US supports improvement of TIA Rescue Station

The US government, in partnership with the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), will provide assistance worth $462,000 to retrofit the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) Crash, Fire and Rescue Station to make it more resistant to earthquakes.

Earlier, the Office of Defense Cooperation at US Embassy in Kathmandu and CAAN had officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) – on

November 15 – to carry out the project.

The US Army Corps of Engineers, working with local contractors, will provide design and construction services, the embassy press note read, adding that the work will begin in January 2014. "The project is a part of a greater plan for TIA infrastructure improvement through the Seismic Resistance Programme."
Refitting critical infrastructure at TIA will allow the government to reduce seismic damages to essential structures such as towers, platforms, and runway. It will keep the runway open after an earthquake, it said, adding that specific areas for the programme include runway integrity, navigation aids, crash-fire-rescue, and air-ground operations.

Over the past two years, CAAN and TIA have been taking great strides to ensure the airport is prepared to face disasters. These efforts include working with the US Army Corps of Engineers, Federal Aviation Administration, the US Air Force, and others to identify seismic vulnerability structures, perform a pavement strength survey of the runway, and perform a geotechnical subsurface investigation to better understand the geology of the airport.

The US Embassy has said that it is committed to supporting planning efforts and will continue to collaborate with Nepal to improve the airport infrastructure and make it more resistant to earthquakes.

Upper Hugdi hydro to start generate power soon

Upper Hugdi hydropower will start generating power from next year, according to the promoters.

Promoted By Ru Ru Hydropower Project, the five megawatt (MW) project is estimated to cost Rs 750 million. "However, the cost will escalate to Rs 815 million, after adding the banks' interest," informed executive chairman of Sahas Hydropower Company Him Prasad Pathak.

Sahas Hydropower has bought 85 per cent share of Ru Ru Hydropower and currently constructing Gulmi district-based Upper Hugdi hydel project, he said, adding that Sahas Hydropower that has 856 shareholders is also planning to construct 11.8-km long transmission lines to connect the power station to the national grid. "The company has completed the survey for the transmission line and soon start construction."

Sahas Hydropower that has an authorised and issued capital of Rs 500 million has already done Power Purchasing Agreement at Rs 8.20 for dry season and Rs 4.80 for wet season with Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

Though the country is reeling under scheduled power outage, Nepal has huge potential for hydropower development that can not only support the industrial growth but also generate employment.

Though there is a demand of 1,100 MW of electricity currently, the supply stands at around 716 MW only, forcing the industries to operate half of their capacity and making the lives of the people harder.

Lack of awareness among the locals, effective policy, confidence in collective investment, adequate transmission lines to connect to national grid, lengthy paper works and low PPA rate are some of the hurdles for the development of the hydropower.

NIC Asia Bank bags 'Bank of the Year-Nepal 2013' award

NIC Asia Bank has received the prestigious ‘Bank of the Year 2013- Nepal’ award from The Banker -Financial Times Publication, London.

Director of the bank Lokmanya Golchha and chief executive Sashin Joshi received the Award trophy and Certificate of Merit at the ceremony held at the Hotel Intercontinental, Park Lane, London yesterday.

The judging panel from The Banker magazine chose NIC Asia Bank as the winner of Bank of the Year in Nepal.
‘Bank of the Year ’ is the world’s longest running international banking title that is a testament to the strong management, sound business model and prudent risk approach of the winner Bank.

Earlier, NIC Bank was also awarded with Bank of the Year-Nepal in 2007.

The award was announced by The Banker during its annual award hosting ceremony, where most of the winning banks from 130 countries across the globe were present. The award was announced and presented by the Editors of The Banker Magazine and Michael Buerk-former BBC Correspondent.

Formed after the merger of two class 'A' commercial banks, NIC Asia Bank is now amongst the largest private sector commercial banks in the country in terms of capital base, balance-sheet size, branch/ATM network, customer base and employees.

The bank now has 53 branches and 50 ATMs which is being expanded to a total of 66 branches within one year.

TeliaSonera sacks chief financial officer after Eurasia review

TeliaSonera has fired its chief financial officer and three other top executives following an independent review of its activities in Eurasia.
Chief financial officer Per-Arne Blomquist will leave his position immediately and be replaced by Christian Luiga, currently Head of chief executive officer's Office. TeliaSonera did not name the three other executives. 

The investigation was started in April after revelations in the Swedish press over possible corruption in the development of the company's activities in Uzbekistan. TeliaSonera hired the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright to conduct a review of the transactions and agreements made over the past few years by TeliaSonera and its partners in Eurasia. While the review is still on-going, information received to date made it clear that 'the processes for conducting some transactions have not been in line with sound business practices', the company said.

As a consequence the four individuals will now leave the company. 

In addition to Norton Rose Fulbright the Swedish law firm Mannheimer Swartling has also advised the board. The company said it will hand over the material from the Norton Rose Fulbright review to the Swedish Public Prosecutor’s office, which is conducting its own investigation of the company.

Urge to focus on agriculture, trade facilitation, development issues in Bali meet

Experts today stressed on three major issues as Nepal's key focus – during the ninth Ministerial Conference of  World Trade Organization (WTO) – as it relates to trade and development aspects of Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

Speaking at 'Stakeholders’ dialogue on Nepal’s Participation at the 9^th WTO Ministerial Conference,' jointly organised by Ministry of Commerce and Supplies, South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE) and Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), here today, they said that Nepal should focus the dialogue on three pillars – agriculture, trade facilitation and development dimension, that includes least-developed country (LDC) issues – at the Bali meet to be held on December 3-6.

Given the current trade off between trade facilitation and agriculture between developed country members and developing countries, mainly India, there are concerns that Bali might not be able to deliver results.

"Nevertheless, Nepal, which is also the coordinator of the LDC Group, should demand that there be a deal at least on the LDC package, which would consist of 100 per cent duty free and quota free market access, preferential rules of origin, operationalisation of services waiver and special and differential treatment," they suggested Commerce and Supplies minister Shankar Prasad Koirala, who is leading the Nepali delegation to the Ministerial Conference.

On the trade facilitation agreement, there was a broad consensus that the agreement should have provisions on binding commitments from developed country members to provide dedicated financial and technical resources to LDCs to implement the provisions of the agreement, they reminded, adding that on agriculture, although the issues at stake currently are not very important for Nepal, from a long term perspective, Nepal’s position should be in line with the G33 proposal on food security.

Nepal’s ambassador to the WTO Dr Shankar Bairagi, on the occasion, provided an overview of the state of negotiations in Geneva and the package that LDC members have worked out and provided to the WTO.

He also pointed to the difficulty that Nepal, as the chair of the LDC Group, has had to face in reconciling all LDC members’ differing interests and concerns.

About 55 participants, including trade policy experts, policymakers, and private sector representatives participated in the dialogue that provided important inputs to the delegation that is leaving for Bali on Saturday.

Responding the experts suggestions, Koirala assured the participants that he and his team would put in all possible efforts at Bali and try to ensure that the outcomes are in favour of LDCs like Nepal.