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One of the most popular international franchises, “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”, is making its debut on Nepali tele­vision, thanks to AP1 HD TV. At a press conference organized last week in Kathmandu, AP1 formally announced the Nepali version of the international franchise as “Ko Bancha Crorepati?”—to be aired on AP1 HD with the co-sponsorship of SRBD media.

The television game show, which is of British-origin and created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight, is one of the many international reality TV franchises AP1 is bringing to the Nepali market.

Participants will be selected on the basis of SMS and IVR. For each episode, ten participants will be selected who then will play the iconic “Fastest Finger First” to make it to the “Hot Seat” for the top prize of Rs 10 million.

The program, to be hosted by veteran Nepali actor Rajesh Hamal, also has a dedicated mobile app (QR codes above) where aspiring participants can practice for the show and win prizes in the process as well. APEX BUREAU  

Hotel Yak & Yeti celebrated the Chinese New Year, or China’s all-important Spring Festival, between February 15 and 17. According to the Chinese 12-year animal zodiac cycle, this is the Year of the Dog. Yak & Yeti was decked up for the Spring Festival and served special Chinese dishes in a three-day lunch and dinner buffet event at the Sunrise Restaurant.

The 'seven lucky dishes' served at the event are highly symbolic: Noodles sym­bolize happiness and longevity; dump­lings and spring rolls stand for wealth; tangyuan (sweet rice balls) are for family togetherness; tiangao (glutinous rice cake) for income or status; tangerines and oranges for fullness and wealth; and fish for increase in prosperity.

APEX BUREAU  

 Nepalese Young Entrepre­neurs’ Forum (NYEF) is set to host the sixth edition of the ‘Made in Nepal’ exhibition in the Capital from March 16.

Issuing a press statement last week, NYEF officials said that the three-day event aims to promote entrepreneurship and domestic goods and services. The event will display prod­ucts like garments, automo­biles, handicrafts, agriculture, leather, furniture, travel and tours, cottage industry, herbal products, fashion designing, music and movies.

With the slogan ‘Afno Bhanya Afnai Ho’, which is a repeat of last year’s edition, the idea, according to the organiz­ers, is to reinforce the percep­tion that Nepali products can also be on a par with interna­tional products.

Himalayan Bank Ltd (HBL), a leading commercial bank, has announced an attractive cash-back offer for its customers upon using a Visa card while shopping via an online portal or POS ter­minal within Nepal. HBL Visa cardholders will get the cash-back offer of up to 10 per cent when they use their Visa Debit, Visa Credit or Visa Prepaid cards, as per a press release.

According to the bank, a cus­tomer will get a five per cent monthly cash back across POS merchant terminals and 10 per cent monthly cash back on online shopping when they use their Visa Debit, Visa Credit and Visa Pre­paid cards within Nepal. Further, the customer’s account will be credited by equivalent cash at the end of the Nepali month.

Mahindra and Mahindra Limited has opened an authorized showroom in Fungling, the district head­quarters of Taplejung, through the company’s autho­rized distributor for Nepal, Agni Incorporated Pvt Ltd. Province 1 assembly members Bal Bahadur Samsohang and Hom Kumari Sanwa, and Country Director of Mahindra and Mahindra, Tapas Patan­ayak, jointly inaugurated the showroom at a function last week.

Currently, the showroom is displaying pick-up vans, jeeps, and tractors of the Mahindra Company. A vehi­cle repair shop has also been opened in Fungling to service Mahindra products.

Nepal Riders’ Meet is slowly estab­lishing itself as one of the sought after riding events in Nepal, wherein Royal Enfield riders bond over a weekend of pure motorcycling madness. With the recently concluded second NRM at Sunsari, Royal Enfield riders from Nepal and India got another opportunity to strengthen this biking camaraderie. The three-day event that started from Febru­ary 16th to 18th, saw 300+ Enfield Rid­ers, pumped up in a line of events and activities in a perfectly executed event.

 Text and photo by Gaurav Sunuwar

Nepalaya publication has released a five-volume compilation ‘Kabi Shiromani Rachanawali’ which includes all the published and unpublished literary works of Kabi Shiromani Lekhnath Paudel, on February 19, Paudel’s memorial day.

Who is who of Nepal’s literature attended the program held in the ‘R’ Shala of Nepalaya. Rama Sharma, General Secretary of Nepali Educa­tion Council, Prativa Pandey, the granddaughter of Shiromani Paudel and Professor Sanat Kumar Wasti, the book’s editor, jointly launched the book.

“I recall writer Jagdish Ghimire saying he wanted to see Baba’s works widely distributed, such that each and every Nepali family could get to read them,” said Pandey. “His desire, Professor Wasti’s enthusiasm and support from Lekhnath Founda­tion made this possible.”

The limited-edition set of five hardcover books is available for Rs 6,975. APEX BUREAU

The Center for Research and Sustainable Development Nepal (CREASION) last week conducted the Tree of the Year Nepal (TOYN) award ceremony and photo exhibition at Taragaon Museum, Hyatt Regency. Affiliated to Asian Tree of the Year awards initiated in Sri Lanka in 2016, the second edition of the annual TOYN saw a total of 30 participants, of whom Uddhav Dangal, Mohan Jaishi and Ashin Poudel won the first, second and third place respectively. The winners were selected by the judge panel of Dr Chudamani Joshi, Landscape Ecologist and special advisor to Embassy of Finland, Kath­mandu; Ranjit Acharya, CEO, Prisma Advertising; and Bikash Karki, Presi­dent, Photojournalist club.

TOYN is an initiation of Volun­teer for Change (VFC) program of CREASION, a non-profit, non-gov­ernmental organization. The pho­tographs entries were sent from different districts of Nepal along with their unique stories of trees which emphasized the importance of pro­tection and preservation of Nepali tree biodiversity.

TOYN is a photo competition open to every Nepali citizen. The main focus of this competition is on starting a conversation on the importance of protecting trees and preserving biodiversity.