br /> Shakya has been involved in multiple entrepreneurial ventures and as an adjunct faculty of marketing and strategy. </span></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">He asked questions that covered problems of startup enterprise, roles of banking institutions, policies to grow them. <br /> According to Shakya, the government is yet to define a startup in Nepal. “We are in search of unicorns. We need to have a vision to create a unicorn in Nepal. Once a Nepali company becomes a unicorn, there will be cascading effects here in the country,” said Shakya. “When we work in the business, SMEs or startup sector, we always have a perception that the government is not supporting us or there are so many bottlenecks. But, the story of other side does not come out. There are also so many good things that the government has been doing. May be it’s that people do not know about those initiatives,” he said. <br /> The government in preparing a working procedure which may define what a startup is, he said, summing up the opinions of panelists who called for a change in the government approach that looks all startups from the same lens. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14111', 'image' => '20211126091317_IMG-20211126-WA0000.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 18:16:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14366', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Central Bank Ready to Address Barriers Faced by Startups, says NRB Governor Adhikari', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 25: Nepal Rastra Bank’s (NRB) Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has said that the central bank is ready to address the barriers that startups and enterprises are facing in Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 25: Nepal Rastra Bank’s (NRB) Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has said that the central bank is ready to address the barriers that startups and enterprises are facing in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Addressing a function organized during the “Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit & Awards 2021” on Thursday, NRB Governor Adhikari said that the central bank wants to encourage startups, not discourage them. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“If any regulation or rule has been posing barriers, let us know. Our role is to encourage you, not discourage you,” said NRB Governor Adhikari. “I appreciate the courage and conviction to become an entrepreneur and do business despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. I urge you not to give up your efforts even if you fail in one startup,” he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to NRB Governor Adhikari, the central bank has automated the approval process of foreign investment without investors requiring to visit the banks to get the approval to bring investments. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We have capped the premium on the interest rates of banks so that those businesses who do not have voices do not suffer from the rising cost of borrowing. That should not be interpreted as an initiative of the central bank to fix the interest rate,” he added. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14110', 'image' => '20211125064453_IMG_5593.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 18:43:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14364', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Top Five Finalists Pitch Business Ideas at NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards', 'sub_title' => 'Best three startups to be announced and honored shortly ', 'summary' => 'November 25: Top five startup companies that were shortlisted for the ‘Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards - Best Startup of the Year 2021’ have pitched their business ideas. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 25: Top five startup companies that were shortlisted for the ‘Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards - Best Startup of the Year 2021’ have pitched their business ideas. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Representatives of all top five startups pitched their business ideas before a jury and participants of the grand finale that is underway at Radisson Hotel in Kathmandu. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The program is being organised by New Business Age Pvt Ltd, the publisher of New Business Age magazine and Aarthik Abhiyan daily. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Aama Agro Products (P) Ltd, Admana Technology (P) Ltd, Leaf Plus (P) Ltd, Nepal Agro Inputs Marketing & Entrepreneurship Services (NAMES) (P) Ltd and Upaya City Cargo (P) Ltd are the top five finalists that pitched their ideas. Their representatives pitched the business case of their startups to the jury panel. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Based on their presentation, the jury panel will now pick the top three winners while two remaining startups will also be felicitated as “One of the Best Five Startups”. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tenzin Sonam Gonsar, founder and CEO of TEAM Ventures Pvt Ltd, Sumana Shrestha, managing partner and founder of Kosi Collaborative and Niraj Khanal, co-founder/CEO of Antarprerana are the members of the jury that is led by Siddhant Raj Pandey, CEO of Business Oxygen (BO2). </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the organizer, the jury will pick the best startup, second best startup and third best startup shortly based on criteria like articulation of vision/mission statement, value proposition and market identification, team composition and calibre, innovation/USP/disruption, transaction-to-date, scalability and competitive strategy, IT used, creation story and judgment of jury.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The ‘Best Startup of the Year 2021’ would be provided a cash prize of Rs 100,000 along with a trophy and a certificate while the “Second Best Startup of the Year 2021” will receive a trophy, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 50,000. The startup securing the third position, or the “Third Best Startup of the Year 2021”, will be presented with a trophy, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 25,000. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the organiser, the jury had held several meetings, went through the information collected, set the judging criteria and prepared the shortlist of 40 out of more than 1700 startups throughout the country. After further in-depth information about the companies, 35 companies were shortlisted again, out of which top five companies were shortlisted for the finals. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Madan Lamsal, chairman of New Business Age Pvt Ltd, said that the programme aims at encouraging youths to embrace entrepreneurship that contributes to the overall economic development. The award intends to recognize and honor the best and promising startups of the country. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The government, financial sector, development partners and other organizations like FNCCI and NEYF are making efforts to promote startups and entrepreneurship in the country. Those efforts have been successful to a large extent. Still, the pace of growth of startups and development of entrepreneurship has not been at the desired or expected level,” said Lamsal, who is also the editor-in-chief of New Business Age and Aarthik Abhiyan. “We believe this programme will complement those efforts toward promoting startups in the country.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kumari Bank Limited is the title sponsor of Newbiz Startup Summit and Awards 2021 while Garima Bikas Bank Limited is the co-sponsor of the event. The Startup & Innovation Committee of the FNCCI, Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum and Dish Home Fibernet are the associate partners. The summit and awards programme is supported by Citizens Life Insurance, IME and NLG Insurance Company Limited. The infra partner of the program is Mansiri Trading and the technical partner is Mango Tech. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">New Business Age has been organizing various events in the corporate sector including Tourism Aviation, Money Expo, Higher Secondary School Rating-Ranking-Awards, Business School Rating-Ranking-Awards, FDI in Nepal, Newbiz Conclave and Business Excellence Awards. Earlier in January, New Business Age had organized “Newbiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2021’ to honor working and entrepreneurial women of Nepal in various categories. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Which are the top five startups that pitched their business ideas?</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Aama Agro Products, a Pokhara-based private sector agriculture company in Nepal, is committed to providing healthy Nepali products. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Admana Technology is a digital Ad network company that offers performance based solutions for advertisers i.e companies and media networks in the country. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Another startup that made it to the top five is Leaf Plus Pvt Ltd. It is a socio-economic enterprise that aims to have an impactful contribution to the environment and society by producing and promoting areca leaf products. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Agro Inputs Marketing & Entrepreneurship Services (NAMES) (P) Ltd is a multifaceted business company dedicated to marketing all kinds of agriculture inputs and services. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Upaya City Cargo provides an online marketplace for various business related services that range from registration to liquidation, along with all the compliance, financial and accounting work of individuals, small and medium enterprises and business organizations.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14109', 'image' => '20211125041215_IMG-20211125-WA0000.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 15:55:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14360', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards 2021’ Kicks Off', 'sub_title' => 'Three best startups to be awarded while during the event', 'summary' => 'November 25: The ‘Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards’ is all set to kick off today (November 25). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 25: The ‘Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards’ kicked off today (November 25) amid a programme at Radisson Hotel, Kathmandu. The program is being organized by the New Business Age Pvt Ltd as an initiative to recognize and honor a number of best-performing startups and to encourage innovative business ideas across the country, according to the organizer.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">‘Best Startup of the Year 2021’ would be provided a cash prize of Rs 100,000 along with a trophy and a certificate while the “Second Best Startup of the Year 2021” will receive a trophy, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 50,000. The startup bagging the third position, or the “Third Best Startup of the Year 2021”, will be presented with a trophy, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 25,000. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, seven startups, or one from each province, will also be felicitated during the ceremony as emerging startups from provinces. Similarly, a startup led by women will be honored with the "Best Women-led Startup of the Year 2021” while two businesses that started as startups and have now succeeded will be felicitated as “Special Recognition as Startup Success”.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prior to the presentation of the awards and honors, New Business Age Pvt Ltd is holding a panel discussion titled “Search for Nepal Unicorn: Success and Challenges” where leading entrepreneurs, policymakers and business experts will discuss problems faced by the startup enterprises as well as policies to support their growth. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Lino Ahlering, MD of Daraz Nepal (Alibaba Group), and Anjani Phuyal, Global CTO of Genese Solutions, are scheduled to share their international experiences during the programme. Juna Mathema, the co-chairperson of Women Entrepreneurship Development Committee, FNCCI; Ashraya Dixit, the manager of Operations of Hamro Patro; and Kewal Prasad Bhandari, the member secretary of National Planning Commission are the panelists in the panel discussion that will be moderated by Suman Shakya, an entrepreneur, consultant and certified trainer. The panelists will talk about the works done by the government to sustain startups in Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the organizer, the grand finale is a culmination of several activities over the last one year including the shortlisting of 40 out of 1,700 plus startups from across the country and collection of further in-depth information about them to prepare another shortlist of 30 startups. Similarly, two training programmes were also organized for the startups. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The training held on October 29 on hybrid platform was open to all and the second one held at the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) on November 15 was focused on the 30 shortlisted startups. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kumari Bank Limited is the title sponsor of Newbiz Startup Summit and Awards 2021 while the Garima Bikas Bank Limited is the co-sponsor of the event. The Startup & Innovation Committee of the FNCCI, Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum and Dish Home Fibernet are the associate partners. The summit and awards programme is supported by Citizen Life Insurance, IME and NLG Insurance Company Limited. The infra partner of the program is Mansiri Trading and the technical partner is Mango Tech.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">New Business Age has been organizing various events in the corporate sector including Tourism Aviation, Money Expo, Higher Secondary School Rating-Ranking-Awards, Business School Rating-Ranking-Awards, FDI in Nepal, Newbiz Conclave and Business Excellence Awards. Earlier in January, New Business Age had organized “Newbiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2021’ to honor working and entrepreneurial women of Nepal in various categories. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14108', 'image' => '20211125081219_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 08:11:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14363', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB to Issue Repo worth Rs 20 Billion ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 25: The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) is issuing a repurchase agreement (repo) worth Rs 20 billion today (November 25). The repo will mature on December 8. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 25: The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) is issuing a repurchase agreement (repo) worth Rs 20 billion today (November 25). The repo will mature on December 8. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The central bank is issuing the repo to prevent the shortage of investment capital in banks and financial systems. The central bank issues repo if there is shortage of liquidity in the banking system. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The central bank has been issuing repo continuously for the past few months to address the liquidity crunch in the banking system. The NRB on November 11 had issued repo worth Rs 20 billion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the central bank, 'A', 'B' and 'C' class banks and financial institutions can buy the repo through bidding. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14107', 'image' => '20211125010105_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 13:00:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14362', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'EU Commits to Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development of Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 25: The European Union (EU) has expressed its commitment to the Green Resilient Inclusive Development of Nepal and its readiness to extend all possible support to Nepal in achieving its development aspirations. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 25: The European Union (EU) has expressed its commitment to the Green Resilient Inclusive Development of Nepal and its readiness to extend all possible support to Nepal in achieving its development aspirations. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU made such commitment during the 13th meeting of the Joint Commission between Nepal and the European Union (EU) that was held in Kathmandu on November 24. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A broad range of issues of mutual interest featured during the meeting. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Set up in 1996, the Nepal-EU Joint Commission has proved to be a useful platform to further deepen the partnership between Nepal and the EU. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU and Nepal discussed the COVID-19 pandemic and cooperation in post-pandemic recovery. Nepal conveyed its gratitude to the EU for promptly extending the support of life-saving medical items and equipment when Nepal was struggling through the devastating second wave of the pandemic in the summer this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Thanking the EU for its important contribution to the COVAX Facility, Nepal shared the plan of vaccinating all eligible population by April 2022 and briefed on efforts being made by the government to contain COVID-19. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU welcomed Nepal’s plan to graduate from LDC status by 2026. In this respect, the EU expressed its commitment to the Green Resilient Inclusive Development of Nepal and its readiness to extend all possible support to Nepal in achieving its development aspirations. </span></span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stress on multilateral cooperation</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU and Nepal underlined the importance of effective multilateral cooperation, strengthening the World Health Organization and strengthening global capacity to respond to future pandemics. The two sides also underlined that vaccines are public goods, hence the need of ensuring equitable access. