November 16: Asian stocks dropped and the dollar gained on Wednesday after a blast in Poland.…
November 16: Asian stocks dropped and the dollar gained on Wednesday after a blast in Poland.…
November 16: The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has urged one and all to remain cautious as the temperature across the country is dropping…
November 15: Global IME Bank has signed a merger agreement with Bank of Kathmandu in what is believed to be a deal to create the biggest bank of Nepal in terms of capital and…
November 15: Experts have stressed on the importance of food security amid challenges posed by climate…
November 15: The government has decided to give a two-day public holiday for government employees in view of the elections to the Member of the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly on November…
November 15: US President Joe Biden met with his Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Indonesia on Monday in what is said to be the first meeting of the two leaders of the largest economies in the…
November 15: Nepal’s aviation policy has made it mandatory for domestic airline companies to operate flights to remote…
November 15: The government has removed the minimum limit required for foreign investment for the non- resident Nepalis (NRNs) willing to investment in Nepal through investment…
November 15: The Invest for Impact Nepal (IIN) platform is scaling up its programme to promote investment and equitable economic growth to contribute to social and environmental impact in…
November 15: Buddha Air, one of the leading private airline company of Nepal, has announced to conduct three flights to India from the Pokhara Regional International Airport…
November 14: The consumption of petroleum products in the domestic market of Nepal has gone down lately.…
November 14: The value of Nepalese currency has strengthened along with the Indian rupee after the US Department of Treasury removed the Indian Currency from its ‘Currency Watchlist’.…
November 14: The price of edible oil, which was rising continuously since the Russia-Ukraine tension, had declined during the start of the Dashain and Tihar…
November 14: More than 5 million people have acquired Permanent Account Number (PAN) in Nepal so…
November 14: The Change Initiative by Net Consortium has kicked off with the objective to address the challenges faced by businessmen and entrepreneurs during and after…
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Agencies</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 16: Asian stocks dropped and the dollar gained on Wednesday after a blast in Poland. According to Reuters, Ukraine and Polish authorities have said that the blast was caused by a Russian-made missile.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The news agency added that worries over a potential ratcheting up of geopolitical tensions spurred a drop of 1 percent in MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Australian shares fell 0.4 percent, while Japan's Nikkei stock index dropped 0.1 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 1.1 percent and China's CSI 300 fell 0.4 percent by the midday break. According to Reuters, the struggling property sector weighed on the markets, with China's new home prices falling at their fastest pace in more than seven years in October, weighed down by COVID 19-related curbs and industry-wide problems.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">US stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis, fell 0.2 percent. In early European trade, the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures lost 0.9 percent, German DAX futures dipped 1 percent, and FTSE futures fell 0.5 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The safe-haven US dollar pared gains against its major peers but was still mostly higher, led by a 0.63 percent advance versus the yen, added Reuters. Likewise, sterling lost 0.32 percent, while the risk-sensitive Aussie dollar weakened 0.34 percent. The euro was flat.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NATO member Poland has blamed that a Russian-made rocket killed two people in eastern Poland near Ukraine.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the BBC, Polish officials said the "Russian-made missile" landed in Przewodow, on the Ukrainian border.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Moscow has denied the allegations.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported that NATO allies are preparing to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the strike.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NATO and its allies, including the United States, have said they are investigating the cause of the explosion in Poland on Tuesday.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-16', 'modified' => '2022-11-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16058', 'image' => '20221116115210_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-16 11:51:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16316', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Temperature Drops Across the Country ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 16: The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has urged one and all to remain cautious as the temperature across the country is dropping gradually. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 16: The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has urged one and all to remain cautious as the temperature across the country is dropping gradually. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a special bulletin on Wednesday, the department urged the general public to protect themselves from cold as the temperature has been gradually declining in the country due to the impact of the westerly winds. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The minimum temperature in the country is likely to decrease further while considering the recent patterns, the department said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the past 24 hours, the Kathmandu valley’s minimum temperature remained 9.0 degree Celsius while the maximum temperature was 22.0 degree Celsius, the department added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the Weather Forecasting Division of the department said that hill areas of Province 1, Gandaki and Karnali provinces are likely to remain partly cloudy while the mountainous regions of Province 1, Gandaki and Karnali would remain mainly fair this afternoon. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-16', 'modified' => '2022-11-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16057', 'image' => '20221116112711_aaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-16 11:26:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16315', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Global IME Bank Signs Merger Agreement with BoK', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: Global IME Bank has signed a merger agreement with Bank of Kathmandu in what is believed to be a deal to create the biggest bank of Nepal in terms of capital and business.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 15: Global IME Bank has signed a merger agreement with Bank of Kathmandu in what is believed to be a deal to create the biggest bank of Nepal in terms of capital and business.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The two banks signed an agreement to this effect on Monday. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to a statement issued by Global IME Bank, its chairman Chandra Prasad Dhakal and the chairman of BoK Prakash Shrestha signed the agreement on behalf of their respective banks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the merger, the total capital of the merged entity will rise to Rs 57 billion while the paid-up capital will increase to Rs 35.77 billion. The total deposits of the merged entity will cross Rs 400 billion while the credit flow will stand at Rs 379 billion, making it the biggest bank of Nepal in terms of paid-up capital and volume of business.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Board of directors of both the banks have approved a swap ratio of 1:1 based upon the recommendation of an evaluation report. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the recommendation, the name of the new entity will be Global IME BoK Limited and the new board of directors will be represented by five members of Global IME Bank including its chairman. Likewise, the new board of directors will have two members from BoK.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Global IME Bank’s CEO Ratna Raj Bajracharya will continue his job as the CEO after the merger.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Both the banks have earned net profit of Rs 1.47 billion by mid-October in the current fiscal year. After the merger, the new entity will have a total of 396 branches, 368 ATMs, 275 branchless banking facilities and 61 extension counters and three contact offices abroad. The new bank will have more than 4 million customers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The two banks believe that the merger will help deliver better services to the customers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Currently there are 26 commercial banks operating in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Banks and financial institutions in Nepal have started merging with each other or acquiring other banks as per the directive of Nepal Rastra Bank. The central bank of Nepal has adopted a policy to encourage merger/acquisition of banks so that the banks can cope with financial crisis better in the future.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16056', 'image' => '20221115064330_1668431648404.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 18:42:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16314', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Regional Conference on Suitable Seeds for Food Security Focuses on Better Access to Seeds', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: Experts have stressed on the importance of food security amid challenges posed by climate change.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 15: Experts have stressed on the importance of food security amid challenges posed by climate change.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at a regional conference on Suitable Seeds for Food Security organized recently in Kathmandu, Dr Jagadish Chandra Pokharel, former vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission, said that the importance of food security has grown multi-fold given the changing climatic conditions. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Dr Pokharel, who is also the chairman of the Nepal Institute for Urban and Regional Studies (NIURS), added that seed diversity is integral to food security.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The conference was organized jointly by South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE), Kathmandu and Norway-based Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI) to disseminate the findings of the study “Suitable seeds for food security in fragile states”.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to a statement issued by SAWTEE, the discussions held at the two-day conference focused on the roles of policy, legal and institutional frameworks with respect to access to suitable seeds in South Asia.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Another speaker Dr Kristin Rosendal, senior researcher at FNI, Norway, highlighted in her presentation that food security depends largely on access to a broad variety of suitable seeds. She argued that good quality food plants that are adapted to changing climate is necessary to fight climate change, added the statement. Dr Rosendal said that access to seeds is affected by international goals given that the top three corporations in the world control half the global seed market value. “Such facets intensely undermine the trust in the global circulation of seeds,” she added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Dr Posh Raj Pandey, chairperson of SAWTEE, said that the overlapping global food and climate crises have left many people with multiple vulnerabilities, especially in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Hence, when formulating seed policy to ensure food security, the ground reality of LDCs should be taken into account, by enhancing participatory and gender-sensitive approaches and improving the linkages of seed security, agri-productivity, and nutrition within households.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Christian Prip, senior research fellow at FNI, said that there have been conflicting interests with regard to the industrialization of agriculture driven by economic gains and the objective of protecting the diversity of genetic resources of plants to ensure long-term food security and farmers rights.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The two-day conference saw discussions on topics such as ‘Fostering Regional Co-operation for seed security: South Asian Perspective’, ‘Changes in EU Seed Regulations – Global Trends’, ‘Financing Climate Change Adaptation’ and ‘Impact of COVID-19 on agri input chain’. The event saw participation of researchers, academics, policymakers, representatives of farmers’ bodies, consumer rights activists, organizations working on climate change adaptation, and media, among others. There were participants from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Norway.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16055', 'image' => '20221115060720_sawtee.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 18:06:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16313', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Announces Two Days of Public Holiday for Elections ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: The government has decided to give a two-day public holiday for government employees in view of the elections to the Member of the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly on November 20. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 15: The government has decided to give a two-day public holiday for government employees in view of the elections to the Member of the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly on November 20. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notice on Tuesday informing that government offices and public entities will be observing public holiday on November 20 and 21. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the spokesperson of the home ministry, Phanindramani Pokhrel, teaching institutes or schools serving as the polling stations for voting during the twin elections on November 20 are entitled for public holiday for four days beginning from November 18. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that the Election Commission earlier urged the government to give public holiday as far as possible so as to encourage the public to take part in the elections being held across the country in a single phase. The EC believes that public holidays will help increase voters’ turnout. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the Tribhuvan University (TU) has decided to give public holidays in all subordinate campuses and offices for four days beginning from November 17. According to TU information and Public Relations Division Chief Yogendra Prasad Dahal, some of TU colleges are serving as the polling locations and it decides to give public holiday in view of the elections so that the daily activities of the colleges remain unaffected. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meantime, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) Office has decided to cease regular domestic flights on November 20 when the country is witnessing the voting for the twin elections. However, the airport’s spokesperson Teknath Sitaula said chartered fights will not be halted on the voting day. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16054', 'image' => '20221115025525_JS_Lamjung-byanarpattaudaikarmacharipiclamjung(2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 14:54:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16312', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Biden and Xi Dismiss Cold War Fears', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: US President Joe Biden met with his Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Indonesia on Monday in what is said to be the first meeting of the two leaders of the largest economies in the world.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 15: US President Joe Biden met with his Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Indonesia on Monday in what is said to be the first meeting of the two leaders of the largest economies in the world.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Reuters, the Biden and Xi engaged in blunt talks over Taiwan and North Korea in a three-hour meeting aimed at preventing strained US-China ties from spilling into a new Cold War.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the news agency, the two leaders pledged more frequent communications amid simmering differences on human rights, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and support of domestic industry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"We're going to compete vigorously. But I'm not looking for conflict, I'm looking to manage this competition responsibly," Reuters quoted Biden as saying after his talks with Xi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The G20 Summit of industrial countries kicked off in Bali, Indonesia on Tuesday. Taiwan will be the major agenda of the meeting between the two countries, according to the BBC. It is expected that the encounter will help to take the bilateral relationship and cooperation to a new height.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">This is the first time Biden met Xi in person after he was elected as the president of the United States in 2020. The meeting was much-awaited amidst the strained relation between the two superpowers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">China has been claiming Taiwan as part of it while Taiwan boasts of being a sovereign country. The United States has been backing Taiwan. Sometimes ago, Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi had visited the island drawing stern criticism from mainland China. Her visit had aggravated the relationship between the first and second largest economies. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Following the tension, the US banned the import of computer chips from China which has affected China’s export-driven economy. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The US and China are the two largest economies. The continued trade war between them has affected almost all countries. One of the major agendas the G20 Summit is expected to incorporate is the trade war between these two countries. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The G20 Group comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, Britain, and the United States. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16053', 'image' => '20221115023619_biden.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 14:35:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16311', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Domestic Airline Companies Reluctant to Operate Flights to Remote Areas', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: Nepal’s aviation policy has made it mandatory for domestic airline companies to operate flights to remote areas.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">November 15: Nepal’s aviation policy has made it mandatory for domestic airline companies to operate flights to remote areas. Air service providers, however, have been reluctant to do so.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation seems to be silent despite the fact that airline companies have pledged to make compulsory flights to far-flung regions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Airline companies that are operating flights to urban areas need to comply with the provision to operate flights to remote region as per the aviation policy of Nepal and the social responsibility of the airliners. But, the airline companies are defying the aviation policy as they are just concentrated on city areas for hefty profit, bemoaned Hari Budha of Jumla.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Gyanendra Bhul, deputy spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), says that the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation bears the responsibility to implement the policy of compulsory flights to remote areas.