NEPAL ENTERS SEMIFINAL OFACC TWENTY20 CHAMPIONSHIP

Kathmandu, 8 Dec.: Nepal qualified for the semifinal of ACC Twenty20 Championship with a better run rate after UAE couldn’t limit Saudi Arabia to less than 98 runs ii a league match in the Nepali capital Thursday.
Nepal also qualified for the World Twenty-20 World Cup qualifiers in Sri Lanka in 2012 after a 53-run UAE victory..

Saudi Arabia was all out for 115 in 19.2 overs
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13 STUDENT UNIONS DEMAND FREE UNION ELECTINS
Kathmandu, 8 Dec, Thirteen student unions affiliated with different parties and organizations Thursday demanded elections in union campuses
The meeting said free student union elections hadn’t been conducted for three years.
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VIBOR BIKASH BANK PARTNERING WITH HONG KONG BANK

Kathamndu, 8 Dec.: Vibor Bikas Bank, which is struggling with liquidity crisis, is all set to bring in a foreign partner.
The bank has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Investment Channel Limited of Hong Kong which through its associate financial institutions will invest US$ 16 million to help pull it out of its long-running liquidity crisis.
Vibor’s chief executive officer Ajay Ghimire said the Hong Kong-based investment company would make the investment in the form of a bank guarantee which would be later converted into equity capital. According to Ghimire, the move is aimed at improving the bank’s financial health.
Under the arrangement, Vibor will get US$ 8 million each from Himalayan Bank and Nabil Bank with Investment Channel providing the bank guarantee. “Almost everything has been worked out, and the process of receiving the cash is about to be completed,” said Ghimire. “After the cash injection is completed, we will start the process of converting it into equity.”
Ghimire added that one of the associate financial institution of Investment Channel would be Vibor’s equity partner. Since Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has required that foreign institutions involved in banking and regulated by the central bank can only become partners with local banks and financial Institution (BFIs), one of Investment Channel’s associate banks will have to be Vibor’s equity partner instead of the investment company itself.
“After investing US$ 16 million, Investment Channel’s associate bank will hold 49 percent of the shares of Vibor,” said Ghimire. “Vibor will raise capital to maintain its stake at 51 percent.” Once that happens, its paid-up capital will amount to more than Rs 2 billion.
The entry of a foreign partner has become a must for Vibor as it continued to struggle under a cash crunch even after being rescued by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) last year. The central bank had provided Rs 500 million to the bank under the lender of the last resort policy. Vibor plunged into an acute liquidity crunch following huge withdrawals by individual and institutional depositors.
With depositor confidence in Vibor still shaky, the liquidity situation has not improved and it has been constantly low on cash. “We did try to find domestic partners, and we even asked domestic financial institutions for acquisition, but there were no takers,” said Ghimire.
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