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal reiterated its appreciation for the EU’s strong support for the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) as well as for the extension of the initiative. Nepal and the EU agreed that the swift and full implementation of the DSSI by all official bilateral creditors should be a key priority in order to ensure predictability given the continuing financing pressures on the beneficiary countries owing to the pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU also appreciated the achievements made by Nepal in its socio-political transformation. It stressed the important role of civil society and media for strengthening democracy and good governance. The EU encouraged Nepal to further increase the participation of women in political life and the decision making process in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Joint Commission welcomed the lending activity of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in Nepal, which will focus on climate change adaptation and mitigation as well as improved connectivity and renewable energy in the coming years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, regarding people-to-people contacts, Nepal and the EU discussed ongoing higher education cooperation, whereby a growing number of Nepali students are studying in European universities. Nepal ranks among the top 20 countries worldwide in terms of students being awarded scholarships for Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree programmes. Since the launch of the cooperation about 800 students from Nepal benefited from the possibility to study on European universities. </span></span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">EU requested to lift ban on Nepali airlines</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal briefed on its efforts made to improve air safety, notably regarding the proposed new aviation legislation. Nepal appreciated the technical support received in its endeavour to improve air safety. In view of the necessary measures taken by Nepal and its need to reviving tourism sector for economic recovery, Nepal requested the EU to lift the ban on its airlines. The EU acknowledged the positive developments and effort made by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal and assured that a positive step will be taken in this direction once the necessary legislation is implemented. </span></span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Joint commitment to rules-based order</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Both sides reiterated their commitment to work together in the United Nations, World Trade Organization and other international fora supporting effective multilateralism and rules-based world order. They agreed on the importance of sincerely implementing the outcome of the COP26 held in Glasgow earlier this month and taking robust measures for climate action as well as meeting the financial commitments made to support the less resourceful countries in fighting the adverse impacts of climate change. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting was co-chaired by Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal from Nepal and Deputy Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific of the European External Affairs Service, Paola Pampaloni. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The next joint commission meeting will take place in Brussels in 2022. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14106', 'image' => '20211125125616_gogreen.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 12:55:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14361', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Admits Flaws in Budget System', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 25: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has stated that the budget and the budget system of the country are in a problematic state.', 'content' => '<p><em>Finance Minister Janardan Sharma felicitates Editorial Director of New Business Age Keshav Gautam during a programme on Wednesday.</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 25: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has stated that the budget and the budget system of the country are in a problematic state.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a programme organized by Nepal Association of Financial Journalists (NAFIJ) in the capital on Wednesday (November 24), Finance Minister Sharma admitted that the government has not been able to provide concession sought by the private sector as the country’s budget and budget system are in problematic state due to the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Finance Minister Sharma added that the government is ready to work together with the private sectors for the economic recovery.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the occasion, Chairperson of Nepal Chamber of Commerce Rajendra Malla pointed out the need to study the financial sector and promote productivity.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Acting President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) Krishna Prasad Adhikari said that the government has not been able to work as effectively as the private sector and urged the government to work in partnership with the private sector.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of Central Department of Economics at TU, Prof Dr Shivaraj Adhikari, said that the media should play the role of a watchdog.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Also speaking on the occasion, FNCCI Chairperson Shekhar Golchha said that the economic sector of the country has been facing challenge mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Mahaprasad Adhikari said that the financial sector has been gradually recovering.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><strong><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Gautam Felicitated</span></span></strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the programme, the organisers felicitated Editorial Director of New Business Age Keshav Gautam for his long-standing contribution to the field of journalism. Finance Minister Janardan Sharma felicitated Gautam on behalf of the organisers. Gautam was felicitated for his contribution to financial journalism for more than two decades. During the occasion, Gautam stressed on the need for investigative reporting.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14105', 'image' => '20211125093513_1637796137.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 09:33:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14359', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Election Commission Tells Political Parties not to Distribute Membership to Professionals ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 24: The Election Commission (EC) has called upon political parties not to distribute their memberships to the sitting professors, teachers and officials working in the state-owned bodies or state-owned autonomous bodies of the federal, provincial and local governments. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 24: The Election Commission (EC) has called upon political parties not to distribute their memberships to the sitting professors, teachers and officials working in the state-owned bodies or state-owned autonomous bodies of the federal, provincial and local governments. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EC has also stated that its attention has been drawn to the election of teachers, officials and professors as the representatives of the political parties in their national conventions. The EC has suggested that the political activities should be carried out in line with the prevailing laws. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a press statement on Tuesday, EC Spokesperson Shaligram Poudel said that the Clause 14 (2) of the Act on Political Parties, 2073 BS has a clear provision that the sitting officials of the Government of Nepal, provincial governments and local level or the professors, teachers or officials under the state-owned or state-owned autonomous institutions cannot become members of political parties. The EC further stated that the political parties too cannot distribute their membership to the individuals holding such public positions. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The commission has also mentioned that if the political parties were found electing public position holders as their officials, their positions would not be updated from the EC. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the EC has directed its district election offices and province election offices to remove the name of the public position holders from the list of the political parties' committees. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-24', 'modified' => '2021-11-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14104', 'image' => '20211124020029_EC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-24 13:59:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14358', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '13th Nepal-EU Joint Commission Meeting Kicks Off ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 24: The 13th meeting of the Joint Commission of Nepal and the European Union (EU) has commenced in Kathmandu today (November 24).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 24: The 13th meeting of the Joint Commission of Nepal and the European Union (EU) has commenced in Kathmandu today (November 24), focusing on the EU’s development assistance to Nepal in the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for the next six years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting will discuss about cooperation and trade between Nepal and the EU, civil aviation safety, contemporary political scenario, and partnership in socio-economic development, climate change issues and a wide range of issues of mutual interests, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministry further said that the meeting will also review the progress of the previous meeting.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Nepali delegation is being led by Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal while the Deputy Managing Director of the EU External Affairs for Asia and the Pacific, Paola Pampaloni is representing the EU during the meeting. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Nepali delegation comprises senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies; Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Ministry of Forest and Environment, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and the National Planning Commission. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU delegation incorporates Pampaloni and two others senior officials from Brussels, Belgium and EU Ambassador to Nepal Nona Deprez and her aides. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 12th meeting was held virtually last year due to COVID-19 crisis. Initially, it was agreed to organise the meeting biannually in Kathmandu and Brussels on the basis of rotation, while it has been taking place each year since the past five years. --RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-24', 'modified' => '2021-11-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14103', 'image' => '20211124014936_Flag-Pins-Nepal-European-Union.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-24 13:48:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14357', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Economic Activities Gain Momentum', 'sub_title' => 'Foreign Trade Through Birgunj Customs Increases by 92 Percent ', 'summary' => 'November 24: The foreign trade data of the current Fiscal Year (FY 2021/22) obtained from the country’s largest custom point in Birgunj shows that the economic activities that were affected by the pandemic is slowly returning back to normal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 24: The foreign trade data of the current Fiscal Year (FY 2021/22) obtained from the country’s largest custom point in Birgunj shows that the economic activities that were affected by the pandemic is slowly returning back to normal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Imports and exports through Birgunj customs have increased by 92 percent in the first four months of the current fiscal year. According to the Birgunj customs, this amount is significantly higher than the corresponding period of last fiscal year. Harihar Poudel, Chief Customs Officer of Birgunj Customs, said that transactions of Rs 264.27 billion took place via this customs point from mid-July to mid-November.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, this amount was Rs 137.60 billion. Last year, the lockdown and prohibitory order were imposed from March to control the pandemic. The market could not gain momentum even though it was reopened in September. Customs officials claim that the lockdown affected the volume of foreign trade. Adverse effects of the lockdown led to a decline in domestic production and foreign trade.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Foreign goods worth Rs 224.71 billion have been imported until mid-November through the Birgunj customs. During this period, domestic products worth Rs 39.56 billion were exported.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The data show that imports have increased by 80 percent in the last four months compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year. According to the Birgunj customs, export trade has increased by 218 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Goods worth Rs 125 billion were imported into the country during the first four months of the last fiscal year while goods worth Rs 12.44 billion were exported.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Petroleum products, vehicles, industrial raw materials and other goods are mostly imported from Birgunj. Likewise, refined edible oil, juice, drinks, textiles, scarves, etc. are exported from this checkpoint.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Most of the goods that entered through Birgunj customs were from India. While goods worth Rs 158 billion were imported from India, export to India accounted for Rs 38.2 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India is the largest market for export trade of Nepal. The trade deficit with India alone is equivalent to Rs 120 billion through Birgunj customs.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the customs office, goods worth Rs 13.89 billion were imported from China while the export to China amounted to Rs 13 million. Chairman of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry Subodh Kumar Gupta says that the size of foreign trade has increased as the economic activities which were halted during the pandemic have started gaining momentum. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-24', 'modified' => '2021-11-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14102', 'image' => '20211124013537_Birgunj.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-24 13:34:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14356', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'ICP Workers Stage Protest', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 24: The workers employed at the Integrated Check Post (ICP), Biratnagar have started a protest programme accusing the Trans Nepal Thread Services Pvt. Ltd. of being involved in labor exploitation. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 24: The workers employed at the Integrated Check Post (ICP), Biratnagar have started a protest programme accusing the Trans Nepal Thread Services Pvt. Ltd. of being involved in labor exploitation. The workers claim that they resorted to protest for not getting facilities as per the Labor Act while working under Trans Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There are about 300 workers working under the Trans Nepal at Biratnagar Customs. They organized a press conference outside the ICP on Monday and have warned the concerned authorities about intensifying the protest.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The workers say that despite multiple rounds of discussions and meetings with stakeholders regarding facilities as per the labor act, Trans Nepal has been turning a deaf ear to their requests. Shambhu Kumar Yadav, who has been working since a long time at the Biratnagar Customs expressed his discontent while sharing that they were forced to protest after their problems were not resolved in an amicable manner. “Even after working in the customs for so many years, even the minimum facility specified by the Labor Act has not been provided. Our demand for facilities as per the law has not been heard till now,” said Yadav.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Trans Nepal Thread Service Pvt. Ltd. had had been sub-contracted by the Intermodal Transport Development Committee for five years to manage the ICP. The contract was signed for Rs 350 million. The company supplies workers to the ICP through contractors.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The workers have placed forth a nine-point demand including facility as per the Labor Act. They have warned that the ICP will be closed from November 28 if their demands are not met.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, Laxmi Subba, the head of the office of Trans Nepal Thread Service Pvt. Ltd. has said that the workers working at the customs were independent workers and not their employees. “We are related in no way with them,” said Subba.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-24', 'modified' => '2021-11-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14101', 'image' => '20211124124441_02 ICP Biratnagar plaque_0.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-24 12:43:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14370', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘Lack of Favorable FDI Regulations Hurting Startup Investment’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 26: Startups can be pioneers in bringing change due to the flexibility, willingness and courage they have to do something new, shared Lino Ahlering, managing director of Daraz. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 26: Startups can be pioneers in bringing change due to the flexibility, willingness and courage they have to do something new, shared Lino Ahlering, managing director of Daraz. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards 2021 on Thursday, Ahlering said that disruptions and achieving change is often facilitated by startups.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I truly believe that startups can change the world,” said Ahlering, adding, “I have experienced it from my own country in Germany, where Berlin is probably the most vibrant startup capitals in the entire world. But they obviously need supporters to enable to do this.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He shared that Daraz is not a startup anymore, but “we as a company had a humble beginning”.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We started in 2014 as a very very small company, pretty much from scratch with a local team but with some foreign investment driven by a company called Rocket Internet. In 2018, Ddaraz got sold to Alibaba. And that was a change that we made during the transition from being a startup to a corporate, but still with the startup character.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He added that Daraz is just not a company builder but an ecosystem builder. It is not just Daraz growing that matters but the entire ecosystem, said Ahlering.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">But the big question, according to Ahlering, is why the startup scene is growing but not picking up pace as much as expected in Nepal?</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to him, lack of easier and favorable FDI regulations is the major hurdle in attracting new investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“There are smart entrepreneurs with excellent ideas and a huge market for execution of ideas but the investment is missing. So, investors should be provided with that favorable environment and FDI regulations,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ahlering argued that FDI is crucial but at the same time local investment is also important. The investors should be less interested in the immediate return and come up with the long-term vision for the development of the startup scene, he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Meanwhile, events like Newbiz Startup Summit awards is what we need to bring investors, startups and the stakeholders together and facilitate the discussion for the growth of the startup scene.