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">“If the policy to make compulsory flights to remote areas was mentioned in the Civil Aviation Authority Act, the authority would have the onus to execute it. Ambiguity in the provision on policy and act has brought the present situation,” said Bhul. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Nine airline companies including Buddha Air, Shree Airlines, Yeti Airlines and Saurya Airlines have not provided their services to far-flung regions. Tara Airlines, Summit Air, Sita Air and Nepal Airlines, the national flag carrier, have been operating flights to remote regions in the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, joint secretary at the Ministry of Tourism, said that they could not force airline companies to operate flights to remote areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">“It is not easy to make flights to remote regions due to high cost and difficult topography,” said Lamichhane, adding, “We have to encourage new companies to operate flights to far-flung regions by providing discount on aircraft import, landing and parking fee.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Buddha Air, the largest private airline company of Nepal in terms of aircraft number, has been operating such flights to only Surkhet, a hill district in Karnali Province. The airline operates one flight on Surkhet-Kathmandu route a day. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Officials at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal say that airline companies are having a tough time operating flights to remote areas due to large size of aircraft. An official from the civil aviation authority says that companies are unwilling to go to remote areas and new places since they are making profit from their flights to convenient city areas. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Officials at the airline companies, however, claim that they can not operate flights to hill regions owing to small and short runways and shortage of passengers. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">“For our aircraft to land, we need 1600-meter-long runway. But, the runways in hill areas are small for landing and take-off,” said an official from a private company.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Shree Airlines’ spokesperson Anil Manandhar said that flights could not be made to hill regions due to small size of runways. “We have to procure new aircraft as operating flights to the hill regions is not possible with the existing planes,” Manandhar added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">No different is the response of Mukesh Kafle from Saurya Airlines. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">“Our airline is failing to operate flights to remote and hill regions due to small size of the runways,” Kafle stated. He, however, said that his company was planning to purchase new small-sized aircraft for flights to remote areas.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16052', 'image' => '20221115123054_1668464094.7.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 12:30:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16310', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Minimum Foreign Investment Limit for NRNs Removed', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: The government has removed the minimum limit required for foreign investment for the non- resident Nepalis (NRNs) willing to investment in Nepal through investment companies.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">November 15: The government has removed the minimum limit required for foreign investment for the non- resident Nepalis (NRNs) willing to investment in Nepal through investment companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">The government made such a provision by using the authority granted by the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act-2075 BS. This is expected to increase foreign investment to the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">The minimum limit required for foreign investment for each investor stands at Rs 20 million, as per a notice published on the Nepal Gazette by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">Earlier, the minimum limit for foreign investment was set at Rs 50 million. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">A cabinet meeting held a few days ago took the decision to remove the minimum threshold needed for foreign investment for the non-resident Nepalis. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">“We have published the notice on the Nepal Gazette in accordance with the latest decision of the Council of Ministers,” said Dr Toyanath Gyawali, secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16051', 'image' => '20221115115144_NRNA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 11:51:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16309', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'IIN to promote FDI, Equitable Economic Growth of Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: The Invest for Impact Nepal (IIN) platform is scaling up its programme to promote investment and equitable economic growth to contribute to social and environmental impact in Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 15: The Invest for Impact Nepal (IIN) platform is scaling up its programme to promote investment and equitable economic growth to contribute to social and environmental impact in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The scale-up programme will run from November 2022 to August 2025 and builds on initial discovery phase activities such as assessing specific challenges and opportunities for foreign direct investments (FDI) in Nepal, IIN said in a press statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“The discovery phase also looked into investment opportunities through financial institutions (FIs), Private Equity and Venture Capital (PEVC) funds, and Financial Technology firms,” it said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This group comprising of DFIs and development partners, will complement existing efforts to attract more investments and advance the development of the country by channelling efforts to unlock the possibilities of patient investing, flexible capital to support private sector growth and innovation. The objective is to help solve the biggest development challenges in Nepal, read the statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The IIN’s scale-up programme is to accelerate growth, create jobs, and develop a more sustainable economy in Nepal and this will be achieved by enabling FIs and PEVC funds to access resources from DFIs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">To support the small and medium-sized enterprises, the IIN will enable key investment ecosystem stakeholders including DFIs, DPs, FIs, PEVC Funds, private sector and regulators to participate in market information gathering and others including access to foreign direct investment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Welcoming this partnership, Swiss Ambassador to Nepal Elisabeth von Capeller ensuring that environmental, social, and governance factors are integrated into financial products and transactions remains our core focus. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise Head of Asia at BII Srini Nagarajan said this platform’s focus on those intermediaries resonates well with BII’s own strategy in emerging markets to deploy patient and flexible capital to boost productive, inclusive and sustainable growth in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The IIN platform is promoted by Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) of the UK- British International Investment (BII), the Netherlands - Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO) and Nepal’s development partner- the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16050', 'image' => '20221115095014_Foreign investment.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 09:49:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16308', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Buddha Air to Operate Flights to India from PRIA ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: Buddha Air, one of the leading private airline company of Nepal, has announced to conduct three flights to India from the Pokhara Regional International Airport (PRIA). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 15: </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Buddha Air, one of the leading private carriers of Nepal, is planning to start flights to three destinations in India from Pokhara Regional International Airport. The airlines will operate flight to Benares, Delhi and Dehradun. Pokhara Regional International Airport will come into operation from January in 2023, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Buddha Air will operate the first flight along the Pokhara-Benares-Pokhara route as soon as the airport comes into operation,” said an official of Buddha Air. The flight from Pokhara-Benares to Pokhara will be held three times a week on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Government of Nepal is holding talks with the Indian government for an air traffic route and Buddha Air is preparing for two flights a day to Delhi from Pokhara once the Indian government gives permission for air route and slot, according to Buddha Air. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At present, Buddha Air is operating flights to Beneras from Tribhuvan International Airport. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16049', 'image' => '20221115094046_1668475635.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 09:40:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16307', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Consumption of Petroleum Products Falls ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 14: The consumption of petroleum products in the domestic market of Nepal has gone down lately. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 14: The consumption of petroleum products in the domestic market of Nepal has gone down lately. According to the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), the consumption of petroleum products has significantly decreased in the current fiscal year (FY 2022/23) as compared to the previous year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Data of the NOC shows that 44,513 kiloliters of petrol and 78426 kiloliters of diesel were consumed between mid-October to mid-November this year compared to 63,315 kiloliters of petrol and 135,812 kiloliters of diesel consumed during the correspondent period of the last fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In past, the supply of petroleum products used to increase during festivals and elections, but this time the situation is different, NOC Spokesperson Binitmani Upadhyay said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Liquidity crunch, unfavorable season for development works, the skyrocketing prices of petroleum products and higher prices in the domestic market compared to the Indian market are among the factors for the decline in fuel consumption. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Higher price of petroleum products in the domestic market may encourage people to fill up their vehicles in Indian cities taking an advantage of the open border between Nepal and India, it has been observed. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-14', 'modified' => '2022-11-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16048', 'image' => '20221114052104_petroo - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-14 17:20:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16306', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Value of Nepalese Currency Rises after US Removes India from its ‘Currency Watchlist’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 14: The value of Nepalese currency has strengthened along with the Indian rupee after the US Department of Treasury removed the Indian Currency from its ‘Currency Watchlist’. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 14: The value of Nepalese currency has strengthened along with the Indian rupee after the US Department of Treasury removed the Indian Currency from its ‘Currency Watchlist’. Analysts say that this trend will continue.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is a fixed exchange rate between the Indian and Nepalese currencies. The value of the US dollar in Nepal is determined based on the value of the Indian currency. For this reason, the Nepalese rupee is weak when the INR is weak and vice versa. The exchange rate of the USD in the Nepalese market has dropped from Rs 133 to Rs 129 per dollar after India was removed from the watchlist.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Indian rupee has strengthened by 2 per cent against the US dollar over the past week. On Friday, the value of Indian currency rose by 1.23 per cent in a single day due to the prospect of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the US, increasing the interest rate a little more than expected. As of Friday, one dollar was equivalent to INR 80.81. The effect of the removal of INR from the watchlist is yet to be seen as trading in the international currency market is closed on Saturday and Sunday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank had fixed the exchange rate for USD 1 at Rs 131.2 on Friday and at Rs 129. 58 for Saturday and Sunday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Economist Nar Bahadur Thapa said that the removal of the Indian currency from the US currency watchlist has strengthened the Indian currency, and its impact has been felt on the Nepali currency. A weak USD has a positive effect on Nepal's trade deficit and inflation. The consumers who are facing price hike due to the recent increase in the value of the US dollar will get some relief.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Thapa said that there will be a loss in income form remittance though. As remittances are calculated based on the value of US dollars, more money is received when the dollar is expensive and less money is received when the dollar is cheap.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After two years, the US has removed India from the list of countries that manipulate the currency market. The US has also removed Italy, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam from the list. The United States keeps its trade partners in this list based on the practices of any country in the currency market and the overall monetary policy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </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' => '2022-11-14', 'modified' => '2022-11-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16047', 'image' => '20221114051206_1668391625.अमेरिकी ‘करेन्सी वाचलिस्ट’बाट भारत हट्यो.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-14 17:11:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16305', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Price of Cooking Oil Rises Again', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 14: The price of edible oil, which was rising continuously since the Russia-Ukraine tension, had declined during the start of the Dashain and Tihar festivals.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 14: The price of edible oil, which was rising continuously since the Russia-Ukraine tension, had declined during the start of the Dashain and Tihar festivals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It has once again started to rise after festive season. The price of cooking oil has increased by as much as Rs 50 per litre since Tihar.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Retail Trade Association, the retail price of cooking oil of every brand has increased by Rs 20 to Rs 50 per litre since Tihar. The price of soybean oil, which was Rs 240 per litre during Dashain, has now reached Rs 280. Likewise, the price of mustard oil has now reached Rs 340 from Rs 320 per litre. Similarly, the price of sunflower has climbed to Rs 300 from Rs 250.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Industrialists say that the price of oil may increase for some time. Subodh Kumar Gupta, president of Nepal Pulses, Rice and Oil Association, said that there is no possibility of an immediate price reduction or stabilization as there is no improvement in the international market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that there are indications that the price may increase further due to the inability to produce raw materials for a long time due to the Russia-Ukraine tension. According to him, the price of oil in the world market is likely to be affected for the next two years due to the war.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Small and retail traders are not ready to accept the argument of the industrialists and wholesalers over the rise in oil prices. They allege that the industrialists have arbitrarily increased the price of oil due to the upcoming elections. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Amulkaji Tuladhar, general secretary of the Retail Trade Union, said that as big industrialists and businessmen donate large amount of money to the party leaders during elections, it has affected food prices</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“If the problem was due to lack of raw materials and increase in value of dollar, how can the prices that dropped before Dashain rise in such a short span?” questioned Tuladhar.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Wasn’t there scarcity of raw materials before Dashain? Another issue is that there is no need to increase the price of oil sharply when the value of dollar has increased by only a few rupees,” added Tuladhara.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-14', 'modified' => '2022-11-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16046', 'image' => '20221114041628_shutterstock_1353066692.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-14 16:15:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16304', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Permanent Account Numbers Issued to More than 5 Million People', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 14: More than 5 million people have acquired Permanent Account Number (PAN) in Nepal so far.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">November 14: More than 5 million people have acquired Permanent Account Number (PAN) in Nepal so far. According to the latest data published by the Ministry of Finance, almost 200,000 people have come under the purview of tax in the last three months. Among them, most of the people have acquired personal PAN cards.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the ministry, a total of 198,087 individuals acquired PAN cards in the first quarter of the current fiscal year (mid-July to mid-October). Among them, 148,773 individuals have acquired personal PAN cards. During this period, 46,001 commercial/business PAN cards were issued by the Inland Revenue Department.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, 7207 new taxpayers in Value Added Tax category and 4717 new taxpayers in excise duty section have been added in the review period.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the Finance Minister, the total number of people registered under personal PAN category has reached 3,199,077. Likewise, 1,808,414 individuals have acquired business PAN cards so far in the country. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Inland Revenue Department has made it mandatory for foreign nationals to submit details of PAN cards and tax clearance certificate in order to renew their work permit or visa. It is also mandatory to submit the details of PAN cards for any individual who wants to purchase a four-wheeler. The department has already implemented the arrangement to issue PAN cards to individuals along with the citizenship certificates and national ID cards. The new provisions intend to increase the number of taxpayers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-14', 'modified' => '2022-11-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16045', 'image' => '20221114013336_1668387758.करदाता ५० लाख पुगे.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-14 13:33:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16303', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'The Bamboo Series Focuses on Building Resilient Businesses', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 14: The Change Initiative by Net Consortium has kicked off with the objective to address the challenges faced by businessmen and entrepreneurs during and after disasters.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">November 14: The Change Initiative by Net Consortium has kicked off with the objective to address the challenges faced by businessmen and entrepreneurs during and after disasters. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">Three organizations - National Disaster Risk Reduction Center (NDRC), EMERGE, and Tangent Waves have come together to build resilient and inclusive businesses under this initiative.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">As part of the programme, an online discussion entitled The Bamboo Series was held on November 10.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">According to the organisers, the event was held to discuss, debate, and deliver solutions to build resilient and inclusive businesses.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">“The Bamboo Series hopes to mainstream the Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM) conversation about the private sector, which is usually ignored when policies and actions are made,” reads a statement issued by the organisers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">Participants of the event agreed to collaborate with each other to take this discussion forward. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">The next event in the series will be held on November 22 on the topic ‘Are businesses prepared for disasters?’</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-14', 'modified' => '2022-11-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16044', 'image' => '20221114124855_bamboo series.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-14 12:48:11', '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
