Notice (8): Undefined index: MagazineIssue [APP/View/MagazineArticles/index.ctp, line 8]
Code Context
<div class="container">

    <div class="page-header">

        <h2><strong><?php echo "New Business Age: ". $issue_title['MagazineIssue']['title']; ?></strong></h2>
$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/MagazineArticles/index.ctp'
$dataForView = array(
	'magazineArticles' => array(
		(int) 0 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 1 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 2 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 3 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 4 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 5 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 6 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 7 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 8 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 9 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 10 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 11 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 12 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 13 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 14 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 15 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 16 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 17 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 18 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 19 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 20 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 21 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 22 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 23 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 24 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 25 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 26 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 27 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 28 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 29 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 30 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 31 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 32 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		)
	),
	'current_user' => null,
	'logged_in' => false
)
$magazineArticles = array(
	(int) 0 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '941',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '31',
			'title' => 'Auto Dream',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Refusing to the demand of the automobile importers to reduce import duties on vehicles, Finance Minister Dr. Ram SharanMahathas promised them government support if they start vehicle manufacturing in the country. Given the increasing demand due to expansion in the road network ',
			'content' => '<p><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/edit(4).jpg" style="height:758px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></p>

<div>Refusing to the demand of the automobile importers to reduce import duties on vehicles, Finance Minister Dr. Ram SharanMahathas promised them government support if they start vehicle manufacturing in the country. &nbsp;Given the increasing demand due to expansion in the road network and resultant steady increase in import of all sorts of vehicles, Dr.Mahat&rsquo;s proposition seems plausible on cursory glance. But looking at the technicalities of the industry, automobile manufacturing in Nepal still seems a dream that needs a lot of efforts to realize. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>One prominent consideration will be that of scale. It may be possible to start assembling certain types of commercial vehicles, such as light goods carriers and farm implements. But the market for such Nepal-made vehicles will be limited within the country and such business will have stiff competition from imports due to quality considerations &ndash; real as well as perceptional. To overcome this barrier, a huge investment has to be made in procuring the technology. Whether that will make commercial sense is a big question. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Dr.Mahat&rsquo;s call has come at a time when Nepal&rsquo;s manufacturing sector is in continuous decline and trade deficit is in continuous rise. Any manufacturing activity that may start now will be welcome in such situation. But it has to be realized that the decline in manufacturing is due to many reasons and among them two are distinct. While everyone accepts the problem of power shortage, the other problem related to it, hostile labour, is not accepted by many.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>It is not that efforts are not being made to manufacture vehicles in Nepal. Hulas Motors of Golchha Organisation has been assembling some types of vehicles and its product line up has reached nine including Rickshaw and Jeep. Dr.BaburamBhattarai adopted its Mustang Max jeep as of the Prime Minister&rsquo;s official vehicle when he was in that office. But it is complaining of not only lack of government support but even hurdles posed by government to domestic manufacturers. Two plantsthat assembled Chinese bikes Lifan and Ying Yang were closed down soon after they were set up. These experiences need close studies to find out what exactly is needed before we start efforts to realise the dream of flourishing Nepali automobile industry.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>One reason the government does not support any manufacturing within the country is the revenue it gets from imports. And the growing and big flow of remittance is helping the government in this. The result is growing economy without employment growth. This vicious cycle can be broken only with solution to the power shortage problem. Some recent developments &ndash; the latest being the power trade agreement with India and finalization of project development agreement template for power projects to the satisfaction of investors &ndash; are good indications for the future. But that is not going to be enough for development of automobile industry.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Nepal already has a good automobile industry in the form of maintenance operations. These can easily upgrade to vehicle reconditioning operations if the policy and infrastructural hurdles are removed. Meanwhile, investment in backward integration can start and that requires expansion of the engineering colleges and setting up vehicle technology development centres.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>These centres should ideally be focused on developing electricity operated vehicles given the country&rsquo;s hydropower potentials.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>However, in the meantime, it would be wiser to reduce the import duty on vehicles, which are now not luxuries, but necessities as they are efficiency enhancing machines. A vehicle that is available across the border at Rs. 200,000 must not cost over one million rupees in Nepal.&nbsp;</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-08 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:29:25',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Refusing to the demand of the automobile importers to reduce import duties on vehicles, Finance Minister Dr. Ram SharanMahathas promised them government support if they start vehicle manufacturing in the country.',
			'sortorder' => '914',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '31',
			'title' => 'From the Editor',
			'sortorder' => '31',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2013-05-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 1 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '942',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '29',
			'title' => 'Feedback October 2014',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'The cover story of New Business Age’s September issue extensively explores the prospects of Nepal on being a land-linked country. Nepal is being touted as a golden land bridge between China and India - two growing economic giants on its north and south borders.',
			'content' => '<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/feed.jpg" style="float:left; height:323px; margin:0px 10px 0px 0px; width:250px" />Land Linked Nepal</strong></span></div>

<div>The cover story of New Business Age&rsquo;s September issue extensively explores the prospects of Nepal on being a land-linked country. Nepal is being touted as a golden land bridge between China and India - two growing economic giants on its north and south borders. However, becoming a geographical bridge and an economic and trade bridge between these two rising economies is a different thing. Nepal is not the only linkage between these two countries as they share common borders. Nepal becoming the trade route for these countries is basically in the interest of Nepal than theirs, as their common borders possess the possibility to develop a separate trade route.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;Therefore, it is the matter of economic diplomacy and Nepal&rsquo;s capacity to negotiate to make Nepal making as the passage and trade hub between two countries along with developing its infrastructure. It rests upon the shoulders of policy makers and diplomats on how much they can negotiate for the national benefits. India and China have publicly spoken on their partnership, and the economic relationship between these Asian giants can be expected to strengthen in the future. And, Nepal, strategically lying between them, should be able to harness benefits from this relationship. It is not impossible to develop Nepal as a trade route between these countries considering the fact that the sea route is relatively longer than transporting cargo via Nepal.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Though we do not have seaport, we do have sea of market by being a bridge in connecting these countries with world&rsquo;s largest population. We are linked to them via land and Nepal has to prove the saying that the country is not cursed being landlocked but is blessed to be land linked with the world&rsquo;s fastest growing economic powerhouses.</div>

<div style="text-align: right;"><strong>- Prashant Mainali,</strong> Sukedhara, Kathmandu</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>Biased Reporting</strong></span></div>

<div>SASTHM (Biratnagar) is a hotel management school. This is in reference to the different category of colleges New Business Age awarded in August. &nbsp;However, we were absolutely not aware of these kinds of ranking nor were we approached personally regarding this sort of evaluation. However, announcing winners by reputed media like you without prior assessment of other institutions that applied for the award is a bias reporting and such a practice tends to degrade the image of other institutions during the admission time. And, it ultimately renders a bad image for a prestigious magazine like yours. I hope my suggestions will be taken seriously and incidents like these will be corrected in the future.</div>

<div style="text-align: right;"><strong>- Roshan Thapa,</strong> MD SASTHM, Biratnagar</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em>(We had advertised about it repeatedly asking for details from different types of business schools including hotel management colleges. The advertisements appeared in this magazine as well as in Aarthik Abhiyan Daily and other dailies such as Nepal Samacharpatra and websites like abhiyan.com.np and newbusinessage.com. The awards jury, comprised of independent professionals made the final selection based on such information as well as other information available on public domain. <strong>-Editor</strong>)</em></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>Making a Strong Presence in Nepal</strong></span></div>

<div>Reading the Corporate Focus story in the September 2014 issues of New Business Age, it felt good to know that Kansai Nerolac Paints has been able to establish a strong presence in Nepal, despite being an international joint venture. Paints are normally considered harmful to health and emit strong unpleasant smell. It is praiseworthy that Nerolac Paints has come up with more eco-friendly products, provided that it is not just a marketing gimmick. As a customer, I have been using Nerolac Paints for a very long time and the paint has proved to be durable. It also offers many luxurious choices of paints at very affordable prices.&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align: right;"><strong>- Prativa Khanal,</strong> Kadaghari, Bhaktapur</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>Modification in Housing Industry</strong></span></div>

<div>The story about housing industry (Housing Industry: Growing and More to Grow) in the September issue of New Business Age was an interesting read. It was interesting to know that the housing sector has started to modify to address the demands and suggestions provided by its existing and potential customers. It&rsquo;s good that the new concept is being implemented in the projects but there are lots of other things that the housing systems need to care about. Current housing projects are quite congested and unorganized. New housing needs to be organised and systematic. Only profit-oriented business cannot solve this problem. I hope the new projects and modifications in the sector will address this issue.</div>

<div style="text-align: right;"><strong>- Aaron Adhikari,</strong> Via email</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>Successful Entrepreneur</strong></span></div>

<div>Bhatbhateni Supermarket and Departmental Store has emerged as a well managed and convenient shopping destination. Min Bahadur Gurung, managing director of the store is a living example of a successful entrepreneur. So, after reading the profile of Gurung published on New Business Age&rsquo;s website I also chose Gurung to write his profile as part of my college assignment. I wish him success in his future business endeavours.&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align: right;"><strong>- Shreeya Chaulagain,</strong> Via website</div>

<div style="text-align: right;">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align: right;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<hr /><em>Mail your feedback to P O Box 14197, Kathmandu or Email to &nbsp;editor@newbusinessage.com</em></div>

<div style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align: left;"><em>The mail will be edited for the purpose of clarity and brevity.&nbsp;</em>

<hr />
<p>&nbsp;</p>
</div>
</div>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-09 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:25:18',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'The cover story of New Business Age’s September issue extensively explores the prospects of Nepal on being a land-linked country. Nepal is being touted as a golden land bridge between China and India - two growing economic giants on its north and south borders.',
			'sortorder' => '915',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '29',
			'title' => 'Feedback',
			'sortorder' => '29',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2013-05-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 2 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '943',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '73',
			'title' => 'Voices October 2014',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => '‘The government is preparing for the formulation and amendment of nearly three dozen new and existing laws.”',
			'content' => '<div><span style="font-size:16px"><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/v(3).jpg" style="float:left; height:91px; margin:0px 10px 0px 0px; width:75px" />&lsquo;The government is preparing for the formulation and amendment of nearly three dozen new and existing laws.&rdquo;</strong></span></div>

<div>Finance Minister <strong>Dr Ram Sharan Mahat</strong>, explaining that the formulation of new laws and amendment of existing laws is necessary to give continuity to the liberalization policy initiated in the country in the early 1990s. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:16px"><strong><img alt="Shambhu Prasad Dahal, Chief Executive Officer of Sipradi Trading" src="/userfiles/images/v1(5).jpg" style="float:left; height:88px; margin:0px 10px 0px 0px; width:75px" />&lsquo;There is the possibility of assembling vehicles in Nepal and exporting them.&rsquo;</strong></span></div>

<div><strong>Shambhu Prasad Dahal</strong>, Chief Executive Officer of Sipradi Trading, arguing that different types of vehicles can be assembled in Nepal and exported if the assembling cost can be kept low.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:16px"><strong><img alt="Saurav Jyoti, President of Tax and Revenue Committee of FNCCI" src="/userfiles/images/v2(4).jpg" style="float:left; height:85px; margin:0px 10px 0px 0px; width:70px" />&lsquo;We need a Tax Clearance Commission.&rsquo;</strong></span></div>

<div><strong>Saurav Jyoti</strong>, President of Tax and Revenue Committee of FNCCI, arguing that such a commission is needed as there are more than 1000 tax related cases pending at the Tax Review Committee and the Revenue Tribunal.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:16px"><strong><img alt="Khadga Bahadur Bisht, President of Independent Power Producers’ Association, Nepal (IPPAN)" src="/userfiles/images/v3(6).jpg" style="float:left; height:91px; margin:0px 10px 0px 0px; width:75px" />&lsquo;The endorsement of the PDA (Project development agreement) of the Upper Karnali Hydroelectricity Project by the Cabinet is the biggest achievement for Nepal&rsquo;s hydropower sector after the government opened private investment in this sector in 1990.&rsquo;</strong></span></div>

<div><strong>Khadga Bahadur Bisht</strong>, President of Independent Power Producers&rsquo; Association, Nepal (IPPAN), hailing the endorsement of the PDA by the government and arguing that it proves there is market for large hydropower projects in Nepal.</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-09 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:25:43',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => '‘The endorsement of the PDA (Project development agreement) of the Upper Karnali Hydroelectricity Project by the Cabinet is the biggest achievement for Nepal’s hydropower sector after the government opened private investment in this sector in 1990.’',
			'sortorder' => '916',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '73',
			'title' => 'Voices',
			'sortorder' => '1',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2013-05-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 3 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '944',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '9',
			'title' => 'Biztoon October 2014',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Biztoon October 2014',
			'content' => '<p><img alt="Biztoon October 2014" src="/userfiles/images/biztoon(7).jpg" style="height:480px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></p>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-09 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:24:30',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Biztoon',
			'sortorder' => '917',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '9',
			'title' => 'Biztoon',
			'sortorder' => '9',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2017-05-03 15:30:17'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 4 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '945',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '49',
			'title' => 'Sexy Settings',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'What is most popular these days in Nepal? You may say, it is betting or netting and dating. You may be right to some extent, but I say the most practiced thing is the setting. Let’s look it into more details.',
			'content' => '<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/nlm(2).JPG" style="height:503px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>--By Madan Lamsal</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>What is most popular these days in Nepal? You may say, it is betting or netting and dating. You may be right to some extent, but I say the most practiced thing is the setting. Let&rsquo;s look it into more details.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Yes, betting is quite popular in Nepal&rsquo;s share market. Till recent past, the Nepali casinos were ahead in betting than the share market. But as the setting in the casinos became a bit weak, share market was ahead in the betting game. The retail investors in Nepal&rsquo;s share market buy or sell the stocks going by the grapevine than reading the balance sheets of the companies. This can be called betting. Therefore, when Dr Baburam Bhattarai became the Finance Minister, he had termed Nepal&rsquo;s share market as a casino where betting is the mainstay. And he was not wrong. However, even the betting in share market will not yield returns if the setting is not right.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Again, it is true that dating after netting, such as checking facebook, is quite popular and it is personal and a most favoured pastime of most Nepalis - be a youth or a senior citizen. They seem to spend most of their productive three to four hours of their day or night in netting and dating. If they don&rsquo;t spend few hours in netting, they feel they have missed a lot in their lives. Therefore, their eyes may be in one of the social sites. But again setting plays more dominant role also here. Netting and dating are not successful if the setting of the dating is not right. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>To be successful in Nepal in any field, especially in business and politics, you must know the art of setting. Otherwise you will fail. There is a special class in Nepali society which has become super rich just by the art of setting rather than by making a huge investment or knowledge of business. Therefore, setting is a new management mantra in Nepal. In fact, the management colleges should start teaching the art of setting to their students so that they are successful in their future profession as well as everyday life.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Nowadays, there are many news reports in the Nepali media that people, especially government officers, are caught or interrogated by the anti-corruption body, the CIAA. But the fact is that they were caught or interrogated just because they did not know the art of setting. Many who commit bigger wrongs are never caught because they know the art of setting.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>If you look at it minutely, it is an open secret that nothing moves in Nepal if one doesn&rsquo;t have proper setting in government offices or in the court, or in the company registrar&rsquo;s office or the customs offices. Be it for receiving a license or getting a job transfer or promotion in the bureaucracy, the role of setting is paramount. So, more than the educational certificates or anything else, setting is the most important factor. If you don&rsquo;t know this art, you may have to lose your job or your business also.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Nobody seems to have peeped deep to see why the constitution could not be made in the first Constituent Assembly. It was just because the setting among the top gang-of-four leaders of three parties could not happen. Even now, however hard the people or CA members harp on the new constitution string, if the setting among this gang-of-four is not proper, it will not happen again. This gang calls it &lsquo;consensus&rsquo;, but it is nothing but another word for setting.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Therefore, this &lsquo;setting&rsquo; is not only omnipresent and omnipotent, but also cool and sexy. Don&rsquo;t you agree?</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-09 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:24:13',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'What is most popular these days in Nepal? You may say, it is betting or netting and dating. You may be right to some extent, but I say the most practiced thing is the setting. Let’s look it into more details.',
			'sortorder' => '918',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '49',
			'title' => 'No Laughing Matter',
			'sortorder' => '500',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2017-05-03 15:12:06'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 5 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '946',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '39',
			'title' => '“Hydroelectric project is not a zero-sum game”',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Alok Rawat is the Water Resources Secretary of India. Leading an Indian delegation, he was recently in Kathmandu to attend a two-day meeting of the governing board of the Pancheswar Multipurpose Project. After the conclusion of the meeting, Rawat answered the questions',
			'content' => '<div><span style="font-size:14px"><img alt="Alok Rawat, Water Resources Secretary, India" src="/userfiles/images/in.JPG" style="height:503px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:14px">Alok Rawat is the Water Resources Secretary of India. Leading an Indian delegation, he was recently in Kathmandu to attend a two-day meeting of the governing board of the Pancheswar Multipurpose Project. After the conclusion of the meeting, Rawat answered the questions of Nepali journalists on the various aspects of the ambitious project. <strong>Excerpts:</strong></span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Will you say something on DPR of Pancheswar?</strong></div>

<div>Over a period of time, there is a need for rechecking the data that are available in Nepal and India. So, instruments need to be checked. And, unless the Detailed Project Report (DPR) is prepared as per the latest available data, it would hardly be appropriate to have such a large multipurpose project of 5600 MW capacity. DPR has to be conducted in a proper manner so that this project becomes an example of mutual cooperation leading to the adoption of the best practices and setting up of the project that meets the state-of-the-art technology.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>A lot of Nepali land will be submerged after the construction of the Pancheswar dam. A number of people will have to be displaced. What will happen to them?&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>Taking care of the people whose land will be submerged, whose crops will be lost and whose poverty is going to be deepened is an ongoing process. So, all these concerns have to be mentioned in the documentation. If there were 100 people in 2000, there could be more in 2013. And, if there were 30 houses there could be 50 houses now or decreased to 10 houses. Such data has to be consolidated.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>When will the office of Pancheswar be established and when can we see its leadership appointed?</strong></div>

<div>In the second meeting in Delhi, we had agreed to appoint Co-Chairman within a month. We hope to be in a position to make a decision on further courses of action based on the adequacy of the available data and also identify the data that needs to be further screened. An agency will look into the data available in India and Nepal. It will begin work without waiting for a formal order. We both are in a democratic system where such decisions are taken by another vicious stage of red tapes. We have decided that we will ask an agency called WAPCOS working in Nepal to undertake this exercise. And, I am told that some of their people will start compilation and collation of information soon.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The statute of the Pancheswhor Development Authority defines what the Authority is supposed to do and how it will function. It is the internal rules of the authority based on the principles established by the Mahakali Treaty signed between Nepal and India. This also establishes the terms of references that has been approved in the Treaty. Both the parties have reached an accord and signed the agreement. It is being implemented starting today.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Has India quantified the downstream benefits?</strong></div>

<div>Prime Minister Narendra Modi&rsquo;s visit to Nepal resulted in activities which have been lying dormant for almost 19 years. So, why not take things as they come in the spirit of mutual benefit and cooperation? India and Nepal are neighbours and they have historical ties of blood, culture, often governments. So many of the distinguished and decorated soldiers in the Indian army are from Nepal. The issues of water and power have other issues as well. It could hardly be appropriate on my part to reply to a question related to a particular sector or a particular project. If my country and your country are committed on going forward leaving the past baggage behind, would there be a need for a post-mortem?&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>India has a river-linking project. What are the expectations on regulated water from Nepal?</strong></div>

<div>The interlinking of rivers started more than one hundred years back during the British rule. To the best of what I can relate to it, there were eight interlinking projects that were already working. One of them was possibly in 1868 or 1883. So, interlinking is not a new concept. Interlinking by itself would tend to be in nature of a dynamic process. Some 20 years earlier, our rivers may be perennial and having surplus water enough for its own basic requirement. But 20 years down the line, the water flow in the rainy season is not adequate for the existing requirements. Then 20 years later, the drinking water requirement and agriculture requirement would definitely be different from now. So, the interlinking of rivers has a number of components. There are rivers in India like Yamuna which are small but which were carrying surplus water during the rainy season. About 30 years back, this surplus water was utilized by the state governments of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh for the betterment of everyone. There is a lot of talk about linking Ken-Betwa between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in India. The excess water of Ken-Betwa would be supplied to 1.6 million people of Bundelkhand as drinking water.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="Alok Rawat, Water Resources Secretary, India" src="/userfiles/images/in1(1).jpg" style="float:left; height:255px; margin:0px 10px 0px 0px; width:300px" />Where will the office of Pancheswar be established and what is the mechanism for appointing its CEO and other officials? &nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>Pancheswar&rsquo;s headquarter will be established in Mahendranagar. But, until the office is established, the operation will take place from Kathmandu. The officials of the Pancheswar Development Authority will have six executive directors. For appointing them, three directorial divisions will be formed that will consist of a CEO and an additional CEO. The CEO will be appointed from Nepal for the initial three years and the additional CEO will be appointed from India. The statute mentions the appointment of other officials. If the need persists, other officials will also be appointed either through deputation, new appointment or through other methods. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>New Delhi would be hosting the next secretary level meeting on Pancheswar. What would be the agenda of this meeting?&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>In bilateral relations, when the negotiation takes place between two countries, it is the host country that prepares the agenda and submits to the visiting delegations. We&rsquo;ve had our talk yesterday and today. And the next meeting will be after one month. So, there is lot of time for the preparation of the agenda. As India is the host country, it would be preparing the agenda.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>When would the benefits of Pancheswar be visible and felt by people and in what form?</strong></div>

<div>The time frame of the actual benefits of the project would be known in precise terms when the DPR is ready. However, as the work of DPR preparation starts, activities on the ground which also implies provision of employment for some, for example may be to drive the vehicle and so forth, will be visible. So, I don&rsquo;t think at this juncture we can precisely quantify by when we expect it to be ready.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Unlike a thermal project, a hydro electric project is not a zero-sum game. There are lots of uncertainties inherent in that. For instance, you are digging up an underground. What is the guarantee that the place where you are doing the hypothetical study will hit a solid rock? &nbsp;How would you be able to find out whether the solid rock is 10 meters below or 50 meters below or whether the rock is strong enough or static enough to reach the fissure when the weight of the water body comes into that? That will again define how much the construction time would be required or how much efforts would be required. Therefore, it may not be possible to precisely quantify the numbers.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;We can exactly find out the cost and benefit only after the detailed report is prepared and submitted to the respective governments. Then it needs to be agreed upon jointly. If the governments feel that there must be some modification or some components need to be further studied and reframed, then it will be done. Unless and until the DPR is agreed upon by both the governments, you cannot go further. Once the agreement is reached, the project will be initiated and then further variations will be done.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>What is the idea of the need for creating awareness at each stage of project development especially in respect to RNR (Risk Need Responsibility) issues?</strong></div>

<div>RNR is a relatively new and challenging issue. In fact, it is very complex because it relates to the proprietary rights of the people. It is linked with people&rsquo;s mind and heart. There are also certain serious confrontations that people raise during the land acquisition. It happens generally. A very reasonable and balanced programme needs to be developed so that the people will be satisfied and feel like they own the project. The project will only proceed if people feel the sense of ownership. Therefore, flexible and balanced programme needs to be developed in order to get their properties with good compensation, required supplement and rehabilitation.</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-09 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:22:51',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Alok Rawat is the Water Resources Secretary of India. Leading an Indian delegation, he was recently in Kathmandu to attend a two-day meeting of the governing board of the Pancheswar Multipurpose Project. After the conclusion of the meeting, Rawat answered the questions of Nepali journalists on the various aspects of the ambitious project. Excerpts:',
			'sortorder' => '919',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '39',
			'title' => 'Interview',
			'sortorder' => '502',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2017-05-03 15:12:10'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 6 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '947',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '53',
			'title' => 'The Art of Being Content',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Sashi Raj Pandey, CEO of Shree Investment and Finanace Company Ltd and President of Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry is busy these days preparing for approaching merger of Shree Finance with Bank of Kathmandu. Pandey started Shree Finance ',
			'content' => '<div><img alt="Sashi Raj Pandey, CEO of Shree Investment and Finanace Company Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/p1(1).JPG" style="height:452px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>--By Sujan Tiwari</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Sashi Raj Pandey, CEO of Shree Investment and Finanace Company Ltd and President of Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry is busy these days preparing for approaching merger of Shree Finance with Bank of Kathmandu. Pandey started Shree Finance in the year 1994 and after 20 years of operation, the company is going to be merged with Bank of Kathmandu along with two other financial institutions.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&ldquo;I want to successfully handover Shree Finannce to Bank of Kathmandu. I think this is my child, and I am where I am because of my depositors&rsquo; faith in me. &nbsp;I have to carry out the safe transfer of the deposits,&rdquo; says Pandey. According to him, Shree Finance is going to be merged with Bank of Kathmandu along with Nepal Express Finance Limited and International Leasing and Finance Company (ILFC) within the end of 2014. Pandey hopes to be in the Board of the newly formed bank, and wants to share his expertise. Shree Finance has already received the Letter of Intent from Nepal Rastra Bank and signed the MoU with Bank of Kathmandu for the process. &ldquo;After this, Bank of Kathmandu will probably become one of biggest banks with the capital of 4.3 billion rupees,&rdquo; says Pandey.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Before starting Shree Finance, Pandey worked for the government for about 20 years. He started his career as Section Officer (Technical) in Ministry of Transportation in 1972. He got promoted to Under Secretary, and was later appointed as General Manager of Nepal Transit and Warehousing Company. He worked there for about three years and resigned from government job in 1994.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;&ldquo;I left the government job because the standard of bureaucracy was deteriorating, and I didn&rsquo;t feel like working for government. I had a lot of offers to go abroad but I didn&rsquo;t take them,&rdquo; says Pandey. He was inclined to do something in the country itself. That was the same time when economic liberalization and market economy were popular terms and finance companies were just starting in Nepal. When Pandey started Shree Finance, it was the 21st finance company to operate in Nepal. It was started with the capital of ten million rupees. Today, Shree Finanace has a paid up capital of around 200 million rupees.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="Sashi Raj Pandey, CEO of Shree Investment and Finanace Company Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/p(3).jpg" style="float:left; height:604px; margin:0px 10px 0px 0px; width:300px" />Early Life</strong></div>

<div>Pandey was born to Late Govinda Raj Pandey and Lalita Pandey in Dillibazar in 1946. He went to St Xaviers School, and appeared in SLC exams from Padmodaya School. Pandey says he was a very sporty child and liked to participate in various sports. &ldquo;I concentrated more on sports rather than studies, still I never failed in any subjects,&rdquo; recalls he. He was also on the national cricket team. He did I Sc from Amrit Science College.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Pandey&rsquo;s forefathers were all in civil service and service in palace. His father served Ministry of Foreign Affairs for about 25 years, and was Acting Secretary of General Administration Ministry when he retired. So as a young man, he thought that he would be also in the same line of work. When his father was transferred to Russia, and he went along with him. He did M Sc in Mechanical Engineering from Friendship University Moscow in 1971. He returned to Nepal in 1972 and joined Ministry of Transportation. &nbsp;In 1981, he received another Masters degree from MIT, USA. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Spiritual Side</strong></div>

<div>A deeply spiritual man, Pandey is associated with Art of Living Foundation and is in the Board of Art of Living Nepal. He is also the Immediate Past President of Art of Living Nepal. &ldquo;In my early days, I hated godmen and holy people. I used to think they were all phonies, but my wife was very spiritual and wanted me to change my thoughts,&rdquo; says he. He wasn&rsquo;t even deeply religious back then.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>One day, when he and his wife went for a morning walk, he saw an advertisement of course of Art of Living. His wife insisted him to join the take the course. The couple went for the course, and Pandey was impressed by the discourse there. &nbsp;&ldquo;The course consisted of pranayam, yoga and there were preaching that made sense to me. The essence of the teachings there was to live in the present, and I liked the teachings,&rdquo; recalls Pandey. On the last day of the course, Founder of Art of Living Foundation Ravi Shankar was also present. Pandey was impressed by his simplicity and personality.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The same evening, there was a programme of Art of Living in Soaltee Hotel. &nbsp;After the programme, Ravi Shanker was meeting all those who were present and Pandey was also in the queue. When his turn came, to his surprise, Ravi Shankar hugged him. &ldquo;When he hugged me, I felt like current passed through my body, and there were tears in his eyes. I told him at that very moment that I was all his. From that moment, I am his ardent disciple,&rdquo; says Pandey. It was in April of 1999. After that, he was an avid follower of Art of Living Foundation and Ravi Shankar.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In 2003, formal Chapter of Art of Living was established in Nepal, and Pandey was personally nominated as the President by Ravi Shankar. He had the responsibility of managing the organization and spreading the message of Ravi Shankar. &ldquo;We used to bring in teachers from India back then. Now we have more than hundred Nepali teachers in Art of living. There are district offices in six places in Nepal, and more than forty thousand people have completed the course,&rdquo; says Pandey. &nbsp; &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&ldquo;If you want to have a smile on your face, I urge everyone to be spiritual. Spirituality teaches you contentedness. You let go of greed and lost and all other vices. Spirituality helps you in this,&rdquo; says he. According to him, spirituality starts from where logic ends.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Personal Side</strong></div>

<div>Pandey married Urmila Pandey in February of 1972. Pandey believes that there is a woman behind every successful man, and he believes his wife is that woman for him. &ldquo;She is my inspiration and motivation in everything I do,&rdquo; says he. The couple has a son and daughter Adarsha and Kanchan.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Pandey loves to watch sports on TV, especially football and cricket. He gives time to his family on holidays, and goes for shopping with his wife and goes for outings. He is also interested in gardening. Travelling is another hobby of his, and has travelled extensively. He has been to almost all the countries except those in &nbsp;South America and Australia. He has plans of travelling there as well. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believing working overtime. Nobody stays overtime in my office unless it is very necessary,&rdquo; says he. He doesn&rsquo;t go to parties very often, and attends essential ones only.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>He says he was very short tempered man before, but it has come down by more than 95 per cent, thanks to Art of Living. &ldquo;Though I am in a very stressful job, I have learnt to keep my calm, and Art of Living has taught me that,&rdquo; says he. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Philosophies</strong></div>

<div>Pandey says that people either repent for the past or worry for the future and they forget to enjoy the moment that they have. &ldquo;I am strictly against this. I live in the present moment; I accept future as it unfolds. No one can plan for the future as we don&rsquo;t know what is going to happens even a moment from now. I want to enjoy in the present moment,&rdquo; says He.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>On management, Pandey says he believes in participatory management. &ldquo;You have to let your employees know what is required of them, and you have to believe in teamwork. One individual has no place in any organization; it&rsquo;s all about the team work,&rdquo; says He. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>A surprising thing about Pandey is that he has no personal secretary. &ldquo;Anyone can walk in my office at any time. I believe those who work with the public should not stay inside closed doors, their doors should be open to all,&rdquo; says he. &nbsp;Pandey dislikes those who have two sets of standards.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>According to Pandey, success is what others perceive of you, real success means to be content with what you have. &ldquo;I am contented with what I have. I am satisfied with my job and family, and I consider myself successful for that,&rdquo; says he. He says that he doesn&rsquo;t ever want to get retired. &ldquo;I am 67 now and I am still active. I don&rsquo;t want to degenerate myself by living a retired life. I want to live an active life as long as my health permits,&rdquo; says he.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Advice</strong></div>

<div>No matter how powerful you are, Pandey advices never to take the law of land into your hands. &ldquo;Success is directly related to transparency and working lawfully. If you maintain these two things, you will be successful,&rdquo; advices Pandey.</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-09 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:23:44',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Sashi Raj Pandey, CEO of Shree Investment and Finanace Company Ltd and President of Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry is busy these days preparing for approaching merger of Shree Finance with Bank of Kathmandu. Pandey started Shree Finance in the year 1994 and after 20 years of operation, the company is going to be merged with Bank of Kathmandu along with two other financial institutions.',
			'sortorder' => '920',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '53',
			'title' => 'Personality',
			'sortorder' => '504',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2017-05-03 15:15:47'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 7 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '948',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '58',
			'title' => 'Enterprise for Greener Homes',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => '',
			'content' => '<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/se.JPG" style="height:243px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>--By Gaurav Aryal</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The amalgamation of circumstances and innovative thinking has made Suman Shakya, managing director of One Planet Solution Pvt Ltd that owns brands such as Smart Paani and Smart Urja, an entrepreneur with a social cause. The crisis of drinking water he faced during his school days in Kalingpong made him wish he would never have to face water shortage ever after. While constructing a house for his family in Kathmandu, he materialised his wish by installing a rainwater harvesting system. While the people of Kathmandu valley were in deep woes of water short-supply, Shakya and his family had no reasons to worry. Shakya says, since then his house is not connected to piped drinking water supplied by the Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL).</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Installation of rainwater harvesting system at his home was not an easy process as there was no one offering such services commercially. There were NGOs and INGOs working on rainwater harvesting but they were not providing services to anyone else than their targeted communities and users. Shakya&rsquo;s friend and now his business partner, &nbsp;known as Tiger, had knowledge and working experiences on rainwater harvesting. He proved a godsend to Shakya.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Selling the Need</strong></div>

<table align="right" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:25px">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td><img alt="Suman Shakya, Managing Director, One Planet Solution Pvt Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/se1.JPG" style="border-style:solid; border-width:0px; height:239px; width:200px" /></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<div>
			<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Suman Shakya</strong></div>

			<div style="text-align: center;">Managing Director</div>

			<div style="text-align: center;">One Planet Solution Pvt Ltd</div>
			</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<div style="text-align: center;">Shakya not only installed a rainwater harvesting system at his home but also planted a business idea. He thought that offering on-demand services will work as a business as well as a pious job to provide people with water to drink. Realising underlying business prospects, Shakya and his five friends set up an office. The same venture won the Surya Nepal Asha Social Entrepreneurship Award earlier this year.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Neither Shakya nor his friends and relatives had imagined that their initiative would take a shape of a successful business. They were even ready to settle for sustenance rather than making large profit. But the lady luck had something in store for them as there were numerous benefits of rainwater harvesting such as groundwater recharge and utilisation of clean water available in the nature for free of cost. As it can also be easily made drinkable, he saw huge prospects for expansion. Shakya says that the company is growing 100 per cent annually.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Branding the Business</strong></div>

<div>Shakya recalls that his team spent two weeks pondering over an appropriate name for their venture. They wanted the name to be easy and catchy. Eventually it was branded Smart Paani. &ldquo;From that day we have been dedicated to make Smart Paani synonymous to rainwater harvesting,&rdquo; states Shakya, &ldquo;People buy trust not a black tank. It is the brand that wins trust in the service industry.&rdquo;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Quenching the Thirst</strong></div>

<div>KUKL has been failing to quench the thirst of Kathmandu Valley for many years now. On the other hand, rainwater that can be easily made drinkable and used for every household needs, has been wasted. UN says a person needs 50 litres and KUKL says 100 litres but Shakya says a person needs 70 litres of water in a day. So a family of four members needs 280 litres of water every day and 102,000 litres of water in a year.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Furthermore, he explains that a house built in three anas of land has a rooftop of 1000 square feet. On an average, Kathmandu experiences 1430 millimetres of annual rainfall. And, this house can collect 143,000 litres of rain. If 20 per cent of it is thrown away for purity of collected water, 120,000 litres of usable rainwater can be collected in a year. Shakya opines that it is enough to meet an annual need for a small family. However storing it all can be a problem. He adds that rainwater usage during the rainy season reduces the purchase supplied by KUKL or tankers and also minimises groundwater extraction. Shakya says that even during the dry season, 40,000 litres of water can be collected. So, rainwater harvesting could be an easy and cost effective method of minimising drinking water woes in Kathmandu and other places. Shakya says that installing a rainwater harvesting system for a household costs less than a new iPhone.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Expanding Commercially</strong></div>

<div>Within two and a half years of establishment, Smart Paani has made 215 clients which Shakya feels is not a disappointing figure. He shares that overwhelming demand is also coming from outside Kathmandu Valley. Recently, a franchisee has been started in Pokhara. And, the company is planning to expand to 11 urban areas outside the capital city within a year. The company is also planning to work in Dharan and Surkhet in the near future. The company has offered its services to commercial clients such as resorts and hotels in Pokhara and Nagarkot and Shakya says he has been receiving requests from Nepalgunj as well.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Smart Paani, brand owned by One Planet Solution Pvt Ltd does not establish its offices in other places but provides franchisee to interested entrepreneurs. Shakya says that the parent company provides technology inputs, working business model and even provides clients to them as the central office in Kathmandu often receives client requests.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Offering Products and Services</strong></div>

<div>Apart from rainwater harvesting, Smart Paani is offering various other products and services such as grey water recycling for both domestic and commercial purpose. Such recycled water can be reused for washing vehicles, landscaping and flushing toilets, among other usages. Similarly, the company also provides biosand filter for making rainwater drinkable along with offering black water recycling services.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Saraswati Higher Secondary School at Thecho is one of the clients of Smart Paani where rainwater is harvested for using at the school and the excess water is diverted into a well that recharges 5.4 million litres of groundwater in a year. Likewise, rainwater harvesting is installed at Sajha Yatayat premises at Pulchowk where 10,000 kilolitres of water is collected for washing buses.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Smart Paani initially a brand under One Planet Solutions, has now grown as a subsidiary of the parent company. Now, the company is growing Smart Urja, new brand for working in the clean energy sector. It focuses on producing energy from waste as well as harnessing solar power. Similar to Smart Paani that was started from Shakya&rsquo;s home, Smart Urja started by installing its services at the company&rsquo;s office building that completely relies on solar power.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Designing the Future</strong></div>

<div>Shakya envisions developing a large scale solar energy project in Nepal. He says that One Planet Solution will constantly move ahead in delivering innovative water and energy solutions. The company has been working on Smart Stove that aims at making homes pollution free. Shakya says that more smart plans and ventures are being designed to make the company a sustainable private sector establishment dedicated to renewable energy. He also envisages providing such services on a mass scale once the current ventures reach a certain growth point.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/se2(1).jpg" style="height:287px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-09 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:26:51',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'The amalgamation of circumstances and innovative thinking has made Suman Shakya, managing director of One Planet Solution Pvt Ltd that owns brands such as Smart Paani and Smart Urja, an entrepreneur with a social cause.',
			'sortorder' => '921',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '58',
			'title' => 'Social Entrepreneurship',
			'sortorder' => '58',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2013-06-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 8 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '949',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '19',
			'title' => 'Nepal Life Insurance: Splitting Shares to Grow',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Within the eleven years of operation, Nepal Life Insurance Company has set up an excellent business record and built a strong financial position. Now the company wants to split its shares of Rs. 100 as face value to Rs. 10 each. ',
			'content' => '<div><img alt="Nepal Life Insurance Company" src="/userfiles/images/cf(2).jpg" style="height:347px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>--By Rashika Pokharel</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Within the eleven years of operation, Nepal Life Insurance Company has set up an excellent business record and built a strong financial position. Now the company wants to split its shares of Rs. 100 as face value to Rs. 10 each. And that has created ripples across the market as to how the company is going to execute this idea. The latest Annual General Meeting of the company has already approved this proposal, but the company is yet to get approval from the regulators.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The main reason behind splitting of shares is to make more people able to buy the company&rsquo;s shares from the stock exchange. The Rs. 100 face value shares of the company are trading at around Rs. 3,700 per share in recent weeks.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&quot;At this rate, it is difficult for the ordinary people to afford investing in bigger amount of shares. This plan will make the shares affordable to these people and pave way for them invest and enjoy the returns.,&rdquo; says Vivek Jha, CEO of Nepal Life Insurance Company.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>But the split is not going to make any difference on this. At present, with Rs. 100 as face value, an investor has to buy at least 10 shares which means an investment of Rs 37,000. After the split, an investor has to buy minimum of 100 shares, which again means Rs. 37,000.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The prevailing Companies Act 2006 does not have provision allowing to split shares, but neither is it prohibited. Same is the case with other laws related to the companies. But splitting shares is a prevailing international practice. However, the Companies Act 2006 has specified that the face value of a share of a company shall be Rs. 100. Therefore, the company is still not sure how the government will respond to its plans. But the company&rsquo;s management claims that a way forward will definitely come out, as their intentions on doing so are noble.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>When a company splits shares and as a result the number of shareholders increases multiple times, it can bring corresponding rise in complications to manage company affairs. For example, its share register will be long, communicating with the large number of shareholders and organising shareholders meetings will be difficult. &nbsp;But the company says that will be managed with technology. The Central depository system (CDS) will help in this, they say.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&quot;Concerned authorities have been reviewing our request. They have approached the government and so far we have not received any positive indications. It is a challenging proposition, as existing laws do not cover the issue,&quot; says Jha.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The company believes that the authorities will accept the proposal as it is not going to affect the insurance operations of the company. It will affect only the ownership. Jha claims that the company has been performing very well and has increased its productivity and market share in the recent years. In the last four years the company almost doubled its market share from 22 per cent to 41 per cent. Business grew by nearly 100 per cent last year and during the first two months of this year its business has grown by 100 per cent.&quot;There is huge potential for the company in the market and right now NLIC is trying to tap these potentials in a better way. We feel that we will perform even better in the coming days by improving our services,&rdquo; Jha says.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Customer Satisfaction: A Major Priority</strong></div>

<table align="right" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:25px">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td><img alt="Vivek Jha, CEO, Nepal Life Insurance Company" src="/userfiles/images/cf1(7).jpg" style="border-style:solid; border-width:0px; height:239px; width:200px" /></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<div>
			<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Vivek Jha</strong></div>

			<div style="text-align: center;">CEO</div>

			<div style="text-align: center;">Nepal Life Insurance Company</div>
			</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<div style="text-align: center;">The Company prioritizes customer satisfaction and claims that it is trying increase and expand its reach across the country. It gives special emphasis on capacity building of its staff members and most importantly its agents, who are in direct contact with the clients. &quot;Almost 99.9 per cent business in this sector is through agents. So, first of all agents have to build up trust with the people and only then the company will gain their trust,&quot; informs Jha.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Recent Activities and Plans&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>The company is planning to increase agents across the country and subsequently increase its penetration. Along with that it is also increasing its service portfolio by introducing more products. It has lined up two more products for the market by the end of this current fiscal year. Among its products, the money back plan is one of the best as it provides fast money returns within two, three or four years to its client.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&quot;There is lack of awareness and trust on insurance company. Nobody is willing to wait for 15 years to get the returns. Everybody wants fast return. Our money back plan aims to increase the trust of people on insurance companies. We have high liquidity products and they are doing quite good,&quot; says Jha. The money back plan is the largest selling product of the company and thus it wants to introduce more choices in this segment.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The company&#39;s return to the share-holders has taken a massive leap in the last two year and its share price in the market has boomed.&quot;Increase in our share price have not only benefitted investors but has also immensely increased trust level of normal people on the company,&rdquo; Jha asserted.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>&nbsp;Company&#39;s Growth Rate</strong></div>

<div>The company has been able to attract large numbers of investors in the recent years. Presently it has 10,000 shareholders and around 1 million policyholders.&quot;Investors will be automatically attracted to the company&rsquo;s business if we can double the number of shareholders to 20,000. Our objective is providing opportunities to a lot of people for investing in our company,&quot; Jha informed.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Employment</strong></div>

<div>NLIC has been providing direct employment to 300 employees, and indirect employment to over 13,000 agents that have enlisted around one million policy holders &quot;We have highly productive young employees. The average age of our employees is around 26 years and this has kept us ahead of others,&quot; informs Jha.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The company operates through its more than 100 outlets throughout the nation. It has 30 main branches and rest are sub branches, extension counters and cells. It is presently working on connecting these outlets through an online system. &quot;We are working on connecting our branches directly our corporate office through an online system called Real Time system. Most of our outlets are already connected and we are working on connecting the remaining ones,&rdquo; Jha informed. The company has branches in all major cities of the country including presence in rural areas such as Humla, Jumla, Taplejung, among others. Jha said that the company is planning to have outlets along the Madhya Pahadi Rajmarga (mid-hill highway).</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-09 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:20:51',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Within the eleven years of operation, Nepal Life Insurance Company has set up an excellent business record and built a strong financial position. Now the company wants to split its shares of Rs. 100 as face value to Rs. 10 each. And that has created ripples across the market as to how the company is going to execute this idea. The latest Annual General Meeting of the company has already approved this proposal, but the company is yet to get approval from the regulators.',
			'sortorder' => '922',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '19',
			'title' => 'Corporate Focus',
			'sortorder' => '530',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-04-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 9 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '950',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '13',
			'title' => 'MBA for Working Managers',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Along with MBA and BBA there were lot of other options available for fresh graduates or regular students who aspired to gain a degree in management studies. But the options were limited for the working entrepreneurs or managers who wanted to sharpen their skills ',
			'content' => '<div><img alt="Business Education" src="/userfiles/images/be(6).jpg" style="height:537px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>--By Upashana Neupane</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Along with MBA and BBA there were lot of other options available for fresh graduates or regular students who aspired to gain a degree in management studies. But the options were limited for the working entrepreneurs or managers who wanted to sharpen their skills or upgrade their status in their field or start their own enterprise. Now, they too have an option in the form of Executive MBA or EMBA.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>MBA or EMBA are graduate level business degree especially designed for working professionals of the same field. These are post-experience management education programmes that help managers learn to change and grow in their career. They are lot like a regular MBA programmes only that they are primarily designed to educate working executives, managers, entrepreneurs, and other business leaders.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Executive MBA was started in the early 1980s as a response to the need of the post experience education was felt. It was introduced as MBA for working managers, for the people working in managerial sectors who had no MBA backgrounds. It aimed to furbish their managerial performance at their respective institutions.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In Nepal, Ace Institute of Management started the EMBA programme in 1999 under the affiliation of Pokhara University, while Kathmandu University School of Management (KUSOM) started its EMBA programme in 2000.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Different from MBA</strong></div>

<div>EMBA and MBA programmes generally attract people of different ages and at points in their career lives. These programmes are somehow similar in content but the EMBA classes are of faster paces, which allow students to receive their degree in two years or less while working full time. EMBA Programme emphasises applied learning, leadership and personal skill development, and a global mindset.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Subas KC, dean at KUSOM shares that the EMBA is more generalist programme while MBA is more specialised programme. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve designed EMBA focusing more on the things like leadership and skills enhancement which is needed for a working professional to enhance their career,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;We are focusing particularly on those skills which are direct and visibly necessary for them.&rdquo;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Similarly, Kumar Thapa, former Associate Director of EMBA programme at Ace Institute of Management also shares same feeling, &ldquo;EMBA is more fundamental- general class which is elective not specialized and the course is more focused on what working professionals need in the workplace,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;While MBA is more academic and specialized course.&rdquo;&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>With that, the cohorts also often turn into a valuable network that students can tap long after they receive their degree. KC shares there have been lot of cases where students from managerial background have switched to start their own enterprises as they develop a strong network from the wider range of opportunities provided by the college.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>There are various factors people join EMBA. KC shares that &ldquo;most of the students join the programme to perform better in current job, some to upgrade their current position in their organisation. Basically, all want to develop their ability and skills to choose a better path in their career. Some people want to change their career also, so they join to gain a better perspective and opportunities.&rdquo;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Growing Trend</strong></div>

<div>Executive MBA is a good opportunity that is made available for the working people who want to upgrade their career and the attraction towards it is increasing lately. People from various background: corporate sector, public and development sector, entrepreneurship sector, everyone is now willing to join the programme for various reasons. Mostly, senior level executives join the programme but Thapa believes that lately younger people are joining this programme with relatively short working experience.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>KC believes that the trend has been good so far and believes that it will remain same for some more years but he said that the course needs should be revised and redesigned after some years.</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-09 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:20:08',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Along with MBA and BBA there were lot of other options available for fresh graduates or regular students who aspired to gain a degree in management studies. But the options were limited for the working entrepreneurs or managers who wanted to sharpen their skills or upgrade their status in their field or start their own enterprise. Now, they too have an option in the form of Executive MBA or EMBA.',
			'sortorder' => '923',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '13',
			'title' => 'Business Education',
			'sortorder' => '520',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-04-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 10 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '951',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '47',
			'title' => 'Games To Delay The Constitution',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'As it happened to be, the much-awaited all-party political conference or round table conference – to use a more popular phrase- which was supposed to see a dialogue take place among the three major parties represented in the Constituent Assembly (CA) and the parties outside it,',
			'content' => '<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/np(7).jpg" style="height:505px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>
<div><strong>--By Akhilesh Tripathi</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>As it happened to be, the much-awaited all-party political conference or round table conference &ndash; to use a more popular phrase- which was supposed to see a dialogue take place among the three major parties represented in the Constituent Assembly (CA) and the parties outside it, on the contentious issues of constitution drafting, fell flat. The reason was, as we all know, the 33-party alliance led by Mohan Baidya-led CPN-Maoist which is not represented in the CA and which had been demanding such a conference for a long time rejected to participate in the conference in the eleventh hour. The leaders of the CPN-Maoist and the 33-party alliance outside the CA never turned up for the conference. The CPN-Maoist communicated its decision not to attend the conference when Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and other political leaders had taken their seats at the planned venue inside the CA building. Thus, the politicians&rsquo; latest effort to seek consensus on contentious constitutional issues went in vain. But thankfully, as the conference failed to take off, it became clear that the Maoists had thrown the conference card only to delay the new constitution by affecting the CA calendar.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Some people might think that this was bad for the country and the constitution drafting process as an opportunity to forge consensus on thorny issues of constitution drafting inside as well as outside the CA was missed. But in fact, this was good for the country and the constitution drafting process as the real intent of the CPN-Maoist and other dissenting parties outside the CA was exposed without losing any further time. Their real intent was to delay the constitution drafting process by the CA under one or another pretext. In fact, Baidya and company have, time and again, publicly expressed their disenchantment with the constitution drafting process by the CA. After all, they boycotted the second CA elections terming it &ldquo;a meaningless exercise&rdquo;.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>One political game to affect the CA&rsquo;s calendar and delay the constitution drafting process was exposed in the form of the failed all-party political conference. But other such games continue - some within the CA itself - in the name of seeking consensus on the key issues including form of governance and restructuring of the state, election system and judiciary. One serious blame is leveled against the very Constitutional-Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee (CPDCC) of the CA that was formed to hold discussions on the thorny issues of constitution drafting and build consensus on them. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The blame is that the CPDCC has been trying to delay the constitution drafting process to find the mirage called consensus. The CPDCC led by UCPN (Maoist) leader and former PM Dr Baburam Bhattarai has already missed a deadline of September 6 to forge consensus on the prickly issues of constitution drafting. Then it was given another deadline of September 30 to build such consensus. As things stand now, the CPDCC will not be able to forge consensus on the contentious issues within this deadline as well. Now voices are emerging that it should be given another chance to forge such a consensus which has proved elusive so far. One such voice has been floated by the UCPN (Maoist) which thinks the CPDCC should get one more month, even if that means the amendment of the CA calendar, to forge consensus.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>That should not be done. All lawmakers who had registered to speak on the contentious issues have spoken their mind at the deliberations organized by the CPDCC and consensus still looks a very far cry. So, extending the CPDCC &lsquo;s deadline would be just a waste of time and resources.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>On the other hand, it&rsquo;s been quite some time since the three major parties in CA II &ndash; the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoist) are trying to form a High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) in the name of facilitating the constitution drafting process. It is said that UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Prachanda is eying the post of coordinator of this proposed mechanism. To put the truth bluntly, there is no need for such a mechanism. It is also a game to delay the constitution drafting process by weakening the sovereign CA&rsquo;s role in that process. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The word consensus sounds very sweet to the ear. Everybody&rsquo;s consent on the key crucial issues of the constitution would be an ideal situation. No one would disagree that it is best to settle the contentious issues through consensus. But what if it is not possible? Can the country be kept a hostage for an indefinite period if consensus on contentious issues continues to elude us? &nbsp;Politicians have already squandered seven years in the process of statute drafting, mainly because they tried to forge consensus on the so-called thorny issues. In fact, trying to forge consensus on the contentious issues was the main reason why the first CA was dissolved without delivering the new constitution.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Nepal tried to forge consensus among all political parties on the contentious issues of constitution drafting during the first CA. Series after series of negotiations were held. Marathon meetings were held. But it simply did not work. The country reached nowhere perhaps because we tried to please all forces in the name of finding consensus. This should be why the major parties agreed, even before the second CA elections were held, to follow due process if they failed to reach consensus on contentious issues in CA II. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>That due process means deciding the contentious issues of constitution drafting through voting in the CA, which is the sovereign body to decide such matters. Or, alternatively &ndash; if a more democratic measure is to be adopted &ndash; we can hold a referendum to decide these issues. Here, the politicians can take some lessons from the recent Scotland voting where the Scots decided their fate through a referendum. It is still possible to hold such a referendum on the contentious issues as there still remains more than three months to promulgate the new constitution. But the decision has to be taken swiftly, if the country is to go the referendum way.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>However, the bottom line is no more precious time should be wasted in the name of forging a consensus.</div>
</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-10 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:18:40',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'As it happened to be, the much-awaited all-party political conference or round table conference – to use a more popular phrase- which was supposed to see a dialogue take place among the three major parties represented in the Constituent Assembly (CA) and the parties outside it, on the contentious issues of constitution drafting, fell flat. The reason was, as we all know, the 33-party alliance led by Mohan Baidya-led CPN-Maoist which is not represented in the CA and which had been demanding such a conference for a long time rejected to participate in the conference in the eleventh hour.',
			'sortorder' => '924',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '47',
			'title' => 'Nepal Politics',
			'sortorder' => '536',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-07-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 11 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '952',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '63',
			'title' => 'The End of Bull Run',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'The stock market of Nepal which was predicted to break the previous historic high level of 1175.38 points pulled back from 1083.55 and witnessed a nose dive sessions. ',
			'content' => '<div><strong>--By Bikram Chitrakar</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/st(6).jpg" style="float:right; height:951px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />The stock market of Nepal which was predicted to break the previous historic high level of 1175.38 points pulled back from 1083.55 and witnessed a nose dive sessions. During the review period of August 19 to September 18, 2014, the benchmark Nepse index fell 113.73 points or 11.22 per cent to rest at 899.89 points. The high value of Nepse for the review period was 1013.62 on August 19 and lowest was at 875.56 on September 07, 2014. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Experts have claimed that the cause of continuous selling pressures in the stock market was the central bank&#39;s circular that tried to regulate the investment of Banks and Financial Institutions&#39; (BFIs) in secondary market. The circular made it mandatory for the BFIs to maintain their investment in stocks as &#39;Held for Trade&#39; purpose within a limit of one per cent of their core capital. As the Nepse index started to create negative impact of the central bank&#39;s circular, Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) and Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) came up with intervening statement to pullback the reddish movement. Nepse urged investors not to panic while SEBON assured investors that it would consult the central bank on any upcoming directives that could affect the market. Despite these assurances, the market continued its journey in red terrain. &nbsp; &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Technically, Nepali&#39;s capital market completed one cycle during the last 6 years time span. &nbsp;Thus some experts even argued that the recent downfall was also guided by &ldquo;Disaster Myopia&rdquo; and was supported by historical trends, which recently matured by completing the market cycle. Since capital market moves in cycle, the recent downfall can be explained through this historical event as well. Besides this, the market had remained in bearish move as the winners, who had secured their gain, had started to create propaganda while losers were waiting with the hope that the market will regain its momentum.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Meanwhile, Nepse instructed all the listed companies to get registered with CDS and Clearing Company (CDSC) to dematerialize their shares. Similarly, it also redirected all the stakeholders including stockbrokers and merchant bankers to acquire license of Depository Participants (DP) by September 16, so as to comply with directives that restrict trading only of dematerialized shares by October 19, 2014.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Analyst also argued that the recent downfall of Nepse is guided by investor&#39;s sentiments rather than fundamentals of the listed companies. Along with that reoccurrence of the matured trend might have guided investors while securing positions. Meanwhile, festival season and the signal of increasing rifts between political parties on drafting the new constitution might also have dragged down the index.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Performance by Sector</strong></div>

