SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, NOV 17 -
The National Tea and Coffee Development Board (NTCDB) has finally received approval for its coffee logo from the Department of Industry after a three-year effort. The board had applied for the trademark in 2007.
The “Himalayan Specialty, Nepal Coffee” logo will be launched on National Coffee Day on Wednesday. All private, state-owned and cooperative coffee producers will get the collective trademark confirming that the coffee has been produced and certified in Nepal. Coffee produced in any part of the country will be marketed under this single logo.
Coffee traders will have to pay the board a fee amounting to 1 percent of the value of the invoice to use the logo, said executive director Binay Kumar Mishra of the board.
Nepali coffee producers and traders have been encouraged by the issuance of the much-awaited logo as it would promote the country’s organic coffee among international buyers. Coffee traders said that the logo would help Nepal to exploit the full potential in the existing markets besides opening up new markets. Nepal’s coffee is currently exported to Japan, the US, Korea and Europe. The board is also confident of gaining membership to the International Coffee Organization (ICO) after the issuance of the trademark. “We only have observer status; now we can apply for full membership,” said Mishra.
The board has sent a proposal in this regard to the Agriculture Ministry which will be further discussed at the Finance Ministry and the Foreign Ministry. Membership in the ICO costs Rs. 700,000 annually.
“After joining the ICO, information about Nepal’s coffee will be included in its database which
will be accessible to traders from across the world,”
said Mishra.
He added that the board planned to apply for registration of the coffee logo in the international market and was seeking government support to do it.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Royal’s exit bursts TIA seams
SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, NOV 17 -
Given bad daylight along with the departure of Saudi Arabia’s Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal via Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), the country’s sole international airport, over 70 domestic flights were affected on Tuesday. One international flight -Silk Air- was diverted from the Nepali sky due to difficulty landing at TIA, its official said. Silk Air diverted to Lucknow.
On Tuesday, TIA opened at 10:30 am as opposed to its usual opening time of 6:30 am. TIA general manager Dinesh Shrestha said it was due to bad weather conditions. However, the departure of the Saudi Arabian prince also contributed to cancellations of domestic departures and holding up numbers of arrivals in the sky. Yeti Airline cancelled 10 flights while sister airline Tara Air cancelled 35 flights. Buddha Air’s 13 flights were affected while other airlines’ movements were cancelled, private air operators said. However, TIA permitted all the international flights.
Flight cancellation stranded large numbers of passengers. Domestic air operators said operating cost rose to massive level even as they had to face the wrath of passengers. “Passengers to Pokhara scheduled for 8:30 am departure today were flown at 4:10 pm,” the airlines source informed. Likewise, aircraft that were looking to land on TIA were also given ‘hold in air’ direction. Holding for more than 60 minutes forced numbers of aircraft to return when they started running out of fuel. “We were ordered to hold flights for more than 60 minutes in the air. Aircraft do not have adequate fuel to hold for long
periods. That compelled us to divert flights,” he added. “We are not prioritized as compared to the international flights,” said Pradip Shah, marketing manager of Yeti Airlines. Delay in domestic flights is not new for TIA. Passengers and aircraft face long delays in departure and arrivals when TIA sees VIP departures or arrivals.
A TIA source said they are betweeen the devil and deep sea due to limited infrastructure and resources. “If we prioritize domestic flights, we face international pressure concerning safety and security.” General manager Shrestha, however, pointed out that international airlines make their flights by instrument flight rules (IFR) system that allows pilots to fly through clouds. “International flights used IFR to operate.”
KATHMANDU, NOV 17 -
Given bad daylight along with the departure of Saudi Arabia’s Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal via Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), the country’s sole international airport, over 70 domestic flights were affected on Tuesday. One international flight -Silk Air- was diverted from the Nepali sky due to difficulty landing at TIA, its official said. Silk Air diverted to Lucknow.
On Tuesday, TIA opened at 10:30 am as opposed to its usual opening time of 6:30 am. TIA general manager Dinesh Shrestha said it was due to bad weather conditions. However, the departure of the Saudi Arabian prince also contributed to cancellations of domestic departures and holding up numbers of arrivals in the sky. Yeti Airline cancelled 10 flights while sister airline Tara Air cancelled 35 flights. Buddha Air’s 13 flights were affected while other airlines’ movements were cancelled, private air operators said. However, TIA permitted all the international flights.
Flight cancellation stranded large numbers of passengers. Domestic air operators said operating cost rose to massive level even as they had to face the wrath of passengers. “Passengers to Pokhara scheduled for 8:30 am departure today were flown at 4:10 pm,” the airlines source informed. Likewise, aircraft that were looking to land on TIA were also given ‘hold in air’ direction. Holding for more than 60 minutes forced numbers of aircraft to return when they started running out of fuel. “We were ordered to hold flights for more than 60 minutes in the air. Aircraft do not have adequate fuel to hold for long
periods. That compelled us to divert flights,” he added. “We are not prioritized as compared to the international flights,” said Pradip Shah, marketing manager of Yeti Airlines. Delay in domestic flights is not new for TIA. Passengers and aircraft face long delays in departure and arrivals when TIA sees VIP departures or arrivals.
A TIA source said they are betweeen the devil and deep sea due to limited infrastructure and resources. “If we prioritize domestic flights, we face international pressure concerning safety and security.” General manager Shrestha, however, pointed out that international airlines make their flights by instrument flight rules (IFR) system that allows pilots to fly through clouds. “International flights used IFR to operate.”
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