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Agencies</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 16: Asian stocks dropped and the dollar gained on Wednesday after a blast in Poland. According to Reuters, Ukraine and Polish authorities have said that the blast was caused by a Russian-made missile.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The news agency added that worries over a potential ratcheting up of geopolitical tensions spurred a drop of 1 percent in MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Australian shares fell 0.4 percent, while Japan's Nikkei stock index dropped 0.1 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 1.1 percent and China's CSI 300 fell 0.4 percent by the midday break. According to Reuters, the struggling property sector weighed on the markets, with China's new home prices falling at their fastest pace in more than seven years in October, weighed down by COVID 19-related curbs and industry-wide problems.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">US stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis, fell 0.2 percent. In early European trade, the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures lost 0.9 percent, German DAX futures dipped 1 percent, and FTSE futures fell 0.5 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The safe-haven US dollar pared gains against its major peers but was still mostly higher, led by a 0.63 percent advance versus the yen, added Reuters. Likewise, sterling lost 0.32 percent, while the risk-sensitive Aussie dollar weakened 0.34 percent. The euro was flat.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NATO member Poland has blamed that a Russian-made rocket killed two people in eastern Poland near Ukraine.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the BBC, Polish officials said the "Russian-made missile" landed in Przewodow, on the Ukrainian border.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Moscow has denied the allegations.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported that NATO allies are preparing to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the strike.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NATO and its allies, including the United States, have said they are investigating the cause of the explosion in Poland on Tuesday.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-16', 'modified' => '2022-11-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16058', 'image' => '20221116115210_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-16 11:51:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16316', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Temperature Drops Across the Country ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 16: The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has urged one and all to remain cautious as the temperature across the country is dropping gradually. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 16: The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has urged one and all to remain cautious as the temperature across the country is dropping gradually. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a special bulletin on Wednesday, the department urged the general public to protect themselves from cold as the temperature has been gradually declining in the country due to the impact of the westerly winds. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The minimum temperature in the country is likely to decrease further while considering the recent patterns, the department said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the past 24 hours, the Kathmandu valley’s minimum temperature remained 9.0 degree Celsius while the maximum temperature was 22.0 degree Celsius, the department added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the Weather Forecasting Division of the department said that hill areas of Province 1, Gandaki and Karnali provinces are likely to remain partly cloudy while the mountainous regions of Province 1, Gandaki and Karnali would remain mainly fair this afternoon. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-16', 'modified' => '2022-11-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16057', 'image' => '20221116112711_aaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-16 11:26:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16315', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Global IME Bank Signs Merger Agreement with BoK', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: Global IME Bank has signed a merger agreement with Bank of Kathmandu in what is believed to be a deal to create the biggest bank of Nepal in terms of capital and business.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 15: Global IME Bank has signed a merger agreement with Bank of Kathmandu in what is believed to be a deal to create the biggest bank of Nepal in terms of capital and business.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The two banks signed an agreement to this effect on Monday. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to a statement issued by Global IME Bank, its chairman Chandra Prasad Dhakal and the chairman of BoK Prakash Shrestha signed the agreement on behalf of their respective banks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the merger, the total capital of the merged entity will rise to Rs 57 billion while the paid-up capital will increase to Rs 35.77 billion. The total deposits of the merged entity will cross Rs 400 billion while the credit flow will stand at Rs 379 billion, making it the biggest bank of Nepal in terms of paid-up capital and volume of business.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Board of directors of both the banks have approved a swap ratio of 1:1 based upon the recommendation of an evaluation report. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the recommendation, the name of the new entity will be Global IME BoK Limited and the new board of directors will be represented by five members of Global IME Bank including its chairman. Likewise, the new board of directors will have two members from BoK.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Global IME Bank’s CEO Ratna Raj Bajracharya will continue his job as the CEO after the merger.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Both the banks have earned net profit of Rs 1.47 billion by mid-October in the current fiscal year. After the merger, the new entity will have a total of 396 branches, 368 ATMs, 275 branchless banking facilities and 61 extension counters and three contact offices abroad. The new bank will have more than 4 million customers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The two banks believe that the merger will help deliver better services to the customers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Currently there are 26 commercial banks operating in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Banks and financial institutions in Nepal have started merging with each other or acquiring other banks as per the directive of Nepal Rastra Bank. The central bank of Nepal has adopted a policy to encourage merger/acquisition of banks so that the banks can cope with financial crisis better in the future.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16056', 'image' => '20221115064330_1668431648404.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 18:42:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16314', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Regional Conference on Suitable Seeds for Food Security Focuses on Better Access to Seeds', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: Experts have stressed on the importance of food security amid challenges posed by climate change.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 15: Experts have stressed on the importance of food security amid challenges posed by climate change.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at a regional conference on Suitable Seeds for Food Security organized recently in Kathmandu, Dr Jagadish Chandra Pokharel, former vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission, said that the importance of food security has grown multi-fold given the changing climatic conditions. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Dr Pokharel, who is also the chairman of the Nepal Institute for Urban and Regional Studies (NIURS), added that seed diversity is integral to food security.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The conference was organized jointly by South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE), Kathmandu and Norway-based Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI) to disseminate the findings of the study “Suitable seeds for food security in fragile states”.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to a statement issued by SAWTEE, the discussions held at the two-day conference focused on the roles of policy, legal and institutional frameworks with respect to access to suitable seeds in South Asia.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Another speaker Dr Kristin Rosendal, senior researcher at FNI, Norway, highlighted in her presentation that food security depends largely on access to a broad variety of suitable seeds. She argued that good quality food plants that are adapted to changing climate is necessary to fight climate change, added the statement. Dr Rosendal said that access to seeds is affected by international goals given that the top three corporations in the world control half the global seed market value. “Such facets intensely undermine the trust in the global circulation of seeds,” she added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Dr Posh Raj Pandey, chairperson of SAWTEE, said that the overlapping global food and climate crises have left many people with multiple vulnerabilities, especially in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Hence, when formulating seed policy to ensure food security, the ground reality of LDCs should be taken into account, by enhancing participatory and gender-sensitive approaches and improving the linkages of seed security, agri-productivity, and nutrition within households.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Christian Prip, senior research fellow at FNI, said that there have been conflicting interests with regard to the industrialization of agriculture driven by economic gains and the objective of protecting the diversity of genetic resources of plants to ensure long-term food security and farmers rights.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The two-day conference saw discussions on topics such as ‘Fostering Regional Co-operation for seed security: South Asian Perspective’, ‘Changes in EU Seed Regulations – Global Trends’, ‘Financing Climate Change Adaptation’ and ‘Impact of COVID-19 on agri input chain’. The event saw participation of researchers, academics, policymakers, representatives of farmers’ bodies, consumer rights activists, organizations working on climate change adaptation, and media, among others. There were participants from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Norway.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16055', 'image' => '20221115060720_sawtee.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 18:06:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16313', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Announces Two Days of Public Holiday for Elections ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: The government has decided to give a two-day public holiday for government employees in view of the elections to the Member of the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly on November 20. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 15: The government has decided to give a two-day public holiday for government employees in view of the elections to the Member of the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly on November 20. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notice on Tuesday informing that government offices and public entities will be observing public holiday on November 20 and 21. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the spokesperson of the home ministry, Phanindramani Pokhrel, teaching institutes or schools serving as the polling stations for voting during the twin elections on November 20 are entitled for public holiday for four days beginning from November 18. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that the Election Commission earlier urged the government to give public holiday as far as possible so as to encourage the public to take part in the elections being held across the country in a single phase. The EC believes that public holidays will help increase voters’ turnout. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the Tribhuvan University (TU) has decided to give public holidays in all subordinate campuses and offices for four days beginning from November 17. According to TU information and Public Relations Division Chief Yogendra Prasad Dahal, some of TU colleges are serving as the polling locations and it decides to give public holiday in view of the elections so that the daily activities of the colleges remain unaffected. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meantime, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) Office has decided to cease regular domestic flights on November 20 when the country is witnessing the voting for the twin elections. However, the airport’s spokesperson Teknath Sitaula said chartered fights will not be halted on the voting day. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16054', 'image' => '20221115025525_JS_Lamjung-byanarpattaudaikarmacharipiclamjung(2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 14:54:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16312', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Biden and Xi Dismiss Cold War Fears', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: US President Joe Biden met with his Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Indonesia on Monday in what is said to be the first meeting of the two leaders of the largest economies in the world.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 15: US President Joe Biden met with his Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Indonesia on Monday in what is said to be the first meeting of the two leaders of the largest economies in the world.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Reuters, the Biden and Xi engaged in blunt talks over Taiwan and North Korea in a three-hour meeting aimed at preventing strained US-China ties from spilling into a new Cold War.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the news agency, the two leaders pledged more frequent communications amid simmering differences on human rights, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and support of domestic industry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"We're going to compete vigorously. But I'm not looking for conflict, I'm looking to manage this competition responsibly," Reuters quoted Biden as saying after his talks with Xi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The G20 Summit of industrial countries kicked off in Bali, Indonesia on Tuesday. Taiwan will be the major agenda of the meeting between the two countries, according to the BBC. It is expected that the encounter will help to take the bilateral relationship and cooperation to a new height.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">This is the first time Biden met Xi in person after he was elected as the president of the United States in 2020. The meeting was much-awaited amidst the strained relation between the two superpowers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">China has been claiming Taiwan as part of it while Taiwan boasts of being a sovereign country. The United States has been backing Taiwan. Sometimes ago, Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi had visited the island drawing stern criticism from mainland China. Her visit had aggravated the relationship between the first and second largest economies. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Following the tension, the US banned the import of computer chips from China which has affected China’s export-driven economy. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The US and China are the two largest economies. The continued trade war between them has affected almost all countries. One of the major agendas the G20 Summit is expected to incorporate is the trade war between these two countries. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The G20 Group comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, Britain, and the United States. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16053', 'image' => '20221115023619_biden.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 14:35:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16311', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Domestic Airline Companies Reluctant to Operate Flights to Remote Areas', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: Nepal’s aviation policy has made it mandatory for domestic airline companies to operate flights to remote areas.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">November 15: Nepal’s aviation policy has made it mandatory for domestic airline companies to operate flights to remote areas. Air service providers, however, have been reluctant to do so.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation seems to be silent despite the fact that airline companies have pledged to make compulsory flights to far-flung regions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Airline companies that are operating flights to urban areas need to comply with the provision to operate flights to remote region as per the aviation policy of Nepal and the social responsibility of the airliners. But, the airline companies are defying the aviation policy as they are just concentrated on city areas for hefty profit, bemoaned Hari Budha of Jumla.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Gyanendra Bhul, deputy spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), says that the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation bears the responsibility to implement the policy of compulsory flights to remote areas.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">“If the policy to make compulsory flights to remote areas was mentioned in the Civil Aviation Authority Act, the authority would have the onus to execute it. Ambiguity in the provision on policy and act has brought the present situation,” said Bhul. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Nine airline companies including Buddha Air, Shree Airlines, Yeti Airlines and Saurya Airlines have not provided their services to far-flung regions. Tara Airlines, Summit Air, Sita Air and Nepal Airlines, the national flag carrier, have been operating flights to remote regions in the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, joint secretary at the Ministry of Tourism, said that they could not force airline companies to operate flights to remote areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">“It is not easy to make flights to remote regions due to high cost and difficult topography,” said Lamichhane, adding, “We have to encourage new companies to operate flights to far-flung regions by providing discount on aircraft import, landing and parking fee.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Buddha Air, the largest private airline company of Nepal in terms of aircraft number, has been operating such flights to only Surkhet, a hill district in Karnali Province. The airline operates one flight on Surkhet-Kathmandu route a day. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Officials at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal say that airline companies are having a tough time operating flights to remote areas due to large size of aircraft. An official from the civil aviation authority says that companies are unwilling to go to remote areas and new places since they are making profit from their flights to convenient city areas. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Officials at the airline companies, however, claim that they can not operate flights to hill regions owing to small and short runways and shortage of passengers. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">“For our aircraft to land, we need 1600-meter-long runway. But, the runways in hill areas are small for landing and take-off,” said an official from a private company.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Shree Airlines’ spokesperson Anil Manandhar said that flights could not be made to hill regions due to small size of runways. “We have to procure new aircraft as operating flights to the hill regions is not possible with the existing planes,” Manandhar added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">No different is the response of Mukesh Kafle from Saurya Airlines. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">“Our airline is failing to operate flights to remote and hill regions due to small size of the runways,” Kafle stated. He, however, said that his company was planning to purchase new small-sized aircraft for flights to remote areas.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16052', 'image' => '20221115123054_1668464094.7.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 12:30:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16310', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Minimum Foreign Investment Limit for NRNs Removed', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: The government has removed the minimum limit required for foreign investment for the non- resident Nepalis (NRNs) willing to investment in Nepal through investment companies.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">November 15: The government has removed the minimum limit required for foreign investment for the non- resident Nepalis (NRNs) willing to investment in Nepal through investment companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">The government made such a provision by using the authority granted by the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act-2075 BS. This is expected to increase foreign investment to the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">The minimum limit required for foreign investment for each investor stands at Rs 20 million, as per a notice published on the Nepal Gazette by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">Earlier, the minimum limit for foreign investment was set at Rs 50 million. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">A cabinet meeting held a few days ago took the decision to remove the minimum threshold needed for foreign investment for the non-resident Nepalis. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">“We have published the notice on the Nepal Gazette in accordance with the latest decision of the Council of Ministers,” said Dr Toyanath Gyawali, secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16051', 'image' => '20221115115144_NRNA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 11:51:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16309', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'IIN to promote FDI, Equitable Economic Growth of Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: The Invest for Impact Nepal (IIN) platform is scaling up its programme to promote investment and equitable economic growth to contribute to social and environmental impact in Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 15: The Invest for Impact Nepal (IIN) platform is scaling up its programme to promote investment and equitable economic growth to contribute to social and environmental impact in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The scale-up programme will run from November 2022 to August 2025 and builds on initial discovery phase activities such as assessing specific challenges and opportunities for foreign direct investments (FDI) in Nepal, IIN said in a press statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“The discovery phase also looked into investment opportunities through financial institutions (FIs), Private Equity and Venture Capital (PEVC) funds, and Financial Technology firms,” it said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This group comprising of DFIs and development partners, will complement existing efforts to attract more investments and advance the development of the country by channelling efforts to unlock the possibilities of patient investing, flexible capital to support private sector growth and innovation. The objective is to help solve the biggest development challenges in Nepal, read the statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The IIN’s scale-up programme is to accelerate growth, create jobs, and develop a more sustainable economy in Nepal and this will be achieved by enabling FIs and PEVC funds to access resources from DFIs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">To support the small and medium-sized enterprises, the IIN will enable key investment ecosystem stakeholders including DFIs, DPs, FIs, PEVC Funds, private sector and regulators to participate in market information gathering and others including access to foreign direct investment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Welcoming this partnership, Swiss Ambassador to Nepal Elisabeth von Capeller ensuring that environmental, social, and governance factors are integrated into financial products and transactions remains our core focus. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise Head of Asia at BII Srini Nagarajan said this platform’s focus on those intermediaries resonates well with BII’s own strategy in emerging markets to deploy patient and flexible capital to boost productive, inclusive and sustainable growth in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The IIN platform is promoted by Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) of the UK- British International Investment (BII), the Netherlands - Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO) and Nepal’s development partner- the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16050', 'image' => '20221115095014_Foreign investment.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 09:49:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16308', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Buddha Air to Operate Flights to India from PRIA ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: Buddha Air, one of the leading private airline company of Nepal, has announced to conduct three flights to India from the Pokhara Regional International Airport (PRIA). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 15: </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Buddha Air, one of the leading private carriers of Nepal, is planning to start flights to three destinations in India from Pokhara Regional International Airport. The airlines will operate flight to Benares, Delhi and Dehradun. Pokhara Regional International Airport will come into operation from January in 2023, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Buddha Air will operate the first flight along the Pokhara-Benares-Pokhara route as soon as the airport comes into operation,” said an official of Buddha Air. The flight from Pokhara-Benares to Pokhara will be held three times a week on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Government of Nepal is holding talks with the Indian government for an air traffic route and Buddha Air is preparing for two flights a day to Delhi from Pokhara once the Indian government gives permission for air route and slot, according to Buddha Air. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At present, Buddha Air is operating flights to Beneras from Tribhuvan International Airport. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16049', 'image' => '20221115094046_1668475635.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 09:40:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16307', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Consumption of Petroleum Products Falls ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 14: The consumption of petroleum products in the domestic market of Nepal has gone down lately. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 14: The consumption of petroleum products in the domestic market of Nepal has gone down lately. According to the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), the consumption of petroleum products has significantly decreased in the current fiscal year (FY 2022/23) as compared to the previous year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Data of the NOC shows that 44,513 kiloliters of petrol and 78426 kiloliters of diesel were consumed between mid-October to mid-November this year compared to 63,315 kiloliters of petrol and 135,812 kiloliters of diesel consumed during the correspondent period of the last fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In past, the supply of petroleum products used to increase during festivals and elections, but this time the situation is different, NOC Spokesperson Binitmani Upadhyay said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Liquidity crunch, unfavorable season for development works, the skyrocketing prices of petroleum products and higher prices in the domestic market compared to the Indian market are among the factors for the decline in fuel consumption. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Higher price of petroleum products in the domestic market may encourage people to fill up their vehicles in Indian cities taking an advantage of the open border between Nepal and India, it has been observed. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-14', 'modified' => '2022-11-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16048', 'image' => '20221114052104_petroo - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-14 17:20:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16306', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Value of Nepalese Currency Rises after US Removes India from its ‘Currency Watchlist’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 14: The value of Nepalese currency has strengthened along with the Indian rupee after the US Department of Treasury removed the Indian Currency from its ‘Currency Watchlist’. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 14: The value of Nepalese currency has strengthened along with the Indian rupee after the US Department of Treasury removed the Indian Currency from its ‘Currency Watchlist’. Analysts say that this trend will continue.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is a fixed exchange rate between the Indian and Nepalese currencies. The value of the US dollar in Nepal is determined based on the value of the Indian currency. For this reason, the Nepalese rupee is weak when the INR is weak and vice versa. The exchange rate of the USD in the Nepalese market has dropped from Rs 133 to Rs 129 per dollar after India was removed from the watchlist.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Indian rupee has strengthened by 2 per cent against the US dollar over the past week. On Friday, the value of Indian currency rose by 1.23 per cent in a single day due to the prospect of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the US, increasing the interest rate a little more than expected. As of Friday, one dollar was equivalent to INR 80.81. The effect of the removal of INR from the watchlist is yet to be seen as trading in the international currency market is closed on Saturday and Sunday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank had fixed the exchange rate for USD 1 at Rs 131.2 on Friday and at Rs 129. 58 for Saturday and Sunday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Economist Nar Bahadur Thapa said that the removal of the Indian currency from the US currency watchlist has strengthened the Indian currency, and its impact has been felt on the Nepali currency. A weak USD has a positive effect on Nepal's trade deficit and inflation. The consumers who are facing price hike due to the recent increase in the value of the US dollar will get some relief.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Thapa said that there will be a loss in income form remittance though. As remittances are calculated based on the value of US dollars, more money is received when the dollar is expensive and less money is received when the dollar is cheap.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After two years, the US has removed India from the list of countries that manipulate the currency market. The US has also removed Italy, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam from the list. The United States keeps its trade partners in this list based on the practices of any country in the currency market and the overall monetary policy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </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' => '2022-11-14', 'modified' => '2022-11-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16047', 'image' => '20221114051206_1668391625.अमेरिकी ‘करेन्सी वाचलिस्ट’बाट भारत हट्यो.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-14 17:11:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16305', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Price of Cooking Oil Rises Again', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 14: The price of edible oil, which was rising continuously since the Russia-Ukraine tension, had declined during the start of the Dashain and Tihar festivals.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 14: The price of edible oil, which was rising continuously since the Russia-Ukraine tension, had declined during the start of the Dashain and Tihar festivals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It has once again started to rise after festive season. The price of cooking oil has increased by as much as Rs 50 per litre since Tihar.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Retail Trade Association, the retail price of cooking oil of every brand has increased by Rs 20 to Rs 50 per litre since Tihar. The price of soybean oil, which was Rs 240 per litre during Dashain, has now reached Rs 280. Likewise, the price of mustard oil has now reached Rs 340 from Rs 320 per litre. Similarly, the price of sunflower has climbed to Rs 300 from Rs 250.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Industrialists say that the price of oil may increase for some time. Subodh Kumar Gupta, president of Nepal Pulses, Rice and Oil Association, said that there is no possibility of an immediate price reduction or stabilization as there is no improvement in the international market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that there are indications that the price may increase further due to the inability to produce raw materials for a long time due to the Russia-Ukraine tension. According to him, the price of oil in the world market is likely to be affected for the next two years due to the war.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Small and retail traders are not ready to accept the argument of the industrialists and wholesalers over the rise in oil prices. They allege that the industrialists have arbitrarily increased the price of oil due to the upcoming elections. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Amulkaji Tuladhar, general secretary of the Retail Trade Union, said that as big industrialists and businessmen donate large amount of money to the party leaders during elections, it has affected food prices</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“If the problem was due to lack of raw materials and increase in value of dollar, how can the prices that dropped before Dashain rise in such a short span?” questioned Tuladhar.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Wasn’t there scarcity of raw materials before Dashain? Another issue is that there is no need to increase the price of oil sharply when the value of dollar has increased by only a few rupees,” added Tuladhara.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-14', 'modified' => '2022-11-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16046', 'image' => '20221114041628_shutterstock_1353066692.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-14 16:15:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16304', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Permanent Account Numbers Issued to More than 5 Million People', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 14: More than 5 million people have acquired Permanent Account Number (PAN) in Nepal so far.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">November 14: More than 5 million people have acquired Permanent Account Number (PAN) in Nepal so far. According to the latest data published by the Ministry of Finance, almost 200,000 people have come under the purview of tax in the last three months. Among them, most of the people have acquired personal PAN cards.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the ministry, a total of 198,087 individuals acquired PAN cards in the first quarter of the current fiscal year (mid-July to mid-October). Among them, 148,773 individuals have acquired personal PAN cards. During this period, 46,001 commercial/business PAN cards were issued by the Inland Revenue Department.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, 7207 new taxpayers in Value Added Tax category and 4717 new taxpayers in excise duty section have been added in the review period.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the Finance Minister, the total number of people registered under personal PAN category has reached 3,199,077. Likewise, 1,808,414 individuals have acquired business PAN cards so far in the country. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Inland Revenue Department has made it mandatory for foreign nationals to submit details of PAN cards and tax clearance certificate in order to renew their work permit or visa. It is also mandatory to submit the details of PAN cards for any individual who wants to purchase a four-wheeler. The department has already implemented the arrangement to issue PAN cards to individuals along with the citizenship certificates and national ID cards. The new provisions intend to increase the number of taxpayers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-14', 'modified' => '2022-11-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16045', 'image' => '20221114013336_1668387758.करदाता ५० लाख पुगे.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-14 13:33:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16303', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'The Bamboo Series Focuses on Building Resilient Businesses', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 14: The Change Initiative by Net Consortium has kicked off with the objective to address the challenges faced by businessmen and entrepreneurs during and after disasters.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">November 14: The Change Initiative by Net Consortium has kicked off with the objective to address the challenges faced by businessmen and entrepreneurs during and after disasters. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">Three organizations - National Disaster Risk Reduction Center (NDRC), EMERGE, and Tangent Waves have come together to build resilient and inclusive businesses under this initiative.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">As part of the programme, an online discussion entitled The Bamboo Series was held on November 10.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">According to the organisers, the event was held to discuss, debate, and deliver solutions to build resilient and inclusive businesses.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">“The Bamboo Series hopes to mainstream the Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM) conversation about the private sector, which is usually ignored when policies and actions are made,” reads a statement issued by the organisers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">Participants of the event agreed to collaborate with each other to take this discussion forward. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">The next event in the series will be held on November 22 on the topic ‘Are businesses prepared for disasters?’</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-14', 'modified' => '2022-11-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16044', 'image' => '20221114124855_bamboo series.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-14 12:48:11', '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