<div>During the review period, all sub-indices except trading witnessed fall. Hydropower sub-index was the biggest looser which erased its previous gain by 462.14 points or 16.78 per cent to rest at 2292.46. Insurance sub-index became the second after hydropower with 717.55 points or 16.64 per cent loss to settle down at 3595.62. Similarly, banking sub-index went downhill by 109.63 points to settle at 805.76. Development bank dropped 6.72 per cent and was followed by the finance sub-index, which lost 6.14 per cent during the period. Likewise hotel sub-index lost 4.98 per cent to close at 1828.31 and &#39;Other&#39; sub-index descended by 4.69 per cent to rest at 716.6. While all other sectors took refuge in the red zone, the trading sub-index remained neutral.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Sensitive index that indicates the trading performance of &lsquo;A Grade&rsquo; stocks under Nepse&#39;s listing skidded by 23.30 points or 10.76 per cent to rest at 193.32 while the float index descended to 8.37 points or 11.71 per cent to rest at 63.13. The market capitalization of Nepse for the period was recorded at Rs 915.16 billion. This was 11.57 per cent less than the previous period. Similarly, daily average turnover of Nepse went down by 21.53 per cent.&nbsp;</div>

<div>According to the sectorial distribution, with a whopping 61.65 per cent of the total turnover the commercial banks held the majority. Hydropower sector occupied 14.49 per cent followed by development banks with 9.18 per cent of the total turnover. Along with that, the insurance sector covered 9.33 per cent and remaining sectors covered the rest portion.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em>Chitrakar is a freelance Stock Analyst.</em></div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-10 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:17:21',
			'keywords' => 'new business age stock taking news & articles, stock taking news & articles from new business age nepal, stock taking headlines from nepal,  current and latest stock taking news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali stock taking economic news and events, ongoing stock taking news of nepal',
			'description' => 'The stock market of Nepal which was predicted to break the previous historic high level of 1175.38 points pulled back from 1083.55 and witnessed a nose dive sessions. During the review period of August 19 to September 18, 2014, the benchmark Nepse index fell 113.73 points or 11.22 per cent to rest at 899.89 points. The high value of Nepse for the review period was 1013.62 on August 19 and lowest was at 875.56 on September 07, 2014.',
			'sortorder' => '925',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '63',
			'title' => 'Stock Taking',
			'sortorder' => '516',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-04-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 12 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '953',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '63',
			'title' => 'Monthly Technical Analysis of Nepse October 2014',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index continued spiralling downwards during the August 19 to September 18, 2014 period, just like the preceding period. During the review period, Nepse fell by 134.5 points (-13 per cent) to close at 899.89 points.',
			'content' => '<div><strong>Market Trend</strong></div>

<div>Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index continued spiralling downwards during the August 19 to September 18, 2014 period, just like the preceding period. During the review period, Nepse fell by 134.5 points (-13 per cent) to close at 899.89 points. This severe drop was witnessed as the Nepse fell below its 50-day moving average on Aug 22, 2014 thereby indicating sell signal in the market. As the stock market broke multiple support levels, new support level emerged at 866.25 points. At present the resistance level for Nepse stands at 920.06 points. The average daily turnover of Nepse has also decreased and registered NPR 454.6 million against NPR 529.2 million during the previous period. The continuous drop in trading volume indicated that the investor&#39;s enthusiasm towards the secondary market has been declining since the last few months. After witnessing huge correction Nepse began to move along the sideways direction.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>RSI&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>Relative Strength Index (RSI) is one of the leading indicators that are believed to be most effective during periods of sideways movement. Such indicators may create numerous buy and sell signals that are assumed to be useful when the market is not clearly trending in either direction.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/st2(6).jpg" style="height:183px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The RSI, which was in downward move since the beginning of the period reached the oversold zone on Aug 25, 2014. On the very successive day, RSI reached its lowest point, 22.50 levels during the review period. Since then, it has slightly improved and mostly hovered in the lower neutral zone and settled at 36.84 levels by the end of the current review period. The chart of RSI indicates that the persistent selling pressure, which was witnessed in the early stage of the review period has gradually declined during the latter period.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>MACD&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>The MACD is a momentum oscillator, which is formed by using two different types of moving averages (MACD and Signal Line) in order to chart specific buying or selling signals in the market. When a MACD line crosses above the signal line, it is considered to be a sign rising trend and indicates a buying signal and vice-versa.&nbsp;</div>

<div>The MACD line still accelerating downward direction in the negative territory as it moved below the zero level. This further signalled bearish momentum in the market suggesting high selling pressure is persistent among investors. During the end of the period, the MACD line began gradually moving upwards and touched the Signal line. If the MACD line crosses above the Signal line, it would generate a strong buy signal in the market.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/st3(3).JPG" style="height:187px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Bollinger Bands</strong></div>

<div>The Bollinger Band is also a technical indicator that consists of 21-days moving average along with two trading bands (one above and one below). The bands are considered as an indication of volatility in the market, which is measured by calculating standard deviations.&nbsp;</div>

<div>During the review period since Nepse crossed below the mid-band and continued spiralling downwards. Moreover Nepse index crossed below the lower band on two separate occasions of this period. However, over the last two weeks of the period Nepse began moving sideways and approaching the mid-band. Once it crosses above the mid-band, it would indicate buy signal in the market.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/st1(3).jpg" style="height:449px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Overview:</strong></div>

<div>The secondary market witnessed one of the biggest monthly declines in recent times as the Nepse index saw a massive decline of 134.5 points to close at 899.89 points. The market gathered downward momentum, as the buying pressure has remained weak over the last two months. This is evident in the declining volume in the market. During this period, the average daily volume registered NPR 454.6 million, which is much lower than that of the previous periods. The Nepse index is currently hovering between its immediate support and resistance levels of 866.25 and 920.06 points respectively. The RSI and MACD, which were in a continuous decline during the first half of the review, witnessed a gradual improvement. As the Nepse is gradually moving towards the mid-band of the Bollinger Bands the market appears to be stabilizing in the near term. However, there has to be a positive change in the trading volume to gather upward momentum in the market.&nbsp;</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-10 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:19:11',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index continued spiralling downwards during the August 19 to September 18, 2014 period, just like the preceding period. During the review period, Nepse fell by 134.5 points (-13 per cent) to close at 899.89 points.',
			'sortorder' => '926',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '63',
			'title' => 'Stock Taking',
			'sortorder' => '516',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-04-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 13 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '954',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '63',
			'title' => 'NRN Investment through Capital Market',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => '‘Economic Roadmap for Prosperous Nepal’ was the main theme of 8th NRN regional conference held on Nagano, Japan from September 18 to 19. About three hundred NRNs had participated from different part of the globe to discuss on the given theme. ',
			'content' => '<div><img alt="NRN" src="/userfiles/images/st4(2).jpg" style="height:497px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>--By Niranjan Phuyal</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&lsquo;Economic Roadmap for Prosperous Nepal&rsquo; was the main theme of 8th NRN regional conference held on Nagano, Japan from September 18 to 19. About three hundred NRNs had participated from different part of the globe to discuss on the given theme. After brainstorming for the two days, the conclusion was that although there could be some kind of legal, bureaucratic and political hassles for foreign investment, Nepal is in a stage to be the place for huge foreign investment and NRNs should take this as a good opportunity for the financial, technical and managerial investment in Nepal.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>One of the session during the programme was about the foreign and NRN investment in Nepal through capital market. Nepali economy is getting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for last few decades. However, it is not able to attract enough funds required for its infrastructure development and on other industries. Even in the last one decade, we are not able to get sizeable foreign FDI in the economy. The recent example of the difficulties faced by the Nepali promoters to get FDI for &quot;Hetuda Kathmandu Tunnel Highway&quot; shows there are some kind of inefficiencies with us. So, the conference has urged the government to make the regulation more investment friendly as well as to open capital market for the NRN investment.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The issue of NRN or foreign investment through capital market is important because it is more liquid than FDI. Rational investors want their investment to be more liquid so that when required they can convert it into cash. Government of Nepal also has theoretically accepted to allow NRNs to investment in capital market. The NRN Act, 2064 also says that NRNs can invest freely as an investor in Nepal. But there are some hassles about the procedures.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>First, there are some legal difficulties about the investment in Nepali capital market. NRN Act, 2064 has defined NRNs in two categories as foreign citizen of Nepali origin and Nepali citizen residing abroad. Nepali citizen residing abroad has Nepali citizenship and passport. As per the Securities Registration and Issuance Regulation 2065, while applying for the securities in primary market, the investor should include a copy of citizenship certificate along with the application. Similarly, when buying the shares from secondary market, the buyer should produce a copy of citizenship certificate. So, this provision has stopped the possibility of investment from the side of foreign citizen of Nepali origin.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Again, let&#39;s suppose Nepali citizen residing abroad invest in the primary market. Or, foreign citizen of Nepali origin starts an investment company here to investment in capital market. But the provision of repatriation of investment for NRNs in NRN Regulation, 2066 is not so clear and is very lengthy. As per this provision, NRNs can take away their investment or the profit but have to get approval from concerned authorities each time. But the nature of secondary market is different and it is not practical to get permission each time while investing or while taking away their sale proceedings. This method of repatriation is not investment friendly in secondary market. The Mutual Fund Regulation, 2067 has provided authority to launch mutual funds scheme for the companies owned by NRNs but the detail procedure for this in not clear. Portfolio Management Guidelines, 2067 from SEBON has mentioned that the portfolio manager could buy or sell securities in the name of NRNs but it is not clear if NRNs can only buy or sell through portfolio managers.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>There is some other practical confusion that should be cleared by proper regulations. For example, parents invest in shares on the name of their children when they are in Nepal. But later on if they moved to foreign countries and their children get foreign citizenship; the regulation is silent about the procedure to transfer or sale of such shares. Similarly, there are some other practical problems and long bureaucratic procedures for the NRN investment in capital market.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The next major hurdle for such investment is the technology adopted in capital market. Currently, the primary market investment is completely paper based. Different documents are required to be attached with the investment application. It takes many days to allot the securities once it is applied. There are more technical difficulties for the secondary trading in the market. Shares trading still done on paper based certificate and there is no online trading facility. Once purchased, it takes months to get the certificate. Orders are to be made through the broker office. Market depth is not available for making decision before buying and selling shares in secondary market. There are many issues of information dissemination as well as transparency in the secondary market. Due to the lack of proper technology, the capital market is not able to provide opportunity for the interested investors out of Kathmandu. Even for the possible investors residing in foreign countries, it is just a matter of discussion.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The issue of corporate governance, implementation of law and order, political stability, concentration on banks and financial institutions etc are also some of the reasons for NRNs not to invest in Nepali capital market. Provision to issue share at par in primary market is one of the major reasons for not to attract investors in capital market. Lack of diversified scrips and non-regulated commodity market can also create mistrust for the NRN investment.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Although there are many obstacles for the foreign as well as NRN investment, it is the right time for the government and concerned authorities to create a proper environment. There are some issues and confusions which can be corrected with simple modification on the regulations or through new directions. Proper technology in the market is best solution for many problems. If online facility is provided in both primary and secondary market, many NRNs will definitely enter into the market. The digitization of clearing and settlement process is the prime requirement for the flow of money from the foreign countries.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The most important obstacle to be solved is about the repatriation of investment. The NRN Regulation, 2066 No 10 has defined about the process of repatriation and it is basically for the FDI. These features are not enough for the capital market investment. Investors in capital market may require frequent transfer of funds and it is not addressed in the regulation. For this, the concerned authorities like Nepal Rastra Bank, SEBON, NEPSE, and even Ministry of Finance should think seriously. The practice of separate Dollar account for foreign investment followed in neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka and India could be the better option. &nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</div>

<div>As concluded in above stated conference, Nepal has a huge potential to attract foreign investment and few symptoms have already been visible on the surface. Normally, every investor wants liquidity on their investment. Liquidity can be provided through capital market. So, the NRNs and foreigners should be provided with enough facility in the market to raise the confidence of such investors. Economy of India started to move towards prosperity when nonresident Indians started to invest in India mainly through capital market. So, NRN investment through capital market could be the milestone toward the journey for prosperous Nepal.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em>The author is asst manager at NEPSE and a visiting faculty at KUSOM.</em></div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-10 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:51:39',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => '‘Economic Roadmap for Prosperous Nepal’ was the main theme of 8th NRN regional conference held on Nagano, Japan from September 18 to 19. About three hundred NRNs had participated from different part of the globe to discuss on the given theme. After brainstorming for the two days, the conclusion was that although there could be some kind of legal, bureaucratic and political hassles for foreign investment, Nepal is in a stage to be the place for huge foreign investment and NRNs should take this as a good opportunity for the financial, technical and managerial investment in Nepal.',
			'sortorder' => '927',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '63',
			'title' => 'Stock Taking',
			'sortorder' => '516',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-04-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 14 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '955',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '21',
			'title' => 'Unlocking Nepal's Growth Prospect',
			'image' => '20150909014359_cover.jpg',
			'short_content' => '‘Nepal does have natural resources. They are of course our growth potentials but not necessarily the key element needed for our future economic growth. The key element is human resource; the brainpower, creativity of the people, entrepreneurship and innovation. If we can unlock our human potential,',
			'content' => '<div><strong>&nbsp;--By Akhilesh Tripathi</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&lsquo;Nepal does have natural resources. They are of course our growth potentials but not necessarily the key element needed for our future economic growth. The key element is human resource; the brainpower, creativity of the people, entrepreneurship and innovation. If we can unlock our human potential, if we can unlock entrepreneurship and innovation which will make use of the natural resources that Nepal has, then our growth potential will be unlocked; we will become a rich country.&rdquo;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Thus spoke Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, the chief guest of the second edition of the Asian Paints NewBiz Business Conclave &amp; Awards, organized by New Business Age Pvt Ltd at Hotel Soaltee Crowne Plaza on September 11.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cs1(5).jpg" style="height:302px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cs2(2).JPG" style="float:right; height:430px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:325px" />Investing in Human Resource</strong></div>

<div>The remarks of Dr Mahat, a six-time finance minister, are a clear departure from the traditional belief that natural resources are a must for the economic growth of any country. The appropriate use of the available natural resources is necessary, the Finance Minister said, adding, however, that the country&rsquo;s economic development is possible through the use of brainpower, creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation. He cited examples of Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea which have achieved fast economic growth despite having practically very little natural resource.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Deependra Bahadur Kshetry, former vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC), who too attended the Conclave, agrees with the finance minister. &ldquo;We need more skilled and trained human resource, creativity and innovation in business and entrepreneurship to exploit our abundant natural resource, which gives us a comparative advantage. However, the endowment of natural resource alone is not enough. This is what the finance minister means. And this is true as well,&rdquo; said Kshetry, while talking to New Business Age after the conclusion of the Conclave.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Kshetry says the government should invest more in developing the country&rsquo;s human resources because it will help build the national capacity. &ldquo;In simpler terms, it means investing more in education and skill-oriented training. Investment in human resource will help unlock our growth prospects,&rdquo; he added.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>To invest in human resource development is to compete with investment in infrastructure and other social sectors. Here, the government has harder choices to make as it cannot choose one sector over the other as almost all sectors in Nepal need investment, and huge ones, for the matter. So, according to economists and development experts, the government will do well to have a well-designed national development plan, which will clearly spell out our national priorities. &ldquo;It will help attract international support as well. Then it will be easier for the government to decide in which areas to use domestic resources and in which areas external resources,&rdquo; say Kshetri.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Managing Director of Jade Consult, Bkesh Pradhanga, another speaker of the Conclave, echoed similar sentiments. &ldquo;The government should mobilize our human resource properly. For this, the government should invest in higher education of the country&rsquo;s workforce and this should be the primary focus,&rdquo; he opined. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cs3(1).JPG" style="float:right; height:654px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:325px" />Focus on Three &lsquo;I&rsquo;s</strong></div>

<div>Our development priorities should not miss the three &lsquo;I&rsquo;s &ndash; infrastructure, investment and inclusion &ndash; according to Johannes Zutt, World Bank country director for Nepal and Bangladesh. Zutt, who was also one of the speakers of the Conclave, clearly said that the three &lsquo;I&rsquo;s should be Nepal&rsquo;s top priority for now if the country is to achieve fast economic growth.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>On the investment front, the level of foreign investment has been low. According to the Investment Board, the total amount of foreign investment in 2012 which was declared the Investment Year was USD 62 million. It went up in 2013 to USD 208 million. In 2014 so far, it is USD 130 million. Domestic investment, too, hasn&rsquo;t been growing at the expected rate. &ldquo;Nepal is investing below the rate of investment needed to achieve a double digit growth. There is actually money available in Nepal for higher investment, but it isn&rsquo;t happening. The business community complains about access to finance, regulatory burdens and labour costs. These are the problems existent is South Asia but it is debilitating in Nepal,&rdquo; observed Zutt.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>But why has large scale investment not come to Nepal? Pradhananga answers, &ldquo;It is because of political instability, lack of policy predictability, and industrial disputes that have caused the closure of companies like Surya Nepal in the recent past.&rdquo; He added that Nepal immediately needs an investment of USD 15 billion for various projects that are ready for implementation.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&ldquo;For private investment to come, we need to create more enabling environment. This is why we have initiated some new incentives to lure private investment from this year&rsquo;s budget, Dr Mahat said, &ldquo;In the hydropower sector, for example, we have announced income tax exemption for the next ten years and fifty percent tax rebate for another five years.&rdquo;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Zutt opined that Nepal is caught in a vicious cycle of investment and infrastructure. &ldquo;Nepal doesn&rsquo;t have high enough levels of investment in infrastructure that is necessary for businesses to succeed and because it doesn&rsquo;t have that infrastructure, it is not getting the investment,&rdquo; he said.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Pradhananga suggested to the government to focus on infrastructure development for the next one decade. He also advised to change old laws and policies and introduce new ones to attract private investment. &ldquo;The Hydropower Policy 2001 and Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act 1992, to give a few examples, are quite old. The aim of these laws and policies is to attract FDI in the country. But we haven&rsquo;t been able to make them timely and updated. This has negatively affected our development efforts,&rdquo; said Pradhananga. &nbsp; &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Hydro Hopes</strong></div>

<div>All the speakers of the Conclave agreed that hydropower has great potential in Nepal. &ldquo;We are rich in water resource. We have huge hydropower potential. We can be the power house of clean energy in South Asia,&rdquo; said Dr Mahat.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>But the reality is different from the rhetoric. Nepal has hardly tapped one percent of its total hydropower potential. So far, the country has been able to produce only about 750 MW of hydroelectricity though the total hydropower potential of the country is said to be over 80,000 MW. That means one of the sectors where Nepal&rsquo;s growth prospects lie is the hydropower sector. Over half a dozen projects that are together expected to produce more than 5,000 MW of hydroelectricity are in advanced stage of development (see box). The government&rsquo;s claim to do away with load-shedding over the next three-four years is based on these projects.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&ldquo;In Nepal, hydropower is one such sector of investment which can bring about a positive change in the entire econom</div>

<div>&ldquo;If the PDA [project development agreement] with the Upper Karnali hydropower project is signed over the next few days or weeks, then it will be a game changer. It will lead to the signing of PDA with half a dozen other major hydropower projects,&rdquo; said Dr Mahat.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cs4(4).JPG" style="float:right; height:250px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:325px" />Nepal&rsquo;s Strategic Location</strong></div>

<div>The speakers of the Conclave also said that Nepal&rsquo;s geographic location between China and India, two rapidly growing economies of the world, provides the Himalayan nation a great opportunity for economic growth. &ldquo;Nepal&rsquo;s growth prospects also lie in the fact that it is located between China and India, two of the fastest growing economies of the world. If Nepal can establish itself a trading partner between China and India, it will greatly help Nepal&rsquo;s economic growth,&rdquo; said Zutt.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>It is worth mentioning here that the annual trade volume between India and China has already crossed USD 70 billion and the two countries have planned to increase it to USD 100 billion by 2015. If Nepal can build roads, highways and rail links to connect its northern border with southern border, then it can effectively work as a trading partner between the two Asian giants, according to economists and development experts. &nbsp; &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>&lsquo;2015: Nepal&rsquo;s critical juncture&rsquo;</strong></div>

<div>Addressing the Conclave, Dr Swarnim Wagle, member of National Planning Commission said that the year 2015 will be very crucial for Nepal as the country&rsquo;s new constitution is expected to be promulgated in 2015. Once, the constitution is ready, Dr Wagle said, Nepal&rsquo;s political transition would be complete and then the country&rsquo;s economy can take off. &nbsp;&ldquo;We are few centuries behind other countries but I think that we can really make the year 2015 our critical juncture and really expedite our path into modernity,&rdquo; said Wagle.</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-12 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 13:43:59',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Nepal needs to invest in its human resource and exploit its natural resource to the fullest to unlock its growth prospects.',
			'sortorder' => '946',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '21',
			'title' => 'Cover Story',
			'sortorder' => '532',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2017-05-03 14:57:12'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 15 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '956',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '21',
			'title' => 'Speakers' Voices',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'The theme of this conclave which is ‘Unlocking Nepal’s Growth Prospects’ is very timely. It is often presumed that for fast economic growth, a country needs a good natural resource base.',
			'content' => '<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>&lsquo;&lsquo;We do have the potential to graduate from the LDC status&rsquo;&rsquo;</strong></span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<table align="right" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:25px">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td><img alt="Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, Minister of Finance, GoN" src="/userfiles/images/sv.JPG" style="border-style:solid; border-width:0px; height:170px; width:200px" /></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Dr Ram Sharan Mahat</strong></div>

			<div style="text-align: center;">Minister of Finance, GoN</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<div>The theme of this conclave which is &lsquo;Unlocking Nepal&rsquo;s Growth Prospects&rsquo; is very timely. It is often presumed that for fast economic growth, a country needs a good natural resource base. This is a traditional theory, not a modern theory. It is not time-tested. If that were the case, countries rich in natural resources like Russia and Brazil would be the biggest economies of the world. They are very rich in natural resource. But they are not necessarily the richest and most developed countries of the world. On the other hand, Japan, which has very little natural resource, grew very fast. In recent history, the so-called little economic tigers of the Pacific Rim such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea grew very fast. These countries represent some of the most successful economic growth stories of the recent past.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>But what amount of natural resource did they possess? Practically nothing. Japan has practically no natural resource endowment. Similar is the case of the other countries that I mentioned. So, the traditional theory that countries rich in natural resource grow fast is outdated. It is no longer valid. It is the brain power, the creativity of the people that is ultimately responsible for fast economic growth.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Nepal does have natural resources. We often talk about these natural resources. These resources can make Nepal very rich and can be the source of Nepal&rsquo;s economic growth in the future. For example, we are rich in water resource. We have huge hydropower potential. We can be the power house of clean energy in South Asia. Similarly, we talk of our tourism potential. We have huge prospects in tourism. We can be the tourism capital of South Asia. We have so many varieties of tourism &ndash; cultural tourism, adventure tourism, eco tourism, religious tourism etc. Similarly, we have potential in agriculture because of our agro-climatic diversity. We can grow practically anything.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>These are of course our growth potentials but not necessarily the key elements needed for our future economic growth. The key element is human resource; the creativity of people, entrepreneurship and innovation. If we can unlock our human potential, if we can unlock entrepreneurship and innovation which will make use of the natural resources that Nepal has, then our growth potential will be unlocked; we will become a rich country.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Another thing that we need is the right policies. Unless we have the right policies in place, these potential will remain on paper only. In absence of the right policies, we can only talk about our growth potentials. For example, we have been talking about our hydropower potential for decades; hardly one percent of our hydro potential has been tapped so far. So what we did in the early 90s is we tried to unlock our potential by creating the right environment for freedom. We centralized economic policy. We planned and removed many policy hindrances. We removed the licensing process for industries. As a result, our growth rate in the mid 1990s was equal to that of the South Asian average; we were not lagging behind. But soon the violent Maoist insurgency started and engulfed the country. The insurgency took its toll on the economy and spoiled many things. It spoiled the growth potential and sapped the energy of the people. Many of our brightest and best young men and women left the country in search of jobs &ndash; manual jobs, semi-skilled jobs and skilled jobs.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Today, we have a sense of political stability as there is a stable government in Kathmandu. So, this is again the time for economic reforms. This is why I have announced in this year&rsquo;s budget that we will start a second series of economic reforms.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Though there is relative political stability today, we still have unsettled political issues. We are not yet out of the woods. The constitution is still in the preparatory phase. There are still some serious differences among political parties over provisions to be made in the new constitution. But let&rsquo;s not worry about these things. Political issues will take their course but at the same time economic development must also continue. We simply cannot afford to wait until the political problems are sorted out to start the process of economic growth. Politics will take its course; economy must have its own course. One good thing is contemporary politics in Nepal has become development-friendly. The parties which once supported one-party state, centralized economy are now saying that we need foreign investment and capitalist revolution in the country. This is a good sign. It also means that the reforms that we initiated in the past and the reforms that we are going to launch soon are irreversible.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Today, I think everybody agrees that we need economic freedom for private investment &ndash; both domestic and foreign. We need investment in infrastructure, education, and health. Not only the quantity but also the quality of investment must increase if Nepal is to achieve higher economic growth rate. The efficiency of investment must also increase. For private investment to come, we need to create more enabling environment. This is why we have initiated some new incentives to lure private investment from this year&rsquo;s budget. In the hydropower sector, we have announced income tax exemption for the next ten years and fifty percent tax rebate for another five years. Similarly, for large-scale investment in the manufacturing and tourism sectors, we have announced income tax exemption for the next five years and fifty percent exemption for another three years. At the same time, we are about to sign [project development] agreement with some major hydropower projects that have been waiting for a long time to be agreed upon.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Following Indian Prime Minister Naredra Modi&rsquo;s Nepal visit, both Nepal and India have signed the initial agreement on the Power Trade Agreement (PTA) between them. Now, if the PDA (project development agreement) with the Upper Karnali hydropower project is signed over the next few days or weeks, then it will be a game changer. It will lead to the signing of PDA with half a dozen other major hydropower projects which have foreign investment from various countries including India, China, South Korea, among others. Then the game of high economic growth will start. It will help instill new confidence in the investment community. That will be good for the many other projects in the pipeline. It will encourage investment in the industries because many investors have been waiting for adequate power supply to be available.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>We will have power deficit for the next couple of years. But with the PTA between India and Nepal now signed and a 400 KV transmission line being built between the two countries, it will be easier to purchase power from India. And after the next three years, we will have surplus power which can be exported and this will go on increasing in the years to come. So, I think Nepal now is at the threshold of a major economic take-off. Accordingly, the government has aimed to graduate from the LDC status to a developing country status over the next eight years. We do have the potential.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>I believe that the government must be strong. One comment that I often hear is the government became weak since I favoured economic liberalization. That is another non-sense. The government must be strong enough to enforce rule of law in the country. Even for the open market economic policy to succeed, the government must be strong enough to create a level-playing field. The government must be strong enough to ensure that the labour, entrepreneurial and environmental interests are protected. In short, it must be strong enough to ensure that the law of the land is observed.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em>Adapted from the speech delivered by Dr Mahat at the 2nd NewBiz Business Conclave &nbsp;&amp; Awards.</em></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>&ldquo;We should not expect government to do 50 different things&rdquo;</strong></span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<table align="right" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:25px">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td><img alt="Bibek Debroy, Indian Economist" src="/userfiles/images/sv1.jpg" style="border-style:solid; border-width:0px; height:170px; width:200px" /></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<div><strong>Bibek Debroy</strong>, Indian Economist</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<div>I think I am invited here to give external perspective to today&rsquo;s theme of the discussion. But I believe the perspective I bring from where I live and work, that is India, has also relevance for Nepal because the essential template of development is no different for countries that are at a certain stage of development.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The topic of this conclave is &lsquo;Unlocking Nepal&rsquo;s Growth Potential.&rsquo; Growth may be an important number for an economist like me but for most of the people, including politicians, it&rsquo;s a meaningless number as you cannot sell growth as a political message. But, once you translate that growth into numbers that people can relate to, you can sell growth.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Growth means less poverty, more employment, more jobs, being able to service the EMIs for what you borrowed to acquire consumer durables. Growth is important because throughout this region, there is an increasingly young population, which is impatient and unwilling to wait hundreds of years that wouldn&rsquo;t be required to catch up with what other countries across the world have been able to achieve. That&rsquo;s the reason growth is important.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Looking at the templates of economic development, we see that different countries tapped different factors to generate growth. Countries in our level of economic development, as a sweeping level of generalization, depend on tapping inputs such as land and natural resources, capital and labour. But this doesn&rsquo;t mean that the things like innovation and productivity are not important. However, these things come a little later in the economic development spectrum. So question for us to ask is what can possibly be done at a conceptual level to ensure that inputs like land, labour and capital are exploited more efficiently.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>A mention was earlier made about the per capita income. The per capita income of any country is the rough measure of the productivity of the country&rsquo;s citizens. The next bulleted point to note is that our people are voluntarily poor where an individual doesn&rsquo;t want to better his or her life and improve his and his offspring&rsquo;s living standards. When I say this I am talking obviously about able bodied people of working age group. If it is the proposition, that if everyone everywhere wants to better their lives, the next question to ask is: why are they unable to do so? The answer is also so obvious. It is because to be in the position to tap the opportunities or resources, you require certain things such as law and order, physical infrastructures like roads and electricity and social infrastructures like education, skills, health. Likewise, you require access to market, information, technology, access to land and finance. The question then follows that why are these things not available or not being delivered?</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In nations across the world that have elected government, citizens come together and elect government with the expectations that it will deliver these goods and services. If these are not made available, mechanism and processes used to deliver these things are seriously questioned.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>If the government is going to deliver these goods and services, two or three questions arise. First question is government needs revenue. Where is this money going to come from? The moment government decides to give a fiscal incentive to a business enterprise that is tax revenue foregone. Every resource has an opportunity cost. That is tax revenue that the government could have used to build physical infrastructures like rural school, or hospitals.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>When we say, public goods and services, does it necessarily mean the government alone is supposed to be in a position to deliver it all? There are several instances where private sector is perfectly willing to come in. Therefore, there is an important difference between government actually trying to deliver these goods and services and government financing these goods and services. When it come to issue like this, it is important for any government to distinguish between regulations and licensing that masquerades as regulations.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In both of our respective countries, the level of economic development is such that we should not expect government to do 50 different things. If we expect government to do all these things, it will do none of those satisfactorily considering the limited governance and administrative capacity. Instead it should do only five or six things that are most important. If we collectively insist that the government should only focus on five or six such things such as law and order, roads, water, electricity, health and education then governance, growth, development, Human Development Indicators (HDI), and other sectors and services will improve. And people will be able to better their lives and we will no longer have to wait for those hundreds of years.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>So, collectively as a body what we are required to do is to change our mind-set in terms of our expectations from the government. The less we expect from the government, and &nbsp;the more we ask ourselves of what &nbsp;we are going to do, the sooner we will be able to unshackle ourselves from the constraints that have historically plagued growth in your and my countries.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em>An Indian economist, Prof Debroy has been a professor at Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. This article is adapted from the key-note speech he delivered at the 2nd NewBiz Business Conclave &amp; Awards.</em></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>Nepal&#39;s Economic Development Trajectory</strong></span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<table align="right" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:25px">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td><img alt="Dr Swarnim Wagle, Member of National Planning Commission, Nepal" src="/userfiles/images/sv2.JPG" style="border-style:solid; border-width:0px; height:170px; width:200px" /></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<div>
			<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Dr Swarnim Wagle</strong></div>

			<div style="text-align: center;">Member of National Planning Commission, Nepal</div>
			</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<div>Anticipating that many of the speakers would focus on the present day economics, I wanted to step back into history and take the long view. I want to talk about development trajectories that we and other developing countries have taken over the past two centuries and take stock of where we stand today and where we need to go to unlock our growth potentials.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Whenever I talk about development stories, I recall this beautiful first line from Leo Tolstoy&#39;s famous novel Anna Karenina, &quot; All Happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way&quot;. This applies to countries as well and each country&rsquo;s context is unique. But I think the divergent pathways that different countries have taken, give us immensely valuable policy lessons on the kind of policies and institutions that have proven helpful elsewhere.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>I would like to borrow the concept of &lsquo;critical junctures&rsquo; from political science to highlight that most successful countries in hindsight appear to hit a point in the development trajectories when significant changes occur that set them off on a path in history that ends up in producing distinct legacies.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The graph here (see next page) sums up the history of the world over the past 200 years and we can run through these broad trajectories of different countries that we often aspire to emulating .&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>I believe that the year 2015 will be our critical juncture. We are few centuries behind than other countries but I think that we can really make the year 2015 our critical juncture and really expedite our path into modernity.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>This graph draws on the historical macroeconomic data from New Maddison &nbsp;Project Database. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Let&rsquo;s start with the year 1775. This &nbsp; is the year when King Prithivi Narayan Shah who conquered Kathmandu valley in 1769, died. Territorial expansion of modern Nepal continued then after. Likewise, this is also the year when United States of America, the largest economy in the world, started its modern journey, George Washington was appointed as the commander in chief of the continental army in 1775, then US declared independence in 1776. America also had a decade of turbulence and it took 12 years for them to draft a new constitution and finally in the year 1769, George Washington became the president. But on our side, our territorial expansion continued. Just like the US doubled its size in the early 1800s with the &quot;Lousiana Purchase&quot;, the descendants of Prithivi Narayan Shah doubled the size of Nepal with west-ward expansion. It was around 1815 that we acquired relative degree of political stability in both the countries.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The year 1775 is also the date when Adam Smith wrote &quot;Wealth of Nations&quot;. Everyone thinks that it was published in 1776 but the first few editions of the book were actually printed in 1775. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>So, it is a very clean date to start the story about global development trajectories. I refer to &quot;Wealth of Nations&quot; because it was the first text in the economics that talked about how some countries became rich and how some countries stayed poor. It was also the beginning of modern study of economics .In the graph I have chosen 10 countries, beginning with Britain, obviously the first modern industrialized country in the world. The data series before the year 1775 is little bit flat. It is now well acknowledged that the modern economic growth rate became a sustained phenomenon only after 1820s. Before that it took 100 if not 1000s of years for the per capita income or the economic size of the countries to double. So, before this date it is basically stagnant. But we know that the critical juncture for Britain was 1688 with the Glorious Revolution when they threw James II and brought the two monarchs William and Mary. However, there was an implicit contract that you would constrain the powers of the monarch and empower the parliament to decide on the affairs of the state. Therefore, constitutional monarchy began at the end of 17 century. That was also the period when a sort of leg-work for the industrial revolution was taking place. We know that one of the major triggers of industrial revolution was the invention of the steam engine by James Watt in 1768. Earlier to the steam engine, pumps and, rotary machine and high-pressure engines were also invented. With the steam engine, Britain was able to break through the astronomy and navigation in the warfare and this was the first wave of Industrial Revolution. yes, this was not straight and there were lot of factors that played a vital role. But it was after about 1820 that Britain began to see a systematic increase in economic growth rate. Hence, that is also the critical juncture for the world as the modern economic growth as a whole became a sort of sustained preposition.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>For US, 1870 or 1860s would be a critical juncture. The end of the civil war and the first wave of globalization in 1870s -1913 with the massive influx of immigrants, the economies of scale and the technological adoption and borrowings from the leading industrial country was the time when Britain and US were roaring to grow. So, the next critical juncture was after the union was saved followed the year 1865. &nbsp;This is the period when US took a sort of take-off.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>And 1868 was the critical juncture for Japan. One of the most noteworthy things is that rarely in the history we have seen the elite of one country sitting together and deciding that we are falling behind and we need to get our acts together. Japan did that and sent in 1871, a massive ambassadorial troop of around 40 people, around the world to borrow the best ideas. Adapting best ideas and institutions brought Japan on the trajectory of higher growth from 1870s. Then of course there is Argentina as a country, which had an equal promise like United States before the turn of the century but later continued to stagnate for different reasons.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Now let me skip to the post-second world war period where we see around 13 economies that were able to grow at 7 per cent per annum for a continuous period of at least 25 years, which is the kind of sustained economic growth rate that countries aspire for. The sustained economic growth at such very high levels is important to transform a country within a generation and this is what happened with countries like Korea, Malaysia and, later in the 1970s, China. The critical juncture for South Korea, for example, was 1961.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>I want to emphasize that there comes point in many countries&rsquo; history, where there is point of critical juncture where opportunities arise and you can really set your country on a path that will produce a different legacy. For China it was 1978, when agricultural reforms, giving way to township and village enterprises which can be termed as critical juncture. In India its brief reforms in late 1980s offered a critical juncture but the reforms were with some hiccups. However, still we can see that there is a distinct critical juncture in 1991. Sri lanka, one of the first liberalizers in south Asia took a real turn around in economy in 1977. These examples are quite inspirational for our own vision.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The point here is what about Nepal? We have seen lot of political junctures. So the question is: what have we done? We can say that the abolition of the Rana Regime was our first critical juncture and abolition of the Panchayat system, in 1990, was our second such juncture. But we really have not had a real critical juncture yet. I would argue that the 1990s presented the opportunity. &nbsp;We did begin a slight uptake but we were not able to sustain it due to conflict and other things. I think by 2015 the new constitution will be there and that will also shore up anticipated period of calm and stability in our country.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In broad terms, it seems that inclusive political institution played a protective role in long sustained rise of western economy especially that of the UK and US.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In the medium term it appears that we need a very credible and effective state that invests a lot in people as well as in the infrastructure and a package of policy reforms that provides a credible signal to the private sector and to foreign investors as well. I think this act of signalling is really important in the immediate run. I am happy that this year&#39;s budget has come up with package of positive reforms. Hence, our critical juncture is near the horizon and we must seize that moment.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em>Dr Wagle is a member of the National Planning Comission. This article is adapted from the speech he &nbsp;delivered at the 2nd NewBiz Business Conclave &amp; Awards.</em></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>&ldquo;Investment, Infrastructure and Inclusion Should Be Nepal&rsquo;s Top Priorities&rdquo;</strong></span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<table align="right" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:25px">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td><img alt="Johannes Zutt" src="/userfiles/images/sv3.jpg" style="border-style:solid; border-width:0px; height:170px; width:200px" /></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Johannes Zutt</strong></div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<div style="text-align: center;">The World Bank believes that there are some areas that the government and the people of Nepal need to focus in order to realize higher levels of growth. The three &lsquo;I&rsquo;s - investment, infrastructure and inclusion - should be the priority for now.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Nepal is investing below the rate of investment needed to achieve a double digit growth. There is actually money available in Nepal for higher investment, but it isn&rsquo;t happening. The business community complains about access to finance, regulatory burdens and labour costs. These are the problems existent is South Asia but it is debilitating in Nepal. Also, the public expenditure is crowded in the end of the fiscal year which is not a very good way to run the expenditure. Unlike most countries in the world, in Nepal, the budget doesn&rsquo;t get spent until a lot of supplementary negotiations are done during the fiscal year itself. As a consequence, infrastructure and other spending are delayed and the outcome of the expenditure is delayed. Public financial management needs to be improved for better expenditure.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Investment is important because without it, infrastructures cannot be built that are needed by the private sector. Nepal is caught in a vicious cycle in this matter. We don&rsquo;t have high enough levels of investment in infrastructure that is necessary for businesses to succeed and because we don&rsquo;t have that infrastructure, we are not getting the investment.&nbsp;</div>

<div>Nepal is blessed in being between two of the fastest growing largest economies of the world. Although being landlocked is typically associated with slower growth, in Nepal&rsquo;s case, it is landlocked with two huge dynamic economies that can actually accelerate Nepal&rsquo;s growth. Nepal has enormous markets both to the north and south. Nepal needs to make necessary infrastructure investments to unlock access to those two markets.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Inclusion should be the other major focus of Nepal. Inclusion is making sure that every Nepali, no matter where he or she is born, has equal opportunity to share and contribute to the country&rsquo;s economy. Everybody has something to contribute and we need to make it possible for them to do so. Inclusion also means giving people access to reasonable quality health care and education, and helping those people who are not able to participate in the economy because of things out of their control like disability or old age to get financial supplement to enable them to participate and meet their needs.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;Finally, bringing government closer to the people, enabling people to work with their public representatives and holding them accountable is critical for every country that wishes to achieve success.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em>Zutt is World Bank&#39;s country director for Nepal and Bangladesh. This article is adapted from the speech he delivered at the 2nd NewBiz Business Conclave &amp; Awards.</em></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>&lsquo;&lsquo;Business, Bottlenecks and Beyond&rsquo;&rsquo;</strong></span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<table align="right" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:25px">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td><img alt="Bkesh Pradhanang, Managing Director, Jade Consult" src="/userfiles/images/sv4.jpg" style="border-style:solid; border-width:0px; height:170px; width:200px" /></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<div>
			<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Bkesh Pradhanang</strong></div>

			<div style="text-align: center;">Managing Director, Jade Consult</div>
			</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<div>Wikipedia says that Nepal is the country with the highest elevation, Mt Everest which is shared with China. &nbsp;That is the only thing that distinguishes Nepal from the rest of the world. Other country that we relate ourselves with is our neighbouring country Bhutan which has the highest growth rate of 21.44 per cent in its real GDP.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>So, let&rsquo;s ask ourselves why is our country where it is today? Why is our country lagging behind? What are the bottlenecks here? Is it because of the old policies that have not changed over a decade? Examples are Hydropower Policy of 2001 and Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act of 1992. Moreover, we still have the same infrastructure and the same bureaucracy. &nbsp;The work process in the bureaucracy is still the same as it was during the period when there were no computers.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Yes, there have been some changes, but these changes are minimal compared to the rest of the world.The political system is still not stable and we have very low investments here. And, on the other side, we have a very hostile civil society that just wants to criticize everything just for the sake of criticizing. Is that really productive? Let us ask ourselves these questions.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The year 2012 was declared the investment year in Nepal. But, what happened in that year? We had an inflow of only 62 million dollars as investment that year. In 2013, we went to 200 million dollars but in 2014 it went down to around 130 million dollars. Given the large population, our resources and our potential, these kinds of figures are pathetic.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>We have also had different problems here. One is related with the policies, or policy predictability. Although the policies seem very stable to us, they seem inflexible from the eyes of the investors. And, obviously the other problem lies with the unstable politics here. I think we have lost the count of prime ministers. It is understandable that we are poor but let us analyse the industry average in the SAARC region or Asia. Nepal comes very low, in the range of Bhutan and Afghanistan, which is definitely not a good sign.The data from United Nations says that foreign investment in Nepal was below 100 million dollars in the year 2013. &nbsp;We all understand that we have to do a lot and the current and the past governments have been putting a lot of effort. We are in a world where 200 countries compete for FDIs. So, we cannot just ask investors to invest in Nepal. So, how do we really compete with all these countries? We have problem also because our government&rsquo;s revenue collection is very low and our national budget is very low.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Yes, some of our domestic industries are performing well but that is not enough and we definitely need FDIs. Recently, the investment goal is to focus on big projects. Some projects are in a really advanced stage and probably in the next two years, we will be in the position to start construction. This is a positive sign. Above all, these projects have an investment need of 13 billion dollars or more. The government of Nepal has taken a positive sign of inviting expression of interest (EOI) for fast-track roads. So, all these projects should actually start off in the next two years.These projects require a huge amount of money. But how are we going to arrange that?&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Positive Side&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>I believe that we have too many of sad stories and complaints, but we need to look at the positive side as well. Data show that we have performed well in the communication sector. It is among the top 50 in the world ranking in the field of communication. So, what does it take for us to be in the same position in other sectors as well? It might require us to have another 70,000 kilometres in roads and 8,000 MW in energy. &nbsp;Data have shown that Nepal has around 16 million working population (that is 50 percent of total population). But instead of using theme here we are sending them abroad and we are sustaining in this country because of the huge amount of money that these Nepalis send in from abroad. But, we cannot solely depend on that. These are our human resources and the government should mobilize them properly within the country. Even for those who go abroad, we should see that they go with higher level skills. For this, the government should invest in higher education. The government should also think about the people that will come back from Qatar after the World Cup 2022 is over. Where will these people go then and what will they do? These people need to be trained and they should be provided with opportunities.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>China and India put together have around 150 million people that go out as tourists.. If we tap even one per cent of this, that will be a big achievement. But again, targeting bigger number of arrivals will not help. We also have to concentrate on infrastructure. In the next five years or 10 years, we need to start improving our road condition, airports, etc. The basic and the most important thing is that we need to sell Nepal as a brand that depicts business. This branding has to be done with tourism.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The other thing is that the money that comes from overseas has to be utilized, which is not happening in the current situation. Government has to utilize this money by investing it in infrastructure so that when people return from overseas, they have opportunities in their land.The government has a priority project in hand named Budi Gandaki hydropower project. There is a big need of money in this project. Remittance is compared with rainfall, if not stored and utilised, it will drain out. And that is exactly what is happening right now. The remittance money is fuelling imports growth. Another sad thing is that though we are very close to India with open borders, we are not able to reap the benefits out of this situation. This is something we need to consider immediately.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In conclusion, the main thing is that we all have ideas but these ideas need to be turned into actions. If we focus on potential areas, we will develop or else we will be in the same position in the next 20 years also.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em>Adapted from the speech delivered by Pradhanang at the 2nd NewBiz Business Conclave &amp; Awards.</em></div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-13 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 13:46:21',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'The theme of this conclave which is ‘Unlocking Nepal’s Growth Prospects’ is very timely. It is often presumed that for fast economic growth, a country needs a good natural resource base.',
			'sortorder' => '945',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '21',
			'title' => 'Cover Story',
			'sortorder' => '532',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2017-05-03 14:57:12'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 16 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '957',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '26',
			'title' => 'Dynamics of Interest Rate',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => '',
			'content' => '<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/ep(10).jpg" style="height:426px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>--By Hom Nath Gaire</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In the business of borrowing and lending money, the lender charges and the borrower agrees to pay an amount in excess of the amount lend and borrowed. The excess amount is called interest, in common language. In economic terminology, like rent and wages, interest is a factor payment. It is paid for the use of capital as a factor of production. In other words, interest rate is the cost of capital per unit of time.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Economists define interest as a payment for the sacrifice made by the income holder by deferring consumption for the time being and imparting with liquidity, a reward to the income holder for their savings. Interest rates are indeed very important economic variables. There are many uses of interest rates.</div>

<div>In this context, it must be noted that interest rates play a key role in monetary analysis, as they are akey element in the transmission process of monetary policy.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/ep1(5).jpg" style="float:right; height:543px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Interest Rate Determination</strong></div>

<div>As the interest rate is cost of capital, the term capital is used in two senses; (1) money capital, i.e. stock of money that could be loaned out, and (2) physical assets e.g. land, building, plant, machinery etc. Money capital in the form of bank deposit, share and debenture yields different forms of income&mdash; interest and dividend. On the other hand, investment in physical capital yields income called return on capital. However, economists believe that money capital finally takes the form of physical capital and interest paid on money capital takes in the form of cost of capital.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Because of this reason, the monetary theory of interest is given more importance than that of real theory of interest. The common peculiarity of monetary theories of interest is that the interest is a monetary phenomenon, which is determined by demand and supply of money. Further, monetary theorists believe that interest rate varies inversely with supply of money and positively with the purchasing power (value) of money. The defenders of the monetary theories of interest argue that when supply of money increases purchasing power (value) of money falls and, hence the rate of interest also comes down.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Real Interest Rate</strong></div>

<div>The &quot;real interest rate&quot; is approximately the nominal interest rate minus the inflation rate. It is the rate of interest an investor expects to receive after subtracting the expected inflation that is going to be experienced by the economy. However, this is not a single number, as different investors have different expectations of future inflation. Since the inflation rate over the course of a loan is not known initially, volatility in inflation represents a risk to both the lender and the borrower.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Real interest rate is considered as one of the major determinants of saving as well as investment in an economy. Theoretically it is assumed that savings can be increased if real deposit rates are positive. Accordingly, the central banks of the respected countries, adopted interest rate policy for maintaining positive deposit rates. The common objectives of such policy are the following:&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&bull; Mobilization of higher level of savings in the form of bank deposits.</div>

<div>&bull; Prevention of capital flight from the country.</div>

<div>&bull; Mobilization of financial resources to productive sectors of the economy.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&bull; Promotion of economic activities particularly industrial and commercial.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>For more or less same purposes, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) &mdash; the central bank of Nepal &mdash;had regulated interest rates in the pre liberalization era. By doing this, NRB attempted to keep real deposit rates positive making frequent revisions in nominal rates whenever inflation rates were changing. NRB was unable to appropriately monitor the movements and the real interest rate was moving up and down over time (see figure).</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Economists agree that the real interest rate is determined in the market for investment and savings and thus by the forces of productivity and thrift. Hence, the real interest rate adjusts to equilibrate desired savings (providing the net supply of funds) with desired investment (generating the net demand for funds). In an increasingly integrated world economy with internationally mobile capital, global forces of saving and investment largely determine the real rate of interest. For relatively small open economies like Nepal, the word real rate of interest is somewhat independent of domestic circumstances, especially over the medium to long term.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/ep2(2).jpg" style="height:569px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Factors Affecting Interest Rate&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>On the basis of monetary theories, a number of factors influence the level of interest rate. Among the factors, the size of government borrowing is very important. The higher the size of the budget deficit, the higher is the level of interest rate and vice-versa. This fact has been one of the factors affecting the level of interest rate in Nepal.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>It is to be noted that both the government and the private sector borrow from the domestic market. Obviously, funds that can be borrowed from the domestic financial market are given. With the given funds, when the government domestic borrowing increases, it puts pressure on domestic interest rates to go up. With the rise in domestic interest rates, the government borrowing crowds out the private sector investment.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>However, the situation of Nepal&#39;s financial markets contradicts with the notion of crowding out effect of interest rate. Because the trend of private investment in Nepal is not encouraging in the recent years and whatever investment the private sector is making, it is generated from their cash flow and surplus profits. Similarly, private sector bond (debenture) market is not developed at all in Nepal, which indicates that the government deficit financing could not crowd out the private investment. On the other hand the budget deficit of the government is almost financed by foreign grants and concessional loans and hence the government does not rely on the domestic borrowing. Therefore, the crowding out effect is not applicable in Nepal since the government has not been able to spend even the grants and concessional loan given by the donors. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Another factor affecting the interest rate relates to business conditions. When economic recovery takes place, economic activities increase, putting an upward pressure on interest rates and vice-versa. In an interest rate deregulated economy, market forces determine the level and the structure of interest rates. Here market forces are automatically guided by business environment prevailing in the economy. In this respect, one of the questions that are very often asked about is the appropriate level of interest rate. As various physical as well as psychological issues, especially in least developed countries like Nepal, affect the business environment it is almost uncertain to predict an appropriate level of interest rate.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The third factor relates to the role of lobbies and pressure groups. In the society, the different interest groups play their roles in raising or lowering interest rates. Retirees will like to see deposit rates going up. Likewise, households will also prefer higher interest rate on their deposits. On the other hand, industrialists and business community will put pressure for lower interest rates. In the Nepalese context, industrialists and business seems to be found exerting pressure on monetary authority and the political authorities for a lower level of interest rate.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Whether market determined or determined by the monetary authority, there are two aspects of interest rates. The first is the level of interest rate and the second aspect relates to the structure of interest rates.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/ep3(3).jpg" style="height:583px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>What is the Optimal Rate of Interest?</strong></div>

