RISKOO

Buy Nepali prod ucts and cut imports, says Prez   

                                                   KATHMANDU, MAR 07 - President Ram Baran Yadav on Thursday urged the people to use Nepal-made products and services in order to reduce the country’s ballooning imports. He added that Nepali products and services could penetrate the global market if the necessary initiatives were taken.

Inaugurating the third edition of the five-day Nepal International Trade Fair 2014 at Exhibition Hall, Bhrikuti Mandap on Thursday, he said that such fairs would be vital in promoting domestic products in the local as well as international markets.

“Until we spread awareness on the importance of consuming domestic products, we won’t be able to generate employment and drive economic growth. The country has immense potential to produce various products and services that are exportable, but we have not been able to promote them to the fullest,” he added.

The fair is being organised by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) in association with the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies.

Madhav Prasad Regmi, secretary of the ministry, underscored the need for import substitution as it was hurting the country’s growth. Nepal has been facing a huge trade deficit due to limited exportable products. In the six months of this fiscal year, the trade deficit touched Rs 279 billion, which is half of the country’s annual budget.  “We imported products worth Rs 334 billion while exports were only Rs 45 billion in the first six months of the current fiscal year,” he said. Regmi added that organizing fairs had become a strong medium for promoting and branding Nepali products. “Such fairs create a good platform for investors, manufactures, traders and buyers,” he said.  Suraj Vaidya, president of the FNCCI, said that the fair had been providing a common platform for exhibitors, importers and exporters. “We have been organising different types of international trade fairs for the last three years, which has been very beneficial in promoting domestic products in the international market,” he said. The FNCCI held different types of fair in four development regions and 42 districts this year.

The five-day event contains 350 stalls from India, Bangladesh, China, Bhutan and Thailand along with Nepal showcasing a wide range of products and services. Kalyan Krishna Tamrakar, a coordinator of the fair, said that the fair would highlight 19 exportable products. Likewise, there is a separate pavilion of 50 stalls showcasing herbs and herbal products. The organizers have arranged “one district, one product” stalls at the fair.   

According to the FNCCI, it will be holding a three-day Gem and Jewellery show at the Hotel Yak & Yeti from Friday and a day seminar on herbal products. The organizer has expected 200,000 local and 1,500 international visitors to attend the fair.

 

Samsung’s Google Glass rival might turn your whole hand into a keyboard

          We’ve known for a while now that Samsung has been working on its own wearable computer headset that will be similar in a lot of ways to Google Glass. However one thing we’ve wondered is how Samsung plans to differentiate its own digital headset from Google’s, and now thanks to a patent filing uncovered by          

        Galaxy Club,

 we might have a better idea.

It seems that Samsung has been toying around with the idea of using its headset to impose an augmented reality keyboard onto users’ hands that will supposedly help them more easily write out messages. A concept drawing in the patent filing shows that Samsung has figured out a way to line up all 26 letters of the alphabet onto two human hands while leaving thumbs free to type away at the augmented reality keyboard.

While this is a very cool concept, it’s also one that seems wildly impractical. People wearing Glass already draw lots of attention to themselves and they’d only draw even more if they walked around holding their hands up to their faces and pecking away at virtual keyboards that only they can see. Also, in an age where voice commands have become so prevalent, we really have to wonder why someone would forsake them in favor of an augmented reality keyboard.

In its patent filing, Samsung says that voice commands face limitations due to “low recognition accuracy and noisy environment vulnerability” while also pointing out that voice commands make your messages vulnerable to eavesdroppers. Nonetheless, the chances that Samsung’s augmented reality keyboard will catch on as an alternative seem pretty slim, especially when you consider how awkward it would be to type with your thumbs while trying to hold your hands in one set position to make sure the keys stay in their projected areas.

ICC confirms squads for T20 World Cup

        Dubai: International Cricket Council today confirmed 15 of the 16 men`s squads for next month`s ICC World Twenty20 to be held in Bangladesh.

The cut-off date for the submission of 15-player squads was February 16 and all but Zimbabwe submitted their squads to the ICC before the deadline. Zimbabwe requested an extension, which was accepted by the ICC.

Bangladesh will square off against Afghanistan in the tournament opener in Mirpur on March 16, while former champions India and Pakistan will go head to head in the first match of the Super 10 stage at the same venue on March 21.

The final will be played in Mirpur on April 6, while Chittagong and Sylhet are the other two venues that will be used for the tournament.

Defending champion West Indies has retained 12 players who were members of the side that defeated Sri Lanka by 36 runs in Colombo to win the 2012 event. The three newcomers are Sheldon Cottrell, Andre Fletcher and Krishmar Santokie, who have replaced the experienced but injured trio of Darren Bravo, Fidel Edwards and Kieron Pollard.