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Agencies</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 16: Asian stocks dropped and the dollar gained on Wednesday after a blast in Poland. According to Reuters, Ukraine and Polish authorities have said that the blast was caused by a Russian-made missile.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The news agency added that worries over a potential ratcheting up of geopolitical tensions spurred a drop of 1 percent in MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Australian shares fell 0.4 percent, while Japan's Nikkei stock index dropped 0.1 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 1.1 percent and China's CSI 300 fell 0.4 percent by the midday break. According to Reuters, the struggling property sector weighed on the markets, with China's new home prices falling at their fastest pace in more than seven years in October, weighed down by COVID 19-related curbs and industry-wide problems.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">US stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis, fell 0.2 percent. In early European trade, the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures lost 0.9 percent, German DAX futures dipped 1 percent, and FTSE futures fell 0.5 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The safe-haven US dollar pared gains against its major peers but was still mostly higher, led by a 0.63 percent advance versus the yen, added Reuters. Likewise, sterling lost 0.32 percent, while the risk-sensitive Aussie dollar weakened 0.34 percent. The euro was flat.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NATO member Poland has blamed that a Russian-made rocket killed two people in eastern Poland near Ukraine.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the BBC, Polish officials said the "Russian-made missile" landed in Przewodow, on the Ukrainian border.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Moscow has denied the allegations.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported that NATO allies are preparing to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the strike.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NATO and its allies, including the United States, have said they are investigating the cause of the explosion in Poland on Tuesday.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-16', 'modified' => '2022-11-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16058', 'image' => '20221116115210_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-16 11:51:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16316', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Temperature Drops Across the Country ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 16: The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has urged one and all to remain cautious as the temperature across the country is dropping gradually. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 16: The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has urged one and all to remain cautious as the temperature across the country is dropping gradually. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a special bulletin on Wednesday, the department urged the general public to protect themselves from cold as the temperature has been gradually declining in the country due to the impact of the westerly winds. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The minimum temperature in the country is likely to decrease further while considering the recent patterns, the department said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the past 24 hours, the Kathmandu valley’s minimum temperature remained 9.0 degree Celsius while the maximum temperature was 22.0 degree Celsius, the department added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the Weather Forecasting Division of the department said that hill areas of Province 1, Gandaki and Karnali provinces are likely to remain partly cloudy while the mountainous regions of Province 1, Gandaki and Karnali would remain mainly fair this afternoon. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-16', 'modified' => '2022-11-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16057', 'image' => '20221116112711_aaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-16 11:26:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16315', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Global IME Bank Signs Merger Agreement with BoK', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: Global IME Bank has signed a merger agreement with Bank of Kathmandu in what is believed to be a deal to create the biggest bank of Nepal in terms of capital and business.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 15: Global IME Bank has signed a merger agreement with Bank of Kathmandu in what is believed to be a deal to create the biggest bank of Nepal in terms of capital and business.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The two banks signed an agreement to this effect on Monday. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to a statement issued by Global IME Bank, its chairman Chandra Prasad Dhakal and the chairman of BoK Prakash Shrestha signed the agreement on behalf of their respective banks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the merger, the total capital of the merged entity will rise to Rs 57 billion while the paid-up capital will increase to Rs 35.77 billion. The total deposits of the merged entity will cross Rs 400 billion while the credit flow will stand at Rs 379 billion, making it the biggest bank of Nepal in terms of paid-up capital and volume of business.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Board of directors of both the banks have approved a swap ratio of 1:1 based upon the recommendation of an evaluation report. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the recommendation, the name of the new entity will be Global IME BoK Limited and the new board of directors will be represented by five members of Global IME Bank including its chairman. Likewise, the new board of directors will have two members from BoK.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Global IME Bank’s CEO Ratna Raj Bajracharya will continue his job as the CEO after the merger.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Both the banks have earned net profit of Rs 1.47 billion by mid-October in the current fiscal year. After the merger, the new entity will have a total of 396 branches, 368 ATMs, 275 branchless banking facilities and 61 extension counters and three contact offices abroad. The new bank will have more than 4 million customers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The two banks believe that the merger will help deliver better services to the customers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Currently there are 26 commercial banks operating in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Banks and financial institutions in Nepal have started merging with each other or acquiring other banks as per the directive of Nepal Rastra Bank. The central bank of Nepal has adopted a policy to encourage merger/acquisition of banks so that the banks can cope with financial crisis better in the future.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16056', 'image' => '20221115064330_1668431648404.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 18:42:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16314', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Regional Conference on Suitable Seeds for Food Security Focuses on Better Access to Seeds', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: Experts have stressed on the importance of food security amid challenges posed by climate change.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 15: Experts have stressed on the importance of food security amid challenges posed by climate change.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at a regional conference on Suitable Seeds for Food Security organized recently in Kathmandu, Dr Jagadish Chandra Pokharel, former vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission, said that the importance of food security has grown multi-fold given the changing climatic conditions. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Dr Pokharel, who is also the chairman of the Nepal Institute for Urban and Regional Studies (NIURS), added that seed diversity is integral to food security.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The conference was organized jointly by South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE), Kathmandu and Norway-based Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI) to disseminate the findings of the study “Suitable seeds for food security in fragile states”.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to a statement issued by SAWTEE, the discussions held at the two-day conference focused on the roles of policy, legal and institutional frameworks with respect to access to suitable seeds in South Asia.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Another speaker Dr Kristin Rosendal, senior researcher at FNI, Norway, highlighted in her presentation that food security depends largely on access to a broad variety of suitable seeds. She argued that good quality food plants that are adapted to changing climate is necessary to fight climate change, added the statement. Dr Rosendal said that access to seeds is affected by international goals given that the top three corporations in the world control half the global seed market value. “Such facets intensely undermine the trust in the global circulation of seeds,” she added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Dr Posh Raj Pandey, chairperson of SAWTEE, said that the overlapping global food and climate crises have left many people with multiple vulnerabilities, especially in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Hence, when formulating seed policy to ensure food security, the ground reality of LDCs should be taken into account, by enhancing participatory and gender-sensitive approaches and improving the linkages of seed security, agri-productivity, and nutrition within households.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Christian Prip, senior research fellow at FNI, said that there have been conflicting interests with regard to the industrialization of agriculture driven by economic gains and the objective of protecting the diversity of genetic resources of plants to ensure long-term food security and farmers rights.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The two-day conference saw discussions on topics such as ‘Fostering Regional Co-operation for seed security: South Asian Perspective’, ‘Changes in EU Seed Regulations – Global Trends’, ‘Financing Climate Change Adaptation’ and ‘Impact of COVID-19 on agri input chain’. The event saw participation of researchers, academics, policymakers, representatives of farmers’ bodies, consumer rights activists, organizations working on climate change adaptation, and media, among others. There were participants from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Norway.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16055', 'image' => '20221115060720_sawtee.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 18:06:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16313', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Announces Two Days of Public Holiday for Elections ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: The government has decided to give a two-day public holiday for government employees in view of the elections to the Member of the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly on November 20. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 15: The government has decided to give a two-day public holiday for government employees in view of the elections to the Member of the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly on November 20. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notice on Tuesday informing that government offices and public entities will be observing public holiday on November 20 and 21. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the spokesperson of the home ministry, Phanindramani Pokhrel, teaching institutes or schools serving as the polling stations for voting during the twin elections on November 20 are entitled for public holiday for four days beginning from November 18. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that the Election Commission earlier urged the government to give public holiday as far as possible so as to encourage the public to take part in the elections being held across the country in a single phase. The EC believes that public holidays will help increase voters’ turnout. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the Tribhuvan University (TU) has decided to give public holidays in all subordinate campuses and offices for four days beginning from November 17. According to TU information and Public Relations Division Chief Yogendra Prasad Dahal, some of TU colleges are serving as the polling locations and it decides to give public holiday in view of the elections so that the daily activities of the colleges remain unaffected. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meantime, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) Office has decided to cease regular domestic flights on November 20 when the country is witnessing the voting for the twin elections. However, the airport’s spokesperson Teknath Sitaula said chartered fights will not be halted on the voting day. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16054', 'image' => '20221115025525_JS_Lamjung-byanarpattaudaikarmacharipiclamjung(2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 14:54:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16312', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Biden and Xi Dismiss Cold War Fears', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: US President Joe Biden met with his Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Indonesia on Monday in what is said to be the first meeting of the two leaders of the largest economies in the world.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 15: US President Joe Biden met with his Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Indonesia on Monday in what is said to be the first meeting of the two leaders of the largest economies in the world.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Reuters, the Biden and Xi engaged in blunt talks over Taiwan and North Korea in a three-hour meeting aimed at preventing strained US-China ties from spilling into a new Cold War.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the news agency, the two leaders pledged more frequent communications amid simmering differences on human rights, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and support of domestic industry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"We're going to compete vigorously. But I'm not looking for conflict, I'm looking to manage this competition responsibly," Reuters quoted Biden as saying after his talks with Xi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The G20 Summit of industrial countries kicked off in Bali, Indonesia on Tuesday. Taiwan will be the major agenda of the meeting between the two countries, according to the BBC. It is expected that the encounter will help to take the bilateral relationship and cooperation to a new height.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">This is the first time Biden met Xi in person after he was elected as the president of the United States in 2020. The meeting was much-awaited amidst the strained relation between the two superpowers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">China has been claiming Taiwan as part of it while Taiwan boasts of being a sovereign country. The United States has been backing Taiwan. Sometimes ago, Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi had visited the island drawing stern criticism from mainland China. Her visit had aggravated the relationship between the first and second largest economies. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Following the tension, the US banned the import of computer chips from China which has affected China’s export-driven economy. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The US and China are the two largest economies. The continued trade war between them has affected almost all countries. One of the major agendas the G20 Summit is expected to incorporate is the trade war between these two countries. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The G20 Group comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, Britain, and the United States. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16053', 'image' => '20221115023619_biden.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 14:35:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16311', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Domestic Airline Companies Reluctant to Operate Flights to Remote Areas', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: Nepal’s aviation policy has made it mandatory for domestic airline companies to operate flights to remote areas.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">November 15: Nepal’s aviation policy has made it mandatory for domestic airline companies to operate flights to remote areas. Air service providers, however, have been reluctant to do so.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation seems to be silent despite the fact that airline companies have pledged to make compulsory flights to far-flung regions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Airline companies that are operating flights to urban areas need to comply with the provision to operate flights to remote region as per the aviation policy of Nepal and the social responsibility of the airliners. But, the airline companies are defying the aviation policy as they are just concentrated on city areas for hefty profit, bemoaned Hari Budha of Jumla.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Gyanendra Bhul, deputy spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), says that the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation bears the responsibility to implement the policy of compulsory flights to remote areas.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">“If the policy to make compulsory flights to remote areas was mentioned in the Civil Aviation Authority Act, the authority would have the onus to execute it. Ambiguity in the provision on policy and act has brought the present situation,” said Bhul. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Nine airline companies including Buddha Air, Shree Airlines, Yeti Airlines and Saurya Airlines have not provided their services to far-flung regions. Tara Airlines, Summit Air, Sita Air and Nepal Airlines, the national flag carrier, have been operating flights to remote regions in the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, joint secretary at the Ministry of Tourism, said that they could not force airline companies to operate flights to remote areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">“It is not easy to make flights to remote regions due to high cost and difficult topography,” said Lamichhane, adding, “We have to encourage new companies to operate flights to far-flung regions by providing discount on aircraft import, landing and parking fee.