November 23: Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has emerged victorious in the election to the House of Representatives (HoR) from Dadeldhura…
November 23: Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has emerged victorious in the election to the House of Representatives (HoR) from Dadeldhura…
November 23: Nepali Congress is taking the lead in the first-past-the-post electoral system under the elections to the House of Representatives (HoR) and provincial assemblies held on Sunday, November 20.…
November 23: The CPN-UML is leading the vote count under the proportional representation (PR) system as of 11:30 pm on…
November 22: The results of the November 20 elections to the members of the House of Representatives and provincial assemblies have started to…
November 22: Investors are eagerly awaiting for the impact of election on the capital…
November 22: Asian shares were on the defensive on Tuesday as a COVID-19 resurgence in China increased concerns that Beijing may reimpose strict pandemic curbs.…
November 22: Tourists coming from India have been facing problems at border checkpoints due to the ban on Indian currency of 500 and 2000…
November 22: The Prime Minister's Employment Program launched by the previous government under the leadership of KP Sharma Oli has not been implemented properly even in the current fiscal…
November 22: The Government of Nepal has granted permission for climbers from 76 countries to scale mountain peaks during the autumn season this year, which is considered ideal climbing period after the spring…
November 22: The counting of votes of the November 20 election is currently…
November 21: Young Nepali migrant workers facing physical, financial and mental exploitation during foreign employment is no longer a new issue for…
November 21: Indian officials have assured to reopen the Bailey Bridge over Pramana River in Mirgunj, India, within 15…
November 21: Jute production has been declining continuously in Nepal in recent years, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock…
November 21: The voter turnout during Sunday’s general election was much less than expected.…
November 21: The 2022 World Cup kicked off in Qatar’s Al-Bayt Stadium on Sunday with a visually appealing opening…
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 23: Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has emerged victorious in the election to the House of Representatives (HoR) from Dadeldhura district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This is the seventh straight victory of Deuba from his home district Dadeldhura. Deuba has been the MP from Dadeldhura since 2048 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Out of 51,203 votes cast, Deuba won the election by securing 25,534 votes, Chief Returning Officer Bal Krishna Wagle said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Deuba’s closest rival Sagar Dhakal, and independent candidate, garnered 13,042 votes while NC (BP)’s Karna Bahadur Malla secured 7,535 votes, the Office of the Chief Returning Officer said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Born at Ruwakhola of Asigram in Dadeldhura district in 2003 BS, Deuba joined politics since 2017 BS and served as the first elected chief of Nepal Student’s Union. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-23', 'modified' => '2022-11-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16104', 'image' => '20221123114959_Deuba.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-23 11:49:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16362', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepali Congress Ahead in HoR, State Assembly Elections', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 23: Nepali Congress is taking the lead in the first-past-the-post electoral system under the elections to the House of Representatives (HoR) and provincial assemblies held on Sunday, November 20. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">November 23: Nepali Congress is taking the lead in the first-past-the-post electoral system under the elections to the House of Representatives (HoR) and provincial assemblies held on Sunday, November 20.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">According to the results published by the Election Commission on its website, the NC has won 14 seats of lower house as of Wednesday afternoon. Similarly, the NC is ahead in vote count in 43 HoR constituencies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the main opposition party CPN-UML has won five HoR seats and is ahead in the vote count in 39 constituencies. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Similarly, the CPN (Maoist Centre), which had forged an electoral alliance with the NC, has won three seats and is leading in 14 constituencies while the CPN (Unified Socialist) has won one seat in lower house and is ahead in eight constituencies. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Likewise, the newly-formed Rastriya Swatantra Party has won four seats in HoR and is ahead in vote count in five constituencies while the Rastriya Prajatantra Party has also won one lower house seat and is leading the tally in four constituencies followed by Janamat Party (5), and Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (2). Nagarik Unmukti Party has secured one seat in parliament and is leading the vote count in three constituencies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The NC is also leading vote count in provincial assemblies’ election and has already won 16 seats. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">CPN-UML is second with five wins and is ahead in 60 constituencies while the Maoist Centre has also won five provincial assembly seats and is leading in 33 constituencies by the time this news report was prepared.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-23', 'modified' => '2022-11-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16103', 'image' => '20221123111319_ROS_KTM-0178.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-23 11:12:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16361', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CPN-UML Leads Vote Count under PR System ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 23: The CPN-UML is leading the vote count under the proportional representation (PR) system as of 11:30 pm on Tuesday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 23: The CPN-UML is leading the vote count under the proportional representation (PR) system as of 11:30 pm on Tuesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Election Commission (EC), the UML has secured 159,050 votes while the Nepali Congress, which is in the second position, has managed 138,446 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) is third with 70,795 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, CPN (Maoist Centre) has obtained 66,911 votes and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) garnered 37,335 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EC informed that Janamat Party has secured 12,626 votes and Janata Samajwadi Party has bagged 12,138 votes under the PR system. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Nepal Workers and Peasants Party has managed 8,621 votes, CPN (Unified Socialist) has 8,561 votes, Nagarik Unmukti Party holds 7,830 votes and other parties have managed 32,319 votes. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-23', 'modified' => '2022-11-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16102', 'image' => '20221123103320_KN_Damauli-image_6483441.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-23 10:32:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16360', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Voters Looking for a Political Change', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: The results of the November 20 elections to the members of the House of Representatives and provincial assemblies have started to arrive.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Rudra Khadka</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">November 22: The results of the November 20 elections to the members of the House of Representatives and provincial assemblies have started to arrive.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The preliminary results seem to be as expected. The ruling Nepali Congress and the main opposition CPN-UML are at the forefront. These parties are likely to be the first and second largest parties in the new parliament. Despite this, voters from all over the country have given a clear message that they are looking for a change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The popularity of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) led by former journalist Ravi Lamichhane, despite being established only a few months before the election, getting respectable votes is a clear indication that the voters are in favour of change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">While there are complaints that the political parties that have been holding the reins of power since 1990 have not been able to work according to the people's aspirations and only a limited number of people are currently in power, the RSP has expressed its commitment that one person will not hold any position for more than two terms. The party has also made it clear that the relatives of the party leaders will not be appointed to positions of benefit. The RSP has advocated for good governance and pledged to fight against corruption. This has attracted the voters to the new party.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">It seems that the new parties also have benefited from a six per cent decline in votes compared to the 2017 general elections. The general trand of major political parties presenting attractive plans in their manifesto but their failure to implement such plans in practice also helped the RSP this time. Many disappointed voters of the old political parties did not vote this time. As a result, participation in voting decreased.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In Nepal, there has been a change in political consciousness among the common people. If the people had not wanted change, the 104-year-long Rana regime would not have ended. Even the panchayat rulers who had been in power for 30 years would not have been forced to kneel had the public not wanted change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Change is inevitable not only in Nepal but also all over the world. The difference is - in countries where democracy is practised well, leadership changes rather than political parties/systems. Political analysts say that people may look for alternatives to big political parties because they have hardly changed their leadership.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The election results will likely come as a warning sign to the big political parties and their leaders that they need to improve. If the parties change the way they work, they might establish themselves for the next few years. If the parties and their leaders don't take this as a warning, it is clear that their future in politics is doomed. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16101', 'image' => '20221122041334_KB_KTM_E3A0922copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 16:12:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16358', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'What do Investors Predict about the Capital Market after Election?', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: Investors are eagerly awaiting for the impact of election on the capital market.', '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"">November 22: Investors are eagerly awaiting for the impact of election on the capital market. Some investors are expecting golden days in the secondary market after the election. The November 20 polls were suspended only in a few places while the election concluded peacefully in most of the constituencies.</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 investors are expecting a new government and a new dimension in investment after the election. Some investors who had been voicing for reforms in the share market joined the fray in election this time. Stakeholders believed that the share market will gain a lot if those advocating for the reforms of this sector get elected to the post of MPs.</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 secondary market of Nepal with more than 5.4 million investors has been fluctuating since more the past one year. The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index, which climbed to a record high of 3,200 points, has once again dropped to less than 2,000 points.</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"">Investors believe that the election will have a positive impact on the share market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><strong><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"">Radha Pokharel</span></span></span></span></strong></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"">Chairperson, Nepal Stock Market Investors Association</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 share market has always flourished during the election year. The liquidity crisis in the banking system gets eased during the election. This will have a positive impact on the share market. This time our colleagues have also contested the election. We firmly believe that the problems of the share market will be resolved if they win the election and become MPs. Although there are laws to govern the share market, it is important to implement them. I firmly believe that the new government will work towards enhancing the share market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><strong><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"">Chotelal Rauniyar</span></span></span></span></strong></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"">Former Chairman, Nepal Investors Forum</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 share market has received positive indications ahead of the election. Remittance inflow has increased and is in an increasing trend. This is also a good sign for the economy and the capital market. </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 liquidity crisis is also improving of late and the interest rate is also declining. The NEPSE index has fallen from 3,200 points to 1,900 points. The share value of most of the companies has fallen. If anyone invests in share at this moment, there is 20 percent risk and 80 percent return.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><strong><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"">Ambika Prasad Poudel</span></span></span></span></strong></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"">Chairman, Capital Market Forum of FNCCI</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 number of stock brokers is increasing and a new stock exchange company is in the offing. The process of book building is also moving forward. The stock market index is also rising slowly. Remittance inflow graph is also increasing. The Balance of Payments is also positive. The foreign exchange reserves are also improving and the CD ratio is also getting better. The arrival of tourists is also improving with the decline in coronavirus cases. The capital expenditure is expected to be better after the election. All these positive indications show that the share market will become better in the coming days. However, the capital market depends on psychological factors. If the investors are positive, then the share market will head towards the right direction.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16100', 'image' => '20221122020823_1669095018.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 14:07:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16359', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Asian Shares Down as Covid-19 Cases Flare-up in China', 'sub_title' => 'Investors Fear China may Resume Strict COVID Curbs', 'summary' => 'November 22: Asian shares were on the defensive on Tuesday as a COVID-19 resurgence in China increased concerns that Beijing may reimpose strict pandemic curbs. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">November 22: Asian shares were on the defensive on Tuesday as a COVID-19 resurgence in China increased concerns that Beijing may reimpose strict pandemic curbs. According to Reuters, further restrictions could cause supply chain disruptions.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The dollar pulled back from strong overnight gains on Tuesday while oil took a pause from Monday's retreat, added the news agency.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“The broader Asia-Pacific index ex-Japan lost 0.25 percent in early trade, while China’s benchmark dipped 0.13 percent. Hong Kong's benchmark index fell 1.31 percent. Japan's benchmark Nikkei average opened up 0.78 percent, while Australian shares rose 0.55 percent,” Reuters reported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the news agency, Beijing warned on Monday that it was facing its most severe test of the pandemic, fuelling investor concerns that China may be forced to resume strict mobility curbs and give stay and home orders across cities.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The controversial strategy - which aims to eradicate outbreaks - has seen millions locked down and citizens who have tested positive for the virus forcibly quarantined, BBC reported, adding, “Three deaths have been reported in the Chinese capital since Saturday, bringing the country's official death toll to 5,229. The latest fatalities have plunged parts of the city home to more than 21 million back into lockdown.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Meanwhile, Reuters reported that the US dollar pared some of its strong overnight gains on Tuesday after investors flocked to the safe-haven currency on nerves over China's COVID flare ups.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“Oil prices rose slightly in early Asian trade, a day after Saudi Arabia denied a media report that it was discussing an increase in oil supply with OPEC and its allies. US crude rose 0.27 percent to $80.26 per barrel on Tuesday and Brent was at $87.79, up 0.19 percent. Spot gold traded at $1,738.39 an ounce,” Reuters added.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16099', 'image' => '20221122020923_0x0.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 14:08:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16357', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourists Carrying Indian Currency Face Hassles at Border Checkpoints', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: Tourists coming from India have been facing problems at border checkpoints due to the ban on Indian currency of 500 and 2000 denominations.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 22: Tourists coming from India have been facing problems at border checkpoints due to the ban on Indian currency of 500 and 2000 denominations. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The local entrepreneurs say that if the Indian tourists visiting Nepal are found carrying these currency notes, the security personnel deployed at the border points confiscate the notes and even imprison them.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Nepal Rastra Bank, only IRs 100 is in circulation in Nepal. Officials of NRB clarified that such a rule is imposed while considering the risk of unauthorized transactions of Indian Currency (IC).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">When carrying low IC notes of low denomination, one has to carry large quantities of such notes even for small transactions, which is difficult and impractical. Some of the tourists carry IRs 500 and IRs 2000 notes due to lack of information and get into trouble. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hari Pant, president of Hotel and Tourism Entrepreneurs Association, said that the Indian tourists hesitate to come to Nepal due to such hassles.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pant complains that the issue of big notes is affecting the tourism and hotel business of the Terai region. The business of this area is dependent on Indian tourists. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“When the tourists from India started getting into trouble because of the cash they had with them, it has started affecting our business,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Indian citizens do not know that Indian notes above 100 rupee denomination are banned in Nepal. Sanjay Agarwal, co-ordinator of the Madhesh Province Tour and Travel and Tourism Committee of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry says that tourists suffer at the border because of the money they bring with them to spend.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ashok Kumar Baidya, chairman of Nepal-India Cooperation Forum, suggested that the government should facilitate Indian tourists in the border points even if it means they have to establishment a help room for the Indian tourists. He suggested that the Indian should be allowed to carry currencies of 500 and 2000 denominations on a self-declaration basis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“If they are not allowed bring the notes, there should be a simple arrangement to facilitate the Indian tourists at the border. They should not be prosecuted and sent to prison, but rather need cooperation.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Entrepreneurs say that there is no reason to impose a ban on the higher denominations of Indian currency in Nepal and cause suffering to the tourists on the pretext of banning these currency notes. Tourism entrepreneurs argue that the government must either ban the Indian currency in Nepal completely or lift the ban altogether because there is no point in allowing circulation of IRs 100 notes and banning the circulation of IRs 500 and IRs 2000 notes. This has only become a cause of confusion and problems for tourists coming to Nepal, they say.