October 14: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Thursday relieved four ministers representing the Janata Samajbadi Party from their…
October 14: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Thursday relieved four ministers representing the Janata Samajbadi Party from their…
October 13: The import of vehicles powered by diesel and petrol has declined significantly at the Birgunj customs in the first two months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.…
October 13: Life insurance companies of Nepal have collected insurance worth more than Rs 26 billion as of mid-September this year.…
October 13: With just five days remaining for the submission of application for new broker license, only one company has filed application so far seeking such…
October 13: Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has completed broadband service installation in the designated areas of 74 districts through the Rural Telecommunications Development Fund…
October 13: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected Nepal’s economy to grow by 4.2 percent in the current fiscal…
October 13: The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution with a majority of member states condemning the barbaric and brutal attack on Ukraine by Russia.…
October 13: The government is making preparations to bring an ordinance to amend the Electricity Act, 2049 aimed at opening up new avenues for power…
October 12: The construction of Nagdhunga tunnel, which was supposed to be completed within 42 months from the start of the project, is unlikely to be completed within the deadline.…
October 12: At a time when the Government of Nepal has banned female domestic helpers from going abroad for foreign employment, Qatar has placed a demand for female domestic workers from…
October 12: Nepal has exported more than 1 billion units of electricity to India this…
October 12: Even though the government has revised the unequal tax rates, the sanitary pad industries of Nepal have not been able to operate at full capacity because of excessive import of sanitary pads from…
October 12: Flower businessmen are expecting transactions worth more than Rs 130 million during the upcoming Tihar…
October 12: A technical team of the European Union (EU) has made a positive observation about Nepal’s aviation safety following an audit of Nepal’s entire aviation safety…
October 12: A committee formed by the Finance Ministry in late September to study the spiraling interest rates of banks and financial institutions has suggested the government to keep its hands off the matters looked after by the central…
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The PM took such measure after the Janata Samajbadi Party decided to forge an electoral alliance with the main opposition party CPN UML during the upcoming November 20 elections.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It has been learnt that PM Deuba is not happy with the decision of the coalition partner to join hands with the UML. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">PM Deuba relieved Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration, Rajendra Prasad Shrestha; Minister for Agriculture and Livestock, Mrigendra Kumar Singh; Minister for Physical Infrastructures and Transport, Istiyak Raya; and Minister for Forest and Environment, Pradip Yadav in accordance with Article 77 (2.b) of the Constitution of Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although PM Deuba relieved the ministers from their post, he has not appointed any new ministers due to the Election Code of Conduct. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, President Bidya Devi Bhandari has assigned PM Deuba to look after the relieved posts. According to the President's Office, Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, has been given responsibility to look after the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-14', 'modified' => '2022-10-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15888', 'image' => '20221014015026_Deuba.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-14 13:49:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16145', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Import of Vehicles Powered by Diesel and Petrol Declines', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: The import of vehicles powered by diesel and petrol has declined significantly at the Birgunj customs in the first two months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 13: The import of vehicles powered by diesel and petrol has declined significantly at the Birgunj customs in the first two months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. The records of Birgunj customs also revealed that the import of electric vehicles has increased during the same period.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the data of Birgunj customs, the import of jeeps, cars, and vans decreased by 81 percent. A total of 1,673 vehicles including jeeps, cars, and vans had entered the dry port from mid-July to mid-August last year. However, only 310 of such vehicles entered the customs premises during the same period this year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The import of vehicles took a nosedive due to the policy adopted by the government to curb imports in order to reduce the pressure on foreign exchange reserves and the lack of investable capital in banks. Since vehicles are the main source of revenue of the customs, the revenue collection has decreased along with the decline in the import of vehicles. As a result, Birgunj customs has not been able to collect revenue as per the target.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The import of electric jeeps, cars and vans on the other hand increased by 56 percent. According to the customs office, 45 electric vehicles were imported in the first two months of the last fiscal year, which increased to 70 in the same period this year. Similarly, there has been a significant increase in the import of electric motorcycles by 193 percent. The number of electric motorcycles imported into the country increased from 123 to 361.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government has taken a policy to encourage the import of electric vehicles. Compared to other vehicles, the attraction of such vehicles has increased due to low customs duty and low registration fees. But although the government encourages the import of such vehicles, stakeholders say that the current incentives are not enough.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Customs records show that the import of motorcycles decreased by 61 percent. According to Dhan Bahadur Baruwal, the Chief Customs Officer of Birgunj customs, 12,633 motorcycles were imported in the first two months of the previous year, which decreased to 4,968 this year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The import of unassembled motorcycles on the other hand increased by 160 percent. In the first two months of last fiscal year, 3,196 such motorcycles entered through Birgunj customs, which increased to 8,307 this year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Along with the decrease in the import of vehicles, the import of spare parts has also decreased. According to the customs data, such imports decreased by 27 percent. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15887', 'image' => '20221013045929_1665642168.Gadi.