April 4: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has warned against the use of cryptocurrency stating that the use of such currency is financially…
April 4: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has warned against the use of cryptocurrency stating that the use of such currency is financially…
April 4: Private sector stakeholders have reached an agreement to develop an 'ecosystem' of companies related to manufacturing, agriculture and service…
April 4: A delegation of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) met with Vice President Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav on Monday to congratulate the newly-elected vice…
April 4: Newly appointed Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Shakti Bahadur Basnet has stated that increasing domestic consumption of electricity produced in the country is his main priority.…
April 4: The government on Monday formed a three-member high-level commission to resolve the issues of the usury…
April 4: A photo exhibition held on the occasion of the Seto Machhindranath Chariot Procession concluded on Saturday, April…
April 3: Nepal largely depends on technical human resources from foreign countries for the implementation of big…
April 3: The Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market, the largest and oldest fruit and vegetable market in the country, brings in vegetables, fruits, fish and spices from 19 districts of the country as well as from India and…
April 3: Bank deposits increased by Rs 10 billion on Friday, according to the latest report of Nepal Rasttra Bank (NRB) released on…
April 3: Unilever has collaborated with the Nepalese Army in the Mountain Cleanup Campaign…
April 3: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the newly-appointed Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat to improve the national economy.…
Contrary to investors’ expectations, the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index plunged 20 points to close at 1,888.55 points on the first trading day on Sunday. Over 3.7 million shares of the total 260 listed companies were traded at over Rs 1.20 billion. The sub-index of all groups landed in red on the first trading…
Nepal has been elected to the post of Vice-President of the Asia-Pacific Federation of UNESCO Clubs and Associations (AFUCA). Nepal was unanimously elected to the post in the 26th general session of the AFUCA held in Kazakhstan's capital city Almaty on…
April 2: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has said improving the crisis-ridden economy is his top priority and…
Around 100 thousand tourists visited Nepal in March in 2023. According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), 99, 426 visitors entered Nepal in…
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Since the investment is in foreign land, it might have adverse impact on remittance flow and create challenges in managing the foreign exchange reserves," reads the report.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report further states that prohibition on cryptocurrency is necessary as it has risks including destabilizing the overall economic balance, risk on financial stability, risk in terms of implementing the monetary policy and risks of fraud and tax evasion, among others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The central bank has imposed a ban on cryptocurrency as per the provision of Clause 12 of the Foreign Exchange (Regulation) Act, 2019 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">People supporting cryptocurrency take it as a form of currency. However, there is no sovereign nation issuing cryptocurrency as in the current monetary system. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NRB stated in the report that there are around 23,000 cryptocurrencies in use in the world at present and Bitcoin alone occupies 42 percent of its total market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NRB has been issuing public notice from time to time warning that transaction in cryptocurrency is illegal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"There is no guarantee or surety of any country or government in cryptocurrency, there is no any security and financial intermediary, and it has no other use except for the purpose of bookmaking. This virtual thing is not widely accepted but is issued and used by certain group for their vested interest," read the report. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NRB has described cryptocurrency as a digital matter that can be transacted as a currency issued by the private sector. Its transaction is illegal in various countries including in Nepal. This virtual currency is issued for carrying out works related to payments without any financial intermediary (central bank or monetary authority issuing currency). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Users connected to the network have themselves maintained accounts of the receipt and expenditure of cryptocurrency for carrying out its transaction. In the existing system, the central banks or financial institutions have been conducting this job. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">People carrying out transactions in cryptocurrency use 'blockchain' or 'distributed ledger' technology for book keeping. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Cryptocurrency is mainly obtained through mining and purchasing. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17187', 'image' => '20230404035329_Cryptoshutterstock_1434643079.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 15:52:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17451', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Stakeholders join hands to Develop 'Ecosystem' of 42 Companies', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: Private sector stakeholders have reached an agreement to develop an 'ecosystem' of companies related to manufacturing, agriculture and service sectors.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">April 4: Private sector stakeholders have reached an agreement to develop an 'ecosystem' of companies related to manufacturing, agriculture and service sectors. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The Federation of Nepal Cottage and Small Industries and Nepal Development Research Foundation have reached an understanding to this effect.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">These two institutions signed a memorandum of understanding to this end in Kathmandu on Sunday. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">As per the agreement, a team will visit various districts and discuss with the small and medium industrialists about their problems, market, human resources, production and other issues as part of their research, said Professor Doctor Navraj Khatiwada, chairperson of the research foundation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">He said that entrepreneurs will also be informed about the new technologies seen in the industry, value chain and industry promotion. The aim is to conduct a pilot project to develop the companies involved in these fields and make them successful enterprises. It has been agreed to select industries currently located in a certain geographical area to increase productivity by developing the ecosystem of entrepreneurs in the productive, agricultural and service sectors.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Shyam Prasad Giri, the former president of the Federation of Nepal Cottage and Small Industries, said that the industrial sector is in crisis in the current situation. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">While developing and promoting the business of entrepreneurs in manufacturing, agriculture, digital services and other sectors, both the sides will mobilize their expertise, resources and manpower. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Research and strategy will be conducted by the foundation. The agreement also mentions that discussions, lobbying and joint initiatives will be taken with all the three governments of the federal, state and local levels to get new projects or support in the ongoing projects.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17186', 'image' => '20230404025730_1680588951.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 14:56:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17450', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Chamber Discusses Economic Issue with Vice President Yadav', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: A delegation of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) met with Vice President Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav on Monday to congratulate the newly-elected vice president.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 4: A delegation of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) met with Vice President Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav on Monday to congratulate the newly-elected vice president. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the meeting, Vice President Yadav said that the current state of national economy is risky. He said that economic prosperity can only be achieved through a sustainable solution to problems such as lack of liquidity, high interest rates, inability to make capital expenditures on time, and unemployment. Yadav said, “It is important to find a long-term solution to the current problems in the economy.” He emphasized that there is a need for consistent cooperation between the government and the private sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the occasion, Vice President Yadav promised to draw the attention of the government agencies to the suggestions provided by the chamber. During the meeting, NCC President Rajendra Malla request for the vice president’s coordination for economic development and prosperity of the country. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Due to the lack of effective coordination between budget and monetary policy, the economy has not been able to pick up the expected momentum. The high interest rate has seriously affected entrepreneurs as well as the ordinary borrowers,” said Malla.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that economic activities could not return to normalcy due to the government’s inability to spend capital budget. Malla emphasized that there should be effective coordination in budget and monetary policy, saying that single digit interest rate should be maintained for economic prosperity and economy.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17185', 'image' => '20230404011215_1680563953.chamber.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 13:11:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17449', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Increasing Domestic Consumption of Electricity is Top Priority: Energy Minister', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: Newly appointed Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Shakti Bahadur Basnet has stated that increasing domestic consumption of electricity produced in the country is his main priority. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 4: Newly appointed Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Shakti Bahadur Basnet has stated that increasing domestic consumption of electricity produced in the country is his main priority. During a welcome program organized by Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) on Monday, Minister Basnet said that the consumption capacity will be increased by strengthening and expanding the infrastructure of transmission and distribution system in the areas where electricity is not available.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that he is aware of the problems associated with the use of forest areas and tree cutting for the construction of hydropower and transmission line projects. Basnet, who is also a former forest minister, said that he will actively work to prevent delays in the construction of projects due to forest and security issues. He said that NEA has set a positive standard in the country among the public institutions.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the program, Secretary of the Ministry of Energy, Resources and Irrigation, Dinesh Kumar Ghimire said that improvement and expansion of transmission and distribution system, construction of strategic large reservoir hydropower projects and the expansion of electricity services should be emphasized in order to increase electricity consumption internally. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kulman Ghising, executive director of the authority, while presenting a detailed description of the organization said that power management during the rainy season is the major challenge at present.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ghising said, “In order to increase the consumption within the country and to export the surplus electricity, it is seen that more than Rs 850 billion will be needed to implement the plans for the next five years, including the projects under construction for electricity generation, transmission and distribution. But the government resources are not enough for this. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The resources need to be managed by the government, authorities and donor agencies,” he said.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17184', 'image' => '20230404123328_1680564084.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 12:32:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17448', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Forms Three-Member High-Level Commission to Address the Issues of Loan Sharking Victims ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: The government on Monday formed a three-member high-level commission to resolve the issues of the usury victims. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 4: The government on Monday formed a three-member high-level commission to resolve the issues of the usury victims. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers constituted the commission led by former judge Gauri Bahadur Karki, informed Government Spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The other members of the commission include former Additional Inspector General of Nepal Police Uttam Raj Subedi and former Deputy Attorney General Ganesh Babu Aryal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The commission is given three months’ time and its central office will be in Janakpurdham of Madhesh Province. It has been given the terms of reference to submit a report to address the problems faced by the loan shark victims. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had vowed to form the high-level commission to bring the loan sharking culprits to justice. To pile pressure on the government, the victims of usury had travelled to Kathmandu by foot from different districts of Tarai. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, they held talks with the government team and presented nine points demands in the negotiation which were discussed in a clause-wise manner. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the discussion with the government talks team, the victims of loan sharking put forth demands such as the formation of a commission, resolution of the cases in the court and the cancellation of loan-paper made by the loan sharks. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In an effort to respond to the demands of the victims of illegal money lending, the government has already decided to amend the Criminal Code to criminalize the act of usury. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17183', 'image' => '20230404113011_KB_KTM-IMG_9898.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 11:29:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17447', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Photo Exhibition on the occasion of Seto Machchindranath's Chariot Procession', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: A photo exhibition held on the occasion of the Seto Machhindranath Chariot Procession concluded on Saturday, April 1.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 4: A photo exhibition held on the occasion of the Seto Machhindranath Chariot Procession concluded on Saturday, April 1.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The photo exhibition was organized by the National Forum of Photojournalist (NFPJ) on the occasion of the 25th silver jubilee from March 30 to April 1. The exhibition on the first day was organized at Ason, the main resting place of the chariot, at Hanumandhoka on the second day and at Lagan Tol on the third day with the collective coordination of NFPJ, Seto Machhindranath Rath Yatra Management Committee and Kathmandu Metropolitan City Ward no. 17, 21, 25, 27 and 28.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The special photo exhibition organized by NFPJ featured more than 50 photos taken by about 30 professional photojournalists and other photographers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Program coordinator Sunil Sharma informed that the main purpose of the exhibition was to inform about the pilgrimage of Seto Machhindranath which starts from Jamal and ends in Janbahal on the day of Chaitra Shukla Purnima (full moon day).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Seto Machhindranath is worshiped as the god of rain and prosperity. It is customary to worship Machhindranath as a deity who removes evil, saves from untimely death, unrest and insecurity. There is also a general belief that celebrating the Machchindranath Jatra brings in happiness, peace and prosperity to the family.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Personalities from different fields, tourists and former living goddess Matina Shakya and former Ganesh Sambeg Shakya attended the exhibition, adding more colors to the exhibition. Pradeep Raj Onta, president of NFPJ said that the exhibition, which was attended by about 500 spectators, provided more energy and determination to promote and spread the culture and fairs of Nepal in the future through photography.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17182', 'image' => '20230404110300_IMG20230331130050_1680443045.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 11:02:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17444', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ten Thousand Foreign Workers in Nepal, Highest from China ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Nepal largely depends on technical human resources from foreign countries for the implementation of big projects. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 3: Nepal largely depends on technical human resources from foreign countries for the implementation of big projects. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to an official data, skilled human resources required for various large projects here are hired from other countries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Department of Labour and Occupational Safety said workforce from around 100 countries in the world are currently engaged in various projects in Nepal and the Chinese make up the highest portion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, workers from the UK, the United States of America, South Korea, India and Japan are in a noticeable size. Since 2017, over 7,500 Chinese have taken labour permits, including 2594 renewals, for Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, 488 people from the United Kingdom, 332 from the US, 240 from South Korea, 230 from India, 190 from Japan, 116 from Australia, 113 from Sri Lanka, 98 from Germany, 79 from France and 56 from Bangladesh are working in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to department’s director general Krishna Prasad Gnawali, the Chinese-funded projects in Nepal are more in number thus the high number of Chinese workers in the country than those from other countries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Foreign workers are found deputed in technical posts like project engineering, tunnel and hydro engineering, maintenance engineering and mechanical engineering, according to the department. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There is a provision that work permit should be obtained from the department while hiring foreign citizens by employers. The department has been issuing work permit to foreign workers as per the Directives related to Work Permit Management of Foreign Citizens-2075. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Director General of the Department, Gnawali, said the work permit for foreign workers is being issued based on recommendation of the respective ministry and consent of the Home Ministry while the Department of Immigration provides visa to workers only after the department provides work permits. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The department provides one-year work permit for foreign workers. Work-permit is issued for skilled technicians for a maximum five years at different intervals while a maximum of three years for other foreign nationals at different intervals. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A foreign worker has to pay Rs 15,000 for six months and Rs 20,000 for more than six months, mentioned the Directives. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">--- </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17179', 'image' => '20230403073034_Seti-Nadi-HPP.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 19:29:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17441', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Vegetables from 19 Districts Arrive at Kalimati Market', 'sub_title' => '15 Percent of Vegetables and Fruits get Wasted while Reaching the Consumers', 'summary' => 'April 3: The Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market, the largest and oldest fruit and vegetable market in the country, brings in vegetables, fruits, fish and spices from 19 districts of the country as well as from India and China.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">April 3: The Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market, the largest and oldest fruit and vegetable market in the country, brings in vegetables, fruits, fish and spices from </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">19</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> districts of the country as well as from India and China.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">This market has been regularly bringing those items from Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Bara, Chitwan, Makwanpur, Dhading, Kavre, Dolakha, Gorkha, Navalparasi, Nuwakot, Parsa, Ramechhap, Sarlahi, Sindhuli, Sindhupalchok, Salyan, and Dang districts.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Makwanpur contributes the most to the fruits and vegetables brought to the market from within the country. The Kalimati market has a daily turnover of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">4</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">0 million. The data shows that </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">17.77</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of vegetables and fruits are imported from Makwanpur. In the same way, the lowest volume of fruits and vegetables arrive from Dang.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Binay Shrestha, information officer of Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee, said that apart from those districts, vegetables are also imported in small quantities from other districts. Since the quantity is very small, the committee does not keep separate data for this.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Last year alone, vegetables were brought to Kalimati from more than </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">50</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> districts including Kailali, Kanchanpur, Bardia and Surkhet. However, since that amount was very small, we have kept its data under other headings," said Shrestha. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, most of the vegetables are imported from the domestic market. Fish, potato and onion are imported in large quantities from India. Fruits, garlic and spices are imported from China.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Shrestha says Nepal has no choice but to rely on potatoes and onions from India. According to government data, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">289</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,000 metric tons of onions and </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> million metric tons of potatoes are produced in Nepal. But this does not meet the domestic demand, and therefore the country has to import potatoes and onions from India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">When any vegetable or fruit reaches Kathmandu from the source district where vegetables and fruits are produced, its price increases up to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">percent. Geeta Prasad Acharya, president of Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Traders Committee, said that when the product reaches the consumer, the price increases by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">80</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, five percent of fruits and vegetables rot by the time they reach the Kalimati market from various districts. When the retailer buys from Kalimati and delivers it to the consumer, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">8</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">10</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent is wasted. Adding to that the cost of transportation and labor costs, the price of fruits and vegetables can be much more expensive when they reach consumers than at the source. The cost of wasted fruits and vegetables will also be passed on to the consumer, so the price will be high.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the data provided by the Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee, the share of vegetables in the total turnover is the highest at </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">85.41</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent. Fruits contribute </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">8</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the total turnover, spice </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">5.05</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent, fish </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1.30</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent and other commodity turnover is 0.</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">51</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Kalimati market, which has been operating since the last three decades, sells more than </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">115</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> types of goods including vegetables, fruits, spices, and fish.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Between </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">700</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">900</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> tons of vegetables and fruits are brought into the Kalimati market every day. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17176', 'image' => '20230403031643_20180704013332_vege1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 15:15:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17440', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bank Deposits Increasing Continually since Mid-March', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Bank deposits increased by Rs 10 billion on Friday, according to the latest report of Nepal Rasttra Bank (NRB) released on Sunday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 3: Bank deposits increased by Rs 10 billion on Friday, according to the latest report of Nepal Rasttra Bank (NRB) released on Sunday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the central bank, the total deposits with banks stood at Rs 5415 billion as of March 30, which increased to Rs 5425 billion on March 31.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NRB spokesperson Dr. Gunakar Bhatta said that although the deposit collection in the banking system seems positive, such a huge difference in a single day is caused due to the deposit of large sum. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Lately, the rate of deposit is on a consistent rise. The spike in graph of Friday was caused by the deposit of large sum on the same day,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Earlier, on March 15, NRB released the data stating that the bank deposits decreased by Rs 11 billion in a single day. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bank deposits have been continuously rising since March 15.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to NRB, deposits with commercial banks stood at Rs 4773 billion as of mid-March, which reached Rs 4785 billion on March 31. Deposits of development banks and finance companies have remained stable. By mid-March, there were deposits of Rs 640 billion in development banks and finance companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the increase in deposits, banks have started providing small loan as wells. The total credit flow of banks was Rs 4515 billion as of last Thursday which reached Rs 4785 billion on Friday. During this period, the total loans of commercial banks increased by Rs 100 billion to Rs 4276 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Along with the increase in deposits, the credit-deposit ratio (CD ratio) of banks and financial institutions has decreased. On Thursday, the CD ratio of banks was 85.66 percent, but on Friday, it stood at 85.54 percent percent. By mid-March, the CD ratio of banks was 85.60 percent. According to the instructions of NRB, banks should maintain a CD ratio of less than 90 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the decline in CD ratio, there has been a general increase in the interbank interest rate. The interbank interest rate which was 7.01 percent on Thursday increased to 7.02 percent on Friday. Officials say that the possibility of increasing deposits will continue in the coming days. It is expected that the economy will improve as deposits in the banking system increase. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17175', 'image' => '20230403125235_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 12:51:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17439', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Unilever Collaborates with Nepalese Army for Mountain Clean-up Campaign', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Unilever has collaborated with the Nepalese Army in the Mountain Cleanup Campaign 2023.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">April 3: Unilever has collaborated with the Nepalese Army in the Mountain Cleanup Campaign 2023.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company has taken this initiative as a part of its commitment to make the world a ‘sustainable common habitat'. This is the third time the company is cooperating with the clean mountain campaign of the army. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company said that the campaign is being organised with the objective of reducing the impact of climate change by protecting and cleaning the mountains. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As part of this year's campaign, the target is to collect </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">35 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">tons of garbage while cleaning Mount Everest, Lhotse, Annapurna and and Baruntse. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Amlan Mukherjee, managing director of Unilever Nepal Limited, said, “We aim to set a new record this year in waste collection, segregation and recycling of accumulated waste through continued efforts.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17174', 'image' => '20230403121013_RS_KTM_RATL153003282023.JPG', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 12:09:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17438', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CNI urges Finance Minister to Revive Economy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the newly-appointed Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat to improve the national economy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 3: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the newly-appointed Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat to improve the national economy. The CNI delegation met Minister Mahat and discussed pressing issues of economy on Sunday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Minister Mahat was also handed over a 10-point memorandum on how the economy could be normalized. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">CNI President Vishnu Kumar Agrawal stressed the need for reducing interest rate, normalizing liquidity and encouraging investment for immediate improvement of economy. "These three issues must be prioritized at present. High morale is required to revive economic activities," Agrawal stressed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Moreover, he argued that the cash reserve ratio (CRR) needs to be reduced to three percent so as to decrease interest rate and manage liquidity and the bank rate also needs to be lowered. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the memorandum, the CNI further suggested the government to fix the interest gap of fixed and savings accounts at five percent maximum. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In response, Finance Minister Mahat said that the government was in need of assistance from the private sector to resolve the problems related to the economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The government is ready to identify the problems and find solution. For this, cooperation from the private sector is a must," Minister Mahat said. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17173', 'image' => '20230403110138_economic crisis.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 11:00:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17437', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Index Continues Its Downward Trend; All Groups Land in Red ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Contrary to investors’ expectations, the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index plunged 20 points to close at 1,888.55 points on the first trading day on Sunday. Over 3.7 million shares of the total 260 listed companies were traded at over Rs 1.20 billion. The sub-index of all groups landed in red on the first trading day. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">April 3: Contrary to investors’ expectations, the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index plunged 20 points to close at 1,888.55 points on the first trading day on Sunday. Over 3.7 million shares of the total 260 listed companies were traded at over Rs 1.20 billion. The sub-index of all groups landed in red on the first trading day. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The sub-index of the trading group registered the highest fall by 54.99 points and that of non-life insurance group by 47.24 points. <br /> The sub-index of banking group decreased by 23.89 points, while hotel and tourism groups fell by 18.91 points. Likewise, hydropower sub-index and life insurance group dropped by 41.68 points, and 36.4 points respectively. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The investment sub-index decreased by 0.74 points where as sub-index of production and processing group fell by 35.72 points, that of micro-finance group by 35.84 points, that of mutual fund group by 0.02 points and that of other groups by 10.97 points. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The share price of Kalinchok Darshan Limited posted the highest increase by 9.96 percent today. The highest fall in share price is that of Swabhiman Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd. It fell by 9. 61points. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">In the intraday trading, 189 listed companies lost their market value, while only 23 companies registered gains. The daily turnover rose to Rs 1.207 billion from Rs 899.53 million on Thursday.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Among individual companies, NIC Asia Bank, with transactions of its shares worth Rs 50.56 million, topped the list. Swabhimaan Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the topmost loser. Kalinchowk Darshan Limited gained the highest percent of its market price. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Share investors said that the NEPSE index had continued its downtrend trend as market could not build up confidence despite the appointment of Nepali Congress’ leader Prakash Sharan Mahat as Finance Minister. “Secondary market is waiting for policy-change from the government. Without policy change, NEPSE will not be able to reverse its trend immediately,” said a share investor. </span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17172', 'image' => '20230403064934_collage (53).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 06:46:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17436', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Elected Vice-President of Asia-Pacific UNESCO Clubs and Associations (AFUCA)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal has been elected to the post of Vice-President of the Asia-Pacific Federation of UNESCO Clubs and Associations (AFUCA). Nepal was unanimously elected to the post in the 26th general session of the AFUCA held in Kazakhstan's capital city Almaty on Sunday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">April 3: Nepal has been elected to the post of Vice-President of the Asia-Pacific Federation of UNESCO Clubs and Associations (AFUCA). Nepal was unanimously elected to the post in the 26th general session of the AFUCA held in Kazakhstan's capital city Almaty on Sunday. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Among the 12 countries of the Asia-Pacific region attending the general assembly, Nepal and Vietnam had registered their candidacies for the post and both countries were elected to the post unanimously.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"> Nepal's representative in the election was Anandaraj Tripathi, President of the National Federation of UNESCO Clubs and Mayor of Bhanu Municipality in Tanahu district. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Similarly, South Korea won the Chair of the AFUCA beating Philippines in the voting. South Korea garnered 10 votes while Philippines conceded defeat securing only 2 votes. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Sunjoo Lee was in the fray from South Korea. Upon the election to the Vice-President post, elated Tripathi pledged to work more actively to take forward movement of the UNESCO in the Asia-Pacific region. -----RSS </span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17171', 'image' => '20230403062007_collage (52).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 06:00:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17433', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Improving Crisis-Ridden Economy is my Priority: Finance Minister Mahat ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 2: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has said improving the crisis-ridden economy is his top priority and commitment. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 2: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has said improving the crisis-ridden economy is his top priority and commitment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The suggestions and collaboration of the private sector is needed for this," he reiterated in a meeting with a delegation of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) on Sunday. He added that he would bail out the crisis-ridden economy taking the private sector on board. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"I will not allow your self-confidence to sap; I will be constantly in dialogue with you. I have expected your full cooperation in fulfilling my resolve to improving the economy," Finance Minister Mahat said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, FNCCI president Shekhar Golchha, on behalf the entire private sector, extended best wishes to the newly-appointed finance minister, and also briefed him on the latest economic condition. He suggested injecting money in the market and reducing the interest rate through the joint initiative of the central bank and the government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The FNCCI urged the finance minister to ensure liquidity in the banking sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Golchha also suggested for increasing the government expenditure, saying it was too much sluggish. He stressed on expanding the capital expenditure which is merely around 25 percent now. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Revenue collection is low and it is difficult to cope with the current expenditure. Expenditure should be increased even by raising external loans for this," the FNCCI president said, reiterating that the loan mobilized in this manner should be used only for development expenditure. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-02', 'modified' => '2023-04-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17168', 'image' => '20230402035731_1680390939.prakash sharan mahat.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-02 15:56:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17432', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Around 100000 Foreign Tourists Visit Nepal in March', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Around 100 thousand tourists visited Nepal in March in 2023. According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), 99, 426 visitors entered Nepal in March.', 'content' => '<p><br /> <span style="font-size:18px">April 2: Around 100 thousand tourists visited Nepal in March in 2023. According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), 99, 426 visitors entered Nepal in March.