<div>One can ask: what is an optimal rate of interest for an economy? Nonetheless, there could be a number of ways of judging the appropriate level of interest rate.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>First, real rate of interest, which should be positive to encourage saving. It discourages low yielding investment and thus has positive impact on growth. Again the question remains unanswered, what should be the optimum level of real interest rate. According to monetary policy decision rule of J.B. Taylor, an American monetary economist, the level of real deposit rate should not be less than 2 per cent. Once we agree to this rule and add the inflation rate to the 2 per cent desired real interest rate, optimal nominal interest rate can easily be calculated.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Second, interest rates of neighbouring countries should also be taken into account while judging the optimum level of domestic interest rate. It is important to attract foreign capital to accelerate the economic growth of the country. In this case, a common principle is that the domestic interest rate must be higher than international interest rates. In Nepal&rsquo;s case, Indian interest rates could serve as reference rates.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Third, returns on investment of the projects are also important factors to judge the appropriate levels of interest rates. Relatively high returns on investment will encourage investors for making additional investment with an aim of making more profit which in turn increases the demand for loanable fund and interest rate as well. In this case, even the higher interest rate is also considered as appropriate.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Fourth, in a least developed country like Nepal, interest rates in unorganized markets can also be used to judge the appropriate level of interest rate. In Nepal it is found that money is being lend and borrowed at extremely high interest rate (up to 36 per cent in normal situation and even in four digits in special cases) in informal market and up to 20 per cent in saving and credit cooperatives. In this context, relatively higher interest rate (up to 12per cent) in the formal banking system may be considered as appropriate.&nbsp;</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-15 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:49:40',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'In the business of borrowing and lending money, the lender charges and the borrower agrees to pay an amount in excess of the amount lend and borrowed. The excess amount is called interest, in common language. In economic terminology, like rent and wages, interest is a factor payment. It is paid for the use of capital as a factor of production. In other words, interest rate is the cost of capital per unit of time.',
			'sortorder' => '930',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '26',
			'title' => 'Economy and Policy',
			'sortorder' => '534',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-03-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 17 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '958',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '26',
			'title' => 'NTIS REVIEW Hopes Shadowed by Doubt',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'The latest statistics shows that Nepal's trade deficit and national budget size is equal around 600billion rupees. In this context, Nepal trade integration strategy–2010 (NTIS) is being reviewed after four years of implementation. This is the first time that government is planning ',
			'content' => '<div><strong>--By Gunja B Khadka</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The latest statistics shows that Nepal&#39;s trade deficit and national budget size is equal around 600billion rupees. In this context, Nepal trade integration strategy&ndash;2010 (NTIS) is being reviewed after four years of implementation. This is the first time that government is planning to review its trade strategy with an aim of promoting export and reforming export oriented business. Statistics show that the export of products listed in NTIS is far below the target set by it. Considering the present situation it is not going to be possible to reduce trade deficit if the NTIS reviewed in the same way as in the past. Concerned authorities say that the coming review will be based on four key criteria that includes internal supply chain capacities, world trade growth scenario, the country&rsquo;s present capacity to export the identified goods and services and the possibility of increasing the export of already identified products. Officials at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MOCS) say that the strategy is being reviewed for the first time so as to adopt the changing scenario in trade sector and to respond to the demands of industrialist including other major products like garments and carpets.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The NTIS, which was unveiled four years ago, has been criticized for not meeting its tangible targets. Enhancing the capacity building and competitiveness of Nepali products in international market is its main priority. Except some major items, the export of goods and services put under the heading &ldquo;other goods and services&rdquo; did not increase. The existing strategy has prioritized 19 product and services as having export potential including seven agro items, five industrial products and seven services.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC) has already published its report showing dismal performance of the listed products except large cardamom, all other listed products have not recorded much encouraging export performance. Over the last four years, government has given more priority to agro and manufacturing products. But at the same time, Nepal&rsquo;s service sector is growing more competitive in the international arena. IT and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), labor and tourism have huge potential to generate the foreign currency and reduce the trade deficit. However, this sector is not getting enough priority from both&mdash; the government and the private sector. Ishwori Prasad Ghimire, executive director of TEPC, opines that it is good opportunity to promote potential goods and services and import substitution policy.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/ep4.JPG" style="height:345px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/ep5(1).jpg" style="float:right; height:532px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:150px" />Hopes under Shadow</strong></div>

<div>Two years ago, there was a plan to improve the export business targeting 100 billion rupees figure. However, according to TEPC annual statistics for fiscal year 2013-014, Nepal&#39;s export trade is still below that figure. In this scenario, there is no ground to believe that the export will grow after the forthcoming review of NTIS. However, as the coming review is being funded by Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), a Geneva based multilateral institution that specializes in promoting the trade of least development countries (LDCs), hopes have been rekindled. &nbsp;The EIF, in association with Nepali government, has set up a fund of nearly 700 million rupees to promote pashmina, medicinal herbs and ginger products. And there is an agreement between EIF and Nepal government to implement projects to promote export of goods listed in NTIS. A committee has been formed in chairmanship of Nepal government&rsquo;s Chief Secretary .Along with that a sub-committee called Capacities for Trade and Development (NECTRADE) has been assisting in implementing projects together with local entrepreneurs. &nbsp;However, the Implementation committee is criticized for not playing its role proactively.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>So the forthcoming review of the Strategy is still in doubt. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Service sector in shadow&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>For decades, Nepal has been totally focused on goods exports. But the procedural obstacles in exporting these goods cost much money while minimizing the returns. But the recent emergence of service sector has raised the hopes again to lower the trade deficit. One such possible product is hydroelectricity. And the recently signed Power Trade Agreement (PTA) with India has enhanced this hope further. This indicates the need for Nepal entering into bilateral, regional or multilateral agreement in service sector. According to Director General of World Trade organization (WTO) Roberto Azevedo, Nepal has more potential in service sector than in others. He also suggests that Nepal can groom its economy if the service sector is handled appropriately.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Implementing dilemma</strong></div>

<div>It was also due to the political instability and government&rsquo;s weak performance that Nepal could not meet its NTIS targets. Government seems weak also in properly using the available fund. Similarly, the obstacles faced in implementing the policies have made the environment unfavourable. So, Nepal has to focus on solving problems faced in implementing its programs &nbsp;by creating business-friendly physical infrastructure such as well managed dry port and international airport. At the same time, Nepali private sector has to produce qualitative products and enhance laboratory capacities. Private sector apex bodies such as the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) have made some joint initiatives to develop varieties of products to promote export. This is a good development.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-15 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:47:05',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'The latest statistics shows that Nepal's trade deficit and national budget size is equal around 600billion rupees. In this context, Nepal trade integration strategy–2010 (NTIS) is being reviewed after four years of implementation. This is the first time that government is planning to review its trade strategy with an aim of promoting export and reforming export oriented business.',
			'sortorder' => '931',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '26',
			'title' => 'Economy and Policy',
			'sortorder' => '534',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-03-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 18 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '959',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '61',
			'title' => 'Osteoporosis and the Spine',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Osteoporosis is a condition in which the bone mass decreases. This leads to weakness in the bones of the body and consequently increases the risk to fracture. The spine, hip, wrist and shoulder bones are prone to fractures. ',
			'content' => '<div><strong>--Dr Gaurav Raj Dhakal</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/sc(2).jpg" style="float:right; height:641px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Osteoporosis is a condition in which the bone mass decreases. This leads to weakness in the bones of the body and consequently increases the risk to fracture. The spine, hip, wrist and shoulder bones are prone to fractures. Unlike in adults, where a large amount of force is required to break the bones; in osteoporosis minor trauma is responsible for the break. This minor force may be due to slipping in the bathroom, getting up from a lying down position, lifting small weights or minor falls.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Osteoporosis may arise after attaining menopause or old age. Risk factors associated with osteoporosis are female sex, post-menopause, smoking, alcohol, lack of exercise, steroid usage, hormonal disorders, psychiatric drugs and low calcium intake.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Almost half of the fractures occur in the spine. One-third women above 65 years suffer from vertebral fractures and they lead a low quality of life. Women with at least one new vertebral fracture have a 32% increased risk of mortality. The patient may complain of back pain, pain going down the legs, numbness, and weakness of the legs. Progressive fractures result in shortening of height, stooped posture and decreased quality of life.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Plain X rays reveal the fracture vertebrae while MRI scan show the amount of spinal cord compression responsible for the weakness of the legs. It is also imperative to do a Bone Mineral Density (BMD) test to determine the amount of osteoporosis that is present. Follow up BMD also serves as an indicator to improvement after treatment. Other tests that may be done are blood calcium, phosphate and alkaline phosphatase. It is also necessary to rule out tumours and other cancers in elderly with osteoporotic compression fractures.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The treatment of osteoporosis is three fold. It is essential to stop smoking, avoid alcohol and maintain a balanced diet. Regular physical activity and weight bearing exercises have beneficial effects on the bone mineral density. Elderly individuals are encouraged to use a walking stick to avoid falls. Calcium and vitamin D supplementation are the cornerstone of all treatment modalities. Other pharmacological medications should be taken in consultation with a specialist. Surgery is indicated in patients with unrelieved back pain despite treatment, weakness of the legs or pain going down the legs, problem with urine and stools after the fracture or paralysis.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Women above 45 years of age and post-menopausal women are advised to consult spine surgeon to learn about the strategies to prevent and treat osteoporosis. The Spine Clinic at Norvic International Hospital provides a comprehensive osteoporosis screening and treatment program. Act now, prevent osteoporosis!</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em>The author is a Spine Surgeon practicing at Norvic International Hospital and can be reached at spinegaurav@gmail.com</em></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-15 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:44:53',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Osteoporosis is a condition in which the bone mass decreases. This leads to weakness in the bones of the body and consequently increases the risk to fracture. The spine, hip, wrist and shoulder bones are prone to fractures. Unlike in adults, where a large amount of force is required to break the bones; in osteoporosis minor trauma is responsible for the break. This minor force may be due to slipping in the bathroom, getting up from a lying down position, lifting small weights or minor falls.',
			'sortorder' => '932',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '61',
			'title' => 'Spine Column',
			'sortorder' => '61',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2014-07-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 19 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '960',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '44',
			'title' => 'Is Profit Antithesis to Collective Welfare?',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Discussions on the actual purpose of business organizations have been going on for long in Nepal. Some argue that businesses are created simply to serve the interest of the investors while others claim that the purpose is to go beyond serving the sole interest of the investors and provide',
			'content' => '<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/be(7).jpg" style="height:502px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>--By Narottam Aryal</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Discussions on the actual purpose of business organizations have been going on for long in Nepal. Some argue that businesses are created simply to serve the interest of the investors while others claim that the purpose is to go beyond serving the sole interest of the investors and provide ample of consideration to collective welfare.</div>

<div>In this article, I will attempt to demonstrate that the ultimate objective of a business organization is to enhance the interest of the broader society and this is not anti-thesis to profit especially. In the long run it rather gains sustained and maximum profit for such businesses.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Being a firm believer of free-market and capitalism, I do fundamentally testify that organizations should enhance their profit making capacity. This is the reason why I claim that organizations assuming proportions larger than the individuals and the society and focusing on their own needs and priorities, might not help sustain for long though they might enjoy their business heyday very soon.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Fundamentally, my proposition is that all organizations, profit or non-profits, are created to serve the society, not the other way round. The very concept of an organization involves a group of people working together for a common goal. &nbsp;It implies that people live in a society and they work together to maximize the welfare of humanity. However, in practice today, the goal of an organization, especially those in business, has been limited to maximizing profit, often at the cost of welfare of the broader society, to serve the interest of a small community of investors. The goal of an organization must be redefined to serve the broader interests of the society because defining company&rsquo;s goal as to maximizing profitability means others will have to bear the cost of its profitability.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>For instance, some companies are setting up production facilities in locations where the cost of labour is low. Such locations usually have lower socio-economic conditions. A growing global trend among corporate houses today shows outsourcing production facilities into poverty stricken societies where they can pay their employees lower salary. The objective, though unfair to the workers, is to reduce the cost of production so that they can increase the margin of profitability. If this idea of increasing profit by minimizing employee salaries is taken to its logical end, many organizations will apparently be serving the purpose of a particular segment ultimately, and this will be an affront on their workers&rsquo; hunger, their children&rsquo;s education, and more often on their health. The case in point is the plight of the garment factory workers in South Asian countries whose products sell at premium prices in the first world economies.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Profit maximization, the idea of minimizing costs and elevating income, serves only a narrow segment of society. We cannot deny that this is an incentive for investors. But the issue here is whether or not to make money and if so, how much money and at whose cost? There is no limit of how much money can be gained or spent and a fixed number cannot be the goal either. The goal is not to maximize the shareholders&rsquo; wealth, as believed traditionally; but to maximize the broader benefits&mdash;the sum of the benefits of the community, who one way or the other have stake in a particular organization. Doing this is the only sustainable approach to measure organizational performance. The narrow parameter of profitability cannot measure the actual organizational performance.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Basic human rights principles are also used to counter the objective of maximizing profitability only. Some people argue that business should be based on rational decisions and should not be based by following emotional instincts alone. But counter to the sheer profit-maximizing objective of the organization is the fact that humans are emotional by nature and one can hardly go beyond emotional aspects of humanity. After all, human beings are full of emotions.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>However, the argument is not to negate the value of rationalism, as being rational is equally important while running a business. The point I am making is that a heavily-skewed importance is generally given to rational side of the organizations.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Could this be because of greed and desire for amassing huge wealth in a short span of time? Maybe, &lsquo;yes.&rsquo; It may also sound purely normative. The rotational argument of business says that individual welfare can be maximized and along with the gain and equity of its shareholders through profit maximization. But to have such situation, a balanced view of both, rational and emotional, sides is necessary. If organizations maintain balance between rational and emotional aspects of a business, society and the organization will flourish together. Hence, organizations should actively engage communities and offer sustainable opportunities to further empower and help them in facilitating change for generations to come.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>An organization is like a cruise wherein every passenger enjoys the voyage together. But, an organization does not have any fixed one-point destination. In this continuous journey, the organizations needs to incorporate the welfare of all those involved in order to secure maximum welfare. That is to say that when passengers are healthy and alive on the cruise, the ship has fuel and capable crew, the cruise can continue as long as it desires and to any destination. This idea is to satisfy the crews and passengers. That is, not only fulfilling emotional needs, but also the rational needs of individuals and communities. Thus, an organization needs to satisfy emotional and rational needs of its stakeholders to become successful.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Sum of individual welfare is the total of organizational performance and contribution to the society. This is how we can maximize the total impact on the target society. &nbsp;Maximization of total welfare will increase opportunities for each individual and their communities. Organizational structures should continue to find diverse ways to empower and improve their audiences and their focus should remain broad so as to further the welfare of the individual as well as the society. If organizations focus on driving innovation and placing opportunities directly in the hands of the people through diverse mechanisms then society will become more self sufficient and less reliant on outsourced goods. &nbsp;The organizations that offer broad-spectrum programming further benefit society by adjusting to the needs of individuals, their communities and society. Such organizations gain community credibility and offer even stronger and diverse opportunities to reach the masses and drive innovation for future generations.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>If organizations want long term growth and development, they should look at young social entrepreneurship for inspiration, as these innovators are not only changing the face of society, they are also driving the &ldquo;wheel&rdquo; of economic success and social welfare too. No doubt, we human beings are selfish by virtue of our nature. It means that individuals intend to maximize their individual welfare. The ideas of modern democracy and free markets are primarily based on this fact.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Here also the idea is not against maximizing individual welfare, but for the same. Let&rsquo;s not forget that we as individual live in a society and therefore our individual welfare largely depends on the collective wellbeing of the society. For example, our quality of life is determined by quality of the air we breathe, the security we have, the environment we live in and so on. Knowingly or unknowingly, we are focusing on narrowly perceived interests and overlooking the above facts. As a result, the individual welfare has been compromised ultimately.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>To conclude, organizations should focus on broader interests of various stakeholders in the society to ensure their sustainability. The sooner we understand this fact, the better our society will be.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em>Aryal is Executive Director at King&rsquo;s College.</em></div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-15 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:43:34',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Discussions on the actual purpose of business organizations have been going on for long in Nepal. Some argue that businesses are created simply to serve the interest of the investors while others claim that the purpose is to go beyond serving the sole interest of the investors and provide ample of consideration to collective welfare.
In this article, I will attempt to demonstrate that the ultimate objective of a business organization is to enhance the interest of the broader society and this is not anti-thesis to profit especially. In the long run it rather gains sustained and maximum profit for such businesses.',
			'sortorder' => '933',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '44',
			'title' => 'Management Gyan',
			'sortorder' => '44',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2013-06-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 20 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '961',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '74',
			'title' => 'TFA Impasse In WTO: An Opportunity Could Be Missed',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'The landmark agreement to liberalize global trade has hit a gridlock after India refused to accept the pact following the country's disagreement on food subsidies. The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) or the Bali Package, agreed by the Ninth Ministerial Conference ',
			'content' => '<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/wf(2).jpg" style="height:333px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>--By Sanjeev Sharma</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The landmark agreement to liberalize global trade has hit a gridlock after India refused to accept the pact following the country&#39;s disagreement on food subsidies. The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) or the Bali Package, agreed by the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), held in Bali, Indonesia on 3-7 December, 2013, would have been the first deal to reform global trade in two decades. The trade protocol which came as a result of relentless negotiations over the decades, basically aims to lower global trade barriers.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Upon its implementation, the TFA, ambits to smoothen trading between developing and developed economies by lowering import tariffs and farm subsidies. The Bali accord includes measures that would formally put an end to developed nations&rsquo; stiff import quotas of agro products from the developing countries. Rather, the importing nations would only be allowed to levy tariffs on amount of agricultural imports exceeding particular limits. Similarly, provisions related to streamlining and reforming customs bureaucracies is another major aspect of TFA that are targeted to facilitate global trade. The pact is expected to add USD 1 trillion to global GDP along with generating 21 million jobs worldwide. The deal also covers measures to preferential treatment and greater market access, issues that have been long-raised by developing and least developed countries (LDCs).&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>However, the accord&#39;s far-reaching impacts have been halted for the time being. India, one of the WTO&#39;s prominent members, has long insisted to keep the farm subsidies intact. India&#39;s assertion seems to be primarily fueled by the fears that removal of such government subvention would hurt the country&#39;s agricultural output. As the prices of agro commodities in the global market are likely to become more competitive after the implementation of TFA, India is reluctant to amend the current provisions of agricultural subsidies. The country which is the world&#39;s 2nd largest farm producer also ranks 10th among the major agricultural exporters.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Aided by supportive policy impetus alongside sufficient rainfall and massive stockpiles, India&#39;s exports of agricultural products stood at USD 29.3 billion in the first 11 months of the fiscal year 2013-14. The previous FY saw the Indian agro exports totaling USD 31.86 billion. The country is witnessing consistently rising agro and food export outpacing rise in other exports. Government data shows that the share of agricultural commodities in India&rsquo;s overall export basket rose to 10.66 per cent in FY 2012-13 from 7.06 per cent in 2009-10. &nbsp;Similarly, according to the WTO&#39;s statistics, India&#39;s share of global export (USD 1.66 trillion) and import (USD 1.82 trillion) of agricultural and food products stand at 2.07 per cent and 1.24 per cent, respectively. The country&#39;s increasing share of global export indicates that India is becoming a net exporter of agro products.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Another aspect of India&#39;s apprehension is related to food security. The world&#39;s third largest economy is also feeding its vast poor population with cheap food. The discontinuation of government grants could prove more difficult to provide low-priced foods to its poor citizens. India, which has been expanding its food subsidy programmes over the years, launched a massive programme to provide subsidised food to two-thirds of its population or 810 million people in mid-2013. The programme is expected to double the country&#39;s annual food subsidy bills by about USD 23.9 billion. Subsidising food grains carry huge electoral significance in India as the government and major political aspirants have repeatedly promised to feed poverty ridden population at giveaway prices.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The country is one of the largest hoarders of food grains in the world. Various reports suggest that India&#39;s grain stockpiles currently stand at about a whopping 70 million tons. It not only helps to supply subsidised food grains but also to check the prices in the global market. The fall in world-food stockpile is considered one of the contributing factors to the global food crisis of 2007-08. Political and social unrests were seen in many nations due to the dramatic rise in food prices. India has demanded freedom to subsidise and stockpile food grains in an exchange to the signing of TFA.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/wf1(1).jpg" style="height:364px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Ever since its inception in 1995, the WTO has faced big hurdles to achieve its objectives. The organisation which came as as a replacement of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), has always been in a rock and a hard place when it comes to negotiations &nbsp;between its members. The uncertainty over the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) is an example of such obstacle. Commenced in 2001, the DDA&#39;s aim to liberalise global trade by lowering trade barriers has not been able to bear fruits as numerous talks have resulted in failures. Deep divisions between developed and developing nations over contentious issues such as agriculture, removing industrial tariff and non-tariff barriers of trade and services are considered as the impediments to DDA&#39;s progress. During the intense talks, developed nations led by United States accompanied by the European Union (EU) and Japan maintained their positions relating to quota-free access to the exports of developing countries and LDCs. Similarly, a group of developing nations and LDCs, led by the emerging bloc of China, India, Brazil and South Africa demanded greater freedom to agricultural subsidies and larger quota-free access to their specific exports. The demands and counter demands of member nations resulted in the stalling of WTO&#39;s trade talks in 2008. The multilateral trade negotiations have not resumed since then.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The TFA, which targets to harmonize global trade by slashing the customs red tape is a part of DDA. So, implementing the Bali package is not only imperative to its provisions but also to make progress on DDA and rescue WTO from the brink of failure. However, India&#39;s insistence has created an impasse in the organisation. The lockdown led to the expiration of deadline to ratify the deal by member nations on July, 31st. Talks are said to have been taking place to end the current stand-off, but narrowing the differences to resolve the problem seems difficult for the time being as Robert Azevedo, WTO&#39;s Director General puts it, &quot;The fact we do not have a conclusion means that we are entering a new phase in our work &ndash; a phase which strikes me as being full of uncertainties.&rdquo; Similarly, Patrick Low, WTO&#39;s former Chief Economist, mentions, &quot;The WTO is a victim of flawed procedural requirements. A single government can block progress across the board.&quot; &quot;Paralysis at the WTO is likely to reinforce the view that preferential trade arrangements are a substitute for inclusive multilateralism rather than a complement. That would be bad news for the world economy.&quot;</div>
</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-15 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:35:42',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => '',
			'sortorder' => '934',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '74',
			'title' => 'World Focus',
			'sortorder' => '73',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2013-09-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 21 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '962',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '15',
			'title' => '“Nepal will benefit  from our organo-metallic fertilizers”',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Dr Rahul Mirchandi is the executive director of the Indian fertilizer company, Aries Agro Limited. This 42-year-old company that claims to have been manufacturing eco-friendly fertilizers, recently tied up with Alpha-Agro in Nepal. ',
			'content' => '<div><strong><img alt="Dr Rahul Mirchandi, executive director of the Indian fertilizer company, Aries Agro Limited." src="/userfiles/images/bv(6).jpg" style="float:right; height:300px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Dr Rahul Mirchandi</strong><span style="font-size:14px"> is the executive director of the Indian fertilizer company, Aries Agro Limited. This 42-year-old company that claims to have been manufacturing eco-friendly fertilizers, recently tied up with Alpha-Agro in Nepal. Dr Mirchandi was recently in Kathmandu for launching some of the company&rsquo;s products. </span><strong>Angila Sharma</strong><span style="font-size:14px"> of the New Business Age caught up with him and discussed issues surrounding his visit to Nepal, company&rsquo;s products and its marketing strategy for Nepal. </span><strong>Excerpts:</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>What is the purpose of your visit to Nepal?</strong></div>

<div>We have been considering Nepal as a very core market for our products. India recognizes that Nepal has huge potential in agriculture with equally huge potentials for improving its ecosystem. Aries Agro has been in the fertilizer business for the past 42 years. It is a renowned brand in the Indian fertilizer market for manufacturing specialized fertilizers, fertilizers that do not react with air, water and soil. We have substantial experience in customizing fertilizers for various crops and soil conditions. &nbsp;To ensure that Nepal gets best fertilizers, we have created customized group of world-class products that will not only preserve Nepal&rsquo;s environment but also increase crop production and will be cost effective. We have tied up with Alpha Agro, our partner in Nepal, to develop such fertilizers for Nepal.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>How are your fertilizers different from the existing organic or chemical fertilizers available in the market?</strong></div>

<div>Our fertilizers are not organic but they also do not react with environment. It is basically an organo-metallic complex. All the active ingredients in our fertilizers are covered with organic cages. Because of the organic covering on the nutrients, it averts from engaging in any harmful reactions. We extract the core minerals and cover them with organic cages that are basically chelating agents. This makes the final product inert from any reaction. The most interesting factor about our fertilizers is that they biodegrade after 20 days of use.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Plants require 16 nutrients like iron, copper, manganese, silicon, boron etc. to grow. These nutrients must be given in balanced proportion for balanced fertilization to take place. Out of ignorance, farmers sometimes tend to use some nutrients more than others. So, we provide them with a customized formulation that is suited to their crop requirements, soil and geographic conditions.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>What are the ranges of your products?</strong></div>

<div>We have 85 products available in the Indian market. In Nepal we are starting with a small range of products that are high in demand. Our recently launched six products are high in demand here. In Nepal, zinc is a major deficiency and we are fulfilling the need through a zinc-based product named Chelamin. Similarly, we have launched chelated iron based product called Chelafer and boron based product called Tetrabor. Along with that, we have launched anti biotic for plants called Plantomycin to get rid of pests and water soluble fertilizers NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium) to reduce the traditional forms of fertilizers like the urea. Besides these products, we have introduced Agromin (agriculture minerals), a customized product required in pre-determined proportion in farming.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>How do you evaluate the Nepali market?</strong></div>

<div>As an agricultural country, Nepal has huge potentials for our products. Nepal and India have much commonality in terms of soil condition and crop pattern. So, we do not want to deprive Nepal of reaping the benefits of our products.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Nowadays farmers prefer organic fertilizers. How will you establish your product in such condition?</strong></div>

<div>We do have organic fertilizers as well. But, it is necessary to understand that farmers have to use large quantities of such fertilizers as they have very low concentration of nutrients. So instead of using organic fertilizers in huge quantities, they can use our organo-metallic fertilizers. Organic Farming is the best form of farming. But, this is the alternative to it. It is equally safe and also solves the problem of labour, transportation and dosage. The only way to establish ourselvesin such market is through demonstration, field work and patience.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>What is marketing strategy for Nepal?</strong></div>

<div>First strategy is to find a distributor who has direct links with farmers. We have figured this out. We have sought the help of Alpha-Agro in this regard. They are experienced and have access to farmers and that will help us both tremendously as we are adding to their customer base. Secondly, we are planning to employ an entire team of extension officers who will be creating demands for our product. They will create demand by explaining to the farmers through field demonstration and trials.</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-15 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:31:52',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Dr Rahul Mirchandi is the executive director of the Indian fertilizer company, Aries Agro Limited. This 42-year-old company that claims to have been manufacturing eco-friendly fertilizers, recently tied up with Alpha-Agro in Nepal. Dr Mirchandi was recently in Kathmandu for launching some of the company’s products. Angila Sharma of the New Business Age caught up with him and discussed issues surrounding his visit to Nepal, company’s products and its marketing strategy for Nepal. Excerpts:',
			'sortorder' => '935',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '15',
			'title' => 'Business Visitors',
			'sortorder' => '538',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-06-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 22 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '963',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '15',
			'title' => '“We keep Nepal at par with developed countries”',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Ng Tian Beng is the vice president and managing director of Dell for South Asia region, looking after 30 countries including Nepal. Accompanied by Mir Sadat Ali, country manager for Nepal and Rest of Asia Pacific (RoAP), Beng was recently in Nepal on a business visit.',
			'content' => '<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong><img alt="Ng Tian Beng &amp; Mir Sadat Ali" src="/userfiles/images/bv1.JPG" style="float:right; height:245px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Ng Tian Beng </strong>is the vice president and managing director of Dell for South Asia region, looking after 30 countries including Nepal. Accompanied by <strong>Mir Sadat Ali,</strong> country manager for Nepal and Rest of Asia Pacific (RoAP), Beng was recently in Nepal on a business visit. In an interview with <strong>Gaurav Aryal</strong> and <strong>Sanjeev Sharma</strong> of New Business Age, Beng and Ali talked about prospects and challenges of Nepali market for Dell. <strong>Excerpts:</strong></span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>How do you see Nepal as a market for Dell products?</strong></div>

<div><strong>Beng:</strong>There are a lot of opportunities in this market especially in the commercial segment and data centres. We are the market leader here on the consumer side. We have been present in this market for around 17 years. We are optimistic as there are a lot of growth potentials for us here. Nepal is a country with young population and the Internet penetration is still quite low compared to other countries. And there are potentials for growing Internet penetration. So, we are very excited about our future.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>The personal computer (PC) market is slowing down globally with the increasing use of smartphones and tablets. How is it affecting Dell&rsquo;s business?</strong></div>

<div><strong>Beng:</strong> It is a perception that is affecting the PC business. But, our business is still growing well in the PC segment. People are buying tablets and smartphones, but they also have two device and not too many people have only one device. People are still buying PC and its business is still growing for us. People need notebooks and desktops, as tablets are difficult for content creation.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Do you see the rapid rise of market for commercial segment such as data centres in countries like Nepal?&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div><strong>Beng:</strong> There is a growing demand for server and storage, as everybody needs more information and data to be stored. Security issues are also fuelling the market for data centresin the emerging market.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Ali:</strong> In Nepal I see a lot of growing business prospects compared to countries that already have basic infrastructures in place. Here, still a lot of infrastructures are needed. The good news is that the government of Nepal is now really focusing on IT, not only on data centres but also on education sector. They are also revamping their telecom, banks and education departments. Nepal is on the fast track of growth from the technology perspectives. We will grow in the same pace that Nepal is growing.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Dell has recently focused more on ultrabooks, notebooks and chromebooks. Do you think that this business will keep up with the pace?</strong></div>

<div><strong>Ali:</strong> We have entry-level notebooks in this market for quite some time. We are planning to enhance the available product range with latest and updated models. We are also trying to bring chromebooks and see the market prospects. We are bringing all the models available in the region to Nepal. It means we are keeping Nepal at par with the developed countries. Whatever the possible products and service line Dell has, we can bring that into Nepal. We have not yet launched tablets here, but soon we will bring our tablets too.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Existence of cheap Chinese products and illegal import of genuine products are seen as some of the threats to genuine branded products. How are you planning to tackle those issues?</strong></div>

<div><strong>Ali:</strong> We are really facing some difficulty here from people doing parallel imports by avoiding duty. Our plan is to go and talk to the government for controlling this. Other countries like Bangladesh have successfully stopped this. They say that they don&rsquo;t need refurbished products in their country. In Nepal also, the government is trying to control the parallel import. We are working with them and if they are coming with legislation, it will be good.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Beng:</strong> We are also taking some internal actions with the help of our colleagues from other part of the world. The situation is improving with their help. Regarding Chinese goods, the Chinese vendors are very competitive but we are quite confident about our products and solutions. We can differentiate ourselves through our products and services that are a lot better than the Chinese ones. We have a lot of advantages in terms of compatibility in the data centres while connecting with different solutions.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-15 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:33:21',
			'keywords' => 'new business age business visitors news & articles, business visitors news & articles from new business age nepal, business visitors headlines from nepal,  current and latest business visitors news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali business visitors economic news and events, ongoing busin',
			'description' => 'Ng Tian Beng is the vice president and managing director of Dell for South Asia region, looking after 30 countries including Nepal. Accompanied by Mir Sadat Ali, country manager for Nepal and Rest of Asia Pacific (RoAP), Beng was recently in Nepal on a business visit. In an interview with Gaurav Aryal and Sanjeev Sharma of New Business Age, Beng and Ali talked about prospects and challenges of Nepali market for Dell. Excerpts:',
			'sortorder' => '936',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '15',
			'title' => 'Business Visitors',
			'sortorder' => '538',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-06-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 23 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '964',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '15',
			'title' => '“Quality Products, Competitive Prices and Services Will Give Us Edge Over Competitors”',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Nguyen Quang Hao is the deputy general director of the Vietnam based SRC Tyres. Chosen as the “Famous Brand in 2013” by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Vietnam (VCCI), the company has won many titles and awards and is renowned for its excellent quality and services. ',
			'content' => '<div><strong><img alt="Nguyen Quang Hao " src="/userfiles/images/bv2(2).jpg" style="float:right; height:393px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Nguyen Quang Hao</strong><span style="font-size:14px"> is the deputy general director of the Vietnam based SRC Tyres. Chosen as the &ldquo;Famous Brand in 2013&rdquo; by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Vietnam (VCCI), the company has won many titles and awards and is renowned for its excellent quality and services. Hao was recently in Nepal to launch SRC tyres and tubes for four wheelers. In an interview with </span><strong>Angila Sharma</strong><span style="font-size:14px"> of New Business Age, he talked about the company&rsquo;s products and its strategy in Nepal. </span><strong>Excerpts:</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Can you briefly tell us about your company and your visit to Nepal?</strong></div>

<div>We are the first Vietnamese company to manufacture tyres. We have over five decades of experience in producing tubes and tyres. We manufacture aircraft, automobile, tractor, motorcycle, and bicycle tyres along with other technical rubber products. With an employee base of 1500, our annual turnover rests around 60 million US dollars.</div>

<div>We recently introduced our products in Nepal by joining hands with Pallavi Enterprise as our sole distributor here. My visit is aimed at introducing our products to the Nepali market.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>How do you evaluate the Nepali tyres and tubes market?</strong></div>

<div>Nepali market is huge and has a lot of potential for each and every sector. Just like Vietnam, the roads here are also not in good condition. We believe our technology and experience of manufacturing tyres for such roads will fulfil the need of durable and strong tyres and tubes here. Additionally, our tyres are economical to use.Thus we see ourselves in a strong position in the Nepali tyres and tubes marketing in the next two years.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>What are the products you are pitching in initially?</strong></div>

<div>For now, we are entering the Nepali market with four wheelers tyres only. We will be gradually introducing tyres and tubes for bicycle and motorcycle as well.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Why should Nepali consumers buy SRC tyres and tubes?&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>SRC is one of the leading companies in manufacturing tyres and tubes. It has gained substantial experience in manufacturing high quality products. Due to its unrelenting focus on delivering quality products, for the past five years it has consistently ranked as the &ldquo;Top-5 High quality products of Vietnam&rdquo; in the vehicles and accessories industry segment.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Indian products dominate Nepali tubes and tyres market. How do you plan to overcome this stiff competition?</strong></div>

<div>Our first and foremost strategy is to win over customers by providing quality products at affordable prices. Second is to retain them and win over their loyalty by providing the best customer service experience to them. Thus, we believe that the quality of our products, our service and competitive pricing will give us edge over our competitors to prevail in the competition.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>What are your other plans for the Nepali market?</strong></div>

<div>Presently we are introducing nylon tyres and tubes here. In the future, we have plans to introduce our radial tyres in Nepal. In this regard, we are setting up a factory back at home and look forward to make radial tyres available here soon.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-15 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:32:45',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Nguyen Quang Hao is the deputy general director of the Vietnam based SRC Tyres. Chosen as the “Famous Brand in 2013” by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Vietnam (VCCI), the company has won many titles and awards and is renowned for its excellent quality and services. Hao was recently in Nepal to launch SRC tyres and tubes for four wheelers. In an interview with Angila Sharma of New Business Age, he talked about the company’s products and its strategy in Nepal. Excerpts:',
			'sortorder' => '937',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '15',
			'title' => 'Business Visitors',
			'sortorder' => '538',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-06-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 24 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '965',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '15',
			'title' => '“We are here to spread awareness about cyber security threats”',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Altaf Halde is the managing director of Kaspersky to South Asia, a globally recognized manufacturer of cyber security solution. He was recently in Nepal for the post launch follow-up of the company’s products and also to spread the awareness on cyber security in Nepal',
			'content' => '<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong><img alt="Altaf Halde" src="/userfiles/images/bv3.jpg" style="float:right; height:269px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Altaf Halde</strong> is the managing director of Kaspersky to South Asia, a globally recognized manufacturer of cyber security solution. He was recently in Nepal for the post launch follow-up of the company&rsquo;s products and also to spread the awareness on cyber security in Nepal through flash mobs in different markets. In an interview with <strong>Angila Sharma</strong> of New Business Age, Haude spoke about cyber security threats and the company&rsquo;s plans in Nepal. <strong>Excerpts:</strong></span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>How do you analyse the condition of cyber security in Nepal?</strong></div>

<div>We did a research regarding this using our central security monitoring system named Kaspersky Security Network (KSN). KSN keeps monitoring Kaspersky and non-Kaspersky users&rsquo; computers for usage of malwares. This research positioned Nepal among the seventh nation with users operating computers infected with malicious software. So, primarily one should not use computers infected with malicious software as these keep on sending personal data to its developer secretly.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Customers usually complain that Kaspersky slows down the processing of the computer. How do you defend this?</strong></div>

<div>With security, we have to keep in mind that it is not only about catching viruses. There are many types of antivirus software in the market, which only deal with the virus. But we provide 360-degree complete solution. We provide more security and also deal with malware in the computer.If we have to offer you the best security, a little bit of compromise on the speed of computer can be expected. If users feel that Kaspersky is delaying their computer&rsquo;s performance, using the enabling/disabling certain features as provided in the package can help them in improving speed.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Operating system these days have inbuilt antivirus system. In such case, how do you justify purchase of stand-alone antivirus softwares?</strong></div>

<div>I have been in the IT security business for almost 22 years now. At this point of time, people have free software, which don&rsquo;t offer official help. The thing is that, who will be accountable for the free software? Security is a big deal in today&rsquo;s world.So, when you purchase licensed software, you are also assured that you will get support, if required.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>How do you analyse the Nepali market?</strong></div>

<div>Piracy is a big problem here. But, I see that there is potential in a very big way in the Nepali market. With the help of our distribution partner Sagar Group, we have been able to create a market here in Nepal.With the effort of our channelled partner, I think we can also starting talking to the government now that computerization and automatic system operation is increasing in Nepal. So, I think we would want to work very closely with the government to give them our expertise. In India, we have tied up with Computer Emergency Response Team (CERTS), which looks at the possible cyber threats to the Indian government. We can enter similar deal with the Nepali government, where we assist more like a consultancy instead of a charged service that will be selling its products to them. So, it is going to be a combined effort of reaching to the children, corporate houses and the government. Personally, I feel that Nepal is a very good market and with the help of our partner and distributors, we can definitely spread awareness regarding computer threats and security.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>How much market share do you hold in Nepal?</strong></div>

<div>We don&rsquo;t have any official figures in Nepal. But based on the market, I think we have around 65 per cent of market share in Nepal.Out of 65 per cent, majority is from the consumer business.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>What are your plans for Nepal?</strong></div>

<div>We want to focus more on the corporate business. A lot of partners are now getting into the virtualization space. That&rsquo;s where security is required the most. &nbsp;So, we want to go into the corporate space. We have a mobile device management solution also within the Kaspersky portfolio. Most of the users have their customers coming to the office with their mobiles and tablets, the corporate house will requires some security for that. So, we have that solution in hand, which might not be useful for Nepal in the present context but in the future, it will be a need. We want to continue our focus on the consumer space, which we are doing in our 2015 product. But, in the future, we want to invest more on marketing and educating the corporate customers and prospects in Nepal.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-15 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:24:08',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Altaf Halde is the managing director of Kaspersky to South Asia, a globally recognized manufacturer of cyber security solution. He was recently in Nepal for the post launch follow-up of the company’s products and also to spread the awareness on cyber security in Nepal through flash mobs in different markets. In an interview with Angila Sharma of New Business Age, Haude spoke about cyber security threats and the company’s plans in Nepal. Excerpts:',
			'sortorder' => '938',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '15',
			'title' => 'Business Visitors',
			'sortorder' => '538',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-06-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 25 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '966',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '15',
			'title' => '“We are willing to bring market specific products for Nepal”',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Prasad Vasant Sane is the head of international business of Godrej Locking Solutions and Systems (GLSS). As a leading Indian brand, GLSS has been producing and providing critically acclaimed products and services in locking solutions and systems.',
			'content' => '<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/bv4.jpg" style="float:right; height:389px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Prasad Vasant Sane</strong> is the head of international business of Godrej Locking Solutions and Systems (GLSS). As a leading Indian brand, GLSS has been producing and providing critically acclaimed products and services in locking solutions and systems. The company, which started its operations in 1897, has received multiple awards and recognitions in India and elsewhere around the world. The Godrej range of products are also well known among Nepali households and its commercial clients. Recently, GLSS launched new products in Nepali market. In an interview with <strong>Sanjeev Sharma</strong> and <strong>Gaurav Aryal </strong>of New Business Age, Sane talked about the presence of GLSS in Nepal and the company&#39;s plans to expand its business in the local market. Excerpts:</span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>How essential is Nepal&rsquo;s market for your company?</strong></div>

<div>Nepali market is very important for GLSS. I explained that in my presentation as well. We have presence in Asia, Middle East and Africa. In Asia, we are in Sri Lanka and Nepal after India. And to be frank, Nepal is our number one market. Currently, our market share in the country is 10 per cent. It is significant for a company that is not local.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>How do you assess the current scenario of security systems market in Nepal?</strong></div>

<div>Nepali market is growing. Lot of development activities are happening here. For instance, we can see scores of projects in the construction business. Lot of hotels along with residential and commercial apartments are being constructed. I understand that there are issues on security but we are coming out with the latest solutions for that. When we unveil ourselves as GLSS, we are offering solutions to the end consumers who will definitely like our high technology level products, which are much secure and durable.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Who are your targeted customers?</strong></div>

<div>We run our business on two basis &mdash;Retail and Institutions. We focus on individual customers on the retail side who buy our products for their personal use. On the institutional side, we deal with the contractors of commercial and residential apartments, hotels, government enterprises and sectors including energy and telecom. Tapping these customers will help us to win the race in security solutions market. Our target is to raise our share in the Nepali market by 30 per cent over the next five years.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>In the presentation at the summit, you mentioned that GLSS is looking forward to become the number one security systems solutions company in Nepal. How are you planning to achieve this goal?</strong></div>

<div>We are confident that GLSS will become the number one company in Nepali security systems solutions market. Our growing market presence clearly points to this. I recently visited couple of our major retailers who reported that Godrej is the brand that has a clear presence in Nepal&rsquo;s organised market. It gave the assurance that there is nobody other than our company in terms of brand perception.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>To achieve our goal of becoming the number one brand in Nepali security systems solutions market, we have rolled out a three-pronged strategy. First is to create brand and product awareness. We are going to increase our investments significantly for this purpose. Second is the expansion of our market presence. We are planning to expand our presence to various parts of country. We have planned to increase our retail base in significant proportions. Third is the expansion of institutions base. As there are a lot of activities happening in construction business, GLSS wants to be the first brand to offer institutional customers with various solutions that fit into their needs. If we consistently work along these strategies, then our goal is achievable.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>What products and services are you offering to your customers? What are the benefits of using GLSS products?</strong></div>

<div>We have a major leap in our products and services offerings. Currently mortice handle locks, architecture hardware and padlocks hold up to 70 per cent of our Nepali business. We have unveiled and added new products in these categories. Apart from these we have also introduced additional products such as cylindrical, furniture and electronic locks. We have decided to enter the local market in a full-fledged manner.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Our products have various benefits for our customers. Firstly, we have wide range of products that cater to the varied needs of our customers from various economic classes. We offer 300 products to our customers. Secondly, we offer one-year warranty on our products, which gives them peace of mind that they are buying products of decent quality. Thirdly, the whole Godrej portfolio uses the latest technology that meet the security demands of our customers. We are constantly investing in increasing brand&rsquo;s presence across the country and this will ultimately result in the wider availability of Godrej products.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Our country partner has been investing resources in improving sales and service. This will create an efficient service backup for end customers. We are willing provide customized solutions that fit into the needs of clients. For example, we can provide customized products demand of any requirement or master key solutions to architects and builders.</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-15 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:19:47',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Prasad Vasant Sane is the head of international business of Godrej Locking Solutions and Systems (GLSS). As a leading Indian brand, GLSS has been producing and providing critically acclaimed products and services in locking solutions and systems. The company, which started its operations in 1897, has received multiple awards and recognitions in India and elsewhere around the world.',
			'sortorder' => '939',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '15',
			'title' => 'Business Visitors',
			'sortorder' => '538',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-06-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 26 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '967',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '35',
			'title' => 'Global Business Trends October 2014',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'The Obama administration cracked down Monday, 22nd September, on certain overseas corporate mergers and acquisitions, aiming to curb American companies from shifting their ownership abroad to shirk paying US taxes.',
			'content' => '<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/g(2).jpg" style="float:right; height:196px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />US Cracks Down on Companies Moving Overseas</strong></div>

<div>The Obama administration cracked down Monday, 22nd September, on certain overseas corporate mergers and acquisitions, aiming to curb American companies from shifting their ownership abroad to shirk paying US taxes. New regulations from the Treasury Department will make these co-called corporate inversions less lucrative by barring creative techniques that companies use to lower their tax bill. Additionally, the US will make it harder for companies to move overseas in the first place by tightening the ownership requirements they must meet.&quot;This action will significantly diminish the ability of inverted companies to escape U.S. taxation,&quot; Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said. He added that for some companies considering inversions, the new measures would mean inverting would &quot;no longer make economic sense.&quot;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Administration officials who briefed reporters could not say how many pending inversions might be stopped by the new rules and specifically would not address whether the rules would block one of the most high-profile moves, an effort that Burger King announced in August to acquire Tim Hortons, a Canadian coffee and doughnut chain. In such transactions, a US business merges with or is acquired by a foreign company in a country with a lower tax rate. President Barack Obama has denounced inversions as unpatriotic and has urged Congress to stop them. Obama applauded the Treasury for taking steps to reverse the trend of companies seeking to &quot;exploit this loophole&quot; to avoid paying their fair share in taxes.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/g1.JPG" style="float:right; height:153px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Xi Jinping Signs Landmark Deals on India Visit</strong></div>

<div>India and China have signed 12 agreements in Delhi, on Wednesday, 17th September, one of which will see China investing USD 20 billion in India&#39;s infrastructure over five years. The multi-billion dollar investment deal was marked on the first day of Chinese President Xi Jinping&#39;s three-day visit to India. Under the investment plans, China pledged to: Help bring India&#39;s ageing railway system railway system up-to-date with high-speed links and upgraded railway stations. The world&#39;s second largest economy also agreed to set up industrial parks in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Similarly, China promised to give more market access to India to products, including pharmaceuticals and farm products. Both sides also focused on increasing co-operation in trade, space exploration and civil nuclear energy. Indian and Chinese companies have also signed preliminary deals worth more than USD 3 billion in aircraft leasing and telecoms, among other sectors.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Despite the continuing tensions, trade between India and China has risen to almost USD 70 billion a year, although India&#39;s trade deficit with China has climbed to more than USD 40 billion from USD 1 billion in 2001-2002. At a news conference with Chinese President Xi Jinping, India&#39;s prime minister Narendra Modi said &quot;peace on the border&quot; was important for progress. Talks came as India accused China of fresh territorial incursions in Ladakh. China is one of India&#39;s top trading partners but they vie for regional influence and dispute their border.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/g2(3).jpg" style="float:right; height:225px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />World Bank Warns of Global Jobs Crisis</strong></div>

<div>The world is facing a global jobs crisis that is hurting the chances of reigniting economic growth and there is no magic bullet to solve the problem, the World Bank warned on Tuesday, 9th September. In a study released at a G20 Labour and Employment Ministerial Meeting in Australia, the Bank said an extra 600 million jobs needed to be created worldwide by 2030 just to cope with the expanding population. &quot;There&#39;s little doubt there is a global jobs crisis,&quot; said the World Bank&#39;s senior director for jobs, Nigel Twose. &quot;As this report makes clear, there is a shortage of jobs -- and quality jobs.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&quot;And equally disturbingly, we&#39;re also seeing wage and income inequality widening within many G20 countries, although progress has been made in a few emerging economies, like Brazil and South Africa.&quot; He said that overall emerging market economies had done better than advanced G20 countries in job creation, driven primarily by countries such as China and Brazil, but the outlook was bleak. &quot;Current projections are dim. Challenging times loom large,&quot; said Twose.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The report, compiled with the OECD and International Labour Organisation, said more than 100 million people were unemployed in G20 economies and 447 million were considered &quot;working poor&quot;, living on less than USD 2 a day.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;It said despite a modest economic recovery in 2013-14, global growth was expected to remain below trend with downside risks in the foreseeable future, while weak labour markets were constraining consumption and investment.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/g3(3).jpg" style="float:right; height:179px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Fed to End Stimulus in October</strong></div>

<div>The US Federal Reserve has reiterated that it will raise interest rates once a &quot;considerable time&quot; has passed after its stimulus programme ends in October. The announcement came at the end of a two-day meeting of the central bank&#39;s policy committee in Washington DC on Wednesday, 17th September. In a press conference, Fed chairwoman Janet Yellen disappointed some when she said there was no &quot;calendar date&quot; for a rate rise.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>US markets, however, were reassured, rising in the wake of her comments. The Dow Jones closed at a record high. Wednesday&#39;s announcement of the end of the stimulus programme, known as quantitative easing, was widely expected. The Fed has been buying billions of dollars of bonds in an effort to keep long-term interest rates low and thus boost spending. However, as the US economy has picked up steam, the central bank has said that extra support is no longer necessary. Now, investors are focused on when the Fed will raise its short-term interest rate, which has been at zero since late 2008.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Analysts, investors, and markets around the world are focusing on the central bank&#39;s phrasing that a &quot;considerable time&quot; will need to pass from the end of quantitative easing until it decides to raise rates. The Fed first inserted the phrase &quot;considerable time&quot; into its statements in December 2012.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>China Central Bank Injects USD 81 billion into Major Banks&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>China&#39;s central bank is injecting a combined 500 billion yuan (USD 81.35 billion) of liquidity into the country&#39;s top banks, according to media reports, a sign that authorities are stepping up efforts to shore up a faltering economy. The Wall Street Journal, citing an unnamed Chinese bank executive, said the People&#39;s Bank of China (PBOC) is pumping in 100 billion yuan each into China&#39;s top five banks via standard lending facility in the form of 3-month loans. &quot;We think the latest SLF is mainly aimed at providing liquidity to pre-empt potential liquidity shortages in the banking system in the coming weeks,&quot; Jian Chang, China economist at Barclays Capital in Hong Kong, said in a research note.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Still, a liquidity injection of this scale does have the effect of easing overall credit conditions and helps to stabilise a shaky economy after a weak start to the year. Some analysts believe the reported move shows the PBOC&#39;s continued willingness to use targeted steps, rather than large-scale stimulus or interest rate cuts, to support growth. &quot;This (SLF) is consistent with our view that targeted easing measures will be used in view of the deceleration in economic activities as reflected by recent data,&quot; Credit Agricole said in a research note. Bloomberg, which quoted an unnamed government official, said the move follows deep concern over the economic slowdown.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/g4(3).jpg" style="float:right; height:186px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Heineken Rejects Takeover Offer from SABMiller</strong></div>

<div>Dutch brewing giant Heineken has rejected a takeover offer from London brewer SABMiller saying the proposal is &quot;non-actionable&quot;. Heineken, said it had &quot;consulted with its majority shareholder&quot; before rejecting the approach. It said the Heineken family, the founding family which still owns half of the firm, wanted to preserve the firm as &quot;an independent company&quot;. Heineken said it was confident it would continue to grow.&quot;The Heineken family and Heineken N.V.&#39;s management are confident that the company will continue to deliver growth and shareholder value,&quot; it added. The founding Heineken family owns just over 50 per cent of the brewer via Heineken Holding. A further 12 per cent is owned by Mexico&#39;s FEMSA.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Heineken&#39;s statement was prompted by a Bloomberg story suggesting SABMiller had approached the Dutch firm to protect itself from a potential takeover. There has been speculation within the brewing industry, for months, that SABMiller has been targeted by the world&#39;s number one brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev. Heineken is the world&#39;s third largest beer producer behind AB Inbev and SABMiller, based on volume. Apart from the namesake beer - Heineken, the company also produces Sol and Strongbow Apple ciders.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/g5(2).jpg" style="float:right; height:169px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Russia and China Launch Gas Pipeline</strong></div>