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 16:58:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16144', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Business of Life Insurance Companies Slump due to Global Economic Recession', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: Life insurance companies of Nepal have collected insurance worth more than Rs 26 billion as of mid-September this year. ', 'content' => '<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"">October 13: Life insurance companies of Nepal have collected insurance worth more than Rs 26 billion as of mid-September this year. However, the business of insurance companies has declined due to the effect of the global economic recession and the rising interest rates of banks.</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"">According to the Insurance Board, the 19 life insurance companies in operation have issued 14.14 million policies and collected insurance fees of Rs 26.37 billion until mid-September.</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"">Between mid-August to mid-September, the companies collected insurance amount of Rs 10.97 billion. However, the collection of insurance fees in the review month declined by 27.11 per cent compared to a month ago. Between mid-July and mid-August, insurance companies had collected insurance amount of Rs 15.57 billion.</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"">Raju Raman Paudel, executive director of the board, said that the business of insurance companies has affected by the decline in economic activities and the increase in interest rates of banks. </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 effect of the financial recession and the increase in interest rates of banks have affected the business of insurance companies. That is why the business of insurance companies has decreased in September compared to August," he added.</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"">Lately, banks have announced term deposit schemes for a period of up to 20 years with returns up to 10 times the initial deposit.</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"">A large part of the insurance amount collected in the review month is the result of by the renewal of policy. According to the board, the companies collected Rs 2.20 billion as the insurance fee and Rs 12.85 billion as renewal fee.</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"">Ramesh Kumar Bhattarai, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mahalakshmi Life Insurance Limited, said that the business of the insurance companies has also been affected due to the slump in banking activities. </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"">"People pay for insurance only when all the needs are met," he said, "When the banks have stopped lending, and the cash flow in the market is low, the priority of the general public is on meeting the basic needs,'' he said.</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"">According to the data of the Insurance Board, Nepal Life Insurance Company has done the most business till mid-September. This company has collected Rs 7.62 billion in insurance fees as of mid-September. Similarly, National Life Insurance Company has collected Rs 3.23 billion, Life Insurance Corporation (Nepal) Limited has collected Rs 3.19 billion , Union Life has collected Rs 1.44 billion, and Asian Life has collected Rs 1.21 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15886', 'image' => '20221013043854_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 16:38:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16143', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Only One Company Submits Application for Broker's License', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: With just five days remaining for the submission of application for new broker license, only one company has filed application so far seeking such license.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 13: With just five days remaining for the submission of application for new broker license, only one company has filed application so far seeking such license. According to the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON), Himalayan Securities Limited has applied for a limited operating broker license.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Spokesperson of the board, Rupesh KC, informed that only one company has applied for a broker's license. The board had recently announced application for three types of broker licenses. According to KC, Himalayan Securities has presented a letter to the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) seeking its recommendation for the license. Stating that the application should be submitted to the board along with the recommendation of NEPSE within the specified period, KC said that Himalayan Securities should attest the recommendation letter of NEPSE by October 17.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As of Wednesday, 21 companies have sought recommendations for broker licenses from NEPSE. Murahari Parajuli, information officer of NEPSE, informed that only 11 companies asked for recommendations on Wednesday. According to him, by Tuesday, 10 companies, including Himalayan Securities, had requested recommendations from NEPSE.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Parajuli informed that among the companies that have sought recommendations from NEPSE are Machhapuchche Securities, NMB Securities, KBL Securities, Kalash Securities, Volenlej Securities, Capital Max Securities, Property Bigad, Share Pro Securities and Prabhu Stock. He added that the number of companies seeking recommendations is increasing as the application deadline is getting shorter. NEPSE’s Board of Directors held a meeting on Wednesday and decided to give recommendations for new broker licenses only to the eligible companies. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, Parajuli informed that NEPSE has not yet issued recommendation letters to any company so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There is a mandatory provision to seek the recommendation of NEPSE before submitting an application to the board for a new broker license. Himalayan Securities, which applied for the license with the board without the recommendation of NEPSE, will be denied the license if it fails to present the recommendation letter to the board by October 17.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">SEBON is planning to issue three types of broker licenses based on the capital structure of the company.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the KC, the minimum paid-up capital required for the new stock exchange company is Rs 3 billion. Likewise, the capital requirement for new broker license has been fixed between Rs 200 million to Rs 1.5 billion. Brokers will be issued three different types of licenses based on their capital.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the new provision, the first kind of brokers providing limited services of stock market transaction require a minimum capital of Rs 200 million to acquire license. Likewise, the brokers providing services like share transaction, depository participant, investment consultancy, investment management and margin business need to have a minimum paid up capital of Rs 600 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the third type of license will be issued for stock dealers who must maintain a minimum capital of Rs 1.5 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The board had called for applications for to operate a new stock exchange company and two commodity exchanges along with broker's license on the September 18. The deadline to submit application for broker license was 30 days while the deadline for stock exchanges and commodity exchanges was of 45 days.