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Is the period after the age of 50 the new golden age for men?
I think it was on the second day of the year 2009 when I entered my office in a grim mood, and remarked to the office secretary, “I feel worthless nowadays; there isn’t much to life, is there?”
The secretary, a pretty girl of about 20, replied sweetly, saccharine dripping out of her mouth, “Must be the mid-life crisis, sir.”
Model Project Development Agreement
Change in Law Protection under the Model Project Development Agreement in Nepal[1]
1. Project Development Agreement and Change in Law: Background
Project Development Agreement
Project Development Agreement (the “PDA”)[2] is considered as one of the most important project documents for any privately financed infrastructure projects. Privately financed infrastructure projects are generally developed on a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) modality and generally involve a concession period of 25 years to 35 years. Given the long term nature of such projects, the PDA is generally entered into between the Government or its relevant authority (the “Contracting Authority”) and private sector developer (the “Concessionaire” or the “Company”) as a very useful tool of allocating responsibilities, risks and rewards between the parties.
The PDA is essentially founded on certain economic and financial assumptions and calculations existing at the time of entering into the PDA. Any expected return of the Concessionaire from the project is based on such assumptions and any material change in such assumptions arising out of the factors beyond the reasonable control of the Concessionaire will adversely impact the financial model developed at the time of entering into the PDA.
Suing Owners of Vessels and Limited Liability
Under the Jones Act, an individual who suffers injuries while working at sea is entitled to sue the employer and owner of the vessel for injuries that are the result of negligence. The individual working at sea is called a “seaman” and individuals who are crew members to captains of vessels fall into this category. Even part-time seamen who spend 30 percent of their time at sea qualify under the act. There are multiple ways where vessel owners will try to limit their liability.
Seamen are required to prove negligence, albeit by a much lower standard than in traditional negligence cases, because there is a precedent in United States legal history that liability should be limited to those who are responsible for your injuries. Vessel owners who meet certain conditions can limit their liability for your injuries. If you have suffered an injury while working at sea, you should contact an experienced maritime accident attorney who will be able to evaluate your options and get you the compensation you deserve.
Ukraine Is a Huge Market for International Crewing Companies
Most of the sailors use the services of specialized personnel intermediary (“crewing”) agencies. Ukrainian market is interested in coming of fair and unbiased international crewing companies or opening by foreign persons agencies as alternative to domestic agencies. The market, at this moment, does not have much competition.
An important trend in the development of modern navigation is its internationalization, which is associated with intensive labor migration from developing countries. Marine labor market is a specific segment of the global labor market. According to the information of International Shipping Federation (ISF), the marine labor market covers more than 1,250,000 sailors, representing 150 countries. But 10 countries supply 51% of officers and 59% of ordinary fleet. The leaders are the Philippines (about 20% of all sailors), as well as Indonesia, China, Turkey, Russia and Ukraine.
Chambers Asia 2015 ranks firm as a leader in Nepal
KNK Associates has been ranked as a leading law firm in Nepal for General Business Law by Chambers Asia-Pacific 2015 Guide. Business law practice at the firm has been ranked “Band 1” alongside other law firm in the jurisdiciton.
The law firm has been described as “a highly regarded generalist practice with a foundation in dispute resolution and growing presence in the corporate law sephere.” The guide states “they [Neupane Law Associates] have excellient knowledge and practice experience of business law in Nepal and Nepali legal practiicalies.”
Senior Partner Balkrishna Neupane has been ranked as one of the leading lawyers in Nepal. It quotes sources stating that he is a “very good litigator and a top-tier representative for public interest litigation.” Partner and Head of Corporate Practice Anjan Neupane has also been ranked as one of the leading lawyers in Nepal. It quotes sources stating “he [Anjan] is a competent and highly professional lawyer who possess excellient knowledge of Nepali commercial and contractual law.”
Senior Partner Balkrishna Neupane says, “it is great news that the firm is recognized as a top-tier firm in Nepal, it encourages us further to continue good work for our clients,”
Chambers Asia-Pacific is published every year in February and cover 41 jurisdictions in Asia and Pacific regions. It is published by Chambers & Partners – your guide to the world’s best lawyers, from London, United Kingdom, which also publishes Chambers Global, Chambers UK and Chambers USA every year.
Nepal Foreign Investment Policy 2015: What’s hot and what’s not?
The Council of Ministers of Nepal approved the new Foreign Investment Policy 2015 revoking the previous Foreign Investment Policy 1991 in the first week of March 2015. The provisions of the policy not covered by the current Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act (FITTA) 1992 will be implemented by the new foreign investment act. Generally, policies are not legally binding until they have been specifically enacted in the law as an act or regulation but they do have a significant impact on how laws are drafted.
The earlier draft policy that was circulated by the Ministry of Industry was heavily criticized because it imposed sectorial capacity limits in foreign investment industries, for example allowing foreign investors to invest in projects with fixed capital of more than USD 200,000 and in case of hydropower projects, above 30MW only. These restrictions have been removed from the approved version.
The policy does not change the foreign investment regulatory regime in Nepal and in most aspects is consistent with the previous policy and regulatory regime. However, there are some new things to take note of, most of which are positive. However, overall, the policy could have achieved much more.