Fake medicine Nepal.......

Problem:

KATHMANDU, March 29: Police apprehended four people for administering fake hepatitis B vaccine to the public in Boudha following the tip-off from the District Public Health Office (DPHO), Kathmandu.

DPHO Chief Bisho Ram Shrestha said the police have handed over the quack vaccinators to Kathmandu District Administration Office for punishment. Claiming such vaccines can have disastrous impact on human health, Shrestha said, "Preventing fake vaccinators from selling unapproved vaccines has become a major challenge for us."

According to DPHO, all vaccines must have quality approval from World Health Organization (WHO) before being administered. Likewise, vaccines must also get approval from the Department of the Drug Administration (DDA). The vaccines administered by the arrested vaccinators had approval from neither of the agencies. Click here to read more

Solution???????????????

Sproxil is combatting the global counterfeit drug market through a MobileProduct Authentication™ (MPA™) solution that enables consumers to verify the authenticity of pharmaceutical products. Sproxil’s MPA solution allows customers to send a free text message containing a code found on a drug to Sproxil’s servers, which immediately respond and indicate whether the drug is genuine or fake. Sproxil has set up Africa’s first national mobile-based anti-counterfeit service in Nigeria, and Acumen Fund’s investment will enable the company to expand into Kenya and India .Click here to read more

Nepal's biggest dairy farm .....

Domestic production fulfils only half of the total daily requirement of 800,000 liters of milk across the country.

मुलुकमा खपत हुने आधा दूधका लागि भारतमै निर्भर हुनुपर्ने बाध्यता अन्त्य गर्न भन्दै रुपन्देहीमा २५ करोड रुपैयाँ लागतमा पशुपालन तथा दुग्ध उत्पादन फार्म स्थापना गरिएको छ

"लुम्बिनी एग्रो प्रोडक्ट्स एन्ड रिसर्च सेन्टर १० बिघा क्षेत्रफलमा फैलिएको छ । फार्ममा अहिले होलस्टाइन, जर्सीलगायत पाँच प्रजातिका १ सय ७० वटा गाई, १५ वटा भैंसी, तीनवटा साँढे र ६५ वटा बाच्छाबाच्छी छन् । गाई संख्या छिट्टै ५ सय पु¥याउने लक्ष्य रहेको फार्म सञ्चालक शशी पौडेलले जानकारी दिए । “पशुपालनलाई व्यावसायीकरण गरी दूधमा देशलाई आत्मनिर्भर बनाउने उद्देश्यले फार्म सञ्चालन गरेका हौं,” उनले भने ।"

"फार्मले दूध चिस्याउने र दूध दुहुने मेसिन पनि राखेको छ । हाल १ सय दुहुना गाईबाट दैनिक १ हजारदेखि १२ सय लिटर दूध उत्पादन भइरहेको छ । एउटा गाईले बढीमा ४०–४५ लिटर र कम्तीमा १० लिटर दूध दिने पौडेलले बताए । २३ फिट अग्लो आधुनिक गोठसहितको फार्ममा अहिले २५ जनाले प्रत्यक्ष रोजगारी पाएका छन् ।" click here to read more

Bhat Bhateni and Big Mart helping or hurting Nepali Janta ????

Organized retail stores like ( Bhat Bhateni,Big mart) are sprouting all over the big cities of the country ............ the key drivers being changing consumer profile and demographics, increase in the number of international brands available in the Nepali market, economic implications of urbanization, credit availability, improvement in the infrastructure, increasing investments in technology and real estate building a world class shopping environment for the consumers.

I recently read about Big Mart opening a new store in Kathmandu ...here is the synopsis of the article

• Big Mart will contain 11,000 sq ft on three floors and expects to provide employment to 70 to 80 people. According to Prince Khetan, managing director of Mega Mart, the company is investing around Rs 50 million in the project.
• Inventory consists of 34,000 kinds of products and counting.
• Mega Mart is also planning to open two new outlets at Jawalakhel, Lalitpur and Battisputali, Kathmandu within this year.

After reading this article few questions crossed my mind.....................

1) Out of 34,000 kinds of product in the inventory, how many are domestically produced ? .... So is the raise of organized retail stores helping or hurting Nepal’s current account balance? (Last time before leaving Nepal,I did my thithaura,aachar,bhujiya,chau chau shopping in one of these store....... saw lots of Indians & Expats shopping around..considered export ?)

2) Are these stores supporting local manufactures and farmers by procuring more goods from them??.......

3) Critics of western style "one stop shop " experience claim that its kills local kirana shops .......So are these "hyper shops" destroying existing "Daal Bhaat" winning sources or creating new jobs ?