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15885', 'image' => '20221013035521_20220913040730_Sebonnn.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 15:54:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16142', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Installation of Broadband Internet Gains Momentum ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has completed broadband service installation in the designated areas of 74 districts through the Rural Telecommunications Development Fund Project. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 13: Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has completed broadband service installation in the designated areas of 74 districts through the Rural Telecommunications Development Fund Project. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NTA is to provide broadband service across the country through 18 different packages. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The service has come into operation in the areas after the completion of the installation work. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NTA Spokesperson Santosh Poudel said monitoring and testing of 10 projects have been completed so far. Monitoring and testing under the third phase of eight projects has yet to be undertaken. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Poudel informed that the process of installing broadband service has been put forward in the eight districts that were most affected by the 2015 earthquakes including Kavre, Sindhupalchowk, Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dolakha, Sindhuli, Ramechhap and Okhaldhunga by mobilizing the same fund. In this connection, the NTA has signed separate memorandum of understanding with 73 out of a total of 76 municipalities and rural municipalities. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NTA has come up with a plan to install at least 20-MBPS capacity broadband internet service in 4,251 areas including offices of all local governments, ward offices, community secondary schools, community health facilities and all primary schools to enhance their institutional capacity. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15884', 'image' => '20221013013456_20210831104852_20210221040652_20191021115126_adsfjjj.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 13:34:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16141', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'IMF Projects Nepal’s Economy to Grow by 4.2 Percent', 'sub_title' => 'Inflation in Nepal will Rise to 8.1 Percent in the Current Fiscal Year', 'summary' => 'October 13: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected Nepal’s economy to grow by 4.2 percent in the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 13: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected Nepal’s economy to grow by 4.2 percent in the current fiscal year. </span></span><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The IMF made such projection while releasing the October issue of the World Economic Outlook. The report says that Nepal’s economy will grow by 5 percent in 2023 and by 5.3 percent by 2027.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the report, inflation in Nepal will rise to 8.1 percent in the current fiscal year and this rate will drop to 7.1 percent in 2023</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the current account deficit of Nepal will remain 12.1 percent in the review period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The IMF report also predicted the world economy to shrink to 3.2 percent in 2022. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the report, global economic activity is experiencing a broad-based and sharper-than-expected slowdown, with inflation higher than seen in several decades. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The cost-of-living crisis, tightening financial conditions in most regions, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the lingering COVID-19 pandemic all weigh heavily on the outlook. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Global growth is forecast to slow from 6.0 percent in 2021 to 3.2 percent in 2022 and 2.7 percent in 2023. This is the weakest growth profile since 2001 except for the global financial crisis and the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic,” reads the report.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, global inflation is forecast to rise from 4.7 percent in 2021 to 8.8 percent in 2022 but to decline to 6.5 percent in 2023 and to 4.1 percent by 2024. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The report suggests that monetary policy should stay the course to restore price stability, and fiscal policy should aim to alleviate the cost-of-living pressures while maintaining a sufficiently tight stance aligned with monetary policy. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Structural reforms can further support the fight against inflation by improving productivity and easing supply constraints, while multilateral cooperation is necessary for fast-tracking the green energy transition and preventing fragmentation.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">l</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15883', 'image' => '20221013115322_iiii.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 11:52:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16140', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Votes in Favor of Ukraine ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution with a majority of member states condemning the barbaric and brutal attack on Ukraine by Russia. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 13: The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution with a majority of member states condemning the barbaric and brutal attack on Ukraine by Russia. According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, 143 member states voted in favour of the resolution, including Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the voting held on Wednesday, five countries voted against the resolution. The countries that voted against the resolution were Belarus, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Nicaragua, Russia and Syria. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, 35 countries abstained from voting. Majority of countries abstaining from voting were African nations, alongside China and India. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"We condemn Russia's illegal so-called referendum within Ukraine's internationally-recognized borders and demand it reverses its annexation declaration," reads the resolution. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Russia launched an attack on Ukraine on February 24 calling it a “special military operation” to protect Russian-speaking people in the troubled Donbas region of Ukraine from the so-called Nazis.