Shabda Gyawali's Blog

MUMBAI: Lack of consumer confidence and signals that the US Federal Reserve is not likely to cut interest rates saw US indices drop over two per cent. Financials led declines followed by energy stocks. The New York-based Conference Board's index declined to 105 from 111.9 in July. Economists forecast the index would slip to 104 from an originally reported July reading of 112.6. Consumer confidence fell the most this month since Hurricane Katrina two years ago. Also, a report from S&P/Case-Shiller showed house prices fell 3.2 per cent in the second quarter compared with the same period last year. It was the worst decline in 20 years. To make matters worse, the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's Aug.7 policy meeting showed central bankers put aside concerns about the rising cost of credit because they weren't convinced a slowdown in inflation would last. The transcript showed growing concern among Fed officials about the housing market and its effect on consume...

By Madhukar SJB Rana China is to limit labour-intensive exports to US and Europe. This gives a golden opportunity and challenge for Nepal’s economic diplomacy. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently raised China’s economic growth forecast for 2007 to 11.2 percent; up 1.2 percentage points from its forecast in April. The growth in China for 2008 is expected to be 10.5 percent, 1.0 point higher from the earlier forecast, the IMF said in a revision of its World Economic Outlook (WEO). We can anticipate even better growth rates given its habitual, better-than-anticipated, past performance. And 2008 is the year of the Olympics Games when unprecedented number of visitors are expected to visit China. It is anticipated that the Chinese athletes make China the world’s greatest sporting nation by bagging more medals than the US. “For some time China has been the largest contributor to the global growth measured in purchasing power parity,” Charles Collyns, the IMF deputy director of ...

Nepal Stock Exchange Ltd. (NEPSE) has unveiled an ambitious programme to bring about a number of reforms. According to a press release from NEPSE, the transaction in the trading floor will be computerized beginning mid-August under a Local Area Network (LAN) technology and the same will be expanded this year to Wide Area Network (WAN). With this, it will be possible for transaction from the offices of the member brokers. That is to be followed by development of client support software needed for fully internet-based transaction. This will enable the investors to key in their sales or purchase orders from any location in the world. In this connection, NEPSE has also announced a programme to develop the Central Depository System (CDS) needed for paperless transaction. Moreover, NEPSE is going to calculate and publish new NEPSE index based on freely floating shares replacing the existing index which is based on the total number of scrips listed. The need for the new index was being felt f...

While the arrival of Chinese tourists is growing in Nepal, a number of Chinese nationals have acquired more than a dozen of sick star-rated hotels in Kathmandu under lease, rent or management contract. Confirming the news, Prakash Shrestha, the president of Hotel Association of Nepal, said the Association is studying the impact of Chinese entry in the country’s hotel business. Among the hotels in the Chinese hands is Hotel Nepa International which is now named Hotel Beijing. The other hotels are Hotel Centre Point, Hotel New Gajur, Hotel Manang, Hotel Siddhartha, Hotel Pyramid, Hotel ‘Lai Lai, Hotel Star, Hotel Marshyangdi Mandala and Hotel Guangzhou. Meanwhile, some Chinese nationals are reported to be trying to acquire hotels also in Pokhara and Lumbini. In the year 2007 till July end, 7,342 Chinese tourists arrived in Nepal recording a 120 percent growth as compared to the same period previous year. Three years ago, the Chinese government had included Nepal in the list of favoured d...

The Indian establishment doesn’t try to hide anymore its irritation with the Nepali political parties trying to dodge elections and endanger the peace process that it helped broker and micromanage for the past two years. In a series of interviews in New Delhi this week, Indian politicians and policy-makers said they would like to see the peace process come to its logical conclusion with elections in November. “Remember we were the only ones pushing for June elections and the last few months have been proven right,” one diplomat here told us, “problems have only increased since then. Missing the November date can have extremely destabilising consequences.” Delhi believes that the polls can lock the Maoists irreversibly into the mainstream, pave the way for stability, provide a platform to address other grievances and demands, and limit the role of the internationals, especially the UN. South Block has been taking public positions on polls and sent strong messages privately to leaders. ...