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Of the total visitors, 33,454 were from the SAARC nations, 15, 643 from other Asian nations, 23, 265 from the Europe and 3,958 arrived from the countries of the Oceania region. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Similarly, the nation welcomed 1,707 from Canada, 9557 from the United States of America and 10,375 from the Middle-East. The highest number of tourists had arrived from India and they make-up 25,911 and this figure was 15,013 in the corresponding period in 2022. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Similarly, the tourist arrivals from the US in March were almost a double compared to the review period last year.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">In 2022, 4,896 tourists from the US had visited Nepal. The high tourist flows were from India, the US, the UK, Germany and Sri Lanka. The data show that Nepal's tourism industry is on the path of recovery post-COVID-19 pandemic. ---RSS </span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-02', 'modified' => '2023-04-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17167', 'image' => '20230402035519_collage - 2023-04-02T155256.954.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-02 15:53:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17452', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Unveils Cryptocurrency Risk Assessment Report ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has warned against the use of cryptocurrency stating that the use of such currency is financially risky.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 4: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has warned against the use of cryptocurrency stating that the use of such currency is financially risky.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Unveiling the Cryptocurrency Risk Assessment Report on Tuesday, the central bank made it clear that the existing laws of Nepal has banned transactions involving cryptocurrency. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"It entails risks as investment in cryptocurrency results in capital flight. Since the investment is in foreign land, it might have adverse impact on remittance flow and create challenges in managing the foreign exchange reserves," reads the report.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report further states that prohibition on cryptocurrency is necessary as it has risks including destabilizing the overall economic balance, risk on financial stability, risk in terms of implementing the monetary policy and risks of fraud and tax evasion, among others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The central bank has imposed a ban on cryptocurrency as per the provision of Clause 12 of the Foreign Exchange (Regulation) Act, 2019 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">People supporting cryptocurrency take it as a form of currency. However, there is no sovereign nation issuing cryptocurrency as in the current monetary system. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NRB stated in the report that there are around 23,000 cryptocurrencies in use in the world at present and Bitcoin alone occupies 42 percent of its total market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NRB has been issuing public notice from time to time warning that transaction in cryptocurrency is illegal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"There is no guarantee or surety of any country or government in cryptocurrency, there is no any security and financial intermediary, and it has no other use except for the purpose of bookmaking. This virtual thing is not widely accepted but is issued and used by certain group for their vested interest," read the report. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NRB has described cryptocurrency as a digital matter that can be transacted as a currency issued by the private sector. Its transaction is illegal in various countries including in Nepal. This virtual currency is issued for carrying out works related to payments without any financial intermediary (central bank or monetary authority issuing currency). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Users connected to the network have themselves maintained accounts of the receipt and expenditure of cryptocurrency for carrying out its transaction. In the existing system, the central banks or financial institutions have been conducting this job. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">People carrying out transactions in cryptocurrency use 'blockchain' or 'distributed ledger' technology for book keeping. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Cryptocurrency is mainly obtained through mining and purchasing. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17187', 'image' => '20230404035329_Cryptoshutterstock_1434643079.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 15:52:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17451', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Stakeholders join hands to Develop 'Ecosystem' of 42 Companies', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: Private sector stakeholders have reached an agreement to develop an 'ecosystem' of companies related to manufacturing, agriculture and service sectors.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">April 4: Private sector stakeholders have reached an agreement to develop an 'ecosystem' of companies related to manufacturing, agriculture and service sectors. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The Federation of Nepal Cottage and Small Industries and Nepal Development Research Foundation have reached an understanding to this effect.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">These two institutions signed a memorandum of understanding to this end in Kathmandu on Sunday. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">As per the agreement, a team will visit various districts and discuss with the small and medium industrialists about their problems, market, human resources, production and other issues as part of their research, said Professor Doctor Navraj Khatiwada, chairperson of the research foundation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">He said that entrepreneurs will also be informed about the new technologies seen in the industry, value chain and industry promotion. The aim is to conduct a pilot project to develop the companies involved in these fields and make them successful enterprises. It has been agreed to select industries currently located in a certain geographical area to increase productivity by developing the ecosystem of entrepreneurs in the productive, agricultural and service sectors.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Shyam Prasad Giri, the former president of the Federation of Nepal Cottage and Small Industries, said that the industrial sector is in crisis in the current situation. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">While developing and promoting the business of entrepreneurs in manufacturing, agriculture, digital services and other sectors, both the sides will mobilize their expertise, resources and manpower. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Research and strategy will be conducted by the foundation. The agreement also mentions that discussions, lobbying and joint initiatives will be taken with all the three governments of the federal, state and local levels to get new projects or support in the ongoing projects.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17186', 'image' => '20230404025730_1680588951.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 14:56:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17450', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Chamber Discusses Economic Issue with Vice President Yadav', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: A delegation of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) met with Vice President Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav on Monday to congratulate the newly-elected vice president.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 4: A delegation of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) met with Vice President Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav on Monday to congratulate the newly-elected vice president. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the meeting, Vice President Yadav said that the current state of national economy is risky. He said that economic prosperity can only be achieved through a sustainable solution to problems such as lack of liquidity, high interest rates, inability to make capital expenditures on time, and unemployment. Yadav said, “It is important to find a long-term solution to the current problems in the economy.” He emphasized that there is a need for consistent cooperation between the government and the private sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the occasion, Vice President Yadav promised to draw the attention of the government agencies to the suggestions provided by the chamber. During the meeting, NCC President Rajendra Malla request for the vice president’s coordination for economic development and prosperity of the country. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Due to the lack of effective coordination between budget and monetary policy, the economy has not been able to pick up the expected momentum. The high interest rate has seriously affected entrepreneurs as well as the ordinary borrowers,” said Malla.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that economic activities could not return to normalcy due to the government’s inability to spend capital budget. Malla emphasized that there should be effective coordination in budget and monetary policy, saying that single digit interest rate should be maintained for economic prosperity and economy.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17185', 'image' => '20230404011215_1680563953.chamber.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 13:11:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17449', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Increasing Domestic Consumption of Electricity is Top Priority: Energy Minister', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: Newly appointed Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Shakti Bahadur Basnet has stated that increasing domestic consumption of electricity produced in the country is his main priority. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 4: Newly appointed Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Shakti Bahadur Basnet has stated that increasing domestic consumption of electricity produced in the country is his main priority. During a welcome program organized by Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) on Monday, Minister Basnet said that the consumption capacity will be increased by strengthening and expanding the infrastructure of transmission and distribution system in the areas where electricity is not available.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that he is aware of the problems associated with the use of forest areas and tree cutting for the construction of hydropower and transmission line projects. Basnet, who is also a former forest minister, said that he will actively work to prevent delays in the construction of projects due to forest and security issues. He said that NEA has set a positive standard in the country among the public institutions.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the program, Secretary of the Ministry of Energy, Resources and Irrigation, Dinesh Kumar Ghimire said that improvement and expansion of transmission and distribution system, construction of strategic large reservoir hydropower projects and the expansion of electricity services should be emphasized in order to increase electricity consumption internally. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kulman Ghising, executive director of the authority, while presenting a detailed description of the organization said that power management during the rainy season is the major challenge at present.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ghising said, “In order to increase the consumption within the country and to export the surplus electricity, it is seen that more than Rs 850 billion will be needed to implement the plans for the next five years, including the projects under construction for electricity generation, transmission and distribution. But the government resources are not enough for this. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The resources need to be managed by the government, authorities and donor agencies,” he said.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17184', 'image' => '20230404123328_1680564084.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 12:32:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17448', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Forms Three-Member High-Level Commission to Address the Issues of Loan Sharking Victims ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: The government on Monday formed a three-member high-level commission to resolve the issues of the usury victims. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 4: The government on Monday formed a three-member high-level commission to resolve the issues of the usury victims. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers constituted the commission led by former judge Gauri Bahadur Karki, informed Government Spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The other members of the commission include former Additional Inspector General of Nepal Police Uttam Raj Subedi and former Deputy Attorney General Ganesh Babu Aryal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The commission is given three months’ time and its central office will be in Janakpurdham of Madhesh Province. It has been given the terms of reference to submit a report to address the problems faced by the loan shark victims. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had vowed to form the high-level commission to bring the loan sharking culprits to justice. To pile pressure on the government, the victims of usury had travelled to Kathmandu by foot from different districts of Tarai. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, they held talks with the government team and presented nine points demands in the negotiation which were discussed in a clause-wise manner. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the discussion with the government talks team, the victims of loan sharking put forth demands such as the formation of a commission, resolution of the cases in the court and the cancellation of loan-paper made by the loan sharks. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In an effort to respond to the demands of the victims of illegal money lending, the government has already decided to amend the Criminal Code to criminalize the act of usury. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17183', 'image' => '20230404113011_KB_KTM-IMG_9898.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 11:29:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17447', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Photo Exhibition on the occasion of Seto Machchindranath's Chariot Procession', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: A photo exhibition held on the occasion of the Seto Machhindranath Chariot Procession concluded on Saturday, April 1.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 4: A photo exhibition held on the occasion of the Seto Machhindranath Chariot Procession concluded on Saturday, April 1.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The photo exhibition was organized by the National Forum of Photojournalist (NFPJ) on the occasion of the 25th silver jubilee from March 30 to April 1. The exhibition on the first day was organized at Ason, the main resting place of the chariot, at Hanumandhoka on the second day and at Lagan Tol on the third day with the collective coordination of NFPJ, Seto Machhindranath Rath Yatra Management Committee and Kathmandu Metropolitan City Ward no. 17, 21, 25, 27 and 28.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The special photo exhibition organized by NFPJ featured more than 50 photos taken by about 30 professional photojournalists and other photographers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Program coordinator Sunil Sharma informed that the main purpose of the exhibition was to inform about the pilgrimage of Seto Machhindranath which starts from Jamal and ends in Janbahal on the day of Chaitra Shukla Purnima (full moon day).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Seto Machhindranath is worshiped as the god of rain and prosperity. It is customary to worship Machhindranath as a deity who removes evil, saves from untimely death, unrest and insecurity. There is also a general belief that celebrating the Machchindranath Jatra brings in happiness, peace and prosperity to the family.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Personalities from different fields, tourists and former living goddess Matina Shakya and former Ganesh Sambeg Shakya attended the exhibition, adding more colors to the exhibition. Pradeep Raj Onta, president of NFPJ said that the exhibition, which was attended by about 500 spectators, provided more energy and determination to promote and spread the culture and fairs of Nepal in the future through photography.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17182', 'image' => '20230404110300_IMG20230331130050_1680443045.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 11:02:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17444', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ten Thousand Foreign Workers in Nepal, Highest from China ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Nepal largely depends on technical human resources from foreign countries for the implementation of big projects. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 3: Nepal largely depends on technical human resources from foreign countries for the implementation of big projects. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to an official data, skilled human resources required for various large projects here are hired from other countries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Department of Labour and Occupational Safety said workforce from around 100 countries in the world are currently engaged in various projects in Nepal and the Chinese make up the highest portion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, workers from the UK, the United States of America, South Korea, India and Japan are in a noticeable size. Since 2017, over 7,500 Chinese have taken labour permits, including 2594 renewals, for Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, 488 people from the United Kingdom, 332 from the US, 240 from South Korea, 230 from India, 190 from Japan, 116 from Australia, 113 from Sri Lanka, 98 from Germany, 79 from France and 56 from Bangladesh are working in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to department’s director general Krishna Prasad Gnawali, the Chinese-funded projects in Nepal are more in number thus the high number of Chinese workers in the country than those from other countries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Foreign workers are found deputed in technical posts like project engineering, tunnel and hydro engineering, maintenance engineering and mechanical engineering, according to the department. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There is a provision that work permit should be obtained from the department while hiring foreign citizens by employers. The department has been issuing work permit to foreign workers as per the Directives related to Work Permit Management of Foreign Citizens-2075. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Director General of the Department, Gnawali, said the work permit for foreign workers is being issued based on recommendation of the respective ministry and consent of the Home Ministry while the Department of Immigration provides visa to workers only after the department provides work permits. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The department provides one-year work permit for foreign workers. Work-permit is issued for skilled technicians for a maximum five years at different intervals while a maximum of three years for other foreign nationals at different intervals. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A foreign worker has to pay Rs 15,000 for six months and Rs 20,000 for more than six months, mentioned the Directives. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">--- </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17179', 'image' => '20230403073034_Seti-Nadi-HPP.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 19:29:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17441', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Vegetables from 19 Districts Arrive at Kalimati Market', 'sub_title' => '15 Percent of Vegetables and Fruits get Wasted while Reaching the Consumers', 'summary' => 'April 3: The Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market, the largest and oldest fruit and vegetable market in the country, brings in vegetables, fruits, fish and spices from 19 districts of the country as well as from India and China.