<div>Russia and China have begun the construction of a new gas pipeline linking the countries, with a ceremony in the Siberian city of Yakutsk. China&#39;s CNPC has agreed to buy USD 400 billion of gas from Russia&#39;s Gazprom. Russia will ship 38 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas annually over a period of 30 years. The deal will lessen Russia&#39;s dependence on European buyers, who have imposed economic sanctions because of the crisis in Ukraine. The construction ceremony was attended by Russian President Vladmir Putin and Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli. China will start work on the construction of its side of the pipeline in the first half of 2015, Zhang said.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The first gas will be pumped from Siberia to north-east China in early 2019. Over the past 10 years, China has used other gas suppliers. Turkmenistan is now China&#39;s largest foreign gas supplier. Last year, it started importing piped natural gas from Myanmar. China is Russia&#39;s largest single trading partner, with bilateral trade flows of USD 90 billion in 2013. The two neighbours aim to double the volume to USD 200 billion in 10 years.</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-16 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:17:21',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'The Obama administration cracked down Monday, 22nd September, on certain overseas corporate mergers and acquisitions, aiming to curb American companies from shifting their ownership abroad to shirk paying US taxes.',
			'sortorder' => '940',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '35',
			'title' => 'Global Business Trends',
			'sortorder' => '35',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2013-04-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 27 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '968',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '69',
			'title' => 'Tourism News October 2014',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Tara Air has successfully conducted a test flight to Manang by a German built Dornier Do-228 Aircraft. The flight operated by Captain Bodh Raj Niraula and Rajesh Shrestha took off from Pokhara Airport and landed successfully at Manang Airport.',
			'content' => '<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/t(5).jpg" style="float:right; height:161px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:175px" />Tara Air Conducts Test Flight to Manang &nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>Tara Air has successfully conducted a test flight to Manang by a German built Dornier Do-228 Aircraft. The flight operated by Captain Bodh Raj Niraula and Rajesh Shrestha took off from Pokhara Airport and landed successfully at Manang Airport.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Representatives of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal led by Captain BM Amatya led the panel to board the flight. &nbsp;The duration of the Flight was 20 minutes. The report of the test flight will be reported to CAAN and after the approval, the scheduled flight will commence, said the Airline in a statement.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/t1(4).jpg" style="float:right; height:163px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:250px" />Soaltee Crowne Plaza Awarded with &lsquo;Today&#39;s Traveller Award 2014&rsquo;</strong></div>

<div>Soaltee Crowne Plaza Kathmandu has won the &lsquo;Today&#39;s Traveller Award 2014&rsquo; for Best International Business Hotel. The award ceremony was held at The Ashok Hotel, New Delhi on September 16. The Chief Guest of the ceremony Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of State for Tourism and Culture presented the award to Nalin Mandiratta, General Manager of the hotel. Today&#39;s Traveller Awards is India&#39;s one of the most respected travel and tourism industry awards incorporated in 2007, with an objective of recognizing exceptional achievers and contributors in the tourism, corporate and entertainment industry.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;&ldquo;The award for our hotel is an appreciation towards the dedication, hard work and service oriented attitude of all Soaltee team members. I thank everyone for their valuable efforts in providing efficient service delivery to our guests,&rdquo; said Mandiratta after receiving the award.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Earlier this year in August, Soaltee Crowne Plaza Kathmandu also received Safari India South Asia Travel Awards 2014 for Best Luxury Hotel, organized by Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA) in Delhi and TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence Award 2014. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/t2(2).jpg" style="float:right; height:128px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:250px" />Etihad&rsquo;s Dashain Tihar Offer</strong></div>

<div>Etihad Airways is celebrating the festive season of Dasain and Tihar by offering complimentary gift vouchers to its customers. All the passengers flying First and Business Class to any destinations in Europe, USA, Canada, Africa or Middle East will receive a complimentary gift voucher for American Tourister luggage. The gift voucher can be redeemed at Samsonite and American Tourister showrooms at Pulchowk and Jamal. &nbsp;To avail the offer, customers purchasing first and business class tickets need to forward the ticket and contact details to MarketingNP@etihad.ae. The offer is valid for sale and travel from 15th September until 30th November 2014.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/t3(1).jpg" style="float:right; height:167px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:250px" />Cathay Pacific to Start Service to Boston</strong></div>

<div>Cathay Pacific Airways has announced that it will launch a new four-times-weekly non-stop service from Hong Kong to Boston, Massachusetts from May 2015. The new service will provide the first direct link between New England and Hong Kong.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>With this, Boston will become Cathay Pacific&rsquo;s sixth gateway in the United States, and eighth in North America. The airline currently serves Chicago, Los Angeles, New York (JFK), Newark, San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver. The Boston service will be operated by Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in a four-class configuration featuring First Class, Business Class, new Premium Economy and long-haul Economy Class seats.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&quot;We are very pleased to be able to add Boston to our growing international network. There are strong business, educational and cultural ties between Hong Kong and Boston. We believe there will be considerable demand for a high quality travel experience on this new long-haul route,&rdquo; said Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Ivan Chu.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/t4(1).jpg" style="float:right; height:176px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:250px" />Dragonair&rsquo;s Cabin Crew Makes Charitable Donations&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>Dragonair&rsquo;s cabin crew members serving the Hong Kong-Kathmandu route along with local staffs in Kathmandu made donations to various social organizations in Kathmandu on 28th July and 26th August. The team donated various school uniforms and groceries to Bal Sarathi, an organization at Gaushala dedicated to offering formal education to children who cannot afford to study. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Similarly, Saphalta Sikhsha Sadan, an organization providing shelter and formal schooling to underprivileged children infected with HIV was visited next by the Dragonair team. The organization was provided with toys and stationery for the children. The team also visited Ama Ghar, a home for the elderly and presented various gifts to its residents. The team also donated warm clothes, toys and various items to Bal Mandir. &nbsp;</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-16 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:20:50',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Tara Air has successfully conducted a test flight to Manang by a German built Dornier Do-228 Aircraft. The flight operated by Captain Bodh Raj Niraula and Rajesh Shrestha took off from Pokhara Airport and landed successfully at Manang Airport.',
			'sortorder' => '941',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '69',
			'title' => 'Tourism And Civil Aviation',
			'sortorder' => '69',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2014-06-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 28 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '969',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '32',
			'title' => 'Gionee Elife S5.5: Elegance and Power Combined',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'The global gadget market is being flooded with various devices in the recent days. A multitude of gadgets hit the market day in and day out, but a very few of them are able to meet the expectations and fulfill the aspirations of gadget lovers.',
			'content' => '<div><strong>--By Sanjeev Sharma</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="Gionee Elife S5.5: Elegance and Power Combined" src="/userfiles/images/gf.jpg" style="float:right; height:377px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />The global gadget market is being flooded with various devices in the recent days. A multitude of gadgets hit the market day in and day out, but a very few of them are able to meet the expectations and fulfill the aspirations of gadget lovers. A powerful device may not necessarily have aesthetic appeal, and an attractively designed gadget could be a power-compromised one. &nbsp;Gionee, the Chinese smartphone major has come up with an answer to this issue. The company&#39;s latest flagship Gionee Elife S5.5 is a striking beauty and a powerful beast at the same time. With a width of just 5.55 mm, Elife S5.5 is considered as the world&#39;s slimmest smartphone till date. Along with the super-slim body, the phone is also very light, weighing just around 133 grams.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Powered by an octa-core 1.7 GHz Cortex-A7 processor, Elife S5.5 uses Mediatek&#39;s latest MT6592 chipset. Alongside the mighty CPU, the smartphone has 2GB RAM and Mali-450MP4 GPU. With these top-notch specifications, users can expect smooth computing experience in Elife S5.5. Be it for multitasking or power-demanding tasks such as gaming, the smartphone can run anything without showing any sign of snag. The display of S5.5 is another attraction. The phone sports a 5 inch Super AMOLED capacitive multitouch screen capable of rendering full HD display. With a 441 ppi pixel density, Elife S5.5&#39;s screen has a resolution of 1920 X 1080 pixels which gives off colourful, crisp and vibrant display. Needless to say, with such premium screen, users won&#39;t have difficulty operating their handsets even in bright sunlight. Despite being a super-slim smartphone, Elife S5.5 offers top-end sturdiness as its both front and back panels are covered by Corning Gorilla glass protection. The phone&#39;s magnesium alloy constructed metallic unibody is also tough enough to take some falls and beatings.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The micro-SIM smartphone&#39;s imaging system is also a high-end one. Elife S5.5 houses a 13 MP autofocus LED flash primary shooter on its back whereas a 5 MP secondary shooter rests on the top of the front panel. The primary camera is capable of taking photos at a maximum resolution of 4160 X 3120 pixels. Similarly, 1080p videos can be recorded at 30fps. The primary camera is able to take decent quality photos and videos even under low-light conditions. The phone&#39;s camera system has some other regular features such as touch focus, Geo-tagging, face/smile detection, panorama and HDR.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The Elife S5.5 runs on Amigo OS 2.0. The proprietary operating system is, in fact, Gionee&#39;s customised version of Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean which can be upgraded to KitKat 4.4.2. However, the UI and features are different from other Android devices using the same version. With customised icons, lock screen, notifications and settings, the Amigo UI has an atypical look. There is no app drawer like normal Android UI, instead it shows up all the installed apps on the home screen and users need to swipe left or right to access the apps.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Users can have blazing fast internet experience with S5.5. The smartphone comes with Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct and Wi-Fi hotspot, all of which offer the latest WLAN connectivity. &nbsp;Elife S5.5 is among the latest generation smartphones equipped with Bluetooth v4.0 which has EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) for faster data transfer. The phone also features micro USB v2.0 and USB On-the-go. Similarly, it comes with a built-in FM radio with RDS (Radio Data System). Elife S5.5 has on-par sound quality as it comes with DTS surround sound enhancement for headphones and a built-in loudspeaker.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Despite the top-end specs and features, Elife S5.5 has some areas where it falls short. 16 GB of storage with no expansion slot can be particularly disturbing when the phone runs out of memory. Likewise, the non-replaceable battery of the phone could also be annoying. However, the 2,300 mAh Li-Ion battery offers decent backup - up to 500 hrs in standby mode, up to 11 hrs of talk-time in 3G mode and 27 hrs in 2G mode. Nevertheless, the smartphone&#39;s combination of elegance, power and amazingly low price-level make users forget its shortcomings. According to TeleTalk Pvt Ltd, the authorised distributor of Gionee smartphones in Nepal, Elife S5.5 carries a price tag of Rs 36,525. Available in black and white colours, the phone comes with one-year warranty. Users can get a flip cover, four screen guards, one OTG cable, an earphone and a charger as freebies.</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-16 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:10:17',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'The global gadget market is being flooded with various devices in the recent days. A multitude of gadgets hit the market day in and day out, but a very few of them are able to meet the expectations and fulfill the aspirations of gadget lovers. A powerful device may not necessarily have aesthetic appeal, and an attractively designed gadget could be a power-compromised one.',
			'sortorder' => '942',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '32',
			'title' => 'Gadget Focus',
			'sortorder' => '32',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2014-06-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 29 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '970',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '65',
			'title' => 'Tech Talk October 2014',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Allied Trade Link International Pvt Ltd has launched a range of Panasonic mobile phones in the market. The launching event was held on 22th September 2014 at Hyatt Regency hotel, where representatives from Japan unveiled a range of 11 models of smart phones and bar phones.',
			'content' => '<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/tt(6).jpg" style="float:right; height:117px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Panasonic Mobile Phones in the Market</strong></div>

<div>Allied Trade Link International Pvt Ltd has launched a range of Panasonic mobile phones in the market. The launching event was held on 22th September 2014 at Hyatt Regency hotel, where representatives from Japan unveiled a range of 11 models of smart phones and bar phones. Speaking at the event, the managing director of Allied Trade Link Manish Rajbhandari said, &quot;Japanese technology is associated with trust, durability and impeccable electronics guarantee. Allied Trade Link International shall ensure that Panasonic will capture enthusiastic consumers with competitive technology and prices&quot;. The newly launched models of Panasonic mobile phones are EZ180, EZ240, GD21, GD31, GD25C, T31, ELUGA U and ELUGA A among others. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/tt1(2).JPG" style="float:right; height:100px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:100px" />Colors Introduces X21 and X26 Wave Smartphones</strong></div>

<div>Colors Mobile has launched X21 and X26 Wave smartphones in the market. Both the phones support dual SIM and run on the Android 4.4 Kitkat platform. X26 Wave comes with a 4 inch TP Capacitive WVGA LCD screen with 480x800 resolution. Its imaging devices include a 2 MP rear camera with flash and a 0.3 front camera. Other features of X26 include 512 MB ROM, 256 MB RAM and a 1200 mAh battery. Similarly, X21 Wave comes with a 3.5 inch HVGA screen, a 3 MP rear camera and a 0.3 MP front camera. It comes with 2 GB ROM, 256 MB RAM and is powered by a 1200 mAh battery. X26 Wave is priced at just Rs 6,495 and X21 Wave is priced at Rs 5,795. &nbsp; &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/tt2(7).jpg" style="float:right; height:145px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:200px" />Karbonn Mobiles&rsquo; Festive Offer</strong></div>

<div>Karbonn Mobiles has come up with a scheme titled &lsquo;Karbonn Mobile Le Hanyo Chakka, Dui Barsa Warranty Pakka&rsquo; for this Dashain and Tihar. The scheme offers six different gifts to the customers purchasing Karbonn phones. With this scheme, customers purchasing any Karbonn bar phone will receive two years warranty on the product along with two-time free mobile phone servicing. &nbsp;Customers will also receive a scratch card and cash discount up to Rs 10000 which will be provided on the spot during the purchase. In addition, one 8 GB memory card is also offered free. Beside all the free gifts, a lucky draw will also be held from all the coupons of the Karbonn mobile phone purchases made from the company. The lucky draw will provide one lucky winner with a chance to visit Goa.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/tt3(4).JPG" style="float:right; height:125px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:200px" />Users Frustrated by Apple iOS Update</strong></div>

<div>Apple iPhone and iPad users have taken to social media to express their frustration over installing the company&#39;s latest software update. Many have resorted to deleting photos, videos and other files in order to free up space for the new version of Apple&#39;s mobile operating system, iOS 8, which requires up to 5.8 GB of storage. Apple has also removed apps for its new health software because of a bug. One expert said Apple&#39;s updates were often prone to &lsquo;teething problems&rsquo;.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Some vexed Apple users took to Twitter to express their annoyance, at one point causing the subject to be trending above the Scottish referendum. David Roberts tweeted: &quot;This update would be great... If you didn&#39;t have to delete half of the stuff on your phone just to install it.&quot; Daniel Zennon took a more humorous approach, tweeting: &quot;So Apple put the U2 album on everybody&#39;s phone and then tell them they don&#39;t have enough space for the iOS8 upgrade&quot;. This is not the first time Apple users have had trouble with iOS updates. In 2012, the iOS6 update caused some users to lose their apps, and others lost photos and messages when updating to iOS7. (Agency)</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="200" src="/userfiles/images/tt4.JPG" style="float:right; height:193px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:200px" />Facebook to Introduce New Advertising Platform: Report</strong></div>

<div>Facebook Inc is set to unveil a new advertising platform to improve effectiveness of online ads, the Wall Street Journal reported on 22nd September, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The product is a redesigned version of Atlas Advertiser Suite, an ad management and measurement platform that Facebook bought from Microsoft Corp last year. It is expected to help marketers target Facebook users more effectively by measuring which users have seen, interacted or acted upon ads that appear on Facebook&#39;s services and on third-party websites and apps.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The product will also provide a tool for marketers to buy ads to target Facebook users across the Web. Microsoft took on Atlas with its $6.3 billion acquisition of digital ad agency aQuantive in 2007. Unable to make it work for its own purposes, Microsoft wrote off $6.2 billion of the aQuantive deal&#39;s value in 2012. The world&#39;s No 1 Internet social network, which lags behind market leader Google Inc in US market for online display ads, did not reveal how much it paid for the technology. (Agency)</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-16 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:08:50',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Allied Trade Link International Pvt Ltd has launched a range of Panasonic mobile phones in the market. The launching event was held on 22th September 2014 at Hyatt Regency hotel, where representatives from Japan unveiled a range of 11 models of smart phones and bar phones.',
			'sortorder' => '943',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '65',
			'title' => 'Tech Talk',
			'sortorder' => '65',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2013-05-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 30 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '971',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '4',
			'title' => 'Banking Activities October 2014',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Prabhu Bank Limited, formed after the merger between Kist Bank, Prabhu Bikas Bank, Gaurishankar Development Bank and Zenith Finance has started its operation from 15th September.',
			'content' => '<div><strong>Prabhu Bank Commences Operation&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>Prabhu Bank Limited, formed after the merger between Kist Bank, Prabhu Bikas Bank, Gaurishankar Development Bank and Zenith Finance has started its operation from 15th September. The Bank was inaugurated by Nepal Rastra Bank&rsquo;s Governor Yubaraj Khatiwada. &ldquo;Though merger is a positive step forward, it should not be looked upon as the solution. The merger should be considered as an opportunity for the institutions to improve their performances,&rdquo; said Khatiwada in the inauguration. &nbsp;The authorized capital of the Bank is five billion rupees and its paid up capital is 3.20 billion rupees. Prabhu Bank now has 112 branches and 108 ATM counters across the country.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>NMB&rsquo;s Instalment Purchase Facility on Debit Card&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>NMB Bank has launched instalment facility for its Debit Card holders. The facility will enable the Bank&rsquo;s customers to convert their high value purchase transaction from their Debit Card into easy Equal Monthly Instalment (EMI). &ldquo;As the festival season is around the corner, instalment purchase facility on Debit Card will help our customers to plan their festive shopping into easy monthly instalment with flexible tenure of three to 12 months,&rdquo; said a statement issued by the Bank. The facility is also available in recently launched &lsquo;NMB Bank Manyajan Muddati&rsquo; product. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Civil Bank&rsquo;s &lsquo;Gold ma Silver Dhamaka&rsquo; Offer</strong></div>

<div>Civil Bank Limited has announced a new scheme titled &lsquo;Civil Gold ma Silver Dhamaka&rsquo; on the occasion of Dashain and Tihar. Under this scheme, a silver coin will be gifted to all the customers who have opened Civil Bank Gold Savings Account from 17th September 2014. Apart from this, Civil Bank Gold MasterCard will also be provided free of cost. The account requiring a minimum balance of Rs 50,000 offers an inertest rate of five per cent per annum.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>AAMO Delegates Visit Siddhartha Bank</strong></div>

<div>Siddhartha Bank Limited in coordination with Management Association of Nepal (MAN) conducted an interaction and observation programme on 19th September 2014 for the delegates of Asian Association of Management Organization (AAMO). During the interaction program, CEO of the Bank Surender Bhandari presented an overview of Nepal&rsquo;s banking industry with special reference to Siddhartha Bank&rsquo;s history, areas of operations, networks, business portfolio and financial highlights. Both the Bank and the AAMO delegates shared their management practices in the programme. AAMO is an independent, non-political and non profitable association of National Management Organization (NMO&#39;s) in different countries promoting development of professional management in the Asia Pacific Region.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>BoK-Nimbus Agreement</strong></div>

<div>Bank of Kathmandu Ltd (BOK) and Nimbus have signed an agreement to launch &lsquo;BOK Kissan Credit Card Scheme&rsquo;. The agreement will provide small scale farmers with convenient access to credit facilities, and allow them to utilize it to purchase various agricultural inputs at Nimbus Krishi Kendra. The agreement was signed by CEO of Bank of Kathmandu Ajay Shrestha and MD of Nimbus Anand Bagaria. &ldquo;Serving individual farmers through customized products and services have been one of our focus areas. This credit card facility will facilitate farmers for their regular purchases like seeds and fertilizers among others,&rdquo; said Shrestha in the signing event. &nbsp;&ldquo;We want to increase the reach of farmers to banking and this joint initiative with BOK is the first step towards that goal,&rdquo; said Bagaria.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Sanima Bank&rsquo;s 29th Branch in Mahendranagar</strong></div>

<div>Sanima Bank Limited has opened its 29th branch at Mahendranagar, Kanchanpur. The branch was jointly inaugurated by the Brand Ambassadors of the Bank Madan Krishna Shrestha and Hari Bansha Acharya (MAHA), Chairman of the Bank Binaya Kumar Shrestha and CEO Bhuvan Dahal. In the inaugural event, Shrestha and Dahal expressed gratitude to customers and stakeholders of the Bank for their support and patronage. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>NIC Asia&rsquo;s 57th Branch in Damauli</strong></div>

<div>NIC Asia Bank has opened its 57th branch in Damauli. The branch was jointly inaugurated by Director of the Bank Binod Kumar Pyakurel and CEO Sashin Joshi. According to a press statement from the Bank, Damauli branch will offer all the modern banking services to the residents of the area.&nbsp;</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-16 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:08:26',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Prabhu Bank Limited, formed after the merger between Kist Bank, Prabhu Bikas Bank, Gaurishankar Development Bank and Zenith Finance has started its operation from 15th September.',
			'sortorder' => '944',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '4',
			'title' => 'Banking Activities',
			'sortorder' => '542',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2017-05-03 15:27:22'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 31 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '972',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '7',
			'title' => 'Biz launches October 2014',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Laxmi Intercontinental Pvt Ltd, the sole authorized distributor of Hyundai motors in Nepal has announced its Dashain-Tihar scheme named ‘Missi Badhshah Ekka’. With this scheme, customers will have an opportunity to win three prizes.',
			'content' => '<div><strong>Hyundai&rsquo;s &lsquo;Missi Badshah Ekka&rsquo; Offer</strong></div>

<div>Laxmi Intercontinental Pvt Ltd, the sole authorized distributor of Hyundai motors in Nepal has announced its Dashain-Tihar scheme named &lsquo;Missi Badhshah Ekka&rsquo;. With this scheme, customers will have an opportunity to win three prizes. Under &lsquo;Missi&rsquo; scheme, 10 couples can win a paid trip to Malaysia and Bangkok. Similarly, under the &lsquo;Badshah&rsquo; scheme, one winner will get a Hyundai i-gen i20 car. Finally, under &lsquo;Ekka&rsquo; scheme, one winner will get a Hyundai Fluidic Verna. The winners of all three prizes will be selected through a lucky draw which will be conducted after the scheme. Additionally, customers purchasing Hyundai vehicles will get a cash discount up to Rs 500,000.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>HH Bajaj&rsquo;s New Showroom in Nawalparasi</strong></div>

<div>HH Bajaj has opened a new sale, service and spare facility Ansari Traders Pvt Ltd at Parasi, Nawalparasi. Ansari Traders will look after the overall sales and distribution of Bajaj bikes in Parasi. &ldquo;We are determined to increase our services across the nation for people to enjoy our facilities anywhere anytime,&rdquo; said Deputy General Manager of HH Bajaj Chiranjibi Shah on the inauguration. Celebrating the opening, gift hampers were offered to the customers.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Coca-Cola&rsquo;s &lsquo;Khushi Bande, Khushi Badhcha&rsquo; Campaign</strong></div>

<div>Coca-Cola Nepal is celebrating this Dashain and Tihar with its new campaign &lsquo;Khushi Bande, Khushi Badhcha&rsquo;. &nbsp;The company has launched special bottles with space for writing personalized messages this festive season. Consumers can buy 2.25 and 1.5 litre PET bottles of Coca-Cola, Fanta or Sprite and write their personalized messages on the bottle. According to the company, it is bringing alive the true spirit of the festive season by encouraging its customers to share and spread the happiness with its latest campaign.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Samsung&rsquo;s &lsquo;Solleed Cashback&rsquo; Offer&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>IMS, the authorized national distributor of Samsung mobiles in Nepal has announced a new offer &lsquo;Solleed Cash Back&rsquo; for this Dashain and Tihar. With this offer, customers purchasing any Samsung mobiles and tablets can instantly get cash return of up to Rs 16,000. According to the company, the offer instantly rewards the customers without the hassle of scratch coupons, lucky draw results and SMSs. The offer is valid from 8th September till the end of October.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Dish Home&rsquo;s &lsquo;Swarna Utsav&rsquo;</strong></div>

<div>Dish Home has come up with a scheme titled &lsquo;Swarna Utsav&rsquo; for Dashain and Tihar. Under this scheme, customers purchasing Dish Home connection will get a silver coin as instant gift. In addition, the company will conduct weekly lucky draws in which a lucky customer can win 10 tola of gold per week. A total of one kilogram gold will be distributed to customers during the scheme duration.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Ncell&rsquo;s SuperNet Data Campaign</strong></div>

<div>Ncell has launched a new data campaign called Supernet. The campaign allows Ncell customers surfing internet without subscribing a data pack to enjoy Internet at as less as one rupee per MB. With Supernet, existing rate of Rs six per MB apply only for the first MB. The usage of second MB will cost Rs 5 per MB and the third MB will be priced at Rs 4 per MB. As the customer uses more data and reach the usage bracket of 3-20 MB, price of data will drop to Rs 3 per MB. Likewise, price of data will drop to Rs 2 per MB on reaching usage bracket of 20-100 MB. Further jump to the usage brackets of 100-200 MB and more than 200 MB will enable the customers to surf internet at Rs 1.5 per MB and Re 1 per MB respectively.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>VG Suzuki Sub-dealer in Chitwan</strong></div>

<div>VG Automobiles, authorized importer and distributor of Suzuki Motorcycle India Ltd in Nepal has opened a new sub-dealer Unique Bike Center at Tadi, Chitwan. The showroom was inaugurated on August 27 by Regional Officer of VG Automobile Suraj Shrestha. The showroom will deal in Suzuki motorcycles and scooters including GS150R, Hayate and SlingShot.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Yamaha &lsquo;BijayaYatra&rsquo; Offer</strong></div>

<div>MAW Enterprises has announced an offer titled &lsquo;Yamaha BijayaYatra&rsquo; on the occasion of Dashain and Tihar. With this offer, customers can get a discount up to Rs 10,000 and Rs 8,000 on purchase of every Yamaha motorcycle and scooter respectively. Besides these discounts, customers can get a chance to win cash prizes every week through a lucky draw. Four weekly customers will win Rs 100,000, Rs 50,000, Rs 25,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively every week.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Jagadamba E Rebar Launched</strong></div>

<div>Jagadamba Steels Pvt Ltd has launched Jagadamba E, a new range of earthquake resistant steel rebar. According to the company, Jagadamba E is one and only of its kind steel rebar manufactured to minimize seismic risks. With features like superior ductility, elongation and greater fatigue strength, Jagadamba E is recommended for earthquake resistant constructions ranging from housing, commercial buildings and for large infrastructure projects, claims the company. Jagdamba E Earthquake Resistant rebars are certified by Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology by NS:191 for Fe-500 Grade Certification and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) by ISI certification IS:1786:2008 for Fe-500 Grade.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Sipradi Autoparts Starts Michelin Care Service Van&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>Sipradi Autoparts, the sister concern of Sipradi Trading Pvt Ltd has introduced a unique service for vehicle-owners. Sipradi Autoparts has brought Michelin Care Service Van into operation that facilitates the customers by providing them on the spot tyre-related services like flat tyre, valve leakage and others services free of cost. The service van is operated within Kathmandu Valley from 6 am to 9 pm. To avail this facility, customers have to make a call to 98418635444. According to the company, a service team will reach the needy customer within half an hour and provide a free tyre service. &nbsp; &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Johnnie Walker Black Label in Limited Edition Bottles</strong></div>

<div>Johnnie Walker has unveiled a limited edition bottle design for Johnnie Walker Black Label whisky. The design recalls icons of the 1930s, the decade in which the company was first awarded the Royal Warrant by King George V. The new bottle offers a glimpse into the &lsquo;golden age&rsquo; for Johnnie Walker by opening a window on the 1930s, an era typified by Art Deco, Hollywood movie glamour and burgeoning luxury travel, says a statement from the company. The limited edition bottle design is available in the market from September 2014 onwards at a price of Rs 4,950 per one litre bottle.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>LG&rsquo;s &lsquo;Red Festive Offers&rsquo;</strong></div>

<div>LG has introduced &lsquo;LG Red Festive Offers&rsquo; on the festive season of Dashain and Tihar. The offer provides customers with various free gifts on every LG purchase. &nbsp;LG Home Theatre is offered free on the purchase of 42&quot; and above 3D TVs and Logitech wireless keyboard comes free with 32&quot; and above Smart TVs. LG Microwave Oven is offered on the purchase of side-by-side refrigerator and pitcher-tumbler and dinner comes free with Double Door Refrigerator. There are similar free gifts on purchase of LG washing machines, microwave ovens and air conditioners as well.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Pashupati Paints Hands Over Prize to Contest Winner</strong></div>

<div>Pashupati Paints Pvt Ltd handed over the bumper prize to the winner of its &lsquo;Win a Home&rsquo; contest. Suraj Sharma Neupane from Lalitpur received an apartment at DownTown Apartment from the company in a special handover ceremony hosted at the DownTown Apartment, Lalitpur. Actor Rajesh Hamal handed over the keys of the apartment to the winner.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Philips&rsquo; Festive Fiesta Scheme</strong></div>

<div>Shree Syakar Company Pvt Ltd, the authorized distributors of Philips products for Nepal has introduced a scheme titled &lsquo;Festive Fiesta&rsquo; on the occasion of Dashain and Tihar. With this offer, customers can receive a discount of 15 to 25 per cent on the purchase of Philips LED/LCD TV, music system, grooming products, beauty products, iron, mixture grinder and other products. The discount can be availed from the company&rsquo;s showrooms at Bishal Bazar, New Road, Kumaripati and Jyoti Bhawan, Kantipath.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Himstar&rsquo;s &lsquo;Bhui Mai Khutta Chaina&rsquo; Offer</strong></div>

<div>Himstar has unveiled its Dashain Tihar scheme &lsquo;Himstar Bhui mai Khutta Chaina&rsquo;. Under this scheme, customers purchasing 32&quot; to 50&quot; Himstar LED television will get a Bajaj Bravo Mixer Grinder as a sure shot prize. Also, customers will receive an Emergency Light on the purchase of 16&quot; to 24&quot; LED television. &nbsp;Similarly, customers will get a vacuum cleaner and an iron respectively on the purchase of double door refrigerator and single door refrigerator. In addition, customers purchasing Himstar television, refrigerator, air cooler or heater are entitled to receive a scratch card that entitles three lucky winners to receive a Bajaj Pulsar 150cc motorcycle.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Suzuki&rsquo;s &lsquo;Bada Dashain Upahar&rsquo;</strong></div>

<div>CG MotoCorp, the sole authorized distributor of Suzuki four-wheelers for Nepal has launched an offer titled &lsquo;Suzuki Bada Dashain Upahar&rsquo; on the occasion of Dashain. With this offer, the company is giving a TVS bike or scooter free on the purchase of every Suzuki car. Also, customers have the choice to take cash discount instead of the free bike or scooter. According to the company, this is the highest amount of discount ever given by it. In addition, this scheme also offers free road tax, free insurance and three years warranty.&nbsp;</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-17 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:06:56',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => '',
			'sortorder' => '929',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '7',
			'title' => 'Biz Launches',
			'sortorder' => '544',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2017-05-03 15:27:13'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 32 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '973',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '8',
			'title' => 'Biz News October 2014',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Dolma Impact Fund has announced to invest up to Rs 4 billion in different companies of Nepal. The fund has been providing organisational investment incentive to different companies in the country. The Fund has planned to invest in the companies related to education, agriculture, ',
			'content' => '<div><strong>Dolma Fund to Invest Rs 4 billion</strong></div>

<div>Dolma Impact Fund has announced to invest up to Rs 4 billion in different companies of Nepal. The fund has been providing organisational investment incentive to different companies in the country. The Fund has planned to invest in the companies related to education, agriculture, financial institutions, health sector and renewable energy: companies which have prospective to increase the income level and the employment opportunities within the country.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The fund has informed that it will be selecting those companies which can leave positive impact on environment and society through the fund. The fund has given priority to the local companies which can create sustainable employment.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The Dolma Impact Fund is funded by an international organisation run by the private sector. According to the fund, the minimum capital of the fund will be Rs 2 billion at the beginning. And it has been informed that, the fund will have up to Rs 4 billion. The fund has the investment companies and financial institutions of the countries Netherlands, Finland and Austria. Similarly, the British Embassy and Department for International Development (DFID) are also associated with this fund.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>These institutions are helping to invest in the companies who are working to increase employment and income level in Nepal. The fund has informed that it is discussing about the investment environment in the country with the Government of Nepal. Tim Gochar, Founder of the company says, &ldquo;We expect the investment will increase the employment opportunities in Nepal and directly benefit the poor people.&rdquo; &ldquo;We aim to decrease the dependency on imports by increasing the consumption of local products, he said.&rdquo;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Gale Marzeti, country head of DFID believes that the fund will contribute to the development of Nepal. &ldquo;It is an important milestone in the Nepali investment,&rdquo; he said.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Godavari Village Resort to Upgrade</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Godavari Village Resort located in Lalitpur district is about to upgrade its capacity. The resort which is spread over 100 Ropanis of land is about to expand into 100 rooms within a year. According to Sushil Kumar Aryal, Sales and Marketing Manager at the resort, the resort is currently serving with 69 rooms. The resort which has six halls with the capacity of 10 to 200 people has been organising different national and international conferences. The resort informed that the upgrade is being made targeting the peak tourist season of 2015.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>It has been informed that the all the upgraded rooms will be of luxurious &lsquo;deluxe&rsquo; model. Similarly, the resort is also opening a well equipped health club with different facilities like yoga room, spa room, natural therapy, and tennis very soon. Currently, the facilities like swimming pool and spa are available in the resort. The resort is serving corporate and high profile customers.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Meanwhile, the resort is launching 1month special package for Dashain which will start from Ghatasthapana to Bhaitika (September 25th to October 25th). During the period, it will be providing a room for Rs 3999 for a couple. The resort informed that the package will include facilities like breakfast, and in-house DJ. The package will also be available for foreign customers.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>PDA Signed with GMR for Upper Karnali</strong></div>

<div>Nepal Investment Board (NIB) and GMR ITD consortium have signed the Power Development Agreement (PDA) for the developing the 900 MW Upper Karnali Hydropower project. Radhesh Pant, NIB&rsquo;s chief executive office (CEO and RB Seson, president of Hydro Energy Business Unit of GMR signed the PDA in the presence of Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Speaking on the occasion, Home Minister Bam Dev Gautam said that the Upper Karnali hydropower project will not only benefit the energy sector but will also contribute in the overall economic development of the nation. &ldquo;We are bringing in this huge investment for the first time. This will play a vital role in utilizing the resources in the favour of the Nepali people,&rdquo; Gautam said.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh stated that GMR would complete the project within the time period agreed in the PDA. &ldquo;GMR must complete the project in the stated time as it is concerned with India&rsquo;s credibility,&rdquo; he added.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>According to the PDA, GMR will have to collect the necessary fund within 2 years. It will invest 25 per cent of the total cost required for the project while the remaining investment will be collected through various international financial institutions, said Seson.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The PDA mentions that the project will have to be completed within 5 years after the total investment is collected. As such, the project will be completed by the year 2021. GMR will also build a 100 km transmission line, which will be handed over to the government of Nepal after 25 years of operation.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Furthermore, Nepal will get 27 percent free equity and 12 percent free electricity from the project. The equity is equivalent to Rs 145 billion while 12 percent free energy amounts to 108 MW. The remaining 88per cent can also be sold in Nepal if the need persists, said Seson. If not, India and Bangladesh are the potential market for it, he added.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Bank Investment in the Service Industry up by 22%</strong></div>

<div>Investment in the service industry has increased by 22 per cent in comparison to the previous fiscal year. Last year, the investment of banks and financial institutions had risen by 20 per cent in this sector within the same period. Bankers believe that the increment in the service sector is due to the slowing down of investment growth in other sectors. &nbsp;As per Nepal Rastra Bank&rsquo;s financial report, the investment of banks and financial institutions in the service sector of the last fiscal year (2012/13) that ended on mid July 2013 was Rs. 71.8 billion. There has been some improvement in the figures in fiscal year 2013/14, &nbsp;which shows the investment of Rs 87.56 billion.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The improvement is a result of the increase in the flow of tourists which has also increased investment in hotel, transport, trekking agencies and other similar tourism related industries. Recently, the growth rate of tertiary sector has attracted banks and financial sector to increase investment in this sector. The tertiary sector is composed of wholesale and retail business, hotel and restaurants, transport, communication, financial intermediaries, real estate, security, education, health and other community, social and personal services. In recent circumstance when the business of the tertiary sector is expanding more in comparison to the primary (agriculture and forestry, fishery, mines and excavation) and secondary (construction, industries, electricity, gas and water) sectors, banks are investing more in the service sector, says Prof. Dr. Navaraj Kadel. &ldquo;Banks investment is based on the demand and the service sector is demanding for more investment in the current scenario&rdquo;, he adds.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In comparison to last fiscal year, it was initially predicted that the GDP of the service sector would increase by 4.71 per cent in this fiscal year. Similarly, the GDP of the primary sector has increased by 2.69 per cent and in the secondary sector, the production has increased by 6.13 per cent. By mid July this year, investment in hotel sector has the highest investment of 39.4 per cent and advertising agencies investment is of 32.2 per cent.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Likewise, according to NRB&rsquo;s statistics, investment in tourism by banks and financial institutions has increased by 21 per cent in the same period. On the other hand, investment in Motorcycle repairing and hospitals have fallen by 19.6 per cent and 18.9 per cent respectively.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Swiss Government Joins MDTF</strong></div>

<div>The Government of the Swiss Confederation, acting through the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, joined the Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) for Public Financial Management (PFM) on September 12, 2014. The Administrative Agreement was signed by World Bank Country Director for Nepal, Johannes Zutt and Urs Herren from the Swiss Government for the amount of CHF 3000,000 which is equivalent to USD $3.19 million.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The contribution will be used to finance the activities under the MDTF, which is administered by the World Bank and jointly funded by five donors namely the European Union (EU), UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Governments of Norway and Denmark, and the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Established in December 2010, the objective of the MDTF has been working to strengthen the performance, transparency, and accountability of Public Financial Management in Nepal. &nbsp;According to the press statement, MDTF has rolled out the treasury single account (TSA) system to all 75 districts. It will also pilot the newly designed Revenue Management Information Systems (RMIS) module, preparation of financial statements for two pilot ministries following the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). The MDTF has also continued the support to the Office of the Auditor General (OAG). The MDTF also works on strengthening the use of social accountability to improve PFM through awareness-raising on local budgeting, pro-poor and gender budgeting.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>PTA with India, Attracts More Investors</strong></div>

<div>Sealing the power trade agreement (PTA) with India has attracted many foreign investorstowards Nepal&rsquo;s hydropower sector. Minister for Energy Minister Radha Kumari Gyawali while informing that representatives from China, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Norway and many other countries have escalated discussions with her, claimed that some of these are very much interested to invest in Nepal&rsquo;s hydropower sector. &ldquo;It is a positive sign that countries are showing interest in Nepali hydropower projects that require huge investment,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The Energy Minister said that the PTA has been submitted to the Prime Minister during a recent cabinet meeting and informed that the cabinet will decide the implementation process. While informing that the PTA wont have to be endorsed by the parliament, as it&rsquo;s a energy business deal, she informed that PTA&rsquo;s implementation make any headway only after the PM&rsquo;s return from USA. Prime Minister Sushil Koirala is scheduled to visit USA in the third week of September for medical treatment.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In another context, Minister Gyawali informed that the dollar based Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) with Himal Power Limited, promoting the 60 MW Khimti Hydropower Project and BhotekoshiPower Limited, promoting the 45 MW Bhotekoshi Hydropower project will be revised. She informed that the revisions have been in the final stage and said that the Ministry has already directed the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to revise these projects with concerned stakeholders at the earliest.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Swisscontact&#39;s Five-day Event</strong></div>

<div>Swisscontact held its annual Asia Seminar and Market Systems Development Appreciation Workshop recently. Swisscontact organised its five-day internal events from 9 to 14 September 2014 in Lalitpur. The first event titled Asia Seminar held on 9 and 10 September was organised to exchange updates on the organisation&#39;s global, South Asia and South-East Asia regional developments amongst its management and personnel. In the seminar various projects, focused on thematic areas such as Skills Development, Tourism and Financial Serevices.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Likewise, Swisscontact organised second event which was an internal workshop that took place from 11 to 14 September. The workshop was held in order crystallise its value proposition, formalise a process of how it designs and implements Market Systems Development (MSD) and Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) projects and enhance in-house and partner capacity.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In the seminar the management of Swisscontact, Zurich such as Regional Directors, Project Managers, Team Leaders, MSD/M4P advisors and practitioners were present. Similarly, managers from Bangladesh, Bolivia, Cambodia, Honduras, Indonesia, Kenya, Kosovo, Laos, Mozambique, Myanmar and Nepal participated in the events. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Swisscontact is a Zurich-based independent foundation which works for international development cooperation. It is present in 27 countries with over 800 employees. Swisscontact promotes economic, social and environmental development, since 1959. In Nepal, Swisscontact is registered under the Social Welfare Council (SWC). &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Solvency Margin Mandatory for Non-Life Insurance Companies&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>The Insurance Board (IB) has made it compulsory for non-life Insurance companies to set solvency margin.IB board of directors approved the directive in the second week of August and will come into effect within this fiscal year, Raju Raman Poudel, director of the board said. &ldquo;We will issue the directive to insurance companies within some days for immediate implementation,&rdquo;he said claiming it to be first time that the non-life insurance companies in Nepal were being asked to follow such provision. The life insurance companies were asked to make such provisions last year.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Poudel mentioned that the solvency margin is to be at 1:1.5 ratio.This means that a company with liabilities of Rs 1 should have assets worth Rs 1.5.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Assets and liabilities are two components needed to calculate the solvency margin. It is necessary to evaluate assets under different headings. The directive states that zero lead assets, zero lead advance, furniture, postponed expenses etc., of the insurer will be considered as a base.Similarly, the software used by the company, initial expenses of the company and the cash that cannot be collected from the reinsurance company in one year will also be considered as the base.Likewise, the company&rsquo;s brand willbe also evaluated.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Similarly, as per the directive,the risk recommended by the insurance company that has not exceeded the time frame, miscellaneous fund and the liabilities and claim fund included in the company&rsquo;s financial statement have to be mentioned in the liabilities evaluation.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The solvency margin ratio is calculated in two stages. First solvency margin or &lsquo;available&rsquo; margin is calculatedby considering the statement of the total consolidated assets and liabilitiesas the base.The &lsquo;required&rsquo; solved margin is calculatedin the second stage. Such solvency margin should not be less than the minimum paid up capital (250 million rupees) or 20 per cent of net insurance cost or 40 per cent of unpaid claims in the last three years.The one higher among these is considered as the required solvency margin. Solvency ratio is calculated on the basis of condition and requirement of the solvency margin.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The directive has categorized insurance companies broadly into three categories on the basis of their solvency margins and will be regulating them accordingly. In the first stage, companies that fail to meet the solvency ratio will be asked to correct their solvency margin.In the second stage, companies having solvency margin of 1.5 will be given permission to carry on with their regular operations. In the third stage, IB will supervise and monitor companies with solvency margin in between 1 and 1.5. And during this same period, it will also ask companies with solvency ratio less than 1, to increase their paid up capital.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em>What is Solvency Ratio?</em></div>

<div>Solvency Ratio defines the situation of assets and liabilities of a company.Solvency Ratio is calculated by comparing the ratio of assets and liabilities. According to international standards, solvency ratio should be atleast 1:1.5. Companies with less than 1:1.5 solvency ratio are supposed to be in bad financial condition.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Government calls for investment to materialize &lsquo;Vision 2030&rsquo;</strong></div>

<div>Government has called on stakeholders to support its long term development goals as outlined in &lsquo;Vision 2030&rsquo; by investing in its priority areas. The vision, among others, aims at graduating the nation to the status of developing nation from the present least developed country (LDC) by 2022.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat stressed on the need to increase investment in the infrastructure sector to ensurethe materialization of the &lsquo;Vision 2030&rsquo;, while speaking at an interaction program organized by Ministry of Finance recently. &ldquo;Lack of infrastructure, transport, and hydropower has hindered Nepal&rsquo;s development. Due to these lacking, development here is costlier than other countries,&rdquo; he said at the programme participated by major development partners of the country.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Stating that the nation needs huge investment for promoting the nation to the status of LDC, he called on partner organizations for investing in Nepal&rsquo;s prosperity. He urged development partners to invest its priority sectors as defined by the government and informed that 14th periodic plan, presently in pipeline, will compliment the Vision 2030 goals.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Dr Mahat informed that the government has made policy reforms in the industrial, business, energy, banking and financial sector as part of its first round of economic reform programmes, and expressed confidence that the second round willfurther improve investment environment to attract foreign and domestic investment. &ldquo;The country is becoming favourable for different businesses. With implementation of the second rounds of economic reforms, improvement in various sectors is expected to be visible within this year,&rdquo; Minister Mahat said on the occasion. He informed that the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA)has been constantly working to curb corruption and to win peoples and investorstrust on public institutions.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Prof Dr Govinda Raj Pokharel, vice chairman of National Planning Commission (NPC) claimed that the nation&rsquo;s political condition is stabilizing, and urged stakeholders for investing without hesitation. Dr Yuvraj Khatiwada, Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), elaborated on the reforms made at the policy level, their positive impact on the nations economy andrequested investors to invest in Nepal.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Likewise, Finance Secretary Suman Prasad Sharma stressed on the need to invest in energy, infrastructure and agriculture sector for the economic development of the country. He claimed that such investment would help boost the Nepali economy and also encourage investors.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The programme was attended by representatives of major multilateral and bilateral agencies including the United Nations Development Project, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Union, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Denmark, Russia and Norway, USAID, JICA, among others.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>PRAN&rsquo;s Multi-stakeholder Knowledge Forum&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>The World Bank Program for Accountability in Nepal (PRAN) brought together government officials, civil society organizations, development partners and relevant stakeholders for a two-day forum starting from 10th September to 11th September at Hotel Yak and Yeti in the capital.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The forum hoped to reflect lessons that have been learnt together and the experiences gathered so far. PRAN has sought to develop the capacity of civil society organizations (CSOs) and government agencies through practical training, action learning and networking to promote citizen engagement in Nepal.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Speaking at the programme, Johannes Zutt, Country Director, World Bank Nepal said, &ldquo;Nepal has achieved considerable progress in recent years, despite a challenging environment.&rdquo; He said, &ldquo;In particular, Nepal is gradually strengthening its institutions and introducing greater openness and transparency.&rdquo;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Following the opening remarks, a high level panel discussion took place on the theme of Opening the Civic Space in Nepal moderated by Dr. Govinda Pokharel, Vice-Chair of National Planning Commission (NPC). The discussants included people like Luiza Nora, Team Task Leader of PRAN/ World Bank, MadhuKumar Marasini, Joint Secretary of Finance Ministry, Tara Nath Dahal, Chairperson of Freedom Forum and alike.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&ldquo;PRAN has been influential in uplifting the lives of the marginalized and vulnerable and it can have a really impactful role in the future as well,&rdquo; said Madhu Kumar Marasini, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance. &nbsp;&ldquo;It is good to see that the World Bank, alongside its projects on infrastructure hasn&rsquo;t forgotten about social accountability,&rdquo; he added.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The event also included a social accountability &quot;Knowledge Fair&quot;, highlighting results stories from existing social accountability initiatives in Nepal.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>NADA Auto Show 2014 ended Productively</strong></div>

<div>NADA Auto show 2014 was held from September 3 till September 8 in the exhibition hall of Bhrikuti Mandap, Kathmandu. The exhibition was organized jointly by NADA (Nepal Automobile Dealers Association) and Global Exposition and Management Services Private Limited. According to the organizers, due to the arrival of festive season, the exhibition has been successfully able to attract Nepali customers and automobile lovers.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Initially, the exhibition was set to be held for Five days. However, it was extended for one more day realizing the demand for visitors as well as participatory organizations. The exhibition was inaugurated by Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, Finance Minister where 63 companies participated and had 100 stalls.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Various famous brands like Daihatsu, Fiat, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Skoda, Suzuki, TATA, Toyota, Volkswagen, Bajaj, Ducati, Hero, Honda bike, KTM, Mahindra, Overa, Royal Enfield, Suzuki bike, Terra Motors, Tricycle Bull, TVS, UM Bikes, Yamaha were displayed in the exhibition. Similarly, in the exposition various spare parts, Lubricants, Tiers, Generator, Garage Equipments, Battery and other accessories and domestic products were displayed. Likewise, the participation of various financial institutions and new technological inventions was also seen in the event. More than 24 new automobiles were displayed in the exhibition. The distributors also claimed that various attractive offers were launched keeping the festive season in mind.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The organizations who participated in the event also claimed these offers have increased the number of bookings. During six days tenure, 690 two wheelers and 600 four wheelers were booked. The organizers have estimated that NADA Auto Show 2014 has done total business Rs 1.5 billion. Including tickets, Pass and Special guest pass, 55,000 visitors came to see the exhibition. Likewise, different entrepreneurs, artists and politicians also went to the exhibition.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>On September 10, the exhibition concluded with a formal programme where various participatory organizations were awarded with token of love. A lucky draw programme was also held where 5 winners were awarded with Samsung Galaxy Duos2. Likewise, as a bumpers door prize, the winners were also awarded with TVS Phoenix 125cc bike. Based upon different criteria, the jury committee of NADA Auto Show 2014 ranked Arun Intercontinental Traders (Suzuki Car) as the winner of best stall decorator. Similarly, Hansraj Hulaschand &amp; Co. Pvt. Ltd. (Bajaj Motorcycle) has stood in the second position and Sipradi Trading Pvt.Ltd (TATA-PCVU) stood in &nbsp;third position. The winner received a ten tola silver frame printed with NADA&rsquo;s logo on it. Similarly, the winner of second and third prize received 7 and 8 tola frame.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>900 MW Upper Karnali to Complete in 7 Years</strong></div>

<div>Investment Board Nepal and GMR ITD consortium have signed on PDA for the 900 MW Upper Karnali Hydropower project. In a programme organized in Singha durbar, the PDA was signed by the board&rsquo;s CEO Radhesh Pant and RB Seson, president of Hydro Energy Business Unit of GMR in the presence of Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In the programme Home Minister Bam Dev Gautam said that the Upper Karnali hydropower project will not only benefit the energy sector but will also contribute in the overall economic development of the nation. &ldquo;We are bringing in this huge investment for the first time,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;This will play a vital role in utilizing the resources in the favour of Nepali people&rdquo;.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Likewise, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh stated that GMR would complete the project in the time period mentioned in the PDA. &ldquo;GMR must complete the project in the stated time as it is concerned with India&rsquo;s credibility&rdquo;, he added.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>According to the PDA, GMR will have to collect the necessary fund within 2 years. GMR will invest 25 per cent of the total cost required for the project while the remaining investment will be collected through various international financial institutions, said Seson, president of Hydro Energy Business Unit of GMR. It is mentioned in the PDA that the project will have to be completed within 5 years after the total investment is collected. As such, the project will be completed by the year 2021. GMR will also build a 100 km transmission line which will be handed over to the government of Nepal after 25 years of operation. As per the PDA, Nepal will get 27 percent free equity and 12 percent free electricity from the project. The equity is equivalent to Rs 145 billion while 12 percent free energy amounts to 108 MW. The remaining 88 per cent can also be sold in Nepal if the need persists, said Seson. If not, India and Bangladesh are the potential market, he added.</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-17 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 13:51:49',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Dolma Impact Fund has announced to invest up to Rs 4 billion in different companies of Nepal. The fund has been providing organisational investment incentive to different companies in the country. The Fund has planned to invest in the companies related to education, agriculture, financial institutions, health sector and renewable energy: companies which have prospective to increase the income level and the employment opportunities within the country.',
			'sortorder' => '928',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '8',
			'title' => 'Biz News',
			'sortorder' => '546',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2017-05-03 15:27:12'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	)
)
$current_user = null
$logged_in = false
$issue_id = '704'
$issue_title = array()
include - APP/View/MagazineArticles/index.ctp, line 8
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): Trying to access array offset on value of type null [APP/View/MagazineArticles/index.ctp, line 8]
Code Context
<div class="container">

    <div class="page-header">

        <h2><strong><?php echo "New Business Age: ". $issue_title['MagazineIssue']['title']; ?></strong></h2>
$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/MagazineArticles/index.ctp'
$dataForView = array(
	'magazineArticles' => array(
		(int) 0 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 1 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 2 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 3 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 4 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 5 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 6 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 7 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 8 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 9 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 10 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 11 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 12 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 13 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 14 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 15 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 16 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 17 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 18 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 19 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 20 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 21 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 22 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 23 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 24 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 25 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 26 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 27 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 28 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 29 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 30 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 31 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		),
		(int) 32 => array(
			'MagazineArticle' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineIssue' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'MagazineCategory' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			),
			'User' => array(
				[maximum depth reached]
			)
		)
	),
	'current_user' => null,
	'logged_in' => false
)
$magazineArticles = array(
	(int) 0 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '941',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '31',
			'title' => 'Auto Dream',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Refusing to the demand of the automobile importers to reduce import duties on vehicles, Finance Minister Dr. Ram SharanMahathas promised them government support if they start vehicle manufacturing in the country. Given the increasing demand due to expansion in the road network ',
			'content' => '<p><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/edit(4).jpg" style="height:758px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></p>