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16098', 'image' => '20221122013715_1669098225.भारू बोकेर आउने पर्यटकलाई सिमानामा सास्ती.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 13:36:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16356', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Less than 800 People get Jobs under PM Employment Programme', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: The Prime Minister's Employment Program launched by the previous government under the leadership of KP Sharma Oli has not been implemented properly even in the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 22: The Prime Minister's Employment Program launched by the previous government under the leadership of KP Sharma Oli has not been implemented properly even in the current fiscal year. It has been five months since the new fiscal year started but many of the people listed in the programme are still unemployed. Even the allocated budget is barely being spent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Around 841,500 people have applied for jobs under the PM's Employment Programme this year including 387,000 male and more than 453,000 female applicants. The PM's Employment Programme Secretariat, which is under the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security informed that only 712 of them are employed and received the minimum wage.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">They have been given the minimum wage at the rate of Rs 614 per day on an average. According to the secretariat, it is not possible to provide employment to 800,000 people this year. Also, not all the applicants are eligible for employment. Therefore, the government aims to provide employment to 200,000 people this year through the budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Lok Nath Bhusal, under-secretary of the PMEP secretariat, informed that the plan to provide employment is being carried out accordingly.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Not all the applicants are eligible for employment. Around 200,000 applicants will be employed after selecting the eligible candidates from among the applicants. If the government arranges more budget, more people can be employed,” said Bhusal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government has allocated a budget of Rs 7.13 billion for the PM's Employment Programme this year. In the last five months, only Rs 99.4 million has been spent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bhusal says that this ambitious programme is not implemented properly this year due to the elections. He stated, “Because everyone's attention is on the election, the implementation of the programme has not been able to accelerate, it will gain momentum after the election.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Last year, the government had allocated a budget of Rs 12 billion for this programme, but for the current fiscal year, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma allocated only Rs 7 billion. Even though the government is under intense pressure to amend the programme and make it production-oriented, it seems that implementation part is getting worse.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The World Bank has provide a concessional loan of Rs 14 billion in the name of 'Yeti Project' in order to implement this programme. This year, more than Rs 18 million of the said loan is being spent. Even though donor agencies have supported the programme, questions are being raised because it is not effective.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16097', 'image' => '20221122011616_PMEP.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 13:15:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16355', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 1,400 Climbers Acquire Permits to Climb Mountain Peaks during Autumn Season', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: The Government of Nepal has granted permission for climbers from 76 countries to scale mountain peaks during the autumn season this year, which is considered ideal climbing period after the spring season.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 22: The Government of Nepal has granted permission for climbers from 76 countries to scale mountain peaks during the autumn season this year, which is considered an ideal climbing period after the spring season. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Department of Tourism, the government body responsible for issuing climbing permits, a total of 1,435 foreigners have been granted permission to climb 48 different peaks during the autumn climbing window. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During this autumn, a few climbers are interested in climbing Mt Everest, the world’s highest peak, which fetches good royalties. Most of the climbers prefer to scale Everest during the spring window and opt for Mt Manaslu (8,161 meters) during the autumn season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the latest data of the department, altogether 404 climbers of 38 expedition groups have been issued permits to climb Mt Manaslu this season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A total of 330 female climbers have received permission to climb mountains during this period. The department has collected royalties worth Rs 93 million from climbing permits. Royalties from Manaslu alone is worth Rs 46.2 million while the department has collected royalties worth Rs 3.5 million from 5 climbers attempting to climb Everest. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Even climbers from two warring countries, Russia and Ukraine, have also arrived here to climb mountain peaks this year. According to the department, almost half a million tourists have arrived in Nepal in the first ten months of 2022 after a decline in Covid-19 cases in Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Most of the climbers are from the UK (144) followed by the USA (132) and France (129). </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Others are from Germany, Spain, India, Japan, Italy, Australia, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Iran among others.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16096', 'image' => '20221122121433_SantoshGautam_Myagdi_RSS_02_Churenhimaltreak(2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 12:13:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16354', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepali Congress Secures Two Seats in HoR, UML Leading in Proportional Representation Category', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: The counting of votes of the November 20 election is currently underway. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 22: The counting of votes of the November 20 election is currently underway. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the first-past-the-post category, the Nepali Congress is leading the polls after securing 2 seats of the House of Representatives, while the CPN (UML) is in second place with one seat so far. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Election Commission, Nepali Congress is leading in 35 constituencies and CPN (UML) in 32 followed by CPN (Maoist Center) in 9 constituencies, Rastriya Swatantra Party in 8, Rastriya Prajatantra Party in 5 while others have maintained lead in 19 constituencies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Nepali Congress, which is in the first place in the FPTP category, is in the second place in the proportional representation (PR) category. According to the Election Commission, CPN-UML has secured the top position with 23,374 votes followed by Nepali Congress in the second position with 21,949 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Rastriya Swatantra Party is in the third place with 11,505 votes while CPN (Maoist Center) is fourth with 8,398 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Furthermore, Rastriya Prajatantra Party has garnered 5,476 votes, Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal received 2,098, Janamaat Party has secured 1,648 votes and Nepal Workers and Peasant Party 1,600 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The main opposition, CPN (UML) is also in the top position in proportional representation category of the Provincial Assembly elections. According to the EC, the UML has secured 8,124 votes while Nepali Congress which is in the second position with 7, 411 votes. The Maoist Center is in third place with 2,678 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party has bagged 2,148 votes, Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal 1,375 votes and others has so far received 3,083 votes. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16095', 'image' => '20221122110703_Election_Commission.2e16d0ba.fill-650x500.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 11:06:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16351', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepali Migrant Workers found Working in Countries with no Labor Agreement', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 21: Young Nepali migrant workers facing physical, financial and mental exploitation during foreign employment is no longer a new issue for Nepal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 21: Young Nepali migrant workers facing physical, financial and mental exploitation during foreign employment is no longer a new issue for Nepal. Even though the rights activists are raising their voices that the problems faced by the workers should be addressed, the youths have been forced to visit foreign countries for employment due to government’s negligence. They are even found visiting countries with whom Nepal has not signed labour pacts.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although it is considered mandatory to have a labor contract with the respective country before going for foreign employment, the government is unable to sign a labor contract with the employer country. But the process of workers entering those countries still continues unabated.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Those who have reached the leadership level of power have repeatedly assured that a labor agreement will be made with the employer country. However, labor contracts have not been signed with most of the labor destination countries chosen by Nepali youth for foreign employment. Officials of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security say that due to weak diplomatic initiatives, labor agreements have not been reached with most of the countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Due to the failure to reach a bilateral agreement at the government level with the major labour destination countries, a secure environment has not been created for Nepali workers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the Covid-19 pandemic, around 2,000 young people have been going abroad for foreign employment every day. As mentioned in the data of the Department of Foreign Employment, most of them go to Gulf countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">So far, the government has opened up 111 countries of the world for employment, but has signed labor agreements with only 10 countries. According to the ministry, so far labor agreements have been signed with Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Korea, Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Malaysia, Mauritius and Oman.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Spokesperson at the Labour Ministry Danduraj Ghimire says that the ministry is always ready for labor agreements with the main labour destination countries. He said that the government has a plan to make foreign employment systematic, transparent and dignified by signing labor agreements with labour destination countries with good prospects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-21', 'modified' => '2022-11-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16093', 'image' => '20221121015409_foreign emp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-21 13:53:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16353', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mirgunj Bridge to Reopen Within 15 Days', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 21: Indian officials have assured to reopen the Bailey Bridge over Pramana River in Mirgunj, India, within 15 days.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 21: Indian officials have assured to reopen the Bailey Bridge over Pramana River in Mirgunj, India, within 15 days. The delay in opening of the bridge has become a headache for Nepali businessmen as they have to rely on longer route for trade with India.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu gave such assurance to the Morang Merchants’ Association. The bridge is located 4 kilometers west of the Biratnagar-Jogwani border checkpoint. India is yet to open the traffic even though the Bailey Bridge, which collapsed 10 months ago, had been repaired already. As a result, Nepali entrepreneurs are compelled to re-route goods imported from Indian and third and also pay extra freight charge.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Keeping this problem in mind, Gopal Agarwal, executive member of the Morang Merchants’ Association, submitted a memorandum to Deputy Chief of Mission of the Indian Embassy Prasanna Srivastava and Chief of Commerce SumanShekhar to open the bridge immediately. In response, the embassy officials provided assurance about opening the bridge within 15 days.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The damaged Bailey Bridge has already been repaired along with a concrete bridge on the newly built four-lane road 200 meters north of it. The four-lane road leads from Bihar's road network to the Nepal-India Integrated Checkpoint (ICP). However, despite repeated requests to the Indian side, the bridge is still closed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The association has been drawing the attention of the high-ranking officials of India, requesting for the bridge be operated as soon as possible. However, they have only been giving assurances. Agarwal, also handed over a letter signed by the association’s president Naveen Rijal to the embassy officials.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">When the goods that have arrived near the customs are re-routed and brought back to the Biratnagar customs from Bhantabari via Sunsari, they have to travel 116 km more. The industrialists of Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor have been complaining that they have to pay Rs 250,000 more as freight charge every day when the goods are re-routed and brought into the country.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-21', 'modified' => '2022-11-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16092', 'image' => '20221121032216_Flag-Pins-India-Nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-21 15:21:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16350', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Jute Production Declining Continuously in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 21: Jute production has been declining continuously in Nepal in recent years, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 21: Jute production has been declining continuously in Nepal in recent years, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the data, the production decreased by 6000 metric tons in the last seven years. The farmers producing jute are now abandoning its cultivation after they stopped getting equitable returns according to their investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data of the ministry, 16,530 metric tons of jute was produced in Nepal in the fiscal year (FY 2014/15). By the end of the year 2020/21, jute production decreased by 6,079 metric tons to 10,451 metric tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During this period, the area of land where jute is produced also decreased by about 4000 hectares. The data shows that jute farming was done on 11,400 hectares of land in FY 2014/15, which decreased to 7,415 hectares in FY 2020/21.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Binod Gupta of Jute Research Programme, Itahari informed that the farmers are not getting the price according to the cost of production and the production is decreasing every year due to unstable prices. However, when farmers sell jute, they do not get the price according to the cost of production. He said that the jute industry sets the price much lower than the production cost of the farmers. Also, the government does not set the support price of jute. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Gupta says Nepali jute producing farmers have been hurt by the practice of setting prices by the Nepali jute industry under the guidance of the jute industry of Kolkata.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">About 12 years ago, jute was cultivated on an area of more than 20,000 hectares in the districts of Sunsari, Morang, Jhapa, Siraha, Saptari, Udayapur alone. Now the area under jute farming has decreased. Other crops are grown on the land where jute farming used to be done. The ironic reality is that 70 percent of the raw jute required for Nepali industry is being imported from India and Bangladesh, according to stakeholders. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-21', 'modified' => '2022-11-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16091', 'image' => '20221121011125_NG_Sunsari-IMG_20221011_121746.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-21 13:10:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16349', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Voter Turnout Less Than Expected: Election Commission ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 21: The voter turnout during Sunday’s general election was much less than expected. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Bijay Damase </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"">November 21: The voter turnout during Sunday’s general election was much less than expected. According to the preliminary report of the Election Commission (EC), the voter turnout remained less than 61 per cent.</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"">Prior to this, the nationwide voter turnout in the elections held in 2017 stood at 67.63 percent while the voter turnout in local elections held earlier this year was 66.86 percent. </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"">Analysts believe that the low voter turnout is the result of lack of accountability of the people’s representatives elected in the past. The low voter turnout also hints at the people’s contempt towards political party leaders and their working style.</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"">Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya admitted during a press conference on Sunday evening that the voter turnout was less than expected. He said that the voting was not encouraging on Sunday morning but there was some improvement towards the afternoon.</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 election has been postponed in some places,” said CEC Thapaliya.</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"">He added that the vote counting would begin as soon as the ballot boxes are collected from the polling stations and brought to the vote counting centres.</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 EC maintained that the elections were largely peaceful, with some exceptions of sporadic incidents. </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"">According to the EC, election-related violence was reported in over a dozen district. Police had to resort to firing blank shots in the air to bring the situation under control in over 24 polling centres of 11 districts. Voting was suspended in 64 places but it resumed in all but six of those areas. One person was killed in police firing in Triveni Municipality of Bajura district as police opened fire to disperse the agitating crowd.</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"">There are a total of eligible 17,988,570 voters in Nepal registered at the Election Commission. According to the EC, information on voter turnout is being registered in the EC’s entry system. </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 Election Commission had set up 22,227 voting centres under 10,892 polling stations for the election to the House of Representatives (HoR) and provincial assemblies on November 20. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-21', 'modified' => '2022-11-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16090', 'image' => '20221121120022_KiranTHapa_Melamchi_RSS_04_222.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-21 11:59:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16347', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Cup Kicks off with Glitzy Inaugural Ceremony', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 21: The 2022 World Cup kicked off in Qatar’s Al-Bayt Stadium on Sunday with a visually appealing opening ceremony.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Agencies</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 21: The 2022 World Cup kicked off in Qatar’s Al-Bayt Stadium on Sunday with a visually appealing opening ceremony.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the BBC, America’s Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman featured in the festivities alongside Qatari YouTuber Ghanim Al-Muftah. South Korean pop star Jung Kook sang Dreamers, the tournament song, alongside Qatari singer Fahad Al Kubaisi at the stadium in Al Khor.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The build-up to the first World Cup to be held in a Muslim country in the Middle East has been overshadowed by a number of controversies, including deaths of migrant workers and treatment of LGBT people in Qatar, BBC added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Reuters, Qatar's ruler in his inauguration speech called for people of all races and orientations to put aside their differences, as the host nation faced a barrage of criticism over its treatment of foreign workers and LGBT rights.