BUSINESS & ECONOMY

The address is Mt Everest Restaurant

From Subarna Chhetri, in Denver  

Denver, the state capital of Colorado (USA) is in so many ways similar to Kathmandu, and is surrounded by the snowy Rocky Mountains on the outer edge with its foot-hills forming the inner circle. Though the city is growing into a busy metropolis, yet unlike many big American cities, it posses very few sky hugging buildings.                                                      

Scores of Nepalese here had migrated, others were already holding “green cards” after much struggle while the remaining were students taking diverse subjects from film making to computer animation to becoming airline pilots. In the course of meeting many folks from back home, this scribe was pleasantly surprised to encounter Shyam and Shanti Shrestha who I knew as Jaycee members nearly two decades ago.

They came to America about a decade ago to try their luck. Today, after much struggle and hardships this enterprising couple seems fairly well established. Besides running a successful Nepali restaurant in downtown Denver, they also run a travel agency that “sells” Nepal. They also promote , encourage and host Nepali cultural groups to visit Denver. Recently they opened a Nepali gift shop near  their restaurant.

Mt. Everest Restaurant, which the couple has been running for about five years now, serves typical Nepali food (dal-bhat-takari and momos). The restaurant is located smack in the busy downtown surrounded by commercial complexes and convention centres. It does brisk business during weekdays. Already given a four -star rating by the concerned local authorities for its excellent cuisine the restaurant is unique. It is an all Nepali run eating joint from owner to cooks, helpers, waiters and waitresses to the person managing the cash counter. When the couple is busy, their two teenage daughters who are turning out to be an excellent cooks, fill in.

Jaycees is a worldwide organization aiming for self-development through community services. Its creed says, “services to humanity is the best work of life”. Shyam and Shanti have not forgotten the value of the creed. They have now started a non profit organization and named it Share Nepal Inc  which provides assistance to poor and needy Nepalese through free medical clinics and medicines. For this purpose they frequently organize American doctors trip to Nepal.

Presently Share Nepal is engaged in Phulbari  (the land of flowers) a small hill town east of Kathmandu; 3 hrs bus ride and 2 hrs walk from the capital.

Next time you are in Denver area the address to go is Mt Everest Restaurant, at Champa, Denver (Colorado) and form your own opinion about the couple’s success story.

RA in a fix to lease aircraft

By A Staff Reporter

Once more the National Flag carrier, Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation is in the news. And once more, like many times before, much hullabaloo is being created about the decision of the Corporation to lease an aircraft. There was even a report that said Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Bijay Kumar Gachhedar was not in talking terms with Assistant Minister Narayan Singh Pun.

Previously, the media had written a lot on how there were huge commission deals and kickback money whenever the Airline leased an aircraft. And in the past couple of years, RNAC has leased aircraft for its international flights many times. In fact, just recently, the top level management of the institution, that had been politically appointed by the ML leaders who were in power then, had siphoned  off a huge amount of money, and at the same time not been able to bring any plane!

This time a big fuss is being made in some quarters of the media, because both the government and also the management of the Corporation had announced some months back that it would do away with the system of leasing an aircraft and instead “lease-purchase a brand new aircraft”. But a volte-face was made and suddenly a tender notice appeared in different newspapers with RNAC asking for a Boeing 767 on damp lease. This started the present controversy.

But a top level official at RNAC when queried about this change in policy, explained that the Boeing Company in Seattle, USA, had informed the Corporation of its inability to provide an aircraft from its assembly line before May, 2001. “This meant we had to look for an alternative aircraft when the lease of the present China Southwest Airlines plane ended,” the official said. The lease of the present plane ends this March.

The official also explained that the process had just been started to lease the wide bodied Boeing 767, so there was no reason to make so much fuss. “Furthermore, we are trying to lease the aircraft in the most transparent way by calling for tenders,” he said.

A senior pilot expressed satisfaction at the present move of the management. “The decision makers have done well by insisting that we ourselves will be flying the leased aircraft, as this will prepare us to take over the new Boeing when it will arrive sometime next year,” he said. On previous occasions, crew was also provided by the company that leased the plane.

There is no doubt that without one additional aircraft, RNAC cannot conduct its international flights. And in the wake of the hijack of the Indian Airlines plane, there is a vital need for RNAC to take on additional flights and at the same time improve its image as a reliable international carrier. This it cannot do unless it has enough aircraft.

The present management led by technocrat Bharat B. Karki, who has had successful innings at institutions like APROS and Agriculture Inputs Corporation, is doing quite well, said a pilot who is also involved in the administration side of the Corporation. “At present the institution has been able to pay off millions of rupees in outstanding debts”, he informed.