<div>Refusing to the demand of the automobile importers to reduce import duties on vehicles, Finance Minister Dr. Ram SharanMahathas promised them government support if they start vehicle manufacturing in the country. &nbsp;Given the increasing demand due to expansion in the road network and resultant steady increase in import of all sorts of vehicles, Dr.Mahat&rsquo;s proposition seems plausible on cursory glance. But looking at the technicalities of the industry, automobile manufacturing in Nepal still seems a dream that needs a lot of efforts to realize. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>One prominent consideration will be that of scale. It may be possible to start assembling certain types of commercial vehicles, such as light goods carriers and farm implements. But the market for such Nepal-made vehicles will be limited within the country and such business will have stiff competition from imports due to quality considerations &ndash; real as well as perceptional. To overcome this barrier, a huge investment has to be made in procuring the technology. Whether that will make commercial sense is a big question. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Dr.Mahat&rsquo;s call has come at a time when Nepal&rsquo;s manufacturing sector is in continuous decline and trade deficit is in continuous rise. Any manufacturing activity that may start now will be welcome in such situation. But it has to be realized that the decline in manufacturing is due to many reasons and among them two are distinct. While everyone accepts the problem of power shortage, the other problem related to it, hostile labour, is not accepted by many.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>It is not that efforts are not being made to manufacture vehicles in Nepal. Hulas Motors of Golchha Organisation has been assembling some types of vehicles and its product line up has reached nine including Rickshaw and Jeep. Dr.BaburamBhattarai adopted its Mustang Max jeep as of the Prime Minister&rsquo;s official vehicle when he was in that office. But it is complaining of not only lack of government support but even hurdles posed by government to domestic manufacturers. Two plantsthat assembled Chinese bikes Lifan and Ying Yang were closed down soon after they were set up. These experiences need close studies to find out what exactly is needed before we start efforts to realise the dream of flourishing Nepali automobile industry.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>One reason the government does not support any manufacturing within the country is the revenue it gets from imports. And the growing and big flow of remittance is helping the government in this. The result is growing economy without employment growth. This vicious cycle can be broken only with solution to the power shortage problem. Some recent developments &ndash; the latest being the power trade agreement with India and finalization of project development agreement template for power projects to the satisfaction of investors &ndash; are good indications for the future. But that is not going to be enough for development of automobile industry.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Nepal already has a good automobile industry in the form of maintenance operations. These can easily upgrade to vehicle reconditioning operations if the policy and infrastructural hurdles are removed. Meanwhile, investment in backward integration can start and that requires expansion of the engineering colleges and setting up vehicle technology development centres.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>These centres should ideally be focused on developing electricity operated vehicles given the country&rsquo;s hydropower potentials.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>However, in the meantime, it would be wiser to reduce the import duty on vehicles, which are now not luxuries, but necessities as they are efficiency enhancing machines. A vehicle that is available across the border at Rs. 200,000 must not cost over one million rupees in Nepal.&nbsp;</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-08 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:29:25',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Refusing to the demand of the automobile importers to reduce import duties on vehicles, Finance Minister Dr. Ram SharanMahathas promised them government support if they start vehicle manufacturing in the country.',
			'sortorder' => '914',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '31',
			'title' => 'From the Editor',
			'sortorder' => '31',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2013-05-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 1 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '942',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '29',
			'title' => 'Feedback October 2014',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'The cover story of New Business Age’s September issue extensively explores the prospects of Nepal on being a land-linked country. Nepal is being touted as a golden land bridge between China and India - two growing economic giants on its north and south borders.',
			'content' => '<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/feed.jpg" style="float:left; height:323px; margin:0px 10px 0px 0px; width:250px" />Land Linked Nepal</strong></span></div>

<div>The cover story of New Business Age&rsquo;s September issue extensively explores the prospects of Nepal on being a land-linked country. Nepal is being touted as a golden land bridge between China and India - two growing economic giants on its north and south borders. However, becoming a geographical bridge and an economic and trade bridge between these two rising economies is a different thing. Nepal is not the only linkage between these two countries as they share common borders. Nepal becoming the trade route for these countries is basically in the interest of Nepal than theirs, as their common borders possess the possibility to develop a separate trade route.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;Therefore, it is the matter of economic diplomacy and Nepal&rsquo;s capacity to negotiate to make Nepal making as the passage and trade hub between two countries along with developing its infrastructure. It rests upon the shoulders of policy makers and diplomats on how much they can negotiate for the national benefits. India and China have publicly spoken on their partnership, and the economic relationship between these Asian giants can be expected to strengthen in the future. And, Nepal, strategically lying between them, should be able to harness benefits from this relationship. It is not impossible to develop Nepal as a trade route between these countries considering the fact that the sea route is relatively longer than transporting cargo via Nepal.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Though we do not have seaport, we do have sea of market by being a bridge in connecting these countries with world&rsquo;s largest population. We are linked to them via land and Nepal has to prove the saying that the country is not cursed being landlocked but is blessed to be land linked with the world&rsquo;s fastest growing economic powerhouses.</div>

<div style="text-align: right;"><strong>- Prashant Mainali,</strong> Sukedhara, Kathmandu</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>Biased Reporting</strong></span></div>

<div>SASTHM (Biratnagar) is a hotel management school. This is in reference to the different category of colleges New Business Age awarded in August. &nbsp;However, we were absolutely not aware of these kinds of ranking nor were we approached personally regarding this sort of evaluation. However, announcing winners by reputed media like you without prior assessment of other institutions that applied for the award is a bias reporting and such a practice tends to degrade the image of other institutions during the admission time. And, it ultimately renders a bad image for a prestigious magazine like yours. I hope my suggestions will be taken seriously and incidents like these will be corrected in the future.</div>

<div style="text-align: right;"><strong>- Roshan Thapa,</strong> MD SASTHM, Biratnagar</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em>(We had advertised about it repeatedly asking for details from different types of business schools including hotel management colleges. The advertisements appeared in this magazine as well as in Aarthik Abhiyan Daily and other dailies such as Nepal Samacharpatra and websites like abhiyan.com.np and newbusinessage.com. The awards jury, comprised of independent professionals made the final selection based on such information as well as other information available on public domain. <strong>-Editor</strong>)</em></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>Making a Strong Presence in Nepal</strong></span></div>

<div>Reading the Corporate Focus story in the September 2014 issues of New Business Age, it felt good to know that Kansai Nerolac Paints has been able to establish a strong presence in Nepal, despite being an international joint venture. Paints are normally considered harmful to health and emit strong unpleasant smell. It is praiseworthy that Nerolac Paints has come up with more eco-friendly products, provided that it is not just a marketing gimmick. As a customer, I have been using Nerolac Paints for a very long time and the paint has proved to be durable. It also offers many luxurious choices of paints at very affordable prices.&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align: right;"><strong>- Prativa Khanal,</strong> Kadaghari, Bhaktapur</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>Modification in Housing Industry</strong></span></div>

<div>The story about housing industry (Housing Industry: Growing and More to Grow) in the September issue of New Business Age was an interesting read. It was interesting to know that the housing sector has started to modify to address the demands and suggestions provided by its existing and potential customers. It&rsquo;s good that the new concept is being implemented in the projects but there are lots of other things that the housing systems need to care about. Current housing projects are quite congested and unorganized. New housing needs to be organised and systematic. Only profit-oriented business cannot solve this problem. I hope the new projects and modifications in the sector will address this issue.</div>

<div style="text-align: right;"><strong>- Aaron Adhikari,</strong> Via email</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>Successful Entrepreneur</strong></span></div>

<div>Bhatbhateni Supermarket and Departmental Store has emerged as a well managed and convenient shopping destination. Min Bahadur Gurung, managing director of the store is a living example of a successful entrepreneur. So, after reading the profile of Gurung published on New Business Age&rsquo;s website I also chose Gurung to write his profile as part of my college assignment. I wish him success in his future business endeavours.&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align: right;"><strong>- Shreeya Chaulagain,</strong> Via website</div>

<div style="text-align: right;">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align: right;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<hr /><em>Mail your feedback to P O Box 14197, Kathmandu or Email to &nbsp;editor@newbusinessage.com</em></div>

<div style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align: left;"><em>The mail will be edited for the purpose of clarity and brevity.&nbsp;</em>

<hr />
<p>&nbsp;</p>
</div>
</div>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-09 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:25:18',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'The cover story of New Business Age’s September issue extensively explores the prospects of Nepal on being a land-linked country. Nepal is being touted as a golden land bridge between China and India - two growing economic giants on its north and south borders.',
			'sortorder' => '915',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '29',
			'title' => 'Feedback',
			'sortorder' => '29',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2013-05-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 2 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '943',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '73',
			'title' => 'Voices October 2014',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => '‘The government is preparing for the formulation and amendment of nearly three dozen new and existing laws.”',
			'content' => '<div><span style="font-size:16px"><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/v(3).jpg" style="float:left; height:91px; margin:0px 10px 0px 0px; width:75px" />&lsquo;The government is preparing for the formulation and amendment of nearly three dozen new and existing laws.&rdquo;</strong></span></div>

<div>Finance Minister <strong>Dr Ram Sharan Mahat</strong>, explaining that the formulation of new laws and amendment of existing laws is necessary to give continuity to the liberalization policy initiated in the country in the early 1990s. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:16px"><strong><img alt="Shambhu Prasad Dahal, Chief Executive Officer of Sipradi Trading" src="/userfiles/images/v1(5).jpg" style="float:left; height:88px; margin:0px 10px 0px 0px; width:75px" />&lsquo;There is the possibility of assembling vehicles in Nepal and exporting them.&rsquo;</strong></span></div>

<div><strong>Shambhu Prasad Dahal</strong>, Chief Executive Officer of Sipradi Trading, arguing that different types of vehicles can be assembled in Nepal and exported if the assembling cost can be kept low.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:16px"><strong><img alt="Saurav Jyoti, President of Tax and Revenue Committee of FNCCI" src="/userfiles/images/v2(4).jpg" style="float:left; height:85px; margin:0px 10px 0px 0px; width:70px" />&lsquo;We need a Tax Clearance Commission.&rsquo;</strong></span></div>

<div><strong>Saurav Jyoti</strong>, President of Tax and Revenue Committee of FNCCI, arguing that such a commission is needed as there are more than 1000 tax related cases pending at the Tax Review Committee and the Revenue Tribunal.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:16px"><strong><img alt="Khadga Bahadur Bisht, President of Independent Power Producers’ Association, Nepal (IPPAN)" src="/userfiles/images/v3(6).jpg" style="float:left; height:91px; margin:0px 10px 0px 0px; width:75px" />&lsquo;The endorsement of the PDA (Project development agreement) of the Upper Karnali Hydroelectricity Project by the Cabinet is the biggest achievement for Nepal&rsquo;s hydropower sector after the government opened private investment in this sector in 1990.&rsquo;</strong></span></div>

<div><strong>Khadga Bahadur Bisht</strong>, President of Independent Power Producers&rsquo; Association, Nepal (IPPAN), hailing the endorsement of the PDA by the government and arguing that it proves there is market for large hydropower projects in Nepal.</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-09 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:25:43',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => '‘The endorsement of the PDA (Project development agreement) of the Upper Karnali Hydroelectricity Project by the Cabinet is the biggest achievement for Nepal’s hydropower sector after the government opened private investment in this sector in 1990.’',
			'sortorder' => '916',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '73',
			'title' => 'Voices',
			'sortorder' => '1',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2013-05-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 3 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '944',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '9',
			'title' => 'Biztoon October 2014',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Biztoon October 2014',
			'content' => '<p><img alt="Biztoon October 2014" src="/userfiles/images/biztoon(7).jpg" style="height:480px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></p>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-09 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:24:30',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Biztoon',
			'sortorder' => '917',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '9',
			'title' => 'Biztoon',
			'sortorder' => '9',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2017-05-03 15:30:17'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 4 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '945',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '49',
			'title' => 'Sexy Settings',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'What is most popular these days in Nepal? You may say, it is betting or netting and dating. You may be right to some extent, but I say the most practiced thing is the setting. Let’s look it into more details.',
			'content' => '<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/nlm(2).JPG" style="height:503px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>--By Madan Lamsal</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>What is most popular these days in Nepal? You may say, it is betting or netting and dating. You may be right to some extent, but I say the most practiced thing is the setting. Let&rsquo;s look it into more details.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Yes, betting is quite popular in Nepal&rsquo;s share market. Till recent past, the Nepali casinos were ahead in betting than the share market. But as the setting in the casinos became a bit weak, share market was ahead in the betting game. The retail investors in Nepal&rsquo;s share market buy or sell the stocks going by the grapevine than reading the balance sheets of the companies. This can be called betting. Therefore, when Dr Baburam Bhattarai became the Finance Minister, he had termed Nepal&rsquo;s share market as a casino where betting is the mainstay. And he was not wrong. However, even the betting in share market will not yield returns if the setting is not right.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Again, it is true that dating after netting, such as checking facebook, is quite popular and it is personal and a most favoured pastime of most Nepalis - be a youth or a senior citizen. They seem to spend most of their productive three to four hours of their day or night in netting and dating. If they don&rsquo;t spend few hours in netting, they feel they have missed a lot in their lives. Therefore, their eyes may be in one of the social sites. But again setting plays more dominant role also here. Netting and dating are not successful if the setting of the dating is not right. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>To be successful in Nepal in any field, especially in business and politics, you must know the art of setting. Otherwise you will fail. There is a special class in Nepali society which has become super rich just by the art of setting rather than by making a huge investment or knowledge of business. Therefore, setting is a new management mantra in Nepal. In fact, the management colleges should start teaching the art of setting to their students so that they are successful in their future profession as well as everyday life.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Nowadays, there are many news reports in the Nepali media that people, especially government officers, are caught or interrogated by the anti-corruption body, the CIAA. But the fact is that they were caught or interrogated just because they did not know the art of setting. Many who commit bigger wrongs are never caught because they know the art of setting.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>If you look at it minutely, it is an open secret that nothing moves in Nepal if one doesn&rsquo;t have proper setting in government offices or in the court, or in the company registrar&rsquo;s office or the customs offices. Be it for receiving a license or getting a job transfer or promotion in the bureaucracy, the role of setting is paramount. So, more than the educational certificates or anything else, setting is the most important factor. If you don&rsquo;t know this art, you may have to lose your job or your business also.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Nobody seems to have peeped deep to see why the constitution could not be made in the first Constituent Assembly. It was just because the setting among the top gang-of-four leaders of three parties could not happen. Even now, however hard the people or CA members harp on the new constitution string, if the setting among this gang-of-four is not proper, it will not happen again. This gang calls it &lsquo;consensus&rsquo;, but it is nothing but another word for setting.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Therefore, this &lsquo;setting&rsquo; is not only omnipresent and omnipotent, but also cool and sexy. Don&rsquo;t you agree?</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-09 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:24:13',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'What is most popular these days in Nepal? You may say, it is betting or netting and dating. You may be right to some extent, but I say the most practiced thing is the setting. Let’s look it into more details.',
			'sortorder' => '918',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '49',
			'title' => 'No Laughing Matter',
			'sortorder' => '500',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2017-05-03 15:12:06'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 5 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '946',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '39',
			'title' => '“Hydroelectric project is not a zero-sum game”',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Alok Rawat is the Water Resources Secretary of India. Leading an Indian delegation, he was recently in Kathmandu to attend a two-day meeting of the governing board of the Pancheswar Multipurpose Project. After the conclusion of the meeting, Rawat answered the questions',
			'content' => '<div><span style="font-size:14px"><img alt="Alok Rawat, Water Resources Secretary, India" src="/userfiles/images/in.JPG" style="height:503px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:14px">Alok Rawat is the Water Resources Secretary of India. Leading an Indian delegation, he was recently in Kathmandu to attend a two-day meeting of the governing board of the Pancheswar Multipurpose Project. After the conclusion of the meeting, Rawat answered the questions of Nepali journalists on the various aspects of the ambitious project. <strong>Excerpts:</strong></span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Will you say something on DPR of Pancheswar?</strong></div>

<div>Over a period of time, there is a need for rechecking the data that are available in Nepal and India. So, instruments need to be checked. And, unless the Detailed Project Report (DPR) is prepared as per the latest available data, it would hardly be appropriate to have such a large multipurpose project of 5600 MW capacity. DPR has to be conducted in a proper manner so that this project becomes an example of mutual cooperation leading to the adoption of the best practices and setting up of the project that meets the state-of-the-art technology.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>A lot of Nepali land will be submerged after the construction of the Pancheswar dam. A number of people will have to be displaced. What will happen to them?&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>Taking care of the people whose land will be submerged, whose crops will be lost and whose poverty is going to be deepened is an ongoing process. So, all these concerns have to be mentioned in the documentation. If there were 100 people in 2000, there could be more in 2013. And, if there were 30 houses there could be 50 houses now or decreased to 10 houses. Such data has to be consolidated.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>When will the office of Pancheswar be established and when can we see its leadership appointed?</strong></div>

<div>In the second meeting in Delhi, we had agreed to appoint Co-Chairman within a month. We hope to be in a position to make a decision on further courses of action based on the adequacy of the available data and also identify the data that needs to be further screened. An agency will look into the data available in India and Nepal. It will begin work without waiting for a formal order. We both are in a democratic system where such decisions are taken by another vicious stage of red tapes. We have decided that we will ask an agency called WAPCOS working in Nepal to undertake this exercise. And, I am told that some of their people will start compilation and collation of information soon.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The statute of the Pancheswhor Development Authority defines what the Authority is supposed to do and how it will function. It is the internal rules of the authority based on the principles established by the Mahakali Treaty signed between Nepal and India. This also establishes the terms of references that has been approved in the Treaty. Both the parties have reached an accord and signed the agreement. It is being implemented starting today.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Has India quantified the downstream benefits?</strong></div>

<div>Prime Minister Narendra Modi&rsquo;s visit to Nepal resulted in activities which have been lying dormant for almost 19 years. So, why not take things as they come in the spirit of mutual benefit and cooperation? India and Nepal are neighbours and they have historical ties of blood, culture, often governments. So many of the distinguished and decorated soldiers in the Indian army are from Nepal. The issues of water and power have other issues as well. It could hardly be appropriate on my part to reply to a question related to a particular sector or a particular project. If my country and your country are committed on going forward leaving the past baggage behind, would there be a need for a post-mortem?&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>India has a river-linking project. What are the expectations on regulated water from Nepal?</strong></div>

<div>The interlinking of rivers started more than one hundred years back during the British rule. To the best of what I can relate to it, there were eight interlinking projects that were already working. One of them was possibly in 1868 or 1883. So, interlinking is not a new concept. Interlinking by itself would tend to be in nature of a dynamic process. Some 20 years earlier, our rivers may be perennial and having surplus water enough for its own basic requirement. But 20 years down the line, the water flow in the rainy season is not adequate for the existing requirements. Then 20 years later, the drinking water requirement and agriculture requirement would definitely be different from now. So, the interlinking of rivers has a number of components. There are rivers in India like Yamuna which are small but which were carrying surplus water during the rainy season. About 30 years back, this surplus water was utilized by the state governments of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh for the betterment of everyone. There is a lot of talk about linking Ken-Betwa between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in India. The excess water of Ken-Betwa would be supplied to 1.6 million people of Bundelkhand as drinking water.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="Alok Rawat, Water Resources Secretary, India" src="/userfiles/images/in1(1).jpg" style="float:left; height:255px; margin:0px 10px 0px 0px; width:300px" />Where will the office of Pancheswar be established and what is the mechanism for appointing its CEO and other officials? &nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>Pancheswar&rsquo;s headquarter will be established in Mahendranagar. But, until the office is established, the operation will take place from Kathmandu. The officials of the Pancheswar Development Authority will have six executive directors. For appointing them, three directorial divisions will be formed that will consist of a CEO and an additional CEO. The CEO will be appointed from Nepal for the initial three years and the additional CEO will be appointed from India. The statute mentions the appointment of other officials. If the need persists, other officials will also be appointed either through deputation, new appointment or through other methods. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>New Delhi would be hosting the next secretary level meeting on Pancheswar. What would be the agenda of this meeting?&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>In bilateral relations, when the negotiation takes place between two countries, it is the host country that prepares the agenda and submits to the visiting delegations. We&rsquo;ve had our talk yesterday and today. And the next meeting will be after one month. So, there is lot of time for the preparation of the agenda. As India is the host country, it would be preparing the agenda.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>When would the benefits of Pancheswar be visible and felt by people and in what form?</strong></div>

<div>The time frame of the actual benefits of the project would be known in precise terms when the DPR is ready. However, as the work of DPR preparation starts, activities on the ground which also implies provision of employment for some, for example may be to drive the vehicle and so forth, will be visible. So, I don&rsquo;t think at this juncture we can precisely quantify by when we expect it to be ready.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Unlike a thermal project, a hydro electric project is not a zero-sum game. There are lots of uncertainties inherent in that. For instance, you are digging up an underground. What is the guarantee that the place where you are doing the hypothetical study will hit a solid rock? &nbsp;How would you be able to find out whether the solid rock is 10 meters below or 50 meters below or whether the rock is strong enough or static enough to reach the fissure when the weight of the water body comes into that? That will again define how much the construction time would be required or how much efforts would be required. Therefore, it may not be possible to precisely quantify the numbers.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;We can exactly find out the cost and benefit only after the detailed report is prepared and submitted to the respective governments. Then it needs to be agreed upon jointly. If the governments feel that there must be some modification or some components need to be further studied and reframed, then it will be done. Unless and until the DPR is agreed upon by both the governments, you cannot go further. Once the agreement is reached, the project will be initiated and then further variations will be done.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>What is the idea of the need for creating awareness at each stage of project development especially in respect to RNR (Risk Need Responsibility) issues?</strong></div>

<div>RNR is a relatively new and challenging issue. In fact, it is very complex because it relates to the proprietary rights of the people. It is linked with people&rsquo;s mind and heart. There are also certain serious confrontations that people raise during the land acquisition. It happens generally. A very reasonable and balanced programme needs to be developed so that the people will be satisfied and feel like they own the project. The project will only proceed if people feel the sense of ownership. Therefore, flexible and balanced programme needs to be developed in order to get their properties with good compensation, required supplement and rehabilitation.</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-09 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:22:51',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Alok Rawat is the Water Resources Secretary of India. Leading an Indian delegation, he was recently in Kathmandu to attend a two-day meeting of the governing board of the Pancheswar Multipurpose Project. After the conclusion of the meeting, Rawat answered the questions of Nepali journalists on the various aspects of the ambitious project. Excerpts:',
			'sortorder' => '919',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '39',
			'title' => 'Interview',
			'sortorder' => '502',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2017-05-03 15:12:10'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 6 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '947',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '53',
			'title' => 'The Art of Being Content',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Sashi Raj Pandey, CEO of Shree Investment and Finanace Company Ltd and President of Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry is busy these days preparing for approaching merger of Shree Finance with Bank of Kathmandu. Pandey started Shree Finance ',
			'content' => '<div><img alt="Sashi Raj Pandey, CEO of Shree Investment and Finanace Company Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/p1(1).JPG" style="height:452px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>--By Sujan Tiwari</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Sashi Raj Pandey, CEO of Shree Investment and Finanace Company Ltd and President of Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry is busy these days preparing for approaching merger of Shree Finance with Bank of Kathmandu. Pandey started Shree Finance in the year 1994 and after 20 years of operation, the company is going to be merged with Bank of Kathmandu along with two other financial institutions.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&ldquo;I want to successfully handover Shree Finannce to Bank of Kathmandu. I think this is my child, and I am where I am because of my depositors&rsquo; faith in me. &nbsp;I have to carry out the safe transfer of the deposits,&rdquo; says Pandey. According to him, Shree Finance is going to be merged with Bank of Kathmandu along with Nepal Express Finance Limited and International Leasing and Finance Company (ILFC) within the end of 2014. Pandey hopes to be in the Board of the newly formed bank, and wants to share his expertise. Shree Finance has already received the Letter of Intent from Nepal Rastra Bank and signed the MoU with Bank of Kathmandu for the process. &ldquo;After this, Bank of Kathmandu will probably become one of biggest banks with the capital of 4.3 billion rupees,&rdquo; says Pandey.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Before starting Shree Finance, Pandey worked for the government for about 20 years. He started his career as Section Officer (Technical) in Ministry of Transportation in 1972. He got promoted to Under Secretary, and was later appointed as General Manager of Nepal Transit and Warehousing Company. He worked there for about three years and resigned from government job in 1994.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;&ldquo;I left the government job because the standard of bureaucracy was deteriorating, and I didn&rsquo;t feel like working for government. I had a lot of offers to go abroad but I didn&rsquo;t take them,&rdquo; says Pandey. He was inclined to do something in the country itself. That was the same time when economic liberalization and market economy were popular terms and finance companies were just starting in Nepal. When Pandey started Shree Finance, it was the 21st finance company to operate in Nepal. It was started with the capital of ten million rupees. Today, Shree Finanace has a paid up capital of around 200 million rupees.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="Sashi Raj Pandey, CEO of Shree Investment and Finanace Company Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/p(3).jpg" style="float:left; height:604px; margin:0px 10px 0px 0px; width:300px" />Early Life</strong></div>

<div>Pandey was born to Late Govinda Raj Pandey and Lalita Pandey in Dillibazar in 1946. He went to St Xaviers School, and appeared in SLC exams from Padmodaya School. Pandey says he was a very sporty child and liked to participate in various sports. &ldquo;I concentrated more on sports rather than studies, still I never failed in any subjects,&rdquo; recalls he. He was also on the national cricket team. He did I Sc from Amrit Science College.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Pandey&rsquo;s forefathers were all in civil service and service in palace. His father served Ministry of Foreign Affairs for about 25 years, and was Acting Secretary of General Administration Ministry when he retired. So as a young man, he thought that he would be also in the same line of work. When his father was transferred to Russia, and he went along with him. He did M Sc in Mechanical Engineering from Friendship University Moscow in 1971. He returned to Nepal in 1972 and joined Ministry of Transportation. &nbsp;In 1981, he received another Masters degree from MIT, USA. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Spiritual Side</strong></div>

<div>A deeply spiritual man, Pandey is associated with Art of Living Foundation and is in the Board of Art of Living Nepal. He is also the Immediate Past President of Art of Living Nepal. &ldquo;In my early days, I hated godmen and holy people. I used to think they were all phonies, but my wife was very spiritual and wanted me to change my thoughts,&rdquo; says he. He wasn&rsquo;t even deeply religious back then.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>One day, when he and his wife went for a morning walk, he saw an advertisement of course of Art of Living. His wife insisted him to join the take the course. The couple went for the course, and Pandey was impressed by the discourse there. &nbsp;&ldquo;The course consisted of pranayam, yoga and there were preaching that made sense to me. The essence of the teachings there was to live in the present, and I liked the teachings,&rdquo; recalls Pandey. On the last day of the course, Founder of Art of Living Foundation Ravi Shankar was also present. Pandey was impressed by his simplicity and personality.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The same evening, there was a programme of Art of Living in Soaltee Hotel. &nbsp;After the programme, Ravi Shanker was meeting all those who were present and Pandey was also in the queue. When his turn came, to his surprise, Ravi Shankar hugged him. &ldquo;When he hugged me, I felt like current passed through my body, and there were tears in his eyes. I told him at that very moment that I was all his. From that moment, I am his ardent disciple,&rdquo; says Pandey. It was in April of 1999. After that, he was an avid follower of Art of Living Foundation and Ravi Shankar.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In 2003, formal Chapter of Art of Living was established in Nepal, and Pandey was personally nominated as the President by Ravi Shankar. He had the responsibility of managing the organization and spreading the message of Ravi Shankar. &ldquo;We used to bring in teachers from India back then. Now we have more than hundred Nepali teachers in Art of living. There are district offices in six places in Nepal, and more than forty thousand people have completed the course,&rdquo; says Pandey. &nbsp; &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&ldquo;If you want to have a smile on your face, I urge everyone to be spiritual. Spirituality teaches you contentedness. You let go of greed and lost and all other vices. Spirituality helps you in this,&rdquo; says he. According to him, spirituality starts from where logic ends.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Personal Side</strong></div>

<div>Pandey married Urmila Pandey in February of 1972. Pandey believes that there is a woman behind every successful man, and he believes his wife is that woman for him. &ldquo;She is my inspiration and motivation in everything I do,&rdquo; says he. The couple has a son and daughter Adarsha and Kanchan.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Pandey loves to watch sports on TV, especially football and cricket. He gives time to his family on holidays, and goes for shopping with his wife and goes for outings. He is also interested in gardening. Travelling is another hobby of his, and has travelled extensively. He has been to almost all the countries except those in &nbsp;South America and Australia. He has plans of travelling there as well. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believing working overtime. Nobody stays overtime in my office unless it is very necessary,&rdquo; says he. He doesn&rsquo;t go to parties very often, and attends essential ones only.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>He says he was very short tempered man before, but it has come down by more than 95 per cent, thanks to Art of Living. &ldquo;Though I am in a very stressful job, I have learnt to keep my calm, and Art of Living has taught me that,&rdquo; says he. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Philosophies</strong></div>

<div>Pandey says that people either repent for the past or worry for the future and they forget to enjoy the moment that they have. &ldquo;I am strictly against this. I live in the present moment; I accept future as it unfolds. No one can plan for the future as we don&rsquo;t know what is going to happens even a moment from now. I want to enjoy in the present moment,&rdquo; says He.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>On management, Pandey says he believes in participatory management. &ldquo;You have to let your employees know what is required of them, and you have to believe in teamwork. One individual has no place in any organization; it&rsquo;s all about the team work,&rdquo; says He. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>A surprising thing about Pandey is that he has no personal secretary. &ldquo;Anyone can walk in my office at any time. I believe those who work with the public should not stay inside closed doors, their doors should be open to all,&rdquo; says he. &nbsp;Pandey dislikes those who have two sets of standards.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>According to Pandey, success is what others perceive of you, real success means to be content with what you have. &ldquo;I am contented with what I have. I am satisfied with my job and family, and I consider myself successful for that,&rdquo; says he. He says that he doesn&rsquo;t ever want to get retired. &ldquo;I am 67 now and I am still active. I don&rsquo;t want to degenerate myself by living a retired life. I want to live an active life as long as my health permits,&rdquo; says he.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Advice</strong></div>

<div>No matter how powerful you are, Pandey advices never to take the law of land into your hands. &ldquo;Success is directly related to transparency and working lawfully. If you maintain these two things, you will be successful,&rdquo; advices Pandey.</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-09 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:23:44',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Sashi Raj Pandey, CEO of Shree Investment and Finanace Company Ltd and President of Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry is busy these days preparing for approaching merger of Shree Finance with Bank of Kathmandu. Pandey started Shree Finance in the year 1994 and after 20 years of operation, the company is going to be merged with Bank of Kathmandu along with two other financial institutions.',
			'sortorder' => '920',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '53',
			'title' => 'Personality',
			'sortorder' => '504',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2017-05-03 15:15:47'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 7 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '948',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '58',
			'title' => 'Enterprise for Greener Homes',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => '',
			'content' => '<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/se.JPG" style="height:243px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>--By Gaurav Aryal</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The amalgamation of circumstances and innovative thinking has made Suman Shakya, managing director of One Planet Solution Pvt Ltd that owns brands such as Smart Paani and Smart Urja, an entrepreneur with a social cause. The crisis of drinking water he faced during his school days in Kalingpong made him wish he would never have to face water shortage ever after. While constructing a house for his family in Kathmandu, he materialised his wish by installing a rainwater harvesting system. While the people of Kathmandu valley were in deep woes of water short-supply, Shakya and his family had no reasons to worry. Shakya says, since then his house is not connected to piped drinking water supplied by the Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL).</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Installation of rainwater harvesting system at his home was not an easy process as there was no one offering such services commercially. There were NGOs and INGOs working on rainwater harvesting but they were not providing services to anyone else than their targeted communities and users. Shakya&rsquo;s friend and now his business partner, &nbsp;known as Tiger, had knowledge and working experiences on rainwater harvesting. He proved a godsend to Shakya.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Selling the Need</strong></div>

<table align="right" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:25px">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td><img alt="Suman Shakya, Managing Director, One Planet Solution Pvt Ltd" src="/userfiles/images/se1.JPG" style="border-style:solid; border-width:0px; height:239px; width:200px" /></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<div>
			<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Suman Shakya</strong></div>

			<div style="text-align: center;">Managing Director</div>

			<div style="text-align: center;">One Planet Solution Pvt Ltd</div>
			</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<div style="text-align: center;">Shakya not only installed a rainwater harvesting system at his home but also planted a business idea. He thought that offering on-demand services will work as a business as well as a pious job to provide people with water to drink. Realising underlying business prospects, Shakya and his five friends set up an office. The same venture won the Surya Nepal Asha Social Entrepreneurship Award earlier this year.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Neither Shakya nor his friends and relatives had imagined that their initiative would take a shape of a successful business. They were even ready to settle for sustenance rather than making large profit. But the lady luck had something in store for them as there were numerous benefits of rainwater harvesting such as groundwater recharge and utilisation of clean water available in the nature for free of cost. As it can also be easily made drinkable, he saw huge prospects for expansion. Shakya says that the company is growing 100 per cent annually.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Branding the Business</strong></div>

<div>Shakya recalls that his team spent two weeks pondering over an appropriate name for their venture. They wanted the name to be easy and catchy. Eventually it was branded Smart Paani. &ldquo;From that day we have been dedicated to make Smart Paani synonymous to rainwater harvesting,&rdquo; states Shakya, &ldquo;People buy trust not a black tank. It is the brand that wins trust in the service industry.&rdquo;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Quenching the Thirst</strong></div>

<div>KUKL has been failing to quench the thirst of Kathmandu Valley for many years now. On the other hand, rainwater that can be easily made drinkable and used for every household needs, has been wasted. UN says a person needs 50 litres and KUKL says 100 litres but Shakya says a person needs 70 litres of water in a day. So a family of four members needs 280 litres of water every day and 102,000 litres of water in a year.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Furthermore, he explains that a house built in three anas of land has a rooftop of 1000 square feet. On an average, Kathmandu experiences 1430 millimetres of annual rainfall. And, this house can collect 143,000 litres of rain. If 20 per cent of it is thrown away for purity of collected water, 120,000 litres of usable rainwater can be collected in a year. Shakya opines that it is enough to meet an annual need for a small family. However storing it all can be a problem. He adds that rainwater usage during the rainy season reduces the purchase supplied by KUKL or tankers and also minimises groundwater extraction. Shakya says that even during the dry season, 40,000 litres of water can be collected. So, rainwater harvesting could be an easy and cost effective method of minimising drinking water woes in Kathmandu and other places. Shakya says that installing a rainwater harvesting system for a household costs less than a new iPhone.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Expanding Commercially</strong></div>

<div>Within two and a half years of establishment, Smart Paani has made 215 clients which Shakya feels is not a disappointing figure. He shares that overwhelming demand is also coming from outside Kathmandu Valley. Recently, a franchisee has been started in Pokhara. And, the company is planning to expand to 11 urban areas outside the capital city within a year. The company is also planning to work in Dharan and Surkhet in the near future. The company has offered its services to commercial clients such as resorts and hotels in Pokhara and Nagarkot and Shakya says he has been receiving requests from Nepalgunj as well.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Smart Paani, brand owned by One Planet Solution Pvt Ltd does not establish its offices in other places but provides franchisee to interested entrepreneurs. Shakya says that the parent company provides technology inputs, working business model and even provides clients to them as the central office in Kathmandu often receives client requests.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Offering Products and Services</strong></div>

<div>Apart from rainwater harvesting, Smart Paani is offering various other products and services such as grey water recycling for both domestic and commercial purpose. Such recycled water can be reused for washing vehicles, landscaping and flushing toilets, among other usages. Similarly, the company also provides biosand filter for making rainwater drinkable along with offering black water recycling services.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Saraswati Higher Secondary School at Thecho is one of the clients of Smart Paani where rainwater is harvested for using at the school and the excess water is diverted into a well that recharges 5.4 million litres of groundwater in a year. Likewise, rainwater harvesting is installed at Sajha Yatayat premises at Pulchowk where 10,000 kilolitres of water is collected for washing buses.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Smart Paani initially a brand under One Planet Solutions, has now grown as a subsidiary of the parent company. Now, the company is growing Smart Urja, new brand for working in the clean energy sector. It focuses on producing energy from waste as well as harnessing solar power. Similar to Smart Paani that was started from Shakya&rsquo;s home, Smart Urja started by installing its services at the company&rsquo;s office building that completely relies on solar power.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Designing the Future</strong></div>

<div>Shakya envisions developing a large scale solar energy project in Nepal. He says that One Planet Solution will constantly move ahead in delivering innovative water and energy solutions. The company has been working on Smart Stove that aims at making homes pollution free. Shakya says that more smart plans and ventures are being designed to make the company a sustainable private sector establishment dedicated to renewable energy. He also envisages providing such services on a mass scale once the current ventures reach a certain growth point.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/se2(1).jpg" style="height:287px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-09 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:26:51',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'The amalgamation of circumstances and innovative thinking has made Suman Shakya, managing director of One Planet Solution Pvt Ltd that owns brands such as Smart Paani and Smart Urja, an entrepreneur with a social cause.',
			'sortorder' => '921',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '58',
			'title' => 'Social Entrepreneurship',
			'sortorder' => '58',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2013-06-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 8 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '949',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '19',
			'title' => 'Nepal Life Insurance: Splitting Shares to Grow',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Within the eleven years of operation, Nepal Life Insurance Company has set up an excellent business record and built a strong financial position. Now the company wants to split its shares of Rs. 100 as face value to Rs. 10 each. ',
			'content' => '<div><img alt="Nepal Life Insurance Company" src="/userfiles/images/cf(2).jpg" style="height:347px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>--By Rashika Pokharel</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Within the eleven years of operation, Nepal Life Insurance Company has set up an excellent business record and built a strong financial position. Now the company wants to split its shares of Rs. 100 as face value to Rs. 10 each. And that has created ripples across the market as to how the company is going to execute this idea. The latest Annual General Meeting of the company has already approved this proposal, but the company is yet to get approval from the regulators.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The main reason behind splitting of shares is to make more people able to buy the company&rsquo;s shares from the stock exchange. The Rs. 100 face value shares of the company are trading at around Rs. 3,700 per share in recent weeks.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&quot;At this rate, it is difficult for the ordinary people to afford investing in bigger amount of shares. This plan will make the shares affordable to these people and pave way for them invest and enjoy the returns.,&rdquo; says Vivek Jha, CEO of Nepal Life Insurance Company.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>But the split is not going to make any difference on this. At present, with Rs. 100 as face value, an investor has to buy at least 10 shares which means an investment of Rs 37,000. After the split, an investor has to buy minimum of 100 shares, which again means Rs. 37,000.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The prevailing Companies Act 2006 does not have provision allowing to split shares, but neither is it prohibited. Same is the case with other laws related to the companies. But splitting shares is a prevailing international practice. However, the Companies Act 2006 has specified that the face value of a share of a company shall be Rs. 100. Therefore, the company is still not sure how the government will respond to its plans. But the company&rsquo;s management claims that a way forward will definitely come out, as their intentions on doing so are noble.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>When a company splits shares and as a result the number of shareholders increases multiple times, it can bring corresponding rise in complications to manage company affairs. For example, its share register will be long, communicating with the large number of shareholders and organising shareholders meetings will be difficult. &nbsp;But the company says that will be managed with technology. The Central depository system (CDS) will help in this, they say.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&quot;Concerned authorities have been reviewing our request. They have approached the government and so far we have not received any positive indications. It is a challenging proposition, as existing laws do not cover the issue,&quot; says Jha.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The company believes that the authorities will accept the proposal as it is not going to affect the insurance operations of the company. It will affect only the ownership. Jha claims that the company has been performing very well and has increased its productivity and market share in the recent years. In the last four years the company almost doubled its market share from 22 per cent to 41 per cent. Business grew by nearly 100 per cent last year and during the first two months of this year its business has grown by 100 per cent.&quot;There is huge potential for the company in the market and right now NLIC is trying to tap these potentials in a better way. We feel that we will perform even better in the coming days by improving our services,&rdquo; Jha says.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Customer Satisfaction: A Major Priority</strong></div>

<table align="right" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:25px">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td><img alt="Vivek Jha, CEO, Nepal Life Insurance Company" src="/userfiles/images/cf1(7).jpg" style="border-style:solid; border-width:0px; height:239px; width:200px" /></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<div>
			<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Vivek Jha</strong></div>

			<div style="text-align: center;">CEO</div>

			<div style="text-align: center;">Nepal Life Insurance Company</div>
			</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<div style="text-align: center;">The Company prioritizes customer satisfaction and claims that it is trying increase and expand its reach across the country. It gives special emphasis on capacity building of its staff members and most importantly its agents, who are in direct contact with the clients. &quot;Almost 99.9 per cent business in this sector is through agents. So, first of all agents have to build up trust with the people and only then the company will gain their trust,&quot; informs Jha.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Recent Activities and Plans&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>The company is planning to increase agents across the country and subsequently increase its penetration. Along with that it is also increasing its service portfolio by introducing more products. It has lined up two more products for the market by the end of this current fiscal year. Among its products, the money back plan is one of the best as it provides fast money returns within two, three or four years to its client.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&quot;There is lack of awareness and trust on insurance company. Nobody is willing to wait for 15 years to get the returns. Everybody wants fast return. Our money back plan aims to increase the trust of people on insurance companies. We have high liquidity products and they are doing quite good,&quot; says Jha. The money back plan is the largest selling product of the company and thus it wants to introduce more choices in this segment.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The company&#39;s return to the share-holders has taken a massive leap in the last two year and its share price in the market has boomed.&quot;Increase in our share price have not only benefitted investors but has also immensely increased trust level of normal people on the company,&rdquo; Jha asserted.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>&nbsp;Company&#39;s Growth Rate</strong></div>

<div>The company has been able to attract large numbers of investors in the recent years. Presently it has 10,000 shareholders and around 1 million policyholders.&quot;Investors will be automatically attracted to the company&rsquo;s business if we can double the number of shareholders to 20,000. Our objective is providing opportunities to a lot of people for investing in our company,&quot; Jha informed.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Employment</strong></div>

<div>NLIC has been providing direct employment to 300 employees, and indirect employment to over 13,000 agents that have enlisted around one million policy holders &quot;We have highly productive young employees. The average age of our employees is around 26 years and this has kept us ahead of others,&quot; informs Jha.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The company operates through its more than 100 outlets throughout the nation. It has 30 main branches and rest are sub branches, extension counters and cells. It is presently working on connecting these outlets through an online system. &quot;We are working on connecting our branches directly our corporate office through an online system called Real Time system. Most of our outlets are already connected and we are working on connecting the remaining ones,&rdquo; Jha informed. The company has branches in all major cities of the country including presence in rural areas such as Humla, Jumla, Taplejung, among others. Jha said that the company is planning to have outlets along the Madhya Pahadi Rajmarga (mid-hill highway).</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-09 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:20:51',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Within the eleven years of operation, Nepal Life Insurance Company has set up an excellent business record and built a strong financial position. Now the company wants to split its shares of Rs. 100 as face value to Rs. 10 each. And that has created ripples across the market as to how the company is going to execute this idea. The latest Annual General Meeting of the company has already approved this proposal, but the company is yet to get approval from the regulators.',
			'sortorder' => '922',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '19',
			'title' => 'Corporate Focus',
			'sortorder' => '530',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-04-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 9 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '950',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '13',
			'title' => 'MBA for Working Managers',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Along with MBA and BBA there were lot of other options available for fresh graduates or regular students who aspired to gain a degree in management studies. But the options were limited for the working entrepreneurs or managers who wanted to sharpen their skills ',
			'content' => '<div><img alt="Business Education" src="/userfiles/images/be(6).jpg" style="height:537px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>--By Upashana Neupane</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Along with MBA and BBA there were lot of other options available for fresh graduates or regular students who aspired to gain a degree in management studies. But the options were limited for the working entrepreneurs or managers who wanted to sharpen their skills or upgrade their status in their field or start their own enterprise. Now, they too have an option in the form of Executive MBA or EMBA.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>MBA or EMBA are graduate level business degree especially designed for working professionals of the same field. These are post-experience management education programmes that help managers learn to change and grow in their career. They are lot like a regular MBA programmes only that they are primarily designed to educate working executives, managers, entrepreneurs, and other business leaders.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Executive MBA was started in the early 1980s as a response to the need of the post experience education was felt. It was introduced as MBA for working managers, for the people working in managerial sectors who had no MBA backgrounds. It aimed to furbish their managerial performance at their respective institutions.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In Nepal, Ace Institute of Management started the EMBA programme in 1999 under the affiliation of Pokhara University, while Kathmandu University School of Management (KUSOM) started its EMBA programme in 2000.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Different from MBA</strong></div>

<div>EMBA and MBA programmes generally attract people of different ages and at points in their career lives. These programmes are somehow similar in content but the EMBA classes are of faster paces, which allow students to receive their degree in two years or less while working full time. EMBA Programme emphasises applied learning, leadership and personal skill development, and a global mindset.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Subas KC, dean at KUSOM shares that the EMBA is more generalist programme while MBA is more specialised programme. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve designed EMBA focusing more on the things like leadership and skills enhancement which is needed for a working professional to enhance their career,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;We are focusing particularly on those skills which are direct and visibly necessary for them.&rdquo;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Similarly, Kumar Thapa, former Associate Director of EMBA programme at Ace Institute of Management also shares same feeling, &ldquo;EMBA is more fundamental- general class which is elective not specialized and the course is more focused on what working professionals need in the workplace,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;While MBA is more academic and specialized course.&rdquo;&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>With that, the cohorts also often turn into a valuable network that students can tap long after they receive their degree. KC shares there have been lot of cases where students from managerial background have switched to start their own enterprises as they develop a strong network from the wider range of opportunities provided by the college.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>There are various factors people join EMBA. KC shares that &ldquo;most of the students join the programme to perform better in current job, some to upgrade their current position in their organisation. Basically, all want to develop their ability and skills to choose a better path in their career. Some people want to change their career also, so they join to gain a better perspective and opportunities.&rdquo;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Growing Trend</strong></div>

<div>Executive MBA is a good opportunity that is made available for the working people who want to upgrade their career and the attraction towards it is increasing lately. People from various background: corporate sector, public and development sector, entrepreneurship sector, everyone is now willing to join the programme for various reasons. Mostly, senior level executives join the programme but Thapa believes that lately younger people are joining this programme with relatively short working experience.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>KC believes that the trend has been good so far and believes that it will remain same for some more years but he said that the course needs should be revised and redesigned after some years.</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-09 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:20:08',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Along with MBA and BBA there were lot of other options available for fresh graduates or regular students who aspired to gain a degree in management studies. But the options were limited for the working entrepreneurs or managers who wanted to sharpen their skills or upgrade their status in their field or start their own enterprise. Now, they too have an option in the form of Executive MBA or EMBA.',
			'sortorder' => '923',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '13',
			'title' => 'Business Education',
			'sortorder' => '520',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-04-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 10 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '951',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '47',
			'title' => 'Games To Delay The Constitution',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'As it happened to be, the much-awaited all-party political conference or round table conference – to use a more popular phrase- which was supposed to see a dialogue take place among the three major parties represented in the Constituent Assembly (CA) and the parties outside it,',
			'content' => '<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/np(7).jpg" style="height:505px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>
<div><strong>--By Akhilesh Tripathi</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>As it happened to be, the much-awaited all-party political conference or round table conference &ndash; to use a more popular phrase- which was supposed to see a dialogue take place among the three major parties represented in the Constituent Assembly (CA) and the parties outside it, on the contentious issues of constitution drafting, fell flat. The reason was, as we all know, the 33-party alliance led by Mohan Baidya-led CPN-Maoist which is not represented in the CA and which had been demanding such a conference for a long time rejected to participate in the conference in the eleventh hour. The leaders of the CPN-Maoist and the 33-party alliance outside the CA never turned up for the conference. The CPN-Maoist communicated its decision not to attend the conference when Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and other political leaders had taken their seats at the planned venue inside the CA building. Thus, the politicians&rsquo; latest effort to seek consensus on contentious constitutional issues went in vain. But thankfully, as the conference failed to take off, it became clear that the Maoists had thrown the conference card only to delay the new constitution by affecting the CA calendar.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Some people might think that this was bad for the country and the constitution drafting process as an opportunity to forge consensus on thorny issues of constitution drafting inside as well as outside the CA was missed. But in fact, this was good for the country and the constitution drafting process as the real intent of the CPN-Maoist and other dissenting parties outside the CA was exposed without losing any further time. Their real intent was to delay the constitution drafting process by the CA under one or another pretext. In fact, Baidya and company have, time and again, publicly expressed their disenchantment with the constitution drafting process by the CA. After all, they boycotted the second CA elections terming it &ldquo;a meaningless exercise&rdquo;.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>One political game to affect the CA&rsquo;s calendar and delay the constitution drafting process was exposed in the form of the failed all-party political conference. But other such games continue - some within the CA itself - in the name of seeking consensus on the key issues including form of governance and restructuring of the state, election system and judiciary. One serious blame is leveled against the very Constitutional-Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee (CPDCC) of the CA that was formed to hold discussions on the thorny issues of constitution drafting and build consensus on them. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The blame is that the CPDCC has been trying to delay the constitution drafting process to find the mirage called consensus. The CPDCC led by UCPN (Maoist) leader and former PM Dr Baburam Bhattarai has already missed a deadline of September 6 to forge consensus on the prickly issues of constitution drafting. Then it was given another deadline of September 30 to build such consensus. As things stand now, the CPDCC will not be able to forge consensus on the contentious issues within this deadline as well. Now voices are emerging that it should be given another chance to forge such a consensus which has proved elusive so far. One such voice has been floated by the UCPN (Maoist) which thinks the CPDCC should get one more month, even if that means the amendment of the CA calendar, to forge consensus.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>That should not be done. All lawmakers who had registered to speak on the contentious issues have spoken their mind at the deliberations organized by the CPDCC and consensus still looks a very far cry. So, extending the CPDCC &lsquo;s deadline would be just a waste of time and resources.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>On the other hand, it&rsquo;s been quite some time since the three major parties in CA II &ndash; the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoist) are trying to form a High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) in the name of facilitating the constitution drafting process. It is said that UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Prachanda is eying the post of coordinator of this proposed mechanism. To put the truth bluntly, there is no need for such a mechanism. It is also a game to delay the constitution drafting process by weakening the sovereign CA&rsquo;s role in that process. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The word consensus sounds very sweet to the ear. Everybody&rsquo;s consent on the key crucial issues of the constitution would be an ideal situation. No one would disagree that it is best to settle the contentious issues through consensus. But what if it is not possible? Can the country be kept a hostage for an indefinite period if consensus on contentious issues continues to elude us? &nbsp;Politicians have already squandered seven years in the process of statute drafting, mainly because they tried to forge consensus on the so-called thorny issues. In fact, trying to forge consensus on the contentious issues was the main reason why the first CA was dissolved without delivering the new constitution.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Nepal tried to forge consensus among all political parties on the contentious issues of constitution drafting during the first CA. Series after series of negotiations were held. Marathon meetings were held. But it simply did not work. The country reached nowhere perhaps because we tried to please all forces in the name of finding consensus. This should be why the major parties agreed, even before the second CA elections were held, to follow due process if they failed to reach consensus on contentious issues in CA II. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>That due process means deciding the contentious issues of constitution drafting through voting in the CA, which is the sovereign body to decide such matters. Or, alternatively &ndash; if a more democratic measure is to be adopted &ndash; we can hold a referendum to decide these issues. Here, the politicians can take some lessons from the recent Scotland voting where the Scots decided their fate through a referendum. It is still possible to hold such a referendum on the contentious issues as there still remains more than three months to promulgate the new constitution. But the decision has to be taken swiftly, if the country is to go the referendum way.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>However, the bottom line is no more precious time should be wasted in the name of forging a consensus.</div>
</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-10 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:18:40',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'As it happened to be, the much-awaited all-party political conference or round table conference – to use a more popular phrase- which was supposed to see a dialogue take place among the three major parties represented in the Constituent Assembly (CA) and the parties outside it, on the contentious issues of constitution drafting, fell flat. The reason was, as we all know, the 33-party alliance led by Mohan Baidya-led CPN-Maoist which is not represented in the CA and which had been demanding such a conference for a long time rejected to participate in the conference in the eleventh hour.',
			'sortorder' => '924',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '47',
			'title' => 'Nepal Politics',
			'sortorder' => '536',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-07-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 11 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '952',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '63',
			'title' => 'The End of Bull Run',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'The stock market of Nepal which was predicted to break the previous historic high level of 1175.38 points pulled back from 1083.55 and witnessed a nose dive sessions. ',
			'content' => '<div><strong>--By Bikram Chitrakar</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/st(6).jpg" style="float:right; height:951px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />The stock market of Nepal which was predicted to break the previous historic high level of 1175.38 points pulled back from 1083.55 and witnessed a nose dive sessions. During the review period of August 19 to September 18, 2014, the benchmark Nepse index fell 113.73 points or 11.22 per cent to rest at 899.89 points. The high value of Nepse for the review period was 1013.62 on August 19 and lowest was at 875.56 on September 07, 2014. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Experts have claimed that the cause of continuous selling pressures in the stock market was the central bank&#39;s circular that tried to regulate the investment of Banks and Financial Institutions&#39; (BFIs) in secondary market. The circular made it mandatory for the BFIs to maintain their investment in stocks as &#39;Held for Trade&#39; purpose within a limit of one per cent of their core capital. As the Nepse index started to create negative impact of the central bank&#39;s circular, Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) and Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) came up with intervening statement to pullback the reddish movement. Nepse urged investors not to panic while SEBON assured investors that it would consult the central bank on any upcoming directives that could affect the market. Despite these assurances, the market continued its journey in red terrain. &nbsp; &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Technically, Nepali&#39;s capital market completed one cycle during the last 6 years time span. &nbsp;Thus some experts even argued that the recent downfall was also guided by &ldquo;Disaster Myopia&rdquo; and was supported by historical trends, which recently matured by completing the market cycle. Since capital market moves in cycle, the recent downfall can be explained through this historical event as well. Besides this, the market had remained in bearish move as the winners, who had secured their gain, had started to create propaganda while losers were waiting with the hope that the market will regain its momentum.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Meanwhile, Nepse instructed all the listed companies to get registered with CDS and Clearing Company (CDSC) to dematerialize their shares. Similarly, it also redirected all the stakeholders including stockbrokers and merchant bankers to acquire license of Depository Participants (DP) by September 16, so as to comply with directives that restrict trading only of dematerialized shares by October 19, 2014.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Analyst also argued that the recent downfall of Nepse is guided by investor&#39;s sentiments rather than fundamentals of the listed companies. Along with that reoccurrence of the matured trend might have guided investors while securing positions. Meanwhile, festival season and the signal of increasing rifts between political parties on drafting the new constitution might also have dragged down the index.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Performance by Sector</strong></div>