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, Kyiv and its western allies dismiss it as a baseless pretext for war which has killed thousands of people and displaced millions in what is said the be the biggest military operation in Europe since World War II.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The war between Russia and Ukraine has raised concerns of food crisis across the world. Both the countries play a vital role in supply of food grains across the globe. Wheat produced in Ukraine and Russia constitute 29 percent of the wheat traded across the world. These two countries also supply 19 percent of maize to the world.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Russia and Ukraine also supply 80 percent of sunflower oil to the world. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The situation has caused fluctuation in the price of oil globally. Commodity prices have also increased. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Russia and Ukraine are also the chief producers of oil, natural gas and metals.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15882', 'image' => '20221013112051_unga.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 11:19:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16146', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Preparing to Issue Ordinance to Allow Private Sector for Power Trade ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: The government is making preparations to bring an ordinance to amend the Electricity Act, 2049 aimed at opening up new avenues for power trade. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 13: The government is making preparations to bring an ordinance to amend the Electricity Act, 2049 aimed at opening up new avenues for power trade. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Electricity Act, 2049 does not have the provision related to power trade. Due to the lack of such arrangement in the law, the government has not been able to give permission to the private sector for power trade. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In order to open ways for the private sector to participate in power trade, the government is making necessary preparations to amend the law. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ordinance has been forwarded to the office of the president for consideration. According to the Ministry of Energy, Water Resource and Irrigation, the ordinance would be introduced to create ways for power trade by addressing the demand of the private sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that the private sector has been demanding subsidy with the government on power trade. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15881', 'image' => '20221013050847_Energy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 17:08:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16139', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nagdhunga Tunnel Achieves 65 Percent Progress in Construction', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: The construction of Nagdhunga tunnel, which was supposed to be completed within 42 months from the start of the project, is unlikely to be completed within the deadline. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 12: The construction of Nagdhunga tunnel, which was supposed to be completed within 42 months from the start of the project, is unlikely to be completed within the deadline. With just six months left for the project to end, the progress achieved is 65 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The foundation stone of the project was laid on October 21, 2019 by the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. As per the agreement signed with the Department of Roads, the contractor, Hazama Ando Corporation of Japan, was supposed to complete the project within 42 months.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, the project has been delayed due to hurdles like the Covid-19 pandemic, prohibitory order as well as the obstruction from the locals, distribution of compensation, unavailability of explosives and equipment among others, according to the Department of Roads. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The project should have been completed within mid-April next year but the deadline has been extended by almost three months (86 days) after assessing the situation. The Japanese construction company Hazama Ando Corporation had demanded an extension of deadline as the work was delayed due to the pandemic, restrictions and a few days of interruption by the locals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The project director Ramhari Pokharel informed New Business Age that the Japanese company had demanded extension of the deadline by six to seven months but the department has made it clear that it is not possible to extend the deadline beyond three months.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the details provided by the project, the Japanese company has already completed construction of the main passage as well as the auxiliary, audit and cross passages. Of them, 1,377 meters are dug on the east and west sides of the main tunnel and 1,507 meters on both sides of the auxiliary tunnel.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Among the other structures of the project, two underpasses have been constructed. There are plans to build three underpasses in the project. Similarly, 4 box culverts, 1 overpass and 3 bridges have also been constructed. The flyover is under construction.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The total length of the tunnel is projected to be 5.7 km including 2.7 kilometers long tunnel section and 3 kilometers of road.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Government of Nepal had reached an agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2016 to construct the tunnel. The total cost of the tunnel is estimated to be around Rs 22 billion, of which JICA will bear Rs 16 billion and the Government of Nepal will bear Rs 6 billion. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15880', 'image' => '20221012035751_20220708015827_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 15:57:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16137', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Qatar Seeks Application for Domestic Helpers from Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: At a time when the Government of Nepal has banned female domestic helpers from going abroad for foreign employment, Qatar has placed a demand for female domestic workers from Nepal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 12: At a time when the Government of Nepal has banned female domestic helpers from going abroad for foreign employment, Qatar has placed a demand for female domestic workers from Nepal. Qatar's Ministry of Interior issued a notice seeking applications from Nepali domestic workers. Qatar had been continuously asking Nepal to provide workers even after the Government of Nepal stopped sending female domestic workers to the Gulf nation. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The ministry said that applications can be submitted at the Qatar Visa Center (QVC) in Kathmandu.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Government of Nepal had stopped sending female domestic workers to all Gulf countries including Qatar since 2016 stating that women who work as domestic helpers are exploited. Despite the ban, many women still go to various countries for this profession illegally through India. Rights activists have been protesting the ban arguing that the government decision has put women in more danger while going for foreign employment through illegal channels.