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Renault Nepal announced the price of its all-new Kiger model and also started booking for the vehicle at its 15 outlets spread across the country. The starting price of Kiger is Rs 2.8 million

Renault Kiger will be offered in 1.0L version in both MT and AMT options. Customers can choose from four available trims–RXE, RXL, RXT & RXZ. Each version is built considering the customers’ requirements and needs in the segment and has been attractively priced across all trims, the company said in a statement.

On the accessories and personalization front, customers can choose from a smart range of specially curated accessory packs which take Kiger to the next level. There are five exclusive personalization packs: SUV, Attractive, Essential, Smart, Smart Plus, including tech accessories such as wireless charger and air purifier.

The outgoing Oli government has given yet another exemption to Smart Telecom, which owes the government over Rs 6 billion in taxes. Smart Telecom is yet to clear its frequency and license renewal fees. The last cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on July 12 gave Smart Telecom a six-month extension to clear its arrears.

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) had last year decided to cancel the license of Smart Telecom, which had failed to clear its dues even after repeated extensions of payment deadlines over the past four years. The Oli government had earlier given a deadline of February this year, which was then extended to July. Now, the deadline has been extended again to January 2022.

Smart Telecom had filed an application with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology on June 26, demanding yet another extension. A meeting of the Council of Ministers held on July 12 decided to extend the term by six months, also informing NTA about the decision on the same day.

The Cabinet decision also states that government’s prior approval will be mandatory for the sale of shares and assets of Smart Telecom.

According to the NTA payment plans, the company had to pay a frequency fee of Rs 598.86 million in the first installment, Rs 832.3 million in the second, Rs 774 million in the third, Rs 715.6 million in the fourth, and Rs 657.2 million in the fifth. Besides the set installments, Smart Telecom also has to pay another Rs 1.25 billion in license renewal fees.

French national Arnaud Cauchois has been appointed the new country director of Asian Development Bank (ADB) for Nepal.

Cauchois will lead ADB operations in the country and participate in policy dialogue with the government of Nepal and other development partners. He will also oversee the implementation of ADB's country partnership strategy for Nepal that focuses on the country's long-term development needs through improved infrastructure for private sector-led growth, improved access to devolved services, and environmental sustainability and resilience.

Cauchois has almost three decades of professional experience, including over 15 years with ADB. He joined ADB in 2005 as a rural development specialist and has since held numerous leading positions. Before this appointment, he served as principal water resources specialist for India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka and was posted in ADB's India resident mission.

Online education has taken the world by storm and opened countless doors for students.

An online learning platform, Udemy is a website with over 155,000 courses on subjects ranging from art and graphic design to public speaking and finance management. The teaching marketplace is full of video lessons you can buy at a reasonable price. As Udemy courses are behind a paywall, direct payment might be an issue for Nepali students. But Nepal Rastra Bank now allows ‘A’ and ‘B’ class commercial banks to provide prepaid dollar cards for online transactions. You can also reach out to various service providers on social media who can help you access online classes.

This week, ApEx brings to you three Udemy course recommendations each from three business and finance instructors teaching at various colleges in Kathmandu.

Amit Shrestha, lecturer of finance at Pokhara University and teacher of financial accounting and reporting at the British College

Financial Planning & Analysis: Building a Company’s Budget by 365 Careers 

With a rating of 4.6, this 3.5-hour course begins with the basics then builds upon topics of revenue forecasting, cost planning, working capital development, fixed assets roll-forward, and cash flow calculation. The course is self-paced and structured with 25 downloadable resources.

Mergers & Acquisitions – M&A, Valuation & Selling a Company by Jon Colley 

The course aims to improve the students’ understanding of corporate valuation, management buyout, negotiation, and term sheets, and get a peek into the sales process. This seven-hour corporate finance course comes with 73 downloadable resources.

Technical Analysis 102: Secrets of Trading Revealed by Luca Moschini

This four-hour course gives you an insight into the global stock market, market direction, and market cycles that affect price action. It also informs you about consolidation patterns and how frequency trades work.

Prakash Sapkota, teacher of finance at St. Xavier’s College, strategic management at Shanker Dev Campus and finance and entrepreneurship at K&K International College

The Complete Digital Marketing Course – 12 Courses in 1 by Rob Percival and Daragh Walsh

This 22.5-hour online course includes 351 lectures, 21 articles, and one downloadable resource and covers the fundamentals of digital marketing with live demonstrations and examples. With advice on increasing traffic on your preferred media and increasing followers, you can build an online business from scratch. The course has a 4.5 rating from more than half a million students. 

Financial Modeling for Startups & Small Businesses by Evan Kimbrell and Symon He

For entrepreneurs looking to learn about financial modeling for startups, this course helps you understand model user growth, expenses, revenue, and attrition and forecast cash needs for your business. Targeted at beginners, it has a defined framework of lessons with 80 lectures, two articles, 76 downloadable resources, and 11.5 hours of content. 

Ecommerce & Marketing Course: Agency, Marketer, Affiliate by Rad Group and Pouya Eti

This course covers basic subjects like analyzing traffic online, creating an interactive website and social media marketing to designing powerful funnels to drive sales, customer characteristics analysis, designing structures of eCommerce, and selling products online. With 51 hours of content, 362 lectures, 19 articles, and 15 downloadable resources, the course is easy to follow and understand even for beginners.

Ruchin Singh, ex-teacher of marketing at St. Xavier’s College

An Entire MBA in 1 Course by Chris Haroun

Considered one of the most comprehensive and stellar courses on the website with over 300,000 students, this course by Haroun consists of 82 lectures totaling around eight hours and simplifies the concepts behind business, accounting, and finance. Applauded for its interactive sessions, market analytics presentation, and for giving students insight into subjects like company financials, venture capital, fast networking, and the value of communication skills, this is one of the most coveted courses on the internet. 

Social Media Marketing – Complete Certificate Course by SO ME Academy

In the age of small business owners gracing our social media, this course talks about how you can use social media, not just for marketing, but also for PR and customer service by understanding the media’s foundations. Learn how to build a social media strategy, audit organizations and how content marketing can help you boost sales with 14 downloadable resources and 75 lectures. 

Microsoft Excel – From Beginner to Expert in 6 Hours

Many of us tend to underestimate the functions that Microsoft has made available for its users. With this course, you can begin with the fundamentals of Excel and then move on to the advanced features that only a few are aware of. With a Microsoft Certified Master Instructor with over 15 years of experience, you can learn how to create Excel project files, Excel templates, create passwords to protect your documents, harvest data from the web, and create online forms to gather data.