<div>During the review period, all sub-indices except trading witnessed fall. Hydropower sub-index was the biggest looser which erased its previous gain by 462.14 points or 16.78 per cent to rest at 2292.46. Insurance sub-index became the second after hydropower with 717.55 points or 16.64 per cent loss to settle down at 3595.62. Similarly, banking sub-index went downhill by 109.63 points to settle at 805.76. Development bank dropped 6.72 per cent and was followed by the finance sub-index, which lost 6.14 per cent during the period. Likewise hotel sub-index lost 4.98 per cent to close at 1828.31 and &#39;Other&#39; sub-index descended by 4.69 per cent to rest at 716.6. While all other sectors took refuge in the red zone, the trading sub-index remained neutral.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Sensitive index that indicates the trading performance of &lsquo;A Grade&rsquo; stocks under Nepse&#39;s listing skidded by 23.30 points or 10.76 per cent to rest at 193.32 while the float index descended to 8.37 points or 11.71 per cent to rest at 63.13. The market capitalization of Nepse for the period was recorded at Rs 915.16 billion. This was 11.57 per cent less than the previous period. Similarly, daily average turnover of Nepse went down by 21.53 per cent.&nbsp;</div>

<div>According to the sectorial distribution, with a whopping 61.65 per cent of the total turnover the commercial banks held the majority. Hydropower sector occupied 14.49 per cent followed by development banks with 9.18 per cent of the total turnover. Along with that, the insurance sector covered 9.33 per cent and remaining sectors covered the rest portion.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em>Chitrakar is a freelance Stock Analyst.</em></div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-10 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:17:21',
			'keywords' => 'new business age stock taking news & articles, stock taking news & articles from new business age nepal, stock taking headlines from nepal,  current and latest stock taking news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali stock taking economic news and events, ongoing stock taking news of nepal',
			'description' => 'The stock market of Nepal which was predicted to break the previous historic high level of 1175.38 points pulled back from 1083.55 and witnessed a nose dive sessions. During the review period of August 19 to September 18, 2014, the benchmark Nepse index fell 113.73 points or 11.22 per cent to rest at 899.89 points. The high value of Nepse for the review period was 1013.62 on August 19 and lowest was at 875.56 on September 07, 2014.',
			'sortorder' => '925',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '63',
			'title' => 'Stock Taking',
			'sortorder' => '516',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-04-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 12 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '953',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '63',
			'title' => 'Monthly Technical Analysis of Nepse October 2014',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index continued spiralling downwards during the August 19 to September 18, 2014 period, just like the preceding period. During the review period, Nepse fell by 134.5 points (-13 per cent) to close at 899.89 points.',
			'content' => '<div><strong>Market Trend</strong></div>

<div>Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index continued spiralling downwards during the August 19 to September 18, 2014 period, just like the preceding period. During the review period, Nepse fell by 134.5 points (-13 per cent) to close at 899.89 points. This severe drop was witnessed as the Nepse fell below its 50-day moving average on Aug 22, 2014 thereby indicating sell signal in the market. As the stock market broke multiple support levels, new support level emerged at 866.25 points. At present the resistance level for Nepse stands at 920.06 points. The average daily turnover of Nepse has also decreased and registered NPR 454.6 million against NPR 529.2 million during the previous period. The continuous drop in trading volume indicated that the investor&#39;s enthusiasm towards the secondary market has been declining since the last few months. After witnessing huge correction Nepse began to move along the sideways direction.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>RSI&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>Relative Strength Index (RSI) is one of the leading indicators that are believed to be most effective during periods of sideways movement. Such indicators may create numerous buy and sell signals that are assumed to be useful when the market is not clearly trending in either direction.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/st2(6).jpg" style="height:183px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The RSI, which was in downward move since the beginning of the period reached the oversold zone on Aug 25, 2014. On the very successive day, RSI reached its lowest point, 22.50 levels during the review period. Since then, it has slightly improved and mostly hovered in the lower neutral zone and settled at 36.84 levels by the end of the current review period. The chart of RSI indicates that the persistent selling pressure, which was witnessed in the early stage of the review period has gradually declined during the latter period.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>MACD&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>The MACD is a momentum oscillator, which is formed by using two different types of moving averages (MACD and Signal Line) in order to chart specific buying or selling signals in the market. When a MACD line crosses above the signal line, it is considered to be a sign rising trend and indicates a buying signal and vice-versa.&nbsp;</div>

<div>The MACD line still accelerating downward direction in the negative territory as it moved below the zero level. This further signalled bearish momentum in the market suggesting high selling pressure is persistent among investors. During the end of the period, the MACD line began gradually moving upwards and touched the Signal line. If the MACD line crosses above the Signal line, it would generate a strong buy signal in the market.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/st3(3).JPG" style="height:187px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Bollinger Bands</strong></div>

<div>The Bollinger Band is also a technical indicator that consists of 21-days moving average along with two trading bands (one above and one below). The bands are considered as an indication of volatility in the market, which is measured by calculating standard deviations.&nbsp;</div>

<div>During the review period since Nepse crossed below the mid-band and continued spiralling downwards. Moreover Nepse index crossed below the lower band on two separate occasions of this period. However, over the last two weeks of the period Nepse began moving sideways and approaching the mid-band. Once it crosses above the mid-band, it would indicate buy signal in the market.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/st1(3).jpg" style="height:449px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Overview:</strong></div>

<div>The secondary market witnessed one of the biggest monthly declines in recent times as the Nepse index saw a massive decline of 134.5 points to close at 899.89 points. The market gathered downward momentum, as the buying pressure has remained weak over the last two months. This is evident in the declining volume in the market. During this period, the average daily volume registered NPR 454.6 million, which is much lower than that of the previous periods. The Nepse index is currently hovering between its immediate support and resistance levels of 866.25 and 920.06 points respectively. The RSI and MACD, which were in a continuous decline during the first half of the review, witnessed a gradual improvement. As the Nepse is gradually moving towards the mid-band of the Bollinger Bands the market appears to be stabilizing in the near term. However, there has to be a positive change in the trading volume to gather upward momentum in the market.&nbsp;</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-10 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 15:19:11',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index continued spiralling downwards during the August 19 to September 18, 2014 period, just like the preceding period. During the review period, Nepse fell by 134.5 points (-13 per cent) to close at 899.89 points.',
			'sortorder' => '926',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '63',
			'title' => 'Stock Taking',
			'sortorder' => '516',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-04-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 13 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '954',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '63',
			'title' => 'NRN Investment through Capital Market',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => '‘Economic Roadmap for Prosperous Nepal’ was the main theme of 8th NRN regional conference held on Nagano, Japan from September 18 to 19. About three hundred NRNs had participated from different part of the globe to discuss on the given theme. ',
			'content' => '<div><img alt="NRN" src="/userfiles/images/st4(2).jpg" style="height:497px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>--By Niranjan Phuyal</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&lsquo;Economic Roadmap for Prosperous Nepal&rsquo; was the main theme of 8th NRN regional conference held on Nagano, Japan from September 18 to 19. About three hundred NRNs had participated from different part of the globe to discuss on the given theme. After brainstorming for the two days, the conclusion was that although there could be some kind of legal, bureaucratic and political hassles for foreign investment, Nepal is in a stage to be the place for huge foreign investment and NRNs should take this as a good opportunity for the financial, technical and managerial investment in Nepal.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>One of the session during the programme was about the foreign and NRN investment in Nepal through capital market. Nepali economy is getting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for last few decades. However, it is not able to attract enough funds required for its infrastructure development and on other industries. Even in the last one decade, we are not able to get sizeable foreign FDI in the economy. The recent example of the difficulties faced by the Nepali promoters to get FDI for &quot;Hetuda Kathmandu Tunnel Highway&quot; shows there are some kind of inefficiencies with us. So, the conference has urged the government to make the regulation more investment friendly as well as to open capital market for the NRN investment.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The issue of NRN or foreign investment through capital market is important because it is more liquid than FDI. Rational investors want their investment to be more liquid so that when required they can convert it into cash. Government of Nepal also has theoretically accepted to allow NRNs to investment in capital market. The NRN Act, 2064 also says that NRNs can invest freely as an investor in Nepal. But there are some hassles about the procedures.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>First, there are some legal difficulties about the investment in Nepali capital market. NRN Act, 2064 has defined NRNs in two categories as foreign citizen of Nepali origin and Nepali citizen residing abroad. Nepali citizen residing abroad has Nepali citizenship and passport. As per the Securities Registration and Issuance Regulation 2065, while applying for the securities in primary market, the investor should include a copy of citizenship certificate along with the application. Similarly, when buying the shares from secondary market, the buyer should produce a copy of citizenship certificate. So, this provision has stopped the possibility of investment from the side of foreign citizen of Nepali origin.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Again, let&#39;s suppose Nepali citizen residing abroad invest in the primary market. Or, foreign citizen of Nepali origin starts an investment company here to investment in capital market. But the provision of repatriation of investment for NRNs in NRN Regulation, 2066 is not so clear and is very lengthy. As per this provision, NRNs can take away their investment or the profit but have to get approval from concerned authorities each time. But the nature of secondary market is different and it is not practical to get permission each time while investing or while taking away their sale proceedings. This method of repatriation is not investment friendly in secondary market. The Mutual Fund Regulation, 2067 has provided authority to launch mutual funds scheme for the companies owned by NRNs but the detail procedure for this in not clear. Portfolio Management Guidelines, 2067 from SEBON has mentioned that the portfolio manager could buy or sell securities in the name of NRNs but it is not clear if NRNs can only buy or sell through portfolio managers.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>There is some other practical confusion that should be cleared by proper regulations. For example, parents invest in shares on the name of their children when they are in Nepal. But later on if they moved to foreign countries and their children get foreign citizenship; the regulation is silent about the procedure to transfer or sale of such shares. Similarly, there are some other practical problems and long bureaucratic procedures for the NRN investment in capital market.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The next major hurdle for such investment is the technology adopted in capital market. Currently, the primary market investment is completely paper based. Different documents are required to be attached with the investment application. It takes many days to allot the securities once it is applied. There are more technical difficulties for the secondary trading in the market. Shares trading still done on paper based certificate and there is no online trading facility. Once purchased, it takes months to get the certificate. Orders are to be made through the broker office. Market depth is not available for making decision before buying and selling shares in secondary market. There are many issues of information dissemination as well as transparency in the secondary market. Due to the lack of proper technology, the capital market is not able to provide opportunity for the interested investors out of Kathmandu. Even for the possible investors residing in foreign countries, it is just a matter of discussion.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The issue of corporate governance, implementation of law and order, political stability, concentration on banks and financial institutions etc are also some of the reasons for NRNs not to invest in Nepali capital market. Provision to issue share at par in primary market is one of the major reasons for not to attract investors in capital market. Lack of diversified scrips and non-regulated commodity market can also create mistrust for the NRN investment.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Although there are many obstacles for the foreign as well as NRN investment, it is the right time for the government and concerned authorities to create a proper environment. There are some issues and confusions which can be corrected with simple modification on the regulations or through new directions. Proper technology in the market is best solution for many problems. If online facility is provided in both primary and secondary market, many NRNs will definitely enter into the market. The digitization of clearing and settlement process is the prime requirement for the flow of money from the foreign countries.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The most important obstacle to be solved is about the repatriation of investment. The NRN Regulation, 2066 No 10 has defined about the process of repatriation and it is basically for the FDI. These features are not enough for the capital market investment. Investors in capital market may require frequent transfer of funds and it is not addressed in the regulation. For this, the concerned authorities like Nepal Rastra Bank, SEBON, NEPSE, and even Ministry of Finance should think seriously. The practice of separate Dollar account for foreign investment followed in neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka and India could be the better option. &nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</div>

<div>As concluded in above stated conference, Nepal has a huge potential to attract foreign investment and few symptoms have already been visible on the surface. Normally, every investor wants liquidity on their investment. Liquidity can be provided through capital market. So, the NRNs and foreigners should be provided with enough facility in the market to raise the confidence of such investors. Economy of India started to move towards prosperity when nonresident Indians started to invest in India mainly through capital market. So, NRN investment through capital market could be the milestone toward the journey for prosperous Nepal.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em>The author is asst manager at NEPSE and a visiting faculty at KUSOM.</em></div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-10 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:51:39',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => '‘Economic Roadmap for Prosperous Nepal’ was the main theme of 8th NRN regional conference held on Nagano, Japan from September 18 to 19. About three hundred NRNs had participated from different part of the globe to discuss on the given theme. After brainstorming for the two days, the conclusion was that although there could be some kind of legal, bureaucratic and political hassles for foreign investment, Nepal is in a stage to be the place for huge foreign investment and NRNs should take this as a good opportunity for the financial, technical and managerial investment in Nepal.',
			'sortorder' => '927',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '63',
			'title' => 'Stock Taking',
			'sortorder' => '516',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-04-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 14 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '955',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '21',
			'title' => 'Unlocking Nepal's Growth Prospect',
			'image' => '20150909014359_cover.jpg',
			'short_content' => '‘Nepal does have natural resources. They are of course our growth potentials but not necessarily the key element needed for our future economic growth. The key element is human resource; the brainpower, creativity of the people, entrepreneurship and innovation. If we can unlock our human potential,',
			'content' => '<div><strong>&nbsp;--By Akhilesh Tripathi</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&lsquo;Nepal does have natural resources. They are of course our growth potentials but not necessarily the key element needed for our future economic growth. The key element is human resource; the brainpower, creativity of the people, entrepreneurship and innovation. If we can unlock our human potential, if we can unlock entrepreneurship and innovation which will make use of the natural resources that Nepal has, then our growth potential will be unlocked; we will become a rich country.&rdquo;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Thus spoke Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, the chief guest of the second edition of the Asian Paints NewBiz Business Conclave &amp; Awards, organized by New Business Age Pvt Ltd at Hotel Soaltee Crowne Plaza on September 11.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cs1(5).jpg" style="height:302px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cs2(2).JPG" style="float:right; height:430px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:325px" />Investing in Human Resource</strong></div>

<div>The remarks of Dr Mahat, a six-time finance minister, are a clear departure from the traditional belief that natural resources are a must for the economic growth of any country. The appropriate use of the available natural resources is necessary, the Finance Minister said, adding, however, that the country&rsquo;s economic development is possible through the use of brainpower, creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation. He cited examples of Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea which have achieved fast economic growth despite having practically very little natural resource.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Deependra Bahadur Kshetry, former vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC), who too attended the Conclave, agrees with the finance minister. &ldquo;We need more skilled and trained human resource, creativity and innovation in business and entrepreneurship to exploit our abundant natural resource, which gives us a comparative advantage. However, the endowment of natural resource alone is not enough. This is what the finance minister means. And this is true as well,&rdquo; said Kshetry, while talking to New Business Age after the conclusion of the Conclave.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Kshetry says the government should invest more in developing the country&rsquo;s human resources because it will help build the national capacity. &ldquo;In simpler terms, it means investing more in education and skill-oriented training. Investment in human resource will help unlock our growth prospects,&rdquo; he added.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>To invest in human resource development is to compete with investment in infrastructure and other social sectors. Here, the government has harder choices to make as it cannot choose one sector over the other as almost all sectors in Nepal need investment, and huge ones, for the matter. So, according to economists and development experts, the government will do well to have a well-designed national development plan, which will clearly spell out our national priorities. &ldquo;It will help attract international support as well. Then it will be easier for the government to decide in which areas to use domestic resources and in which areas external resources,&rdquo; say Kshetri.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Managing Director of Jade Consult, Bkesh Pradhanga, another speaker of the Conclave, echoed similar sentiments. &ldquo;The government should mobilize our human resource properly. For this, the government should invest in higher education of the country&rsquo;s workforce and this should be the primary focus,&rdquo; he opined. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cs3(1).JPG" style="float:right; height:654px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:325px" />Focus on Three &lsquo;I&rsquo;s</strong></div>

<div>Our development priorities should not miss the three &lsquo;I&rsquo;s &ndash; infrastructure, investment and inclusion &ndash; according to Johannes Zutt, World Bank country director for Nepal and Bangladesh. Zutt, who was also one of the speakers of the Conclave, clearly said that the three &lsquo;I&rsquo;s should be Nepal&rsquo;s top priority for now if the country is to achieve fast economic growth.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>On the investment front, the level of foreign investment has been low. According to the Investment Board, the total amount of foreign investment in 2012 which was declared the Investment Year was USD 62 million. It went up in 2013 to USD 208 million. In 2014 so far, it is USD 130 million. Domestic investment, too, hasn&rsquo;t been growing at the expected rate. &ldquo;Nepal is investing below the rate of investment needed to achieve a double digit growth. There is actually money available in Nepal for higher investment, but it isn&rsquo;t happening. The business community complains about access to finance, regulatory burdens and labour costs. These are the problems existent is South Asia but it is debilitating in Nepal,&rdquo; observed Zutt.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>But why has large scale investment not come to Nepal? Pradhananga answers, &ldquo;It is because of political instability, lack of policy predictability, and industrial disputes that have caused the closure of companies like Surya Nepal in the recent past.&rdquo; He added that Nepal immediately needs an investment of USD 15 billion for various projects that are ready for implementation.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&ldquo;For private investment to come, we need to create more enabling environment. This is why we have initiated some new incentives to lure private investment from this year&rsquo;s budget, Dr Mahat said, &ldquo;In the hydropower sector, for example, we have announced income tax exemption for the next ten years and fifty percent tax rebate for another five years.&rdquo;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Zutt opined that Nepal is caught in a vicious cycle of investment and infrastructure. &ldquo;Nepal doesn&rsquo;t have high enough levels of investment in infrastructure that is necessary for businesses to succeed and because it doesn&rsquo;t have that infrastructure, it is not getting the investment,&rdquo; he said.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Pradhananga suggested to the government to focus on infrastructure development for the next one decade. He also advised to change old laws and policies and introduce new ones to attract private investment. &ldquo;The Hydropower Policy 2001 and Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act 1992, to give a few examples, are quite old. The aim of these laws and policies is to attract FDI in the country. But we haven&rsquo;t been able to make them timely and updated. This has negatively affected our development efforts,&rdquo; said Pradhananga. &nbsp; &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Hydro Hopes</strong></div>

<div>All the speakers of the Conclave agreed that hydropower has great potential in Nepal. &ldquo;We are rich in water resource. We have huge hydropower potential. We can be the power house of clean energy in South Asia,&rdquo; said Dr Mahat.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>But the reality is different from the rhetoric. Nepal has hardly tapped one percent of its total hydropower potential. So far, the country has been able to produce only about 750 MW of hydroelectricity though the total hydropower potential of the country is said to be over 80,000 MW. That means one of the sectors where Nepal&rsquo;s growth prospects lie is the hydropower sector. Over half a dozen projects that are together expected to produce more than 5,000 MW of hydroelectricity are in advanced stage of development (see box). The government&rsquo;s claim to do away with load-shedding over the next three-four years is based on these projects.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&ldquo;In Nepal, hydropower is one such sector of investment which can bring about a positive change in the entire econom</div>

<div>&ldquo;If the PDA [project development agreement] with the Upper Karnali hydropower project is signed over the next few days or weeks, then it will be a game changer. It will lead to the signing of PDA with half a dozen other major hydropower projects,&rdquo; said Dr Mahat.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/cs4(4).JPG" style="float:right; height:250px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:325px" />Nepal&rsquo;s Strategic Location</strong></div>

<div>The speakers of the Conclave also said that Nepal&rsquo;s geographic location between China and India, two rapidly growing economies of the world, provides the Himalayan nation a great opportunity for economic growth. &ldquo;Nepal&rsquo;s growth prospects also lie in the fact that it is located between China and India, two of the fastest growing economies of the world. If Nepal can establish itself a trading partner between China and India, it will greatly help Nepal&rsquo;s economic growth,&rdquo; said Zutt.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>It is worth mentioning here that the annual trade volume between India and China has already crossed USD 70 billion and the two countries have planned to increase it to USD 100 billion by 2015. If Nepal can build roads, highways and rail links to connect its northern border with southern border, then it can effectively work as a trading partner between the two Asian giants, according to economists and development experts. &nbsp; &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>&lsquo;2015: Nepal&rsquo;s critical juncture&rsquo;</strong></div>

<div>Addressing the Conclave, Dr Swarnim Wagle, member of National Planning Commission said that the year 2015 will be very crucial for Nepal as the country&rsquo;s new constitution is expected to be promulgated in 2015. Once, the constitution is ready, Dr Wagle said, Nepal&rsquo;s political transition would be complete and then the country&rsquo;s economy can take off. &nbsp;&ldquo;We are few centuries behind other countries but I think that we can really make the year 2015 our critical juncture and really expedite our path into modernity,&rdquo; said Wagle.</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-12 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 13:43:59',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Nepal needs to invest in its human resource and exploit its natural resource to the fullest to unlock its growth prospects.',
			'sortorder' => '946',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '21',
			'title' => 'Cover Story',
			'sortorder' => '532',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2017-05-03 14:57:12'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 15 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '956',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '21',
			'title' => 'Speakers' Voices',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'The theme of this conclave which is ‘Unlocking Nepal’s Growth Prospects’ is very timely. It is often presumed that for fast economic growth, a country needs a good natural resource base.',
			'content' => '<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>&lsquo;&lsquo;We do have the potential to graduate from the LDC status&rsquo;&rsquo;</strong></span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<table align="right" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:25px">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td><img alt="Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, Minister of Finance, GoN" src="/userfiles/images/sv.JPG" style="border-style:solid; border-width:0px; height:170px; width:200px" /></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Dr Ram Sharan Mahat</strong></div>

			<div style="text-align: center;">Minister of Finance, GoN</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<div>The theme of this conclave which is &lsquo;Unlocking Nepal&rsquo;s Growth Prospects&rsquo; is very timely. It is often presumed that for fast economic growth, a country needs a good natural resource base. This is a traditional theory, not a modern theory. It is not time-tested. If that were the case, countries rich in natural resources like Russia and Brazil would be the biggest economies of the world. They are very rich in natural resource. But they are not necessarily the richest and most developed countries of the world. On the other hand, Japan, which has very little natural resource, grew very fast. In recent history, the so-called little economic tigers of the Pacific Rim such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea grew very fast. These countries represent some of the most successful economic growth stories of the recent past.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>But what amount of natural resource did they possess? Practically nothing. Japan has practically no natural resource endowment. Similar is the case of the other countries that I mentioned. So, the traditional theory that countries rich in natural resource grow fast is outdated. It is no longer valid. It is the brain power, the creativity of the people that is ultimately responsible for fast economic growth.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Nepal does have natural resources. We often talk about these natural resources. These resources can make Nepal very rich and can be the source of Nepal&rsquo;s economic growth in the future. For example, we are rich in water resource. We have huge hydropower potential. We can be the power house of clean energy in South Asia. Similarly, we talk of our tourism potential. We have huge prospects in tourism. We can be the tourism capital of South Asia. We have so many varieties of tourism &ndash; cultural tourism, adventure tourism, eco tourism, religious tourism etc. Similarly, we have potential in agriculture because of our agro-climatic diversity. We can grow practically anything.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>These are of course our growth potentials but not necessarily the key elements needed for our future economic growth. The key element is human resource; the creativity of people, entrepreneurship and innovation. If we can unlock our human potential, if we can unlock entrepreneurship and innovation which will make use of the natural resources that Nepal has, then our growth potential will be unlocked; we will become a rich country.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Another thing that we need is the right policies. Unless we have the right policies in place, these potential will remain on paper only. In absence of the right policies, we can only talk about our growth potentials. For example, we have been talking about our hydropower potential for decades; hardly one percent of our hydro potential has been tapped so far. So what we did in the early 90s is we tried to unlock our potential by creating the right environment for freedom. We centralized economic policy. We planned and removed many policy hindrances. We removed the licensing process for industries. As a result, our growth rate in the mid 1990s was equal to that of the South Asian average; we were not lagging behind. But soon the violent Maoist insurgency started and engulfed the country. The insurgency took its toll on the economy and spoiled many things. It spoiled the growth potential and sapped the energy of the people. Many of our brightest and best young men and women left the country in search of jobs &ndash; manual jobs, semi-skilled jobs and skilled jobs.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Today, we have a sense of political stability as there is a stable government in Kathmandu. So, this is again the time for economic reforms. This is why I have announced in this year&rsquo;s budget that we will start a second series of economic reforms.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Though there is relative political stability today, we still have unsettled political issues. We are not yet out of the woods. The constitution is still in the preparatory phase. There are still some serious differences among political parties over provisions to be made in the new constitution. But let&rsquo;s not worry about these things. Political issues will take their course but at the same time economic development must also continue. We simply cannot afford to wait until the political problems are sorted out to start the process of economic growth. Politics will take its course; economy must have its own course. One good thing is contemporary politics in Nepal has become development-friendly. The parties which once supported one-party state, centralized economy are now saying that we need foreign investment and capitalist revolution in the country. This is a good sign. It also means that the reforms that we initiated in the past and the reforms that we are going to launch soon are irreversible.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Today, I think everybody agrees that we need economic freedom for private investment &ndash; both domestic and foreign. We need investment in infrastructure, education, and health. Not only the quantity but also the quality of investment must increase if Nepal is to achieve higher economic growth rate. The efficiency of investment must also increase. For private investment to come, we need to create more enabling environment. This is why we have initiated some new incentives to lure private investment from this year&rsquo;s budget. In the hydropower sector, we have announced income tax exemption for the next ten years and fifty percent tax rebate for another five years. Similarly, for large-scale investment in the manufacturing and tourism sectors, we have announced income tax exemption for the next five years and fifty percent exemption for another three years. At the same time, we are about to sign [project development] agreement with some major hydropower projects that have been waiting for a long time to be agreed upon.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Following Indian Prime Minister Naredra Modi&rsquo;s Nepal visit, both Nepal and India have signed the initial agreement on the Power Trade Agreement (PTA) between them. Now, if the PDA (project development agreement) with the Upper Karnali hydropower project is signed over the next few days or weeks, then it will be a game changer. It will lead to the signing of PDA with half a dozen other major hydropower projects which have foreign investment from various countries including India, China, South Korea, among others. Then the game of high economic growth will start. It will help instill new confidence in the investment community. That will be good for the many other projects in the pipeline. It will encourage investment in the industries because many investors have been waiting for adequate power supply to be available.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>We will have power deficit for the next couple of years. But with the PTA between India and Nepal now signed and a 400 KV transmission line being built between the two countries, it will be easier to purchase power from India. And after the next three years, we will have surplus power which can be exported and this will go on increasing in the years to come. So, I think Nepal now is at the threshold of a major economic take-off. Accordingly, the government has aimed to graduate from the LDC status to a developing country status over the next eight years. We do have the potential.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>I believe that the government must be strong. One comment that I often hear is the government became weak since I favoured economic liberalization. That is another non-sense. The government must be strong enough to enforce rule of law in the country. Even for the open market economic policy to succeed, the government must be strong enough to create a level-playing field. The government must be strong enough to ensure that the labour, entrepreneurial and environmental interests are protected. In short, it must be strong enough to ensure that the law of the land is observed.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em>Adapted from the speech delivered by Dr Mahat at the 2nd NewBiz Business Conclave &nbsp;&amp; Awards.</em></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>&ldquo;We should not expect government to do 50 different things&rdquo;</strong></span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<table align="right" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:25px">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td><img alt="Bibek Debroy, Indian Economist" src="/userfiles/images/sv1.jpg" style="border-style:solid; border-width:0px; height:170px; width:200px" /></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<div><strong>Bibek Debroy</strong>, Indian Economist</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<div>I think I am invited here to give external perspective to today&rsquo;s theme of the discussion. But I believe the perspective I bring from where I live and work, that is India, has also relevance for Nepal because the essential template of development is no different for countries that are at a certain stage of development.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The topic of this conclave is &lsquo;Unlocking Nepal&rsquo;s Growth Potential.&rsquo; Growth may be an important number for an economist like me but for most of the people, including politicians, it&rsquo;s a meaningless number as you cannot sell growth as a political message. But, once you translate that growth into numbers that people can relate to, you can sell growth.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Growth means less poverty, more employment, more jobs, being able to service the EMIs for what you borrowed to acquire consumer durables. Growth is important because throughout this region, there is an increasingly young population, which is impatient and unwilling to wait hundreds of years that wouldn&rsquo;t be required to catch up with what other countries across the world have been able to achieve. That&rsquo;s the reason growth is important.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Looking at the templates of economic development, we see that different countries tapped different factors to generate growth. Countries in our level of economic development, as a sweeping level of generalization, depend on tapping inputs such as land and natural resources, capital and labour. But this doesn&rsquo;t mean that the things like innovation and productivity are not important. However, these things come a little later in the economic development spectrum. So question for us to ask is what can possibly be done at a conceptual level to ensure that inputs like land, labour and capital are exploited more efficiently.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>A mention was earlier made about the per capita income. The per capita income of any country is the rough measure of the productivity of the country&rsquo;s citizens. The next bulleted point to note is that our people are voluntarily poor where an individual doesn&rsquo;t want to better his or her life and improve his and his offspring&rsquo;s living standards. When I say this I am talking obviously about able bodied people of working age group. If it is the proposition, that if everyone everywhere wants to better their lives, the next question to ask is: why are they unable to do so? The answer is also so obvious. It is because to be in the position to tap the opportunities or resources, you require certain things such as law and order, physical infrastructures like roads and electricity and social infrastructures like education, skills, health. Likewise, you require access to market, information, technology, access to land and finance. The question then follows that why are these things not available or not being delivered?</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In nations across the world that have elected government, citizens come together and elect government with the expectations that it will deliver these goods and services. If these are not made available, mechanism and processes used to deliver these things are seriously questioned.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>If the government is going to deliver these goods and services, two or three questions arise. First question is government needs revenue. Where is this money going to come from? The moment government decides to give a fiscal incentive to a business enterprise that is tax revenue foregone. Every resource has an opportunity cost. That is tax revenue that the government could have used to build physical infrastructures like rural school, or hospitals.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>When we say, public goods and services, does it necessarily mean the government alone is supposed to be in a position to deliver it all? There are several instances where private sector is perfectly willing to come in. Therefore, there is an important difference between government actually trying to deliver these goods and services and government financing these goods and services. When it come to issue like this, it is important for any government to distinguish between regulations and licensing that masquerades as regulations.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In both of our respective countries, the level of economic development is such that we should not expect government to do 50 different things. If we expect government to do all these things, it will do none of those satisfactorily considering the limited governance and administrative capacity. Instead it should do only five or six things that are most important. If we collectively insist that the government should only focus on five or six such things such as law and order, roads, water, electricity, health and education then governance, growth, development, Human Development Indicators (HDI), and other sectors and services will improve. And people will be able to better their lives and we will no longer have to wait for those hundreds of years.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>So, collectively as a body what we are required to do is to change our mind-set in terms of our expectations from the government. The less we expect from the government, and &nbsp;the more we ask ourselves of what &nbsp;we are going to do, the sooner we will be able to unshackle ourselves from the constraints that have historically plagued growth in your and my countries.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em>An Indian economist, Prof Debroy has been a professor at Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. This article is adapted from the key-note speech he delivered at the 2nd NewBiz Business Conclave &amp; Awards.</em></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>Nepal&#39;s Economic Development Trajectory</strong></span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<table align="right" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:25px">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td><img alt="Dr Swarnim Wagle, Member of National Planning Commission, Nepal" src="/userfiles/images/sv2.JPG" style="border-style:solid; border-width:0px; height:170px; width:200px" /></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<div>
			<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Dr Swarnim Wagle</strong></div>

			<div style="text-align: center;">Member of National Planning Commission, Nepal</div>
			</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<div>Anticipating that many of the speakers would focus on the present day economics, I wanted to step back into history and take the long view. I want to talk about development trajectories that we and other developing countries have taken over the past two centuries and take stock of where we stand today and where we need to go to unlock our growth potentials.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Whenever I talk about development stories, I recall this beautiful first line from Leo Tolstoy&#39;s famous novel Anna Karenina, &quot; All Happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way&quot;. This applies to countries as well and each country&rsquo;s context is unique. But I think the divergent pathways that different countries have taken, give us immensely valuable policy lessons on the kind of policies and institutions that have proven helpful elsewhere.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>I would like to borrow the concept of &lsquo;critical junctures&rsquo; from political science to highlight that most successful countries in hindsight appear to hit a point in the development trajectories when significant changes occur that set them off on a path in history that ends up in producing distinct legacies.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The graph here (see next page) sums up the history of the world over the past 200 years and we can run through these broad trajectories of different countries that we often aspire to emulating .&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>I believe that the year 2015 will be our critical juncture. We are few centuries behind than other countries but I think that we can really make the year 2015 our critical juncture and really expedite our path into modernity.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>This graph draws on the historical macroeconomic data from New Maddison &nbsp;Project Database. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Let&rsquo;s start with the year 1775. This &nbsp; is the year when King Prithivi Narayan Shah who conquered Kathmandu valley in 1769, died. Territorial expansion of modern Nepal continued then after. Likewise, this is also the year when United States of America, the largest economy in the world, started its modern journey, George Washington was appointed as the commander in chief of the continental army in 1775, then US declared independence in 1776. America also had a decade of turbulence and it took 12 years for them to draft a new constitution and finally in the year 1769, George Washington became the president. But on our side, our territorial expansion continued. Just like the US doubled its size in the early 1800s with the &quot;Lousiana Purchase&quot;, the descendants of Prithivi Narayan Shah doubled the size of Nepal with west-ward expansion. It was around 1815 that we acquired relative degree of political stability in both the countries.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The year 1775 is also the date when Adam Smith wrote &quot;Wealth of Nations&quot;. Everyone thinks that it was published in 1776 but the first few editions of the book were actually printed in 1775. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>So, it is a very clean date to start the story about global development trajectories. I refer to &quot;Wealth of Nations&quot; because it was the first text in the economics that talked about how some countries became rich and how some countries stayed poor. It was also the beginning of modern study of economics .In the graph I have chosen 10 countries, beginning with Britain, obviously the first modern industrialized country in the world. The data series before the year 1775 is little bit flat. It is now well acknowledged that the modern economic growth rate became a sustained phenomenon only after 1820s. Before that it took 100 if not 1000s of years for the per capita income or the economic size of the countries to double. So, before this date it is basically stagnant. But we know that the critical juncture for Britain was 1688 with the Glorious Revolution when they threw James II and brought the two monarchs William and Mary. However, there was an implicit contract that you would constrain the powers of the monarch and empower the parliament to decide on the affairs of the state. Therefore, constitutional monarchy began at the end of 17 century. That was also the period when a sort of leg-work for the industrial revolution was taking place. We know that one of the major triggers of industrial revolution was the invention of the steam engine by James Watt in 1768. Earlier to the steam engine, pumps and, rotary machine and high-pressure engines were also invented. With the steam engine, Britain was able to break through the astronomy and navigation in the warfare and this was the first wave of Industrial Revolution. yes, this was not straight and there were lot of factors that played a vital role. But it was after about 1820 that Britain began to see a systematic increase in economic growth rate. Hence, that is also the critical juncture for the world as the modern economic growth as a whole became a sort of sustained preposition.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>For US, 1870 or 1860s would be a critical juncture. The end of the civil war and the first wave of globalization in 1870s -1913 with the massive influx of immigrants, the economies of scale and the technological adoption and borrowings from the leading industrial country was the time when Britain and US were roaring to grow. So, the next critical juncture was after the union was saved followed the year 1865. &nbsp;This is the period when US took a sort of take-off.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>And 1868 was the critical juncture for Japan. One of the most noteworthy things is that rarely in the history we have seen the elite of one country sitting together and deciding that we are falling behind and we need to get our acts together. Japan did that and sent in 1871, a massive ambassadorial troop of around 40 people, around the world to borrow the best ideas. Adapting best ideas and institutions brought Japan on the trajectory of higher growth from 1870s. Then of course there is Argentina as a country, which had an equal promise like United States before the turn of the century but later continued to stagnate for different reasons.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Now let me skip to the post-second world war period where we see around 13 economies that were able to grow at 7 per cent per annum for a continuous period of at least 25 years, which is the kind of sustained economic growth rate that countries aspire for. The sustained economic growth at such very high levels is important to transform a country within a generation and this is what happened with countries like Korea, Malaysia and, later in the 1970s, China. The critical juncture for South Korea, for example, was 1961.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>I want to emphasize that there comes point in many countries&rsquo; history, where there is point of critical juncture where opportunities arise and you can really set your country on a path that will produce a different legacy. For China it was 1978, when agricultural reforms, giving way to township and village enterprises which can be termed as critical juncture. In India its brief reforms in late 1980s offered a critical juncture but the reforms were with some hiccups. However, still we can see that there is a distinct critical juncture in 1991. Sri lanka, one of the first liberalizers in south Asia took a real turn around in economy in 1977. These examples are quite inspirational for our own vision.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The point here is what about Nepal? We have seen lot of political junctures. So the question is: what have we done? We can say that the abolition of the Rana Regime was our first critical juncture and abolition of the Panchayat system, in 1990, was our second such juncture. But we really have not had a real critical juncture yet. I would argue that the 1990s presented the opportunity. &nbsp;We did begin a slight uptake but we were not able to sustain it due to conflict and other things. I think by 2015 the new constitution will be there and that will also shore up anticipated period of calm and stability in our country.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In broad terms, it seems that inclusive political institution played a protective role in long sustained rise of western economy especially that of the UK and US.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In the medium term it appears that we need a very credible and effective state that invests a lot in people as well as in the infrastructure and a package of policy reforms that provides a credible signal to the private sector and to foreign investors as well. I think this act of signalling is really important in the immediate run. I am happy that this year&#39;s budget has come up with package of positive reforms. Hence, our critical juncture is near the horizon and we must seize that moment.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em>Dr Wagle is a member of the National Planning Comission. This article is adapted from the speech he &nbsp;delivered at the 2nd NewBiz Business Conclave &amp; Awards.</em></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>&ldquo;Investment, Infrastructure and Inclusion Should Be Nepal&rsquo;s Top Priorities&rdquo;</strong></span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<table align="right" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:25px">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td><img alt="Johannes Zutt" src="/userfiles/images/sv3.jpg" style="border-style:solid; border-width:0px; height:170px; width:200px" /></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Johannes Zutt</strong></div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<div style="text-align: center;">The World Bank believes that there are some areas that the government and the people of Nepal need to focus in order to realize higher levels of growth. The three &lsquo;I&rsquo;s - investment, infrastructure and inclusion - should be the priority for now.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Nepal is investing below the rate of investment needed to achieve a double digit growth. There is actually money available in Nepal for higher investment, but it isn&rsquo;t happening. The business community complains about access to finance, regulatory burdens and labour costs. These are the problems existent is South Asia but it is debilitating in Nepal. Also, the public expenditure is crowded in the end of the fiscal year which is not a very good way to run the expenditure. Unlike most countries in the world, in Nepal, the budget doesn&rsquo;t get spent until a lot of supplementary negotiations are done during the fiscal year itself. As a consequence, infrastructure and other spending are delayed and the outcome of the expenditure is delayed. Public financial management needs to be improved for better expenditure.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Investment is important because without it, infrastructures cannot be built that are needed by the private sector. Nepal is caught in a vicious cycle in this matter. We don&rsquo;t have high enough levels of investment in infrastructure that is necessary for businesses to succeed and because we don&rsquo;t have that infrastructure, we are not getting the investment.&nbsp;</div>

<div>Nepal is blessed in being between two of the fastest growing largest economies of the world. Although being landlocked is typically associated with slower growth, in Nepal&rsquo;s case, it is landlocked with two huge dynamic economies that can actually accelerate Nepal&rsquo;s growth. Nepal has enormous markets both to the north and south. Nepal needs to make necessary infrastructure investments to unlock access to those two markets.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Inclusion should be the other major focus of Nepal. Inclusion is making sure that every Nepali, no matter where he or she is born, has equal opportunity to share and contribute to the country&rsquo;s economy. Everybody has something to contribute and we need to make it possible for them to do so. Inclusion also means giving people access to reasonable quality health care and education, and helping those people who are not able to participate in the economy because of things out of their control like disability or old age to get financial supplement to enable them to participate and meet their needs.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;Finally, bringing government closer to the people, enabling people to work with their public representatives and holding them accountable is critical for every country that wishes to achieve success.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em>Zutt is World Bank&#39;s country director for Nepal and Bangladesh. This article is adapted from the speech he delivered at the 2nd NewBiz Business Conclave &amp; Awards.</em></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>&lsquo;&lsquo;Business, Bottlenecks and Beyond&rsquo;&rsquo;</strong></span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<table align="right" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:25px">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td><img alt="Bkesh Pradhanang, Managing Director, Jade Consult" src="/userfiles/images/sv4.jpg" style="border-style:solid; border-width:0px; height:170px; width:200px" /></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<div>
			<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Bkesh Pradhanang</strong></div>

			<div style="text-align: center;">Managing Director, Jade Consult</div>
			</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<div>Wikipedia says that Nepal is the country with the highest elevation, Mt Everest which is shared with China. &nbsp;That is the only thing that distinguishes Nepal from the rest of the world. Other country that we relate ourselves with is our neighbouring country Bhutan which has the highest growth rate of 21.44 per cent in its real GDP.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>So, let&rsquo;s ask ourselves why is our country where it is today? Why is our country lagging behind? What are the bottlenecks here? Is it because of the old policies that have not changed over a decade? Examples are Hydropower Policy of 2001 and Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act of 1992. Moreover, we still have the same infrastructure and the same bureaucracy. &nbsp;The work process in the bureaucracy is still the same as it was during the period when there were no computers.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Yes, there have been some changes, but these changes are minimal compared to the rest of the world.The political system is still not stable and we have very low investments here. And, on the other side, we have a very hostile civil society that just wants to criticize everything just for the sake of criticizing. Is that really productive? Let us ask ourselves these questions.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The year 2012 was declared the investment year in Nepal. But, what happened in that year? We had an inflow of only 62 million dollars as investment that year. In 2013, we went to 200 million dollars but in 2014 it went down to around 130 million dollars. Given the large population, our resources and our potential, these kinds of figures are pathetic.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>We have also had different problems here. One is related with the policies, or policy predictability. Although the policies seem very stable to us, they seem inflexible from the eyes of the investors. And, obviously the other problem lies with the unstable politics here. I think we have lost the count of prime ministers. It is understandable that we are poor but let us analyse the industry average in the SAARC region or Asia. Nepal comes very low, in the range of Bhutan and Afghanistan, which is definitely not a good sign.The data from United Nations says that foreign investment in Nepal was below 100 million dollars in the year 2013. &nbsp;We all understand that we have to do a lot and the current and the past governments have been putting a lot of effort. We are in a world where 200 countries compete for FDIs. So, we cannot just ask investors to invest in Nepal. So, how do we really compete with all these countries? We have problem also because our government&rsquo;s revenue collection is very low and our national budget is very low.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Yes, some of our domestic industries are performing well but that is not enough and we definitely need FDIs. Recently, the investment goal is to focus on big projects. Some projects are in a really advanced stage and probably in the next two years, we will be in the position to start construction. This is a positive sign. Above all, these projects have an investment need of 13 billion dollars or more. The government of Nepal has taken a positive sign of inviting expression of interest (EOI) for fast-track roads. So, all these projects should actually start off in the next two years.These projects require a huge amount of money. But how are we going to arrange that?&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Positive Side&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>I believe that we have too many of sad stories and complaints, but we need to look at the positive side as well. Data show that we have performed well in the communication sector. It is among the top 50 in the world ranking in the field of communication. So, what does it take for us to be in the same position in other sectors as well? It might require us to have another 70,000 kilometres in roads and 8,000 MW in energy. &nbsp;Data have shown that Nepal has around 16 million working population (that is 50 percent of total population). But instead of using theme here we are sending them abroad and we are sustaining in this country because of the huge amount of money that these Nepalis send in from abroad. But, we cannot solely depend on that. These are our human resources and the government should mobilize them properly within the country. Even for those who go abroad, we should see that they go with higher level skills. For this, the government should invest in higher education. The government should also think about the people that will come back from Qatar after the World Cup 2022 is over. Where will these people go then and what will they do? These people need to be trained and they should be provided with opportunities.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>China and India put together have around 150 million people that go out as tourists.. If we tap even one per cent of this, that will be a big achievement. But again, targeting bigger number of arrivals will not help. We also have to concentrate on infrastructure. In the next five years or 10 years, we need to start improving our road condition, airports, etc. The basic and the most important thing is that we need to sell Nepal as a brand that depicts business. This branding has to be done with tourism.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The other thing is that the money that comes from overseas has to be utilized, which is not happening in the current situation. Government has to utilize this money by investing it in infrastructure so that when people return from overseas, they have opportunities in their land.The government has a priority project in hand named Budi Gandaki hydropower project. There is a big need of money in this project. Remittance is compared with rainfall, if not stored and utilised, it will drain out. And that is exactly what is happening right now. The remittance money is fuelling imports growth. Another sad thing is that though we are very close to India with open borders, we are not able to reap the benefits out of this situation. This is something we need to consider immediately.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In conclusion, the main thing is that we all have ideas but these ideas need to be turned into actions. If we focus on potential areas, we will develop or else we will be in the same position in the next 20 years also.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em>Adapted from the speech delivered by Pradhanang at the 2nd NewBiz Business Conclave &amp; Awards.</em></div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-13 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 13:46:21',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'The theme of this conclave which is ‘Unlocking Nepal’s Growth Prospects’ is very timely. It is often presumed that for fast economic growth, a country needs a good natural resource base.',
			'sortorder' => '945',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '21',
			'title' => 'Cover Story',
			'sortorder' => '532',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2017-05-03 14:57:12'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 16 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '957',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '26',
			'title' => 'Dynamics of Interest Rate',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => '',
			'content' => '<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/ep(10).jpg" style="height:426px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>--By Hom Nath Gaire</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In the business of borrowing and lending money, the lender charges and the borrower agrees to pay an amount in excess of the amount lend and borrowed. The excess amount is called interest, in common language. In economic terminology, like rent and wages, interest is a factor payment. It is paid for the use of capital as a factor of production. In other words, interest rate is the cost of capital per unit of time.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Economists define interest as a payment for the sacrifice made by the income holder by deferring consumption for the time being and imparting with liquidity, a reward to the income holder for their savings. Interest rates are indeed very important economic variables. There are many uses of interest rates.</div>

<div>In this context, it must be noted that interest rates play a key role in monetary analysis, as they are akey element in the transmission process of monetary policy.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/ep1(5).jpg" style="float:right; height:543px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Interest Rate Determination</strong></div>

<div>As the interest rate is cost of capital, the term capital is used in two senses; (1) money capital, i.e. stock of money that could be loaned out, and (2) physical assets e.g. land, building, plant, machinery etc. Money capital in the form of bank deposit, share and debenture yields different forms of income&mdash; interest and dividend. On the other hand, investment in physical capital yields income called return on capital. However, economists believe that money capital finally takes the form of physical capital and interest paid on money capital takes in the form of cost of capital.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Because of this reason, the monetary theory of interest is given more importance than that of real theory of interest. The common peculiarity of monetary theories of interest is that the interest is a monetary phenomenon, which is determined by demand and supply of money. Further, monetary theorists believe that interest rate varies inversely with supply of money and positively with the purchasing power (value) of money. The defenders of the monetary theories of interest argue that when supply of money increases purchasing power (value) of money falls and, hence the rate of interest also comes down.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Real Interest Rate</strong></div>

<div>The &quot;real interest rate&quot; is approximately the nominal interest rate minus the inflation rate. It is the rate of interest an investor expects to receive after subtracting the expected inflation that is going to be experienced by the economy. However, this is not a single number, as different investors have different expectations of future inflation. Since the inflation rate over the course of a loan is not known initially, volatility in inflation represents a risk to both the lender and the borrower.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Real interest rate is considered as one of the major determinants of saving as well as investment in an economy. Theoretically it is assumed that savings can be increased if real deposit rates are positive. Accordingly, the central banks of the respected countries, adopted interest rate policy for maintaining positive deposit rates. The common objectives of such policy are the following:&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&bull; Mobilization of higher level of savings in the form of bank deposits.</div>

<div>&bull; Prevention of capital flight from the country.</div>

<div>&bull; Mobilization of financial resources to productive sectors of the economy.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&bull; Promotion of economic activities particularly industrial and commercial.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>For more or less same purposes, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) &mdash; the central bank of Nepal &mdash;had regulated interest rates in the pre liberalization era. By doing this, NRB attempted to keep real deposit rates positive making frequent revisions in nominal rates whenever inflation rates were changing. NRB was unable to appropriately monitor the movements and the real interest rate was moving up and down over time (see figure).</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Economists agree that the real interest rate is determined in the market for investment and savings and thus by the forces of productivity and thrift. Hence, the real interest rate adjusts to equilibrate desired savings (providing the net supply of funds) with desired investment (generating the net demand for funds). In an increasingly integrated world economy with internationally mobile capital, global forces of saving and investment largely determine the real rate of interest. For relatively small open economies like Nepal, the word real rate of interest is somewhat independent of domestic circumstances, especially over the medium to long term.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/ep2(2).jpg" style="height:569px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Factors Affecting Interest Rate&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>On the basis of monetary theories, a number of factors influence the level of interest rate. Among the factors, the size of government borrowing is very important. The higher the size of the budget deficit, the higher is the level of interest rate and vice-versa. This fact has been one of the factors affecting the level of interest rate in Nepal.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>It is to be noted that both the government and the private sector borrow from the domestic market. Obviously, funds that can be borrowed from the domestic financial market are given. With the given funds, when the government domestic borrowing increases, it puts pressure on domestic interest rates to go up. With the rise in domestic interest rates, the government borrowing crowds out the private sector investment.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>However, the situation of Nepal&#39;s financial markets contradicts with the notion of crowding out effect of interest rate. Because the trend of private investment in Nepal is not encouraging in the recent years and whatever investment the private sector is making, it is generated from their cash flow and surplus profits. Similarly, private sector bond (debenture) market is not developed at all in Nepal, which indicates that the government deficit financing could not crowd out the private investment. On the other hand the budget deficit of the government is almost financed by foreign grants and concessional loans and hence the government does not rely on the domestic borrowing. Therefore, the crowding out effect is not applicable in Nepal since the government has not been able to spend even the grants and concessional loan given by the donors. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Another factor affecting the interest rate relates to business conditions. When economic recovery takes place, economic activities increase, putting an upward pressure on interest rates and vice-versa. In an interest rate deregulated economy, market forces determine the level and the structure of interest rates. Here market forces are automatically guided by business environment prevailing in the economy. In this respect, one of the questions that are very often asked about is the appropriate level of interest rate. As various physical as well as psychological issues, especially in least developed countries like Nepal, affect the business environment it is almost uncertain to predict an appropriate level of interest rate.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The third factor relates to the role of lobbies and pressure groups. In the society, the different interest groups play their roles in raising or lowering interest rates. Retirees will like to see deposit rates going up. Likewise, households will also prefer higher interest rate on their deposits. On the other hand, industrialists and business community will put pressure for lower interest rates. In the Nepalese context, industrialists and business seems to be found exerting pressure on monetary authority and the political authorities for a lower level of interest rate.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Whether market determined or determined by the monetary authority, there are two aspects of interest rates. The first is the level of interest rate and the second aspect relates to the structure of interest rates.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/ep3(3).jpg" style="height:583px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>What is the Optimal Rate of Interest?</strong></div>