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Muslim Gulf nation is staking its reputation on delivering a smooth tournament and has denied accusations of abuse of workers and discrimination, the news agency added. Football governing body FIFA hopes the spotlight will now turn to action on the pitch.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Organisers have also denied allegations of bribery to win the rights to host football’s biggest event.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"People of all races, nationalities, beliefs and orientations will gather here in Qatar and around screens across the continents to share in the exciting moments," Reuters quoted Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani as saying.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the inaugural match, which took place minutes after the opening ceremony, the hosts Qatar were beaten 2-0 by Equador.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-21', 'modified' => '2022-11-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16089', 'image' => '20221121093249_wc.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-21 09:32:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $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' => '16364', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Deuba Wins HoR Seat from Dadeldhura ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 23: Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has emerged victorious in the election to the House of Representatives (HoR) from Dadeldhura district. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 23: Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has emerged victorious in the election to the House of Representatives (HoR) from Dadeldhura district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This is the seventh straight victory of Deuba from his home district Dadeldhura. Deuba has been the MP from Dadeldhura since 2048 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Out of 51,203 votes cast, Deuba won the election by securing 25,534 votes, Chief Returning Officer Bal Krishna Wagle said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Deuba’s closest rival Sagar Dhakal, and independent candidate, garnered 13,042 votes while NC (BP)’s Karna Bahadur Malla secured 7,535 votes, the Office of the Chief Returning Officer said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Born at Ruwakhola of Asigram in Dadeldhura district in 2003 BS, Deuba joined politics since 2017 BS and served as the first elected chief of Nepal Student’s Union. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-23', 'modified' => '2022-11-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16104', 'image' => '20221123114959_Deuba.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-23 11:49:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16362', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepali Congress Ahead in HoR, State Assembly Elections', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 23: Nepali Congress is taking the lead in the first-past-the-post electoral system under the elections to the House of Representatives (HoR) and provincial assemblies held on Sunday, November 20. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">November 23: Nepali Congress is taking the lead in the first-past-the-post electoral system under the elections to the House of Representatives (HoR) and provincial assemblies held on Sunday, November 20.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">According to the results published by the Election Commission on its website, the NC has won 14 seats of lower house as of Wednesday afternoon. Similarly, the NC is ahead in vote count in 43 HoR constituencies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the main opposition party CPN-UML has won five HoR seats and is ahead in the vote count in 39 constituencies. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Similarly, the CPN (Maoist Centre), which had forged an electoral alliance with the NC, has won three seats and is leading in 14 constituencies while the CPN (Unified Socialist) has won one seat in lower house and is ahead in eight constituencies. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Likewise, the newly-formed Rastriya Swatantra Party has won four seats in HoR and is ahead in vote count in five constituencies while the Rastriya Prajatantra Party has also won one lower house seat and is leading the tally in four constituencies followed by Janamat Party (5), and Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (2). Nagarik Unmukti Party has secured one seat in parliament and is leading the vote count in three constituencies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The NC is also leading vote count in provincial assemblies’ election and has already won 16 seats. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">CPN-UML is second with five wins and is ahead in 60 constituencies while the Maoist Centre has also won five provincial assembly seats and is leading in 33 constituencies by the time this news report was prepared.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-23', 'modified' => '2022-11-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16103', 'image' => '20221123111319_ROS_KTM-0178.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-23 11:12:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16361', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CPN-UML Leads Vote Count under PR System ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 23: The CPN-UML is leading the vote count under the proportional representation (PR) system as of 11:30 pm on Tuesday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 23: The CPN-UML is leading the vote count under the proportional representation (PR) system as of 11:30 pm on Tuesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Election Commission (EC), the UML has secured 159,050 votes while the Nepali Congress, which is in the second position, has managed 138,446 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) is third with 70,795 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, CPN (Maoist Centre) has obtained 66,911 votes and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) garnered 37,335 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EC informed that Janamat Party has secured 12,626 votes and Janata Samajwadi Party has bagged 12,138 votes under the PR system. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Nepal Workers and Peasants Party has managed 8,621 votes, CPN (Unified Socialist) has 8,561 votes, Nagarik Unmukti Party holds 7,830 votes and other parties have managed 32,319 votes. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-23', 'modified' => '2022-11-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16102', 'image' => '20221123103320_KN_Damauli-image_6483441.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-23 10:32:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16360', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Voters Looking for a Political Change', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: The results of the November 20 elections to the members of the House of Representatives and provincial assemblies have started to arrive.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Rudra Khadka</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">November 22: The results of the November 20 elections to the members of the House of Representatives and provincial assemblies have started to arrive.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The preliminary results seem to be as expected. The ruling Nepali Congress and the main opposition CPN-UML are at the forefront. These parties are likely to be the first and second largest parties in the new parliament. Despite this, voters from all over the country have given a clear message that they are looking for a change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The popularity of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) led by former journalist Ravi Lamichhane, despite being established only a few months before the election, getting respectable votes is a clear indication that the voters are in favour of change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">While there are complaints that the political parties that have been holding the reins of power since 1990 have not been able to work according to the people's aspirations and only a limited number of people are currently in power, the RSP has expressed its commitment that one person will not hold any position for more than two terms. The party has also made it clear that the relatives of the party leaders will not be appointed to positions of benefit. The RSP has advocated for good governance and pledged to fight against corruption. This has attracted the voters to the new party.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">It seems that the new parties also have benefited from a six per cent decline in votes compared to the 2017 general elections. The general trand of major political parties presenting attractive plans in their manifesto but their failure to implement such plans in practice also helped the RSP this time. Many disappointed voters of the old political parties did not vote this time. As a result, participation in voting decreased.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In Nepal, there has been a change in political consciousness among the common people. If the people had not wanted change, the 104-year-long Rana regime would not have ended. Even the panchayat rulers who had been in power for 30 years would not have been forced to kneel had the public not wanted change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Change is inevitable not only in Nepal but also all over the world. The difference is - in countries where democracy is practised well, leadership changes rather than political parties/systems. Political analysts say that people may look for alternatives to big political parties because they have hardly changed their leadership.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The election results will likely come as a warning sign to the big political parties and their leaders that they need to improve. If the parties change the way they work, they might establish themselves for the next few years. If the parties and their leaders don't take this as a warning, it is clear that their future in politics is doomed. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16101', 'image' => '20221122041334_KB_KTM_E3A0922copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 16:12:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16358', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'What do Investors Predict about the Capital Market after Election?', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: Investors are eagerly awaiting for the impact of election on the capital market.', '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"">November 22: Investors are eagerly awaiting for the impact of election on the capital market. Some investors are expecting golden days in the secondary market after the election. The November 20 polls were suspended only in a few places while the election concluded peacefully in most of the constituencies.</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 investors are expecting a new government and a new dimension in investment after the election. Some investors who had been voicing for reforms in the share market joined the fray in election this time. Stakeholders believed that the share market will gain a lot if those advocating for the reforms of this sector get elected to the post of MPs.</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 secondary market of Nepal with more than 5.4 million investors has been fluctuating since more the past one year. The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index, which climbed to a record high of 3,200 points, has once again dropped to less than 2,000 points.</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"">Investors believe that the election will have a positive impact on the share market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><strong><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"">Radha Pokharel</span></span></span></span></strong></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"">Chairperson, Nepal Stock Market Investors Association</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 share market has always flourished during the election year. The liquidity crisis in the banking system gets eased during the election. This will have a positive impact on the share market. This time our colleagues have also contested the election. We firmly believe that the problems of the share market will be resolved if they win the election and become MPs. Although there are laws to govern the share market, it is important to implement them. I firmly believe that the new government will work towards enhancing the share market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><strong><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"">Chotelal Rauniyar</span></span></span></span></strong></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"">Former Chairman, Nepal Investors Forum</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 share market has received positive indications ahead of the election. Remittance inflow has increased and is in an increasing trend. This is also a good sign for the economy and the capital market. </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 liquidity crisis is also improving of late and the interest rate is also declining. The NEPSE index has fallen from 3,200 points to 1,900 points. The share value of most of the companies has fallen. If anyone invests in share at this moment, there is 20 percent risk and 80 percent return.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><strong><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"">Ambika Prasad Poudel</span></span></span></span></strong></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"">Chairman, Capital Market Forum of FNCCI</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 number of stock brokers is increasing and a new stock exchange company is in the offing. The process of book building is also moving forward. The stock market index is also rising slowly. Remittance inflow graph is also increasing. The Balance of Payments is also positive. The foreign exchange reserves are also improving and the CD ratio is also getting better. The arrival of tourists is also improving with the decline in coronavirus cases. The capital expenditure is expected to be better after the election. All these positive indications show that the share market will become better in the coming days. However, the capital market depends on psychological factors. If the investors are positive, then the share market will head towards the right direction.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16100', 'image' => '20221122020823_1669095018.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 14:07:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16359', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Asian Shares Down as Covid-19 Cases Flare-up in China', 'sub_title' => 'Investors Fear China may Resume Strict COVID Curbs', 'summary' => 'November 22: Asian shares were on the defensive on Tuesday as a COVID-19 resurgence in China increased concerns that Beijing may reimpose strict pandemic curbs. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">November 22: Asian shares were on the defensive on Tuesday as a COVID-19 resurgence in China increased concerns that Beijing may reimpose strict pandemic curbs. According to Reuters, further restrictions could cause supply chain disruptions.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The dollar pulled back from strong overnight gains on Tuesday while oil took a pause from Monday's retreat, added the news agency.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“The broader Asia-Pacific index ex-Japan lost 0.25 percent in early trade, while China’s benchmark dipped 0.13 percent. Hong Kong's benchmark index fell 1.31 percent. Japan's benchmark Nikkei average opened up 0.78 percent, while Australian shares rose 0.55 percent,” Reuters reported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the news agency, Beijing warned on Monday that it was facing its most severe test of the pandemic, fuelling investor concerns that China may be forced to resume strict mobility curbs and give stay and home orders across cities.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The controversial strategy - which aims to eradicate outbreaks - has seen millions locked down and citizens who have tested positive for the virus forcibly quarantined, BBC reported, adding, “Three deaths have been reported in the Chinese capital since Saturday, bringing the country's official death toll to 5,229. The latest fatalities have plunged parts of the city home to more than 21 million back into lockdown.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Meanwhile, Reuters reported that the US dollar pared some of its strong overnight gains on Tuesday after investors flocked to the safe-haven currency on nerves over China's COVID flare ups.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“Oil prices rose slightly in early Asian trade, a day after Saudi Arabia denied a media report that it was discussing an increase in oil supply with OPEC and its allies. US crude rose 0.27 percent to $80.26 per barrel on Tuesday and Brent was at $87.79, up 0.19 percent. Spot gold traded at $1,738.39 an ounce,” Reuters added.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16099', 'image' => '20221122020923_0x0.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 14:08:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16357', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourists Carrying Indian Currency Face Hassles at Border Checkpoints', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: Tourists coming from India have been facing problems at border checkpoints due to the ban on Indian currency of 500 and 2000 denominations.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 22: Tourists coming from India have been facing problems at border checkpoints due to the ban on Indian currency of 500 and 2000 denominations. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The local entrepreneurs say that if the Indian tourists visiting Nepal are found carrying these currency notes, the security personnel deployed at the border points confiscate the notes and even imprison them.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Nepal Rastra Bank, only IRs 100 is in circulation in Nepal. Officials of NRB clarified that such a rule is imposed while considering the risk of unauthorized transactions of Indian Currency (IC).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">When carrying low IC notes of low denomination, one has to carry large quantities of such notes even for small transactions, which is difficult and impractical. Some of the tourists carry IRs 500 and IRs 2000 notes due to lack of information and get into trouble. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hari Pant, president of Hotel and Tourism Entrepreneurs Association, said that the Indian tourists hesitate to come to Nepal due to such hassles.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pant complains that the issue of big notes is affecting the tourism and hotel business of the Terai region. The business of this area is dependent on Indian tourists. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“When the tourists from India started getting into trouble because of the cash they had with them, it has started affecting our business,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Indian citizens do not know that Indian notes above 100 rupee denomination are banned in Nepal. Sanjay Agarwal, co-ordinator of the Madhesh Province Tour and Travel and Tourism Committee of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry says that tourists suffer at the border because of the money they bring with them to spend.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ashok Kumar Baidya, chairman of Nepal-India Cooperation Forum, suggested that the government should facilitate Indian tourists in the border points even if it means they have to establishment a help room for the Indian tourists. He suggested that the Indian should be allowed to carry currencies of 500 and 2000 denominations on a self-declaration basis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“If they are not allowed bring the notes, there should be a simple arrangement to facilitate the Indian tourists at the border. They should not be prosecuted and sent to prison, but rather need cooperation.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Entrepreneurs say that there is no reason to impose a ban on the higher denominations of Indian currency in Nepal and cause suffering to the tourists on the pretext of banning these currency notes. Tourism entrepreneurs argue that the government must either ban the Indian currency in Nepal completely or lift the ban altogether because there is no point in allowing circulation of IRs 100 notes and banning the circulation of IRs 500 and IRs 2000 notes. This has only become a cause of confusion and problems for tourists coming to Nepal, they say.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16098', 'image' => '20221122013715_1669098225.भारू बोकेर आउने पर्यटकलाई सिमानामा सास्ती.