India has retained three players who were members of the side that defeated Pakistan by five runs in the inaugural event in Johannesburg in 2007. These players are captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh. However, six players from the 2012 event will return to Bangladesh as India aims to reclaim the title, namely Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj.

Pakistan`s side includes seven players from the squad that lifted the trophy at Lord`s in 2009. These players are Ahmed Shahzad, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Sohail Tanvir and Umar Gul.

England has retained Stuart Broad, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Michael Lumb, Eoin Morgan, James Tredwell and Luke Wright from the side that defeated Australia by seven wickets in Barbados in 2010.

Host Bangladesh could be the most experienced side going into the tournament as it includes as many as six players who also played in the first event in South Africa almost seven years ago. These players are captain Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal.

George Bailey will lead Australia`s charge to become only the third country after India and the West Indies to win all the three ICC majors. The squad includes eight players from the 2012 tournament (Bailey, Daniel Christian, Brad Hogg, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Shane Watson and Cameron White), while five of them (Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Warner, Watson and White) featured in the final in Barbados in 2010.

Ireland has retained 13 players from the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2013, which it won after defeating Afghanistan by 68 runs at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The only two changes are Andrew Poynter and Craig Young replacing John Mooney and the retired Trent Johnston.

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Varun Aaron, Stuart Binny, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Suresh Raina, Mohammad Shami, Mohit Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh

Afghanistan: Mohammad Nabi (captain), Asghar Stanikzai, Dawlat Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Hamid Hassan, Hamza Hotak, Karim Sadiq, Mirwais Ashraf, Najibullah Taraki, Najibullah Zadran, Nawroz Mangal, Samiullah Shenwari, Mohammad Shahzad, Shafiqullah, Shapoor Zadran

Australia: George Bailey (captain), Daniel Christian, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Brad Haddin, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, Mitchell Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, James Muirhead, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Shane Watson, Cameron White

Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Al-Amin Hossain, Anamul Haque, Farhad Reza, Mahmudullah, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Abdur Razzak, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shamsur Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Sohag Gazi, Tamim Iqbal

England: Stuart Broad (captain), Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Michael Lumb, Moeen Ali, Eoin Morgan, Stephen Parry, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Tredwell, Luke Wright

Hong Kong: Jamie Atkinson (captain), Aizaz Khan, Mark Chapman, Ehsan Nawaz, Haseeb Amjad, Babar Hayat, Irfan Ahmed, Roy Lamsam, Munir Dar, Nadeem Ahmed, Najeeb Amar, Nizakat Khan, Kinchit Shah, Tanwir Afzal, Waqas Barkat

Ireland: William Porterfield (captain), Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Andy McBrine, Tim Murtagh, Kevin O`Brien, Niall O`Brien, Andrew Poynter, James Shannon, Max Sorensen, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson, Craig Young.

Nepal: Paras Khadka (captain), Pradeep Airee, Prithu Baskota, Binod Bhandari, Naresh Budhaayer, Shakti Gauchan, Sompal Kami, Avinash Karn, Subash Khakurel, Gyanendra Malla, Jitendra Mukhiya, Sagar Pun, Basant Regmi, Sharad Vesawkar, Rahul Vishwakarma. 

Netherlands: Peter Borren (captain), Wesley Barresi, Logan van Beek, Mudassar Bukhari, Ben Cooper, Tim Gruijters, Timm van der Gugten, Tom Heggelman, Vivian Kingma, Ahsan Malik, Stephan Myburgh, Michael Rippon, Pieter Seelaar, Michael Swart, Eric Szwarczynski

New Zealand: Brendon McCullum (captain), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Anton Devcich, Martin Guptill, Ronnie Hira, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Colin Munro, James Neesham, Luke Ronchi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez (captain), Ahmed Shehzad, Bilawal Bhatti, Junaid Khan, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Sharjeel Khan, Shoaib Malik, Sohaib Maqsood, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Talha, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Zulfiqar Babar

South Africa: Francois du Plessis (captain), Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, Farhaan Behardien, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Beuran Hendricks, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (captain), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Rangana Herath, Mahela Jayawardena, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Seekkuge Prasanna, Kumar Sangakkara, Sachithra Senanayake, Lahiru Thirimanne

United Arab Emirates: Khurram Khan (captain), Ahmed Raza, Amjad Ali, Amjad Javed, Asadullah Shareef, Faizan Asif, Kamran Shahzad, Manjula Guruge, Moaaz Qazi, Rohan Mustafa, Swapnil Patil, Rohit Singh, Shadeep Silva, Shaiman Anwar, Vikrant Shetty

West Indies: Darren Sammy (captain), Samuel Badree, Dwayne Bravo, Johnson Charles, Sheldon Cottrell, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Krishmar Santokie, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith.