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-26', 'modified' => '2021-11-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14115', 'image' => '20211126112928_IMG_5498.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-11-26 11:27:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14369', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'President Concerned Over Degrading Fiscal Discipline', 'sub_title' => 'Directs the Office of the Auditor General to ensure proper utilization of state funds', 'summary' => 'November 26: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has expressed her concerns over the degrading fiscal discipline among governments bodies. ', 'content' => '<p><em><span style="font-size:12px">President Bidya Devi Bhandari. Photo: RSS</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 26: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has expressed her concerns over the degrading fiscal discipline among governments bodies</span><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">. </span></strong><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Inaugurating a newly constructed building of the Auditor General amidst a programme on Thursday, the Head-of-the-State said the role of the Office of the Auditor General was vital in maintaining and promoting fiscal discipline. She further made it clear that the role of federal, provincial and local governments was equally important in implementing and establishing fiscal discipline. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the president expressed concerns stating that the volume of arrears is increasing every year despite measures to downsize it. The president underlined the need of finding a right approach to address the issue. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, the president also expressed her concern over the nation’s ballooning trade deficit and said, “It is a matter of concern that disproportionate ratio of export and import has led to the skyrocketing trade deficit and the nation’s dependence on agro-products has also increased.” </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She was of the opinion that the Office of the Auditor General could contribute to the entrepreneurship development of people for the building of self-sufficient economy. The president further expressed her hope that the Office of the Auditor General would play a leading role in the implementation of fiscal discipline and expressed her happiness over the decision to introduce an IT-enabled audit system, RSS reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that the scope of OAG jurisdictions had been expanded with the enforcement of federalism, the president urged the Office not to leave any stone unturned to fulfill its role to oversee whether the nation’s fund has been rightly utilised. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The total arrears worth Rs 676 billion of the government bodies have to be cleared, according to data submitted by the Auditor General Tanka Mani Sharma. The figure is increasing every year. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-26', 'modified' => '2021-11-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14114', 'image' => '20211126081528_NP_KTM_IMG_1881.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-26 08:14:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14368', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'UNGA Endorses Proposal to Graduate Nepal to Middle-Income Developing Country', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 26: The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has endorsed the proposal to graduate Nepal to the status of a middle-income developing nation from the category of least developed country (LDC) by 2026.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 26: The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has endorsed the proposal to graduate Nepal to the status of a middle-income developing nation from the category of least developed country (LDC) by 2026, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Economic and Social Council of the UN had presented the proposal in the UNGA for its endorsement. The UNGA passed the proposal on Wednesday, confirmed Amrit Bahadur Rai, chief of the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the UN. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Rai pledged on behalf of Nepal to do its best to undertake all required procedures for its structural changes within the next five years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Rai, the Government of Nepal has completed strategic efforts for the graduation. This is an opportunity for the country to raise its image in the international forum by creating structures for its economy within next five years, added Rai.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">RSS further reported that Nepal had met the criteria for its graduation in between 2015 and 2018. However, the country’s graduation to middle-income country had been affected by the 2015 earthquake and subsequently postponed citing that its economy was threatened by the disaster.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal was incorporated in the list of LDCs in 1971. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-26', 'modified' => '2021-11-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14113', 'image' => '20211126080157_istockphoto-1198589424-612x612.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-26 08:01:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14367', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Upaya City Cargo Bags ‘Best Startup of the Year 2021’ Award', 'sub_title' => 'Leaf Plus and Aama Agro Products picked as second and third best startup of the year amid Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit & Awards 2021', 'summary' => 'November 25: Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd has bagged the ‘Best Startup of the Year 2021” award.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 25: Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd has bagged the ‘Best Startup of the Year 2021” award. The startup was honored with the best startup of the year award during the “Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit & Awards 2021” organized by New Business Age Pvt Ltd, the publisher of Aarthik Abhiyan daily and New Business Age magazine. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Madan Lamsal, chairman of New Business Age, Muktinath Bank’s CEO Pradhuman Pokharel and jury members jointly handed over the awards to the winners amid a program held in Kathmandu on November 25. Along with the award, Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd bagged a cash prize of Rs 100,000 as well as a certificate of honor and a trophy. Likewise, Leaf Plus Pvt Ltd, won the “Second Best Startup of the Year 2021” that carries a purse of Rs 50,000, a certificate and a trophy. The second best startup is a socio-economic enterprise that aims to have an impactful contribution to the environment and society by producing and promoting areca leaf products. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Aama Agro Products (P) Ltd was announced the “Third Best Startup of the Year 2021”. The third best startup was presented a certificate, trophy and cash prize of Rs 25,000. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The other two startups--Nepal Agro Inputs Marketing & Entrepreneurship Services (NAMES) Pvt Ltd, Admana Technology Pvt Ltd, were honored with the best startups of the year 2021 from amongst five startups which reached to ‘the final five’. The top five startups had gone through an extensive selection process and were invited to the grand finale for their pitches before the jury and the audiences of the grand ceremony, according to the organizer. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the initial round, 40 startups were selected by the jury from a pool of 1,700 plus startups from across the country. Among the selected startups, 35 were selected during the shortlisting process. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/IMG-20211126-WA0001.jpg" style="height:409px; width:545px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The top 35 startups were also provided with an interactive training session on November 15. Prior to this training, all of the 1700 startups were provided with training on a hybrid platform on October 29.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Based on a pitch from the representatives of the top five startups during the award ceremony, the jury committee selected the top three startups of the year. The other two startups that made it to the ‘top five’ were also felicitated as “One of the Best Five Startups” during the award ceremony with letter of appreciation. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The jury committee had picked the best startups based on criteria like articulation of vision/mission statement, value proposition and market identification, team composition and calibre, innovation/USP/disruption, transaction-to-date, scalability and competitive strategy, IT used, creation story and the judgment of the jury, according to the organizer. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Tenzing Sonam Gonsar, founder and CEO of TEAM Ventures Pvt Ltd, Sumana Shrestha, founder and managing partner of Kosi Collaborative and Niraj Khanal, co-founder/CEO of Antarprerana were the members of the jury committee chaired by Siddhant Raj Pandey, CEO of Business Oxygen. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/IMG_4877.JPG" style="height:333px; width:796px" /></span></span></p> <p><strong><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Startup from each province recognized as emerging startup </span></span></strong></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During the ceremony, seven startups -- one from each province -- were honored as the emerging startup of the province. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Far West Infotech & Research Center of Kailali from Sudur Paschim, Jwala Krishi Tatha Pashupalan Udyog of Dailekh from Karnali and Ninja Infosys Pvt Ltd of Banke from Lumbini were awarded the emerging startup of the province. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Ek Call Home Solutions Pvt. Ltd of Kaski from Gandaki, Glocal Private Limited of Lalitpur from Bagamati, Namaste Recycle Traders of Janakpur from Province 2 and Himalayan Lush Industry of Jhapa from Province 1 were the other startups that were honored as emerging startup of the province during the ceremony.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the “Best Women-led Startup of the Year 2021” was awarded to Pure Joy Pvt Ltd. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Karkhana and Sparrow Pay Pvt Ltd (Khalti) received the “Special Recognition as Startup Success”. These two companies received special recognition for their success as startups. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The awards and honors were presented to startups under various categories amid presence of various dignitaries and guests including Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission Biswo Nath Poudel, Nepal Rastra Bank’s (NRB) Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari and FNCCI President Shekhar Golchha. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NPC Vice Chairman Poudel, who was also the chief guest, said that the government wants growth but is concerned about inequality. “It is better for a company with a thousand shareholder flourisn than a company with a single owner,” said Poudel. He added that the growth should not be Kathmandu centric. “Tharus of Madhes and people of Terai as well as other far off areas must experience growth, not just the ones who reside in Kathmandu,” added Poudel.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, NRB Governor highlighted that the role of the central bank is to encourage and promote startups.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“But it is the startups who have to take the risk,” said Governor Adhikari, adding that it is highly commendable to note that young entrepreneurs have shown courage to start new businesses even during the current crisis posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">FNCCI President Golchha said that testing times like these give rise to able persons while all the hard-earned achievements are lost during a period of ease. And this, according to Golchha, repeats like a cycle.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Anuj Mani Timilsina, CEO of Kumari Bank, the title sponsor of the event, said the Kumari Bank is ever ready to assist startups to resolve their problems related to auditing and other financial issues which new companies are likely to encounter. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, Madan Lamsal, who is also the editor-in-chief of New Business Age and Aarthik Abhiyan acknowledged that the government, financial sector, development partners and other organizations like FNCCI and NEYF are making efforts to promote startups and entrepreneurship in the country. “Those efforts have been successful to a large extent. Still, the pace of the growth of startups and development of entrepreneurship has not been at the desired or expected level,” said Lamsal, adding, “We believe this programme will complement those efforts toward promoting startups in the country.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Prior to the awards ceremony, a panel discussion was held where leading entrepreneurs, policymakers and business experts discussed challenges and opportunities facing the startup enterprises as well as policies to support their growth. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Juna Mathema, co-chairperson of Women Entrepreneurship Development Committee of FNCCI, Ashraya Dixit, manager of Operations of Hamro Patro and Kewal Prasad Bhandari, the member secretary of National Planning Commission were the panelists of the discussion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Lino Ahlering, MD of Daraz Nepal and Anjani Phuyal, Global CTO of Genese Solutions had shared their international business experiences.The NewBiz Startup Summit & Awards 2021 is part of the various annual events New Business Age Pvt. Ltd organizes every year for the growth and development of the corporate sector. It has successfully completed the 5th edition of Newbiz Conclave and Business Excellence Awards. Other successful annual events include Business Women Summit & Awards, Higher Secondary School Rating-Ranking-Awards, Business School Rating-Ranking Awards, Money Expo, FDI in </span></span><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal among others.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">This is the first edition of Newbiz Startup Summit & Awards with the theme 'Search for a Nepali Unicorn'. </span></span><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Kumari Bank Limited is the title sponsor of "Newbiz Startup Summit and Awards 2021" while Garima Bikas Bank Ltd is the co-sponsor of the event. The Startup & Innovation Committee of the FNCCI, Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum (NYEF) and Dish Home Fibernet are the associate partners. The summit and awards programme is supported by Citizen Life Insurance, IME, NLG Insurance Company Lth and Byanjan. The infra partner of the program is Mansiri Trading and the technical partner is Mango Tech.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14112', 'image' => '20211125073625_IMG_4858.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 19:26:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14365', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Experts Call for Favorable Government Policies to Promote Startups ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 25: Leading entrepreneurs, policymakers and business experts have underlined the need for government’s support to startups for their promotion and growth. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">November 25: Leading entrepreneurs, policymakers and business experts have underlined the need for government’s support to startups for their promotion and growth. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Speaking at a panel discussion entitled “Search for Nepal Unicorn: Success and Challenges” during the “Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit & Awards 2021”, they said that the government should come up with legislations, rules, regulations and policies that not only make it easier to start businesses but also facilities them to flourish and grow. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Juna Mathema, co-chairperson of the Women Entrepreneurship Development Committee of the FNCCI, said that startups require special treatment and special legal provisions for their growth. “To search and promote a Nepali unicorn, legal provisions should meet the requirements of the market. Firstly, we lack a definition for startup. All entrepreneurs are looked upon with the same perspective,” said Mathema. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">“We should have a national vision on entrepreneurship and develop a roadmap for its execution with startup-friendly initiatives, facilities, education and awareness if we want to see a unicorn in Nepal,” she said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Sharing about the growth of Hamro Patro, Ashraya Dixit, manager of operations at Hamro Patro Inc, said that his startup aspires to become a unicorn. He also said that they plan to transform Hamro Patro into an integrated platform of news, financial services and health services, among others. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">“I think that’s how we’re going to tackle this industry and bring in technological disruptions and digital transformations. We’re going hope that there is going to be enough young people that are going to bind this and enough people in government who care about these outcomes like you guys run well help you out,” said Dixit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Also speaking at the panel discussion, Kewal Prasad Bhandari, member secretary at the National Planning Commission, said that the government has been providing various incentives and facilities to promote startups in the country. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">“We have offered an income tax waiver for startups for five years. The budget has a provision providing a tax deduction for corporate houses for their investments in startups for the income tax purpose. Yes, they are not adequate,” he said. “The government should not do the business, it should be left to the private sector. We have to facilitate entrepreneurs and startups by creating a favorable environment for them to flourish and grow,” he added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Prior to the panel discussion, Lino Ahlering, MD of Daraz Nepal (Alibaba Group), and Anjani Phuyal, Global CTO of Genese Solutions, shared their international experiences. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Daraz Nepal’s MD Ahlering said that the startup scene in Nepal is growing but not picking up pace as much as it should. He pointed out the lack of easier and favorable FDI regulations that have become a major hurdle in attracting new investment for businesses in Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">“Daraz, being a big company, doesn't always have it easy to invest into the country. There are entrepreneurs with excellent ideas and a market is there but the investment is missing so investors should be provided with easier FDI regulations and incentives to invest in,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Anjani Phuyal, Global CTO at Genese Solution, echoed Daraz Nepal’s Managing Director Lino Ahlering in terms of the government’s threshold on foreign direct investment. Phuyal said that the threshold should be lowered as foreign investors may not come to Nepal to support startups with such a high threshold. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Nepal can become a destination where startups from Silicon Valley and other countries operate here, according to Anjani Phuyal, Global CTO at Genese Solution provided that the country prioritizes digitization to attract global companies and investors to the country while universities should adopt the latest curriculum including Cloud, AI/ML, Big Data and Digital Marketing.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">The panel discussion was moderated by Suman Shakya, an entrepreneur, consultant and a certified trainer. <br /> Shakya has been involved in multiple entrepreneurial ventures and as an adjunct faculty of marketing and strategy. </span></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">He asked questions that covered problems of startup enterprise, roles of banking institutions, policies to grow them. <br /> According to Shakya, the government is yet to define a startup in Nepal. “We are in search of unicorns. We need to have a vision to create a unicorn in Nepal. Once a Nepali company becomes a unicorn, there will be cascading effects here in the country,” said Shakya. “When we work in the business, SMEs or startup sector, we always have a perception that the government is not supporting us or there are so many bottlenecks. But, the story of other side does not come out. There are also so many good things that the government has been doing. May be it’s that people do not know about those initiatives,” he said. <br /> The government in preparing a working procedure which may define what a startup is, he said, summing up the opinions of panelists who called for a change in the government approach that looks all startups from the same lens. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14111', 'image' => '20211126091317_IMG-20211126-WA0000.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 18:16:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14366', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Central Bank Ready to Address Barriers Faced by Startups, says NRB Governor Adhikari', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 25: Nepal Rastra Bank’s (NRB) Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has said that the central bank is ready to address the barriers that startups and enterprises are facing in Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 25: Nepal Rastra Bank’s (NRB) Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has said that the central bank is ready to address the barriers that startups and enterprises are facing in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Addressing a function organized during the “Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit & Awards 2021” on Thursday, NRB Governor Adhikari said that the central bank wants to encourage startups, not discourage them. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“If any regulation or rule has been posing barriers, let us know. Our role is to encourage you, not discourage you,” said NRB Governor Adhikari. “I appreciate the courage and conviction to become an entrepreneur and do business despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. I urge you not to give up your efforts even if you fail in one startup,” he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to NRB Governor Adhikari, the central bank has automated the approval process of foreign investment without investors requiring to visit the banks to get the approval to bring investments. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We have capped the premium on the interest rates of banks so that those businesses who do not have voices do not suffer from the rising cost of borrowing. That should not be interpreted as an initiative of the central bank to fix the interest rate,” he added. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14110', 'image' => '20211125064453_IMG_5593.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 18:43:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14364', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Top Five Finalists Pitch Business Ideas at NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards', 'sub_title' => 'Best three startups to be announced and honored shortly ', 'summary' => 'November 25: Top five startup companies that were shortlisted for the ‘Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards - Best Startup of the Year 2021’ have pitched their business ideas. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 25: Top five startup companies that were shortlisted for the ‘Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards - Best Startup of the Year 2021’ have pitched their business ideas. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Representatives of all top five startups pitched their business ideas before a jury and participants of the grand finale that is underway at Radisson Hotel in Kathmandu. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The program is being organised by New Business Age Pvt Ltd, the publisher of New Business Age magazine and Aarthik Abhiyan daily. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Aama Agro Products (P) Ltd, Admana Technology (P) Ltd, Leaf Plus (P) Ltd, Nepal Agro Inputs Marketing & Entrepreneurship Services (NAMES) (P) Ltd and Upaya City Cargo (P) Ltd are the top five finalists that pitched their ideas. Their representatives pitched the business case of their startups to the jury panel. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Based on their presentation, the jury panel will now pick the top three winners while two remaining startups will also be felicitated as “One of the Best Five Startups”. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tenzin Sonam Gonsar, founder and CEO of TEAM Ventures Pvt Ltd, Sumana Shrestha, managing partner and founder of Kosi Collaborative and Niraj Khanal, co-founder/CEO of Antarprerana are the members of the jury that is led by Siddhant Raj Pandey, CEO of Business Oxygen (BO2). </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the organizer, the jury will pick the best startup, second best startup and third best startup shortly based on criteria like articulation of vision/mission statement, value proposition and market identification, team composition and calibre, innovation/USP/disruption, transaction-to-date, scalability and competitive strategy, IT used, creation story and judgment of jury.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The ‘Best Startup of the Year 2021’ would be provided a cash prize of Rs 100,000 along with a trophy and a certificate while the “Second Best Startup of the Year 2021” will receive a trophy, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 50,000. The startup securing the third position, or the “Third Best Startup of the Year 2021”, will be presented with a trophy, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 25,000. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the organiser, the jury had held several meetings, went through the information collected, set the judging criteria and prepared the shortlist of 40 out of more than 1700 startups throughout the country. After further in-depth information about the companies, 35 companies were shortlisted again, out of which top five companies were shortlisted for the finals. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Madan Lamsal, chairman of New Business Age Pvt Ltd, said that the programme aims at encouraging youths to embrace entrepreneurship that contributes to the overall economic development. The award intends to recognize and honor the best and promising startups of the country. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The government, financial sector, development partners and other organizations like FNCCI and NEYF are making efforts to promote startups and entrepreneurship in the country. Those efforts have been successful to a large extent. Still, the pace of growth of startups and development of entrepreneurship has not been at the desired or expected level,” said Lamsal, who is also the editor-in-chief of New Business Age and Aarthik Abhiyan. “We believe this programme will complement those efforts toward promoting startups in the country.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kumari Bank Limited is the title sponsor of Newbiz Startup Summit and Awards 2021 while Garima Bikas Bank Limited is the co-sponsor of the event. The Startup & Innovation Committee of the FNCCI, Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum and Dish Home Fibernet are the associate partners. The summit and awards programme is supported by Citizens Life Insurance, IME and NLG Insurance Company Limited. The infra partner of the program is Mansiri Trading and the technical partner is Mango Tech. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">New Business Age has been organizing various events in the corporate sector including Tourism Aviation, Money Expo, Higher Secondary School Rating-Ranking-Awards, Business School Rating-Ranking-Awards, FDI in Nepal, Newbiz Conclave and Business Excellence Awards. Earlier in January, New Business Age had organized “Newbiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2021’ to honor working and entrepreneurial women of Nepal in various categories. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Which are the top five startups that pitched their business ideas?</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Aama Agro Products, a Pokhara-based private sector agriculture company in Nepal, is committed to providing healthy Nepali products. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Admana Technology is a digital Ad network company that offers performance based solutions for advertisers i.e companies and media networks in the country. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Another startup that made it to the top five is Leaf Plus Pvt Ltd. It is a socio-economic enterprise that aims to have an impactful contribution to the environment and society by producing and promoting areca leaf products. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Agro Inputs Marketing & Entrepreneurship Services (NAMES) (P) Ltd is a multifaceted business company dedicated to marketing all kinds of agriculture inputs and services. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Upaya City Cargo provides an online marketplace for various business related services that range from registration to liquidation, along with all the compliance, financial and accounting work of individuals, small and medium enterprises and business organizations.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14109', 'image' => '20211125041215_IMG-20211125-WA0000.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 15:55:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14360', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards 2021’ Kicks Off', 'sub_title' => 'Three best startups to be awarded while during the event', 'summary' => 'November 25: The ‘Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards’ is all set to kick off today (November 25). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 25: The ‘Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards’ kicked off today (November 25) amid a programme at Radisson Hotel, Kathmandu. The program is being organized by the New Business Age Pvt Ltd as an initiative to recognize and honor a number of best-performing startups and to encourage innovative business ideas across the country, according to the organizer.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">‘Best Startup of the Year 2021’ would be provided a cash prize of Rs 100,000 along with a trophy and a certificate while the “Second Best Startup of the Year 2021” will receive a trophy, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 50,000. The startup bagging the third position, or the “Third Best Startup of the Year 2021”, will be presented with a trophy, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 25,000. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, seven startups, or one from each province, will also be felicitated during the ceremony as emerging startups from provinces. Similarly, a startup led by women will be honored with the "Best Women-led Startup of the Year 2021” while two businesses that started as startups and have now succeeded will be felicitated as “Special Recognition as Startup Success”.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prior to the presentation of the awards and honors, New Business Age Pvt Ltd is holding a panel discussion titled “Search for Nepal Unicorn: Success and Challenges” where leading entrepreneurs, policymakers and business experts will discuss problems faced by the startup enterprises as well as policies to support their growth. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Lino Ahlering, MD of Daraz Nepal (Alibaba Group), and Anjani Phuyal, Global CTO of Genese Solutions, are scheduled to share their international experiences during the programme. Juna Mathema, the co-chairperson of Women Entrepreneurship Development Committee, FNCCI; Ashraya Dixit, the manager of Operations of Hamro Patro; and Kewal Prasad Bhandari, the member secretary of National Planning Commission are the panelists in the panel discussion that will be moderated by Suman Shakya, an entrepreneur, consultant and certified trainer. The panelists will talk about the works done by the government to sustain startups in Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the organizer, the grand finale is a culmination of several activities over the last one year including the shortlisting of 40 out of 1,700 plus startups from across the country and collection of further in-depth information about them to prepare another shortlist of 30 startups. Similarly, two training programmes were also organized for the startups. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The training held on October 29 on hybrid platform was open to all and the second one held at the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) on November 15 was focused on the 30 shortlisted startups. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kumari Bank Limited is the title sponsor of Newbiz Startup Summit and Awards 2021 while the Garima Bikas Bank Limited is the co-sponsor of the event. The Startup & Innovation Committee of the FNCCI, Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum and Dish Home Fibernet are the associate partners. The summit and awards programme is supported by Citizen Life Insurance, IME and NLG Insurance Company Limited. The infra partner of the program is Mansiri Trading and the technical partner is Mango Tech.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">New Business Age has been organizing various events in the corporate sector including Tourism Aviation, Money Expo, Higher Secondary School Rating-Ranking-Awards, Business School Rating-Ranking-Awards, FDI in Nepal, Newbiz Conclave and Business Excellence Awards. Earlier in January, New Business Age had organized “Newbiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2021’ to honor working and entrepreneurial women of Nepal in various categories. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14108', 'image' => '20211125081219_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 08:11:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14363', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB to Issue Repo worth Rs 20 Billion ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 25: The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) is issuing a repurchase agreement (repo) worth Rs 20 billion today (November 25). The repo will mature on December 8. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 25: The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) is issuing a repurchase agreement (repo) worth Rs 20 billion today (November 25). The repo will mature on December 8. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The central bank is issuing the repo to prevent the shortage of investment capital in banks and financial systems. The central bank issues repo if there is shortage of liquidity in the banking system. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The central bank has been issuing repo continuously for the past few months to address the liquidity crunch in the banking system. The NRB on November 11 had issued repo worth Rs 20 billion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the central bank, 'A', 'B' and 'C' class banks and financial institutions can buy the repo through bidding. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14107', 'image' => '20211125010105_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 13:00:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14362', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'EU Commits to Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development of Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 25: The European Union (EU) has expressed its commitment to the Green Resilient Inclusive Development of Nepal and its readiness to extend all possible support to Nepal in achieving its development aspirations. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 25: The European Union (EU) has expressed its commitment to the Green Resilient Inclusive Development of Nepal and its readiness to extend all possible support to Nepal in achieving its development aspirations. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU made such commitment during the 13th meeting of the Joint Commission between Nepal and the European Union (EU) that was held in Kathmandu on November 24. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A broad range of issues of mutual interest featured during the meeting. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Set up in 1996, the Nepal-EU Joint Commission has proved to be a useful platform to further deepen the partnership between Nepal and the EU. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU and Nepal discussed the COVID-19 pandemic and cooperation in post-pandemic recovery. Nepal conveyed its gratitude to the EU for promptly extending the support of life-saving medical items and equipment when Nepal was struggling through the devastating second wave of the pandemic in the summer this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Thanking the EU for its important contribution to the COVAX Facility, Nepal shared the plan of vaccinating all eligible population by April 2022 and briefed on efforts being made by the government to contain COVID-19. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU welcomed Nepal’s plan to graduate from LDC status by 2026. In this respect, the EU expressed its commitment to the Green Resilient Inclusive Development of Nepal and its readiness to extend all possible support to Nepal in achieving its development aspirations. </span></span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stress on multilateral cooperation</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU and Nepal underlined the importance of effective multilateral cooperation, strengthening the World Health Organization and strengthening global capacity to respond to future pandemics. The two sides also underlined that vaccines are public goods, hence the need of ensuring equitable access. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal reiterated its appreciation for the EU’s strong support for the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) as well as for the extension of the initiative. Nepal and the EU agreed that the swift and full implementation of the DSSI by all official bilateral creditors should be a key priority in order to ensure predictability given the continuing financing pressures on the beneficiary countries owing to the pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU also appreciated the achievements made by Nepal in its socio-political transformation. It stressed the important role of civil society and media for strengthening democracy and good governance. The EU encouraged Nepal to further increase the participation of women in political life and the decision making process in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Joint Commission welcomed the lending activity of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in Nepal, which will focus on climate change adaptation and mitigation as well as improved connectivity and renewable energy in the coming years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, regarding people-to-people contacts, Nepal and the EU discussed ongoing higher education cooperation, whereby a growing number of Nepali students are studying in European universities. Nepal ranks among the top 20 countries worldwide in terms of students being awarded scholarships for Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree programmes. Since the launch of the cooperation about 800 students from Nepal benefited from the possibility to study on European universities. </span></span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">EU requested to lift ban on Nepali airlines</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal briefed on its efforts made to improve air safety, notably regarding the proposed new aviation legislation. Nepal appreciated the technical support received in its endeavour to improve air safety. In view of the necessary measures taken by Nepal and its need to reviving tourism sector for economic recovery, Nepal requested the EU to lift the ban on its airlines. The EU acknowledged the positive developments and effort made by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal and assured that a positive step will be taken in this direction once the necessary legislation is implemented. </span></span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Joint commitment to rules-based order</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Both sides reiterated their commitment to work together in the United Nations, World Trade Organization and other international fora supporting effective multilateralism and rules-based world order. They agreed on the importance of sincerely implementing the outcome of the COP26 held in Glasgow earlier this month and taking robust measures for climate action as well as meeting the financial commitments made to support the less resourceful countries in fighting the adverse impacts of climate change. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting was co-chaired by Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal from Nepal and Deputy Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific of the European External Affairs Service, Paola Pampaloni. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The next joint commission meeting will take place in Brussels in 2022. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14106', 'image' => '20211125125616_gogreen.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 12:55:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14361', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Admits Flaws in Budget System', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 25: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has stated that the budget and the budget system of the country are in a problematic state.', 'content' => '<p><em>Finance Minister Janardan Sharma felicitates Editorial Director of New Business Age Keshav Gautam during a programme on Wednesday.</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 25: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has stated that the budget and the budget system of the country are in a problematic state.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a programme organized by Nepal Association of Financial Journalists (NAFIJ) in the capital on Wednesday (November 24), Finance Minister Sharma admitted that the government has not been able to provide concession sought by the private sector as the country’s budget and budget system are in problematic state due to the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Finance Minister Sharma added that the government is ready to work together with the private sectors for the economic recovery.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the occasion, Chairperson of Nepal Chamber of Commerce Rajendra Malla pointed out the need to study the financial sector and promote productivity.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Acting President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) Krishna Prasad Adhikari said that the government has not been able to work as effectively as the private sector and urged the government to work in partnership with the private sector.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of Central Department of Economics at TU, Prof Dr Shivaraj Adhikari, said that the media should play the role of a watchdog.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Also speaking on the occasion, FNCCI Chairperson Shekhar Golchha said that the economic sector of the country has been facing challenge mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Mahaprasad Adhikari said that the financial sector has been gradually recovering.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><strong><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Gautam Felicitated</span></span></strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the programme, the organisers felicitated Editorial Director of New Business Age Keshav Gautam for his long-standing contribution to the field of journalism. Finance Minister Janardan Sharma felicitated Gautam on behalf of the organisers. Gautam was felicitated for his contribution to financial journalism for more than two decades. During the occasion, Gautam stressed on the need for investigative reporting.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14105', 'image' => '20211125093513_1637796137.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 09:33:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14359', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Election Commission Tells Political Parties not to Distribute Membership to Professionals ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 24: The Election Commission (EC) has called upon political parties not to distribute their memberships to the sitting professors, teachers and officials working in the state-owned bodies or state-owned autonomous bodies of the federal, provincial and local governments. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 24: The Election Commission (EC) has called upon political parties not to distribute their memberships to the sitting professors, teachers and officials working in the state-owned bodies or state-owned autonomous bodies of the federal, provincial and local governments. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EC has also stated that its attention has been drawn to the election of teachers, officials and professors as the representatives of the political parties in their national conventions. The EC has suggested that the political activities should be carried out in line with the prevailing laws. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a press statement on Tuesday, EC Spokesperson Shaligram Poudel said that the Clause 14 (2) of the Act on Political Parties, 2073 BS has a clear provision that the sitting officials of the Government of Nepal, provincial governments and local level or the professors, teachers or officials under the state-owned or state-owned autonomous institutions cannot become members of political parties. The EC further stated that the political parties too cannot distribute their membership to the individuals holding such public positions. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The commission has also mentioned that if the political parties were found electing public position holders as their officials, their positions would not be updated from the EC. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the EC has directed its district election offices and province election offices to remove the name of the public position holders from the list of the political parties' committees. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-24', 'modified' => '2021-11-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14104', 'image' => '20211124020029_EC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-24 13:59:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14358', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '13th Nepal-EU Joint Commission Meeting Kicks Off ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 24: The 13th meeting of the Joint Commission of Nepal and the European Union (EU) has commenced in Kathmandu today (November 24).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 24: The 13th meeting of the Joint Commission of Nepal and the European Union (EU) has commenced in Kathmandu today (November 24), focusing on the EU’s development assistance to Nepal in the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for the next six years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting will discuss about cooperation and trade between Nepal and the EU, civil aviation safety, contemporary political scenario, and partnership in socio-economic development, climate change issues and a wide range of issues of mutual interests, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministry further said that the meeting will also review the progress of the previous meeting.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Nepali delegation is being led by Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal while the Deputy Managing Director of the EU External Affairs for Asia and the Pacific, Paola Pampaloni is representing the EU during the meeting. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Nepali delegation comprises senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies; Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Ministry of Forest and Environment, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and the National Planning Commission. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU delegation incorporates Pampaloni and two others senior officials from Brussels, Belgium and EU Ambassador to Nepal Nona Deprez and her aides. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 12th meeting was held virtually last year due to COVID-19 crisis. Initially, it was agreed to organise the meeting biannually in Kathmandu and Brussels on the basis of rotation, while it has been taking place each year since the past five years. --RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-24', 'modified' => '2021-11-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14103', 'image' => '20211124014936_Flag-Pins-Nepal-European-Union.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-24 13:48:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14357', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Economic Activities Gain Momentum', 'sub_title' => 'Foreign Trade Through Birgunj Customs Increases by 92 Percent ', 'summary' => 'November 24: The foreign trade data of the current Fiscal Year (FY 2021/22) obtained from the country’s largest custom point in Birgunj shows that the economic activities that were affected by the pandemic is slowly returning back to normal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 24: The foreign trade data of the current Fiscal Year (FY 2021/22) obtained from the country’s largest custom point in Birgunj shows that the economic activities that were affected by the pandemic is slowly returning back to normal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Imports and exports through Birgunj customs have increased by 92 percent in the first four months of the current fiscal year. According to the Birgunj customs, this amount is significantly higher than the corresponding period of last fiscal year. Harihar Poudel, Chief Customs Officer of Birgunj Customs, said that transactions of Rs 264.27 billion took place via this customs point from mid-July to mid-November.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, this amount was Rs 137.60 billion. Last year, the lockdown and prohibitory order were imposed from March to control the pandemic. The market could not gain momentum even though it was reopened in September. Customs officials claim that the lockdown affected the volume of foreign trade. Adverse effects of the lockdown led to a decline in domestic production and foreign trade.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Foreign goods worth Rs 224.71 billion have been imported until mid-November through the Birgunj customs. During this period, domestic products worth Rs 39.56 billion were exported.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The data show that imports have increased by 80 percent in the last four months compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year. According to the Birgunj customs, export trade has increased by 218 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Goods worth Rs 125 billion were imported into the country during the first four months of the last fiscal year while goods worth Rs 12.44 billion were exported.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Petroleum products, vehicles, industrial raw materials and other goods are mostly imported from Birgunj. Likewise, refined edible oil, juice, drinks, textiles, scarves, etc. are exported from this checkpoint.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Most of the goods that entered through Birgunj customs were from India. While goods worth Rs 158 billion were imported from India, export to India accounted for Rs 38.2 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India is the largest market for export trade of Nepal. The trade deficit with India alone is equivalent to Rs 120 billion through Birgunj customs.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the customs office, goods worth Rs 13.89 billion were imported from China while the export to China amounted to Rs 13 million. Chairman of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry Subodh Kumar Gupta says that the size of foreign trade has increased as the economic activities which were halted during the pandemic have started gaining momentum. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-24', 'modified' => '2021-11-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14102', 'image' => '20211124013537_Birgunj.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-24 13:34:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14356', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'ICP Workers Stage Protest', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 24: The workers employed at the Integrated Check Post (ICP), Biratnagar have started a protest programme accusing the Trans Nepal Thread Services Pvt. Ltd. of being involved in labor exploitation. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 24: The workers employed at the Integrated Check Post (ICP), Biratnagar have started a protest programme accusing the Trans Nepal Thread Services Pvt. Ltd. of being involved in labor exploitation. The workers claim that they resorted to protest for not getting facilities as per the Labor Act while working under Trans Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There are about 300 workers working under the Trans Nepal at Biratnagar Customs. They organized a press conference outside the ICP on Monday and have warned the concerned authorities about intensifying the protest.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The workers say that despite multiple rounds of discussions and meetings with stakeholders regarding facilities as per the labor act, Trans Nepal has been turning a deaf ear to their requests. Shambhu Kumar Yadav, who has been working since a long time at the Biratnagar Customs expressed his discontent while sharing that they were forced to protest after their problems were not resolved in an amicable manner. “Even after working in the customs for so many years, even the minimum facility specified by the Labor Act has not been provided. Our demand for facilities as per the law has not been heard till now,” said Yadav.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Trans Nepal Thread Service Pvt. Ltd. had had been sub-contracted by the Intermodal Transport Development Committee for five years to manage the ICP. The contract was signed for Rs 350 million. The company supplies workers to the ICP through contractors.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The workers have placed forth a nine-point demand including facility as per the Labor Act. They have warned that the ICP will be closed from November 28 if their demands are not met.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, Laxmi Subba, the head of the office of Trans Nepal Thread Service Pvt. Ltd. has said that the workers working at the customs were independent workers and not their employees. “We are related in no way with them,” said Subba.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-24', 'modified' => '2021-11-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14101', 'image' => '20211124124441_02 ICP Biratnagar plaque_0.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-24 12:43:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14370', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘Lack of Favorable FDI Regulations Hurting Startup Investment’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 26: Startups can be pioneers in bringing change due to the flexibility, willingness and courage they have to do something new, shared Lino Ahlering, managing director of Daraz. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 26: Startups can be pioneers in bringing change due to the flexibility, willingness and courage they have to do something new, shared Lino Ahlering, managing director of Daraz. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards 2021 on Thursday, Ahlering said that disruptions and achieving change is often facilitated by startups.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I truly believe that startups can change the world,” said Ahlering, adding, “I have experienced it from my own country in Germany, where Berlin is probably the most vibrant startup capitals in the entire world. But they obviously need supporters to enable to do this.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He shared that Daraz is not a startup anymore, but “we as a company had a humble beginning”.