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Buddha Air, the largest private airline company of Nepal in terms of aircraft number, has been operating such flights to only Surkhet, a hill district in Karnali Province. The airline operates one flight on Surkhet-Kathmandu route a day. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Officials at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal say that airline companies are having a tough time operating flights to remote areas due to large size of aircraft. An official from the civil aviation authority says that companies are unwilling to go to remote areas and new places since they are making profit from their flights to convenient city areas. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Officials at the airline companies, however, claim that they can not operate flights to hill regions owing to small and short runways and shortage of passengers. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">“For our aircraft to land, we need 1600-meter-long runway. But, the runways in hill areas are small for landing and take-off,” said an official from a private company.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Shree Airlines’ spokesperson Anil Manandhar said that flights could not be made to hill regions due to small size of runways. “We have to procure new aircraft as operating flights to the hill regions is not possible with the existing planes,” Manandhar added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">No different is the response of Mukesh Kafle from Saurya Airlines. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">“Our airline is failing to operate flights to remote and hill regions due to small size of the runways,” Kafle stated. He, however, said that his company was planning to purchase new small-sized aircraft for flights to remote areas.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16052', 'image' => '20221115123054_1668464094.7.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 12:30:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16310', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Minimum Foreign Investment Limit for NRNs Removed', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: The government has removed the minimum limit required for foreign investment for the non- resident Nepalis (NRNs) willing to investment in Nepal through investment companies.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">November 15: The government has removed the minimum limit required for foreign investment for the non- resident Nepalis (NRNs) willing to investment in Nepal through investment companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">The government made such a provision by using the authority granted by the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act-2075 BS. This is expected to increase foreign investment to the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">The minimum limit required for foreign investment for each investor stands at Rs 20 million, as per a notice published on the Nepal Gazette by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">Earlier, the minimum limit for foreign investment was set at Rs 50 million. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">A cabinet meeting held a few days ago took the decision to remove the minimum threshold needed for foreign investment for the non-resident Nepalis. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">“We have published the notice on the Nepal Gazette in accordance with the latest decision of the Council of Ministers,” said Dr Toyanath Gyawali, secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16051', 'image' => '20221115115144_NRNA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 11:51:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16309', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'IIN to promote FDI, Equitable Economic Growth of Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: The Invest for Impact Nepal (IIN) platform is scaling up its programme to promote investment and equitable economic growth to contribute to social and environmental impact in Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 15: The Invest for Impact Nepal (IIN) platform is scaling up its programme to promote investment and equitable economic growth to contribute to social and environmental impact in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The scale-up programme will run from November 2022 to August 2025 and builds on initial discovery phase activities such as assessing specific challenges and opportunities for foreign direct investments (FDI) in Nepal, IIN said in a press statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“The discovery phase also looked into investment opportunities through financial institutions (FIs), Private Equity and Venture Capital (PEVC) funds, and Financial Technology firms,” it said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This group comprising of DFIs and development partners, will complement existing efforts to attract more investments and advance the development of the country by channelling efforts to unlock the possibilities of patient investing, flexible capital to support private sector growth and innovation. The objective is to help solve the biggest development challenges in Nepal, read the statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The IIN’s scale-up programme is to accelerate growth, create jobs, and develop a more sustainable economy in Nepal and this will be achieved by enabling FIs and PEVC funds to access resources from DFIs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">To support the small and medium-sized enterprises, the IIN will enable key investment ecosystem stakeholders including DFIs, DPs, FIs, PEVC Funds, private sector and regulators to participate in market information gathering and others including access to foreign direct investment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Welcoming this partnership, Swiss Ambassador to Nepal Elisabeth von Capeller ensuring that environmental, social, and governance factors are integrated into financial products and transactions remains our core focus. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise Head of Asia at BII Srini Nagarajan said this platform’s focus on those intermediaries resonates well with BII’s own strategy in emerging markets to deploy patient and flexible capital to boost productive, inclusive and sustainable growth in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The IIN platform is promoted by Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) of the UK- British International Investment (BII), the Netherlands - Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO) and Nepal’s development partner- the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16050', 'image' => '20221115095014_Foreign investment.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 09:49:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16308', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Buddha Air to Operate Flights to India from PRIA ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: Buddha Air, one of the leading private airline company of Nepal, has announced to conduct three flights to India from the Pokhara Regional International Airport (PRIA). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 15: </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Buddha Air, one of the leading private carriers of Nepal, is planning to start flights to three destinations in India from Pokhara Regional International Airport. The airlines will operate flight to Benares, Delhi and Dehradun. Pokhara Regional International Airport will come into operation from January in 2023, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Buddha Air will operate the first flight along the Pokhara-Benares-Pokhara route as soon as the airport comes into operation,” said an official of Buddha Air. The flight from Pokhara-Benares to Pokhara will be held three times a week on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Government of Nepal is holding talks with the Indian government for an air traffic route and Buddha Air is preparing for two flights a day to Delhi from Pokhara once the Indian government gives permission for air route and slot, according to Buddha Air. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At present, Buddha Air is operating flights to Beneras from Tribhuvan International Airport. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16049', 'image' => '20221115094046_1668475635.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 09:40:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16307', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Consumption of Petroleum Products Falls ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 14: The consumption of petroleum products in the domestic market of Nepal has gone down lately. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 14: The consumption of petroleum products in the domestic market of Nepal has gone down lately. According to the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), the consumption of petroleum products has significantly decreased in the current fiscal year (FY 2022/23) as compared to the previous year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Data of the NOC shows that 44,513 kiloliters of petrol and 78426 kiloliters of diesel were consumed between mid-October to mid-November this year compared to 63,315 kiloliters of petrol and 135,812 kiloliters of diesel consumed during the correspondent period of the last fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In past, the supply of petroleum products used to increase during festivals and elections, but this time the situation is different, NOC Spokesperson Binitmani Upadhyay said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Liquidity crunch, unfavorable season for development works, the skyrocketing prices of petroleum products and higher prices in the domestic market compared to the Indian market are among the factors for the decline in fuel consumption. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Higher price of petroleum products in the domestic market may encourage people to fill up their vehicles in Indian cities taking an advantage of the open border between Nepal and India, it has been observed. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-14', 'modified' => '2022-11-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16048', 'image' => '20221114052104_petroo - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-14 17:20:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16306', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Value of Nepalese Currency Rises after US Removes India from its ‘Currency Watchlist’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 14: The value of Nepalese currency has strengthened along with the Indian rupee after the US Department of Treasury removed the Indian Currency from its ‘Currency Watchlist’. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 14: The value of Nepalese currency has strengthened along with the Indian rupee after the US Department of Treasury removed the Indian Currency from its ‘Currency Watchlist’. Analysts say that this trend will continue.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is a fixed exchange rate between the Indian and Nepalese currencies. The value of the US dollar in Nepal is determined based on the value of the Indian currency. For this reason, the Nepalese rupee is weak when the INR is weak and vice versa. The exchange rate of the USD in the Nepalese market has dropped from Rs 133 to Rs 129 per dollar after India was removed from the watchlist.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Indian rupee has strengthened by 2 per cent against the US dollar over the past week. On Friday, the value of Indian currency rose by 1.23 per cent in a single day due to the prospect of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the US, increasing the interest rate a little more than expected. As of Friday, one dollar was equivalent to INR 80.81. The effect of the removal of INR from the watchlist is yet to be seen as trading in the international currency market is closed on Saturday and Sunday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank had fixed the exchange rate for USD 1 at Rs 131.2 on Friday and at Rs 129. 58 for Saturday and Sunday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Economist Nar Bahadur Thapa said that the removal of the Indian currency from the US currency watchlist has strengthened the Indian currency, and its impact has been felt on the Nepali currency. A weak USD has a positive effect on Nepal's trade deficit and inflation. The consumers who are facing price hike due to the recent increase in the value of the US dollar will get some relief.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Thapa said that there will be a loss in income form remittance though. As remittances are calculated based on the value of US dollars, more money is received when the dollar is expensive and less money is received when the dollar is cheap.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After two years, the US has removed India from the list of countries that manipulate the currency market. The US has also removed Italy, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam from the list. The United States keeps its trade partners in this list based on the practices of any country in the currency market and the overall monetary policy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </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' => '2022-11-14', 'modified' => '2022-11-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16047', 'image' => '20221114051206_1668391625.अमेरिकी ‘करेन्सी वाचलिस्ट’बाट भारत हट्यो.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-14 17:11:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16305', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Price of Cooking Oil Rises Again', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 14: The price of edible oil, which was rising continuously since the Russia-Ukraine tension, had declined during the start of the Dashain and Tihar festivals.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 14: The price of edible oil, which was rising continuously since the Russia-Ukraine tension, had declined during the start of the Dashain and Tihar festivals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It has once again started to rise after festive season. The price of cooking oil has increased by as much as Rs 50 per litre since Tihar.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Retail Trade Association, the retail price of cooking oil of every brand has increased by Rs 20 to Rs 50 per litre since Tihar. The price of soybean oil, which was Rs 240 per litre during Dashain, has now reached Rs 280. Likewise, the price of mustard oil has now reached Rs 340 from Rs 320 per litre. Similarly, the price of sunflower has climbed to Rs 300 from Rs 250.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Industrialists say that the price of oil may increase for some time. Subodh Kumar Gupta, president of Nepal Pulses, Rice and Oil Association, said that there is no possibility of an immediate price reduction or stabilization as there is no improvement in the international market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that there are indications that the price may increase further due to the inability to produce raw materials for a long time due to the Russia-Ukraine tension. According to him, the price of oil in the world market is likely to be affected for the next two years due to the war.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Small and retail traders are not ready to accept the argument of the industrialists and wholesalers over the rise in oil prices. They allege that the industrialists have arbitrarily increased the price of oil due to the upcoming elections. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Amulkaji Tuladhar, general secretary of the Retail Trade Union, said that as big industrialists and businessmen donate large amount of money to the party leaders during elections, it has affected food prices</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“If the problem was due to lack of raw materials and increase in value of dollar, how can the prices that dropped before Dashain rise in such a short span?” questioned Tuladhar.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Wasn’t there scarcity of raw materials before Dashain? Another issue is that there is no need to increase the price of oil sharply when the value of dollar has increased by only a few rupees,” added Tuladhara.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-14', 'modified' => '2022-11-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16046', 'image' => '20221114041628_shutterstock_1353066692.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-14 16:15:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16304', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Permanent Account Numbers Issued to More than 5 Million People', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 14: More than 5 million people have acquired Permanent Account Number (PAN) in Nepal so far.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">November 14: More than 5 million people have acquired Permanent Account Number (PAN) in Nepal so far. According to the latest data published by the Ministry of Finance, almost 200,000 people have come under the purview of tax in the last three months. Among them, most of the people have acquired personal PAN cards.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the ministry, a total of 198,087 individuals acquired PAN cards in the first quarter of the current fiscal year (mid-July to mid-October). Among them, 148,773 individuals have acquired personal PAN cards. During this period, 46,001 commercial/business PAN cards were issued by the Inland Revenue Department.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, 7207 new taxpayers in Value Added Tax category and 4717 new taxpayers in excise duty section have been added in the review period.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the Finance Minister, the total number of people registered under personal PAN category has reached 3,199,077. Likewise, 1,808,414 individuals have acquired business PAN cards so far in the country. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Inland Revenue Department has made it mandatory for foreign nationals to submit details of PAN cards and tax clearance certificate in order to renew their work permit or visa. It is also mandatory to submit the details of PAN cards for any individual who wants to purchase a four-wheeler. The department has already implemented the arrangement to issue PAN cards to individuals along with the citizenship certificates and national ID cards. The new provisions intend to increase the number of taxpayers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-14', 'modified' => '2022-11-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16045', 'image' => '20221114013336_1668387758.करदाता ५० लाख पुगे.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-14 13:33:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16303', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'The Bamboo Series Focuses on Building Resilient Businesses', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 14: The Change Initiative by Net Consortium has kicked off with the objective to address the challenges faced by businessmen and entrepreneurs during and after disasters.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">November 14: The Change Initiative by Net Consortium has kicked off with the objective to address the challenges faced by businessmen and entrepreneurs during and after disasters. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">Three organizations - National Disaster Risk Reduction Center (NDRC), EMERGE, and Tangent Waves have come together to build resilient and inclusive businesses under this initiative.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">As part of the programme, an online discussion entitled The Bamboo Series was held on November 10.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">According to the organisers, the event was held to discuss, debate, and deliver solutions to build resilient and inclusive businesses.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">“The Bamboo Series hopes to mainstream the Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM) conversation about the private sector, which is usually ignored when policies and actions are made,” reads a statement issued by the organisers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">Participants of the event agreed to collaborate with each other to take this discussion forward. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">The next event in the series will be held on November 22 on the topic ‘Are businesses prepared for disasters?’</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-14', 'modified' => '2022-11-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16044', 'image' => '20221114124855_bamboo series.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-14 12:48:11', '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