PTI

Looking at India’s Asia Cup from the realm of ICC World T20 2014

                                    Asia Cup 2014 was just a prelude to the ICC World T20 2014 starting in less than 10 days time.Abhijit Banare looks at the performance of India in the Asia Cup and what do the results mean for their ICC World T20 campaign.

Batsmen still rule

The batsmen are always in the limelight, irrespective of the results. Rohit Sharma looks like the old Rohit struggling to play fluently. So much so that it forced Virat Kohli to put Ajinkya Rahane up the batting order. Barring Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Rahane, none of the others were impressive in Asia Cup 2014. However, in ICC World T20 2014 , it’s unlikely; the Indians would risk Rahane as the opener. There’s isn’t an opening for Rahane in the middle-order as well. The only difference is that the finisher MS Dhoni comes back into the team to slot into the middle-order and Ravindra Jadeja has been batting well too. So, India’s fortunes in ICC World T20 2014 will revolve around Kohli and Dhoni.

Nepal Business Forum gets Howard Awa

 The Nepal Business Forum (NBF), Nepal’s first national platform for public-private dialogue, received a global award for outstanding achievement at the seventh International Symposium on Public-Private Dialogue, held on March 3-6 in Frankfurt, Germany.

The NBF was given the global Howard Award for Outstanding Achievement in Public-Private Dialogue (PPD). The selection was made between 145 participants representing 33 public-private dialogue forums across the world. Morocco and Kenya won special category award s. This was the inaugural Howard Award and was presented to the Nepali delegation by Marita Brommelmeier, Director of Economic Development and Employment Division, GIZ on behalf of the Global Community of Practice for PPD. The Nepali delegation was led by Industry Secretary Krishna Gyawali.

Gyawali presented the Nepal experience, and also spoke as a panellist in a plenary session on sustainability of the PPD process in a country like Nepal, and highlighted the need for engaging country partners including the government, private sector, civil society and external development partners including experts and facilitators in cultivating, continuously nurturing and institutionalizing the PPD process on a sustainable basis to produce visible and measurable results for the economic development of the country.

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Nepal lose to the Netherlands

Nepal made a poor start to their ICC World Twenty-20 preparations losing to the Netherlands by 44 runs in their first practice match at the ICC GCA Ground in Dubai on Thursday.

After put into bat by Nepal captain Paras Khadka, the Netherlands posted a massive 195-6 thanks to some outstanding hitting by Khadka’s Dutch counterpart Peter Borren. Borren smashed 62 of just 29 deliveries. In reply, Nepal failed to cope up with the soaring required run rate and eventually finished at 151-7.

Medium pacer Sompal Kami struck early for Nepal dismissing Wesley Barresi (6) in the third over. A second-wicket stand of 88 runs between captain Borren and Ben Cooper propelled the Netherlands to 99 in 11 overs with Borren smashing six sixes in his 29-ball innings. Borren eventually fell leg-before wicket (LBW) to spinner Basanta Regmi but Cooper continued to flay Nepali bowlers hitting five fours and three sixes in his 65-run knock.  

Cooper holed out to Jitendra Mukhiya but a quickfire 18-ball 31 from Mudassar Bukhari and 18 not out from Tim Gruters ensured the Dutch post a daunting total in 20 overs. Kami claimed 2-24 while Mukhiya grabbed 2-33.

Nepal made poor start to their run-chase losing opener Subash Khakurel (2), caught by Bukhari off Logan Van Beek in the second over. Nepal’s problems mounted when Khakurel’s opening partner Sagar Pun (15) returned to pavilion, dismissed by Pieter Seelar. Skipper Khadka and Gyanendra Malla steadied the Nepali ship taking the total to 80 after 10 overs but Nepal stumbled to 97-4 in 13 overs with the quick dismissals of both Malla and Khadka.

Khadka was looking dangerous on 31, smashing three fours and a six, when Van Beek got rid of Nepal skipper and Van Beek caught Malla (39) off Ahsan Malik. And when Van Beek effected a run out of Sharad Vesawkar (13) in 16th over, Nepal were virtually out of the contest.

Bukhari trapped Pradeep Airee LBW for a duck while Regmi was caught & bowled by Bukhari to as Netherlands restricted Nepal to 151-7. Van Beek returned with figures of of 2-19 and Bukhari took 2-23 for the Netherlands.