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We started in 2014 as a very very small company, pretty much from scratch with a local team but with some foreign investment driven by a company called Rocket Internet. In 2018, Ddaraz got sold to Alibaba. And that was a change that we made during the transition from being a startup to a corporate, but still with the startup character.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He added that Daraz is just not a company builder but an ecosystem builder. It is not just Daraz growing that matters but the entire ecosystem, said Ahlering.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">But the big question, according to Ahlering, is why the startup scene is growing but not picking up pace as much as expected in Nepal?</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to him, lack of easier and favorable FDI regulations is the major hurdle in attracting new investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“There are smart entrepreneurs with excellent ideas and a huge market for execution of ideas but the investment is missing. So, investors should be provided with that favorable environment and FDI regulations,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ahlering argued that FDI is crucial but at the same time local investment is also important. The investors should be less interested in the immediate return and come up with the long-term vision for the development of the startup scene, he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Meanwhile, events like Newbiz Startup Summit awards is what we need to bring investors, startups and the stakeholders together and facilitate the discussion for the growth of the startup scene.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-26', 'modified' => '2021-11-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14115', 'image' => '20211126112928_IMG_5498.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-11-26 11:27:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14369', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'President Concerned Over Degrading Fiscal Discipline', 'sub_title' => 'Directs the Office of the Auditor General to ensure proper utilization of state funds', 'summary' => 'November 26: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has expressed her concerns over the degrading fiscal discipline among governments bodies. ', 'content' => '<p><em><span style="font-size:12px">President Bidya Devi Bhandari. Photo: RSS</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 26: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has expressed her concerns over the degrading fiscal discipline among governments bodies</span><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">. </span></strong><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Inaugurating a newly constructed building of the Auditor General amidst a programme on Thursday, the Head-of-the-State said the role of the Office of the Auditor General was vital in maintaining and promoting fiscal discipline. She further made it clear that the role of federal, provincial and local governments was equally important in implementing and establishing fiscal discipline. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the president expressed concerns stating that the volume of arrears is increasing every year despite measures to downsize it. The president underlined the need of finding a right approach to address the issue. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, the president also expressed her concern over the nation’s ballooning trade deficit and said, “It is a matter of concern that disproportionate ratio of export and import has led to the skyrocketing trade deficit and the nation’s dependence on agro-products has also increased.” </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She was of the opinion that the Office of the Auditor General could contribute to the entrepreneurship development of people for the building of self-sufficient economy. The president further expressed her hope that the Office of the Auditor General would play a leading role in the implementation of fiscal discipline and expressed her happiness over the decision to introduce an IT-enabled audit system, RSS reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that the scope of OAG jurisdictions had been expanded with the enforcement of federalism, the president urged the Office not to leave any stone unturned to fulfill its role to oversee whether the nation’s fund has been rightly utilised. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The total arrears worth Rs 676 billion of the government bodies have to be cleared, according to data submitted by the Auditor General Tanka Mani Sharma. The figure is increasing every year. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-26', 'modified' => '2021-11-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14114', 'image' => '20211126081528_NP_KTM_IMG_1881.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-26 08:14:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14368', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'UNGA Endorses Proposal to Graduate Nepal to Middle-Income Developing Country', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 26: The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has endorsed the proposal to graduate Nepal to the status of a middle-income developing nation from the category of least developed country (LDC) by 2026.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 26: The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has endorsed the proposal to graduate Nepal to the status of a middle-income developing nation from the category of least developed country (LDC) by 2026, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Economic and Social Council of the UN had presented the proposal in the UNGA for its endorsement. The UNGA passed the proposal on Wednesday, confirmed Amrit Bahadur Rai, chief of the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the UN. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Rai pledged on behalf of Nepal to do its best to undertake all required procedures for its structural changes within the next five years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Rai, the Government of Nepal has completed strategic efforts for the graduation. This is an opportunity for the country to raise its image in the international forum by creating structures for its economy within next five years, added Rai.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">RSS further reported that Nepal had met the criteria for its graduation in between 2015 and 2018. However, the country’s graduation to middle-income country had been affected by the 2015 earthquake and subsequently postponed citing that its economy was threatened by the disaster.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal was incorporated in the list of LDCs in 1971. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-26', 'modified' => '2021-11-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14113', 'image' => '20211126080157_istockphoto-1198589424-612x612.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-26 08:01:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14367', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Upaya City Cargo Bags ‘Best Startup of the Year 2021’ Award', 'sub_title' => 'Leaf Plus and Aama Agro Products picked as second and third best startup of the year amid Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit & Awards 2021', 'summary' => 'November 25: Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd has bagged the ‘Best Startup of the Year 2021” award.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 25: Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd has bagged the ‘Best Startup of the Year 2021” award. The startup was honored with the best startup of the year award during the “Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit & Awards 2021” organized by New Business Age Pvt Ltd, the publisher of Aarthik Abhiyan daily and New Business Age magazine. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Madan Lamsal, chairman of New Business Age, Muktinath Bank’s CEO Pradhuman Pokharel and jury members jointly handed over the awards to the winners amid a program held in Kathmandu on November 25. Along with the award, Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd bagged a cash prize of Rs 100,000 as well as a certificate of honor and a trophy. Likewise, Leaf Plus Pvt Ltd, won the “Second Best Startup of the Year 2021” that carries a purse of Rs 50,000, a certificate and a trophy. The second best startup is a socio-economic enterprise that aims to have an impactful contribution to the environment and society by producing and promoting areca leaf products. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Aama Agro Products (P) Ltd was announced the “Third Best Startup of the Year 2021”. The third best startup was presented a certificate, trophy and cash prize of Rs 25,000. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The other two startups--Nepal Agro Inputs Marketing & Entrepreneurship Services (NAMES) Pvt Ltd, Admana Technology Pvt Ltd, were honored with the best startups of the year 2021 from amongst five startups which reached to ‘the final five’. The top five startups had gone through an extensive selection process and were invited to the grand finale for their pitches before the jury and the audiences of the grand ceremony, according to the organizer. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the initial round, 40 startups were selected by the jury from a pool of 1,700 plus startups from across the country. Among the selected startups, 35 were selected during the shortlisting process. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/IMG-20211126-WA0001.jpg" style="height:409px; width:545px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The top 35 startups were also provided with an interactive training session on November 15. Prior to this training, all of the 1700 startups were provided with training on a hybrid platform on October 29.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Based on a pitch from the representatives of the top five startups during the award ceremony, the jury committee selected the top three startups of the year. The other two startups that made it to the ‘top five’ were also felicitated as “One of the Best Five Startups” during the award ceremony with letter of appreciation. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The jury committee had picked the best startups based on criteria like articulation of vision/mission statement, value proposition and market identification, team composition and calibre, innovation/USP/disruption, transaction-to-date, scalability and competitive strategy, IT used, creation story and the judgment of the jury, according to the organizer. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Tenzing Sonam Gonsar, founder and CEO of TEAM Ventures Pvt Ltd, Sumana Shrestha, founder and managing partner of Kosi Collaborative and Niraj Khanal, co-founder/CEO of Antarprerana were the members of the jury committee chaired by Siddhant Raj Pandey, CEO of Business Oxygen. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/IMG_4877.JPG" style="height:333px; width:796px" /></span></span></p> <p><strong><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Startup from each province recognized as emerging startup </span></span></strong></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During the ceremony, seven startups -- one from each province -- were honored as the emerging startup of the province. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Far West Infotech & Research Center of Kailali from Sudur Paschim, Jwala Krishi Tatha Pashupalan Udyog of Dailekh from Karnali and Ninja Infosys Pvt Ltd of Banke from Lumbini were awarded the emerging startup of the province. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Ek Call Home Solutions Pvt. Ltd of Kaski from Gandaki, Glocal Private Limited of Lalitpur from Bagamati, Namaste Recycle Traders of Janakpur from Province 2 and Himalayan Lush Industry of Jhapa from Province 1 were the other startups that were honored as emerging startup of the province during the ceremony.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the “Best Women-led Startup of the Year 2021” was awarded to Pure Joy Pvt Ltd. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Karkhana and Sparrow Pay Pvt Ltd (Khalti) received the “Special Recognition as Startup Success”. These two companies received special recognition for their success as startups. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The awards and honors were presented to startups under various categories amid presence of various dignitaries and guests including Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission Biswo Nath Poudel, Nepal Rastra Bank’s (NRB) Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari and FNCCI President Shekhar Golchha. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NPC Vice Chairman Poudel, who was also the chief guest, said that the government wants growth but is concerned about inequality. “It is better for a company with a thousand shareholder flourisn than a company with a single owner,” said Poudel. He added that the growth should not be Kathmandu centric. “Tharus of Madhes and people of Terai as well as other far off areas must experience growth, not just the ones who reside in Kathmandu,” added Poudel.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, NRB Governor highlighted that the role of the central bank is to encourage and promote startups.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“But it is the startups who have to take the risk,” said Governor Adhikari, adding that it is highly commendable to note that young entrepreneurs have shown courage to start new businesses even during the current crisis posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">FNCCI President Golchha said that testing times like these give rise to able persons while all the hard-earned achievements are lost during a period of ease. And this, according to Golchha, repeats like a cycle.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Anuj Mani Timilsina, CEO of Kumari Bank, the title sponsor of the event, said the Kumari Bank is ever ready to assist startups to resolve their problems related to auditing and other financial issues which new companies are likely to encounter. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, Madan Lamsal, who is also the editor-in-chief of New Business Age and Aarthik Abhiyan acknowledged that the government, financial sector, development partners and other organizations like FNCCI and NEYF are making efforts to promote startups and entrepreneurship in the country. “Those efforts have been successful to a large extent. Still, the pace of the growth of startups and development of entrepreneurship has not been at the desired or expected level,” said Lamsal, adding, “We believe this programme will complement those efforts toward promoting startups in the country.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Prior to the awards ceremony, a panel discussion was held where leading entrepreneurs, policymakers and business experts discussed challenges and opportunities facing the startup enterprises as well as policies to support their growth. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Juna Mathema, co-chairperson of Women Entrepreneurship Development Committee of FNCCI, Ashraya Dixit, manager of Operations of Hamro Patro and Kewal Prasad Bhandari, the member secretary of National Planning Commission were the panelists of the discussion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Lino Ahlering, MD of Daraz Nepal and Anjani Phuyal, Global CTO of Genese Solutions had shared their international business experiences.The NewBiz Startup Summit & Awards 2021 is part of the various annual events New Business Age Pvt. Ltd organizes every year for the growth and development of the corporate sector. It has successfully completed the 5th edition of Newbiz Conclave and Business Excellence Awards. Other successful annual events include Business Women Summit & Awards, Higher Secondary School Rating-Ranking-Awards, Business School Rating-Ranking Awards, Money Expo, FDI in </span></span><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal among others.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">This is the first edition of Newbiz Startup Summit & Awards with the theme 'Search for a Nepali Unicorn'. </span></span><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Kumari Bank Limited is the title sponsor of "Newbiz Startup Summit and Awards 2021" while Garima Bikas Bank Ltd is the co-sponsor of the event. The Startup & Innovation Committee of the FNCCI, Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum (NYEF) and Dish Home Fibernet are the associate partners. The summit and awards programme is supported by Citizen Life Insurance, IME, NLG Insurance Company Lth and Byanjan. The infra partner of the program is Mansiri Trading and the technical partner is Mango Tech.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14112', 'image' => '20211125073625_IMG_4858.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 19:26:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14365', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Experts Call for Favorable Government Policies to Promote Startups ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 25: Leading entrepreneurs, policymakers and business experts have underlined the need for government’s support to startups for their promotion and growth. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">November 25: Leading entrepreneurs, policymakers and business experts have underlined the need for government’s support to startups for their promotion and growth. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Speaking at a panel discussion entitled “Search for Nepal Unicorn: Success and Challenges” during the “Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit & Awards 2021”, they said that the government should come up with legislations, rules, regulations and policies that not only make it easier to start businesses but also facilities them to flourish and grow. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Juna Mathema, co-chairperson of the Women Entrepreneurship Development Committee of the FNCCI, said that startups require special treatment and special legal provisions for their growth. “To search and promote a Nepali unicorn, legal provisions should meet the requirements of the market. Firstly, we lack a definition for startup. All entrepreneurs are looked upon with the same perspective,” said Mathema. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">“We should have a national vision on entrepreneurship and develop a roadmap for its execution with startup-friendly initiatives, facilities, education and awareness if we want to see a unicorn in Nepal,” she said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Sharing about the growth of Hamro Patro, Ashraya Dixit, manager of operations at Hamro Patro Inc, said that his startup aspires to become a unicorn. He also said that they plan to transform Hamro Patro into an integrated platform of news, financial services and health services, among others. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">“I think that’s how we’re going to tackle this industry and bring in technological disruptions and digital transformations. We’re going hope that there is going to be enough young people that are going to bind this and enough people in government who care about these outcomes like you guys run well help you out,” said Dixit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Also speaking at the panel discussion, Kewal Prasad Bhandari, member secretary at the National Planning Commission, said that the government has been providing various incentives and facilities to promote startups in the country. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">“We have offered an income tax waiver for startups for five years. The budget has a provision providing a tax deduction for corporate houses for their investments in startups for the income tax purpose. Yes, they are not adequate,” he said. “The government should not do the business, it should be left to the private sector. We have to facilitate entrepreneurs and startups by creating a favorable environment for them to flourish and grow,” he added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Prior to the panel discussion, Lino Ahlering, MD of Daraz Nepal (Alibaba Group), and Anjani Phuyal, Global CTO of Genese Solutions, shared their international experiences. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Daraz Nepal’s MD Ahlering said that the startup scene in Nepal is growing but not picking up pace as much as it should. He pointed out the lack of easier and favorable FDI regulations that have become a major hurdle in attracting new investment for businesses in Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">“Daraz, being a big company, doesn't always have it easy to invest into the country. There are entrepreneurs with excellent ideas and a market is there but the investment is missing so investors should be provided with easier FDI regulations and incentives to invest in,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Anjani Phuyal, Global CTO at Genese Solution, echoed Daraz Nepal’s Managing Director Lino Ahlering in terms of the government’s threshold on foreign direct investment. Phuyal said that the threshold should be lowered as foreign investors may not come to Nepal to support startups with such a high threshold. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Nepal can become a destination where startups from Silicon Valley and other countries operate here, according to Anjani Phuyal, Global CTO at Genese Solution provided that the country prioritizes digitization to attract global companies and investors to the country while universities should adopt the latest curriculum including Cloud, AI/ML, Big Data and Digital Marketing.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">The panel discussion was moderated by Suman Shakya, an entrepreneur, consultant and a certified trainer. <br /> Shakya has been involved in multiple entrepreneurial ventures and as an adjunct faculty of marketing and strategy. </span></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">He asked questions that covered problems of startup enterprise, roles of banking institutions, policies to grow them. <br /> According to Shakya, the government is yet to define a startup in Nepal. “We are in search of unicorns. We need to have a vision to create a unicorn in Nepal. Once a Nepali company becomes a unicorn, there will be cascading effects here in the country,” said Shakya. “When we work in the business, SMEs or startup sector, we always have a perception that the government is not supporting us or there are so many bottlenecks. But, the story of other side does not come out. There are also so many good things that the government has been doing. May be it’s that people do not know about those initiatives,” he said. <br /> The government in preparing a working procedure which may define what a startup is, he said, summing up the opinions of panelists who called for a change in the government approach that looks all startups from the same lens. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14111', 'image' => '20211126091317_IMG-20211126-WA0000.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 18:16:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14366', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Central Bank Ready to Address Barriers Faced by Startups, says NRB Governor Adhikari', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 25: Nepal Rastra Bank’s (NRB) Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has said that the central bank is ready to address the barriers that startups and enterprises are facing in Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 25: Nepal Rastra Bank’s (NRB) Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has said that the central bank is ready to address the barriers that startups and enterprises are facing in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Addressing a function organized during the “Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit & Awards 2021” on Thursday, NRB Governor Adhikari said that the central bank wants to encourage startups, not discourage them. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“If any regulation or rule has been posing barriers, let us know. Our role is to encourage you, not discourage you,” said NRB Governor Adhikari. “I appreciate the courage and conviction to become an entrepreneur and do business despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. I urge you not to give up your efforts even if you fail in one startup,” he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to NRB Governor Adhikari, the central bank has automated the approval process of foreign investment without investors requiring to visit the banks to get the approval to bring investments. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We have capped the premium on the interest rates of banks so that those businesses who do not have voices do not suffer from the rising cost of borrowing. That should not be interpreted as an initiative of the central bank to fix the interest rate,” he added. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14110', 'image' => '20211125064453_IMG_5593.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 18:43:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14364', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Top Five Finalists Pitch Business Ideas at NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards', 'sub_title' => 'Best three startups to be announced and honored shortly ', 'summary' => 'November 25: Top five startup companies that were shortlisted for the ‘Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards - Best Startup of the Year 2021’ have pitched their business ideas. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 25: Top five startup companies that were shortlisted for the ‘Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards - Best Startup of the Year 2021’ have pitched their business ideas. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Representatives of all top five startups pitched their business ideas before a jury and participants of the grand finale that is underway at Radisson Hotel in Kathmandu. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The program is being organised by New Business Age Pvt Ltd, the publisher of New Business Age magazine and Aarthik Abhiyan daily. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Aama Agro Products (P) Ltd, Admana Technology (P) Ltd, Leaf Plus (P) Ltd, Nepal Agro Inputs Marketing & Entrepreneurship Services (NAMES) (P) Ltd and Upaya City Cargo (P) Ltd are the top five finalists that pitched their ideas. Their representatives pitched the business case of their startups to the jury panel. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Based on their presentation, the jury panel will now pick the top three winners while two remaining startups will also be felicitated as “One of the Best Five Startups”. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tenzin Sonam Gonsar, founder and CEO of TEAM Ventures Pvt Ltd, Sumana Shrestha, managing partner and founder of Kosi Collaborative and Niraj Khanal, co-founder/CEO of Antarprerana are the members of the jury that is led by Siddhant Raj Pandey, CEO of Business Oxygen (BO2). </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the organizer, the jury will pick the best startup, second best startup and third best startup shortly based on criteria like articulation of vision/mission statement, value proposition and market identification, team composition and calibre, innovation/USP/disruption, transaction-to-date, scalability and competitive strategy, IT used, creation story and judgment of jury.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The ‘Best Startup of the Year 2021’ would be provided a cash prize of Rs 100,000 along with a trophy and a certificate while the “Second Best Startup of the Year 2021” will receive a trophy, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 50,000. The startup securing the third position, or the “Third Best Startup of the Year 2021”, will be presented with a trophy, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 25,000. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the organiser, the jury had held several meetings, went through the information collected, set the judging criteria and prepared the shortlist of 40 out of more than 1700 startups throughout the country. After further in-depth information about the companies, 35 companies were shortlisted again, out of which top five companies were shortlisted for the finals. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Madan Lamsal, chairman of New Business Age Pvt Ltd, said that the programme aims at encouraging youths to embrace entrepreneurship that contributes to the overall economic development. The award intends to recognize and honor the best and promising startups of the country. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The government, financial sector, development partners and other organizations like FNCCI and NEYF are making efforts to promote startups and entrepreneurship in the country. Those efforts have been successful to a large extent. Still, the pace of growth of startups and development of entrepreneurship has not been at the desired or expected level,” said Lamsal, who is also the editor-in-chief of New Business Age and Aarthik Abhiyan. “We believe this programme will complement those efforts toward promoting startups in the country.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kumari Bank Limited is the title sponsor of Newbiz Startup Summit and Awards 2021 while Garima Bikas Bank Limited is the co-sponsor of the event. The Startup & Innovation Committee of the FNCCI, Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum and Dish Home Fibernet are the associate partners. The summit and awards programme is supported by Citizens Life Insurance, IME and NLG Insurance Company Limited. The infra partner of the program is Mansiri Trading and the technical partner is Mango Tech. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">New Business Age has been organizing various events in the corporate sector including Tourism Aviation, Money Expo, Higher Secondary School Rating-Ranking-Awards, Business School Rating-Ranking-Awards, FDI in Nepal, Newbiz Conclave and Business Excellence Awards. Earlier in January, New Business Age had organized “Newbiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2021’ to honor working and entrepreneurial women of Nepal in various categories. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Which are the top five startups that pitched their business ideas?</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Aama Agro Products, a Pokhara-based private sector agriculture company in Nepal, is committed to providing healthy Nepali products. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Admana Technology is a digital Ad network company that offers performance based solutions for advertisers i.e companies and media networks in the country. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Another startup that made it to the top five is Leaf Plus Pvt Ltd. It is a socio-economic enterprise that aims to have an impactful contribution to the environment and society by producing and promoting areca leaf products. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Agro Inputs Marketing & Entrepreneurship Services (NAMES) (P) Ltd is a multifaceted business company dedicated to marketing all kinds of agriculture inputs and services. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Upaya City Cargo provides an online marketplace for various business related services that range from registration to liquidation, along with all the compliance, financial and accounting work of individuals, small and medium enterprises and business organizations.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14109', 'image' => '20211125041215_IMG-20211125-WA0000.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 15:55:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14360', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards 2021’ Kicks Off', 'sub_title' => 'Three best startups to be awarded while during the event', 'summary' => 'November 25: The ‘Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards’ is all set to kick off today (November 25). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 25: The ‘Kumari Bank NewBiz Startup Summit and Awards’ kicked off today (November 25) amid a programme at Radisson Hotel, Kathmandu. The program is being organized by the New Business Age Pvt Ltd as an initiative to recognize and honor a number of best-performing startups and to encourage innovative business ideas across the country, according to the organizer.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">‘Best Startup of the Year 2021’ would be provided a cash prize of Rs 100,000 along with a trophy and a certificate while the “Second Best Startup of the Year 2021” will receive a trophy, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 50,000. The startup bagging the third position, or the “Third Best Startup of the Year 2021”, will be presented with a trophy, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 25,000. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, seven startups, or one from each province, will also be felicitated during the ceremony as emerging startups from provinces. Similarly, a startup led by women will be honored with the "Best Women-led Startup of the Year 2021” while two businesses that started as startups and have now succeeded will be felicitated as “Special Recognition as Startup Success”.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prior to the presentation of the awards and honors, New Business Age Pvt Ltd is holding a panel discussion titled “Search for Nepal Unicorn: Success and Challenges” where leading entrepreneurs, policymakers and business experts will discuss problems faced by the startup enterprises as well as policies to support their growth. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Lino Ahlering, MD of Daraz Nepal (Alibaba Group), and Anjani Phuyal, Global CTO of Genese Solutions, are scheduled to share their international experiences during the programme. Juna Mathema, the co-chairperson of Women Entrepreneurship Development Committee, FNCCI; Ashraya Dixit, the manager of Operations of Hamro Patro; and Kewal Prasad Bhandari, the member secretary of National Planning Commission are the panelists in the panel discussion that will be moderated by Suman Shakya, an entrepreneur, consultant and certified trainer. The panelists will talk about the works done by the government to sustain startups in Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the organizer, the grand finale is a culmination of several activities over the last one year including the shortlisting of 40 out of 1,700 plus startups from across the country and collection of further in-depth information about them to prepare another shortlist of 30 startups. Similarly, two training programmes were also organized for the startups. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The training held on October 29 on hybrid platform was open to all and the second one held at the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) on November 15 was focused on the 30 shortlisted startups. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kumari Bank Limited is the title sponsor of Newbiz Startup Summit and Awards 2021 while the Garima Bikas Bank Limited is the co-sponsor of the event. The Startup & Innovation Committee of the FNCCI, Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum and Dish Home Fibernet are the associate partners. The summit and awards programme is supported by Citizen Life Insurance, IME and NLG Insurance Company Limited. The infra partner of the program is Mansiri Trading and the technical partner is Mango Tech.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">New Business Age has been organizing various events in the corporate sector including Tourism Aviation, Money Expo, Higher Secondary School Rating-Ranking-Awards, Business School Rating-Ranking-Awards, FDI in Nepal, Newbiz Conclave and Business Excellence Awards. Earlier in January, New Business Age had organized “Newbiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2021’ to honor working and entrepreneurial women of Nepal in various categories. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14108', 'image' => '20211125081219_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 08:11:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14363', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB to Issue Repo worth Rs 20 Billion ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 25: The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) is issuing a repurchase agreement (repo) worth Rs 20 billion today (November 25). The repo will mature on December 8. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 25: The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) is issuing a repurchase agreement (repo) worth Rs 20 billion today (November 25). The repo will mature on December 8. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The central bank is issuing the repo to prevent the shortage of investment capital in banks and financial systems. The central bank issues repo if there is shortage of liquidity in the banking system. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The central bank has been issuing repo continuously for the past few months to address the liquidity crunch in the banking system. The NRB on November 11 had issued repo worth Rs 20 billion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the central bank, 'A', 'B' and 'C' class banks and financial institutions can buy the repo through bidding. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14107', 'image' => '20211125010105_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 13:00:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14362', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'EU Commits to Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development of Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 25: The European Union (EU) has expressed its commitment to the Green Resilient Inclusive Development of Nepal and its readiness to extend all possible support to Nepal in achieving its development aspirations. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 25: The European Union (EU) has expressed its commitment to the Green Resilient Inclusive Development of Nepal and its readiness to extend all possible support to Nepal in achieving its development aspirations. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU made such commitment during the 13th meeting of the Joint Commission between Nepal and the European Union (EU) that was held in Kathmandu on November 24. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A broad range of issues of mutual interest featured during the meeting. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Set up in 1996, the Nepal-EU Joint Commission has proved to be a useful platform to further deepen the partnership between Nepal and the EU. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU and Nepal discussed the COVID-19 pandemic and cooperation in post-pandemic recovery. Nepal conveyed its gratitude to the EU for promptly extending the support of life-saving medical items and equipment when Nepal was struggling through the devastating second wave of the pandemic in the summer this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Thanking the EU for its important contribution to the COVAX Facility, Nepal shared the plan of vaccinating all eligible population by April 2022 and briefed on efforts being made by the government to contain COVID-19. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU welcomed Nepal’s plan to graduate from LDC status by 2026. In this respect, the EU expressed its commitment to the Green Resilient Inclusive Development of Nepal and its readiness to extend all possible support to Nepal in achieving its development aspirations. </span></span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stress on multilateral cooperation</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU and Nepal underlined the importance of effective multilateral cooperation, strengthening the World Health Organization and strengthening global capacity to respond to future pandemics. The two sides also underlined that vaccines are public goods, hence the need of ensuring equitable access. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal reiterated its appreciation for the EU’s strong support for the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) as well as for the extension of the initiative. Nepal and the EU agreed that the swift and full implementation of the DSSI by all official bilateral creditors should be a key priority in order to ensure predictability given the continuing financing pressures on the beneficiary countries owing to the pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU also appreciated the achievements made by Nepal in its socio-political transformation. It stressed the important role of civil society and media for strengthening democracy and good governance. The EU encouraged Nepal to further increase the participation of women in political life and the decision making process in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Joint Commission welcomed the lending activity of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in Nepal, which will focus on climate change adaptation and mitigation as well as improved connectivity and renewable energy in the coming years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, regarding people-to-people contacts, Nepal and the EU discussed ongoing higher education cooperation, whereby a growing number of Nepali students are studying in European universities. Nepal ranks among the top 20 countries worldwide in terms of students being awarded scholarships for Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree programmes. Since the launch of the cooperation about 800 students from Nepal benefited from the possibility to study on European universities. </span></span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">EU requested to lift ban on Nepali airlines</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal briefed on its efforts made to improve air safety, notably regarding the proposed new aviation legislation. Nepal appreciated the technical support received in its endeavour to improve air safety. In view of the necessary measures taken by Nepal and its need to reviving tourism sector for economic recovery, Nepal requested the EU to lift the ban on its airlines. The EU acknowledged the positive developments and effort made by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal and assured that a positive step will be taken in this direction once the necessary legislation is implemented. </span></span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Joint commitment to rules-based order</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Both sides reiterated their commitment to work together in the United Nations, World Trade Organization and other international fora supporting effective multilateralism and rules-based world order. They agreed on the importance of sincerely implementing the outcome of the COP26 held in Glasgow earlier this month and taking robust measures for climate action as well as meeting the financial commitments made to support the less resourceful countries in fighting the adverse impacts of climate change. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting was co-chaired by Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal from Nepal and Deputy Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific of the European External Affairs Service, Paola Pampaloni. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The next joint commission meeting will take place in Brussels in 2022. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14106', 'image' => '20211125125616_gogreen.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 12:55:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14361', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Admits Flaws in Budget System', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 25: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has stated that the budget and the budget system of the country are in a problematic state.', 'content' => '<p><em>Finance Minister Janardan Sharma felicitates Editorial Director of New Business Age Keshav Gautam during a programme on Wednesday.</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 25: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has stated that the budget and the budget system of the country are in a problematic state.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a programme organized by Nepal Association of Financial Journalists (NAFIJ) in the capital on Wednesday (November 24), Finance Minister Sharma admitted that the government has not been able to provide concession sought by the private sector as the country’s budget and budget system are in problematic state due to the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Finance Minister Sharma added that the government is ready to work together with the private sectors for the economic recovery.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the occasion, Chairperson of Nepal Chamber of Commerce Rajendra Malla pointed out the need to study the financial sector and promote productivity.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Acting President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) Krishna Prasad Adhikari said that the government has not been able to work as effectively as the private sector and urged the government to work in partnership with the private sector.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of Central Department of Economics at TU, Prof Dr Shivaraj Adhikari, said that the media should play the role of a watchdog.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Also speaking on the occasion, FNCCI Chairperson Shekhar Golchha said that the economic sector of the country has been facing challenge mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Mahaprasad Adhikari said that the financial sector has been gradually recovering.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><strong><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Gautam Felicitated</span></span></strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the programme, the organisers felicitated Editorial Director of New Business Age Keshav Gautam for his long-standing contribution to the field of journalism. Finance Minister Janardan Sharma felicitated Gautam on behalf of the organisers. Gautam was felicitated for his contribution to financial journalism for more than two decades. During the occasion, Gautam stressed on the need for investigative reporting.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-25', 'modified' => '2021-11-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14105', 'image' => '20211125093513_1637796137.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-25 09:33:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14359', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Election Commission Tells Political Parties not to Distribute Membership to Professionals ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 24: The Election Commission (EC) has called upon political parties not to distribute their memberships to the sitting professors, teachers and officials working in the state-owned bodies or state-owned autonomous bodies of the federal, provincial and local governments. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 24: The Election Commission (EC) has called upon political parties not to distribute their memberships to the sitting professors, teachers and officials working in the state-owned bodies or state-owned autonomous bodies of the federal, provincial and local governments. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EC has also stated that its attention has been drawn to the election of teachers, officials and professors as the representatives of the political parties in their national conventions. The EC has suggested that the political activities should be carried out in line with the prevailing laws. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a press statement on Tuesday, EC Spokesperson Shaligram Poudel said that the Clause 14 (2) of the Act on Political Parties, 2073 BS has a clear provision that the sitting officials of the Government of Nepal, provincial governments and local level or the professors, teachers or officials under the state-owned or state-owned autonomous institutions cannot become members of political parties. The EC further stated that the political parties too cannot distribute their membership to the individuals holding such public positions. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The commission has also mentioned that if the political parties were found electing public position holders as their officials, their positions would not be updated from the EC. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the EC has directed its district election offices and province election offices to remove the name of the public position holders from the list of the political parties' committees. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-24', 'modified' => '2021-11-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14104', 'image' => '20211124020029_EC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-24 13:59:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14358', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '13th Nepal-EU Joint Commission Meeting Kicks Off ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 24: The 13th meeting of the Joint Commission of Nepal and the European Union (EU) has commenced in Kathmandu today (November 24).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 24: The 13th meeting of the Joint Commission of Nepal and the European Union (EU) has commenced in Kathmandu today (November 24), focusing on the EU’s development assistance to Nepal in the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for the next six years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting will discuss about cooperation and trade between Nepal and the EU, civil aviation safety, contemporary political scenario, and partnership in socio-economic development, climate change issues and a wide range of issues of mutual interests, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministry further said that the meeting will also review the progress of the previous meeting.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Nepali delegation is being led by Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal while the Deputy Managing Director of the EU External Affairs for Asia and the Pacific, Paola Pampaloni is representing the EU during the meeting. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Nepali delegation comprises senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies; Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Ministry of Forest and Environment, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and the National Planning Commission. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU delegation incorporates Pampaloni and two others senior officials from Brussels, Belgium and EU Ambassador to Nepal Nona Deprez and her aides. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 12th meeting was held virtually last year due to COVID-19 crisis. Initially, it was agreed to organise the meeting biannually in Kathmandu and Brussels on the basis of rotation, while it has been taking place each year since the past five years. --RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-24', 'modified' => '2021-11-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14103', 'image' => '20211124014936_Flag-Pins-Nepal-European-Union.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-24 13:48:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14357', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Economic Activities Gain Momentum', 'sub_title' => 'Foreign Trade Through Birgunj Customs Increases by 92 Percent ', 'summary' => 'November 24: The foreign trade data of the current Fiscal Year (FY 2021/22) obtained from the country’s largest custom point in Birgunj shows that the economic activities that were affected by the pandemic is slowly returning back to normal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 24: The foreign trade data of the current Fiscal Year (FY 2021/22) obtained from the country’s largest custom point in Birgunj shows that the economic activities that were affected by the pandemic is slowly returning back to normal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Imports and exports through Birgunj customs have increased by 92 percent in the first four months of the current fiscal year. According to the Birgunj customs, this amount is significantly higher than the corresponding period of last fiscal year. Harihar Poudel, Chief Customs Officer of Birgunj Customs, said that transactions of Rs 264.27 billion took place via this customs point from mid-July to mid-November.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, this amount was Rs 137.60 billion. Last year, the lockdown and prohibitory order were imposed from March to control the pandemic. The market could not gain momentum even though it was reopened in September. Customs officials claim that the lockdown affected the volume of foreign trade. Adverse effects of the lockdown led to a decline in domestic production and foreign trade.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Foreign goods worth Rs 224.71 billion have been imported until mid-November through the Birgunj customs. During this period, domestic products worth Rs 39.56 billion were exported.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The data show that imports have increased by 80 percent in the last four months compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year. According to the Birgunj customs, export trade has increased by 218 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Goods worth Rs 125 billion were imported into the country during the first four months of the last fiscal year while goods worth Rs 12.44 billion were exported.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Petroleum products, vehicles, industrial raw materials and other goods are mostly imported from Birgunj. Likewise, refined edible oil, juice, drinks, textiles, scarves, etc. are exported from this checkpoint.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Most of the goods that entered through Birgunj customs were from India. While goods worth Rs 158 billion were imported from India, export to India accounted for Rs 38.2 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India is the largest market for export trade of Nepal. The trade deficit with India alone is equivalent to Rs 120 billion through Birgunj customs.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the customs office, goods worth Rs 13.89 billion were imported from China while the export to China amounted to Rs 13 million. Chairman of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry Subodh Kumar Gupta says that the size of foreign trade has increased as the economic activities which were halted during the pandemic have started gaining momentum. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-24', 'modified' => '2021-11-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14102', 'image' => '20211124013537_Birgunj.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-24 13:34:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14356', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'ICP Workers Stage Protest', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 24: The workers employed at the Integrated Check Post (ICP), Biratnagar have started a protest programme accusing the Trans Nepal Thread Services Pvt. Ltd. of being involved in labor exploitation. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 24: The workers employed at the Integrated Check Post (ICP), Biratnagar have started a protest programme accusing the Trans Nepal Thread Services Pvt. Ltd. of being involved in labor exploitation. The workers claim that they resorted to protest for not getting facilities as per the Labor Act while working under Trans Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There are about 300 workers working under the Trans Nepal at Biratnagar Customs. They organized a press conference outside the ICP on Monday and have warned the concerned authorities about intensifying the protest.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The workers say that despite multiple rounds of discussions and meetings with stakeholders regarding facilities as per the labor act, Trans Nepal has been turning a deaf ear to their requests. Shambhu Kumar Yadav, who has been working since a long time at the Biratnagar Customs expressed his discontent while sharing that they were forced to protest after their problems were not resolved in an amicable manner. “Even after working in the customs for so many years, even the minimum facility specified by the Labor Act has not been provided. Our demand for facilities as per the law has not been heard till now,” said Yadav.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Trans Nepal Thread Service Pvt. Ltd. had had been sub-contracted by the Intermodal Transport Development Committee for five years to manage the ICP. The contract was signed for Rs 350 million. The company supplies workers to the ICP through contractors.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The workers have placed forth a nine-point demand including facility as per the Labor Act. They have warned that the ICP will be closed from November 28 if their demands are not met.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, Laxmi Subba, the head of the office of Trans Nepal Thread Service Pvt. Ltd. has said that the workers working at the customs were independent workers and not their employees. “We are related in no way with them,” said Subba.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-11-24', 'modified' => '2021-11-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14101', 'image' => '20211124124441_02 ICP Biratnagar plaque_0.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-11-24 12:43:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $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