Tourism bookings for the autumn season have never been healthier. Airlines and hotels are booked solid till November. Trekking agencies report record reservations. Yet, hotel and airline owners, trekking agents and those employed in the tourism industry are downcast. They see a dark cloud behind the silver lining because of threats from Maoist unions as well as the possibility of bandas smack at the start of the tourist season in September. The Trekking Agents Association of Nepal (TAAN) has been trying to sort out demands laid down by a Maoist trade union before the season starts. “We are ready to do everything for the welfare of employees, but we are running out of time,” explains TAAN president Narendra BC. After two months of talks, there has still been no agreement on two of the 13 demands of the Maoists: a Rs 600 increase in porter wages, better facilities, and permanent status to those working more than 240 days in a year. TAAN says it has nothing against these demands but can’t...

To think about businesses as purely entities that maximise their shareholders' economic self-interest is to miss the point that businesses also are run by human beings, and that businessmen, like everybody else, want to be seen to be doing the right thing.” click here

BARA, Aug 15 - The Dabur Nepal factory situated in Rampur Tokai, Bara reopened Wednesday.The Maoist-aligned trade union workers had shut down the factory five days ago. The factory was opened following extensive talks between representative of Birgung Chamber of Commerce Om Prakash Sharma and trade union workers yesterday evening. Sharma has assured us that the factory management would address the workers’ demand by August 18, said member of the Federation of All Nepal Trade Unions Min Prasad Abagain, adding, the workers agreed to call off their strike following his assurance. The trade union workers had called for an indefinite strike five days ago demanding permanent status for 65 loading-unloading workers, among others.

KATHMANDU, Aug 8 - Domestic airlines have decided to slap an additional surcharge in the range of Rs 45 to Rs 215 from this Friday, citing a rise in aviation fuel, in a move that violates aviation regulations. This will make air fares costlier by Rs 45 for Simara, Rs 70 for Pokhara, Rs 110 for Bhadrapur, Rs 95 for Biratnagar, Rs 85 for Bhairahawa, Rs 115 for Nepalgunj, and Rs 215 for Dhangadhi. This is in addition to the surcharge that airlines have been charging for the last nine months. Domestic air fares to go up Nepal Oil Corporation recently increased price of aviation fuel to Rs 72 per liter, up from Rs 68, a measure imposed only on domestic airlines.Pradeep Shah, sales director of Yeti Airlines, said as NOC raised the price arbitrarily, they decided to impose an extra surcharge to offset heightened operating costs. "Earlier, the government had agreed with the airlines to let them adjust surcharge whenever the air fuel price moves up and down. On the basis of this, we ...

At the CSU laboratory, engineers study the combustion in massive engines that push gas through pipelines. The research helped students develop a much smaller combustion chamber that fuels an energy-efficient, clean-burning cookstove. Mechanical engineering student Sachin Joshi knows firsthand that the stove is desperately needed in villages in his native Nepal . "As soon as you walk inside the kitchen, it just hits you," he says. "You can't stay there for even a minute, your eyes start watering. Noses start to burn. You start coughing. You just can't stay there. It's like walking into a forest when there is a fire." Joshi and other graduate engineering students teamed up with business majors to develop, finance and market the stove. It's an example of the type of projects that Hammerdorfer's Peace Corps MBA students will be pursuing in collaboration with other University departments and international organizations. Bringing new light to the worl...

JAI JAI NEPAL Help Nepal Network (www.helpnepal.net)— the first global charity run by Nepalese—has made fresh appeals to expatriate Nepalese and friends of Nepal to come forward in support of victims of floods that have ravaged various districts of terai in Nepal over the last few weeks. Help Nepal Network (HeNN) has already raised over £5,000 pounds within the first week of its appeal to help the flood victims, the organisation said. Director of HealthCare Nepal Jack Starmer. In response to its appeal to initially raise 5,000 pounds, Jack Starmer of HealthCare Nepal—a USA-based charity—announced that he would make a donation of five thousand pounds to HeNN to support the flood disaster relief work in terai. "I have been impressed with how your Kathmandu staff has gotten the most out of a rupee/dollar and trust their judgment in how best to use the funds," he said in a mail to HeNN. "Thanks for taking the initiative to raise these funds. I'd been wondering how we mig...