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Agencies</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 16: Asian stocks dropped and the dollar gained on Wednesday after a blast in Poland. According to Reuters, Ukraine and Polish authorities have said that the blast was caused by a Russian-made missile.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The news agency added that worries over a potential ratcheting up of geopolitical tensions spurred a drop of 1 percent in MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Australian shares fell 0.4 percent, while Japan's Nikkei stock index dropped 0.1 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 1.1 percent and China's CSI 300 fell 0.4 percent by the midday break. According to Reuters, the struggling property sector weighed on the markets, with China's new home prices falling at their fastest pace in more than seven years in October, weighed down by COVID 19-related curbs and industry-wide problems.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">US stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis, fell 0.2 percent. In early European trade, the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures lost 0.9 percent, German DAX futures dipped 1 percent, and FTSE futures fell 0.5 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The safe-haven US dollar pared gains against its major peers but was still mostly higher, led by a 0.63 percent advance versus the yen, added Reuters. Likewise, sterling lost 0.32 percent, while the risk-sensitive Aussie dollar weakened 0.34 percent. The euro was flat.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NATO member Poland has blamed that a Russian-made rocket killed two people in eastern Poland near Ukraine.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the BBC, Polish officials said the "Russian-made missile" landed in Przewodow, on the Ukrainian border.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Moscow has denied the allegations.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported that NATO allies are preparing to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the strike.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NATO and its allies, including the United States, have said they are investigating the cause of the explosion in Poland on Tuesday.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-16', 'modified' => '2022-11-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16058', 'image' => '20221116115210_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-16 11:51:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16316', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Temperature Drops Across the Country ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 16: The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has urged one and all to remain cautious as the temperature across the country is dropping gradually. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 16: The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has urged one and all to remain cautious as the temperature across the country is dropping gradually. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a special bulletin on Wednesday, the department urged the general public to protect themselves from cold as the temperature has been gradually declining in the country due to the impact of the westerly winds. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The minimum temperature in the country is likely to decrease further while considering the recent patterns, the department said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the past 24 hours, the Kathmandu valley’s minimum temperature remained 9.0 degree Celsius while the maximum temperature was 22.0 degree Celsius, the department added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the Weather Forecasting Division of the department said that hill areas of Province 1, Gandaki and Karnali provinces are likely to remain partly cloudy while the mountainous regions of Province 1, Gandaki and Karnali would remain mainly fair this afternoon. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-16', 'modified' => '2022-11-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16057', 'image' => '20221116112711_aaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-16 11:26:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16315', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Global IME Bank Signs Merger Agreement with BoK', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: Global IME Bank has signed a merger agreement with Bank of Kathmandu in what is believed to be a deal to create the biggest bank of Nepal in terms of capital and business.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 15: Global IME Bank has signed a merger agreement with Bank of Kathmandu in what is believed to be a deal to create the biggest bank of Nepal in terms of capital and business.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The two banks signed an agreement to this effect on Monday. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to a statement issued by Global IME Bank, its chairman Chandra Prasad Dhakal and the chairman of BoK Prakash Shrestha signed the agreement on behalf of their respective banks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the merger, the total capital of the merged entity will rise to Rs 57 billion while the paid-up capital will increase to Rs 35.77 billion. The total deposits of the merged entity will cross Rs 400 billion while the credit flow will stand at Rs 379 billion, making it the biggest bank of Nepal in terms of paid-up capital and volume of business.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Board of directors of both the banks have approved a swap ratio of 1:1 based upon the recommendation of an evaluation report. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the recommendation, the name of the new entity will be Global IME BoK Limited and the new board of directors will be represented by five members of Global IME Bank including its chairman. Likewise, the new board of directors will have two members from BoK.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Global IME Bank’s CEO Ratna Raj Bajracharya will continue his job as the CEO after the merger.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Both the banks have earned net profit of Rs 1.47 billion by mid-October in the current fiscal year. After the merger, the new entity will have a total of 396 branches, 368 ATMs, 275 branchless banking facilities and 61 extension counters and three contact offices abroad. The new bank will have more than 4 million customers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The two banks believe that the merger will help deliver better services to the customers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Currently there are 26 commercial banks operating in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Banks and financial institutions in Nepal have started merging with each other or acquiring other banks as per the directive of Nepal Rastra Bank. The central bank of Nepal has adopted a policy to encourage merger/acquisition of banks so that the banks can cope with financial crisis better in the future.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16056', 'image' => '20221115064330_1668431648404.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 18:42:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16314', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Regional Conference on Suitable Seeds for Food Security Focuses on Better Access to Seeds', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: Experts have stressed on the importance of food security amid challenges posed by climate change.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 15: Experts have stressed on the importance of food security amid challenges posed by climate change.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at a regional conference on Suitable Seeds for Food Security organized recently in Kathmandu, Dr Jagadish Chandra Pokharel, former vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission, said that the importance of food security has grown multi-fold given the changing climatic conditions. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Dr Pokharel, who is also the chairman of the Nepal Institute for Urban and Regional Studies (NIURS), added that seed diversity is integral to food security.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The conference was organized jointly by South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE), Kathmandu and Norway-based Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI) to disseminate the findings of the study “Suitable seeds for food security in fragile states”.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to a statement issued by SAWTEE, the discussions held at the two-day conference focused on the roles of policy, legal and institutional frameworks with respect to access to suitable seeds in South Asia.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Another speaker Dr Kristin Rosendal, senior researcher at FNI, Norway, highlighted in her presentation that food security depends largely on access to a broad variety of suitable seeds. She argued that good quality food plants that are adapted to changing climate is necessary to fight climate change, added the statement. Dr Rosendal said that access to seeds is affected by international goals given that the top three corporations in the world control half the global seed market value. “Such facets intensely undermine the trust in the global circulation of seeds,” she added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Dr Posh Raj Pandey, chairperson of SAWTEE, said that the overlapping global food and climate crises have left many people with multiple vulnerabilities, especially in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Hence, when formulating seed policy to ensure food security, the ground reality of LDCs should be taken into account, by enhancing participatory and gender-sensitive approaches and improving the linkages of seed security, agri-productivity, and nutrition within households.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Christian Prip, senior research fellow at FNI, said that there have been conflicting interests with regard to the industrialization of agriculture driven by economic gains and the objective of protecting the diversity of genetic resources of plants to ensure long-term food security and farmers rights.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The two-day conference saw discussions on topics such as ‘Fostering Regional Co-operation for seed security: South Asian Perspective’, ‘Changes in EU Seed Regulations – Global Trends’, ‘Financing Climate Change Adaptation’ and ‘Impact of COVID-19 on agri input chain’. The event saw participation of researchers, academics, policymakers, representatives of farmers’ bodies, consumer rights activists, organizations working on climate change adaptation, and media, among others. There were participants from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Norway.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16055', 'image' => '20221115060720_sawtee.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 18:06:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16313', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Announces Two Days of Public Holiday for Elections ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: The government has decided to give a two-day public holiday for government employees in view of the elections to the Member of the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly on November 20. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 15: The government has decided to give a two-day public holiday for government employees in view of the elections to the Member of the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly on November 20. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notice on Tuesday informing that government offices and public entities will be observing public holiday on November 20 and 21. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the spokesperson of the home ministry, Phanindramani Pokhrel, teaching institutes or schools serving as the polling stations for voting during the twin elections on November 20 are entitled for public holiday for four days beginning from November 18. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that the Election Commission earlier urged the government to give public holiday as far as possible so as to encourage the public to take part in the elections being held across the country in a single phase. The EC believes that public holidays will help increase voters’ turnout. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the Tribhuvan University (TU) has decided to give public holidays in all subordinate campuses and offices for four days beginning from November 17. According to TU information and Public Relations Division Chief Yogendra Prasad Dahal, some of TU colleges are serving as the polling locations and it decides to give public holiday in view of the elections so that the daily activities of the colleges remain unaffected. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meantime, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) Office has decided to cease regular domestic flights on November 20 when the country is witnessing the voting for the twin elections. However, the airport’s spokesperson Teknath Sitaula said chartered fights will not be halted on the voting day. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16054', 'image' => '20221115025525_JS_Lamjung-byanarpattaudaikarmacharipiclamjung(2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 14:54:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16312', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Biden and Xi Dismiss Cold War Fears', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: US President Joe Biden met with his Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Indonesia on Monday in what is said to be the first meeting of the two leaders of the largest economies in the world.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 15: US President Joe Biden met with his Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Indonesia on Monday in what is said to be the first meeting of the two leaders of the largest economies in the world.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Reuters, the Biden and Xi engaged in blunt talks over Taiwan and North Korea in a three-hour meeting aimed at preventing strained US-China ties from spilling into a new Cold War.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the news agency, the two leaders pledged more frequent communications amid simmering differences on human rights, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and support of domestic industry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"We're going to compete vigorously. But I'm not looking for conflict, I'm looking to manage this competition responsibly," Reuters quoted Biden as saying after his talks with Xi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The G20 Summit of industrial countries kicked off in Bali, Indonesia on Tuesday. Taiwan will be the major agenda of the meeting between the two countries, according to the BBC. It is expected that the encounter will help to take the bilateral relationship and cooperation to a new height.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">This is the first time Biden met Xi in person after he was elected as the president of the United States in 2020. The meeting was much-awaited amidst the strained relation between the two superpowers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">China has been claiming Taiwan as part of it while Taiwan boasts of being a sovereign country. The United States has been backing Taiwan. Sometimes ago, Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi had visited the island drawing stern criticism from mainland China. Her visit had aggravated the relationship between the first and second largest economies. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Following the tension, the US banned the import of computer chips from China which has affected China’s export-driven economy. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The US and China are the two largest economies. The continued trade war between them has affected almost all countries. One of the major agendas the G20 Summit is expected to incorporate is the trade war between these two countries. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The G20 Group comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, Britain, and the United States. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16053', 'image' => '20221115023619_biden.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 14:35:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16311', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Domestic Airline Companies Reluctant to Operate Flights to Remote Areas', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: Nepal’s aviation policy has made it mandatory for domestic airline companies to operate flights to remote areas.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">November 15: Nepal’s aviation policy has made it mandatory for domestic airline companies to operate flights to remote areas. Air service providers, however, have been reluctant to do so.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation seems to be silent despite the fact that airline companies have pledged to make compulsory flights to far-flung regions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Airline companies that are operating flights to urban areas need to comply with the provision to operate flights to remote region as per the aviation policy of Nepal and the social responsibility of the airliners. But, the airline companies are defying the aviation policy as they are just concentrated on city areas for hefty profit, bemoaned Hari Budha of Jumla.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Gyanendra Bhul, deputy spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), says that the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation bears the responsibility to implement the policy of compulsory flights to remote areas.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">“If the policy to make compulsory flights to remote areas was mentioned in the Civil Aviation Authority Act, the authority would have the onus to execute it. Ambiguity in the provision on policy and act has brought the present situation,” said Bhul. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Nine airline companies including Buddha Air, Shree Airlines, Yeti Airlines and Saurya Airlines have not provided their services to far-flung regions. Tara Airlines, Summit Air, Sita Air and Nepal Airlines, the national flag carrier, have been operating flights to remote regions in the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, joint secretary at the Ministry of Tourism, said that they could not force airline companies to operate flights to remote areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">“It is not easy to make flights to remote regions due to high cost and difficult topography,” said Lamichhane, adding, “We have to encourage new companies to operate flights to far-flung regions by providing discount on aircraft import, landing and parking fee.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Buddha Air, the largest private airline company of Nepal in terms of aircraft number, has been operating such flights to only Surkhet, a hill district in Karnali Province. The airline operates one flight on Surkhet-Kathmandu route a day. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Officials at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal say that airline companies are having a tough time operating flights to remote areas due to large size of aircraft. An official from the civil aviation authority says that companies are unwilling to go to remote areas and new places since they are making profit from their flights to convenient city areas. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Officials at the airline companies, however, claim that they can not operate flights to hill regions owing to small and short runways and shortage of passengers. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">“For our aircraft to land, we need 1600-meter-long runway. But, the runways in hill areas are small for landing and take-off,” said an official from a private company.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">Shree Airlines’ spokesperson Anil Manandhar said that flights could not be made to hill regions due to small size of runways. “We have to procure new aircraft as operating flights to the hill regions is not possible with the existing planes,” Manandhar added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">No different is the response of Mukesh Kafle from Saurya Airlines. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:19.0pt">“Our airline is failing to operate flights to remote and hill regions due to small size of the runways,” Kafle stated. He, however, said that his company was planning to purchase new small-sized aircraft for flights to remote areas.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16052', 'image' => '20221115123054_1668464094.7.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 12:30:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16310', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Minimum Foreign Investment Limit for NRNs Removed', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: The government has removed the minimum limit required for foreign investment for the non- resident Nepalis (NRNs) willing to investment in Nepal through investment companies.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">November 15: The government has removed the minimum limit required for foreign investment for the non- resident Nepalis (NRNs) willing to investment in Nepal through investment companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">The government made such a provision by using the authority granted by the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act-2075 BS. This is expected to increase foreign investment to the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">The minimum limit required for foreign investment for each investor stands at Rs 20 million, as per a notice published on the Nepal Gazette by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">Earlier, the minimum limit for foreign investment was set at Rs 50 million. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">A cabinet meeting held a few days ago took the decision to remove the minimum threshold needed for foreign investment for the non-resident Nepalis. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:17.0pt">“We have published the notice on the Nepal Gazette in accordance with the latest decision of the Council of Ministers,” said Dr Toyanath Gyawali, secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16051', 'image' => '20221115115144_NRNA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 11:51:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16309', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'IIN to promote FDI, Equitable Economic Growth of Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: The Invest for Impact Nepal (IIN) platform is scaling up its programme to promote investment and equitable economic growth to contribute to social and environmental impact in Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 15: The Invest for Impact Nepal (IIN) platform is scaling up its programme to promote investment and equitable economic growth to contribute to social and environmental impact in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The scale-up programme will run from November 2022 to August 2025 and builds on initial discovery phase activities such as assessing specific challenges and opportunities for foreign direct investments (FDI) in Nepal, IIN said in a press statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“The discovery phase also looked into investment opportunities through financial institutions (FIs), Private Equity and Venture Capital (PEVC) funds, and Financial Technology firms,” it said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This group comprising of DFIs and development partners, will complement existing efforts to attract more investments and advance the development of the country by channelling efforts to unlock the possibilities of patient investing, flexible capital to support private sector growth and innovation. The objective is to help solve the biggest development challenges in Nepal, read the statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The IIN’s scale-up programme is to accelerate growth, create jobs, and develop a more sustainable economy in Nepal and this will be achieved by enabling FIs and PEVC funds to access resources from DFIs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">To support the small and medium-sized enterprises, the IIN will enable key investment ecosystem stakeholders including DFIs, DPs, FIs, PEVC Funds, private sector and regulators to participate in market information gathering and others including access to foreign direct investment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Welcoming this partnership, Swiss Ambassador to Nepal Elisabeth von Capeller ensuring that environmental, social, and governance factors are integrated into financial products and transactions remains our core focus. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise Head of Asia at BII Srini Nagarajan said this platform’s focus on those intermediaries resonates well with BII’s own strategy in emerging markets to deploy patient and flexible capital to boost productive, inclusive and sustainable growth in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The IIN platform is promoted by Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) of the UK- British International Investment (BII), the Netherlands - Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO) and Nepal’s development partner- the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16050', 'image' => '20221115095014_Foreign investment.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 09:49:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16308', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Buddha Air to Operate Flights to India from PRIA ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 15: Buddha Air, one of the leading private airline company of Nepal, has announced to conduct three flights to India from the Pokhara Regional International Airport (PRIA). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 15: </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Buddha Air, one of the leading private carriers of Nepal, is planning to start flights to three destinations in India from Pokhara Regional International Airport. The airlines will operate flight to Benares, Delhi and Dehradun. Pokhara Regional International Airport will come into operation from January in 2023, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Buddha Air will operate the first flight along the Pokhara-Benares-Pokhara route as soon as the airport comes into operation,” said an official of Buddha Air. The flight from Pokhara-Benares to Pokhara will be held three times a week on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Government of Nepal is holding talks with the Indian government for an air traffic route and Buddha Air is preparing for two flights a day to Delhi from Pokhara once the Indian government gives permission for air route and slot, according to Buddha Air. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At present, Buddha Air is operating flights to Beneras from Tribhuvan International Airport. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-15', 'modified' => '2022-11-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16049', 'image' => '20221115094046_1668475635.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-15 09:40:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16307', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Consumption of Petroleum Products Falls ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 14: The consumption of petroleum products in the domestic market of Nepal has gone down lately. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 14: The consumption of petroleum products in the domestic market of Nepal has gone down lately. According to the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), the consumption of petroleum products has significantly decreased in the current fiscal year (FY 2022/23) as compared to the previous year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Data of the NOC shows that 44,513 kiloliters of petrol and 78426 kiloliters of diesel were consumed between mid-October to mid-November this year compared to 63,315 kiloliters of petrol and 135,812 kiloliters of diesel consumed during the correspondent period of the last fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In past, the supply of petroleum products used to increase during festivals and elections, but this time the situation is different, NOC Spokesperson Binitmani Upadhyay said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Liquidity crunch, unfavorable season for development works, the skyrocketing prices of petroleum products and higher prices in the domestic market compared to the Indian market are among the factors for the decline in fuel consumption. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Higher price of petroleum products in the domestic market may encourage people to fill up their vehicles in Indian cities taking an advantage of the open border between Nepal and India, it has been observed. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-14', 'modified' => '2022-11-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16048', 'image' => '20221114052104_petroo - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-14 17:20:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16306', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Value of Nepalese Currency Rises after US Removes India from its ‘Currency Watchlist’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 14: The value of Nepalese currency has strengthened along with the Indian rupee after the US Department of Treasury removed the Indian Currency from its ‘Currency Watchlist’. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 14: The value of Nepalese currency has strengthened along with the Indian rupee after the US Department of Treasury removed the Indian Currency from its ‘Currency Watchlist’. Analysts say that this trend will continue.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is a fixed exchange rate between the Indian and Nepalese currencies. The value of the US dollar in Nepal is determined based on the value of the Indian currency. For this reason, the Nepalese rupee is weak when the INR is weak and vice versa. The exchange rate of the USD in the Nepalese market has dropped from Rs 133 to Rs 129 per dollar after India was removed from the watchlist.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Indian rupee has strengthened by 2 per cent against the US dollar over the past week. On Friday, the value of Indian currency rose by 1.23 per cent in a single day due to the prospect of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the US, increasing the interest rate a little more than expected. As of Friday, one dollar was equivalent to INR 80.81. The effect of the removal of INR from the watchlist is yet to be seen as trading in the international currency market is closed on Saturday and Sunday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank had fixed the exchange rate for USD 1 at Rs 131.2 on Friday and at Rs 129. 58 for Saturday and Sunday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Economist Nar Bahadur Thapa said that the removal of the Indian currency from the US currency watchlist has strengthened the Indian currency, and its impact has been felt on the Nepali currency. A weak USD has a positive effect on Nepal's trade deficit and inflation. The consumers who are facing price hike due to the recent increase in the value of the US dollar will get some relief.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Thapa said that there will be a loss in income form remittance though. As remittances are calculated based on the value of US dollars, more money is received when the dollar is expensive and less money is received when the dollar is cheap.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After two years, the US has removed India from the list of countries that manipulate the currency market. The US has also removed Italy, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam from the list. The United States keeps its trade partners in this list based on the practices of any country in the currency market and the overall monetary policy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </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' => '2022-11-14', 'modified' => '2022-11-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16047', 'image' => '20221114051206_1668391625.अमेरिकी ‘करेन्सी वाचलिस्ट’बाट भारत हट्यो.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-14 17:11:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16305', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Price of Cooking Oil Rises Again', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 14: The price of edible oil, which was rising continuously since the Russia-Ukraine tension, had declined during the start of the Dashain and Tihar festivals.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 14: The price of edible oil, which was rising continuously since the Russia-Ukraine tension, had declined during the start of the Dashain and Tihar festivals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It has once again started to rise after festive season. The price of cooking oil has increased by as much as Rs 50 per litre since Tihar.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Retail Trade Association, the retail price of cooking oil of every brand has increased by Rs 20 to Rs 50 per litre since Tihar. The price of soybean oil, which was Rs 240 per litre during Dashain, has now reached Rs 280. Likewise, the price of mustard oil has now reached Rs 340 from Rs 320 per litre. Similarly, the price of sunflower has climbed to Rs 300 from Rs 250.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Industrialists say that the price of oil may increase for some time. Subodh Kumar Gupta, president of Nepal Pulses, Rice and Oil Association, said that there is no possibility of an immediate price reduction or stabilization as there is no improvement in the international market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that there are indications that the price may increase further due to the inability to produce raw materials for a long time due to the Russia-Ukraine tension. According to him, the price of oil in the world market is likely to be affected for the next two years due to the war.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Small and retail traders are not ready to accept the argument of the industrialists and wholesalers over the rise in oil prices. They allege that the industrialists have arbitrarily increased the price of oil due to the upcoming elections. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Amulkaji Tuladhar, general secretary of the Retail Trade Union, said that as big industrialists and businessmen donate large amount of money to the party leaders during elections, it has affected food prices</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“If the problem was due to lack of raw materials and increase in value of dollar, how can the prices that dropped before Dashain rise in such a short span?” questioned Tuladhar.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Wasn’t there scarcity of raw materials before Dashain? Another issue is that there is no need to increase the price of oil sharply when the value of dollar has increased by only a few rupees,” added Tuladhara.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-14', 'modified' => '2022-11-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16046', 'image' => '20221114041628_shutterstock_1353066692.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-14 16:15:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16304', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Permanent Account Numbers Issued to More than 5 Million People', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 14: More than 5 million people have acquired Permanent Account Number (PAN) in Nepal so far.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">November 14: More than 5 million people have acquired Permanent Account Number (PAN) in Nepal so far. According to the latest data published by the Ministry of Finance, almost 200,000 people have come under the purview of tax in the last three months. Among them, most of the people have acquired personal PAN cards.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the ministry, a total of 198,087 individuals acquired PAN cards in the first quarter of the current fiscal year (mid-July to mid-October). Among them, 148,773 individuals have acquired personal PAN cards. During this period, 46,001 commercial/business PAN cards were issued by the Inland Revenue Department.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, 7207 new taxpayers in Value Added Tax category and 4717 new taxpayers in excise duty section have been added in the review period.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the Finance Minister, the total number of people registered under personal PAN category has reached 3,199,077. Likewise, 1,808,414 individuals have acquired business PAN cards so far in the country. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Inland Revenue Department has made it mandatory for foreign nationals to submit details of PAN cards and tax clearance certificate in order to renew their work permit or visa. It is also mandatory to submit the details of PAN cards for any individual who wants to purchase a four-wheeler. The department has already implemented the arrangement to issue PAN cards to individuals along with the citizenship certificates and national ID cards. The new provisions intend to increase the number of taxpayers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-14', 'modified' => '2022-11-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16045', 'image' => '20221114013336_1668387758.करदाता ५० लाख पुगे.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-14 13:33:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16303', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'The Bamboo Series Focuses on Building Resilient Businesses', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 14: The Change Initiative by Net Consortium has kicked off with the objective to address the challenges faced by businessmen and entrepreneurs during and after disasters.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">November 14: The Change Initiative by Net Consortium has kicked off with the objective to address the challenges faced by businessmen and entrepreneurs during and after disasters. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">Three organizations - National Disaster Risk Reduction Center (NDRC), EMERGE, and Tangent Waves have come together to build resilient and inclusive businesses under this initiative.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">As part of the programme, an online discussion entitled The Bamboo Series was held on November 10.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">According to the organisers, the event was held to discuss, debate, and deliver solutions to build resilient and inclusive businesses.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">“The Bamboo Series hopes to mainstream the Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM) conversation about the private sector, which is usually ignored when policies and actions are made,” reads a statement issued by the organisers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">Participants of the event agreed to collaborate with each other to take this discussion forward. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans"">The next event in the series will be held on November 22 on the topic ‘Are businesses prepared for disasters?’</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-11-14', 'modified' => '2022-11-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16044', 'image' => '20221114124855_bamboo series.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-11-14 12:48:11', '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