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 13:36:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16356', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Less than 800 People get Jobs under PM Employment Programme', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: The Prime Minister's Employment Program launched by the previous government under the leadership of KP Sharma Oli has not been implemented properly even in the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 22: The Prime Minister's Employment Program launched by the previous government under the leadership of KP Sharma Oli has not been implemented properly even in the current fiscal year. It has been five months since the new fiscal year started but many of the people listed in the programme are still unemployed. Even the allocated budget is barely being spent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Around 841,500 people have applied for jobs under the PM's Employment Programme this year including 387,000 male and more than 453,000 female applicants. The PM's Employment Programme Secretariat, which is under the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security informed that only 712 of them are employed and received the minimum wage.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">They have been given the minimum wage at the rate of Rs 614 per day on an average. According to the secretariat, it is not possible to provide employment to 800,000 people this year. Also, not all the applicants are eligible for employment. Therefore, the government aims to provide employment to 200,000 people this year through the budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Lok Nath Bhusal, under-secretary of the PMEP secretariat, informed that the plan to provide employment is being carried out accordingly.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Not all the applicants are eligible for employment. Around 200,000 applicants will be employed after selecting the eligible candidates from among the applicants. If the government arranges more budget, more people can be employed,” said Bhusal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government has allocated a budget of Rs 7.13 billion for the PM's Employment Programme this year. In the last five months, only Rs 99.4 million has been spent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bhusal says that this ambitious programme is not implemented properly this year due to the elections. He stated, “Because everyone's attention is on the election, the implementation of the programme has not been able to accelerate, it will gain momentum after the election.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Last year, the government had allocated a budget of Rs 12 billion for this programme, but for the current fiscal year, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma allocated only Rs 7 billion. Even though the government is under intense pressure to amend the programme and make it production-oriented, it seems that implementation part is getting worse.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The World Bank has provide a concessional loan of Rs 14 billion in the name of 'Yeti Project' in order to implement this programme. This year, more than Rs 18 million of the said loan is being spent. Even though donor agencies have supported the programme, questions are being raised because it is not effective.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16097', 'image' => '20221122011616_PMEP.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 13:15:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16355', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 1,400 Climbers Acquire Permits to Climb Mountain Peaks during Autumn Season', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: The Government of Nepal has granted permission for climbers from 76 countries to scale mountain peaks during the autumn season this year, which is considered ideal climbing period after the spring season.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 22: The Government of Nepal has granted permission for climbers from 76 countries to scale mountain peaks during the autumn season this year, which is considered an ideal climbing period after the spring season. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Department of Tourism, the government body responsible for issuing climbing permits, a total of 1,435 foreigners have been granted permission to climb 48 different peaks during the autumn climbing window. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During this autumn, a few climbers are interested in climbing Mt Everest, the world’s highest peak, which fetches good royalties. Most of the climbers prefer to scale Everest during the spring window and opt for Mt Manaslu (8,161 meters) during the autumn season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the latest data of the department, altogether 404 climbers of 38 expedition groups have been issued permits to climb Mt Manaslu this season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A total of 330 female climbers have received permission to climb mountains during this period. The department has collected royalties worth Rs 93 million from climbing permits. Royalties from Manaslu alone is worth Rs 46.2 million while the department has collected royalties worth Rs 3.5 million from 5 climbers attempting to climb Everest. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Even climbers from two warring countries, Russia and Ukraine, have also arrived here to climb mountain peaks this year. According to the department, almost half a million tourists have arrived in Nepal in the first ten months of 2022 after a decline in Covid-19 cases in Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Most of the climbers are from the UK (144) followed by the USA (132) and France (129). </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Others are from Germany, Spain, India, Japan, Italy, Australia, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Iran among others.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16096', 'image' => '20221122121433_SantoshGautam_Myagdi_RSS_02_Churenhimaltreak(2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 12:13:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16354', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepali Congress Secures Two Seats in HoR, UML Leading in Proportional Representation Category', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: The counting of votes of the November 20 election is currently underway. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 22: The counting of votes of the November 20 election is currently underway. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the first-past-the-post category, the Nepali Congress is leading the polls after securing 2 seats of the House of Representatives, while the CPN (UML) is in second place with one seat so far. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Election Commission, Nepali Congress is leading in 35 constituencies and CPN (UML) in 32 followed by CPN (Maoist Center) in 9 constituencies, Rastriya Swatantra Party in 8, Rastriya Prajatantra Party in 5 while others have maintained lead in 19 constituencies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Nepali Congress, which is in the first place in the FPTP category, is in the second place in the proportional representation (PR) category. According to the Election Commission, CPN-UML has secured the top position with 23,374 votes followed by Nepali Congress in the second position with 21,949 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Rastriya Swatantra Party is in the third place with 11,505 votes while CPN (Maoist Center) is fourth with 8,398 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Furthermore, Rastriya Prajatantra Party has garnered 5,476 votes, Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal received 2,098, Janamaat Party has secured 1,648 votes and Nepal Workers and Peasant Party 1,600 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The main opposition, CPN (UML) is also in the top position in proportional representation category of the Provincial Assembly elections. According to the EC, the UML has secured 8,124 votes while Nepali Congress which is in the second position with 7, 411 votes. The Maoist Center is in third place with 2,678 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party has bagged 2,148 votes, Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal 1,375 votes and others has so far received 3,083 votes. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16095', 'image' => '20221122110703_Election_Commission.2e16d0ba.fill-650x500.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 11:06:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16351', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepali Migrant Workers found Working in Countries with no Labor Agreement', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 21: Young Nepali migrant workers facing physical, financial and mental exploitation during foreign employment is no longer a new issue for Nepal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 21: Young Nepali migrant workers facing physical, financial and mental exploitation during foreign employment is no longer a new issue for Nepal. Even though the rights activists are raising their voices that the problems faced by the workers should be addressed, the youths have been forced to visit foreign countries for employment due to government’s negligence. They are even found visiting countries with whom Nepal has not signed labour pacts.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although it is considered mandatory to have a labor contract with the respective country before going for foreign employment, the government is unable to sign a labor contract with the employer country. But the process of workers entering those countries still continues unabated.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Those who have reached the leadership level of power have repeatedly assured that a labor agreement will be made with the employer country. However, labor contracts have not been signed with most of the labor destination countries chosen by Nepali youth for foreign employment. Officials of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security say that due to weak diplomatic initiatives, labor agreements have not been reached with most of the countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Due to the failure to reach a bilateral agreement at the government level with the major labour destination countries, a secure environment has not been created for Nepali workers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the Covid-19 pandemic, around 2,000 young people have been going abroad for foreign employment every day. As mentioned in the data of the Department of Foreign Employment, most of them go to Gulf countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">So far, the government has opened up 111 countries of the world for employment, but has signed labor agreements with only 10 countries. According to the ministry, so far labor agreements have been signed with Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Korea, Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Malaysia, Mauritius and Oman.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Spokesperson at the Labour Ministry Danduraj Ghimire says that the ministry is always ready for labor agreements with the main labour destination countries. He said that the government has a plan to make foreign employment systematic, transparent and dignified by signing labor agreements with labour destination countries with good prospects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-21', 'modified' => '2022-11-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16093', 'image' => '20221121015409_foreign emp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-21 13:53:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16353', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mirgunj Bridge to Reopen Within 15 Days', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 21: Indian officials have assured to reopen the Bailey Bridge over Pramana River in Mirgunj, India, within 15 days.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 21: Indian officials have assured to reopen the Bailey Bridge over Pramana River in Mirgunj, India, within 15 days. The delay in opening of the bridge has become a headache for Nepali businessmen as they have to rely on longer route for trade with India.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu gave such assurance to the Morang Merchants’ Association. The bridge is located 4 kilometers west of the Biratnagar-Jogwani border checkpoint. India is yet to open the traffic even though the Bailey Bridge, which collapsed 10 months ago, had been repaired already. As a result, Nepali entrepreneurs are compelled to re-route goods imported from Indian and third and also pay extra freight charge.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Keeping this problem in mind, Gopal Agarwal, executive member of the Morang Merchants’ Association, submitted a memorandum to Deputy Chief of Mission of the Indian Embassy Prasanna Srivastava and Chief of Commerce SumanShekhar to open the bridge immediately. In response, the embassy officials provided assurance about opening the bridge within 15 days.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The damaged Bailey Bridge has already been repaired along with a concrete bridge on the newly built four-lane road 200 meters north of it. The four-lane road leads from Bihar's road network to the Nepal-India Integrated Checkpoint (ICP). However, despite repeated requests to the Indian side, the bridge is still closed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The association has been drawing the attention of the high-ranking officials of India, requesting for the bridge be operated as soon as possible. However, they have only been giving assurances. Agarwal, also handed over a letter signed by the association’s president Naveen Rijal to the embassy officials.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">When the goods that have arrived near the customs are re-routed and brought back to the Biratnagar customs from Bhantabari via Sunsari, they have to travel 116 km more. The industrialists of Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor have been complaining that they have to pay Rs 250,000 more as freight charge every day when the goods are re-routed and brought into the country.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-21', 'modified' => '2022-11-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16092', 'image' => '20221121032216_Flag-Pins-India-Nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-21 15:21:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16350', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Jute Production Declining Continuously in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 21: Jute production has been declining continuously in Nepal in recent years, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 21: Jute production has been declining continuously in Nepal in recent years, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the data, the production decreased by 6000 metric tons in the last seven years. The farmers producing jute are now abandoning its cultivation after they stopped getting equitable returns according to their investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data of the ministry, 16,530 metric tons of jute was produced in Nepal in the fiscal year (FY 2014/15). By the end of the year 2020/21, jute production decreased by 6,079 metric tons to 10,451 metric tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During this period, the area of land where jute is produced also decreased by about 4000 hectares. The data shows that jute farming was done on 11,400 hectares of land in FY 2014/15, which decreased to 7,415 hectares in FY 2020/21.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Binod Gupta of Jute Research Programme, Itahari informed that the farmers are not getting the price according to the cost of production and the production is decreasing every year due to unstable prices. However, when farmers sell jute, they do not get the price according to the cost of production. He said that the jute industry sets the price much lower than the production cost of the farmers. Also, the government does not set the support price of jute. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Gupta says Nepali jute producing farmers have been hurt by the practice of setting prices by the Nepali jute industry under the guidance of the jute industry of Kolkata.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">About 12 years ago, jute was cultivated on an area of more than 20,000 hectares in the districts of Sunsari, Morang, Jhapa, Siraha, Saptari, Udayapur alone. Now the area under jute farming has decreased. Other crops are grown on the land where jute farming used to be done. The ironic reality is that 70 percent of the raw jute required for Nepali industry is being imported from India and Bangladesh, according to stakeholders. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-21', 'modified' => '2022-11-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16091', 'image' => '20221121011125_NG_Sunsari-IMG_20221011_121746.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-21 13:10:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16349', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Voter Turnout Less Than Expected: Election Commission ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 21: The voter turnout during Sunday’s general election was much less than expected. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Bijay Damase </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"">November 21: The voter turnout during Sunday’s general election was much less than expected. According to the preliminary report of the Election Commission (EC), the voter turnout remained less than 61 per cent.</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"">Prior to this, the nationwide voter turnout in the elections held in 2017 stood at 67.63 percent while the voter turnout in local elections held earlier this year was 66.86 percent. </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"">Analysts believe that the low voter turnout is the result of lack of accountability of the people’s representatives elected in the past. The low voter turnout also hints at the people’s contempt towards political party leaders and their working style.</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"">Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya admitted during a press conference on Sunday evening that the voter turnout was less than expected. He said that the voting was not encouraging on Sunday morning but there was some improvement towards the afternoon.</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 election has been postponed in some places,” said CEC Thapaliya.</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"">He added that the vote counting would begin as soon as the ballot boxes are collected from the polling stations and brought to the vote counting centres.</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 EC maintained that the elections were largely peaceful, with some exceptions of sporadic incidents. </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"">According to the EC, election-related violence was reported in over a dozen district. Police had to resort to firing blank shots in the air to bring the situation under control in over 24 polling centres of 11 districts. Voting was suspended in 64 places but it resumed in all but six of those areas. One person was killed in police firing in Triveni Municipality of Bajura district as police opened fire to disperse the agitating crowd.</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"">There are a total of eligible 17,988,570 voters in Nepal registered at the Election Commission. According to the EC, information on voter turnout is being registered in the EC’s entry system. </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 Election Commission had set up 22,227 voting centres under 10,892 polling stations for the election to the House of Representatives (HoR) and provincial assemblies on November 20. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-21', 'modified' => '2022-11-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16090', 'image' => '20221121120022_KiranTHapa_Melamchi_RSS_04_222.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-21 11:59:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16347', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Cup Kicks off with Glitzy Inaugural Ceremony', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 21: The 2022 World Cup kicked off in Qatar’s Al-Bayt Stadium on Sunday with a visually appealing opening ceremony.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Agencies</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 21: The 2022 World Cup kicked off in Qatar’s Al-Bayt Stadium on Sunday with a visually appealing opening ceremony.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the BBC, America’s Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman featured in the festivities alongside Qatari YouTuber Ghanim Al-Muftah. South Korean pop star Jung Kook sang Dreamers, the tournament song, alongside Qatari singer Fahad Al Kubaisi at the stadium in Al Khor.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The build-up to the first World Cup to be held in a Muslim country in the Middle East has been overshadowed by a number of controversies, including deaths of migrant workers and treatment of LGBT people in Qatar, BBC added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Reuters, Qatar's ruler in his inauguration speech called for people of all races and orientations to put aside their differences, as the host nation faced a barrage of criticism over its treatment of foreign workers and LGBT rights.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Muslim Gulf nation is staking its reputation on delivering a smooth tournament and has denied accusations of abuse of workers and discrimination, the news agency added. Football governing body FIFA hopes the spotlight will now turn to action on the pitch.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Organisers have also denied allegations of bribery to win the rights to host football’s biggest event.