<div>One can ask: what is an optimal rate of interest for an economy? Nonetheless, there could be a number of ways of judging the appropriate level of interest rate.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>First, real rate of interest, which should be positive to encourage saving. It discourages low yielding investment and thus has positive impact on growth. Again the question remains unanswered, what should be the optimum level of real interest rate. According to monetary policy decision rule of J.B. Taylor, an American monetary economist, the level of real deposit rate should not be less than 2 per cent. Once we agree to this rule and add the inflation rate to the 2 per cent desired real interest rate, optimal nominal interest rate can easily be calculated.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Second, interest rates of neighbouring countries should also be taken into account while judging the optimum level of domestic interest rate. It is important to attract foreign capital to accelerate the economic growth of the country. In this case, a common principle is that the domestic interest rate must be higher than international interest rates. In Nepal&rsquo;s case, Indian interest rates could serve as reference rates.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Third, returns on investment of the projects are also important factors to judge the appropriate levels of interest rates. Relatively high returns on investment will encourage investors for making additional investment with an aim of making more profit which in turn increases the demand for loanable fund and interest rate as well. In this case, even the higher interest rate is also considered as appropriate.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Fourth, in a least developed country like Nepal, interest rates in unorganized markets can also be used to judge the appropriate level of interest rate. In Nepal it is found that money is being lend and borrowed at extremely high interest rate (up to 36 per cent in normal situation and even in four digits in special cases) in informal market and up to 20 per cent in saving and credit cooperatives. In this context, relatively higher interest rate (up to 12per cent) in the formal banking system may be considered as appropriate.&nbsp;</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-15 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:49:40',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'In the business of borrowing and lending money, the lender charges and the borrower agrees to pay an amount in excess of the amount lend and borrowed. The excess amount is called interest, in common language. In economic terminology, like rent and wages, interest is a factor payment. It is paid for the use of capital as a factor of production. In other words, interest rate is the cost of capital per unit of time.',
			'sortorder' => '930',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '26',
			'title' => 'Economy and Policy',
			'sortorder' => '534',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-03-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 17 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '958',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '26',
			'title' => 'NTIS REVIEW Hopes Shadowed by Doubt',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'The latest statistics shows that Nepal's trade deficit and national budget size is equal around 600billion rupees. In this context, Nepal trade integration strategy–2010 (NTIS) is being reviewed after four years of implementation. This is the first time that government is planning ',
			'content' => '<div><strong>--By Gunja B Khadka</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The latest statistics shows that Nepal&#39;s trade deficit and national budget size is equal around 600billion rupees. In this context, Nepal trade integration strategy&ndash;2010 (NTIS) is being reviewed after four years of implementation. This is the first time that government is planning to review its trade strategy with an aim of promoting export and reforming export oriented business. Statistics show that the export of products listed in NTIS is far below the target set by it. Considering the present situation it is not going to be possible to reduce trade deficit if the NTIS reviewed in the same way as in the past. Concerned authorities say that the coming review will be based on four key criteria that includes internal supply chain capacities, world trade growth scenario, the country&rsquo;s present capacity to export the identified goods and services and the possibility of increasing the export of already identified products. Officials at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MOCS) say that the strategy is being reviewed for the first time so as to adopt the changing scenario in trade sector and to respond to the demands of industrialist including other major products like garments and carpets.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The NTIS, which was unveiled four years ago, has been criticized for not meeting its tangible targets. Enhancing the capacity building and competitiveness of Nepali products in international market is its main priority. Except some major items, the export of goods and services put under the heading &ldquo;other goods and services&rdquo; did not increase. The existing strategy has prioritized 19 product and services as having export potential including seven agro items, five industrial products and seven services.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC) has already published its report showing dismal performance of the listed products except large cardamom, all other listed products have not recorded much encouraging export performance. Over the last four years, government has given more priority to agro and manufacturing products. But at the same time, Nepal&rsquo;s service sector is growing more competitive in the international arena. IT and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), labor and tourism have huge potential to generate the foreign currency and reduce the trade deficit. However, this sector is not getting enough priority from both&mdash; the government and the private sector. Ishwori Prasad Ghimire, executive director of TEPC, opines that it is good opportunity to promote potential goods and services and import substitution policy.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/ep4.JPG" style="height:345px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/ep5(1).jpg" style="float:right; height:532px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:150px" />Hopes under Shadow</strong></div>

<div>Two years ago, there was a plan to improve the export business targeting 100 billion rupees figure. However, according to TEPC annual statistics for fiscal year 2013-014, Nepal&#39;s export trade is still below that figure. In this scenario, there is no ground to believe that the export will grow after the forthcoming review of NTIS. However, as the coming review is being funded by Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), a Geneva based multilateral institution that specializes in promoting the trade of least development countries (LDCs), hopes have been rekindled. &nbsp;The EIF, in association with Nepali government, has set up a fund of nearly 700 million rupees to promote pashmina, medicinal herbs and ginger products. And there is an agreement between EIF and Nepal government to implement projects to promote export of goods listed in NTIS. A committee has been formed in chairmanship of Nepal government&rsquo;s Chief Secretary .Along with that a sub-committee called Capacities for Trade and Development (NECTRADE) has been assisting in implementing projects together with local entrepreneurs. &nbsp;However, the Implementation committee is criticized for not playing its role proactively.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>So the forthcoming review of the Strategy is still in doubt. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Service sector in shadow&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>For decades, Nepal has been totally focused on goods exports. But the procedural obstacles in exporting these goods cost much money while minimizing the returns. But the recent emergence of service sector has raised the hopes again to lower the trade deficit. One such possible product is hydroelectricity. And the recently signed Power Trade Agreement (PTA) with India has enhanced this hope further. This indicates the need for Nepal entering into bilateral, regional or multilateral agreement in service sector. According to Director General of World Trade organization (WTO) Roberto Azevedo, Nepal has more potential in service sector than in others. He also suggests that Nepal can groom its economy if the service sector is handled appropriately.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Implementing dilemma</strong></div>

<div>It was also due to the political instability and government&rsquo;s weak performance that Nepal could not meet its NTIS targets. Government seems weak also in properly using the available fund. Similarly, the obstacles faced in implementing the policies have made the environment unfavourable. So, Nepal has to focus on solving problems faced in implementing its programs &nbsp;by creating business-friendly physical infrastructure such as well managed dry port and international airport. At the same time, Nepali private sector has to produce qualitative products and enhance laboratory capacities. Private sector apex bodies such as the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) have made some joint initiatives to develop varieties of products to promote export. This is a good development.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-15 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:47:05',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'The latest statistics shows that Nepal's trade deficit and national budget size is equal around 600billion rupees. In this context, Nepal trade integration strategy–2010 (NTIS) is being reviewed after four years of implementation. This is the first time that government is planning to review its trade strategy with an aim of promoting export and reforming export oriented business.',
			'sortorder' => '931',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '26',
			'title' => 'Economy and Policy',
			'sortorder' => '534',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-03-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 18 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '959',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '61',
			'title' => 'Osteoporosis and the Spine',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Osteoporosis is a condition in which the bone mass decreases. This leads to weakness in the bones of the body and consequently increases the risk to fracture. The spine, hip, wrist and shoulder bones are prone to fractures. ',
			'content' => '<div><strong>--Dr Gaurav Raj Dhakal</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/sc(2).jpg" style="float:right; height:641px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Osteoporosis is a condition in which the bone mass decreases. This leads to weakness in the bones of the body and consequently increases the risk to fracture. The spine, hip, wrist and shoulder bones are prone to fractures. Unlike in adults, where a large amount of force is required to break the bones; in osteoporosis minor trauma is responsible for the break. This minor force may be due to slipping in the bathroom, getting up from a lying down position, lifting small weights or minor falls.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Osteoporosis may arise after attaining menopause or old age. Risk factors associated with osteoporosis are female sex, post-menopause, smoking, alcohol, lack of exercise, steroid usage, hormonal disorders, psychiatric drugs and low calcium intake.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Almost half of the fractures occur in the spine. One-third women above 65 years suffer from vertebral fractures and they lead a low quality of life. Women with at least one new vertebral fracture have a 32% increased risk of mortality. The patient may complain of back pain, pain going down the legs, numbness, and weakness of the legs. Progressive fractures result in shortening of height, stooped posture and decreased quality of life.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Plain X rays reveal the fracture vertebrae while MRI scan show the amount of spinal cord compression responsible for the weakness of the legs. It is also imperative to do a Bone Mineral Density (BMD) test to determine the amount of osteoporosis that is present. Follow up BMD also serves as an indicator to improvement after treatment. Other tests that may be done are blood calcium, phosphate and alkaline phosphatase. It is also necessary to rule out tumours and other cancers in elderly with osteoporotic compression fractures.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The treatment of osteoporosis is three fold. It is essential to stop smoking, avoid alcohol and maintain a balanced diet. Regular physical activity and weight bearing exercises have beneficial effects on the bone mineral density. Elderly individuals are encouraged to use a walking stick to avoid falls. Calcium and vitamin D supplementation are the cornerstone of all treatment modalities. Other pharmacological medications should be taken in consultation with a specialist. Surgery is indicated in patients with unrelieved back pain despite treatment, weakness of the legs or pain going down the legs, problem with urine and stools after the fracture or paralysis.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Women above 45 years of age and post-menopausal women are advised to consult spine surgeon to learn about the strategies to prevent and treat osteoporosis. The Spine Clinic at Norvic International Hospital provides a comprehensive osteoporosis screening and treatment program. Act now, prevent osteoporosis!</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em>The author is a Spine Surgeon practicing at Norvic International Hospital and can be reached at spinegaurav@gmail.com</em></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-15 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:44:53',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Osteoporosis is a condition in which the bone mass decreases. This leads to weakness in the bones of the body and consequently increases the risk to fracture. The spine, hip, wrist and shoulder bones are prone to fractures. Unlike in adults, where a large amount of force is required to break the bones; in osteoporosis minor trauma is responsible for the break. This minor force may be due to slipping in the bathroom, getting up from a lying down position, lifting small weights or minor falls.',
			'sortorder' => '932',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '61',
			'title' => 'Spine Column',
			'sortorder' => '61',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2014-07-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 19 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '960',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '44',
			'title' => 'Is Profit Antithesis to Collective Welfare?',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Discussions on the actual purpose of business organizations have been going on for long in Nepal. Some argue that businesses are created simply to serve the interest of the investors while others claim that the purpose is to go beyond serving the sole interest of the investors and provide',
			'content' => '<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/be(7).jpg" style="height:502px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>--By Narottam Aryal</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Discussions on the actual purpose of business organizations have been going on for long in Nepal. Some argue that businesses are created simply to serve the interest of the investors while others claim that the purpose is to go beyond serving the sole interest of the investors and provide ample of consideration to collective welfare.</div>

<div>In this article, I will attempt to demonstrate that the ultimate objective of a business organization is to enhance the interest of the broader society and this is not anti-thesis to profit especially. In the long run it rather gains sustained and maximum profit for such businesses.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Being a firm believer of free-market and capitalism, I do fundamentally testify that organizations should enhance their profit making capacity. This is the reason why I claim that organizations assuming proportions larger than the individuals and the society and focusing on their own needs and priorities, might not help sustain for long though they might enjoy their business heyday very soon.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Fundamentally, my proposition is that all organizations, profit or non-profits, are created to serve the society, not the other way round. The very concept of an organization involves a group of people working together for a common goal. &nbsp;It implies that people live in a society and they work together to maximize the welfare of humanity. However, in practice today, the goal of an organization, especially those in business, has been limited to maximizing profit, often at the cost of welfare of the broader society, to serve the interest of a small community of investors. The goal of an organization must be redefined to serve the broader interests of the society because defining company&rsquo;s goal as to maximizing profitability means others will have to bear the cost of its profitability.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>For instance, some companies are setting up production facilities in locations where the cost of labour is low. Such locations usually have lower socio-economic conditions. A growing global trend among corporate houses today shows outsourcing production facilities into poverty stricken societies where they can pay their employees lower salary. The objective, though unfair to the workers, is to reduce the cost of production so that they can increase the margin of profitability. If this idea of increasing profit by minimizing employee salaries is taken to its logical end, many organizations will apparently be serving the purpose of a particular segment ultimately, and this will be an affront on their workers&rsquo; hunger, their children&rsquo;s education, and more often on their health. The case in point is the plight of the garment factory workers in South Asian countries whose products sell at premium prices in the first world economies.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Profit maximization, the idea of minimizing costs and elevating income, serves only a narrow segment of society. We cannot deny that this is an incentive for investors. But the issue here is whether or not to make money and if so, how much money and at whose cost? There is no limit of how much money can be gained or spent and a fixed number cannot be the goal either. The goal is not to maximize the shareholders&rsquo; wealth, as believed traditionally; but to maximize the broader benefits&mdash;the sum of the benefits of the community, who one way or the other have stake in a particular organization. Doing this is the only sustainable approach to measure organizational performance. The narrow parameter of profitability cannot measure the actual organizational performance.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Basic human rights principles are also used to counter the objective of maximizing profitability only. Some people argue that business should be based on rational decisions and should not be based by following emotional instincts alone. But counter to the sheer profit-maximizing objective of the organization is the fact that humans are emotional by nature and one can hardly go beyond emotional aspects of humanity. After all, human beings are full of emotions.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>However, the argument is not to negate the value of rationalism, as being rational is equally important while running a business. The point I am making is that a heavily-skewed importance is generally given to rational side of the organizations.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Could this be because of greed and desire for amassing huge wealth in a short span of time? Maybe, &lsquo;yes.&rsquo; It may also sound purely normative. The rotational argument of business says that individual welfare can be maximized and along with the gain and equity of its shareholders through profit maximization. But to have such situation, a balanced view of both, rational and emotional, sides is necessary. If organizations maintain balance between rational and emotional aspects of a business, society and the organization will flourish together. Hence, organizations should actively engage communities and offer sustainable opportunities to further empower and help them in facilitating change for generations to come.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>An organization is like a cruise wherein every passenger enjoys the voyage together. But, an organization does not have any fixed one-point destination. In this continuous journey, the organizations needs to incorporate the welfare of all those involved in order to secure maximum welfare. That is to say that when passengers are healthy and alive on the cruise, the ship has fuel and capable crew, the cruise can continue as long as it desires and to any destination. This idea is to satisfy the crews and passengers. That is, not only fulfilling emotional needs, but also the rational needs of individuals and communities. Thus, an organization needs to satisfy emotional and rational needs of its stakeholders to become successful.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Sum of individual welfare is the total of organizational performance and contribution to the society. This is how we can maximize the total impact on the target society. &nbsp;Maximization of total welfare will increase opportunities for each individual and their communities. Organizational structures should continue to find diverse ways to empower and improve their audiences and their focus should remain broad so as to further the welfare of the individual as well as the society. If organizations focus on driving innovation and placing opportunities directly in the hands of the people through diverse mechanisms then society will become more self sufficient and less reliant on outsourced goods. &nbsp;The organizations that offer broad-spectrum programming further benefit society by adjusting to the needs of individuals, their communities and society. Such organizations gain community credibility and offer even stronger and diverse opportunities to reach the masses and drive innovation for future generations.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>If organizations want long term growth and development, they should look at young social entrepreneurship for inspiration, as these innovators are not only changing the face of society, they are also driving the &ldquo;wheel&rdquo; of economic success and social welfare too. No doubt, we human beings are selfish by virtue of our nature. It means that individuals intend to maximize their individual welfare. The ideas of modern democracy and free markets are primarily based on this fact.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Here also the idea is not against maximizing individual welfare, but for the same. Let&rsquo;s not forget that we as individual live in a society and therefore our individual welfare largely depends on the collective wellbeing of the society. For example, our quality of life is determined by quality of the air we breathe, the security we have, the environment we live in and so on. Knowingly or unknowingly, we are focusing on narrowly perceived interests and overlooking the above facts. As a result, the individual welfare has been compromised ultimately.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>To conclude, organizations should focus on broader interests of various stakeholders in the society to ensure their sustainability. The sooner we understand this fact, the better our society will be.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em>Aryal is Executive Director at King&rsquo;s College.</em></div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-15 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:43:34',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Discussions on the actual purpose of business organizations have been going on for long in Nepal. Some argue that businesses are created simply to serve the interest of the investors while others claim that the purpose is to go beyond serving the sole interest of the investors and provide ample of consideration to collective welfare.
In this article, I will attempt to demonstrate that the ultimate objective of a business organization is to enhance the interest of the broader society and this is not anti-thesis to profit especially. In the long run it rather gains sustained and maximum profit for such businesses.',
			'sortorder' => '933',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '44',
			'title' => 'Management Gyan',
			'sortorder' => '44',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2013-06-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 20 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '961',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '74',
			'title' => 'TFA Impasse In WTO: An Opportunity Could Be Missed',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'The landmark agreement to liberalize global trade has hit a gridlock after India refused to accept the pact following the country's disagreement on food subsidies. The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) or the Bali Package, agreed by the Ninth Ministerial Conference ',
			'content' => '<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/wf(2).jpg" style="height:333px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>--By Sanjeev Sharma</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The landmark agreement to liberalize global trade has hit a gridlock after India refused to accept the pact following the country&#39;s disagreement on food subsidies. The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) or the Bali Package, agreed by the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), held in Bali, Indonesia on 3-7 December, 2013, would have been the first deal to reform global trade in two decades. The trade protocol which came as a result of relentless negotiations over the decades, basically aims to lower global trade barriers.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Upon its implementation, the TFA, ambits to smoothen trading between developing and developed economies by lowering import tariffs and farm subsidies. The Bali accord includes measures that would formally put an end to developed nations&rsquo; stiff import quotas of agro products from the developing countries. Rather, the importing nations would only be allowed to levy tariffs on amount of agricultural imports exceeding particular limits. Similarly, provisions related to streamlining and reforming customs bureaucracies is another major aspect of TFA that are targeted to facilitate global trade. The pact is expected to add USD 1 trillion to global GDP along with generating 21 million jobs worldwide. The deal also covers measures to preferential treatment and greater market access, issues that have been long-raised by developing and least developed countries (LDCs).&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>However, the accord&#39;s far-reaching impacts have been halted for the time being. India, one of the WTO&#39;s prominent members, has long insisted to keep the farm subsidies intact. India&#39;s assertion seems to be primarily fueled by the fears that removal of such government subvention would hurt the country&#39;s agricultural output. As the prices of agro commodities in the global market are likely to become more competitive after the implementation of TFA, India is reluctant to amend the current provisions of agricultural subsidies. The country which is the world&#39;s 2nd largest farm producer also ranks 10th among the major agricultural exporters.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Aided by supportive policy impetus alongside sufficient rainfall and massive stockpiles, India&#39;s exports of agricultural products stood at USD 29.3 billion in the first 11 months of the fiscal year 2013-14. The previous FY saw the Indian agro exports totaling USD 31.86 billion. The country is witnessing consistently rising agro and food export outpacing rise in other exports. Government data shows that the share of agricultural commodities in India&rsquo;s overall export basket rose to 10.66 per cent in FY 2012-13 from 7.06 per cent in 2009-10. &nbsp;Similarly, according to the WTO&#39;s statistics, India&#39;s share of global export (USD 1.66 trillion) and import (USD 1.82 trillion) of agricultural and food products stand at 2.07 per cent and 1.24 per cent, respectively. The country&#39;s increasing share of global export indicates that India is becoming a net exporter of agro products.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Another aspect of India&#39;s apprehension is related to food security. The world&#39;s third largest economy is also feeding its vast poor population with cheap food. The discontinuation of government grants could prove more difficult to provide low-priced foods to its poor citizens. India, which has been expanding its food subsidy programmes over the years, launched a massive programme to provide subsidised food to two-thirds of its population or 810 million people in mid-2013. The programme is expected to double the country&#39;s annual food subsidy bills by about USD 23.9 billion. Subsidising food grains carry huge electoral significance in India as the government and major political aspirants have repeatedly promised to feed poverty ridden population at giveaway prices.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The country is one of the largest hoarders of food grains in the world. Various reports suggest that India&#39;s grain stockpiles currently stand at about a whopping 70 million tons. It not only helps to supply subsidised food grains but also to check the prices in the global market. The fall in world-food stockpile is considered one of the contributing factors to the global food crisis of 2007-08. Political and social unrests were seen in many nations due to the dramatic rise in food prices. India has demanded freedom to subsidise and stockpile food grains in an exchange to the signing of TFA.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/wf1(1).jpg" style="height:364px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; width:710px" /></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Ever since its inception in 1995, the WTO has faced big hurdles to achieve its objectives. The organisation which came as as a replacement of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), has always been in a rock and a hard place when it comes to negotiations &nbsp;between its members. The uncertainty over the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) is an example of such obstacle. Commenced in 2001, the DDA&#39;s aim to liberalise global trade by lowering trade barriers has not been able to bear fruits as numerous talks have resulted in failures. Deep divisions between developed and developing nations over contentious issues such as agriculture, removing industrial tariff and non-tariff barriers of trade and services are considered as the impediments to DDA&#39;s progress. During the intense talks, developed nations led by United States accompanied by the European Union (EU) and Japan maintained their positions relating to quota-free access to the exports of developing countries and LDCs. Similarly, a group of developing nations and LDCs, led by the emerging bloc of China, India, Brazil and South Africa demanded greater freedom to agricultural subsidies and larger quota-free access to their specific exports. The demands and counter demands of member nations resulted in the stalling of WTO&#39;s trade talks in 2008. The multilateral trade negotiations have not resumed since then.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The TFA, which targets to harmonize global trade by slashing the customs red tape is a part of DDA. So, implementing the Bali package is not only imperative to its provisions but also to make progress on DDA and rescue WTO from the brink of failure. However, India&#39;s insistence has created an impasse in the organisation. The lockdown led to the expiration of deadline to ratify the deal by member nations on July, 31st. Talks are said to have been taking place to end the current stand-off, but narrowing the differences to resolve the problem seems difficult for the time being as Robert Azevedo, WTO&#39;s Director General puts it, &quot;The fact we do not have a conclusion means that we are entering a new phase in our work &ndash; a phase which strikes me as being full of uncertainties.&rdquo; Similarly, Patrick Low, WTO&#39;s former Chief Economist, mentions, &quot;The WTO is a victim of flawed procedural requirements. A single government can block progress across the board.&quot; &quot;Paralysis at the WTO is likely to reinforce the view that preferential trade arrangements are a substitute for inclusive multilateralism rather than a complement. That would be bad news for the world economy.&quot;</div>
</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-15 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:35:42',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => '',
			'sortorder' => '934',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '74',
			'title' => 'World Focus',
			'sortorder' => '73',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2013-09-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 21 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '962',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '15',
			'title' => '“Nepal will benefit  from our organo-metallic fertilizers”',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Dr Rahul Mirchandi is the executive director of the Indian fertilizer company, Aries Agro Limited. This 42-year-old company that claims to have been manufacturing eco-friendly fertilizers, recently tied up with Alpha-Agro in Nepal. ',
			'content' => '<div><strong><img alt="Dr Rahul Mirchandi, executive director of the Indian fertilizer company, Aries Agro Limited." src="/userfiles/images/bv(6).jpg" style="float:right; height:300px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Dr Rahul Mirchandi</strong><span style="font-size:14px"> is the executive director of the Indian fertilizer company, Aries Agro Limited. This 42-year-old company that claims to have been manufacturing eco-friendly fertilizers, recently tied up with Alpha-Agro in Nepal. Dr Mirchandi was recently in Kathmandu for launching some of the company&rsquo;s products. </span><strong>Angila Sharma</strong><span style="font-size:14px"> of the New Business Age caught up with him and discussed issues surrounding his visit to Nepal, company&rsquo;s products and its marketing strategy for Nepal. </span><strong>Excerpts:</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>What is the purpose of your visit to Nepal?</strong></div>

<div>We have been considering Nepal as a very core market for our products. India recognizes that Nepal has huge potential in agriculture with equally huge potentials for improving its ecosystem. Aries Agro has been in the fertilizer business for the past 42 years. It is a renowned brand in the Indian fertilizer market for manufacturing specialized fertilizers, fertilizers that do not react with air, water and soil. We have substantial experience in customizing fertilizers for various crops and soil conditions. &nbsp;To ensure that Nepal gets best fertilizers, we have created customized group of world-class products that will not only preserve Nepal&rsquo;s environment but also increase crop production and will be cost effective. We have tied up with Alpha Agro, our partner in Nepal, to develop such fertilizers for Nepal.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>How are your fertilizers different from the existing organic or chemical fertilizers available in the market?</strong></div>

<div>Our fertilizers are not organic but they also do not react with environment. It is basically an organo-metallic complex. All the active ingredients in our fertilizers are covered with organic cages. Because of the organic covering on the nutrients, it averts from engaging in any harmful reactions. We extract the core minerals and cover them with organic cages that are basically chelating agents. This makes the final product inert from any reaction. The most interesting factor about our fertilizers is that they biodegrade after 20 days of use.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Plants require 16 nutrients like iron, copper, manganese, silicon, boron etc. to grow. These nutrients must be given in balanced proportion for balanced fertilization to take place. Out of ignorance, farmers sometimes tend to use some nutrients more than others. So, we provide them with a customized formulation that is suited to their crop requirements, soil and geographic conditions.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>What are the ranges of your products?</strong></div>

<div>We have 85 products available in the Indian market. In Nepal we are starting with a small range of products that are high in demand. Our recently launched six products are high in demand here. In Nepal, zinc is a major deficiency and we are fulfilling the need through a zinc-based product named Chelamin. Similarly, we have launched chelated iron based product called Chelafer and boron based product called Tetrabor. Along with that, we have launched anti biotic for plants called Plantomycin to get rid of pests and water soluble fertilizers NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium) to reduce the traditional forms of fertilizers like the urea. Besides these products, we have introduced Agromin (agriculture minerals), a customized product required in pre-determined proportion in farming.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>How do you evaluate the Nepali market?</strong></div>

<div>As an agricultural country, Nepal has huge potentials for our products. Nepal and India have much commonality in terms of soil condition and crop pattern. So, we do not want to deprive Nepal of reaping the benefits of our products.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Nowadays farmers prefer organic fertilizers. How will you establish your product in such condition?</strong></div>

<div>We do have organic fertilizers as well. But, it is necessary to understand that farmers have to use large quantities of such fertilizers as they have very low concentration of nutrients. So instead of using organic fertilizers in huge quantities, they can use our organo-metallic fertilizers. Organic Farming is the best form of farming. But, this is the alternative to it. It is equally safe and also solves the problem of labour, transportation and dosage. The only way to establish ourselvesin such market is through demonstration, field work and patience.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>What is marketing strategy for Nepal?</strong></div>

<div>First strategy is to find a distributor who has direct links with farmers. We have figured this out. We have sought the help of Alpha-Agro in this regard. They are experienced and have access to farmers and that will help us both tremendously as we are adding to their customer base. Secondly, we are planning to employ an entire team of extension officers who will be creating demands for our product. They will create demand by explaining to the farmers through field demonstration and trials.</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-15 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:31:52',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Dr Rahul Mirchandi is the executive director of the Indian fertilizer company, Aries Agro Limited. This 42-year-old company that claims to have been manufacturing eco-friendly fertilizers, recently tied up with Alpha-Agro in Nepal. Dr Mirchandi was recently in Kathmandu for launching some of the company’s products. Angila Sharma of the New Business Age caught up with him and discussed issues surrounding his visit to Nepal, company’s products and its marketing strategy for Nepal. Excerpts:',
			'sortorder' => '935',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '15',
			'title' => 'Business Visitors',
			'sortorder' => '538',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-06-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 22 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '963',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '15',
			'title' => '“We keep Nepal at par with developed countries”',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Ng Tian Beng is the vice president and managing director of Dell for South Asia region, looking after 30 countries including Nepal. Accompanied by Mir Sadat Ali, country manager for Nepal and Rest of Asia Pacific (RoAP), Beng was recently in Nepal on a business visit.',
			'content' => '<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong><img alt="Ng Tian Beng &amp; Mir Sadat Ali" src="/userfiles/images/bv1.JPG" style="float:right; height:245px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Ng Tian Beng </strong>is the vice president and managing director of Dell for South Asia region, looking after 30 countries including Nepal. Accompanied by <strong>Mir Sadat Ali,</strong> country manager for Nepal and Rest of Asia Pacific (RoAP), Beng was recently in Nepal on a business visit. In an interview with <strong>Gaurav Aryal</strong> and <strong>Sanjeev Sharma</strong> of New Business Age, Beng and Ali talked about prospects and challenges of Nepali market for Dell. <strong>Excerpts:</strong></span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>How do you see Nepal as a market for Dell products?</strong></div>

<div><strong>Beng:</strong>There are a lot of opportunities in this market especially in the commercial segment and data centres. We are the market leader here on the consumer side. We have been present in this market for around 17 years. We are optimistic as there are a lot of growth potentials for us here. Nepal is a country with young population and the Internet penetration is still quite low compared to other countries. And there are potentials for growing Internet penetration. So, we are very excited about our future.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>The personal computer (PC) market is slowing down globally with the increasing use of smartphones and tablets. How is it affecting Dell&rsquo;s business?</strong></div>

<div><strong>Beng:</strong> It is a perception that is affecting the PC business. But, our business is still growing well in the PC segment. People are buying tablets and smartphones, but they also have two device and not too many people have only one device. People are still buying PC and its business is still growing for us. People need notebooks and desktops, as tablets are difficult for content creation.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Do you see the rapid rise of market for commercial segment such as data centres in countries like Nepal?&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div><strong>Beng:</strong> There is a growing demand for server and storage, as everybody needs more information and data to be stored. Security issues are also fuelling the market for data centresin the emerging market.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Ali:</strong> In Nepal I see a lot of growing business prospects compared to countries that already have basic infrastructures in place. Here, still a lot of infrastructures are needed. The good news is that the government of Nepal is now really focusing on IT, not only on data centres but also on education sector. They are also revamping their telecom, banks and education departments. Nepal is on the fast track of growth from the technology perspectives. We will grow in the same pace that Nepal is growing.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Dell has recently focused more on ultrabooks, notebooks and chromebooks. Do you think that this business will keep up with the pace?</strong></div>

<div><strong>Ali:</strong> We have entry-level notebooks in this market for quite some time. We are planning to enhance the available product range with latest and updated models. We are also trying to bring chromebooks and see the market prospects. We are bringing all the models available in the region to Nepal. It means we are keeping Nepal at par with the developed countries. Whatever the possible products and service line Dell has, we can bring that into Nepal. We have not yet launched tablets here, but soon we will bring our tablets too.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Existence of cheap Chinese products and illegal import of genuine products are seen as some of the threats to genuine branded products. How are you planning to tackle those issues?</strong></div>

<div><strong>Ali:</strong> We are really facing some difficulty here from people doing parallel imports by avoiding duty. Our plan is to go and talk to the government for controlling this. Other countries like Bangladesh have successfully stopped this. They say that they don&rsquo;t need refurbished products in their country. In Nepal also, the government is trying to control the parallel import. We are working with them and if they are coming with legislation, it will be good.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Beng:</strong> We are also taking some internal actions with the help of our colleagues from other part of the world. The situation is improving with their help. Regarding Chinese goods, the Chinese vendors are very competitive but we are quite confident about our products and solutions. We can differentiate ourselves through our products and services that are a lot better than the Chinese ones. We have a lot of advantages in terms of compatibility in the data centres while connecting with different solutions.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-15 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:33:21',
			'keywords' => 'new business age business visitors news & articles, business visitors news & articles from new business age nepal, business visitors headlines from nepal,  current and latest business visitors news from nepal, economic news from nepal, nepali business visitors economic news and events, ongoing busin',
			'description' => 'Ng Tian Beng is the vice president and managing director of Dell for South Asia region, looking after 30 countries including Nepal. Accompanied by Mir Sadat Ali, country manager for Nepal and Rest of Asia Pacific (RoAP), Beng was recently in Nepal on a business visit. In an interview with Gaurav Aryal and Sanjeev Sharma of New Business Age, Beng and Ali talked about prospects and challenges of Nepali market for Dell. Excerpts:',
			'sortorder' => '936',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '15',
			'title' => 'Business Visitors',
			'sortorder' => '538',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-06-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 23 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '964',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '15',
			'title' => '“Quality Products, Competitive Prices and Services Will Give Us Edge Over Competitors”',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Nguyen Quang Hao is the deputy general director of the Vietnam based SRC Tyres. Chosen as the “Famous Brand in 2013” by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Vietnam (VCCI), the company has won many titles and awards and is renowned for its excellent quality and services. ',
			'content' => '<div><strong><img alt="Nguyen Quang Hao " src="/userfiles/images/bv2(2).jpg" style="float:right; height:393px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Nguyen Quang Hao</strong><span style="font-size:14px"> is the deputy general director of the Vietnam based SRC Tyres. Chosen as the &ldquo;Famous Brand in 2013&rdquo; by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Vietnam (VCCI), the company has won many titles and awards and is renowned for its excellent quality and services. Hao was recently in Nepal to launch SRC tyres and tubes for four wheelers. In an interview with </span><strong>Angila Sharma</strong><span style="font-size:14px"> of New Business Age, he talked about the company&rsquo;s products and its strategy in Nepal. </span><strong>Excerpts:</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Can you briefly tell us about your company and your visit to Nepal?</strong></div>

<div>We are the first Vietnamese company to manufacture tyres. We have over five decades of experience in producing tubes and tyres. We manufacture aircraft, automobile, tractor, motorcycle, and bicycle tyres along with other technical rubber products. With an employee base of 1500, our annual turnover rests around 60 million US dollars.</div>

<div>We recently introduced our products in Nepal by joining hands with Pallavi Enterprise as our sole distributor here. My visit is aimed at introducing our products to the Nepali market.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>How do you evaluate the Nepali tyres and tubes market?</strong></div>

<div>Nepali market is huge and has a lot of potential for each and every sector. Just like Vietnam, the roads here are also not in good condition. We believe our technology and experience of manufacturing tyres for such roads will fulfil the need of durable and strong tyres and tubes here. Additionally, our tyres are economical to use.Thus we see ourselves in a strong position in the Nepali tyres and tubes marketing in the next two years.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>What are the products you are pitching in initially?</strong></div>

<div>For now, we are entering the Nepali market with four wheelers tyres only. We will be gradually introducing tyres and tubes for bicycle and motorcycle as well.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Why should Nepali consumers buy SRC tyres and tubes?&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>SRC is one of the leading companies in manufacturing tyres and tubes. It has gained substantial experience in manufacturing high quality products. Due to its unrelenting focus on delivering quality products, for the past five years it has consistently ranked as the &ldquo;Top-5 High quality products of Vietnam&rdquo; in the vehicles and accessories industry segment.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Indian products dominate Nepali tubes and tyres market. How do you plan to overcome this stiff competition?</strong></div>

<div>Our first and foremost strategy is to win over customers by providing quality products at affordable prices. Second is to retain them and win over their loyalty by providing the best customer service experience to them. Thus, we believe that the quality of our products, our service and competitive pricing will give us edge over our competitors to prevail in the competition.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>What are your other plans for the Nepali market?</strong></div>

<div>Presently we are introducing nylon tyres and tubes here. In the future, we have plans to introduce our radial tyres in Nepal. In this regard, we are setting up a factory back at home and look forward to make radial tyres available here soon.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-15 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:32:45',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Nguyen Quang Hao is the deputy general director of the Vietnam based SRC Tyres. Chosen as the “Famous Brand in 2013” by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Vietnam (VCCI), the company has won many titles and awards and is renowned for its excellent quality and services. Hao was recently in Nepal to launch SRC tyres and tubes for four wheelers. In an interview with Angila Sharma of New Business Age, he talked about the company’s products and its strategy in Nepal. Excerpts:',
			'sortorder' => '937',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '15',
			'title' => 'Business Visitors',
			'sortorder' => '538',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-06-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 24 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '965',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '15',
			'title' => '“We are here to spread awareness about cyber security threats”',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Altaf Halde is the managing director of Kaspersky to South Asia, a globally recognized manufacturer of cyber security solution. He was recently in Nepal for the post launch follow-up of the company’s products and also to spread the awareness on cyber security in Nepal',
			'content' => '<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong><img alt="Altaf Halde" src="/userfiles/images/bv3.jpg" style="float:right; height:269px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Altaf Halde</strong> is the managing director of Kaspersky to South Asia, a globally recognized manufacturer of cyber security solution. He was recently in Nepal for the post launch follow-up of the company&rsquo;s products and also to spread the awareness on cyber security in Nepal through flash mobs in different markets. In an interview with <strong>Angila Sharma</strong> of New Business Age, Haude spoke about cyber security threats and the company&rsquo;s plans in Nepal. <strong>Excerpts:</strong></span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>How do you analyse the condition of cyber security in Nepal?</strong></div>

<div>We did a research regarding this using our central security monitoring system named Kaspersky Security Network (KSN). KSN keeps monitoring Kaspersky and non-Kaspersky users&rsquo; computers for usage of malwares. This research positioned Nepal among the seventh nation with users operating computers infected with malicious software. So, primarily one should not use computers infected with malicious software as these keep on sending personal data to its developer secretly.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Customers usually complain that Kaspersky slows down the processing of the computer. How do you defend this?</strong></div>

<div>With security, we have to keep in mind that it is not only about catching viruses. There are many types of antivirus software in the market, which only deal with the virus. But we provide 360-degree complete solution. We provide more security and also deal with malware in the computer.If we have to offer you the best security, a little bit of compromise on the speed of computer can be expected. If users feel that Kaspersky is delaying their computer&rsquo;s performance, using the enabling/disabling certain features as provided in the package can help them in improving speed.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Operating system these days have inbuilt antivirus system. In such case, how do you justify purchase of stand-alone antivirus softwares?</strong></div>

<div>I have been in the IT security business for almost 22 years now. At this point of time, people have free software, which don&rsquo;t offer official help. The thing is that, who will be accountable for the free software? Security is a big deal in today&rsquo;s world.So, when you purchase licensed software, you are also assured that you will get support, if required.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>How do you analyse the Nepali market?</strong></div>

<div>Piracy is a big problem here. But, I see that there is potential in a very big way in the Nepali market. With the help of our distribution partner Sagar Group, we have been able to create a market here in Nepal.With the effort of our channelled partner, I think we can also starting talking to the government now that computerization and automatic system operation is increasing in Nepal. So, I think we would want to work very closely with the government to give them our expertise. In India, we have tied up with Computer Emergency Response Team (CERTS), which looks at the possible cyber threats to the Indian government. We can enter similar deal with the Nepali government, where we assist more like a consultancy instead of a charged service that will be selling its products to them. So, it is going to be a combined effort of reaching to the children, corporate houses and the government. Personally, I feel that Nepal is a very good market and with the help of our partner and distributors, we can definitely spread awareness regarding computer threats and security.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>How much market share do you hold in Nepal?</strong></div>

<div>We don&rsquo;t have any official figures in Nepal. But based on the market, I think we have around 65 per cent of market share in Nepal.Out of 65 per cent, majority is from the consumer business.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>What are your plans for Nepal?</strong></div>

<div>We want to focus more on the corporate business. A lot of partners are now getting into the virtualization space. That&rsquo;s where security is required the most. &nbsp;So, we want to go into the corporate space. We have a mobile device management solution also within the Kaspersky portfolio. Most of the users have their customers coming to the office with their mobiles and tablets, the corporate house will requires some security for that. So, we have that solution in hand, which might not be useful for Nepal in the present context but in the future, it will be a need. We want to continue our focus on the consumer space, which we are doing in our 2015 product. But, in the future, we want to invest more on marketing and educating the corporate customers and prospects in Nepal.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-15 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:24:08',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Altaf Halde is the managing director of Kaspersky to South Asia, a globally recognized manufacturer of cyber security solution. He was recently in Nepal for the post launch follow-up of the company’s products and also to spread the awareness on cyber security in Nepal through flash mobs in different markets. In an interview with Angila Sharma of New Business Age, Haude spoke about cyber security threats and the company’s plans in Nepal. Excerpts:',
			'sortorder' => '938',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '15',
			'title' => 'Business Visitors',
			'sortorder' => '538',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-06-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 25 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '966',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '15',
			'title' => '“We are willing to bring market specific products for Nepal”',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Prasad Vasant Sane is the head of international business of Godrej Locking Solutions and Systems (GLSS). As a leading Indian brand, GLSS has been producing and providing critically acclaimed products and services in locking solutions and systems.',
			'content' => '<div><span style="font-size:14px"><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/bv4.jpg" style="float:right; height:389px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Prasad Vasant Sane</strong> is the head of international business of Godrej Locking Solutions and Systems (GLSS). As a leading Indian brand, GLSS has been producing and providing critically acclaimed products and services in locking solutions and systems. The company, which started its operations in 1897, has received multiple awards and recognitions in India and elsewhere around the world. The Godrej range of products are also well known among Nepali households and its commercial clients. Recently, GLSS launched new products in Nepali market. In an interview with <strong>Sanjeev Sharma</strong> and <strong>Gaurav Aryal </strong>of New Business Age, Sane talked about the presence of GLSS in Nepal and the company&#39;s plans to expand its business in the local market. Excerpts:</span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>How essential is Nepal&rsquo;s market for your company?</strong></div>

<div>Nepali market is very important for GLSS. I explained that in my presentation as well. We have presence in Asia, Middle East and Africa. In Asia, we are in Sri Lanka and Nepal after India. And to be frank, Nepal is our number one market. Currently, our market share in the country is 10 per cent. It is significant for a company that is not local.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>How do you assess the current scenario of security systems market in Nepal?</strong></div>

<div>Nepali market is growing. Lot of development activities are happening here. For instance, we can see scores of projects in the construction business. Lot of hotels along with residential and commercial apartments are being constructed. I understand that there are issues on security but we are coming out with the latest solutions for that. When we unveil ourselves as GLSS, we are offering solutions to the end consumers who will definitely like our high technology level products, which are much secure and durable.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Who are your targeted customers?</strong></div>

<div>We run our business on two basis &mdash;Retail and Institutions. We focus on individual customers on the retail side who buy our products for their personal use. On the institutional side, we deal with the contractors of commercial and residential apartments, hotels, government enterprises and sectors including energy and telecom. Tapping these customers will help us to win the race in security solutions market. Our target is to raise our share in the Nepali market by 30 per cent over the next five years.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>In the presentation at the summit, you mentioned that GLSS is looking forward to become the number one security systems solutions company in Nepal. How are you planning to achieve this goal?</strong></div>

<div>We are confident that GLSS will become the number one company in Nepali security systems solutions market. Our growing market presence clearly points to this. I recently visited couple of our major retailers who reported that Godrej is the brand that has a clear presence in Nepal&rsquo;s organised market. It gave the assurance that there is nobody other than our company in terms of brand perception.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>To achieve our goal of becoming the number one brand in Nepali security systems solutions market, we have rolled out a three-pronged strategy. First is to create brand and product awareness. We are going to increase our investments significantly for this purpose. Second is the expansion of our market presence. We are planning to expand our presence to various parts of country. We have planned to increase our retail base in significant proportions. Third is the expansion of institutions base. As there are a lot of activities happening in construction business, GLSS wants to be the first brand to offer institutional customers with various solutions that fit into their needs. If we consistently work along these strategies, then our goal is achievable.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>What products and services are you offering to your customers? What are the benefits of using GLSS products?</strong></div>

<div>We have a major leap in our products and services offerings. Currently mortice handle locks, architecture hardware and padlocks hold up to 70 per cent of our Nepali business. We have unveiled and added new products in these categories. Apart from these we have also introduced additional products such as cylindrical, furniture and electronic locks. We have decided to enter the local market in a full-fledged manner.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Our products have various benefits for our customers. Firstly, we have wide range of products that cater to the varied needs of our customers from various economic classes. We offer 300 products to our customers. Secondly, we offer one-year warranty on our products, which gives them peace of mind that they are buying products of decent quality. Thirdly, the whole Godrej portfolio uses the latest technology that meet the security demands of our customers. We are constantly investing in increasing brand&rsquo;s presence across the country and this will ultimately result in the wider availability of Godrej products.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Our country partner has been investing resources in improving sales and service. This will create an efficient service backup for end customers. We are willing provide customized solutions that fit into the needs of clients. For example, we can provide customized products demand of any requirement or master key solutions to architects and builders.</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-15 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:19:47',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Prasad Vasant Sane is the head of international business of Godrej Locking Solutions and Systems (GLSS). As a leading Indian brand, GLSS has been producing and providing critically acclaimed products and services in locking solutions and systems. The company, which started its operations in 1897, has received multiple awards and recognitions in India and elsewhere around the world.',
			'sortorder' => '939',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '15',
			'title' => 'Business Visitors',
			'sortorder' => '538',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => true,
			'modified' => '2013-06-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 26 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '967',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '35',
			'title' => 'Global Business Trends October 2014',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'The Obama administration cracked down Monday, 22nd September, on certain overseas corporate mergers and acquisitions, aiming to curb American companies from shifting their ownership abroad to shirk paying US taxes.',
			'content' => '<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/g(2).jpg" style="float:right; height:196px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />US Cracks Down on Companies Moving Overseas</strong></div>

<div>The Obama administration cracked down Monday, 22nd September, on certain overseas corporate mergers and acquisitions, aiming to curb American companies from shifting their ownership abroad to shirk paying US taxes. New regulations from the Treasury Department will make these co-called corporate inversions less lucrative by barring creative techniques that companies use to lower their tax bill. Additionally, the US will make it harder for companies to move overseas in the first place by tightening the ownership requirements they must meet.&quot;This action will significantly diminish the ability of inverted companies to escape U.S. taxation,&quot; Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said. He added that for some companies considering inversions, the new measures would mean inverting would &quot;no longer make economic sense.&quot;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Administration officials who briefed reporters could not say how many pending inversions might be stopped by the new rules and specifically would not address whether the rules would block one of the most high-profile moves, an effort that Burger King announced in August to acquire Tim Hortons, a Canadian coffee and doughnut chain. In such transactions, a US business merges with or is acquired by a foreign company in a country with a lower tax rate. President Barack Obama has denounced inversions as unpatriotic and has urged Congress to stop them. Obama applauded the Treasury for taking steps to reverse the trend of companies seeking to &quot;exploit this loophole&quot; to avoid paying their fair share in taxes.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/g1.JPG" style="float:right; height:153px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Xi Jinping Signs Landmark Deals on India Visit</strong></div>

<div>India and China have signed 12 agreements in Delhi, on Wednesday, 17th September, one of which will see China investing USD 20 billion in India&#39;s infrastructure over five years. The multi-billion dollar investment deal was marked on the first day of Chinese President Xi Jinping&#39;s three-day visit to India. Under the investment plans, China pledged to: Help bring India&#39;s ageing railway system railway system up-to-date with high-speed links and upgraded railway stations. The world&#39;s second largest economy also agreed to set up industrial parks in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Similarly, China promised to give more market access to India to products, including pharmaceuticals and farm products. Both sides also focused on increasing co-operation in trade, space exploration and civil nuclear energy. Indian and Chinese companies have also signed preliminary deals worth more than USD 3 billion in aircraft leasing and telecoms, among other sectors.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Despite the continuing tensions, trade between India and China has risen to almost USD 70 billion a year, although India&#39;s trade deficit with China has climbed to more than USD 40 billion from USD 1 billion in 2001-2002. At a news conference with Chinese President Xi Jinping, India&#39;s prime minister Narendra Modi said &quot;peace on the border&quot; was important for progress. Talks came as India accused China of fresh territorial incursions in Ladakh. China is one of India&#39;s top trading partners but they vie for regional influence and dispute their border.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/g2(3).jpg" style="float:right; height:225px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />World Bank Warns of Global Jobs Crisis</strong></div>

<div>The world is facing a global jobs crisis that is hurting the chances of reigniting economic growth and there is no magic bullet to solve the problem, the World Bank warned on Tuesday, 9th September. In a study released at a G20 Labour and Employment Ministerial Meeting in Australia, the Bank said an extra 600 million jobs needed to be created worldwide by 2030 just to cope with the expanding population. &quot;There&#39;s little doubt there is a global jobs crisis,&quot; said the World Bank&#39;s senior director for jobs, Nigel Twose. &quot;As this report makes clear, there is a shortage of jobs -- and quality jobs.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&quot;And equally disturbingly, we&#39;re also seeing wage and income inequality widening within many G20 countries, although progress has been made in a few emerging economies, like Brazil and South Africa.&quot; He said that overall emerging market economies had done better than advanced G20 countries in job creation, driven primarily by countries such as China and Brazil, but the outlook was bleak. &quot;Current projections are dim. Challenging times loom large,&quot; said Twose.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The report, compiled with the OECD and International Labour Organisation, said more than 100 million people were unemployed in G20 economies and 447 million were considered &quot;working poor&quot;, living on less than USD 2 a day.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;It said despite a modest economic recovery in 2013-14, global growth was expected to remain below trend with downside risks in the foreseeable future, while weak labour markets were constraining consumption and investment.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/g3(3).jpg" style="float:right; height:179px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Fed to End Stimulus in October</strong></div>

<div>The US Federal Reserve has reiterated that it will raise interest rates once a &quot;considerable time&quot; has passed after its stimulus programme ends in October. The announcement came at the end of a two-day meeting of the central bank&#39;s policy committee in Washington DC on Wednesday, 17th September. In a press conference, Fed chairwoman Janet Yellen disappointed some when she said there was no &quot;calendar date&quot; for a rate rise.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>US markets, however, were reassured, rising in the wake of her comments. The Dow Jones closed at a record high. Wednesday&#39;s announcement of the end of the stimulus programme, known as quantitative easing, was widely expected. The Fed has been buying billions of dollars of bonds in an effort to keep long-term interest rates low and thus boost spending. However, as the US economy has picked up steam, the central bank has said that extra support is no longer necessary. Now, investors are focused on when the Fed will raise its short-term interest rate, which has been at zero since late 2008.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Analysts, investors, and markets around the world are focusing on the central bank&#39;s phrasing that a &quot;considerable time&quot; will need to pass from the end of quantitative easing until it decides to raise rates. The Fed first inserted the phrase &quot;considerable time&quot; into its statements in December 2012.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>China Central Bank Injects USD 81 billion into Major Banks&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>China&#39;s central bank is injecting a combined 500 billion yuan (USD 81.35 billion) of liquidity into the country&#39;s top banks, according to media reports, a sign that authorities are stepping up efforts to shore up a faltering economy. The Wall Street Journal, citing an unnamed Chinese bank executive, said the People&#39;s Bank of China (PBOC) is pumping in 100 billion yuan each into China&#39;s top five banks via standard lending facility in the form of 3-month loans. &quot;We think the latest SLF is mainly aimed at providing liquidity to pre-empt potential liquidity shortages in the banking system in the coming weeks,&quot; Jian Chang, China economist at Barclays Capital in Hong Kong, said in a research note.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Still, a liquidity injection of this scale does have the effect of easing overall credit conditions and helps to stabilise a shaky economy after a weak start to the year. Some analysts believe the reported move shows the PBOC&#39;s continued willingness to use targeted steps, rather than large-scale stimulus or interest rate cuts, to support growth. &quot;This (SLF) is consistent with our view that targeted easing measures will be used in view of the deceleration in economic activities as reflected by recent data,&quot; Credit Agricole said in a research note. Bloomberg, which quoted an unnamed government official, said the move follows deep concern over the economic slowdown.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/g4(3).jpg" style="float:right; height:186px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Heineken Rejects Takeover Offer from SABMiller</strong></div>

<div>Dutch brewing giant Heineken has rejected a takeover offer from London brewer SABMiller saying the proposal is &quot;non-actionable&quot;. Heineken, said it had &quot;consulted with its majority shareholder&quot; before rejecting the approach. It said the Heineken family, the founding family which still owns half of the firm, wanted to preserve the firm as &quot;an independent company&quot;. Heineken said it was confident it would continue to grow.&quot;The Heineken family and Heineken N.V.&#39;s management are confident that the company will continue to deliver growth and shareholder value,&quot; it added. The founding Heineken family owns just over 50 per cent of the brewer via Heineken Holding. A further 12 per cent is owned by Mexico&#39;s FEMSA.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Heineken&#39;s statement was prompted by a Bloomberg story suggesting SABMiller had approached the Dutch firm to protect itself from a potential takeover. There has been speculation within the brewing industry, for months, that SABMiller has been targeted by the world&#39;s number one brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev. Heineken is the world&#39;s third largest beer producer behind AB Inbev and SABMiller, based on volume. Apart from the namesake beer - Heineken, the company also produces Sol and Strongbow Apple ciders.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/g5(2).jpg" style="float:right; height:169px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Russia and China Launch Gas Pipeline</strong></div>