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">April 3: The Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market, the largest and oldest fruit and vegetable market in the country, brings in vegetables, fruits, fish and spices from </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">19</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> districts of the country as well as from India and China.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">This market has been regularly bringing those items from Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Bara, Chitwan, Makwanpur, Dhading, Kavre, Dolakha, Gorkha, Navalparasi, Nuwakot, Parsa, Ramechhap, Sarlahi, Sindhuli, Sindhupalchok, Salyan, and Dang districts.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Makwanpur contributes the most to the fruits and vegetables brought to the market from within the country. The Kalimati market has a daily turnover of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">4</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">0 million. The data shows that </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">17.77</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of vegetables and fruits are imported from Makwanpur. In the same way, the lowest volume of fruits and vegetables arrive from Dang.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Binay Shrestha, information officer of Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee, said that apart from those districts, vegetables are also imported in small quantities from other districts. Since the quantity is very small, the committee does not keep separate data for this.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Last year alone, vegetables were brought to Kalimati from more than </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">50</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> districts including Kailali, Kanchanpur, Bardia and Surkhet. However, since that amount was very small, we have kept its data under other headings," said Shrestha. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, most of the vegetables are imported from the domestic market. Fish, potato and onion are imported in large quantities from India. Fruits, garlic and spices are imported from China.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Shrestha says Nepal has no choice but to rely on potatoes and onions from India. According to government data, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">289</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,000 metric tons of onions and </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> million metric tons of potatoes are produced in Nepal. But this does not meet the domestic demand, and therefore the country has to import potatoes and onions from India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">When any vegetable or fruit reaches Kathmandu from the source district where vegetables and fruits are produced, its price increases up to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">percent. Geeta Prasad Acharya, president of Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Traders Committee, said that when the product reaches the consumer, the price increases by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">80</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, five percent of fruits and vegetables rot by the time they reach the Kalimati market from various districts. When the retailer buys from Kalimati and delivers it to the consumer, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">8</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">10</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent is wasted. Adding to that the cost of transportation and labor costs, the price of fruits and vegetables can be much more expensive when they reach consumers than at the source. The cost of wasted fruits and vegetables will also be passed on to the consumer, so the price will be high.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the data provided by the Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee, the share of vegetables in the total turnover is the highest at </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">85.41</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent. Fruits contribute </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">8</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the total turnover, spice </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">5.05</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent, fish </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1.30</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent and other commodity turnover is 0.</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">51</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Kalimati market, which has been operating since the last three decades, sells more than </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">115</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> types of goods including vegetables, fruits, spices, and fish.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Between </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">700</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">900</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> tons of vegetables and fruits are brought into the Kalimati market every day. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17176', 'image' => '20230403031643_20180704013332_vege1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 15:15:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17440', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bank Deposits Increasing Continually since Mid-March', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Bank deposits increased by Rs 10 billion on Friday, according to the latest report of Nepal Rasttra Bank (NRB) released on Sunday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 3: Bank deposits increased by Rs 10 billion on Friday, according to the latest report of Nepal Rasttra Bank (NRB) released on Sunday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the central bank, the total deposits with banks stood at Rs 5415 billion as of March 30, which increased to Rs 5425 billion on March 31.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NRB spokesperson Dr. Gunakar Bhatta said that although the deposit collection in the banking system seems positive, such a huge difference in a single day is caused due to the deposit of large sum. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Lately, the rate of deposit is on a consistent rise. The spike in graph of Friday was caused by the deposit of large sum on the same day,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Earlier, on March 15, NRB released the data stating that the bank deposits decreased by Rs 11 billion in a single day. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bank deposits have been continuously rising since March 15.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to NRB, deposits with commercial banks stood at Rs 4773 billion as of mid-March, which reached Rs 4785 billion on March 31. Deposits of development banks and finance companies have remained stable. By mid-March, there were deposits of Rs 640 billion in development banks and finance companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the increase in deposits, banks have started providing small loan as wells. The total credit flow of banks was Rs 4515 billion as of last Thursday which reached Rs 4785 billion on Friday. During this period, the total loans of commercial banks increased by Rs 100 billion to Rs 4276 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Along with the increase in deposits, the credit-deposit ratio (CD ratio) of banks and financial institutions has decreased. On Thursday, the CD ratio of banks was 85.66 percent, but on Friday, it stood at 85.54 percent percent. By mid-March, the CD ratio of banks was 85.60 percent. According to the instructions of NRB, banks should maintain a CD ratio of less than 90 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the decline in CD ratio, there has been a general increase in the interbank interest rate. The interbank interest rate which was 7.01 percent on Thursday increased to 7.02 percent on Friday. Officials say that the possibility of increasing deposits will continue in the coming days. It is expected that the economy will improve as deposits in the banking system increase. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17175', 'image' => '20230403125235_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 12:51:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17439', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Unilever Collaborates with Nepalese Army for Mountain Clean-up Campaign', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Unilever has collaborated with the Nepalese Army in the Mountain Cleanup Campaign 2023.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">April 3: Unilever has collaborated with the Nepalese Army in the Mountain Cleanup Campaign 2023.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company has taken this initiative as a part of its commitment to make the world a ‘sustainable common habitat'. This is the third time the company is cooperating with the clean mountain campaign of the army. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company said that the campaign is being organised with the objective of reducing the impact of climate change by protecting and cleaning the mountains. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As part of this year's campaign, the target is to collect </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">35 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">tons of garbage while cleaning Mount Everest, Lhotse, Annapurna and and Baruntse. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Amlan Mukherjee, managing director of Unilever Nepal Limited, said, “We aim to set a new record this year in waste collection, segregation and recycling of accumulated waste through continued efforts.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17174', 'image' => '20230403121013_RS_KTM_RATL153003282023.JPG', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 12:09:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17438', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CNI urges Finance Minister to Revive Economy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the newly-appointed Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat to improve the national economy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 3: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the newly-appointed Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat to improve the national economy. The CNI delegation met Minister Mahat and discussed pressing issues of economy on Sunday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Minister Mahat was also handed over a 10-point memorandum on how the economy could be normalized. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">CNI President Vishnu Kumar Agrawal stressed the need for reducing interest rate, normalizing liquidity and encouraging investment for immediate improvement of economy. "These three issues must be prioritized at present. High morale is required to revive economic activities," Agrawal stressed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Moreover, he argued that the cash reserve ratio (CRR) needs to be reduced to three percent so as to decrease interest rate and manage liquidity and the bank rate also needs to be lowered. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the memorandum, the CNI further suggested the government to fix the interest gap of fixed and savings accounts at five percent maximum. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In response, Finance Minister Mahat said that the government was in need of assistance from the private sector to resolve the problems related to the economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The government is ready to identify the problems and find solution. For this, cooperation from the private sector is a must," Minister Mahat said. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17173', 'image' => '20230403110138_economic crisis.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 11:00:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17437', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Index Continues Its Downward Trend; All Groups Land in Red ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Contrary to investors’ expectations, the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index plunged 20 points to close at 1,888.55 points on the first trading day on Sunday. Over 3.7 million shares of the total 260 listed companies were traded at over Rs 1.20 billion. The sub-index of all groups landed in red on the first trading day. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">April 3: Contrary to investors’ expectations, the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index plunged 20 points to close at 1,888.55 points on the first trading day on Sunday. Over 3.7 million shares of the total 260 listed companies were traded at over Rs 1.20 billion. The sub-index of all groups landed in red on the first trading day. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The sub-index of the trading group registered the highest fall by 54.99 points and that of non-life insurance group by 47.24 points. <br /> The sub-index of banking group decreased by 23.89 points, while hotel and tourism groups fell by 18.91 points. Likewise, hydropower sub-index and life insurance group dropped by 41.68 points, and 36.4 points respectively. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The investment sub-index decreased by 0.74 points where as sub-index of production and processing group fell by 35.72 points, that of micro-finance group by 35.84 points, that of mutual fund group by 0.02 points and that of other groups by 10.97 points. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The share price of Kalinchok Darshan Limited posted the highest increase by 9.96 percent today. The highest fall in share price is that of Swabhiman Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd. It fell by 9. 61points. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">In the intraday trading, 189 listed companies lost their market value, while only 23 companies registered gains. The daily turnover rose to Rs 1.207 billion from Rs 899.53 million on Thursday.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Among individual companies, NIC Asia Bank, with transactions of its shares worth Rs 50.56 million, topped the list. Swabhimaan Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the topmost loser. Kalinchowk Darshan Limited gained the highest percent of its market price. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Share investors said that the NEPSE index had continued its downtrend trend as market could not build up confidence despite the appointment of Nepali Congress’ leader Prakash Sharan Mahat as Finance Minister. “Secondary market is waiting for policy-change from the government. Without policy change, NEPSE will not be able to reverse its trend immediately,” said a share investor. </span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17172', 'image' => '20230403064934_collage (53).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 06:46:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17436', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Elected Vice-President of Asia-Pacific UNESCO Clubs and Associations (AFUCA)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal has been elected to the post of Vice-President of the Asia-Pacific Federation of UNESCO Clubs and Associations (AFUCA). Nepal was unanimously elected to the post in the 26th general session of the AFUCA held in Kazakhstan's capital city Almaty on Sunday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">April 3: Nepal has been elected to the post of Vice-President of the Asia-Pacific Federation of UNESCO Clubs and Associations (AFUCA). Nepal was unanimously elected to the post in the 26th general session of the AFUCA held in Kazakhstan's capital city Almaty on Sunday. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Among the 12 countries of the Asia-Pacific region attending the general assembly, Nepal and Vietnam had registered their candidacies for the post and both countries were elected to the post unanimously.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"> Nepal's representative in the election was Anandaraj Tripathi, President of the National Federation of UNESCO Clubs and Mayor of Bhanu Municipality in Tanahu district. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Similarly, South Korea won the Chair of the AFUCA beating Philippines in the voting. South Korea garnered 10 votes while Philippines conceded defeat securing only 2 votes. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Sunjoo Lee was in the fray from South Korea. Upon the election to the Vice-President post, elated Tripathi pledged to work more actively to take forward movement of the UNESCO in the Asia-Pacific region. -----RSS </span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17171', 'image' => '20230403062007_collage (52).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 06:00:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17433', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Improving Crisis-Ridden Economy is my Priority: Finance Minister Mahat ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 2: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has said improving the crisis-ridden economy is his top priority and commitment. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 2: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has said improving the crisis-ridden economy is his top priority and commitment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The suggestions and collaboration of the private sector is needed for this," he reiterated in a meeting with a delegation of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) on Sunday. He added that he would bail out the crisis-ridden economy taking the private sector on board. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"I will not allow your self-confidence to sap; I will be constantly in dialogue with you. I have expected your full cooperation in fulfilling my resolve to improving the economy," Finance Minister Mahat said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, FNCCI president Shekhar Golchha, on behalf the entire private sector, extended best wishes to the newly-appointed finance minister, and also briefed him on the latest economic condition. He suggested injecting money in the market and reducing the interest rate through the joint initiative of the central bank and the government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The FNCCI urged the finance minister to ensure liquidity in the banking sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Golchha also suggested for increasing the government expenditure, saying it was too much sluggish. He stressed on expanding the capital expenditure which is merely around 25 percent now. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Revenue collection is low and it is difficult to cope with the current expenditure. Expenditure should be increased even by raising external loans for this," the FNCCI president said, reiterating that the loan mobilized in this manner should be used only for development expenditure. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-02', 'modified' => '2023-04-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17168', 'image' => '20230402035731_1680390939.prakash sharan mahat.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-02 15:56:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17432', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Around 100000 Foreign Tourists Visit Nepal in March', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Around 100 thousand tourists visited Nepal in March in 2023. According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), 99, 426 visitors entered Nepal in March.', 'content' => '<p><br /> <span style="font-size:18px">April 2: Around 100 thousand tourists visited Nepal in March in 2023. According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), 99, 426 visitors entered Nepal in March.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Of the total visitors, 33,454 were from the SAARC nations, 15, 643 from other Asian nations, 23, 265 from the Europe and 3,958 arrived from the countries of the Oceania region. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Similarly, the nation welcomed 1,707 from Canada, 9557 from the United States of America and 10,375 from the Middle-East. The highest number of tourists had arrived from India and they make-up 25,911 and this figure was 15,013 in the corresponding period in 2022. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Similarly, the tourist arrivals from the US in March were almost a double compared to the review period last year.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">In 2022, 4,896 tourists from the US had visited Nepal. The high tourist flows were from India, the US, the UK, Germany and Sri Lanka. The data show that Nepal's tourism industry is on the path of recovery post-COVID-19 pandemic. ---RSS </span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-02', 'modified' => '2023-04-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17167', 'image' => '20230402035519_collage - 2023-04-02T155256.954.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-02 15:53:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17452', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Unveils Cryptocurrency Risk Assessment Report ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has warned against the use of cryptocurrency stating that the use of such currency is financially risky.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 4: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has warned against the use of cryptocurrency stating that the use of such currency is financially risky.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Unveiling the Cryptocurrency Risk Assessment Report on Tuesday, the central bank made it clear that the existing laws of Nepal has banned transactions involving cryptocurrency. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"It entails risks as investment in cryptocurrency results in capital flight. Since the investment is in foreign land, it might have adverse impact on remittance flow and create challenges in managing the foreign exchange reserves," reads the report.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report further states that prohibition on cryptocurrency is necessary as it has risks including destabilizing the overall economic balance, risk on financial stability, risk in terms of implementing the monetary policy and risks of fraud and tax evasion, among others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The central bank has imposed a ban on cryptocurrency as per the provision of Clause 12 of the Foreign Exchange (Regulation) Act, 2019 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">People supporting cryptocurrency take it as a form of currency. However, there is no sovereign nation issuing cryptocurrency as in the current monetary system. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NRB stated in the report that there are around 23,000 cryptocurrencies in use in the world at present and Bitcoin alone occupies 42 percent of its total market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NRB has been issuing public notice from time to time warning that transaction in cryptocurrency is illegal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"There is no guarantee or surety of any country or government in cryptocurrency, there is no any security and financial intermediary, and it has no other use except for the purpose of bookmaking. This virtual thing is not widely accepted but is issued and used by certain group for their vested interest," read the report. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NRB has described cryptocurrency as a digital matter that can be transacted as a currency issued by the private sector. Its transaction is illegal in various countries including in Nepal. This virtual currency is issued for carrying out works related to payments without any financial intermediary (central bank or monetary authority issuing currency). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Users connected to the network have themselves maintained accounts of the receipt and expenditure of cryptocurrency for carrying out its transaction. In the existing system, the central banks or financial institutions have been conducting this job. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">People carrying out transactions in cryptocurrency use 'blockchain' or 'distributed ledger' technology for book keeping. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Cryptocurrency is mainly obtained through mining and purchasing. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17187', 'image' => '20230404035329_Cryptoshutterstock_1434643079.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 15:52:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17451', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Stakeholders join hands to Develop 'Ecosystem' of 42 Companies', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: Private sector stakeholders have reached an agreement to develop an 'ecosystem' of companies related to manufacturing, agriculture and service sectors.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">April 4: Private sector stakeholders have reached an agreement to develop an 'ecosystem' of companies related to manufacturing, agriculture and service sectors. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The Federation of Nepal Cottage and Small Industries and Nepal Development Research Foundation have reached an understanding to this effect.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">These two institutions signed a memorandum of understanding to this end in Kathmandu on Sunday. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">As per the agreement, a team will visit various districts and discuss with the small and medium industrialists about their problems, market, human resources, production and other issues as part of their research, said Professor Doctor Navraj Khatiwada, chairperson of the research foundation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">He said that entrepreneurs will also be informed about the new technologies seen in the industry, value chain and industry promotion. The aim is to conduct a pilot project to develop the companies involved in these fields and make them successful enterprises. It has been agreed to select industries currently located in a certain geographical area to increase productivity by developing the ecosystem of entrepreneurs in the productive, agricultural and service sectors.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Shyam Prasad Giri, the former president of the Federation of Nepal Cottage and Small Industries, said that the industrial sector is in crisis in the current situation. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">While developing and promoting the business of entrepreneurs in manufacturing, agriculture, digital services and other sectors, both the sides will mobilize their expertise, resources and manpower. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Research and strategy will be conducted by the foundation. The agreement also mentions that discussions, lobbying and joint initiatives will be taken with all the three governments of the federal, state and local levels to get new projects or support in the ongoing projects.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17186', 'image' => '20230404025730_1680588951.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 14:56:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17450', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Chamber Discusses Economic Issue with Vice President Yadav', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: A delegation of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) met with Vice President Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav on Monday to congratulate the newly-elected vice president.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 4: A delegation of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) met with Vice President Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav on Monday to congratulate the newly-elected vice president. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the meeting, Vice President Yadav said that the current state of national economy is risky. He said that economic prosperity can only be achieved through a sustainable solution to problems such as lack of liquidity, high interest rates, inability to make capital expenditures on time, and unemployment. Yadav said, “It is important to find a long-term solution to the current problems in the economy.” He emphasized that there is a need for consistent cooperation between the government and the private sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the occasion, Vice President Yadav promised to draw the attention of the government agencies to the suggestions provided by the chamber. During the meeting, NCC President Rajendra Malla request for the vice president’s coordination for economic development and prosperity of the country. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Due to the lack of effective coordination between budget and monetary policy, the economy has not been able to pick up the expected momentum. The high interest rate has seriously affected entrepreneurs as well as the ordinary borrowers,” said Malla.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that economic activities could not return to normalcy due to the government’s inability to spend capital budget. Malla emphasized that there should be effective coordination in budget and monetary policy, saying that single digit interest rate should be maintained for economic prosperity and economy.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17185', 'image' => '20230404011215_1680563953.chamber.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 13:11:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17449', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Increasing Domestic Consumption of Electricity is Top Priority: Energy Minister', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: Newly appointed Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Shakti Bahadur Basnet has stated that increasing domestic consumption of electricity produced in the country is his main priority. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 4: Newly appointed Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Shakti Bahadur Basnet has stated that increasing domestic consumption of electricity produced in the country is his main priority. During a welcome program organized by Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) on Monday, Minister Basnet said that the consumption capacity will be increased by strengthening and expanding the infrastructure of transmission and distribution system in the areas where electricity is not available.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that he is aware of the problems associated with the use of forest areas and tree cutting for the construction of hydropower and transmission line projects. Basnet, who is also a former forest minister, said that he will actively work to prevent delays in the construction of projects due to forest and security issues. He said that NEA has set a positive standard in the country among the public institutions.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the program, Secretary of the Ministry of Energy, Resources and Irrigation, Dinesh Kumar Ghimire said that improvement and expansion of transmission and distribution system, construction of strategic large reservoir hydropower projects and the expansion of electricity services should be emphasized in order to increase electricity consumption internally. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kulman Ghising, executive director of the authority, while presenting a detailed description of the organization said that power management during the rainy season is the major challenge at present.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ghising said, “In order to increase the consumption within the country and to export the surplus electricity, it is seen that more than Rs 850 billion will be needed to implement the plans for the next five years, including the projects under construction for electricity generation, transmission and distribution. But the government resources are not enough for this. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The resources need to be managed by the government, authorities and donor agencies,” he said.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17184', 'image' => '20230404123328_1680564084.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 12:32:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17448', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Forms Three-Member High-Level Commission to Address the Issues of Loan Sharking Victims ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: The government on Monday formed a three-member high-level commission to resolve the issues of the usury victims. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 4: The government on Monday formed a three-member high-level commission to resolve the issues of the usury victims. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers constituted the commission led by former judge Gauri Bahadur Karki, informed Government Spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The other members of the commission include former Additional Inspector General of Nepal Police Uttam Raj Subedi and former Deputy Attorney General Ganesh Babu Aryal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The commission is given three months’ time and its central office will be in Janakpurdham of Madhesh Province. It has been given the terms of reference to submit a report to address the problems faced by the loan shark victims. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had vowed to form the high-level commission to bring the loan sharking culprits to justice. To pile pressure on the government, the victims of usury had travelled to Kathmandu by foot from different districts of Tarai. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, they held talks with the government team and presented nine points demands in the negotiation which were discussed in a clause-wise manner. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the discussion with the government talks team, the victims of loan sharking put forth demands such as the formation of a commission, resolution of the cases in the court and the cancellation of loan-paper made by the loan sharks. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In an effort to respond to the demands of the victims of illegal money lending, the government has already decided to amend the Criminal Code to criminalize the act of usury. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17183', 'image' => '20230404113011_KB_KTM-IMG_9898.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 11:29:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17447', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Photo Exhibition on the occasion of Seto Machchindranath's Chariot Procession', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: A photo exhibition held on the occasion of the Seto Machhindranath Chariot Procession concluded on Saturday, April 1.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 4: A photo exhibition held on the occasion of the Seto Machhindranath Chariot Procession concluded on Saturday, April 1.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The photo exhibition was organized by the National Forum of Photojournalist (NFPJ) on the occasion of the 25th silver jubilee from March 30 to April 1. The exhibition on the first day was organized at Ason, the main resting place of the chariot, at Hanumandhoka on the second day and at Lagan Tol on the third day with the collective coordination of NFPJ, Seto Machhindranath Rath Yatra Management Committee and Kathmandu Metropolitan City Ward no. 17, 21, 25, 27 and 28.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The special photo exhibition organized by NFPJ featured more than 50 photos taken by about 30 professional photojournalists and other photographers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Program coordinator Sunil Sharma informed that the main purpose of the exhibition was to inform about the pilgrimage of Seto Machhindranath which starts from Jamal and ends in Janbahal on the day of Chaitra Shukla Purnima (full moon day).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Seto Machhindranath is worshiped as the god of rain and prosperity. It is customary to worship Machhindranath as a deity who removes evil, saves from untimely death, unrest and insecurity. There is also a general belief that celebrating the Machchindranath Jatra brings in happiness, peace and prosperity to the family.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Personalities from different fields, tourists and former living goddess Matina Shakya and former Ganesh Sambeg Shakya attended the exhibition, adding more colors to the exhibition. Pradeep Raj Onta, president of NFPJ said that the exhibition, which was attended by about 500 spectators, provided more energy and determination to promote and spread the culture and fairs of Nepal in the future through photography.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17182', 'image' => '20230404110300_IMG20230331130050_1680443045.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 11:02:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17444', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ten Thousand Foreign Workers in Nepal, Highest from China ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Nepal largely depends on technical human resources from foreign countries for the implementation of big projects. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 3: Nepal largely depends on technical human resources from foreign countries for the implementation of big projects. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to an official data, skilled human resources required for various large projects here are hired from other countries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Department of Labour and Occupational Safety said workforce from around 100 countries in the world are currently engaged in various projects in Nepal and the Chinese make up the highest portion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, workers from the UK, the United States of America, South Korea, India and Japan are in a noticeable size. Since 2017, over 7,500 Chinese have taken labour permits, including 2594 renewals, for Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, 488 people from the United Kingdom, 332 from the US, 240 from South Korea, 230 from India, 190 from Japan, 116 from Australia, 113 from Sri Lanka, 98 from Germany, 79 from France and 56 from Bangladesh are working in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to department’s director general Krishna Prasad Gnawali, the Chinese-funded projects in Nepal are more in number thus the high number of Chinese workers in the country than those from other countries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Foreign workers are found deputed in technical posts like project engineering, tunnel and hydro engineering, maintenance engineering and mechanical engineering, according to the department. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There is a provision that work permit should be obtained from the department while hiring foreign citizens by employers. The department has been issuing work permit to foreign workers as per the Directives related to Work Permit Management of Foreign Citizens-2075. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Director General of the Department, Gnawali, said the work permit for foreign workers is being issued based on recommendation of the respective ministry and consent of the Home Ministry while the Department of Immigration provides visa to workers only after the department provides work permits. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The department provides one-year work permit for foreign workers. Work-permit is issued for skilled technicians for a maximum five years at different intervals while a maximum of three years for other foreign nationals at different intervals. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A foreign worker has to pay Rs 15,000 for six months and Rs 20,000 for more than six months, mentioned the Directives. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">--- </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17179', 'image' => '20230403073034_Seti-Nadi-HPP.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 19:29:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17441', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Vegetables from 19 Districts Arrive at Kalimati Market', 'sub_title' => '15 Percent of Vegetables and Fruits get Wasted while Reaching the Consumers', 'summary' => 'April 3: The Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market, the largest and oldest fruit and vegetable market in the country, brings in vegetables, fruits, fish and spices from 19 districts of the country as well as from India and China.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">April 3: The Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market, the largest and oldest fruit and vegetable market in the country, brings in vegetables, fruits, fish and spices from </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">19</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> districts of the country as well as from India and China.