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With the aim of bringing Nepal’s air safety record up to the inter­national standards the ‘Helicopter Society of Nepal’ has been estab­lished under the chairmanship of Capt Rameshwar Thapa.

Thapa, who is the chairman of Simrik Air, is among Nepal’s most reputed rescue pilots. Before his latest appointment, he had twice served as the chairman of the Airlines Operators Association of Nepal.

Besides Thapa, tourism entrepre­neur and chairman of Dynasty Air Ang Tshering Sherpa and executive chairman of Manang Air Satish Prad­han have been chosen as vice-chair­men of the working committee. Likewise, the CEO of Heli Everest Yograj Sharma has been chosen as general secretary while Janak Thapa, also of Heli Everest, serves as the treasurer.

Likewise, Chairman of Altitude Air Nimanuru Sherpa, manag­ing director of Prabhu Helicopter Binod Thakali, managing director of Simrik Air Capt Siddhartha Jung Gurung and Shree Air’s corpo­rate director Anil Manandar have been chosen as member of the working committee.

The non-profit hopes to help improve Nepal’s aviation record, as well as to build safe helipads and increase the availability of trained manpower in the field.

The society will work for the devel­opment of aviation and tourism under the government’s remit and take the initiative to highlight the importance of helicopter companies for the country.

Also, it will reward those who have made significant contribution for the development of helicopter transport in Nepal. Towards this goal, different kinds of programs will be being organized right across the country. Moreover, the society will try to disseminate right information about the recently reported problem of ‘fake rescues’.

OYO now has 500 rooms in Pokhara

 OYO, South Asia’s largest and one of the world’s fastest growing chain of hotels, has inau­gurated its 500th exclusive room in the city of Pokhara, with the induction in its ranks of the 42-room, OYO 151 Hotel Snowland. Dhan Bahadur Nepali, Honorable Speaker of Pokhara Metropolitan City, inaugurated the property, which will host hundreds of guests during the Pokhara Premier League, for which OYO is the official hospitality partner. The expansion is in line with OYO’s mission of creating beautiful living spaces, powered by technology at an affordable cost. Across Nepal, OYO has partnered with over 80 hotels offering 1,400+ OYO branded, comfortably furnished rooms, which include mod­ern amenities including complimentary breakfast, spotless linen, free WiFi, television and 24/7 sup­port with rates starting as low as Rs 999 per night and averaging at Rs 2,000 per night.

OPPOx Nepal Idol surprise with WildCard entry

OPPOxNe­pal Idol, the first-ever inter­national fran­chised televi­sion singing reality show in Nepal has entered its gala rounds. The show this week surprised its viewers with wild card entry announcement. The top-most voted contestant from the wild card entries will join the remaining nine contestants to complete the ‘Top 10’ lineup. In response to the overwhelming interest of its consumers, OPPO has also announced its “Passes to Nepal Idol-2” contest. The weekly contest run by OPPO via its official Facebook account will allow three contestants to win two passes each. To take part and win, all that OPPO fans need to do is to like and share the contest video with a specified hashtag.

The concept of destination wed­dings is comparably new to Nepal. Destination weddings may be understood as marriage cer­emonies held outside the “native area” of the marrying couple. Such weddings are typically held in places with top-notch natural and cultural landscapes. Nepal fits the bill per­fectly. And one firm is at the fore­front of destination weddings in the country: Silverlining Events. Established in April 2016, Silver­lining Events does many things but it is most popular for organizing and managing destination weddings. The company usually conducts around three destination weddings every season, each with an average of 200 to 300 people. (There are also a few other companies doing destination weddings in Nepal.)

According to Nishi Khetan, the managing director, the company does destination weddings in Nepal primarily for Indian clients.

In the first phase, the plane tickets and hotel rooms have to be arranged for the entire marriage party. Then the primary duty of the wedding organizers, of planning the actual wedding, starts. Khetan says the average cost of such destination wed­dings is between five to seven million rupees—excluding hotel and travel costs. “We have done weddings for up to 10 million rupees,” she says.

Organizing destination wed­dings is not easy. As Nepal has only recently started hosting destination weddings, logistics is a huge problem. “There are currently only two hotels—Soaltee Crowne Plaza and Hotel Hyatt—that are capable of accommodating all the demands of the marrying couples,” Khetan says.

A high level of transparency is part of the job. Whenever high sums are involved, the company arranges for a meeting between the destination hotels and the customers. “The goal is to ensure full customer satisfac­tion,” according to Khetan. “Our cus­tomers are extremely choosy and no detail, big or small, can be ignored.”

While only the financially secure people are her current clients, Khetan says there are ways to reduce cost. “Weddings can be done for any budget. It all depends on customer demands and expectations,” she says. “For instance you could focus on décor and hospitality while com­promising other attributes.”

According to Khetan, the company organizes half of the destination weddings in Nepal, and no two wed­dings are exactly alike. One reason couples opt for destination weddings is to maintain a level of reputation in their friend and family circles. “This is why we are under tremendous pressure not to make the slightest mistake,” Khetan says

New Bajaj showroom at Bharatpur

 HH Bajaj, one of the largest selling automo­biles brands in Nepal, opened a fully facilitated showroom called “NK Motors” in Bharatpur, Chit­wan this week. The new showroom is expected to make it easier the access the different models of Bajaj bikes, their spare parts and accessories. Celebrating the launch, the showroom is offering exciting prizes for the customers for a limited period of time.

Café Coffee Day to open Durbar Marg outlet

 After the successful launch and operation of its outlets in Jawal­akhel and Basantapur, the Indian café chain Café Coffee Day is set to open its third outlet, at Durmarmarg, with a revised menu, that includes new and local food, and a bigger place for hangout.

“The outlet will com­pete shoulder to shoul­der against established national and international food chains in the sophisticated neighborhood,” a press statement said. The chain, the biggest in India in terms of outlets, is owned by Coffee Day Global Limited. It had first entered Nepal in collaboration with Stavya Hospitality Pvt. With 1,682 outlets in India alone, Café Coffee Day also has extensions in other countries like Austria, Czech Republic, Egypt, Malaysia, and Nepal.

Colors “Chatta Cash Patta Luck” offer

Colors Appliances has announced its consumer scheme for Dashain and Tihar. The “Chatta Cash Patta Luck” scheme offers cash-back of up to Rs 14,090 on every purchase of a home appliance. In addition, one lucky customer will get a chance to win a 55” 4K smart TV through a bumper draw. The festive offer, which started on October 1, will be available for a limited period at all leading electron­ics and appliances stores in Nepal.

Marketed in Nepal by Universal Electrocom Pvt. Ltd, a part of the renowned business house Lucky Group, Colors offers wide range of household appli­ances at affordable prices.