BUTWAL, March 18: A total of 23 smart toilets are being constructed along a six-lane road in Shankarnagar, Rupandehi. Shankarnagar Drinking Water and Consumers Cleanliness Institution is building an ultra-modern smart toilet system for the first time in Nepal. The toilets are being built on the space available between the main lane and the service lanes that were initially allocated for building a flower bed. However, considering the pedestrians' needs, the toilets are being built on both sides of the road next to the service lanes.

“Innovation not necessarily comprises a scientific breakthrough but seeks the immediacy of needs to be acknowledged,” asserts Rabindra Mohan Sapkota, 43, who is the chairman of Shikhar Biotech established in 2000. In conversation with Republica’s Sonam Lama, he shares some of his insights on initiating the first biotechnological company in Nepal, followed by its different setbacks.