Sub-prime lending usually refers to the practice of giving loans to those who do not qualify for regular loans at market interest rates because of their poor credit history. Due to the increased risk associated with the takers, sub-prime loans are offered at a rate higher than market rates. These loans are risky for both, those who are giving and those who are taking, because these combine high interest rates, bad credit history, and often, murky financial situations of the takers. The current sub-prime mortgage meltdown in US refers to the rash of sub-prime housing loan defaults that began in late 2006 and has continued into 2007. The sharp rise in foreclosures has caused several major sub-prime mortgage lenders to shut down or file for bankruptcy, leading to the collapse of stock prices for many in the subprime mortgage industry. About 21% of all mortgages between 2004 and 2006 were sub-prime, up from 9% during the previous eight years. By 2006, sub-prime mortgages totalled $600 bill...

KATHMANDU, Aug 9 - .Seven years after Nepal committed itself to the task of halving malnutrition by the year 2015 - one of the Millennium Development Goals - general malnutrition remains a serious problem. Over the past 25 years, general malnutrition levels have decreased at a miniscule rate. This obviously means the status of malnutrition as a public health problem will remain for decades to come. According to the World Bank, decreased productivity and IQ levels resulting from malnutrition are causing a loss of up to 3 percent in GDP, which amounts to around Rs 18 billion annually. At present, Nepal has one of the highest levels of malnutrition in South Asia. A study conducted by the Ministry of Health and Population (MHP) in 2006 shows that 49 percent of children under the age of 5 are stunted - an indicator which compares height to age and reflects chronic malnutrition. Despite its pervasiveness, malnutrition, however, generally goes unnoticed. In Nepal, it is difficult to explain t...

Over the past 20 years Nepal’s financial sector has become deeper and the number and type of financial intermediaries have grown rapidly. In addition, recent reforms have made banks more stable. Still, access to financial services remains limited for many people in many parts of Nepal and in recent years has been declining. This report examines the country’s supply of and demand for financial services and the constraints to increasing access to them, and offers recommendations for making the financial sector work for all of Nepal’s people, especially the poor.The Supply of Financial ServicesFor much of the past 50 years Nepal’s government has tried to increase access to formal financial services for small businesses and low-income households. (This report defines low-income households as those in the three bottom spending quintiles.) The government has introduced directed lending programs for small businesses and low-income households, required banks to open branches outside the Kathma...

An economically integrated Southasia that is at the same time open to the rest of the world would not only respond to the aspirations of its peoples for prosperity and peace, but could also be a major anchor for global economic stability. By Sultan Hafeez Rahman Over the past decade, globalisation and Asia’s impressive economic performance, driven mainly by strong GDP growth in China and India, have created an unprecedented environment for the growth of intra-regional trade. Pakistan and Bangladesh have also registered impressively high growth rates, accompanied by significant reduction in poverty levels in both countries. All countries of Southasia have attempted – and, in some cases, succeeded – in concluding free trade agreements (FTAs) with each other. Significantly, the Southasian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) also took effect last year. Southasia is the world’s fastest-growing region; over the past decade, its GDP growth has exceeded 7.5 percent. The political environment for regi...

By Mark Dummett BBC News, Janakpur, Nepal Many roads and bridges have been washed away by the floods The road heading south to India has been washed away. Soldiers now ferry families wanting to reach the border over a river which was not here last week. Men hold bicycles above their heads as they wade through water which reaches up to their armpits. They then push them over a beach of wet sand. Villagers say that there also used to be houses here, but they too have disappeared. Dulari Kapar sells snacks from under the tattered awning of a tiny shelter. Her deep fried pakoras are popular with the frustrated and wet travellers, but her business does not compensate for what she has lost. "This is my house now, nothing is left," she says. "The flood swept away everything else." Devastating The waters are receding fast across the Terai, a strip of paddy fields and fruit groves in southern Nepal. In their wake they are leaving a landscape of damaged buildings, collapsed e...