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"People of all races, nationalities, beliefs and orientations will gather here in Qatar and around screens across the continents to share in the exciting moments," Reuters quoted Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani as saying.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the inaugural match, which took place minutes after the opening ceremony, the hosts Qatar were beaten 2-0 by Equador.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-21', 'modified' => '2022-11-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16089', 'image' => '20221121093249_wc.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-21 09:32:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $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' => '16364', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Deuba Wins HoR Seat from Dadeldhura ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 23: Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has emerged victorious in the election to the House of Representatives (HoR) from Dadeldhura district. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 23: Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has emerged victorious in the election to the House of Representatives (HoR) from Dadeldhura district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This is the seventh straight victory of Deuba from his home district Dadeldhura. Deuba has been the MP from Dadeldhura since 2048 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Out of 51,203 votes cast, Deuba won the election by securing 25,534 votes, Chief Returning Officer Bal Krishna Wagle said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Deuba’s closest rival Sagar Dhakal, and independent candidate, garnered 13,042 votes while NC (BP)’s Karna Bahadur Malla secured 7,535 votes, the Office of the Chief Returning Officer said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Born at Ruwakhola of Asigram in Dadeldhura district in 2003 BS, Deuba joined politics since 2017 BS and served as the first elected chief of Nepal Student’s Union. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-23', 'modified' => '2022-11-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16104', 'image' => '20221123114959_Deuba.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-23 11:49:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16362', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepali Congress Ahead in HoR, State Assembly Elections', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 23: Nepali Congress is taking the lead in the first-past-the-post electoral system under the elections to the House of Representatives (HoR) and provincial assemblies held on Sunday, November 20. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">November 23: Nepali Congress is taking the lead in the first-past-the-post electoral system under the elections to the House of Representatives (HoR) and provincial assemblies held on Sunday, November 20.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">According to the results published by the Election Commission on its website, the NC has won 14 seats of lower house as of Wednesday afternoon. Similarly, the NC is ahead in vote count in 43 HoR constituencies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the main opposition party CPN-UML has won five HoR seats and is ahead in the vote count in 39 constituencies. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Similarly, the CPN (Maoist Centre), which had forged an electoral alliance with the NC, has won three seats and is leading in 14 constituencies while the CPN (Unified Socialist) has won one seat in lower house and is ahead in eight constituencies. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Likewise, the newly-formed Rastriya Swatantra Party has won four seats in HoR and is ahead in vote count in five constituencies while the Rastriya Prajatantra Party has also won one lower house seat and is leading the tally in four constituencies followed by Janamat Party (5), and Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (2). Nagarik Unmukti Party has secured one seat in parliament and is leading the vote count in three constituencies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The NC is also leading vote count in provincial assemblies’ election and has already won 16 seats. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">CPN-UML is second with five wins and is ahead in 60 constituencies while the Maoist Centre has also won five provincial assembly seats and is leading in 33 constituencies by the time this news report was prepared.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-23', 'modified' => '2022-11-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16103', 'image' => '20221123111319_ROS_KTM-0178.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-23 11:12:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16361', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CPN-UML Leads Vote Count under PR System ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 23: The CPN-UML is leading the vote count under the proportional representation (PR) system as of 11:30 pm on Tuesday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 23: The CPN-UML is leading the vote count under the proportional representation (PR) system as of 11:30 pm on Tuesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Election Commission (EC), the UML has secured 159,050 votes while the Nepali Congress, which is in the second position, has managed 138,446 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) is third with 70,795 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, CPN (Maoist Centre) has obtained 66,911 votes and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) garnered 37,335 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EC informed that Janamat Party has secured 12,626 votes and Janata Samajwadi Party has bagged 12,138 votes under the PR system. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Nepal Workers and Peasants Party has managed 8,621 votes, CPN (Unified Socialist) has 8,561 votes, Nagarik Unmukti Party holds 7,830 votes and other parties have managed 32,319 votes. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-23', 'modified' => '2022-11-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16102', 'image' => '20221123103320_KN_Damauli-image_6483441.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-23 10:32:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16360', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Voters Looking for a Political Change', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: The results of the November 20 elections to the members of the House of Representatives and provincial assemblies have started to arrive.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Rudra Khadka</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">November 22: The results of the November 20 elections to the members of the House of Representatives and provincial assemblies have started to arrive.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The preliminary results seem to be as expected. The ruling Nepali Congress and the main opposition CPN-UML are at the forefront. These parties are likely to be the first and second largest parties in the new parliament. Despite this, voters from all over the country have given a clear message that they are looking for a change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The popularity of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) led by former journalist Ravi Lamichhane, despite being established only a few months before the election, getting respectable votes is a clear indication that the voters are in favour of change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">While there are complaints that the political parties that have been holding the reins of power since 1990 have not been able to work according to the people's aspirations and only a limited number of people are currently in power, the RSP has expressed its commitment that one person will not hold any position for more than two terms. The party has also made it clear that the relatives of the party leaders will not be appointed to positions of benefit. The RSP has advocated for good governance and pledged to fight against corruption. This has attracted the voters to the new party.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">It seems that the new parties also have benefited from a six per cent decline in votes compared to the 2017 general elections. The general trand of major political parties presenting attractive plans in their manifesto but their failure to implement such plans in practice also helped the RSP this time. Many disappointed voters of the old political parties did not vote this time. As a result, participation in voting decreased.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In Nepal, there has been a change in political consciousness among the common people. If the people had not wanted change, the 104-year-long Rana regime would not have ended. Even the panchayat rulers who had been in power for 30 years would not have been forced to kneel had the public not wanted change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Change is inevitable not only in Nepal but also all over the world. The difference is - in countries where democracy is practised well, leadership changes rather than political parties/systems. Political analysts say that people may look for alternatives to big political parties because they have hardly changed their leadership.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The election results will likely come as a warning sign to the big political parties and their leaders that they need to improve. If the parties change the way they work, they might establish themselves for the next few years. If the parties and their leaders don't take this as a warning, it is clear that their future in politics is doomed. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16101', 'image' => '20221122041334_KB_KTM_E3A0922copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 16:12:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16358', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'What do Investors Predict about the Capital Market after Election?', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: Investors are eagerly awaiting for the impact of election on the capital market.', '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"">November 22: Investors are eagerly awaiting for the impact of election on the capital market. Some investors are expecting golden days in the secondary market after the election. The November 20 polls were suspended only in a few places while the election concluded peacefully in most of the constituencies.</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 investors are expecting a new government and a new dimension in investment after the election. Some investors who had been voicing for reforms in the share market joined the fray in election this time. Stakeholders believed that the share market will gain a lot if those advocating for the reforms of this sector get elected to the post of MPs.</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 secondary market of Nepal with more than 5.4 million investors has been fluctuating since more the past one year. The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index, which climbed to a record high of 3,200 points, has once again dropped to less than 2,000 points.</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"">Investors believe that the election will have a positive impact on the share market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><strong><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"">Radha Pokharel</span></span></span></span></strong></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"">Chairperson, Nepal Stock Market Investors Association</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 share market has always flourished during the election year. The liquidity crisis in the banking system gets eased during the election. This will have a positive impact on the share market. This time our colleagues have also contested the election. We firmly believe that the problems of the share market will be resolved if they win the election and become MPs. Although there are laws to govern the share market, it is important to implement them. I firmly believe that the new government will work towards enhancing the share market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><strong><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"">Chotelal Rauniyar</span></span></span></span></strong></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"">Former Chairman, Nepal Investors Forum</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 share market has received positive indications ahead of the election. Remittance inflow has increased and is in an increasing trend. This is also a good sign for the economy and the capital market. </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 liquidity crisis is also improving of late and the interest rate is also declining. The NEPSE index has fallen from 3,200 points to 1,900 points. The share value of most of the companies has fallen. If anyone invests in share at this moment, there is 20 percent risk and 80 percent return.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><strong><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"">Ambika Prasad Poudel</span></span></span></span></strong></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"">Chairman, Capital Market Forum of FNCCI</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 number of stock brokers is increasing and a new stock exchange company is in the offing. The process of book building is also moving forward. The stock market index is also rising slowly. Remittance inflow graph is also increasing. The Balance of Payments is also positive. The foreign exchange reserves are also improving and the CD ratio is also getting better. The arrival of tourists is also improving with the decline in coronavirus cases. The capital expenditure is expected to be better after the election. All these positive indications show that the share market will become better in the coming days. However, the capital market depends on psychological factors. If the investors are positive, then the share market will head towards the right direction.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16100', 'image' => '20221122020823_1669095018.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 14:07:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16359', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Asian Shares Down as Covid-19 Cases Flare-up in China', 'sub_title' => 'Investors Fear China may Resume Strict COVID Curbs', 'summary' => 'November 22: Asian shares were on the defensive on Tuesday as a COVID-19 resurgence in China increased concerns that Beijing may reimpose strict pandemic curbs. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">November 22: Asian shares were on the defensive on Tuesday as a COVID-19 resurgence in China increased concerns that Beijing may reimpose strict pandemic curbs. According to Reuters, further restrictions could cause supply chain disruptions.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The dollar pulled back from strong overnight gains on Tuesday while oil took a pause from Monday's retreat, added the news agency.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“The broader Asia-Pacific index ex-Japan lost 0.25 percent in early trade, while China’s benchmark dipped 0.13 percent. Hong Kong's benchmark index fell 1.31 percent. Japan's benchmark Nikkei average opened up 0.78 percent, while Australian shares rose 0.55 percent,” Reuters reported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the news agency, Beijing warned on Monday that it was facing its most severe test of the pandemic, fuelling investor concerns that China may be forced to resume strict mobility curbs and give stay and home orders across cities.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The controversial strategy - which aims to eradicate outbreaks - has seen millions locked down and citizens who have tested positive for the virus forcibly quarantined, BBC reported, adding, “Three deaths have been reported in the Chinese capital since Saturday, bringing the country's official death toll to 5,229. The latest fatalities have plunged parts of the city home to more than 21 million back into lockdown.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Meanwhile, Reuters reported that the US dollar pared some of its strong overnight gains on Tuesday after investors flocked to the safe-haven currency on nerves over China's COVID flare ups.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“Oil prices rose slightly in early Asian trade, a day after Saudi Arabia denied a media report that it was discussing an increase in oil supply with OPEC and its allies. US crude rose 0.27 percent to $80.26 per barrel on Tuesday and Brent was at $87.79, up 0.19 percent. Spot gold traded at $1,738.39 an ounce,” Reuters added.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16099', 'image' => '20221122020923_0x0.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 14:08:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16357', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourists Carrying Indian Currency Face Hassles at Border Checkpoints', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: Tourists coming from India have been facing problems at border checkpoints due to the ban on Indian currency of 500 and 2000 denominations.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 22: Tourists coming from India have been facing problems at border checkpoints due to the ban on Indian currency of 500 and 2000 denominations. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The local entrepreneurs say that if the Indian tourists visiting Nepal are found carrying these currency notes, the security personnel deployed at the border points confiscate the notes and even imprison them.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Nepal Rastra Bank, only IRs 100 is in circulation in Nepal. Officials of NRB clarified that such a rule is imposed while considering the risk of unauthorized transactions of Indian Currency (IC).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">When carrying low IC notes of low denomination, one has to carry large quantities of such notes even for small transactions, which is difficult and impractical. Some of the tourists carry IRs 500 and IRs 2000 notes due to lack of information and get into trouble. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hari Pant, president of Hotel and Tourism Entrepreneurs Association, said that the Indian tourists hesitate to come to Nepal due to such hassles.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pant complains that the issue of big notes is affecting the tourism and hotel business of the Terai region. The business of this area is dependent on Indian tourists. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“When the tourists from India started getting into trouble because of the cash they had with them, it has started affecting our business,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Indian citizens do not know that Indian notes above 100 rupee denomination are banned in Nepal. Sanjay Agarwal, co-ordinator of the Madhesh Province Tour and Travel and Tourism Committee of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry says that tourists suffer at the border because of the money they bring with them to spend.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ashok Kumar Baidya, chairman of Nepal-India Cooperation Forum, suggested that the government should facilitate Indian tourists in the border points even if it means they have to establishment a help room for the Indian tourists. He suggested that the Indian should be allowed to carry currencies of 500 and 2000 denominations on a self-declaration basis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“If they are not allowed bring the notes, there should be a simple arrangement to facilitate the Indian tourists at the border. They should not be prosecuted and sent to prison, but rather need cooperation.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Entrepreneurs say that there is no reason to impose a ban on the higher denominations of Indian currency in Nepal and cause suffering to the tourists on the pretext of banning these currency notes. Tourism entrepreneurs argue that the government must either ban the Indian currency in Nepal completely or lift the ban altogether because there is no point in allowing circulation of IRs 100 notes and banning the circulation of IRs 500 and IRs 2000 notes. This has only become a cause of confusion and problems for tourists coming to Nepal, they say.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16098', 'image' => '20221122013715_1669098225.भारू बोकेर आउने पर्यटकलाई सिमानामा सास्ती.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 13:36:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16356', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Less than 800 People get Jobs under PM Employment Programme', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: The Prime Minister's Employment Program launched by the previous government under the leadership of KP Sharma Oli has not been implemented properly even in the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 22: The Prime Minister's Employment Program launched by the previous government under the leadership of KP Sharma Oli has not been implemented properly even in the current fiscal year. It has been five months since the new fiscal year started but many of the people listed in the programme are still unemployed. Even the allocated budget is barely being spent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Around 841,500 people have applied for jobs under the PM's Employment Programme this year including 387,000 male and more than 453,000 female applicants. The PM's Employment Programme Secretariat, which is under the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security informed that only 712 of them are employed and received the minimum wage.