4) President of The World Bank said in a recent interview "over time, what many economies have found, not only developed economies like the United States, but I have seen this in Mexico, Brazil and China, that some of those large distributors can capture the benefits of their supply chains with better, effective logistics. So I think that would obviously create additional opportunities to benefit the consumer"

5) WalMart ( daddy of all retail chains ) claims "Encouraging modern retail helps arresting the current inflationary trend, directly impacting the consumers at large.".................. Basically,Wal Mart is saying big retail store ( Bhat Bhateni ,big mart types) can achieve economies of scale,dent supply side bottle necks, increase margin of the kisans by weaning off middle men, engaging in both up stream and down stream supply chain.......fancy consultant calls it a " Farm to Fork model".........................................

Are these organized retail store chains in Nepal directly "for real " engaging with local manufactures and farm cooperatives or taking the "wholesale" route ???......Are they even selling fruits, veggies,dairy products , chau chau ( Nepali items) at discount price compare to kirana pasal or "aallu gobi bhantaa" street/cycle vendors ??

Balance Sheet of financial cooperatives are fatter than that of commercial banks

According to a study, in Nepal amount of total deposits in financial cooperatives have outgrown the total deposits of all the commercial banks...............Does this mean encourage Financial cooperatives for financial inclusion ????

"मुलुकभर रहेका सहकारीहरूमा सम्पूर्ण ३१ वटा वाणिज्य बैंकभन्दा बढी निक्षेप रहेको सहकारी विभागले गरेको एक अध्ययनले देखाएको छ । विभागले माघमा संकलन गरेको विवरणअनुसार सहकारीको कुल निक्षेप बैंकहरूको भन्दा ३० अर्ब रुपैयाँले बढी छ ।

वित्तीय सहकारीले गत माघसम्म ६ खर्ब ५० अर्बभन्दा बढी निक्षेप संकलन गरेको तथ्यांक छ । नेपाल राष्ट्र बैंकको पुससम्मको तथ्यांकअनुसार वाणिज्य बैंकहरूमा ६ खर्ब १९ अर्ब रुपैयाँ निक्षेप छ ।" Click here to read more

This news forced me to revisit an article I read in Harvard business review -

"many innovations that engage the poor have come from players outside the mainstream in their industries. Take the financial sector, for example: Microfinance originated with NGOs, mobile money was developed primarily by telecom companies, and micromortgage companies in India are being launched by entrepreneurs and firms with no experience in the housing-finance sector. Established commercial banks, on the other hand, are usually saddled with legacy systems, fixed assets, regulatory requirements--and, occasionally, mindsets-- that make it difficult for them to lead the innovation charge in financial services for the underserved"

Investment wanted...Invest in Nepal energy sector ...

The government of Nepal has launched a $275m (£169m) initiative to bring an end to the country's energy crisis within five years.

Despite having massive hydro-power potential, Nepal produces less than half its electricity needs.

The government says that under its plan, Nepal will be free from load-shedding within five years.

It says that it will also

• waive custom duties for materials related to produce solar power
• make better use of existing thermal plants
• waive tax on private investors building new hydroelectric power plants
• encourage the private sector to produce power from rubbish

The government also said it would provide special security for investors and introduce laws to make it a crime to hamper energy construction projects, punishable by five years in prison.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12846672

The economics of Solar power click to read

(Source: Mckinsey & Company)

water water everywhere and not a drop to drink??

pic source: MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA

Perhaps two-fifths of the people in Asia’s cities do not have access to piped water. Many of the rest suffer from intermittent supply and unsafe water. And, globally, the provision of water to cities is not keeping pace with urbanisation. In a message for “World Water Day” on March 22nd the United Nations’ secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, claimed that in the past decade the number of city-dwellers without a water tap in their home or immediate vicinity has risen by 114m.

Mr Ban identified the problem as “a crisis of governance, weak policies and poor management”. Asit Biswas, of the Third World Centre for Water Management, an NGO, agrees: “Lack of money, scarcity, and so on—they’re all excuses. The problem everywhere is bad management. Click here to read More

"The daily drinking water requirement of Kathmandu is 320 million litres but supply hardly amounts to 100 or 110 million litres.Groundwater levels are being depleted by 1.9 metres each year. Marking World Water Day, water expert Nawaraj Shrestha notes that 15 years ago, Kathmandu's groundwater was at the level of 20 to 30 metres below the ground. "But now we need to dig deeper than 80 metres to hit water."

"A 1997 study by Australian researcher Chris Well shows that on current trends, Kathmandu's groundwater supply will dry up in 100 years. " Click here to read more

Digits above makes me wonder, how much private water supply tanker companies should be making??Who says Nepal is not reaping dividend out of its water resources :)..........