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Danduraj Ghimire, joint secretary and spokesperson of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security confirmed that he too received information about Qatar seeking domestic workers but needs it needs further inquiry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Qatar had requested us to lift the ban on sending female domestic helpers to the Gulf nation during a meeting held between Nepal and Qatar a few months ago,” said Gimire.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He added that even if Qatar has sought application, no one will be allowed to go without the government’s consent. Domestic workers are currently in high demand in Qatar.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15879', 'image' => '20221012032927_foreign emp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 15:28:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16136', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Exports Over One Billion Units of Electricity to India', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: Nepal has exported more than 1 billion units of electricity to India this season.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 12: Nepal has exported more than 1 billion units of electricity to India this season. The Nepal Electricity Authority started selling the surplus electricity during the rainy season through competitive bidding in the day-ahead market of the Indian Energy Exchange Limited from June 2. Since then, as per the information of the authority, 1.3 billion units of electricity has been exported to India.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The authority's executive director Kulman Ghising informed that during this period, a net income of Rs 7.93 billion was generated by selling the surplus electricity.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Selling more than 1 billion units of electricity is another milestone for us,” said Ghising.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the authority, the average price per unit of exported electricity is Rs 7.91.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Initially, the electricity produced from 39 megawatts of two power plants was sold in the Indian market on a daily basis. According to the authority, since June 10, an additional 364 megawatts of electricity produced by six hydropower plants were sold in the Indian market at a competitive rate per day.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Since the electricity trade with India is done in Indian rupees (INR), Nepal received INR 4.95 billion from the sale of electricity during this period. This has contributed to reducing the pressure on Nepal's foreign exchange reserves and the trade deficit between the two countries. The authority aims to earn about Rs 16 billion from electricity exports in the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the Indian Energy Exchange Limited, 24 hours are divided into 96 blocks of 15 minutes each and electricity is traded at a competitive rate set by the market. Therefore, the price of each block is different. The average rate of electricity exported by the authority so far is Rs 7.91 per unit.</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' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15878', 'image' => '20221012014124_electricity.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 13:40:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16138', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Pad Industries Still in Crisis Despite Revision of Unfair Taxes', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: Even though the government has revised the unequal tax rates, the sanitary pad industries of Nepal have not been able to operate at full capacity because of excessive import of sanitary pads from abroad.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 12: Even though the government has revised the unequal tax rates, the sanitary pad industries of Nepal have not been able to operate at full capacity because of excessive import of sanitary pads from abroad.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is an annual demand of 450 million sanitary pads in Nepal. Industrialists say that the annual production capacity of 35 small and big domestic industries is 900 million units. However, as the government has not controlled the import of pads, the investment of Rs 6 billion in the pad industry is at risk.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Dolraj Adhikari, president of Nepal Sanitary Pad and Diaper Manufacturers Association, although the government revised the decision to give 90 percent tax exemption on the import of sanitary pads as per the announcement made in the budget of the current fiscal year, it is yet to increase the customs duty to the previous level of 15 percent from 5 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As a result, the production of the domestic industries has shrunk by 50 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industries that were producing 600 million sanitary pads and selling them domestically and abroad before the government imposed unequal taxes were forced to shut down due to the government's decision. After revising the tax rates, those industries are now operational. However, as the government is yet to control the import of sanitary pads, the industrialists are not able to take full advantage of it, says President Adhikari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Puneet Sharda, general secretary of the association and owner of Jasmine Hygiene, says that the production of the domestic industry is now limited to 300 million units per year. Similarly, out of 6,000 workers, only 3,000 are currently employed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The government should not only reduce the customs duty on raw materials, it should also reduce the customs duty on packaging materials and other goods. The government should give concessions to encourage domestic industries,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Adhikari, the government should stop issuing license to new sanitary pad industry as the existing industries have acquired technology that can produce seven pads in one second.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “There is not a single sanitary pad industry in Bihar, India. However, six large industries have already opened in a small country like Nepal. Since the capacity of those industries exceeds the domestic demand if operated at full capacity, now the government should open the way to earn foreign currency by exporting pads instead of importing them. In order to do so, the government must give concessions on exports,” said Adhikari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rakesh Lahoti, vice president of the association and owner of Health and Hygiene said that although the government revised the unequal tax rates, it has failed to notice that the industries here are not operating at full capacity due to excessive imports. He said that the government should give concessions to the sanitary pad industry like in India. He argued that they have to compete with the industries capable of producing more than 400 pads in a minute. Lahoti revealed that Nepali industry will be able to produce at full capacity only if the government increases the anti-dumping duty and customs duty to 15 percent to replace imports. The government's policy of encouraging imports has also affected the production of diapers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the government decided to waive 90 percent customs duty on the import of sanitary pads from July 17, pads worth Rs 992 million were imported that month. Records of the Customs Department show that pads worth Rs 154,441,000 were imported in August. These pads were imported from India, China, Thailand, Japan and other countries. During the period of 2 months, 8,339,000 thousand pads were exported from Nepal to India. Pads come to Nepal from abroad in kilograms.