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">They have been given the minimum wage at the rate of Rs 614 per day on an average. According to the secretariat, it is not possible to provide employment to 800,000 people this year. Also, not all the applicants are eligible for employment. Therefore, the government aims to provide employment to 200,000 people this year through the budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Lok Nath Bhusal, under-secretary of the PMEP secretariat, informed that the plan to provide employment is being carried out accordingly.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Not all the applicants are eligible for employment. Around 200,000 applicants will be employed after selecting the eligible candidates from among the applicants. If the government arranges more budget, more people can be employed,” said Bhusal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government has allocated a budget of Rs 7.13 billion for the PM's Employment Programme this year. In the last five months, only Rs 99.4 million has been spent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bhusal says that this ambitious programme is not implemented properly this year due to the elections. He stated, “Because everyone's attention is on the election, the implementation of the programme has not been able to accelerate, it will gain momentum after the election.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Last year, the government had allocated a budget of Rs 12 billion for this programme, but for the current fiscal year, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma allocated only Rs 7 billion. Even though the government is under intense pressure to amend the programme and make it production-oriented, it seems that implementation part is getting worse.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The World Bank has provide a concessional loan of Rs 14 billion in the name of 'Yeti Project' in order to implement this programme. This year, more than Rs 18 million of the said loan is being spent. Even though donor agencies have supported the programme, questions are being raised because it is not effective.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16097', 'image' => '20221122011616_PMEP.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 13:15:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16355', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 1,400 Climbers Acquire Permits to Climb Mountain Peaks during Autumn Season', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: The Government of Nepal has granted permission for climbers from 76 countries to scale mountain peaks during the autumn season this year, which is considered ideal climbing period after the spring season.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 22: The Government of Nepal has granted permission for climbers from 76 countries to scale mountain peaks during the autumn season this year, which is considered an ideal climbing period after the spring season. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Department of Tourism, the government body responsible for issuing climbing permits, a total of 1,435 foreigners have been granted permission to climb 48 different peaks during the autumn climbing window. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During this autumn, a few climbers are interested in climbing Mt Everest, the world’s highest peak, which fetches good royalties. Most of the climbers prefer to scale Everest during the spring window and opt for Mt Manaslu (8,161 meters) during the autumn season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the latest data of the department, altogether 404 climbers of 38 expedition groups have been issued permits to climb Mt Manaslu this season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A total of 330 female climbers have received permission to climb mountains during this period. The department has collected royalties worth Rs 93 million from climbing permits. Royalties from Manaslu alone is worth Rs 46.2 million while the department has collected royalties worth Rs 3.5 million from 5 climbers attempting to climb Everest. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Even climbers from two warring countries, Russia and Ukraine, have also arrived here to climb mountain peaks this year. According to the department, almost half a million tourists have arrived in Nepal in the first ten months of 2022 after a decline in Covid-19 cases in Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Most of the climbers are from the UK (144) followed by the USA (132) and France (129). </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Others are from Germany, Spain, India, Japan, Italy, Australia, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Iran among others.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16096', 'image' => '20221122121433_SantoshGautam_Myagdi_RSS_02_Churenhimaltreak(2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 12:13:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16354', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepali Congress Secures Two Seats in HoR, UML Leading in Proportional Representation Category', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: The counting of votes of the November 20 election is currently underway. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 22: The counting of votes of the November 20 election is currently underway. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the first-past-the-post category, the Nepali Congress is leading the polls after securing 2 seats of the House of Representatives, while the CPN (UML) is in second place with one seat so far. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Election Commission, Nepali Congress is leading in 35 constituencies and CPN (UML) in 32 followed by CPN (Maoist Center) in 9 constituencies, Rastriya Swatantra Party in 8, Rastriya Prajatantra Party in 5 while others have maintained lead in 19 constituencies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Nepali Congress, which is in the first place in the FPTP category, is in the second place in the proportional representation (PR) category. According to the Election Commission, CPN-UML has secured the top position with 23,374 votes followed by Nepali Congress in the second position with 21,949 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Rastriya Swatantra Party is in the third place with 11,505 votes while CPN (Maoist Center) is fourth with 8,398 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Furthermore, Rastriya Prajatantra Party has garnered 5,476 votes, Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal received 2,098, Janamaat Party has secured 1,648 votes and Nepal Workers and Peasant Party 1,600 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The main opposition, CPN (UML) is also in the top position in proportional representation category of the Provincial Assembly elections. According to the EC, the UML has secured 8,124 votes while Nepali Congress which is in the second position with 7, 411 votes. The Maoist Center is in third place with 2,678 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party has bagged 2,148 votes, Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal 1,375 votes and others has so far received 3,083 votes. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16095', 'image' => '20221122110703_Election_Commission.2e16d0ba.fill-650x500.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 11:06:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16351', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepali Migrant Workers found Working in Countries with no Labor Agreement', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 21: Young Nepali migrant workers facing physical, financial and mental exploitation during foreign employment is no longer a new issue for Nepal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 21: Young Nepali migrant workers facing physical, financial and mental exploitation during foreign employment is no longer a new issue for Nepal. Even though the rights activists are raising their voices that the problems faced by the workers should be addressed, the youths have been forced to visit foreign countries for employment due to government’s negligence. They are even found visiting countries with whom Nepal has not signed labour pacts.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although it is considered mandatory to have a labor contract with the respective country before going for foreign employment, the government is unable to sign a labor contract with the employer country. But the process of workers entering those countries still continues unabated.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Those who have reached the leadership level of power have repeatedly assured that a labor agreement will be made with the employer country. However, labor contracts have not been signed with most of the labor destination countries chosen by Nepali youth for foreign employment. Officials of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security say that due to weak diplomatic initiatives, labor agreements have not been reached with most of the countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Due to the failure to reach a bilateral agreement at the government level with the major labour destination countries, a secure environment has not been created for Nepali workers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the Covid-19 pandemic, around 2,000 young people have been going abroad for foreign employment every day. As mentioned in the data of the Department of Foreign Employment, most of them go to Gulf countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">So far, the government has opened up 111 countries of the world for employment, but has signed labor agreements with only 10 countries. According to the ministry, so far labor agreements have been signed with Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Korea, Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Malaysia, Mauritius and Oman.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Spokesperson at the Labour Ministry Danduraj Ghimire says that the ministry is always ready for labor agreements with the main labour destination countries. He said that the government has a plan to make foreign employment systematic, transparent and dignified by signing labor agreements with labour destination countries with good prospects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-21', 'modified' => '2022-11-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16093', 'image' => '20221121015409_foreign emp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-21 13:53:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16353', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mirgunj Bridge to Reopen Within 15 Days', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 21: Indian officials have assured to reopen the Bailey Bridge over Pramana River in Mirgunj, India, within 15 days.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 21: Indian officials have assured to reopen the Bailey Bridge over Pramana River in Mirgunj, India, within 15 days. The delay in opening of the bridge has become a headache for Nepali businessmen as they have to rely on longer route for trade with India.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu gave such assurance to the Morang Merchants’ Association. The bridge is located 4 kilometers west of the Biratnagar-Jogwani border checkpoint. India is yet to open the traffic even though the Bailey Bridge, which collapsed 10 months ago, had been repaired already. As a result, Nepali entrepreneurs are compelled to re-route goods imported from Indian and third and also pay extra freight charge.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Keeping this problem in mind, Gopal Agarwal, executive member of the Morang Merchants’ Association, submitted a memorandum to Deputy Chief of Mission of the Indian Embassy Prasanna Srivastava and Chief of Commerce SumanShekhar to open the bridge immediately. In response, the embassy officials provided assurance about opening the bridge within 15 days.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The damaged Bailey Bridge has already been repaired along with a concrete bridge on the newly built four-lane road 200 meters north of it. The four-lane road leads from Bihar's road network to the Nepal-India Integrated Checkpoint (ICP). However, despite repeated requests to the Indian side, the bridge is still closed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The association has been drawing the attention of the high-ranking officials of India, requesting for the bridge be operated as soon as possible. However, they have only been giving assurances. Agarwal, also handed over a letter signed by the association’s president Naveen Rijal to the embassy officials.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">When the goods that have arrived near the customs are re-routed and brought back to the Biratnagar customs from Bhantabari via Sunsari, they have to travel 116 km more. The industrialists of Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor have been complaining that they have to pay Rs 250,000 more as freight charge every day when the goods are re-routed and brought into the country.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-21', 'modified' => '2022-11-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16092', 'image' => '20221121032216_Flag-Pins-India-Nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-21 15:21:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16350', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Jute Production Declining Continuously in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 21: Jute production has been declining continuously in Nepal in recent years, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 21: Jute production has been declining continuously in Nepal in recent years, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the data, the production decreased by 6000 metric tons in the last seven years. The farmers producing jute are now abandoning its cultivation after they stopped getting equitable returns according to their investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data of the ministry, 16,530 metric tons of jute was produced in Nepal in the fiscal year (FY 2014/15). By the end of the year 2020/21, jute production decreased by 6,079 metric tons to 10,451 metric tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During this period, the area of land where jute is produced also decreased by about 4000 hectares. The data shows that jute farming was done on 11,400 hectares of land in FY 2014/15, which decreased to 7,415 hectares in FY 2020/21.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Binod Gupta of Jute Research Programme, Itahari informed that the farmers are not getting the price according to the cost of production and the production is decreasing every year due to unstable prices. However, when farmers sell jute, they do not get the price according to the cost of production. He said that the jute industry sets the price much lower than the production cost of the farmers. Also, the government does not set the support price of jute. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Gupta says Nepali jute producing farmers have been hurt by the practice of setting prices by the Nepali jute industry under the guidance of the jute industry of Kolkata.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">About 12 years ago, jute was cultivated on an area of more than 20,000 hectares in the districts of Sunsari, Morang, Jhapa, Siraha, Saptari, Udayapur alone. Now the area under jute farming has decreased. Other crops are grown on the land where jute farming used to be done. The ironic reality is that 70 percent of the raw jute required for Nepali industry is being imported from India and Bangladesh, according to stakeholders. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-21', 'modified' => '2022-11-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16091', 'image' => '20221121011125_NG_Sunsari-IMG_20221011_121746.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-21 13:10:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16349', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Voter Turnout Less Than Expected: Election Commission ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 21: The voter turnout during Sunday’s general election was much less than expected. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Bijay Damase </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"">November 21: The voter turnout during Sunday’s general election was much less than expected. According to the preliminary report of the Election Commission (EC), the voter turnout remained less than 61 per cent.</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"">Prior to this, the nationwide voter turnout in the elections held in 2017 stood at 67.63 percent while the voter turnout in local elections held earlier this year was 66.86 percent. </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"">Analysts believe that the low voter turnout is the result of lack of accountability of the people’s representatives elected in the past. The low voter turnout also hints at the people’s contempt towards political party leaders and their working style.</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"">Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya admitted during a press conference on Sunday evening that the voter turnout was less than expected. He said that the voting was not encouraging on Sunday morning but there was some improvement towards the afternoon.</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 election has been postponed in some places,” said CEC Thapaliya.</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"">He added that the vote counting would begin as soon as the ballot boxes are collected from the polling stations and brought to the vote counting centres.</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 EC maintained that the elections were largely peaceful, with some exceptions of sporadic incidents. </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"">According to the EC, election-related violence was reported in over a dozen district. Police had to resort to firing blank shots in the air to bring the situation under control in over 24 polling centres of 11 districts. Voting was suspended in 64 places but it resumed in all but six of those areas. One person was killed in police firing in Triveni Municipality of Bajura district as police opened fire to disperse the agitating crowd.</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"">There are a total of eligible 17,988,570 voters in Nepal registered at the Election Commission. According to the EC, information on voter turnout is being registered in the EC’s entry system. </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 Election Commission had set up 22,227 voting centres under 10,892 polling stations for the election to the House of Representatives (HoR) and provincial assemblies on November 20. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-21', 'modified' => '2022-11-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16090', 'image' => '20221121120022_KiranTHapa_Melamchi_RSS_04_222.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-21 11:59:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16347', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Cup Kicks off with Glitzy Inaugural Ceremony', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 21: The 2022 World Cup kicked off in Qatar’s Al-Bayt Stadium on Sunday with a visually appealing opening ceremony.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Agencies</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 21: The 2022 World Cup kicked off in Qatar’s Al-Bayt Stadium on Sunday with a visually appealing opening ceremony.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the BBC, America’s Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman featured in the festivities alongside Qatari YouTuber Ghanim Al-Muftah. South Korean pop star Jung Kook sang Dreamers, the tournament song, alongside Qatari singer Fahad Al Kubaisi at the stadium in Al Khor.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The build-up to the first World Cup to be held in a Muslim country in the Middle East has been overshadowed by a number of controversies, including deaths of migrant workers and treatment of LGBT people in Qatar, BBC added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Reuters, Qatar's ruler in his inauguration speech called for people of all races and orientations to put aside their differences, as the host nation faced a barrage of criticism over its treatment of foreign workers and LGBT rights.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Muslim Gulf nation is staking its reputation on delivering a smooth tournament and has denied accusations of abuse of workers and discrimination, the news agency added. Football governing body FIFA hopes the spotlight will now turn to action on the pitch.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Organisers have also denied allegations of bribery to win the rights to host football’s biggest event.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"People of all races, nationalities, beliefs and orientations will gather here in Qatar and around screens across the continents to share in the exciting moments," Reuters quoted Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani as saying.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the inaugural match, which took place minutes after the opening ceremony, the hosts Qatar were beaten 2-0 by Equador.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-21', 'modified' => '2022-11-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16089', 'image' => '20221121093249_wc.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-21 09:32:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $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