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">This market has been regularly bringing those items from Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Bara, Chitwan, Makwanpur, Dhading, Kavre, Dolakha, Gorkha, Navalparasi, Nuwakot, Parsa, Ramechhap, Sarlahi, Sindhuli, Sindhupalchok, Salyan, and Dang districts.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Makwanpur contributes the most to the fruits and vegetables brought to the market from within the country. The Kalimati market has a daily turnover of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">4</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">0 million. The data shows that </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">17.77</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of vegetables and fruits are imported from Makwanpur. In the same way, the lowest volume of fruits and vegetables arrive from Dang.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Binay Shrestha, information officer of Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee, said that apart from those districts, vegetables are also imported in small quantities from other districts. Since the quantity is very small, the committee does not keep separate data for this.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Last year alone, vegetables were brought to Kalimati from more than </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">50</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> districts including Kailali, Kanchanpur, Bardia and Surkhet. However, since that amount was very small, we have kept its data under other headings," said Shrestha. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, most of the vegetables are imported from the domestic market. Fish, potato and onion are imported in large quantities from India. Fruits, garlic and spices are imported from China.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Shrestha says Nepal has no choice but to rely on potatoes and onions from India. According to government data, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">289</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,000 metric tons of onions and </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> million metric tons of potatoes are produced in Nepal. But this does not meet the domestic demand, and therefore the country has to import potatoes and onions from India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">When any vegetable or fruit reaches Kathmandu from the source district where vegetables and fruits are produced, its price increases up to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">percent. Geeta Prasad Acharya, president of Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Traders Committee, said that when the product reaches the consumer, the price increases by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">80</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, five percent of fruits and vegetables rot by the time they reach the Kalimati market from various districts. When the retailer buys from Kalimati and delivers it to the consumer, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">8</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">10</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent is wasted. Adding to that the cost of transportation and labor costs, the price of fruits and vegetables can be much more expensive when they reach consumers than at the source. The cost of wasted fruits and vegetables will also be passed on to the consumer, so the price will be high.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the data provided by the Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee, the share of vegetables in the total turnover is the highest at </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">85.41</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent. Fruits contribute </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">8</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the total turnover, spice </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">5.05</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent, fish </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1.30</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent and other commodity turnover is 0.</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">51</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Kalimati market, which has been operating since the last three decades, sells more than </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">115</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> types of goods including vegetables, fruits, spices, and fish.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Between </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">700</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">900</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> tons of vegetables and fruits are brought into the Kalimati market every day. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17176', 'image' => '20230403031643_20180704013332_vege1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 15:15:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17440', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bank Deposits Increasing Continually since Mid-March', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Bank deposits increased by Rs 10 billion on Friday, according to the latest report of Nepal Rasttra Bank (NRB) released on Sunday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 3: Bank deposits increased by Rs 10 billion on Friday, according to the latest report of Nepal Rasttra Bank (NRB) released on Sunday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the central bank, the total deposits with banks stood at Rs 5415 billion as of March 30, which increased to Rs 5425 billion on March 31.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NRB spokesperson Dr. Gunakar Bhatta said that although the deposit collection in the banking system seems positive, such a huge difference in a single day is caused due to the deposit of large sum. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Lately, the rate of deposit is on a consistent rise. The spike in graph of Friday was caused by the deposit of large sum on the same day,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Earlier, on March 15, NRB released the data stating that the bank deposits decreased by Rs 11 billion in a single day. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bank deposits have been continuously rising since March 15.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to NRB, deposits with commercial banks stood at Rs 4773 billion as of mid-March, which reached Rs 4785 billion on March 31. Deposits of development banks and finance companies have remained stable. By mid-March, there were deposits of Rs 640 billion in development banks and finance companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the increase in deposits, banks have started providing small loan as wells. The total credit flow of banks was Rs 4515 billion as of last Thursday which reached Rs 4785 billion on Friday. During this period, the total loans of commercial banks increased by Rs 100 billion to Rs 4276 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Along with the increase in deposits, the credit-deposit ratio (CD ratio) of banks and financial institutions has decreased. On Thursday, the CD ratio of banks was 85.66 percent, but on Friday, it stood at 85.54 percent percent. By mid-March, the CD ratio of banks was 85.60 percent. According to the instructions of NRB, banks should maintain a CD ratio of less than 90 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the decline in CD ratio, there has been a general increase in the interbank interest rate. The interbank interest rate which was 7.01 percent on Thursday increased to 7.02 percent on Friday. Officials say that the possibility of increasing deposits will continue in the coming days. It is expected that the economy will improve as deposits in the banking system increase. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17175', 'image' => '20230403125235_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 12:51:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17439', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Unilever Collaborates with Nepalese Army for Mountain Clean-up Campaign', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Unilever has collaborated with the Nepalese Army in the Mountain Cleanup Campaign 2023.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">April 3: Unilever has collaborated with the Nepalese Army in the Mountain Cleanup Campaign 2023.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company has taken this initiative as a part of its commitment to make the world a ‘sustainable common habitat'. This is the third time the company is cooperating with the clean mountain campaign of the army. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company said that the campaign is being organised with the objective of reducing the impact of climate change by protecting and cleaning the mountains. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As part of this year's campaign, the target is to collect </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">35 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">tons of garbage while cleaning Mount Everest, Lhotse, Annapurna and and Baruntse. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Amlan Mukherjee, managing director of Unilever Nepal Limited, said, “We aim to set a new record this year in waste collection, segregation and recycling of accumulated waste through continued efforts.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17174', 'image' => '20230403121013_RS_KTM_RATL153003282023.JPG', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 12:09:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17438', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CNI urges Finance Minister to Revive Economy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the newly-appointed Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat to improve the national economy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 3: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the newly-appointed Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat to improve the national economy. The CNI delegation met Minister Mahat and discussed pressing issues of economy on Sunday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Minister Mahat was also handed over a 10-point memorandum on how the economy could be normalized. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">CNI President Vishnu Kumar Agrawal stressed the need for reducing interest rate, normalizing liquidity and encouraging investment for immediate improvement of economy. "These three issues must be prioritized at present. High morale is required to revive economic activities," Agrawal stressed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Moreover, he argued that the cash reserve ratio (CRR) needs to be reduced to three percent so as to decrease interest rate and manage liquidity and the bank rate also needs to be lowered. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the memorandum, the CNI further suggested the government to fix the interest gap of fixed and savings accounts at five percent maximum. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In response, Finance Minister Mahat said that the government was in need of assistance from the private sector to resolve the problems related to the economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The government is ready to identify the problems and find solution. For this, cooperation from the private sector is a must," Minister Mahat said. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17173', 'image' => '20230403110138_economic crisis.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 11:00:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17437', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Index Continues Its Downward Trend; All Groups Land in Red ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Contrary to investors’ expectations, the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index plunged 20 points to close at 1,888.55 points on the first trading day on Sunday. Over 3.7 million shares of the total 260 listed companies were traded at over Rs 1.20 billion. The sub-index of all groups landed in red on the first trading day. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">April 3: Contrary to investors’ expectations, the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index plunged 20 points to close at 1,888.55 points on the first trading day on Sunday. Over 3.7 million shares of the total 260 listed companies were traded at over Rs 1.20 billion. The sub-index of all groups landed in red on the first trading day. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The sub-index of the trading group registered the highest fall by 54.99 points and that of non-life insurance group by 47.24 points. <br /> The sub-index of banking group decreased by 23.89 points, while hotel and tourism groups fell by 18.91 points. Likewise, hydropower sub-index and life insurance group dropped by 41.68 points, and 36.4 points respectively. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The investment sub-index decreased by 0.74 points where as sub-index of production and processing group fell by 35.72 points, that of micro-finance group by 35.84 points, that of mutual fund group by 0.02 points and that of other groups by 10.97 points. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The share price of Kalinchok Darshan Limited posted the highest increase by 9.96 percent today. The highest fall in share price is that of Swabhiman Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd. It fell by 9. 61points. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">In the intraday trading, 189 listed companies lost their market value, while only 23 companies registered gains. The daily turnover rose to Rs 1.207 billion from Rs 899.53 million on Thursday.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Among individual companies, NIC Asia Bank, with transactions of its shares worth Rs 50.56 million, topped the list. Swabhimaan Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the topmost loser. Kalinchowk Darshan Limited gained the highest percent of its market price. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Share investors said that the NEPSE index had continued its downtrend trend as market could not build up confidence despite the appointment of Nepali Congress’ leader Prakash Sharan Mahat as Finance Minister. “Secondary market is waiting for policy-change from the government. Without policy change, NEPSE will not be able to reverse its trend immediately,” said a share investor. </span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17172', 'image' => '20230403064934_collage (53).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 06:46:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17436', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Elected Vice-President of Asia-Pacific UNESCO Clubs and Associations (AFUCA)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal has been elected to the post of Vice-President of the Asia-Pacific Federation of UNESCO Clubs and Associations (AFUCA). Nepal was unanimously elected to the post in the 26th general session of the AFUCA held in Kazakhstan's capital city Almaty on Sunday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">April 3: Nepal has been elected to the post of Vice-President of the Asia-Pacific Federation of UNESCO Clubs and Associations (AFUCA). Nepal was unanimously elected to the post in the 26th general session of the AFUCA held in Kazakhstan's capital city Almaty on Sunday. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Among the 12 countries of the Asia-Pacific region attending the general assembly, Nepal and Vietnam had registered their candidacies for the post and both countries were elected to the post unanimously.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"> Nepal's representative in the election was Anandaraj Tripathi, President of the National Federation of UNESCO Clubs and Mayor of Bhanu Municipality in Tanahu district. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Similarly, South Korea won the Chair of the AFUCA beating Philippines in the voting. South Korea garnered 10 votes while Philippines conceded defeat securing only 2 votes. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Sunjoo Lee was in the fray from South Korea. Upon the election to the Vice-President post, elated Tripathi pledged to work more actively to take forward movement of the UNESCO in the Asia-Pacific region. -----RSS </span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17171', 'image' => '20230403062007_collage (52).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 06:00:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17433', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Improving Crisis-Ridden Economy is my Priority: Finance Minister Mahat ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 2: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has said improving the crisis-ridden economy is his top priority and commitment. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 2: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has said improving the crisis-ridden economy is his top priority and commitment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The suggestions and collaboration of the private sector is needed for this," he reiterated in a meeting with a delegation of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) on Sunday. He added that he would bail out the crisis-ridden economy taking the private sector on board. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"I will not allow your self-confidence to sap; I will be constantly in dialogue with you. I have expected your full cooperation in fulfilling my resolve to improving the economy," Finance Minister Mahat said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, FNCCI president Shekhar Golchha, on behalf the entire private sector, extended best wishes to the newly-appointed finance minister, and also briefed him on the latest economic condition. He suggested injecting money in the market and reducing the interest rate through the joint initiative of the central bank and the government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The FNCCI urged the finance minister to ensure liquidity in the banking sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Golchha also suggested for increasing the government expenditure, saying it was too much sluggish. He stressed on expanding the capital expenditure which is merely around 25 percent now. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Revenue collection is low and it is difficult to cope with the current expenditure. Expenditure should be increased even by raising external loans for this," the FNCCI president said, reiterating that the loan mobilized in this manner should be used only for development expenditure. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-02', 'modified' => '2023-04-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17168', 'image' => '20230402035731_1680390939.prakash sharan mahat.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-02 15:56:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17432', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Around 100000 Foreign Tourists Visit Nepal in March', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Around 100 thousand tourists visited Nepal in March in 2023. According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), 99, 426 visitors entered Nepal in March.', 'content' => '<p><br /> <span style="font-size:18px">April 2: Around 100 thousand tourists visited Nepal in March in 2023. According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), 99, 426 visitors entered Nepal in March.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Of the total visitors, 33,454 were from the SAARC nations, 15, 643 from other Asian nations, 23, 265 from the Europe and 3,958 arrived from the countries of the Oceania region. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Similarly, the nation welcomed 1,707 from Canada, 9557 from the United States of America and 10,375 from the Middle-East. The highest number of tourists had arrived from India and they make-up 25,911 and this figure was 15,013 in the corresponding period in 2022. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Similarly, the tourist arrivals from the US in March were almost a double compared to the review period last year.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">In 2022, 4,896 tourists from the US had visited Nepal. The high tourist flows were from India, the US, the UK, Germany and Sri Lanka. The data show that Nepal's tourism industry is on the path of recovery post-COVID-19 pandemic. ---RSS </span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-02', 'modified' => '2023-04-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17167', 'image' => '20230402035519_collage - 2023-04-02T155256.954.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-02 15:53:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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Since the investment is in foreign land, it might have adverse impact on remittance flow and create challenges in managing the foreign exchange reserves," reads the report.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report further states that prohibition on cryptocurrency is necessary as it has risks including destabilizing the overall economic balance, risk on financial stability, risk in terms of implementing the monetary policy and risks of fraud and tax evasion, among others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The central bank has imposed a ban on cryptocurrency as per the provision of Clause 12 of the Foreign Exchange (Regulation) Act, 2019 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">People supporting cryptocurrency take it as a form of currency. However, there is no sovereign nation issuing cryptocurrency as in the current monetary system. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NRB stated in the report that there are around 23,000 cryptocurrencies in use in the world at present and Bitcoin alone occupies 42 percent of its total market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NRB has been issuing public notice from time to time warning that transaction in cryptocurrency is illegal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"There is no guarantee or surety of any country or government in cryptocurrency, there is no any security and financial intermediary, and it has no other use except for the purpose of bookmaking. This virtual thing is not widely accepted but is issued and used by certain group for their vested interest," read the report. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NRB has described cryptocurrency as a digital matter that can be transacted as a currency issued by the private sector. Its transaction is illegal in various countries including in Nepal. This virtual currency is issued for carrying out works related to payments without any financial intermediary (central bank or monetary authority issuing currency). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Users connected to the network have themselves maintained accounts of the receipt and expenditure of cryptocurrency for carrying out its transaction. In the existing system, the central banks or financial institutions have been conducting this job. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">People carrying out transactions in cryptocurrency use 'blockchain' or 'distributed ledger' technology for book keeping. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Cryptocurrency is mainly obtained through mining and purchasing. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17187', 'image' => '20230404035329_Cryptoshutterstock_1434643079.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 15:52:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17451', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Stakeholders join hands to Develop 'Ecosystem' of 42 Companies', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: Private sector stakeholders have reached an agreement to develop an 'ecosystem' of companies related to manufacturing, agriculture and service sectors.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">April 4: Private sector stakeholders have reached an agreement to develop an 'ecosystem' of companies related to manufacturing, agriculture and service sectors. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The Federation of Nepal Cottage and Small Industries and Nepal Development Research Foundation have reached an understanding to this effect.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">These two institutions signed a memorandum of understanding to this end in Kathmandu on Sunday. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">As per the agreement, a team will visit various districts and discuss with the small and medium industrialists about their problems, market, human resources, production and other issues as part of their research, said Professor Doctor Navraj Khatiwada, chairperson of the research foundation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">He said that entrepreneurs will also be informed about the new technologies seen in the industry, value chain and industry promotion. The aim is to conduct a pilot project to develop the companies involved in these fields and make them successful enterprises. It has been agreed to select industries currently located in a certain geographical area to increase productivity by developing the ecosystem of entrepreneurs in the productive, agricultural and service sectors.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Shyam Prasad Giri, the former president of the Federation of Nepal Cottage and Small Industries, said that the industrial sector is in crisis in the current situation. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">While developing and promoting the business of entrepreneurs in manufacturing, agriculture, digital services and other sectors, both the sides will mobilize their expertise, resources and manpower. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Research and strategy will be conducted by the foundation. The agreement also mentions that discussions, lobbying and joint initiatives will be taken with all the three governments of the federal, state and local levels to get new projects or support in the ongoing projects.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17186', 'image' => '20230404025730_1680588951.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 14:56:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17450', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Chamber Discusses Economic Issue with Vice President Yadav', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: A delegation of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) met with Vice President Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav on Monday to congratulate the newly-elected vice president.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 4: A delegation of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) met with Vice President Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav on Monday to congratulate the newly-elected vice president. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the meeting, Vice President Yadav said that the current state of national economy is risky. He said that economic prosperity can only be achieved through a sustainable solution to problems such as lack of liquidity, high interest rates, inability to make capital expenditures on time, and unemployment. Yadav said, “It is important to find a long-term solution to the current problems in the economy.” He emphasized that there is a need for consistent cooperation between the government and the private sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the occasion, Vice President Yadav promised to draw the attention of the government agencies to the suggestions provided by the chamber. During the meeting, NCC President Rajendra Malla request for the vice president’s coordination for economic development and prosperity of the country. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Due to the lack of effective coordination between budget and monetary policy, the economy has not been able to pick up the expected momentum. The high interest rate has seriously affected entrepreneurs as well as the ordinary borrowers,” said Malla.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that economic activities could not return to normalcy due to the government’s inability to spend capital budget. Malla emphasized that there should be effective coordination in budget and monetary policy, saying that single digit interest rate should be maintained for economic prosperity and economy.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17185', 'image' => '20230404011215_1680563953.chamber.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 13:11:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17449', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Increasing Domestic Consumption of Electricity is Top Priority: Energy Minister', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: Newly appointed Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Shakti Bahadur Basnet has stated that increasing domestic consumption of electricity produced in the country is his main priority. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 4: Newly appointed Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Shakti Bahadur Basnet has stated that increasing domestic consumption of electricity produced in the country is his main priority. During a welcome program organized by Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) on Monday, Minister Basnet said that the consumption capacity will be increased by strengthening and expanding the infrastructure of transmission and distribution system in the areas where electricity is not available.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that he is aware of the problems associated with the use of forest areas and tree cutting for the construction of hydropower and transmission line projects. Basnet, who is also a former forest minister, said that he will actively work to prevent delays in the construction of projects due to forest and security issues. He said that NEA has set a positive standard in the country among the public institutions.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the program, Secretary of the Ministry of Energy, Resources and Irrigation, Dinesh Kumar Ghimire said that improvement and expansion of transmission and distribution system, construction of strategic large reservoir hydropower projects and the expansion of electricity services should be emphasized in order to increase electricity consumption internally. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kulman Ghising, executive director of the authority, while presenting a detailed description of the organization said that power management during the rainy season is the major challenge at present.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ghising said, “In order to increase the consumption within the country and to export the surplus electricity, it is seen that more than Rs 850 billion will be needed to implement the plans for the next five years, including the projects under construction for electricity generation, transmission and distribution. But the government resources are not enough for this. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The resources need to be managed by the government, authorities and donor agencies,” he said.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17184', 'image' => '20230404123328_1680564084.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 12:32:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17448', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Forms Three-Member High-Level Commission to Address the Issues of Loan Sharking Victims ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: The government on Monday formed a three-member high-level commission to resolve the issues of the usury victims. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 4: The government on Monday formed a three-member high-level commission to resolve the issues of the usury victims. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers constituted the commission led by former judge Gauri Bahadur Karki, informed Government Spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The other members of the commission include former Additional Inspector General of Nepal Police Uttam Raj Subedi and former Deputy Attorney General Ganesh Babu Aryal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The commission is given three months’ time and its central office will be in Janakpurdham of Madhesh Province. It has been given the terms of reference to submit a report to address the problems faced by the loan shark victims. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had vowed to form the high-level commission to bring the loan sharking culprits to justice. To pile pressure on the government, the victims of usury had travelled to Kathmandu by foot from different districts of Tarai. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, they held talks with the government team and presented nine points demands in the negotiation which were discussed in a clause-wise manner. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the discussion with the government talks team, the victims of loan sharking put forth demands such as the formation of a commission, resolution of the cases in the court and the cancellation of loan-paper made by the loan sharks. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In an effort to respond to the demands of the victims of illegal money lending, the government has already decided to amend the Criminal Code to criminalize the act of usury. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17183', 'image' => '20230404113011_KB_KTM-IMG_9898.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 11:29:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17447', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Photo Exhibition on the occasion of Seto Machchindranath's Chariot Procession', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: A photo exhibition held on the occasion of the Seto Machhindranath Chariot Procession concluded on Saturday, April 1.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 4: A photo exhibition held on the occasion of the Seto Machhindranath Chariot Procession concluded on Saturday, April 1.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The photo exhibition was organized by the National Forum of Photojournalist (NFPJ) on the occasion of the 25th silver jubilee from March 30 to April 1. The exhibition on the first day was organized at Ason, the main resting place of the chariot, at Hanumandhoka on the second day and at Lagan Tol on the third day with the collective coordination of NFPJ, Seto Machhindranath Rath Yatra Management Committee and Kathmandu Metropolitan City Ward no. 17, 21, 25, 27 and 28.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The special photo exhibition organized by NFPJ featured more than 50 photos taken by about 30 professional photojournalists and other photographers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Program coordinator Sunil Sharma informed that the main purpose of the exhibition was to inform about the pilgrimage of Seto Machhindranath which starts from Jamal and ends in Janbahal on the day of Chaitra Shukla Purnima (full moon day).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Seto Machhindranath is worshiped as the god of rain and prosperity. It is customary to worship Machhindranath as a deity who removes evil, saves from untimely death, unrest and insecurity. There is also a general belief that celebrating the Machchindranath Jatra brings in happiness, peace and prosperity to the family.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Personalities from different fields, tourists and former living goddess Matina Shakya and former Ganesh Sambeg Shakya attended the exhibition, adding more colors to the exhibition. Pradeep Raj Onta, president of NFPJ said that the exhibition, which was attended by about 500 spectators, provided more energy and determination to promote and spread the culture and fairs of Nepal in the future through photography.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-04', 'modified' => '2023-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17182', 'image' => '20230404110300_IMG20230331130050_1680443045.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-04 11:02:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17444', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ten Thousand Foreign Workers in Nepal, Highest from China ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Nepal largely depends on technical human resources from foreign countries for the implementation of big projects. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 3: Nepal largely depends on technical human resources from foreign countries for the implementation of big projects. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to an official data, skilled human resources required for various large projects here are hired from other countries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Department of Labour and Occupational Safety said workforce from around 100 countries in the world are currently engaged in various projects in Nepal and the Chinese make up the highest portion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, workers from the UK, the United States of America, South Korea, India and Japan are in a noticeable size. Since 2017, over 7,500 Chinese have taken labour permits, including 2594 renewals, for Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, 488 people from the United Kingdom, 332 from the US, 240 from South Korea, 230 from India, 190 from Japan, 116 from Australia, 113 from Sri Lanka, 98 from Germany, 79 from France and 56 from Bangladesh are working in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to department’s director general Krishna Prasad Gnawali, the Chinese-funded projects in Nepal are more in number thus the high number of Chinese workers in the country than those from other countries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Foreign workers are found deputed in technical posts like project engineering, tunnel and hydro engineering, maintenance engineering and mechanical engineering, according to the department. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There is a provision that work permit should be obtained from the department while hiring foreign citizens by employers. The department has been issuing work permit to foreign workers as per the Directives related to Work Permit Management of Foreign Citizens-2075. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Director General of the Department, Gnawali, said the work permit for foreign workers is being issued based on recommendation of the respective ministry and consent of the Home Ministry while the Department of Immigration provides visa to workers only after the department provides work permits. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The department provides one-year work permit for foreign workers. Work-permit is issued for skilled technicians for a maximum five years at different intervals while a maximum of three years for other foreign nationals at different intervals. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A foreign worker has to pay Rs 15,000 for six months and Rs 20,000 for more than six months, mentioned the Directives. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">--- </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17179', 'image' => '20230403073034_Seti-Nadi-HPP.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 19:29:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17441', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Vegetables from 19 Districts Arrive at Kalimati Market', 'sub_title' => '15 Percent of Vegetables and Fruits get Wasted while Reaching the Consumers', 'summary' => 'April 3: The Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market, the largest and oldest fruit and vegetable market in the country, brings in vegetables, fruits, fish and spices from 19 districts of the country as well as from India and China.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">April 3: The Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market, the largest and oldest fruit and vegetable market in the country, brings in vegetables, fruits, fish and spices from </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">19</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> districts of the country as well as from India and China.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">This market has been regularly bringing those items from Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Bara, Chitwan, Makwanpur, Dhading, Kavre, Dolakha, Gorkha, Navalparasi, Nuwakot, Parsa, Ramechhap, Sarlahi, Sindhuli, Sindhupalchok, Salyan, and Dang districts.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Makwanpur contributes the most to the fruits and vegetables brought to the market from within the country. The Kalimati market has a daily turnover of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">4</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">0 million. The data shows that </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">17.77</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of vegetables and fruits are imported from Makwanpur. In the same way, the lowest volume of fruits and vegetables arrive from Dang.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Binay Shrestha, information officer of Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee, said that apart from those districts, vegetables are also imported in small quantities from other districts. Since the quantity is very small, the committee does not keep separate data for this.