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the year 2075/76, when the government reduced the customs duty on all raw materials of the sanitary pad industry to 5 percent, the number of such industries increased.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15877', 'image' => '20221012035446_20210119021212_Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 15:54:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16135', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Flower Business Expected to Top Transactions of Rs 130 Million during Tihar', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: Flower businessmen are expecting transactions worth more than Rs 130 million during the upcoming Tihar festival.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 12: Flower businessmen are expecting transactions worth more than Rs 130 million during the upcoming Tihar festival. The Floriculture Association of Nepal says they are planning to sell 2,345,000 pieces of flowers worth Rs 130 million during the Tihar festival which is just around the corner.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The transactions of flower business are expected to grow by Rs 15.4 million this year compared to last year’s festive season. During last year, flowers worth Rs 115.6 million were sold in Tihar.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The association informed that 2 million units of garlands made of marigold flower are expected to be sold during this festival. The demand for 1.7 million such garlands will be met through domestic production while the remaining 300,000 garlands are being imported from India, says Min Bahadur Tamang, president of the Floriculture Association of Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the association expects sale of 325,000 units of globe amaranth garlands and 20,000 units of garlands made from chrysanthemum flowers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The wholesale price of a piece of marigold flower is Rs 55 while the garland made of globe amaranth costs Rs 35 to 40 and that of chrysanthemum flowers costs Rs 350 to Rs 400.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">President Tamang said that the domestic production of flowers was hit by the rainfall that occurred during the Dashain festival. According to him, marigold flowers were damaged by the rainfall and the domestic production is expected to shrink this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, the domestic production of marigold is still expected to increase by 10 percent this year compared to last year because the commercial farming of this particular flower has started in all seven provinces. Marigold flower is cultivated mostly in Kavre, Sindhupalchowk, Jhapa, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Dhading, Chitwan, Ilam, Dhankuta, Kailali, Banke, and Kaski districts.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, commercial farming of globe amaranth flower is done in Ichangu Narayan of Kathmandu, Gundu of Bhaktapur, Badikhel and Godavari of Lalitpur, Dhading, Palpa, Kailali and Ilam.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the association, the business of cultivating flowers with an investment of Rs 6 billion is done in 43 districts of Nepal. More than 700 entrepreneurs are involved in this business which provides direct and indirect employment to 40,000 people.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15876', 'image' => '20221012125640_74357524_3206364359438719_5295578166390161408_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 12:56:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16134', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'EU Positive About Nepal’s Aviation Safety: CAAN ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: A technical team of the European Union (EU) has made a positive observation about Nepal’s aviation safety following an audit of Nepal’s entire aviation safety sector. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 12: A technical team of the European Union (EU) has made a positive observation about Nepal’s aviation safety following an audit of Nepal’s entire aviation safety sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A technical team of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) of the EU had arrived in Nepal and carried out the audit from October 7 to 9. The three-member technical team of the EASA is scheduled to submit its report to Nepal on October 28, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said. CAAN has assured to respond to the issues pointed out in the report. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Spokesperson of CAAN Jagannath Niraula expressed his belief that the EU would remove Nepal from its air safety list since the technical team was positive about Nepal’s aviation safety. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“CAAN will respond to the issues raised in the report and the final decision to remove Nepal from EU’s air safety list would be decided once the final report is submitted to the EU,” said Spokesperson Niraula. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU has blacklisted Nepal since the past one decade for its poor record in air safety. As a result, the airlines companies registered in Nepal are not allowed to make flights to the EU member states. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Niraula claimed that the technical team of EASA is satisfied after the technical studies and consultations with the CAAN officials. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU technical team carried out its audit based on different aspects including International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) audit report that puts Nepal above the global average, Civil Aviation (Investigation of Accident) Regulation passed from the Council of Ministers and others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The CAAN stated that the EU technical team conducted its assessment on eight areas including legislation, personal licensing, flight operation, accident investigation, air navigation services, aerodrome and ground aides. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => 'EU, Nepal, aviation, safety, CAAN, blacklist', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15875', 'image' => '20221012115121_Nepal-Airlines.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 11:50:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16133', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Study Committee says Government Can’t Intervene in Matters Related to Interest Rates', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: A committee formed by the Finance Ministry in late September to study the spiraling interest rates of banks and financial institutions has suggested the government to keep its hands off the matters looked after by the central bank.