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 133]file not found!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' => '16364', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Deuba Wins HoR Seat from Dadeldhura ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 23: Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has emerged victorious in the election to the House of Representatives (HoR) from Dadeldhura district. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 23: Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has emerged victorious in the election to the House of Representatives (HoR) from Dadeldhura district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This is the seventh straight victory of Deuba from his home district Dadeldhura. Deuba has been the MP from Dadeldhura since 2048 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Out of 51,203 votes cast, Deuba won the election by securing 25,534 votes, Chief Returning Officer Bal Krishna Wagle said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Deuba’s closest rival Sagar Dhakal, and independent candidate, garnered 13,042 votes while NC (BP)’s Karna Bahadur Malla secured 7,535 votes, the Office of the Chief Returning Officer said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Born at Ruwakhola of Asigram in Dadeldhura district in 2003 BS, Deuba joined politics since 2017 BS and served as the first elected chief of Nepal Student’s Union. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-23', 'modified' => '2022-11-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16104', 'image' => '20221123114959_Deuba.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-23 11:49:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16362', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepali Congress Ahead in HoR, State Assembly Elections', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 23: Nepali Congress is taking the lead in the first-past-the-post electoral system under the elections to the House of Representatives (HoR) and provincial assemblies held on Sunday, November 20. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">November 23: Nepali Congress is taking the lead in the first-past-the-post electoral system under the elections to the House of Representatives (HoR) and provincial assemblies held on Sunday, November 20.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">According to the results published by the Election Commission on its website, the NC has won 14 seats of lower house as of Wednesday afternoon. Similarly, the NC is ahead in vote count in 43 HoR constituencies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the main opposition party CPN-UML has won five HoR seats and is ahead in the vote count in 39 constituencies. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Similarly, the CPN (Maoist Centre), which had forged an electoral alliance with the NC, has won three seats and is leading in 14 constituencies while the CPN (Unified Socialist) has won one seat in lower house and is ahead in eight constituencies. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Likewise, the newly-formed Rastriya Swatantra Party has won four seats in HoR and is ahead in vote count in five constituencies while the Rastriya Prajatantra Party has also won one lower house seat and is leading the tally in four constituencies followed by Janamat Party (5), and Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (2). Nagarik Unmukti Party has secured one seat in parliament and is leading the vote count in three constituencies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The NC is also leading vote count in provincial assemblies’ election and has already won 16 seats. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">CPN-UML is second with five wins and is ahead in 60 constituencies while the Maoist Centre has also won five provincial assembly seats and is leading in 33 constituencies by the time this news report was prepared.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-23', 'modified' => '2022-11-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16103', 'image' => '20221123111319_ROS_KTM-0178.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-23 11:12:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16361', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CPN-UML Leads Vote Count under PR System ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 23: The CPN-UML is leading the vote count under the proportional representation (PR) system as of 11:30 pm on Tuesday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 23: The CPN-UML is leading the vote count under the proportional representation (PR) system as of 11:30 pm on Tuesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Election Commission (EC), the UML has secured 159,050 votes while the Nepali Congress, which is in the second position, has managed 138,446 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) is third with 70,795 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, CPN (Maoist Centre) has obtained 66,911 votes and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) garnered 37,335 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EC informed that Janamat Party has secured 12,626 votes and Janata Samajwadi Party has bagged 12,138 votes under the PR system. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Nepal Workers and Peasants Party has managed 8,621 votes, CPN (Unified Socialist) has 8,561 votes, Nagarik Unmukti Party holds 7,830 votes and other parties have managed 32,319 votes. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-23', 'modified' => '2022-11-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16102', 'image' => '20221123103320_KN_Damauli-image_6483441.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-23 10:32:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16360', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Voters Looking for a Political Change', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: The results of the November 20 elections to the members of the House of Representatives and provincial assemblies have started to arrive.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Rudra Khadka</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">November 22: The results of the November 20 elections to the members of the House of Representatives and provincial assemblies have started to arrive.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The preliminary results seem to be as expected. The ruling Nepali Congress and the main opposition CPN-UML are at the forefront. These parties are likely to be the first and second largest parties in the new parliament. Despite this, voters from all over the country have given a clear message that they are looking for a change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The popularity of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) led by former journalist Ravi Lamichhane, despite being established only a few months before the election, getting respectable votes is a clear indication that the voters are in favour of change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">While there are complaints that the political parties that have been holding the reins of power since 1990 have not been able to work according to the people's aspirations and only a limited number of people are currently in power, the RSP has expressed its commitment that one person will not hold any position for more than two terms. The party has also made it clear that the relatives of the party leaders will not be appointed to positions of benefit. The RSP has advocated for good governance and pledged to fight against corruption. This has attracted the voters to the new party.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">It seems that the new parties also have benefited from a six per cent decline in votes compared to the 2017 general elections. The general trand of major political parties presenting attractive plans in their manifesto but their failure to implement such plans in practice also helped the RSP this time. Many disappointed voters of the old political parties did not vote this time. As a result, participation in voting decreased.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In Nepal, there has been a change in political consciousness among the common people. If the people had not wanted change, the 104-year-long Rana regime would not have ended. Even the panchayat rulers who had been in power for 30 years would not have been forced to kneel had the public not wanted change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Change is inevitable not only in Nepal but also all over the world. The difference is - in countries where democracy is practised well, leadership changes rather than political parties/systems. Political analysts say that people may look for alternatives to big political parties because they have hardly changed their leadership.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The election results will likely come as a warning sign to the big political parties and their leaders that they need to improve. If the parties change the way they work, they might establish themselves for the next few years. If the parties and their leaders don't take this as a warning, it is clear that their future in politics is doomed. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16101', 'image' => '20221122041334_KB_KTM_E3A0922copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 16:12:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16358', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'What do Investors Predict about the Capital Market after Election?', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: Investors are eagerly awaiting for the impact of election on the capital market.', '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"">November 22: Investors are eagerly awaiting for the impact of election on the capital market. Some investors are expecting golden days in the secondary market after the election. The November 20 polls were suspended only in a few places while the election concluded peacefully in most of the constituencies.</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 investors are expecting a new government and a new dimension in investment after the election. Some investors who had been voicing for reforms in the share market joined the fray in election this time. Stakeholders believed that the share market will gain a lot if those advocating for the reforms of this sector get elected to the post of MPs.</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 secondary market of Nepal with more than 5.4 million investors has been fluctuating since more the past one year. The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index, which climbed to a record high of 3,200 points, has once again dropped to less than 2,000 points.</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"">Investors believe that the election will have a positive impact on the share market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><strong><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"">Radha Pokharel</span></span></span></span></strong></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"">Chairperson, Nepal Stock Market Investors Association</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 share market has always flourished during the election year. The liquidity crisis in the banking system gets eased during the election. This will have a positive impact on the share market. This time our colleagues have also contested the election. We firmly believe that the problems of the share market will be resolved if they win the election and become MPs. Although there are laws to govern the share market, it is important to implement them. I firmly believe that the new government will work towards enhancing the share market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><strong><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"">Chotelal Rauniyar</span></span></span></span></strong></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"">Former Chairman, Nepal Investors Forum</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 share market has received positive indications ahead of the election. Remittance inflow has increased and is in an increasing trend. This is also a good sign for the economy and the capital market. </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 liquidity crisis is also improving of late and the interest rate is also declining. The NEPSE index has fallen from 3,200 points to 1,900 points. The share value of most of the companies has fallen. If anyone invests in share at this moment, there is 20 percent risk and 80 percent return.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><strong><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"">Ambika Prasad Poudel</span></span></span></span></strong></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"">Chairman, Capital Market Forum of FNCCI</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 number of stock brokers is increasing and a new stock exchange company is in the offing. The process of book building is also moving forward. The stock market index is also rising slowly. Remittance inflow graph is also increasing. The Balance of Payments is also positive. The foreign exchange reserves are also improving and the CD ratio is also getting better. The arrival of tourists is also improving with the decline in coronavirus cases. The capital expenditure is expected to be better after the election. All these positive indications show that the share market will become better in the coming days. However, the capital market depends on psychological factors. If the investors are positive, then the share market will head towards the right direction.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16100', 'image' => '20221122020823_1669095018.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 14:07:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16359', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Asian Shares Down as Covid-19 Cases Flare-up in China', 'sub_title' => 'Investors Fear China may Resume Strict COVID Curbs', 'summary' => 'November 22: Asian shares were on the defensive on Tuesday as a COVID-19 resurgence in China increased concerns that Beijing may reimpose strict pandemic curbs. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">November 22: Asian shares were on the defensive on Tuesday as a COVID-19 resurgence in China increased concerns that Beijing may reimpose strict pandemic curbs. According to Reuters, further restrictions could cause supply chain disruptions.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The dollar pulled back from strong overnight gains on Tuesday while oil took a pause from Monday's retreat, added the news agency.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“The broader Asia-Pacific index ex-Japan lost 0.25 percent in early trade, while China’s benchmark dipped 0.13 percent. Hong Kong's benchmark index fell 1.31 percent. Japan's benchmark Nikkei average opened up 0.78 percent, while Australian shares rose 0.55 percent,” Reuters reported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the news agency, Beijing warned on Monday that it was facing its most severe test of the pandemic, fuelling investor concerns that China may be forced to resume strict mobility curbs and give stay and home orders across cities.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The controversial strategy - which aims to eradicate outbreaks - has seen millions locked down and citizens who have tested positive for the virus forcibly quarantined, BBC reported, adding, “Three deaths have been reported in the Chinese capital since Saturday, bringing the country's official death toll to 5,229. The latest fatalities have plunged parts of the city home to more than 21 million back into lockdown.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Meanwhile, Reuters reported that the US dollar pared some of its strong overnight gains on Tuesday after investors flocked to the safe-haven currency on nerves over China's COVID flare ups.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“Oil prices rose slightly in early Asian trade, a day after Saudi Arabia denied a media report that it was discussing an increase in oil supply with OPEC and its allies. US crude rose 0.27 percent to $80.26 per barrel on Tuesday and Brent was at $87.79, up 0.19 percent. Spot gold traded at $1,738.39 an ounce,” Reuters added.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16099', 'image' => '20221122020923_0x0.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 14:08:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16357', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourists Carrying Indian Currency Face Hassles at Border Checkpoints', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: Tourists coming from India have been facing problems at border checkpoints due to the ban on Indian currency of 500 and 2000 denominations.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 22: Tourists coming from India have been facing problems at border checkpoints due to the ban on Indian currency of 500 and 2000 denominations. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The local entrepreneurs say that if the Indian tourists visiting Nepal are found carrying these currency notes, the security personnel deployed at the border points confiscate the notes and even imprison them.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Nepal Rastra Bank, only IRs 100 is in circulation in Nepal. Officials of NRB clarified that such a rule is imposed while considering the risk of unauthorized transactions of Indian Currency (IC).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">When carrying low IC notes of low denomination, one has to carry large quantities of such notes even for small transactions, which is difficult and impractical. Some of the tourists carry IRs 500 and IRs 2000 notes due to lack of information and get into trouble. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hari Pant, president of Hotel and Tourism Entrepreneurs Association, said that the Indian tourists hesitate to come to Nepal due to such hassles.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pant complains that the issue of big notes is affecting the tourism and hotel business of the Terai region. The business of this area is dependent on Indian tourists. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“When the tourists from India started getting into trouble because of the cash they had with them, it has started affecting our business,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Indian citizens do not know that Indian notes above 100 rupee denomination are banned in Nepal. Sanjay Agarwal, co-ordinator of the Madhesh Province Tour and Travel and Tourism Committee of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry says that tourists suffer at the border because of the money they bring with them to spend.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ashok Kumar Baidya, chairman of Nepal-India Cooperation Forum, suggested that the government should facilitate Indian tourists in the border points even if it means they have to establishment a help room for the Indian tourists. He suggested that the Indian should be allowed to carry currencies of 500 and 2000 denominations on a self-declaration basis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“If they are not allowed bring the notes, there should be a simple arrangement to facilitate the Indian tourists at the border. They should not be prosecuted and sent to prison, but rather need cooperation.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Entrepreneurs say that there is no reason to impose a ban on the higher denominations of Indian currency in Nepal and cause suffering to the tourists on the pretext of banning these currency notes. Tourism entrepreneurs argue that the government must either ban the Indian currency in Nepal completely or lift the ban altogether because there is no point in allowing circulation of IRs 100 notes and banning the circulation of IRs 500 and IRs 2000 notes. This has only become a cause of confusion and problems for tourists coming to Nepal, they say.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16098', 'image' => '20221122013715_1669098225.भारू बोकेर आउने पर्यटकलाई सिमानामा सास्ती.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 13:36:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16356', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Less than 800 People get Jobs under PM Employment Programme', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: The Prime Minister's Employment Program launched by the previous government under the leadership of KP Sharma Oli has not been implemented properly even in the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 22: The Prime Minister's Employment Program launched by the previous government under the leadership of KP Sharma Oli has not been implemented properly even in the current fiscal year. It has been five months since the new fiscal year started but many of the people listed in the programme are still unemployed. Even the allocated budget is barely being spent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Around 841,500 people have applied for jobs under the PM's Employment Programme this year including 387,000 male and more than 453,000 female applicants. The PM's Employment Programme Secretariat, which is under the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security informed that only 712 of them are employed and received the minimum wage.