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Business News |
The Supreme Court quashed all the writ petitions filed against proposed land reforms announced by the government last month. However, the court did not give an unqualified victory to the Deuba government as it also declared that the freezing of land sales announced on August 16 was illegal and unconstitutional.
While lifting the ban, the government had however said that it would have to be within the ceiling stated in the Bill.
The Bill, still under discussion in the Parliament, proposes new ceiling on land ownership at 143 ropanis in the Terai region, 30 ropanis in the Kathmandu valley and 75 ropanis in the remaining hilly region.
The Asiaweek, Asia’s leading English weekly published from Hong Kong, has rated Nepal’s Himalayan Bank Limited, Nepal Grindlays Bank Ltd (Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Ltd) and Nepal Arab Bank Ltd among the Asia Pacific region’s 500 largest banks, says an HBL press release.
The list ranked the region’s largest banks by assets, deposits, loans and profits. It is said that Himalayan Bank Limited has the largest share in deposits and lending among the joint venture and private commercial banks operating in Nepal.
The Asiaweek states that Himalayan Bank’s return on equity is the 13th highest in the whole Asia Pacific region with 37.9 percent return. Similarly, Nepal Grindlays Bank stands at 11 and Nabil Bank at 17, the release adds.
Two private airlines operating largely on the domestic sector are said to have agreed to work out an alliance to streamline operations, as Necon Air, one of Nepal’s largest private airlines which also operates to nearby Indian cities, and relative newcomer Shangri-La Air are pursuing merger talks to work under the same umbrella. Unofficial sources have it that though a final deal has yet to be reached, it is almost certain that Necon Air would be buying almost all shares of Shangri-La Air.
The merger is the first such deal and bucks the trend in Nepal’s aviation scene where some newer start- ups are actually splinters of older airlines. The deal comes at a time when the leading domestic airline companies have been complaining about the low rate of return in the aviation sector due to which most of the domestic airlines are facing financial difficulties. They have been arguing that domestic air fares have not been reasonably revised since last couple of years, despite the ever-increasing price of aviation fuel, customs duties on parts of the airplanes and other major expenditures.
Necon Air Limited, which only very recently completed nine years of operation, was established in 1992 with paid up capital of some Rs 180 million. The company currently also flies to the Indian cities of Patna and Varanasi. The company owns two 50-seater ATR- aircraft and an Avro.
Necon Air is also the only private sector airline to have acquired permission to fly international routes.
Shangri-La Air, on the other hand, was established in December 1999. The company conducts its flight to the major towns inside the country. It presently owns three Twin Ottor aircraft, and two 1900c Beechcraft.
The Department of Food Technology and Quality Control has started a hotline service to address the increasing complaints about adulteration in food items.
The department was forced to initiate the hotline telephone service after its annual report of the last fiscal year revealed high level of contamination in food items, creating anarchical atmosphere in public health sector.
The victims of adulteration, as well as other consumers, can call on 262741 and place their complaints, the department informs Consumers can submit their complaints with the name of item and its producer, if they find something wrong regarding the quality of the particular good, says the department.
This services to protect consumer right, will, however, come at a cost with consumers required to bear charges incurred in investigation the department adds.
No sooner the national flag carrier RNAC pulled out from the European sector then it has declared to start new flight routes to South Korean capital Seoul, and Qatar.
It is learned that a group led by Rajesh Raj Dali, Executive Chairman of the corporation, has flown to South Korea to put the plan into practice.
The group is to study about the marketing sector including positive and negative aspects of route, and to take permission to conduct flights.
European sector has always been regarded as a loss incurring one for RNAC, amounting to annual loss of Rs. 560 million, according to the corporation. And therefore leading the flag carrier to pull out of the sector beginning September 1, the start of the tourist season in the country.
The return of two leased aircraft, from Lauda and Chez, had severely hit the international flight schedule of RNAC which owns only two 757 Boeing aircraft.
The Annual General Meeting of Nepal Bankers’ Association has elected its executive members in some vacant posts for a term of two years.
According to a press release issued by the association, the AGM has elected Manoj Goyal as the vice president and other four bankers as the executive members of the association. The newly elected members are Shahid M Lone, Rajeev Kulkarni, Surendra Bhandari and Sudhir Khatri, states the release.
The Board of Directors of Nepal Rastra Bank has decided to provide licence to two commercial banks namely Siddhartha Bank, Limited and Laxmi Bank Limited, it is learned. Similarly, NRB board is believed to have given licence to one development bank for export-import banking.
Siddhartha Bank Limited is said to be promoted by Kedia Group while Laxmi Bank Limited is promoted by Khetan Group. The development bank is believed to be promoted by Bisal Group and Triveni Group.
The seventeenth AGM of the Association of Chartered Accountants
of Nepal (ACAN) has elected its new executive committee for the coming year.
While Surendraman Pradhan was elected to lead the committee, Pramod Kaushik and Parakram Sharma were unanimously elected as Secretary and Treasurer respectively, states a press release from the association. Other members of the committee are Dhruba Bhandari, Rabin Sijapati, Krishna Bhattarai and Ravindra Rajbhandari, the release adds.
It also makes known that the 160 member strong ACAN also honoured twelve of its members during the AGM.
A meeting of the Executive Committee of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), the apex body of the business community, has appointed Ananda Raj Mulmi, former president of the Federation, as the special member of the Federation, says a press release issued by FNCCI. As per the constitution of the FNCCI, the Executive Committee can appoint national or international individuals, who have made outstanding contribution in achieving the objectives of the Federation, states the press release.
Everest Exhibition, a business house that has been organizing various trade fairs and cultural programs for some seven years, is to organize the annual fair Kathmandu Utsav-2001 from September 28 to October 7 in the capital.
According to a press release from Everest Exhibition the first objective of the fair is to entertain visitors and secondly to provide all sorts of consumer goods at reasonabe prices under one roof. In this regard, the exhibition will see special programs for visitors from all quarters of life and age, the press release adds.
It also informs that there would be 165 stalls with thousands of foreign and domestic products on exhibition as well as, cultural programs, concerts, painting competition for children, kite flying competition, newly conceptualized Siterio Karate plus boxing competition.
Kumari Bank Ltd, which began operations from April this year, was officially inaugurated.
According to the bank, it has already realised a profit amounting to some Rs 4.9 million. The bank also claims to have mobilised deposits worth Rs 600 million even as loan investment has been put at Rs 580 million during the five month period.
According to Noor Pratap Rana, Chairman of the bank, Kumari Bank aims at not only making profits but also to contribute to the interests of depositors, the national economy and the target group as defined by the government and Nepal Rastra Bank.
Himalayan
Bank Ltd. has opened its 11th branch. Himalaya Shumsher Rana, chairman of the
bank inaugurated the branch amid a function. He said that the bank is going
to open its 12th branch at Banepa and two more branches in Dhulabari and Nepalgunj
in the near future.
The bank has its branches in Nagarkot, Bharatpur, Hetauda, Birganj and Bhairahawa outside the valley. He also informed that the bank has an issued capital of Rs. 300 million, Rs. 16 billion in deposit and has invested Rs. 9 billion. The bank has earned an operation profit of Rs. 600 million in the past fiscal year.
With the initiation of land reform plan by the government, the rumours about fixing a ceiling on property is believed to have triggered remarkable withdrawals in some banks. As a result, the tempo of buying gold accelerated at its mast. As with such new trend in the market, the sale of the yellow metal is estimated to have gone up from an average of 3.0 kilos to about 60 kilos per day.
The rush to buy gold has, however, only resulted in marginal rise in prices, from Rs 7,110 on 17 August to Rs 7,200 on 28 August.
In yet another year of good performance the net profit after tax and provision of the Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Limited during the fiscal year 2000/2001 he stood at Rs. 419 million.
According to a press release, the bank has launched a new package, particularly for large corporates, called Cash Management Quick Collection. The new service provides effective and efficient mechanism to collect exports receivable directly by the bank from Indian customers of Nepali companies, the release adds.
With an objective of exploring the tourism potential of the Rara lake, the largest lake of Nepal and the entire Mugu district, Mugu District Development Committee (MDDC) is organising Rara Festival 2001 in cooperation with Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).
The three-day festival will be organized from October 12 to 14, 2001.
Speaking at a press meet, Subash Niraula, Director of Tourism Products and Resources Development Division at NTB, expressed the hope the Rara Festival would be a wise, step for enhancing tourism in the region.
The Rara lake and its surroundings that forms Rara National Park, is situated at about 370 km northwest of Kathmandu.
Cultural programmes, food festival, exhibition and sale of local products along with other activities such as horse riding, fishing, cycling, boating and mini marathon will be held during the Festival, it was informed.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has said that its traffic has declined services to the United States in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the US on September 11, compared to the previous week.
According to a press release issued by the airlines, forward bookings on the transatlantic services to New York and Chicago in the coming week has dipped by 10 percent compared to the pre-attack week.
The slowdown in the economy has already affected traffic flows and freight traffic systemwide and costs of fuel and insurance have risen. From October 1, SIA, like other airlines, will levy a war surcharge in respect of passenger liability cover equivalent to US$ 1.25 per passenger on all flights, the release also informs.
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