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">October 12: A committee formed by the Finance Ministry in late September to study the spiraling interest rates of banks and financial institutions has suggested the government to keep its hands off the matters looked after by the central bank.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">While submitting its report to Finance Minister Janardan Sharma, the ten-member committee headed by Joint Secretary Baburam Subedi, who is also the chief of the Economic Policy Analysis Division of the ministry, said that the interest rate is determined by the market and that the government should not intervene unnecessarily. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The study conducted by the committee concluded that Nepal Rastra Bank is responsible to fix the interest rates and government should not issue instructions in this matter because it would undermine the central bank’s autonomy.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The committee had one representative each from the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Nepal Rastra Bank, National Planning Commission and the Ministry of Industry, Supplies and Commerce the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries and Nepal Chamber of Commerce while the banking sector was represented by two members of Nepal Bankers Association.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">It may be noted that banks have increased the interest rates effective from September 17 almost five months after maintaining a stable interest rate. Such an initiative was taken upon the instruction of the central bank.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15874', 'image' => '20221012105504_20220926050939_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 10:54:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16149', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Deuba Sacks Four Ministers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 14: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Thursday relieved four ministers representing the Janata Samajbadi Party from their posts.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 14: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Thursday relieved four ministers representing the Janata Samajbadi Party from their posts. The PM took such measure after the Janata Samajbadi Party decided to forge an electoral alliance with the main opposition party CPN UML during the upcoming November 20 elections.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It has been learnt that PM Deuba is not happy with the decision of the coalition partner to join hands with the UML. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">PM Deuba relieved Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration, Rajendra Prasad Shrestha; Minister for Agriculture and Livestock, Mrigendra Kumar Singh; Minister for Physical Infrastructures and Transport, Istiyak Raya; and Minister for Forest and Environment, Pradip Yadav in accordance with Article 77 (2.b) of the Constitution of Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although PM Deuba relieved the ministers from their post, he has not appointed any new ministers due to the Election Code of Conduct. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, President Bidya Devi Bhandari has assigned PM Deuba to look after the relieved posts. According to the President's Office, Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, has been given responsibility to look after the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-14', 'modified' => '2022-10-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15888', 'image' => '20221014015026_Deuba.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-14 13:49:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16145', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Import of Vehicles Powered by Diesel and Petrol Declines', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: The import of vehicles powered by diesel and petrol has declined significantly at the Birgunj customs in the first two months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 13: The import of vehicles powered by diesel and petrol has declined significantly at the Birgunj customs in the first two months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. The records of Birgunj customs also revealed that the import of electric vehicles has increased during the same period.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the data of Birgunj customs, the import of jeeps, cars, and vans decreased by 81 percent. A total of 1,673 vehicles including jeeps, cars, and vans had entered the dry port from mid-July to mid-August last year. However, only 310 of such vehicles entered the customs premises during the same period this year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The import of vehicles took a nosedive due to the policy adopted by the government to curb imports in order to reduce the pressure on foreign exchange reserves and the lack of investable capital in banks. Since vehicles are the main source of revenue of the customs, the revenue collection has decreased along with the decline in the import of vehicles. As a result, Birgunj customs has not been able to collect revenue as per the target.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The import of electric jeeps, cars and vans on the other hand increased by 56 percent. According to the customs office, 45 electric vehicles were imported in the first two months of the last fiscal year, which increased to 70 in the same period this year. Similarly, there has been a significant increase in the import of electric motorcycles by 193 percent. The number of electric motorcycles imported into the country increased from 123 to 361.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government has taken a policy to encourage the import of electric vehicles. Compared to other vehicles, the attraction of such vehicles has increased due to low customs duty and low registration fees. But although the government encourages the import of such vehicles, stakeholders say that the current incentives are not enough.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Customs records show that the import of motorcycles decreased by 61 percent. According to Dhan Bahadur Baruwal, the Chief Customs Officer of Birgunj customs, 12,633 motorcycles were imported in the first two months of the previous year, which decreased to 4,968 this year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The import of unassembled motorcycles on the other hand increased by 160 percent. In the first two months of last fiscal year, 3,196 such motorcycles entered through Birgunj customs, which increased to 8,307 this year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Along with the decrease in the import of vehicles, the import of spare parts has also decreased. According to the customs data, such imports decreased by 27 percent. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15887', 'image' => '20221013045929_1665642168.Gadi.