<div>Russia and China have begun the construction of a new gas pipeline linking the countries, with a ceremony in the Siberian city of Yakutsk. China&#39;s CNPC has agreed to buy USD 400 billion of gas from Russia&#39;s Gazprom. Russia will ship 38 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas annually over a period of 30 years. The deal will lessen Russia&#39;s dependence on European buyers, who have imposed economic sanctions because of the crisis in Ukraine. The construction ceremony was attended by Russian President Vladmir Putin and Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli. China will start work on the construction of its side of the pipeline in the first half of 2015, Zhang said.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The first gas will be pumped from Siberia to north-east China in early 2019. Over the past 10 years, China has used other gas suppliers. Turkmenistan is now China&#39;s largest foreign gas supplier. Last year, it started importing piped natural gas from Myanmar. China is Russia&#39;s largest single trading partner, with bilateral trade flows of USD 90 billion in 2013. The two neighbours aim to double the volume to USD 200 billion in 10 years.</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-16 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:17:21',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'The Obama administration cracked down Monday, 22nd September, on certain overseas corporate mergers and acquisitions, aiming to curb American companies from shifting their ownership abroad to shirk paying US taxes.',
			'sortorder' => '940',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '35',
			'title' => 'Global Business Trends',
			'sortorder' => '35',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2013-04-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 27 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '968',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '69',
			'title' => 'Tourism News October 2014',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Tara Air has successfully conducted a test flight to Manang by a German built Dornier Do-228 Aircraft. The flight operated by Captain Bodh Raj Niraula and Rajesh Shrestha took off from Pokhara Airport and landed successfully at Manang Airport.',
			'content' => '<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/t(5).jpg" style="float:right; height:161px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:175px" />Tara Air Conducts Test Flight to Manang &nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>Tara Air has successfully conducted a test flight to Manang by a German built Dornier Do-228 Aircraft. The flight operated by Captain Bodh Raj Niraula and Rajesh Shrestha took off from Pokhara Airport and landed successfully at Manang Airport.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Representatives of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal led by Captain BM Amatya led the panel to board the flight. &nbsp;The duration of the Flight was 20 minutes. The report of the test flight will be reported to CAAN and after the approval, the scheduled flight will commence, said the Airline in a statement.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/t1(4).jpg" style="float:right; height:163px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:250px" />Soaltee Crowne Plaza Awarded with &lsquo;Today&#39;s Traveller Award 2014&rsquo;</strong></div>

<div>Soaltee Crowne Plaza Kathmandu has won the &lsquo;Today&#39;s Traveller Award 2014&rsquo; for Best International Business Hotel. The award ceremony was held at The Ashok Hotel, New Delhi on September 16. The Chief Guest of the ceremony Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of State for Tourism and Culture presented the award to Nalin Mandiratta, General Manager of the hotel. Today&#39;s Traveller Awards is India&#39;s one of the most respected travel and tourism industry awards incorporated in 2007, with an objective of recognizing exceptional achievers and contributors in the tourism, corporate and entertainment industry.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;&ldquo;The award for our hotel is an appreciation towards the dedication, hard work and service oriented attitude of all Soaltee team members. I thank everyone for their valuable efforts in providing efficient service delivery to our guests,&rdquo; said Mandiratta after receiving the award.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Earlier this year in August, Soaltee Crowne Plaza Kathmandu also received Safari India South Asia Travel Awards 2014 for Best Luxury Hotel, organized by Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA) in Delhi and TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence Award 2014. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/t2(2).jpg" style="float:right; height:128px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:250px" />Etihad&rsquo;s Dashain Tihar Offer</strong></div>

<div>Etihad Airways is celebrating the festive season of Dasain and Tihar by offering complimentary gift vouchers to its customers. All the passengers flying First and Business Class to any destinations in Europe, USA, Canada, Africa or Middle East will receive a complimentary gift voucher for American Tourister luggage. The gift voucher can be redeemed at Samsonite and American Tourister showrooms at Pulchowk and Jamal. &nbsp;To avail the offer, customers purchasing first and business class tickets need to forward the ticket and contact details to MarketingNP@etihad.ae. The offer is valid for sale and travel from 15th September until 30th November 2014.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/t3(1).jpg" style="float:right; height:167px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:250px" />Cathay Pacific to Start Service to Boston</strong></div>

<div>Cathay Pacific Airways has announced that it will launch a new four-times-weekly non-stop service from Hong Kong to Boston, Massachusetts from May 2015. The new service will provide the first direct link between New England and Hong Kong.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>With this, Boston will become Cathay Pacific&rsquo;s sixth gateway in the United States, and eighth in North America. The airline currently serves Chicago, Los Angeles, New York (JFK), Newark, San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver. The Boston service will be operated by Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in a four-class configuration featuring First Class, Business Class, new Premium Economy and long-haul Economy Class seats.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&quot;We are very pleased to be able to add Boston to our growing international network. There are strong business, educational and cultural ties between Hong Kong and Boston. We believe there will be considerable demand for a high quality travel experience on this new long-haul route,&rdquo; said Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Ivan Chu.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/t4(1).jpg" style="float:right; height:176px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:250px" />Dragonair&rsquo;s Cabin Crew Makes Charitable Donations&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>Dragonair&rsquo;s cabin crew members serving the Hong Kong-Kathmandu route along with local staffs in Kathmandu made donations to various social organizations in Kathmandu on 28th July and 26th August. The team donated various school uniforms and groceries to Bal Sarathi, an organization at Gaushala dedicated to offering formal education to children who cannot afford to study. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Similarly, Saphalta Sikhsha Sadan, an organization providing shelter and formal schooling to underprivileged children infected with HIV was visited next by the Dragonair team. The organization was provided with toys and stationery for the children. The team also visited Ama Ghar, a home for the elderly and presented various gifts to its residents. The team also donated warm clothes, toys and various items to Bal Mandir. &nbsp;</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-16 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:20:50',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Tara Air has successfully conducted a test flight to Manang by a German built Dornier Do-228 Aircraft. The flight operated by Captain Bodh Raj Niraula and Rajesh Shrestha took off from Pokhara Airport and landed successfully at Manang Airport.',
			'sortorder' => '941',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '69',
			'title' => 'Tourism And Civil Aviation',
			'sortorder' => '69',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2014-06-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 28 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '969',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '32',
			'title' => 'Gionee Elife S5.5: Elegance and Power Combined',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'The global gadget market is being flooded with various devices in the recent days. A multitude of gadgets hit the market day in and day out, but a very few of them are able to meet the expectations and fulfill the aspirations of gadget lovers.',
			'content' => '<div><strong>--By Sanjeev Sharma</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><img alt="Gionee Elife S5.5: Elegance and Power Combined" src="/userfiles/images/gf.jpg" style="float:right; height:377px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />The global gadget market is being flooded with various devices in the recent days. A multitude of gadgets hit the market day in and day out, but a very few of them are able to meet the expectations and fulfill the aspirations of gadget lovers. A powerful device may not necessarily have aesthetic appeal, and an attractively designed gadget could be a power-compromised one. &nbsp;Gionee, the Chinese smartphone major has come up with an answer to this issue. The company&#39;s latest flagship Gionee Elife S5.5 is a striking beauty and a powerful beast at the same time. With a width of just 5.55 mm, Elife S5.5 is considered as the world&#39;s slimmest smartphone till date. Along with the super-slim body, the phone is also very light, weighing just around 133 grams.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Powered by an octa-core 1.7 GHz Cortex-A7 processor, Elife S5.5 uses Mediatek&#39;s latest MT6592 chipset. Alongside the mighty CPU, the smartphone has 2GB RAM and Mali-450MP4 GPU. With these top-notch specifications, users can expect smooth computing experience in Elife S5.5. Be it for multitasking or power-demanding tasks such as gaming, the smartphone can run anything without showing any sign of snag. The display of S5.5 is another attraction. The phone sports a 5 inch Super AMOLED capacitive multitouch screen capable of rendering full HD display. With a 441 ppi pixel density, Elife S5.5&#39;s screen has a resolution of 1920 X 1080 pixels which gives off colourful, crisp and vibrant display. Needless to say, with such premium screen, users won&#39;t have difficulty operating their handsets even in bright sunlight. Despite being a super-slim smartphone, Elife S5.5 offers top-end sturdiness as its both front and back panels are covered by Corning Gorilla glass protection. The phone&#39;s magnesium alloy constructed metallic unibody is also tough enough to take some falls and beatings.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The micro-SIM smartphone&#39;s imaging system is also a high-end one. Elife S5.5 houses a 13 MP autofocus LED flash primary shooter on its back whereas a 5 MP secondary shooter rests on the top of the front panel. The primary camera is capable of taking photos at a maximum resolution of 4160 X 3120 pixels. Similarly, 1080p videos can be recorded at 30fps. The primary camera is able to take decent quality photos and videos even under low-light conditions. The phone&#39;s camera system has some other regular features such as touch focus, Geo-tagging, face/smile detection, panorama and HDR.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The Elife S5.5 runs on Amigo OS 2.0. The proprietary operating system is, in fact, Gionee&#39;s customised version of Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean which can be upgraded to KitKat 4.4.2. However, the UI and features are different from other Android devices using the same version. With customised icons, lock screen, notifications and settings, the Amigo UI has an atypical look. There is no app drawer like normal Android UI, instead it shows up all the installed apps on the home screen and users need to swipe left or right to access the apps.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Users can have blazing fast internet experience with S5.5. The smartphone comes with Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct and Wi-Fi hotspot, all of which offer the latest WLAN connectivity. &nbsp;Elife S5.5 is among the latest generation smartphones equipped with Bluetooth v4.0 which has EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) for faster data transfer. The phone also features micro USB v2.0 and USB On-the-go. Similarly, it comes with a built-in FM radio with RDS (Radio Data System). Elife S5.5 has on-par sound quality as it comes with DTS surround sound enhancement for headphones and a built-in loudspeaker.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Despite the top-end specs and features, Elife S5.5 has some areas where it falls short. 16 GB of storage with no expansion slot can be particularly disturbing when the phone runs out of memory. Likewise, the non-replaceable battery of the phone could also be annoying. However, the 2,300 mAh Li-Ion battery offers decent backup - up to 500 hrs in standby mode, up to 11 hrs of talk-time in 3G mode and 27 hrs in 2G mode. Nevertheless, the smartphone&#39;s combination of elegance, power and amazingly low price-level make users forget its shortcomings. According to TeleTalk Pvt Ltd, the authorised distributor of Gionee smartphones in Nepal, Elife S5.5 carries a price tag of Rs 36,525. Available in black and white colours, the phone comes with one-year warranty. Users can get a flip cover, four screen guards, one OTG cable, an earphone and a charger as freebies.</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-16 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:10:17',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'The global gadget market is being flooded with various devices in the recent days. A multitude of gadgets hit the market day in and day out, but a very few of them are able to meet the expectations and fulfill the aspirations of gadget lovers. A powerful device may not necessarily have aesthetic appeal, and an attractively designed gadget could be a power-compromised one.',
			'sortorder' => '942',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '32',
			'title' => 'Gadget Focus',
			'sortorder' => '32',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2014-06-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 29 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '970',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '65',
			'title' => 'Tech Talk October 2014',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Allied Trade Link International Pvt Ltd has launched a range of Panasonic mobile phones in the market. The launching event was held on 22th September 2014 at Hyatt Regency hotel, where representatives from Japan unveiled a range of 11 models of smart phones and bar phones.',
			'content' => '<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/tt(6).jpg" style="float:right; height:117px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:300px" />Panasonic Mobile Phones in the Market</strong></div>

<div>Allied Trade Link International Pvt Ltd has launched a range of Panasonic mobile phones in the market. The launching event was held on 22th September 2014 at Hyatt Regency hotel, where representatives from Japan unveiled a range of 11 models of smart phones and bar phones. Speaking at the event, the managing director of Allied Trade Link Manish Rajbhandari said, &quot;Japanese technology is associated with trust, durability and impeccable electronics guarantee. Allied Trade Link International shall ensure that Panasonic will capture enthusiastic consumers with competitive technology and prices&quot;. The newly launched models of Panasonic mobile phones are EZ180, EZ240, GD21, GD31, GD25C, T31, ELUGA U and ELUGA A among others. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/tt1(2).JPG" style="float:right; height:100px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:100px" />Colors Introduces X21 and X26 Wave Smartphones</strong></div>

<div>Colors Mobile has launched X21 and X26 Wave smartphones in the market. Both the phones support dual SIM and run on the Android 4.4 Kitkat platform. X26 Wave comes with a 4 inch TP Capacitive WVGA LCD screen with 480x800 resolution. Its imaging devices include a 2 MP rear camera with flash and a 0.3 front camera. Other features of X26 include 512 MB ROM, 256 MB RAM and a 1200 mAh battery. Similarly, X21 Wave comes with a 3.5 inch HVGA screen, a 3 MP rear camera and a 0.3 MP front camera. It comes with 2 GB ROM, 256 MB RAM and is powered by a 1200 mAh battery. X26 Wave is priced at just Rs 6,495 and X21 Wave is priced at Rs 5,795. &nbsp; &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/tt2(7).jpg" style="float:right; height:145px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:200px" />Karbonn Mobiles&rsquo; Festive Offer</strong></div>

<div>Karbonn Mobiles has come up with a scheme titled &lsquo;Karbonn Mobile Le Hanyo Chakka, Dui Barsa Warranty Pakka&rsquo; for this Dashain and Tihar. The scheme offers six different gifts to the customers purchasing Karbonn phones. With this scheme, customers purchasing any Karbonn bar phone will receive two years warranty on the product along with two-time free mobile phone servicing. &nbsp;Customers will also receive a scratch card and cash discount up to Rs 10000 which will be provided on the spot during the purchase. In addition, one 8 GB memory card is also offered free. Beside all the free gifts, a lucky draw will also be held from all the coupons of the Karbonn mobile phone purchases made from the company. The lucky draw will provide one lucky winner with a chance to visit Goa.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/tt3(4).JPG" style="float:right; height:125px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:200px" />Users Frustrated by Apple iOS Update</strong></div>

<div>Apple iPhone and iPad users have taken to social media to express their frustration over installing the company&#39;s latest software update. Many have resorted to deleting photos, videos and other files in order to free up space for the new version of Apple&#39;s mobile operating system, iOS 8, which requires up to 5.8 GB of storage. Apple has also removed apps for its new health software because of a bug. One expert said Apple&#39;s updates were often prone to &lsquo;teething problems&rsquo;.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Some vexed Apple users took to Twitter to express their annoyance, at one point causing the subject to be trending above the Scottish referendum. David Roberts tweeted: &quot;This update would be great... If you didn&#39;t have to delete half of the stuff on your phone just to install it.&quot; Daniel Zennon took a more humorous approach, tweeting: &quot;So Apple put the U2 album on everybody&#39;s phone and then tell them they don&#39;t have enough space for the iOS8 upgrade&quot;. This is not the first time Apple users have had trouble with iOS updates. In 2012, the iOS6 update caused some users to lose their apps, and others lost photos and messages when updating to iOS7. (Agency)</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong><img alt="200" src="/userfiles/images/tt4.JPG" style="float:right; height:193px; margin:0px 0px 0px 10px; width:200px" />Facebook to Introduce New Advertising Platform: Report</strong></div>

<div>Facebook Inc is set to unveil a new advertising platform to improve effectiveness of online ads, the Wall Street Journal reported on 22nd September, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The product is a redesigned version of Atlas Advertiser Suite, an ad management and measurement platform that Facebook bought from Microsoft Corp last year. It is expected to help marketers target Facebook users more effectively by measuring which users have seen, interacted or acted upon ads that appear on Facebook&#39;s services and on third-party websites and apps.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The product will also provide a tool for marketers to buy ads to target Facebook users across the Web. Microsoft took on Atlas with its $6.3 billion acquisition of digital ad agency aQuantive in 2007. Unable to make it work for its own purposes, Microsoft wrote off $6.2 billion of the aQuantive deal&#39;s value in 2012. The world&#39;s No 1 Internet social network, which lags behind market leader Google Inc in US market for online display ads, did not reveal how much it paid for the technology. (Agency)</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-16 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:08:50',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Allied Trade Link International Pvt Ltd has launched a range of Panasonic mobile phones in the market. The launching event was held on 22th September 2014 at Hyatt Regency hotel, where representatives from Japan unveiled a range of 11 models of smart phones and bar phones.',
			'sortorder' => '943',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '65',
			'title' => 'Tech Talk',
			'sortorder' => '65',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2013-05-01 00:00:00'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 30 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '971',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '4',
			'title' => 'Banking Activities October 2014',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Prabhu Bank Limited, formed after the merger between Kist Bank, Prabhu Bikas Bank, Gaurishankar Development Bank and Zenith Finance has started its operation from 15th September.',
			'content' => '<div><strong>Prabhu Bank Commences Operation&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>Prabhu Bank Limited, formed after the merger between Kist Bank, Prabhu Bikas Bank, Gaurishankar Development Bank and Zenith Finance has started its operation from 15th September. The Bank was inaugurated by Nepal Rastra Bank&rsquo;s Governor Yubaraj Khatiwada. &ldquo;Though merger is a positive step forward, it should not be looked upon as the solution. The merger should be considered as an opportunity for the institutions to improve their performances,&rdquo; said Khatiwada in the inauguration. &nbsp;The authorized capital of the Bank is five billion rupees and its paid up capital is 3.20 billion rupees. Prabhu Bank now has 112 branches and 108 ATM counters across the country.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>NMB&rsquo;s Instalment Purchase Facility on Debit Card&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>NMB Bank has launched instalment facility for its Debit Card holders. The facility will enable the Bank&rsquo;s customers to convert their high value purchase transaction from their Debit Card into easy Equal Monthly Instalment (EMI). &ldquo;As the festival season is around the corner, instalment purchase facility on Debit Card will help our customers to plan their festive shopping into easy monthly instalment with flexible tenure of three to 12 months,&rdquo; said a statement issued by the Bank. The facility is also available in recently launched &lsquo;NMB Bank Manyajan Muddati&rsquo; product. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Civil Bank&rsquo;s &lsquo;Gold ma Silver Dhamaka&rsquo; Offer</strong></div>

<div>Civil Bank Limited has announced a new scheme titled &lsquo;Civil Gold ma Silver Dhamaka&rsquo; on the occasion of Dashain and Tihar. Under this scheme, a silver coin will be gifted to all the customers who have opened Civil Bank Gold Savings Account from 17th September 2014. Apart from this, Civil Bank Gold MasterCard will also be provided free of cost. The account requiring a minimum balance of Rs 50,000 offers an inertest rate of five per cent per annum.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>AAMO Delegates Visit Siddhartha Bank</strong></div>

<div>Siddhartha Bank Limited in coordination with Management Association of Nepal (MAN) conducted an interaction and observation programme on 19th September 2014 for the delegates of Asian Association of Management Organization (AAMO). During the interaction program, CEO of the Bank Surender Bhandari presented an overview of Nepal&rsquo;s banking industry with special reference to Siddhartha Bank&rsquo;s history, areas of operations, networks, business portfolio and financial highlights. Both the Bank and the AAMO delegates shared their management practices in the programme. AAMO is an independent, non-political and non profitable association of National Management Organization (NMO&#39;s) in different countries promoting development of professional management in the Asia Pacific Region.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>BoK-Nimbus Agreement</strong></div>

<div>Bank of Kathmandu Ltd (BOK) and Nimbus have signed an agreement to launch &lsquo;BOK Kissan Credit Card Scheme&rsquo;. The agreement will provide small scale farmers with convenient access to credit facilities, and allow them to utilize it to purchase various agricultural inputs at Nimbus Krishi Kendra. The agreement was signed by CEO of Bank of Kathmandu Ajay Shrestha and MD of Nimbus Anand Bagaria. &ldquo;Serving individual farmers through customized products and services have been one of our focus areas. This credit card facility will facilitate farmers for their regular purchases like seeds and fertilizers among others,&rdquo; said Shrestha in the signing event. &nbsp;&ldquo;We want to increase the reach of farmers to banking and this joint initiative with BOK is the first step towards that goal,&rdquo; said Bagaria.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Sanima Bank&rsquo;s 29th Branch in Mahendranagar</strong></div>

<div>Sanima Bank Limited has opened its 29th branch at Mahendranagar, Kanchanpur. The branch was jointly inaugurated by the Brand Ambassadors of the Bank Madan Krishna Shrestha and Hari Bansha Acharya (MAHA), Chairman of the Bank Binaya Kumar Shrestha and CEO Bhuvan Dahal. In the inaugural event, Shrestha and Dahal expressed gratitude to customers and stakeholders of the Bank for their support and patronage. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>NIC Asia&rsquo;s 57th Branch in Damauli</strong></div>

<div>NIC Asia Bank has opened its 57th branch in Damauli. The branch was jointly inaugurated by Director of the Bank Binod Kumar Pyakurel and CEO Sashin Joshi. According to a press statement from the Bank, Damauli branch will offer all the modern banking services to the residents of the area.&nbsp;</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-16 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:08:26',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Prabhu Bank Limited, formed after the merger between Kist Bank, Prabhu Bikas Bank, Gaurishankar Development Bank and Zenith Finance has started its operation from 15th September.',
			'sortorder' => '944',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '4',
			'title' => 'Banking Activities',
			'sortorder' => '542',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2017-05-03 15:27:22'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 31 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '972',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '7',
			'title' => 'Biz launches October 2014',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Laxmi Intercontinental Pvt Ltd, the sole authorized distributor of Hyundai motors in Nepal has announced its Dashain-Tihar scheme named ‘Missi Badhshah Ekka’. With this scheme, customers will have an opportunity to win three prizes.',
			'content' => '<div><strong>Hyundai&rsquo;s &lsquo;Missi Badshah Ekka&rsquo; Offer</strong></div>

<div>Laxmi Intercontinental Pvt Ltd, the sole authorized distributor of Hyundai motors in Nepal has announced its Dashain-Tihar scheme named &lsquo;Missi Badhshah Ekka&rsquo;. With this scheme, customers will have an opportunity to win three prizes. Under &lsquo;Missi&rsquo; scheme, 10 couples can win a paid trip to Malaysia and Bangkok. Similarly, under the &lsquo;Badshah&rsquo; scheme, one winner will get a Hyundai i-gen i20 car. Finally, under &lsquo;Ekka&rsquo; scheme, one winner will get a Hyundai Fluidic Verna. The winners of all three prizes will be selected through a lucky draw which will be conducted after the scheme. Additionally, customers purchasing Hyundai vehicles will get a cash discount up to Rs 500,000.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>HH Bajaj&rsquo;s New Showroom in Nawalparasi</strong></div>

<div>HH Bajaj has opened a new sale, service and spare facility Ansari Traders Pvt Ltd at Parasi, Nawalparasi. Ansari Traders will look after the overall sales and distribution of Bajaj bikes in Parasi. &ldquo;We are determined to increase our services across the nation for people to enjoy our facilities anywhere anytime,&rdquo; said Deputy General Manager of HH Bajaj Chiranjibi Shah on the inauguration. Celebrating the opening, gift hampers were offered to the customers.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Coca-Cola&rsquo;s &lsquo;Khushi Bande, Khushi Badhcha&rsquo; Campaign</strong></div>

<div>Coca-Cola Nepal is celebrating this Dashain and Tihar with its new campaign &lsquo;Khushi Bande, Khushi Badhcha&rsquo;. &nbsp;The company has launched special bottles with space for writing personalized messages this festive season. Consumers can buy 2.25 and 1.5 litre PET bottles of Coca-Cola, Fanta or Sprite and write their personalized messages on the bottle. According to the company, it is bringing alive the true spirit of the festive season by encouraging its customers to share and spread the happiness with its latest campaign.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Samsung&rsquo;s &lsquo;Solleed Cashback&rsquo; Offer&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>IMS, the authorized national distributor of Samsung mobiles in Nepal has announced a new offer &lsquo;Solleed Cash Back&rsquo; for this Dashain and Tihar. With this offer, customers purchasing any Samsung mobiles and tablets can instantly get cash return of up to Rs 16,000. According to the company, the offer instantly rewards the customers without the hassle of scratch coupons, lucky draw results and SMSs. The offer is valid from 8th September till the end of October.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Dish Home&rsquo;s &lsquo;Swarna Utsav&rsquo;</strong></div>

<div>Dish Home has come up with a scheme titled &lsquo;Swarna Utsav&rsquo; for Dashain and Tihar. Under this scheme, customers purchasing Dish Home connection will get a silver coin as instant gift. In addition, the company will conduct weekly lucky draws in which a lucky customer can win 10 tola of gold per week. A total of one kilogram gold will be distributed to customers during the scheme duration.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Ncell&rsquo;s SuperNet Data Campaign</strong></div>

<div>Ncell has launched a new data campaign called Supernet. The campaign allows Ncell customers surfing internet without subscribing a data pack to enjoy Internet at as less as one rupee per MB. With Supernet, existing rate of Rs six per MB apply only for the first MB. The usage of second MB will cost Rs 5 per MB and the third MB will be priced at Rs 4 per MB. As the customer uses more data and reach the usage bracket of 3-20 MB, price of data will drop to Rs 3 per MB. Likewise, price of data will drop to Rs 2 per MB on reaching usage bracket of 20-100 MB. Further jump to the usage brackets of 100-200 MB and more than 200 MB will enable the customers to surf internet at Rs 1.5 per MB and Re 1 per MB respectively.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>VG Suzuki Sub-dealer in Chitwan</strong></div>

<div>VG Automobiles, authorized importer and distributor of Suzuki Motorcycle India Ltd in Nepal has opened a new sub-dealer Unique Bike Center at Tadi, Chitwan. The showroom was inaugurated on August 27 by Regional Officer of VG Automobile Suraj Shrestha. The showroom will deal in Suzuki motorcycles and scooters including GS150R, Hayate and SlingShot.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Yamaha &lsquo;BijayaYatra&rsquo; Offer</strong></div>

<div>MAW Enterprises has announced an offer titled &lsquo;Yamaha BijayaYatra&rsquo; on the occasion of Dashain and Tihar. With this offer, customers can get a discount up to Rs 10,000 and Rs 8,000 on purchase of every Yamaha motorcycle and scooter respectively. Besides these discounts, customers can get a chance to win cash prizes every week through a lucky draw. Four weekly customers will win Rs 100,000, Rs 50,000, Rs 25,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively every week.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Jagadamba E Rebar Launched</strong></div>

<div>Jagadamba Steels Pvt Ltd has launched Jagadamba E, a new range of earthquake resistant steel rebar. According to the company, Jagadamba E is one and only of its kind steel rebar manufactured to minimize seismic risks. With features like superior ductility, elongation and greater fatigue strength, Jagadamba E is recommended for earthquake resistant constructions ranging from housing, commercial buildings and for large infrastructure projects, claims the company. Jagdamba E Earthquake Resistant rebars are certified by Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology by NS:191 for Fe-500 Grade Certification and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) by ISI certification IS:1786:2008 for Fe-500 Grade.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Sipradi Autoparts Starts Michelin Care Service Van&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>Sipradi Autoparts, the sister concern of Sipradi Trading Pvt Ltd has introduced a unique service for vehicle-owners. Sipradi Autoparts has brought Michelin Care Service Van into operation that facilitates the customers by providing them on the spot tyre-related services like flat tyre, valve leakage and others services free of cost. The service van is operated within Kathmandu Valley from 6 am to 9 pm. To avail this facility, customers have to make a call to 98418635444. According to the company, a service team will reach the needy customer within half an hour and provide a free tyre service. &nbsp; &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Johnnie Walker Black Label in Limited Edition Bottles</strong></div>

<div>Johnnie Walker has unveiled a limited edition bottle design for Johnnie Walker Black Label whisky. The design recalls icons of the 1930s, the decade in which the company was first awarded the Royal Warrant by King George V. The new bottle offers a glimpse into the &lsquo;golden age&rsquo; for Johnnie Walker by opening a window on the 1930s, an era typified by Art Deco, Hollywood movie glamour and burgeoning luxury travel, says a statement from the company. The limited edition bottle design is available in the market from September 2014 onwards at a price of Rs 4,950 per one litre bottle.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>LG&rsquo;s &lsquo;Red Festive Offers&rsquo;</strong></div>

<div>LG has introduced &lsquo;LG Red Festive Offers&rsquo; on the festive season of Dashain and Tihar. The offer provides customers with various free gifts on every LG purchase. &nbsp;LG Home Theatre is offered free on the purchase of 42&quot; and above 3D TVs and Logitech wireless keyboard comes free with 32&quot; and above Smart TVs. LG Microwave Oven is offered on the purchase of side-by-side refrigerator and pitcher-tumbler and dinner comes free with Double Door Refrigerator. There are similar free gifts on purchase of LG washing machines, microwave ovens and air conditioners as well.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Pashupati Paints Hands Over Prize to Contest Winner</strong></div>

<div>Pashupati Paints Pvt Ltd handed over the bumper prize to the winner of its &lsquo;Win a Home&rsquo; contest. Suraj Sharma Neupane from Lalitpur received an apartment at DownTown Apartment from the company in a special handover ceremony hosted at the DownTown Apartment, Lalitpur. Actor Rajesh Hamal handed over the keys of the apartment to the winner.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Philips&rsquo; Festive Fiesta Scheme</strong></div>

<div>Shree Syakar Company Pvt Ltd, the authorized distributors of Philips products for Nepal has introduced a scheme titled &lsquo;Festive Fiesta&rsquo; on the occasion of Dashain and Tihar. With this offer, customers can receive a discount of 15 to 25 per cent on the purchase of Philips LED/LCD TV, music system, grooming products, beauty products, iron, mixture grinder and other products. The discount can be availed from the company&rsquo;s showrooms at Bishal Bazar, New Road, Kumaripati and Jyoti Bhawan, Kantipath.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Himstar&rsquo;s &lsquo;Bhui Mai Khutta Chaina&rsquo; Offer</strong></div>

<div>Himstar has unveiled its Dashain Tihar scheme &lsquo;Himstar Bhui mai Khutta Chaina&rsquo;. Under this scheme, customers purchasing 32&quot; to 50&quot; Himstar LED television will get a Bajaj Bravo Mixer Grinder as a sure shot prize. Also, customers will receive an Emergency Light on the purchase of 16&quot; to 24&quot; LED television. &nbsp;Similarly, customers will get a vacuum cleaner and an iron respectively on the purchase of double door refrigerator and single door refrigerator. In addition, customers purchasing Himstar television, refrigerator, air cooler or heater are entitled to receive a scratch card that entitles three lucky winners to receive a Bajaj Pulsar 150cc motorcycle.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Suzuki&rsquo;s &lsquo;Bada Dashain Upahar&rsquo;</strong></div>

<div>CG MotoCorp, the sole authorized distributor of Suzuki four-wheelers for Nepal has launched an offer titled &lsquo;Suzuki Bada Dashain Upahar&rsquo; on the occasion of Dashain. With this offer, the company is giving a TVS bike or scooter free on the purchase of every Suzuki car. Also, customers have the choice to take cash discount instead of the free bike or scooter. According to the company, this is the highest amount of discount ever given by it. In addition, this scheme also offers free road tax, free insurance and three years warranty.&nbsp;</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-17 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 14:06:56',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => '',
			'sortorder' => '929',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '7',
			'title' => 'Biz Launches',
			'sortorder' => '544',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2017-05-03 15:27:13'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	),
	(int) 32 => array(
		'MagazineArticle' => array(
			'id' => '973',
			'magazine_issue_id' => '704',
			'magazine_category_id' => '8',
			'title' => 'Biz News October 2014',
			'image' => null,
			'short_content' => 'Dolma Impact Fund has announced to invest up to Rs 4 billion in different companies of Nepal. The fund has been providing organisational investment incentive to different companies in the country. The Fund has planned to invest in the companies related to education, agriculture, ',
			'content' => '<div><strong>Dolma Fund to Invest Rs 4 billion</strong></div>

<div>Dolma Impact Fund has announced to invest up to Rs 4 billion in different companies of Nepal. The fund has been providing organisational investment incentive to different companies in the country. The Fund has planned to invest in the companies related to education, agriculture, financial institutions, health sector and renewable energy: companies which have prospective to increase the income level and the employment opportunities within the country.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The fund has informed that it will be selecting those companies which can leave positive impact on environment and society through the fund. The fund has given priority to the local companies which can create sustainable employment.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The Dolma Impact Fund is funded by an international organisation run by the private sector. According to the fund, the minimum capital of the fund will be Rs 2 billion at the beginning. And it has been informed that, the fund will have up to Rs 4 billion. The fund has the investment companies and financial institutions of the countries Netherlands, Finland and Austria. Similarly, the British Embassy and Department for International Development (DFID) are also associated with this fund.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>These institutions are helping to invest in the companies who are working to increase employment and income level in Nepal. The fund has informed that it is discussing about the investment environment in the country with the Government of Nepal. Tim Gochar, Founder of the company says, &ldquo;We expect the investment will increase the employment opportunities in Nepal and directly benefit the poor people.&rdquo; &ldquo;We aim to decrease the dependency on imports by increasing the consumption of local products, he said.&rdquo;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Gale Marzeti, country head of DFID believes that the fund will contribute to the development of Nepal. &ldquo;It is an important milestone in the Nepali investment,&rdquo; he said.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Godavari Village Resort to Upgrade</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Godavari Village Resort located in Lalitpur district is about to upgrade its capacity. The resort which is spread over 100 Ropanis of land is about to expand into 100 rooms within a year. According to Sushil Kumar Aryal, Sales and Marketing Manager at the resort, the resort is currently serving with 69 rooms. The resort which has six halls with the capacity of 10 to 200 people has been organising different national and international conferences. The resort informed that the upgrade is being made targeting the peak tourist season of 2015.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>It has been informed that the all the upgraded rooms will be of luxurious &lsquo;deluxe&rsquo; model. Similarly, the resort is also opening a well equipped health club with different facilities like yoga room, spa room, natural therapy, and tennis very soon. Currently, the facilities like swimming pool and spa are available in the resort. The resort is serving corporate and high profile customers.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Meanwhile, the resort is launching 1month special package for Dashain which will start from Ghatasthapana to Bhaitika (September 25th to October 25th). During the period, it will be providing a room for Rs 3999 for a couple. The resort informed that the package will include facilities like breakfast, and in-house DJ. The package will also be available for foreign customers.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>PDA Signed with GMR for Upper Karnali</strong></div>

<div>Nepal Investment Board (NIB) and GMR ITD consortium have signed the Power Development Agreement (PDA) for the developing the 900 MW Upper Karnali Hydropower project. Radhesh Pant, NIB&rsquo;s chief executive office (CEO and RB Seson, president of Hydro Energy Business Unit of GMR signed the PDA in the presence of Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Speaking on the occasion, Home Minister Bam Dev Gautam said that the Upper Karnali hydropower project will not only benefit the energy sector but will also contribute in the overall economic development of the nation. &ldquo;We are bringing in this huge investment for the first time. This will play a vital role in utilizing the resources in the favour of the Nepali people,&rdquo; Gautam said.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh stated that GMR would complete the project within the time period agreed in the PDA. &ldquo;GMR must complete the project in the stated time as it is concerned with India&rsquo;s credibility,&rdquo; he added.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>According to the PDA, GMR will have to collect the necessary fund within 2 years. It will invest 25 per cent of the total cost required for the project while the remaining investment will be collected through various international financial institutions, said Seson.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The PDA mentions that the project will have to be completed within 5 years after the total investment is collected. As such, the project will be completed by the year 2021. GMR will also build a 100 km transmission line, which will be handed over to the government of Nepal after 25 years of operation.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Furthermore, Nepal will get 27 percent free equity and 12 percent free electricity from the project. The equity is equivalent to Rs 145 billion while 12 percent free energy amounts to 108 MW. The remaining 88per cent can also be sold in Nepal if the need persists, said Seson. If not, India and Bangladesh are the potential market for it, he added.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Bank Investment in the Service Industry up by 22%</strong></div>

<div>Investment in the service industry has increased by 22 per cent in comparison to the previous fiscal year. Last year, the investment of banks and financial institutions had risen by 20 per cent in this sector within the same period. Bankers believe that the increment in the service sector is due to the slowing down of investment growth in other sectors. &nbsp;As per Nepal Rastra Bank&rsquo;s financial report, the investment of banks and financial institutions in the service sector of the last fiscal year (2012/13) that ended on mid July 2013 was Rs. 71.8 billion. There has been some improvement in the figures in fiscal year 2013/14, &nbsp;which shows the investment of Rs 87.56 billion.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The improvement is a result of the increase in the flow of tourists which has also increased investment in hotel, transport, trekking agencies and other similar tourism related industries. Recently, the growth rate of tertiary sector has attracted banks and financial sector to increase investment in this sector. The tertiary sector is composed of wholesale and retail business, hotel and restaurants, transport, communication, financial intermediaries, real estate, security, education, health and other community, social and personal services. In recent circumstance when the business of the tertiary sector is expanding more in comparison to the primary (agriculture and forestry, fishery, mines and excavation) and secondary (construction, industries, electricity, gas and water) sectors, banks are investing more in the service sector, says Prof. Dr. Navaraj Kadel. &ldquo;Banks investment is based on the demand and the service sector is demanding for more investment in the current scenario&rdquo;, he adds.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In comparison to last fiscal year, it was initially predicted that the GDP of the service sector would increase by 4.71 per cent in this fiscal year. Similarly, the GDP of the primary sector has increased by 2.69 per cent and in the secondary sector, the production has increased by 6.13 per cent. By mid July this year, investment in hotel sector has the highest investment of 39.4 per cent and advertising agencies investment is of 32.2 per cent.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Likewise, according to NRB&rsquo;s statistics, investment in tourism by banks and financial institutions has increased by 21 per cent in the same period. On the other hand, investment in Motorcycle repairing and hospitals have fallen by 19.6 per cent and 18.9 per cent respectively.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Swiss Government Joins MDTF</strong></div>

<div>The Government of the Swiss Confederation, acting through the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, joined the Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) for Public Financial Management (PFM) on September 12, 2014. The Administrative Agreement was signed by World Bank Country Director for Nepal, Johannes Zutt and Urs Herren from the Swiss Government for the amount of CHF 3000,000 which is equivalent to USD $3.19 million.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The contribution will be used to finance the activities under the MDTF, which is administered by the World Bank and jointly funded by five donors namely the European Union (EU), UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Governments of Norway and Denmark, and the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Established in December 2010, the objective of the MDTF has been working to strengthen the performance, transparency, and accountability of Public Financial Management in Nepal. &nbsp;According to the press statement, MDTF has rolled out the treasury single account (TSA) system to all 75 districts. It will also pilot the newly designed Revenue Management Information Systems (RMIS) module, preparation of financial statements for two pilot ministries following the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). The MDTF has also continued the support to the Office of the Auditor General (OAG). The MDTF also works on strengthening the use of social accountability to improve PFM through awareness-raising on local budgeting, pro-poor and gender budgeting.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>PTA with India, Attracts More Investors</strong></div>

<div>Sealing the power trade agreement (PTA) with India has attracted many foreign investorstowards Nepal&rsquo;s hydropower sector. Minister for Energy Minister Radha Kumari Gyawali while informing that representatives from China, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Norway and many other countries have escalated discussions with her, claimed that some of these are very much interested to invest in Nepal&rsquo;s hydropower sector. &ldquo;It is a positive sign that countries are showing interest in Nepali hydropower projects that require huge investment,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The Energy Minister said that the PTA has been submitted to the Prime Minister during a recent cabinet meeting and informed that the cabinet will decide the implementation process. While informing that the PTA wont have to be endorsed by the parliament, as it&rsquo;s a energy business deal, she informed that PTA&rsquo;s implementation make any headway only after the PM&rsquo;s return from USA. Prime Minister Sushil Koirala is scheduled to visit USA in the third week of September for medical treatment.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In another context, Minister Gyawali informed that the dollar based Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) with Himal Power Limited, promoting the 60 MW Khimti Hydropower Project and BhotekoshiPower Limited, promoting the 45 MW Bhotekoshi Hydropower project will be revised. She informed that the revisions have been in the final stage and said that the Ministry has already directed the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to revise these projects with concerned stakeholders at the earliest.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Swisscontact&#39;s Five-day Event</strong></div>

<div>Swisscontact held its annual Asia Seminar and Market Systems Development Appreciation Workshop recently. Swisscontact organised its five-day internal events from 9 to 14 September 2014 in Lalitpur. The first event titled Asia Seminar held on 9 and 10 September was organised to exchange updates on the organisation&#39;s global, South Asia and South-East Asia regional developments amongst its management and personnel. In the seminar various projects, focused on thematic areas such as Skills Development, Tourism and Financial Serevices.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Likewise, Swisscontact organised second event which was an internal workshop that took place from 11 to 14 September. The workshop was held in order crystallise its value proposition, formalise a process of how it designs and implements Market Systems Development (MSD) and Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) projects and enhance in-house and partner capacity.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In the seminar the management of Swisscontact, Zurich such as Regional Directors, Project Managers, Team Leaders, MSD/M4P advisors and practitioners were present. Similarly, managers from Bangladesh, Bolivia, Cambodia, Honduras, Indonesia, Kenya, Kosovo, Laos, Mozambique, Myanmar and Nepal participated in the events. &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Swisscontact is a Zurich-based independent foundation which works for international development cooperation. It is present in 27 countries with over 800 employees. Swisscontact promotes economic, social and environmental development, since 1959. In Nepal, Swisscontact is registered under the Social Welfare Council (SWC). &nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Solvency Margin Mandatory for Non-Life Insurance Companies&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>The Insurance Board (IB) has made it compulsory for non-life Insurance companies to set solvency margin.IB board of directors approved the directive in the second week of August and will come into effect within this fiscal year, Raju Raman Poudel, director of the board said. &ldquo;We will issue the directive to insurance companies within some days for immediate implementation,&rdquo;he said claiming it to be first time that the non-life insurance companies in Nepal were being asked to follow such provision. The life insurance companies were asked to make such provisions last year.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Poudel mentioned that the solvency margin is to be at 1:1.5 ratio.This means that a company with liabilities of Rs 1 should have assets worth Rs 1.5.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Assets and liabilities are two components needed to calculate the solvency margin. It is necessary to evaluate assets under different headings. The directive states that zero lead assets, zero lead advance, furniture, postponed expenses etc., of the insurer will be considered as a base.Similarly, the software used by the company, initial expenses of the company and the cash that cannot be collected from the reinsurance company in one year will also be considered as the base.Likewise, the company&rsquo;s brand willbe also evaluated.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Similarly, as per the directive,the risk recommended by the insurance company that has not exceeded the time frame, miscellaneous fund and the liabilities and claim fund included in the company&rsquo;s financial statement have to be mentioned in the liabilities evaluation.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The solvency margin ratio is calculated in two stages. First solvency margin or &lsquo;available&rsquo; margin is calculatedby considering the statement of the total consolidated assets and liabilitiesas the base.The &lsquo;required&rsquo; solved margin is calculatedin the second stage. Such solvency margin should not be less than the minimum paid up capital (250 million rupees) or 20 per cent of net insurance cost or 40 per cent of unpaid claims in the last three years.The one higher among these is considered as the required solvency margin. Solvency ratio is calculated on the basis of condition and requirement of the solvency margin.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The directive has categorized insurance companies broadly into three categories on the basis of their solvency margins and will be regulating them accordingly. In the first stage, companies that fail to meet the solvency ratio will be asked to correct their solvency margin.In the second stage, companies having solvency margin of 1.5 will be given permission to carry on with their regular operations. In the third stage, IB will supervise and monitor companies with solvency margin in between 1 and 1.5. And during this same period, it will also ask companies with solvency ratio less than 1, to increase their paid up capital.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em>What is Solvency Ratio?</em></div>

<div>Solvency Ratio defines the situation of assets and liabilities of a company.Solvency Ratio is calculated by comparing the ratio of assets and liabilities. According to international standards, solvency ratio should be atleast 1:1.5. Companies with less than 1:1.5 solvency ratio are supposed to be in bad financial condition.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Government calls for investment to materialize &lsquo;Vision 2030&rsquo;</strong></div>

<div>Government has called on stakeholders to support its long term development goals as outlined in &lsquo;Vision 2030&rsquo; by investing in its priority areas. The vision, among others, aims at graduating the nation to the status of developing nation from the present least developed country (LDC) by 2022.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat stressed on the need to increase investment in the infrastructure sector to ensurethe materialization of the &lsquo;Vision 2030&rsquo;, while speaking at an interaction program organized by Ministry of Finance recently. &ldquo;Lack of infrastructure, transport, and hydropower has hindered Nepal&rsquo;s development. Due to these lacking, development here is costlier than other countries,&rdquo; he said at the programme participated by major development partners of the country.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Stating that the nation needs huge investment for promoting the nation to the status of LDC, he called on partner organizations for investing in Nepal&rsquo;s prosperity. He urged development partners to invest its priority sectors as defined by the government and informed that 14th periodic plan, presently in pipeline, will compliment the Vision 2030 goals.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Dr Mahat informed that the government has made policy reforms in the industrial, business, energy, banking and financial sector as part of its first round of economic reform programmes, and expressed confidence that the second round willfurther improve investment environment to attract foreign and domestic investment. &ldquo;The country is becoming favourable for different businesses. With implementation of the second rounds of economic reforms, improvement in various sectors is expected to be visible within this year,&rdquo; Minister Mahat said on the occasion. He informed that the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA)has been constantly working to curb corruption and to win peoples and investorstrust on public institutions.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Prof Dr Govinda Raj Pokharel, vice chairman of National Planning Commission (NPC) claimed that the nation&rsquo;s political condition is stabilizing, and urged stakeholders for investing without hesitation. Dr Yuvraj Khatiwada, Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), elaborated on the reforms made at the policy level, their positive impact on the nations economy andrequested investors to invest in Nepal.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Likewise, Finance Secretary Suman Prasad Sharma stressed on the need to invest in energy, infrastructure and agriculture sector for the economic development of the country. He claimed that such investment would help boost the Nepali economy and also encourage investors.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The programme was attended by representatives of major multilateral and bilateral agencies including the United Nations Development Project, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Union, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Denmark, Russia and Norway, USAID, JICA, among others.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>PRAN&rsquo;s Multi-stakeholder Knowledge Forum&nbsp;</strong></div>

<div>The World Bank Program for Accountability in Nepal (PRAN) brought together government officials, civil society organizations, development partners and relevant stakeholders for a two-day forum starting from 10th September to 11th September at Hotel Yak and Yeti in the capital.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The forum hoped to reflect lessons that have been learnt together and the experiences gathered so far. PRAN has sought to develop the capacity of civil society organizations (CSOs) and government agencies through practical training, action learning and networking to promote citizen engagement in Nepal.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Speaking at the programme, Johannes Zutt, Country Director, World Bank Nepal said, &ldquo;Nepal has achieved considerable progress in recent years, despite a challenging environment.&rdquo; He said, &ldquo;In particular, Nepal is gradually strengthening its institutions and introducing greater openness and transparency.&rdquo;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Following the opening remarks, a high level panel discussion took place on the theme of Opening the Civic Space in Nepal moderated by Dr. Govinda Pokharel, Vice-Chair of National Planning Commission (NPC). The discussants included people like Luiza Nora, Team Task Leader of PRAN/ World Bank, MadhuKumar Marasini, Joint Secretary of Finance Ministry, Tara Nath Dahal, Chairperson of Freedom Forum and alike.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&ldquo;PRAN has been influential in uplifting the lives of the marginalized and vulnerable and it can have a really impactful role in the future as well,&rdquo; said Madhu Kumar Marasini, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance. &nbsp;&ldquo;It is good to see that the World Bank, alongside its projects on infrastructure hasn&rsquo;t forgotten about social accountability,&rdquo; he added.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The event also included a social accountability &quot;Knowledge Fair&quot;, highlighting results stories from existing social accountability initiatives in Nepal.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>NADA Auto Show 2014 ended Productively</strong></div>

<div>NADA Auto show 2014 was held from September 3 till September 8 in the exhibition hall of Bhrikuti Mandap, Kathmandu. The exhibition was organized jointly by NADA (Nepal Automobile Dealers Association) and Global Exposition and Management Services Private Limited. According to the organizers, due to the arrival of festive season, the exhibition has been successfully able to attract Nepali customers and automobile lovers.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Initially, the exhibition was set to be held for Five days. However, it was extended for one more day realizing the demand for visitors as well as participatory organizations. The exhibition was inaugurated by Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, Finance Minister where 63 companies participated and had 100 stalls.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Various famous brands like Daihatsu, Fiat, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Skoda, Suzuki, TATA, Toyota, Volkswagen, Bajaj, Ducati, Hero, Honda bike, KTM, Mahindra, Overa, Royal Enfield, Suzuki bike, Terra Motors, Tricycle Bull, TVS, UM Bikes, Yamaha were displayed in the exhibition. Similarly, in the exposition various spare parts, Lubricants, Tiers, Generator, Garage Equipments, Battery and other accessories and domestic products were displayed. Likewise, the participation of various financial institutions and new technological inventions was also seen in the event. More than 24 new automobiles were displayed in the exhibition. The distributors also claimed that various attractive offers were launched keeping the festive season in mind.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The organizations who participated in the event also claimed these offers have increased the number of bookings. During six days tenure, 690 two wheelers and 600 four wheelers were booked. The organizers have estimated that NADA Auto Show 2014 has done total business Rs 1.5 billion. Including tickets, Pass and Special guest pass, 55,000 visitors came to see the exhibition. Likewise, different entrepreneurs, artists and politicians also went to the exhibition.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>On September 10, the exhibition concluded with a formal programme where various participatory organizations were awarded with token of love. A lucky draw programme was also held where 5 winners were awarded with Samsung Galaxy Duos2. Likewise, as a bumpers door prize, the winners were also awarded with TVS Phoenix 125cc bike. Based upon different criteria, the jury committee of NADA Auto Show 2014 ranked Arun Intercontinental Traders (Suzuki Car) as the winner of best stall decorator. Similarly, Hansraj Hulaschand &amp; Co. Pvt. Ltd. (Bajaj Motorcycle) has stood in the second position and Sipradi Trading Pvt.Ltd (TATA-PCVU) stood in &nbsp;third position. The winner received a ten tola silver frame printed with NADA&rsquo;s logo on it. Similarly, the winner of second and third prize received 7 and 8 tola frame.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>900 MW Upper Karnali to Complete in 7 Years</strong></div>

<div>Investment Board Nepal and GMR ITD consortium have signed on PDA for the 900 MW Upper Karnali Hydropower project. In a programme organized in Singha durbar, the PDA was signed by the board&rsquo;s CEO Radhesh Pant and RB Seson, president of Hydro Energy Business Unit of GMR in the presence of Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In the programme Home Minister Bam Dev Gautam said that the Upper Karnali hydropower project will not only benefit the energy sector but will also contribute in the overall economic development of the nation. &ldquo;We are bringing in this huge investment for the first time,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;This will play a vital role in utilizing the resources in the favour of Nepali people&rdquo;.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Likewise, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh stated that GMR would complete the project in the time period mentioned in the PDA. &ldquo;GMR must complete the project in the stated time as it is concerned with India&rsquo;s credibility&rdquo;, he added.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>According to the PDA, GMR will have to collect the necessary fund within 2 years. GMR will invest 25 per cent of the total cost required for the project while the remaining investment will be collected through various international financial institutions, said Seson, president of Hydro Energy Business Unit of GMR. It is mentioned in the PDA that the project will have to be completed within 5 years after the total investment is collected. As such, the project will be completed by the year 2021. GMR will also build a 100 km transmission line which will be handed over to the government of Nepal after 25 years of operation. As per the PDA, Nepal will get 27 percent free equity and 12 percent free electricity from the project. The equity is equivalent to Rs 145 billion while 12 percent free energy amounts to 108 MW. The remaining 88 per cent can also be sold in Nepal if the need persists, said Seson. If not, India and Bangladesh are the potential market, he added.</div>
',
			'status' => true,
			'publish_date' => '0000-00-00',
			'created' => '2014-10-17 00:00:00',
			'modified' => '2015-09-09 13:51:49',
			'keywords' => '',
			'description' => 'Dolma Impact Fund has announced to invest up to Rs 4 billion in different companies of Nepal. The fund has been providing organisational investment incentive to different companies in the country. The Fund has planned to invest in the companies related to education, agriculture, financial institutions, health sector and renewable energy: companies which have prospective to increase the income level and the employment opportunities within the country.',
			'sortorder' => '928',
			'feature_article' => true,
			'user_id' => '0',
			'image1' => null,
			'image2' => null,
			'image3' => null,
			'image4' => null
		),
		'MagazineIssue' => array(
			'id' => null,
			'image' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'modified' => null,
			'title' => null,
			'publish_date' => null,
			'parent_id' => null,
			'homepage' => null,
			'user_id' => null
		),
		'MagazineCategory' => array(
			'id' => '8',
			'title' => 'Biz News',
			'sortorder' => '546',
			'status' => true,
			'created' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
			'homepage' => false,
			'modified' => '2017-05-03 15:27:12'
		),
		'User' => array(
			'password' => '*****',
			'id' => null,
			'user_detail_id' => null,
			'group_id' => null,
			'username' => null,
			'name' => null,
			'email' => null,
			'address' => null,
			'gender' => null,
			'access' => null,
			'phone' => null,
			'access_type' => null,
			'activated' => null,
			'sortorder' => null,
			'published' => null,
			'created' => null,
			'last_login' => null,
			'ip' => null
		)
	)
)
$current_user = null
$logged_in = false
$issue_id = '704'
$issue_title = array()
include - APP/View/MagazineArticles/index.ctp, line 8
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

New Business Age: