New home for the president of Nepal but no home for Earthquake victim

Nepal's President Bidhya Devi Bhandari  has shifted to the new palace built by the Nepal Government where as on contrary the same Nepal government has not been able to distribute the billions which it  received for the reconstruction and rehabilitation program of earthquake victims of April 25 devastating earthquake. After 2 years people are still waiting for the money where the Nepal government leaders are still playing politics in the name of victims and the issue.

I think this is one of the most satirical issue where thousands of earthquake victims are living under the sky with temporary zinc sheet and the head of the state is shifting to a fully furnished luxury palace. such a pitty !
        
Following a safety assessment, technicians put red stickers to the rear part of the residence.
Nepal’s Rastrapati Bhawan, was declared unsafe for use by a technical team after the building developed cracks due to the devastating earthquake of  April 25 2015

The president was living in a prefab home built in the compound of sheetal niwas

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Unilever Nepal bullying Nepali soap market

From a  source, I came to know that the current Animal Fat awareness campaign which is currently being run in radio and newspaper is financed by Unilever Nepal. Breaking news is they are planning to launch their own range of animal fat free soap. As part of their aggressive marketing campaign  they have launched this customer awareness campaign where they are targeting print and audio media with the whole concept of first driving the people with awareness and then launching their fat free soap.

On one hand this campaign certainly shows the unhealthy competition in the market where the big organization like Unilever uses such campaigns and power of money in favor of capitalizing their own benefit where as on other it is really sad for smaller industries who have been struggling to survive as they have no option.

Good or bad driving people for a certainly motive this campaign has its pros and cons on the table. I think the Unilever Nepal should not radicalize this issue in such a way creating bad impression of the whole industry. The way this marketing campaign has been pushed showcases the aspect of business world vs public welfare. Since this issue is very closely related to people's belief and culture the Unilever should not push it hard. It should have been put it in a more shuttle way giving option to the people.

Playing it indirectly, they are trying to capture the market but hey its a open world where cost, quality and comfort matters.

If you can give a product in lower price with a good quality the product is genuinely successful. Aggressive marketing campaigns like this at times can have serious consequences.


   

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Government Attorneys boycott their session in court

The Nepal Government attorneys are boycotting their court session protesting against the recent appointment of high court judges by judicial council from Sunday.

Government attorneys and trade unions at  the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) have decided not to participate in court proceedings including hearings.

The controversy started when the appointment was claimed to be highly political and un-justifiable in may ways. On January 13 the Judicial Council lead by CJ Sushila Karki  appointed 80 judges at the high courts with 37 from district judges, 27 from Nepal Bar Association and 16 from joint secretaries and secretaries. The controversy started when the news broke out that the appoint was done at the middle of the night with only 3 members involving the appointment process
The Judicial Council currently has 5 members which is chaired by Chief Justice Sushila Karki.

Chief Justice Sushila Karki has been drawing controversy as her term period is ending, one after the other she has been putting question mark on the issues of management and administration of Justice system in Nepal.

The lawyer fraternity has been blaming the process to be very political and unjustifiable as the people who have been appointed are not reasonably qualified in terms of experience and quality. They are demanding a fair appointment process with no politics.

     

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No 4G for Ncell Axiata Group

The controversy of capital gains tax (CGT) of Ncell during its takeover has been a long lasting headache for the Nepal government. With view of that  the lawmakers of Nepal have decided not to  allow 4G services to Ncell in Nepal. It has been confirmed that till  it clears the outstanding capital gains tax (CGT) to the Nepal Government, 4G services will be withheld for Ncell Axiata Group.

Axiata Group acquired Ncell last December 2015 from TeliaSonera and Reynolds for US$1.365 billion . The takeover  drew immense criticism as Ncell did not pay CGT as required by the law which is expected to be NRs 23 billion. The deal effectively secures Axiata an 80 percent equity interest and full control over Ncell.

The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) rolled out  4G  plan for Ncell in the last week of October last year. The Nepal Telecom (NT) has already started its soft launch of  4G service in Nepal after obtaining the licence from NTA.

Axiata Group is  one of the largest Asian telecommunication companies, Axiata today operates in ten countries, servicing approximately 290 million subscribers. With a diverse portfolio in mobile network operations, communications infrastructure services and digital services, the Group pieces together the best in connectivity, technology and people in its vision of Advancing Asia.

Axiata has controlling stakes in market leading mobile operators in South East Asia and South Asia. Axiata Group of companies operate under the brand name of ‘Celcom’ in Malaysia, ‘XL’ in Indonesia, ‘Dialog’ in Sri Lanka, ‘Robi’ in Bangladesh, ‘Smart’ in Cambodia and 'Ncell' in Nepal. Further to this, the Group also holds strategic interests in ‘Idea’ in India and ‘M1’ in Singapore.

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Nepal Government charges Service fee with public

It has been an issues since a long time that Nepal Government owned Nepal Electricity Authority has been charging service fee with the normal public on the monthly electricity bill. It has been clearly stated in its working manual that no service fee should be charged as it is a government own organization. But despite the rules and regulations the board of director of the NEA have endorsed the service fee from years.

Most of us do not know this as the bill is very complicated with all the numbers and text but it is there draining public money. 

The Government of Nepal has been ignoring the fact that NEA has been illegally taking money from public in the name of the Service fee

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