NATIONAL 3 -(Spotlight Weekly)

Feather On The Cap

The leading company has one more good news

By A CORRESPONDENT

This may be a season of good news for the Khetan Group, a leading business and industrial house of the country. No sooner had it bagged the contract to operate cellular mobile services in the country with its Indian partner, Spice Cells Ltd, its manufacturing company, Gorkha Brewery Pvt. Ltd, was awarded the prestigious "Carlsberg Golden Award 2000." The Carlsberg A/S, Denmark, that has its manufacturing units all over the world, awarded the prize to Gorkha Brewery "for its ability to maintain a high and uniform quality of beer in accordance with the strict quality standards" determined by the parent company. Earelier, the award, set up in 1995, had been awarded to breweries in Finland, Ireland, Cyprus and Malaysia.

Chairman of Gorkha Brewery, Mohan Gopal Khetan, received the award from Carlsberg A/S's CEO Flemming Lindelov amidst a function in Denmark last month. The Gorkha Brewery is jointly owend and managed by the Carlsberg with the Khetan Group. "Quality is a matter of top priority for us," said Rajendra Khetan, Vice Chairman of the Khetan Group. Carlsberg Quality Assurance overlooks the production process of each brewery, from malting to breweing and from fermenting to storage.

Industrialist M. K. Khetan (left) receving award : Recognition quality

According to Khetan, Gorkha Brewery holds more than 60 percent of the total beer sales in Nepal. The company is one of the highest corporate taxpayers in the country. Its products, Tuborg and Carlsberg beers, are quite popular among the Nepalis as well as the foreigners. The Company is the only brewery in Nepal equipped with a complete wastewater treatment plant. The company was awarded with the "Save the Environment Award" in 1995 for its environment-friendly operations.

The Company is also active in social fields. It organizes and sponsors different sports competitions and cultural events in different parts of the country. On Sunday, Chairman of Raj Parishad Standing Committee Dr. Keshar Jung Rayamajhi awarded "Tuborg Excellence Award" to top ten students in the SLC exams of this year amidst a ceremony.

TEA POLICY
Green Mission

The government brings out an ambitious policy to promote production and exports of tea

By A CORRESPONDENT

Tea lovers, be happy. After years long dilly-dallying, the government has finally unveiled the National Tea Policy 2000. The policy aims at increasing the tea production in the country by more than 500 percent in the next ten years. Talking to reporters last Thursday, Minister of State for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Baldev Sharma Majgaiya, said the targets could be met by increasing the area of tea cultivation and providing necessary support to the farmers." The government has plans to raise the tea production from 8.3 million kg at present to 46.1 million after one decade generating employment opportunities for nearly 140,000 people. Out of this targeted production, nearly 12.4 million kg of tea will be consumed in Nepal while the rest will be exported to markets abroad, officials said. The government will have to pool resources worth Rs two billion in order to meet the envisaged target of production, officials said. Nepal exported 838,000 kg of tea worth Rs 30 million in the year 1999/2000.

"It is a positive step," said Chhatra Giri, President of Nepal Tea Manufacturers Association. "We can meet nearly 80 percent domestic demand for tea but the main problem has been smuggling in of tea from India." Majgaiya said the government was considering raising taxes to imports of tea from India. According to Giri, Nepali farmers are quite attracted toward tea farming, prospects for exports are also good and there is no problem of financing. All we need is protection from illegal competition, said Giri.

Clarifiaction

In the story "The Road To Bangladesh" published last week, Bangladesh ambassador Cyril Sikder was quoted as saying, ''India commits glaring transgression against her own principle." To this, M.A.Kader Khan, counseller at the Bangladesh Embassy, has clarified that the ambassador meant that India has been kind enough to allow us the transit facility and the facility benefits India, Nepal and Bangladesh.

- Ed.