EARTHQUAKE JOLTS EAST NEPAL

EARTHQUAKE HITS EAST NEPAL

Kathmandu, 15 Feb.: Two mild quakes measuring 4.5 on the
Richter scale jolted Taplejung in the East bordering Sikkim Tuesday night at 7.26 and 7.33, National Seismological Centre, said.
The
The epicenter was on the border between Panchthar and
Taplejung districts 46 kilometers from the Taplejung district
headquarters.
East Nepal was hit hardest by an earthquake ion 2011.
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NEPAL IN GROUP D ON NEW AFC FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT
Kathmandu, 15 Feb.: Nepal is in Group D in results of a draw at the Asian Football Confederation Cup (AFC) Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur
Jordan, Uzbekistan, Yemen and Bangladesh are in the AFC U-22 Asian Cup
Qualifiers Group being played for the first time
The tournament will be held from 23 June to 3 July 2012.
later this year in
Forty-one teams are participating.
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BIPPA AGREEMENT WITH 5 MORE COUNTRIES
Kathmandu, 15 Feb.: The government has initiated preparations for signing the Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement (BIPPA) with five countries, including China and Qatar, as per its commitment in the ‘Immediate Action Plan on Economic Development and Prosperity, The Kathmandu Post reports’.
Industry Minister Anil Kumar Jha said here on Tuesday that the government has responded to the BIPPA proposals put forth by China and Qatar. “Besides these two countries, the government will also sign BIPPA with other three countries,”
said the minister. “We are yet to identify other three countries.”
The government, thro-ugh the action plan, had announced signing BIPPA and Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement with five countries from the SAARC and other developed countries. Attempts had been made to the sign the agreement with China during the recent visit of Premier Wen Jiabao, but it could not materialise due inadequate homework.
Nepal has so far signed the deal with six countries, including India, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Mauritius and Finland. According to Jha, his ministry has prepared a draft BIPPA and has been sent to other ministries for their opinion. “After giving final touches to the draft, we will send it to interested countries.”
According to the minister, priority will be given to the countries that are economically important to Nepal and from where foreign investment could be attracted. So far, investment from the countries, with which Nepal has signed the agreement, has been nominal, except for India. “This is the first time that the government is taking initiative for signing BIPPA,” said Jha. “Earlier, we used to respond to the drafts sent by other countries.”
BIPPA is an assurance to foreign investors that the signatory would protect their investments.
In its action plan, the government has stated that the country’s economic development lagged behind because of its failure to attract foreign direct investment in physical infrastructure development, export oriented industries, hydropower, tourism infrastructure and other potential areas. Considering this fact, the government sought to sign BIPPA with some friendly countries.
“As promised in the action plan, we will work to complete the signing of the agreement with five countries within this fiscal year.”
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DISTRESS SALE BY REALTY OWNERS, DEVELOPERS

Kathmandu, 15 Feb.: Realty owners and developers have been selling off their assets at distress , The Kathmandu Post reports.
value under pressure from banks and financial institutions to repay their loans.
Vibor Properties, a subsidiary of Vibor Bikas Bank, recently sold the Rabi Bhawan Boutique Hotel and Mansion, a property spread over 45 ropanis, to Surya Housing for Rs 1.23 billion.
Senior officials of Vibor Properties said they lost Rs 150 million in the deal.
According to Vibor, it has spent Rs 1.38 billion on developing the property with Rs 800 billion as debt financing from banks, Rs 460 million as equity financing and Rs 120 million as interest capitalization. A consortium of 10 commercial banks led by Siddhartha Bank had provided Rs 800 million to Vibor Properties to develop the property in August 2009.
With Vibor Properties struggling to pay the interest since mid-July 2011, the consortium of banks asked it to pay back the loan by selling off the property at distress value. According to Vibor sources, the company even tried to bring new investors including a number of foreign financiers to develop the property, but it was unsuccessful.
One of the prospective investors was a Hong Kong-based investment company which showed willingness to invest US$ 25 million to develop the property but later pulled back. Another company from Bangladesh had also showed interest, but the deal failed to take off, said Vibor sources. Vibor officials complained that the banks unilaterally increased the interest rate to 16.5 percent while the loan deal had stated 12 percent. “Our request to the consortium banks to restructure the loan was ignored and we were forced to sell it.”
Vibor said the banks even threatened to publish the names of the owners in the papers and auction off the property if they didn’t repay the loan soon.
“The banks behaved in the way of traditional money lenders, and we had no option but to sell the property at a loss,” said the source. “Vibor Properties and other portfolio partners owning the property lost Rs 150 million while selling the property at the aforementioned price.”
Meanwhile, the bankers said that they had no option but to push Vibor Properties to repay the loan. “We know realty developers are having a difficult time, but we have our own problems too,” said one of the bankers in the consortium. “Selling the property at distress value was the best option at present; and developers should think about surviving, not about profit making.”
Sources said other banks in the consortium even pressurized their leader Siddhartha Bank to recover the loan. “In the future, the market will see more instances of selling at distress value,” said the banker.
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