Kathmandu, Aug 05: The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index made another history in its 13-year-long existence after crossing the 700 mark for the first time on Sunday. Trade analysts attributed the rise to a continuous rise in share prices of commercial banks led by Standard Chartered, Nabil and Himalayan Banks. The Nepse closed at 707.73 points, a growth by 9.50 points from last week´s closing, with shares of commercial banks and hydropower companies gaining. According to the reports, the stock market had cooled down significantly during last week´s trading, but it bounced back on Sunday, again proving wrong the analysis that it is an ´unjustified rise´ given the country´s economic performance and actual financial health of the listed companies nepalnews.com ag Aug 06 07

As India races towards superpower states, there are still some 40 million that are still mired in poverty. What are its leaders doing to narrow the gap between those that have benefited from the economic rise and those that have been left behind Three young and dynamic MPs speak about their optimism on overcoming problems of poverty and ethnic strife that still beset India, and how it is reaching out to nations in Southeast Asia to expand its trade, specifically in the areas of energy to supply its rapidly growing industries click here for the video

Kathmandu : Indian wellness guru Vandana Luthra's clinic VLCC has arrived in Nepal as the growing demand for trendy clothes, cosmetics and fitness centres creates an attractive market for Indian companies. Sanjay Agarwal, a 44-year-old businessman whose Heritage Fashion is one of the top garment exporters in Nepal, has signed a deal with VLCC to become its first overseas franchisee. "I used to enrol at VLCC during my visits to India," he said at a press conference here Friday. "I was very impressed by their services and thought why not ask them to open a franchise in Nepal." The first VLCC centre, being inaugurated in Kathmandu Friday in the presence of Miss Nepal 2006 Sugarika KC, targets the middle and upper middle class clientele, especially the elite Rana families. Agarwal says he plans to open another centre in the capital after six months following which there would be VLCC centres in the outer districts as well, starting with Pokhara city in central Nepal...

Google Inc has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in its cell phone project and is courting US and European mobile operators, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Anian, a Reuters company that tracks industry trends for institutional investors, reported last month that Google had engaged Taiwan's High Tech Computer Corp to design a Linux software-based phone for launch in the first quarter of 2008. The Anian report cited industry sources as saying T-Mobile, owned by Deutsche Telekom, would likely be Google's US partner with France Telecom's Orange selling the phones in other markets. The Journal said that Google had also approached the two biggest US wireless services, AT&T Inc and Verizon Wireless, in recent months to ask them to sell phones with Google service. It cited a Verizon Wireless executive saying the company had decided not to integrate Google's Web search tightly into its phones because of Google's advertising revenue-sharing demands. ...

By Allen L. Hammond, C.K. Prahalad May/June 2004 Recently Professor C. K. Prahalad earned the third spot on Suntop Media's 2005 "Thinkers 50" list, behind Harvard strategy specialist, Michael Porter, and Microsoft founder, Bill Gates . When the Indian industrial and technology conglomerate ITC started building a network of Internetconnected computers called “eChoupals” in farming villages in India's rural state of Madhya Pradesh in 2001, soy farmers were suddenly able to check fair market prices for their crops. Some farmers began tracking soy futures on the Chicago Board of Trade, and soon most of them were bypassing local auction markets and selling their crops directly to ITC for about $6 more per ton than they previously received. The same ITC network enables farmers to buy seeds, fertilizers, and other materials directly, at considerable savings, as well as to purchase formerly unavailable soiltesting services. Today, the growing eChoupal network reaches 1.8 mill...

BY-Aneel Karnani Microcredit is the newest silver bullet for alleviating poverty. Wealthy philanthropists such as financier George Soros and eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar are pledging hundreds of millions of dollars to the microcredit movement. Global commercial banks, such as Citigroup Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG, are establishing microfinance funds. Even people with just a few dollars to spare are going to microcredit Web sites and, with a click of the mouse, lending money to rice farmers in Ecuador and auto mechanics in Togo. Wealthy philanthropists, banks, and online donors aren’t the only ones fascinated with microcredit. The United Nations designated 2005 as the International Year of Microcredit, explaining on its Web site that microentrepreneurs can use their small loans to “grow thriving business and, in turn, provide for their families, leading to strong and flourishing local economies.” The Nobel Committee awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank, ...