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">They have been given the minimum wage at the rate of Rs 614 per day on an average. According to the secretariat, it is not possible to provide employment to 800,000 people this year. Also, not all the applicants are eligible for employment. Therefore, the government aims to provide employment to 200,000 people this year through the budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Lok Nath Bhusal, under-secretary of the PMEP secretariat, informed that the plan to provide employment is being carried out accordingly.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Not all the applicants are eligible for employment. Around 200,000 applicants will be employed after selecting the eligible candidates from among the applicants. If the government arranges more budget, more people can be employed,” said Bhusal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government has allocated a budget of Rs 7.13 billion for the PM's Employment Programme this year. In the last five months, only Rs 99.4 million has been spent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bhusal says that this ambitious programme is not implemented properly this year due to the elections. He stated, “Because everyone's attention is on the election, the implementation of the programme has not been able to accelerate, it will gain momentum after the election.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Last year, the government had allocated a budget of Rs 12 billion for this programme, but for the current fiscal year, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma allocated only Rs 7 billion. Even though the government is under intense pressure to amend the programme and make it production-oriented, it seems that implementation part is getting worse.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The World Bank has provide a concessional loan of Rs 14 billion in the name of 'Yeti Project' in order to implement this programme. This year, more than Rs 18 million of the said loan is being spent. Even though donor agencies have supported the programme, questions are being raised because it is not effective.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16097', 'image' => '20221122011616_PMEP.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 13:15:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16355', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 1,400 Climbers Acquire Permits to Climb Mountain Peaks during Autumn Season', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: The Government of Nepal has granted permission for climbers from 76 countries to scale mountain peaks during the autumn season this year, which is considered ideal climbing period after the spring season.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 22: The Government of Nepal has granted permission for climbers from 76 countries to scale mountain peaks during the autumn season this year, which is considered an ideal climbing period after the spring season. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Department of Tourism, the government body responsible for issuing climbing permits, a total of 1,435 foreigners have been granted permission to climb 48 different peaks during the autumn climbing window. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During this autumn, a few climbers are interested in climbing Mt Everest, the world’s highest peak, which fetches good royalties. Most of the climbers prefer to scale Everest during the spring window and opt for Mt Manaslu (8,161 meters) during the autumn season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the latest data of the department, altogether 404 climbers of 38 expedition groups have been issued permits to climb Mt Manaslu this season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A total of 330 female climbers have received permission to climb mountains during this period. The department has collected royalties worth Rs 93 million from climbing permits. Royalties from Manaslu alone is worth Rs 46.2 million while the department has collected royalties worth Rs 3.5 million from 5 climbers attempting to climb Everest. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Even climbers from two warring countries, Russia and Ukraine, have also arrived here to climb mountain peaks this year. According to the department, almost half a million tourists have arrived in Nepal in the first ten months of 2022 after a decline in Covid-19 cases in Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Most of the climbers are from the UK (144) followed by the USA (132) and France (129). </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Others are from Germany, Spain, India, Japan, Italy, Australia, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Iran among others.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16096', 'image' => '20221122121433_SantoshGautam_Myagdi_RSS_02_Churenhimaltreak(2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 12:13:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16354', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepali Congress Secures Two Seats in HoR, UML Leading in Proportional Representation Category', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 22: The counting of votes of the November 20 election is currently underway. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 22: The counting of votes of the November 20 election is currently underway. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the first-past-the-post category, the Nepali Congress is leading the polls after securing 2 seats of the House of Representatives, while the CPN (UML) is in second place with one seat so far. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Election Commission, Nepali Congress is leading in 35 constituencies and CPN (UML) in 32 followed by CPN (Maoist Center) in 9 constituencies, Rastriya Swatantra Party in 8, Rastriya Prajatantra Party in 5 while others have maintained lead in 19 constituencies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Nepali Congress, which is in the first place in the FPTP category, is in the second place in the proportional representation (PR) category. According to the Election Commission, CPN-UML has secured the top position with 23,374 votes followed by Nepali Congress in the second position with 21,949 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Rastriya Swatantra Party is in the third place with 11,505 votes while CPN (Maoist Center) is fourth with 8,398 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Furthermore, Rastriya Prajatantra Party has garnered 5,476 votes, Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal received 2,098, Janamaat Party has secured 1,648 votes and Nepal Workers and Peasant Party 1,600 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The main opposition, CPN (UML) is also in the top position in proportional representation category of the Provincial Assembly elections. According to the EC, the UML has secured 8,124 votes while Nepali Congress which is in the second position with 7, 411 votes. The Maoist Center is in third place with 2,678 votes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party has bagged 2,148 votes, Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal 1,375 votes and others has so far received 3,083 votes. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-22', 'modified' => '2022-11-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16095', 'image' => '20221122110703_Election_Commission.2e16d0ba.fill-650x500.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-22 11:06:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16351', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepali Migrant Workers found Working in Countries with no Labor Agreement', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 21: Young Nepali migrant workers facing physical, financial and mental exploitation during foreign employment is no longer a new issue for Nepal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 21: Young Nepali migrant workers facing physical, financial and mental exploitation during foreign employment is no longer a new issue for Nepal. Even though the rights activists are raising their voices that the problems faced by the workers should be addressed, the youths have been forced to visit foreign countries for employment due to government’s negligence. They are even found visiting countries with whom Nepal has not signed labour pacts.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although it is considered mandatory to have a labor contract with the respective country before going for foreign employment, the government is unable to sign a labor contract with the employer country. But the process of workers entering those countries still continues unabated.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Those who have reached the leadership level of power have repeatedly assured that a labor agreement will be made with the employer country. However, labor contracts have not been signed with most of the labor destination countries chosen by Nepali youth for foreign employment. Officials of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security say that due to weak diplomatic initiatives, labor agreements have not been reached with most of the countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Due to the failure to reach a bilateral agreement at the government level with the major labour destination countries, a secure environment has not been created for Nepali workers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the Covid-19 pandemic, around 2,000 young people have been going abroad for foreign employment every day. As mentioned in the data of the Department of Foreign Employment, most of them go to Gulf countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">So far, the government has opened up 111 countries of the world for employment, but has signed labor agreements with only 10 countries. According to the ministry, so far labor agreements have been signed with Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Korea, Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Malaysia, Mauritius and Oman.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Spokesperson at the Labour Ministry Danduraj Ghimire says that the ministry is always ready for labor agreements with the main labour destination countries. He said that the government has a plan to make foreign employment systematic, transparent and dignified by signing labor agreements with labour destination countries with good prospects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-21', 'modified' => '2022-11-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16093', 'image' => '20221121015409_foreign emp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-21 13:53:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16353', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mirgunj Bridge to Reopen Within 15 Days', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 21: Indian officials have assured to reopen the Bailey Bridge over Pramana River in Mirgunj, India, within 15 days.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 21: Indian officials have assured to reopen the Bailey Bridge over Pramana River in Mirgunj, India, within 15 days. The delay in opening of the bridge has become a headache for Nepali businessmen as they have to rely on longer route for trade with India.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu gave such assurance to the Morang Merchants’ Association. The bridge is located 4 kilometers west of the Biratnagar-Jogwani border checkpoint. India is yet to open the traffic even though the Bailey Bridge, which collapsed 10 months ago, had been repaired already. As a result, Nepali entrepreneurs are compelled to re-route goods imported from Indian and third and also pay extra freight charge.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Keeping this problem in mind, Gopal Agarwal, executive member of the Morang Merchants’ Association, submitted a memorandum to Deputy Chief of Mission of the Indian Embassy Prasanna Srivastava and Chief of Commerce SumanShekhar to open the bridge immediately. In response, the embassy officials provided assurance about opening the bridge within 15 days.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The damaged Bailey Bridge has already been repaired along with a concrete bridge on the newly built four-lane road 200 meters north of it. The four-lane road leads from Bihar's road network to the Nepal-India Integrated Checkpoint (ICP). However, despite repeated requests to the Indian side, the bridge is still closed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The association has been drawing the attention of the high-ranking officials of India, requesting for the bridge be operated as soon as possible. However, they have only been giving assurances. Agarwal, also handed over a letter signed by the association’s president Naveen Rijal to the embassy officials.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">When the goods that have arrived near the customs are re-routed and brought back to the Biratnagar customs from Bhantabari via Sunsari, they have to travel 116 km more. The industrialists of Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor have been complaining that they have to pay Rs 250,000 more as freight charge every day when the goods are re-routed and brought into the country.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-21', 'modified' => '2022-11-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16092', 'image' => '20221121032216_Flag-Pins-India-Nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-21 15:21:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16350', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Jute Production Declining Continuously in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 21: Jute production has been declining continuously in Nepal in recent years, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 21: Jute production has been declining continuously in Nepal in recent years, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the data, the production decreased by 6000 metric tons in the last seven years. The farmers producing jute are now abandoning its cultivation after they stopped getting equitable returns according to their investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data of the ministry, 16,530 metric tons of jute was produced in Nepal in the fiscal year (FY 2014/15). By the end of the year 2020/21, jute production decreased by 6,079 metric tons to 10,451 metric tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During this period, the area of land where jute is produced also decreased by about 4000 hectares. The data shows that jute farming was done on 11,400 hectares of land in FY 2014/15, which decreased to 7,415 hectares in FY 2020/21.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Binod Gupta of Jute Research Programme, Itahari informed that the farmers are not getting the price according to the cost of production and the production is decreasing every year due to unstable prices. However, when farmers sell jute, they do not get the price according to the cost of production. He said that the jute industry sets the price much lower than the production cost of the farmers. Also, the government does not set the support price of jute. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Gupta says Nepali jute producing farmers have been hurt by the practice of setting prices by the Nepali jute industry under the guidance of the jute industry of Kolkata.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">About 12 years ago, jute was cultivated on an area of more than 20,000 hectares in the districts of Sunsari, Morang, Jhapa, Siraha, Saptari, Udayapur alone. Now the area under jute farming has decreased. Other crops are grown on the land where jute farming used to be done. The ironic reality is that 70 percent of the raw jute required for Nepali industry is being imported from India and Bangladesh, according to stakeholders. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-21', 'modified' => '2022-11-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16091', 'image' => '20221121011125_NG_Sunsari-IMG_20221011_121746.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-21 13:10:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16349', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Voter Turnout Less Than Expected: Election Commission ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 21: The voter turnout during Sunday’s general election was much less than expected. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Bijay Damase </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"">November 21: The voter turnout during Sunday’s general election was much less than expected. According to the preliminary report of the Election Commission (EC), the voter turnout remained less than 61 per cent.</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"">Prior to this, the nationwide voter turnout in the elections held in 2017 stood at 67.63 percent while the voter turnout in local elections held earlier this year was 66.86 percent. </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"">Analysts believe that the low voter turnout is the result of lack of accountability of the people’s representatives elected in the past. The low voter turnout also hints at the people’s contempt towards political party leaders and their working style.</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"">Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya admitted during a press conference on Sunday evening that the voter turnout was less than expected. He said that the voting was not encouraging on Sunday morning but there was some improvement towards the afternoon.</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 election has been postponed in some places,” said CEC Thapaliya.</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"">He added that the vote counting would begin as soon as the ballot boxes are collected from the polling stations and brought to the vote counting centres.</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 EC maintained that the elections were largely peaceful, with some exceptions of sporadic incidents. </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"">According to the EC, election-related violence was reported in over a dozen district. Police had to resort to firing blank shots in the air to bring the situation under control in over 24 polling centres of 11 districts. Voting was suspended in 64 places but it resumed in all but six of those areas. One person was killed in police firing in Triveni Municipality of Bajura district as police opened fire to disperse the agitating crowd.</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"">There are a total of eligible 17,988,570 voters in Nepal registered at the Election Commission. According to the EC, information on voter turnout is being registered in the EC’s entry system. </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 Election Commission had set up 22,227 voting centres under 10,892 polling stations for the election to the House of Representatives (HoR) and provincial assemblies on November 20. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-21', 'modified' => '2022-11-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16090', 'image' => '20221121120022_KiranTHapa_Melamchi_RSS_04_222.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-21 11:59:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16347', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Cup Kicks off with Glitzy Inaugural Ceremony', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 21: The 2022 World Cup kicked off in Qatar’s Al-Bayt Stadium on Sunday with a visually appealing opening ceremony.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Agencies</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 21: The 2022 World Cup kicked off in Qatar’s Al-Bayt Stadium on Sunday with a visually appealing opening ceremony.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the BBC, America’s Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman featured in the festivities alongside Qatari YouTuber Ghanim Al-Muftah. South Korean pop star Jung Kook sang Dreamers, the tournament song, alongside Qatari singer Fahad Al Kubaisi at the stadium in Al Khor.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The build-up to the first World Cup to be held in a Muslim country in the Middle East has been overshadowed by a number of controversies, including deaths of migrant workers and treatment of LGBT people in Qatar, BBC added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Reuters, Qatar's ruler in his inauguration speech called for people of all races and orientations to put aside their differences, as the host nation faced a barrage of criticism over its treatment of foreign workers and LGBT rights.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Muslim Gulf nation is staking its reputation on delivering a smooth tournament and has denied accusations of abuse of workers and discrimination, the news agency added. Football governing body FIFA hopes the spotlight will now turn to action on the pitch.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Organisers have also denied allegations of bribery to win the rights to host football’s biggest event.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"People of all races, nationalities, beliefs and orientations will gather here in Qatar and around screens across the continents to share in the exciting moments," Reuters quoted Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani as saying.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the inaugural match, which took place minutes after the opening ceremony, the hosts Qatar were beaten 2-0 by Equador.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-21', 'modified' => '2022-11-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16089', 'image' => '20221121093249_wc.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-21 09:32:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $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