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Last year alone, vegetables were brought to Kalimati from more than </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">50</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> districts including Kailali, Kanchanpur, Bardia and Surkhet. However, since that amount was very small, we have kept its data under other headings," said Shrestha. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, most of the vegetables are imported from the domestic market. Fish, potato and onion are imported in large quantities from India. Fruits, garlic and spices are imported from China.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Shrestha says Nepal has no choice but to rely on potatoes and onions from India. According to government data, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">289</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,000 metric tons of onions and </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> million metric tons of potatoes are produced in Nepal. But this does not meet the domestic demand, and therefore the country has to import potatoes and onions from India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">When any vegetable or fruit reaches Kathmandu from the source district where vegetables and fruits are produced, its price increases up to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">percent. Geeta Prasad Acharya, president of Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Traders Committee, said that when the product reaches the consumer, the price increases by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">80</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, five percent of fruits and vegetables rot by the time they reach the Kalimati market from various districts. When the retailer buys from Kalimati and delivers it to the consumer, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">8</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">10</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent is wasted. Adding to that the cost of transportation and labor costs, the price of fruits and vegetables can be much more expensive when they reach consumers than at the source. The cost of wasted fruits and vegetables will also be passed on to the consumer, so the price will be high.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the data provided by the Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee, the share of vegetables in the total turnover is the highest at </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">85.41</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent. Fruits contribute </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">8</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the total turnover, spice </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">5.05</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent, fish </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1.30</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent and other commodity turnover is 0.</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">51</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Kalimati market, which has been operating since the last three decades, sells more than </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">115</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> types of goods including vegetables, fruits, spices, and fish.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Between </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">700</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">900</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> tons of vegetables and fruits are brought into the Kalimati market every day. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17176', 'image' => '20230403031643_20180704013332_vege1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 15:15:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17440', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bank Deposits Increasing Continually since Mid-March', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Bank deposits increased by Rs 10 billion on Friday, according to the latest report of Nepal Rasttra Bank (NRB) released on Sunday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 3: Bank deposits increased by Rs 10 billion on Friday, according to the latest report of Nepal Rasttra Bank (NRB) released on Sunday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the central bank, the total deposits with banks stood at Rs 5415 billion as of March 30, which increased to Rs 5425 billion on March 31.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NRB spokesperson Dr. Gunakar Bhatta said that although the deposit collection in the banking system seems positive, such a huge difference in a single day is caused due to the deposit of large sum. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Lately, the rate of deposit is on a consistent rise. The spike in graph of Friday was caused by the deposit of large sum on the same day,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Earlier, on March 15, NRB released the data stating that the bank deposits decreased by Rs 11 billion in a single day. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bank deposits have been continuously rising since March 15.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to NRB, deposits with commercial banks stood at Rs 4773 billion as of mid-March, which reached Rs 4785 billion on March 31. Deposits of development banks and finance companies have remained stable. By mid-March, there were deposits of Rs 640 billion in development banks and finance companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the increase in deposits, banks have started providing small loan as wells. The total credit flow of banks was Rs 4515 billion as of last Thursday which reached Rs 4785 billion on Friday. During this period, the total loans of commercial banks increased by Rs 100 billion to Rs 4276 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Along with the increase in deposits, the credit-deposit ratio (CD ratio) of banks and financial institutions has decreased. On Thursday, the CD ratio of banks was 85.66 percent, but on Friday, it stood at 85.54 percent percent. By mid-March, the CD ratio of banks was 85.60 percent. According to the instructions of NRB, banks should maintain a CD ratio of less than 90 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the decline in CD ratio, there has been a general increase in the interbank interest rate. The interbank interest rate which was 7.01 percent on Thursday increased to 7.02 percent on Friday. Officials say that the possibility of increasing deposits will continue in the coming days. It is expected that the economy will improve as deposits in the banking system increase. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17175', 'image' => '20230403125235_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 12:51:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17439', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Unilever Collaborates with Nepalese Army for Mountain Clean-up Campaign', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Unilever has collaborated with the Nepalese Army in the Mountain Cleanup Campaign 2023.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">April 3: Unilever has collaborated with the Nepalese Army in the Mountain Cleanup Campaign 2023.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company has taken this initiative as a part of its commitment to make the world a ‘sustainable common habitat'. This is the third time the company is cooperating with the clean mountain campaign of the army. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company said that the campaign is being organised with the objective of reducing the impact of climate change by protecting and cleaning the mountains. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As part of this year's campaign, the target is to collect </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">35 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">tons of garbage while cleaning Mount Everest, Lhotse, Annapurna and and Baruntse. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Amlan Mukherjee, managing director of Unilever Nepal Limited, said, “We aim to set a new record this year in waste collection, segregation and recycling of accumulated waste through continued efforts.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17174', 'image' => '20230403121013_RS_KTM_RATL153003282023.JPG', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 12:09:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17438', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CNI urges Finance Minister to Revive Economy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the newly-appointed Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat to improve the national economy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 3: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the newly-appointed Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat to improve the national economy. The CNI delegation met Minister Mahat and discussed pressing issues of economy on Sunday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Minister Mahat was also handed over a 10-point memorandum on how the economy could be normalized. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">CNI President Vishnu Kumar Agrawal stressed the need for reducing interest rate, normalizing liquidity and encouraging investment for immediate improvement of economy. "These three issues must be prioritized at present. High morale is required to revive economic activities," Agrawal stressed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Moreover, he argued that the cash reserve ratio (CRR) needs to be reduced to three percent so as to decrease interest rate and manage liquidity and the bank rate also needs to be lowered. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the memorandum, the CNI further suggested the government to fix the interest gap of fixed and savings accounts at five percent maximum. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In response, Finance Minister Mahat said that the government was in need of assistance from the private sector to resolve the problems related to the economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The government is ready to identify the problems and find solution. For this, cooperation from the private sector is a must," Minister Mahat said. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17173', 'image' => '20230403110138_economic crisis.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 11:00:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17437', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Index Continues Its Downward Trend; All Groups Land in Red ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Contrary to investors’ expectations, the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index plunged 20 points to close at 1,888.55 points on the first trading day on Sunday. Over 3.7 million shares of the total 260 listed companies were traded at over Rs 1.20 billion. The sub-index of all groups landed in red on the first trading day. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">April 3: Contrary to investors’ expectations, the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index plunged 20 points to close at 1,888.55 points on the first trading day on Sunday. Over 3.7 million shares of the total 260 listed companies were traded at over Rs 1.20 billion. The sub-index of all groups landed in red on the first trading day. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The sub-index of the trading group registered the highest fall by 54.99 points and that of non-life insurance group by 47.24 points. <br /> The sub-index of banking group decreased by 23.89 points, while hotel and tourism groups fell by 18.91 points. Likewise, hydropower sub-index and life insurance group dropped by 41.68 points, and 36.4 points respectively. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The investment sub-index decreased by 0.74 points where as sub-index of production and processing group fell by 35.72 points, that of micro-finance group by 35.84 points, that of mutual fund group by 0.02 points and that of other groups by 10.97 points. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The share price of Kalinchok Darshan Limited posted the highest increase by 9.96 percent today. The highest fall in share price is that of Swabhiman Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd. It fell by 9. 61points. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">In the intraday trading, 189 listed companies lost their market value, while only 23 companies registered gains. The daily turnover rose to Rs 1.207 billion from Rs 899.53 million on Thursday.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Among individual companies, NIC Asia Bank, with transactions of its shares worth Rs 50.56 million, topped the list. Swabhimaan Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the topmost loser. Kalinchowk Darshan Limited gained the highest percent of its market price. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Share investors said that the NEPSE index had continued its downtrend trend as market could not build up confidence despite the appointment of Nepali Congress’ leader Prakash Sharan Mahat as Finance Minister. “Secondary market is waiting for policy-change from the government. Without policy change, NEPSE will not be able to reverse its trend immediately,” said a share investor. </span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17172', 'image' => '20230403064934_collage (53).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 06:46:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17436', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Elected Vice-President of Asia-Pacific UNESCO Clubs and Associations (AFUCA)', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal has been elected to the post of Vice-President of the Asia-Pacific Federation of UNESCO Clubs and Associations (AFUCA). Nepal was unanimously elected to the post in the 26th general session of the AFUCA held in Kazakhstan's capital city Almaty on Sunday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">April 3: Nepal has been elected to the post of Vice-President of the Asia-Pacific Federation of UNESCO Clubs and Associations (AFUCA). Nepal was unanimously elected to the post in the 26th general session of the AFUCA held in Kazakhstan's capital city Almaty on Sunday. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Among the 12 countries of the Asia-Pacific region attending the general assembly, Nepal and Vietnam had registered their candidacies for the post and both countries were elected to the post unanimously.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"> Nepal's representative in the election was Anandaraj Tripathi, President of the National Federation of UNESCO Clubs and Mayor of Bhanu Municipality in Tanahu district. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Similarly, South Korea won the Chair of the AFUCA beating Philippines in the voting. South Korea garnered 10 votes while Philippines conceded defeat securing only 2 votes. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Sunjoo Lee was in the fray from South Korea. Upon the election to the Vice-President post, elated Tripathi pledged to work more actively to take forward movement of the UNESCO in the Asia-Pacific region. -----RSS </span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-03', 'modified' => '2023-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17171', 'image' => '20230403062007_collage (52).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-03 06:00:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17433', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Improving Crisis-Ridden Economy is my Priority: Finance Minister Mahat ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 2: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has said improving the crisis-ridden economy is his top priority and commitment. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 2: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has said improving the crisis-ridden economy is his top priority and commitment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The suggestions and collaboration of the private sector is needed for this," he reiterated in a meeting with a delegation of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) on Sunday. He added that he would bail out the crisis-ridden economy taking the private sector on board. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"I will not allow your self-confidence to sap; I will be constantly in dialogue with you. I have expected your full cooperation in fulfilling my resolve to improving the economy," Finance Minister Mahat said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, FNCCI president Shekhar Golchha, on behalf the entire private sector, extended best wishes to the newly-appointed finance minister, and also briefed him on the latest economic condition. He suggested injecting money in the market and reducing the interest rate through the joint initiative of the central bank and the government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The FNCCI urged the finance minister to ensure liquidity in the banking sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Golchha also suggested for increasing the government expenditure, saying it was too much sluggish. He stressed on expanding the capital expenditure which is merely around 25 percent now. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Revenue collection is low and it is difficult to cope with the current expenditure. Expenditure should be increased even by raising external loans for this," the FNCCI president said, reiterating that the loan mobilized in this manner should be used only for development expenditure. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-02', 'modified' => '2023-04-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17168', 'image' => '20230402035731_1680390939.prakash sharan mahat.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-02 15:56:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17432', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Around 100000 Foreign Tourists Visit Nepal in March', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Around 100 thousand tourists visited Nepal in March in 2023. According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), 99, 426 visitors entered Nepal in March.', 'content' => '<p><br /> <span style="font-size:18px">April 2: Around 100 thousand tourists visited Nepal in March in 2023. According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), 99, 426 visitors entered Nepal in March.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Of the total visitors, 33,454 were from the SAARC nations, 15, 643 from other Asian nations, 23, 265 from the Europe and 3,958 arrived from the countries of the Oceania region. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Similarly, the nation welcomed 1,707 from Canada, 9557 from the United States of America and 10,375 from the Middle-East. The highest number of tourists had arrived from India and they make-up 25,911 and this figure was 15,013 in the corresponding period in 2022. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Similarly, the tourist arrivals from the US in March were almost a double compared to the review period last year.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">In 2022, 4,896 tourists from the US had visited Nepal. The high tourist flows were from India, the US, the UK, Germany and Sri Lanka. The data show that Nepal's tourism industry is on the path of recovery post-COVID-19 pandemic. ---RSS </span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-04-02', 'modified' => '2023-04-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17167', 'image' => '20230402035519_collage - 2023-04-02T155256.954.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-04-02 15:53:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
| Currency | Unit |
Buy | Sell |
| U.S. Dollar | 1 | 121.23 | 121.83 |
| European Euro | 1 | 131.65 | 132.31 |
| UK Pound Sterling | 1 | 142.47 | 143.18 |
| Swiss Franc | 1 | 124.29 | 124.90 |
| Australian Dollar | 1 | 71.69 | 72.05 |
| Canadian Dollar | 1 | 83.90 | 84.32 |
| Japanese Yen | 10 | 10.94 | 11.00 |
| Chinese Yuan | 1 | 17.17 | 17.26 |
| Saudi Arabian Riyal | 1 | 32.27 | 32.43 |
| UAE Dirham | 1 | 33.01 | 33.17 |
| Malaysian Ringgit | 1 | 27.36 | 27.50 |
| South Korean Won | 100 | 9.77 | 9.82 |
Update: 2020-03-25 | Source: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)
| Fine Gold | 1 tola | 77000.00 |
| Tejabi Gold | 1 tola | 76700.00 |
| Silver | 1 tola | 720.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
Source: Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association
| Petrol | 1 Liter | 106.00 |
| Diesel | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| Kerosene | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| LP Gas | 1 Cylinder | 1375.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