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 16:58:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16144', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Business of Life Insurance Companies Slump due to Global Economic Recession', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: Life insurance companies of Nepal have collected insurance worth more than Rs 26 billion as of mid-September this year. ', 'content' => '<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"">October 13: Life insurance companies of Nepal have collected insurance worth more than Rs 26 billion as of mid-September this year. However, the business of insurance companies has declined due to the effect of the global economic recession and the rising interest rates of banks.</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"">According to the Insurance Board, the 19 life insurance companies in operation have issued 14.14 million policies and collected insurance fees of Rs 26.37 billion until mid-September.</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"">Between mid-August to mid-September, the companies collected insurance amount of Rs 10.97 billion. However, the collection of insurance fees in the review month declined by 27.11 per cent compared to a month ago. Between mid-July and mid-August, insurance companies had collected insurance amount of Rs 15.57 billion.</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"">Raju Raman Paudel, executive director of the board, said that the business of insurance companies has affected by the decline in economic activities and the increase in interest rates of banks. </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 effect of the financial recession and the increase in interest rates of banks have affected the business of insurance companies. That is why the business of insurance companies has decreased in September compared to August," he added.</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"">Lately, banks have announced term deposit schemes for a period of up to 20 years with returns up to 10 times the initial deposit.</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"">A large part of the insurance amount collected in the review month is the result of by the renewal of policy. According to the board, the companies collected Rs 2.20 billion as the insurance fee and Rs 12.85 billion as renewal fee.</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"">Ramesh Kumar Bhattarai, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mahalakshmi Life Insurance Limited, said that the business of the insurance companies has also been affected due to the slump in banking activities. </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"">"People pay for insurance only when all the needs are met," he said, "When the banks have stopped lending, and the cash flow in the market is low, the priority of the general public is on meeting the basic needs,'' he said.</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"">According to the data of the Insurance Board, Nepal Life Insurance Company has done the most business till mid-September. This company has collected Rs 7.62 billion in insurance fees as of mid-September. Similarly, National Life Insurance Company has collected Rs 3.23 billion, Life Insurance Corporation (Nepal) Limited has collected Rs 3.19 billion , Union Life has collected Rs 1.44 billion, and Asian Life has collected Rs 1.21 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15886', 'image' => '20221013043854_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 16:38:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16143', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Only One Company Submits Application for Broker's License', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: With just five days remaining for the submission of application for new broker license, only one company has filed application so far seeking such license.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 13: With just five days remaining for the submission of application for new broker license, only one company has filed application so far seeking such license. According to the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON), Himalayan Securities Limited has applied for a limited operating broker license.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Spokesperson of the board, Rupesh KC, informed that only one company has applied for a broker's license. The board had recently announced application for three types of broker licenses. According to KC, Himalayan Securities has presented a letter to the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) seeking its recommendation for the license. Stating that the application should be submitted to the board along with the recommendation of NEPSE within the specified period, KC said that Himalayan Securities should attest the recommendation letter of NEPSE by October 17.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As of Wednesday, 21 companies have sought recommendations for broker licenses from NEPSE. Murahari Parajuli, information officer of NEPSE, informed that only 11 companies asked for recommendations on Wednesday. According to him, by Tuesday, 10 companies, including Himalayan Securities, had requested recommendations from NEPSE.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Parajuli informed that among the companies that have sought recommendations from NEPSE are Machhapuchche Securities, NMB Securities, KBL Securities, Kalash Securities, Volenlej Securities, Capital Max Securities, Property Bigad, Share Pro Securities and Prabhu Stock. He added that the number of companies seeking recommendations is increasing as the application deadline is getting shorter. NEPSE’s Board of Directors held a meeting on Wednesday and decided to give recommendations for new broker licenses only to the eligible companies. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, Parajuli informed that NEPSE has not yet issued recommendation letters to any company so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There is a mandatory provision to seek the recommendation of NEPSE before submitting an application to the board for a new broker license. Himalayan Securities, which applied for the license with the board without the recommendation of NEPSE, will be denied the license if it fails to present the recommendation letter to the board by October 17.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">SEBON is planning to issue three types of broker licenses based on the capital structure of the company.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the KC, the minimum paid-up capital required for the new stock exchange company is Rs 3 billion. Likewise, the capital requirement for new broker license has been fixed between Rs 200 million to Rs 1.5 billion. Brokers will be issued three different types of licenses based on their capital.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the new provision, the first kind of brokers providing limited services of stock market transaction require a minimum capital of Rs 200 million to acquire license. Likewise, the brokers providing services like share transaction, depository participant, investment consultancy, investment management and margin business need to have a minimum paid up capital of Rs 600 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the third type of license will be issued for stock dealers who must maintain a minimum capital of Rs 1.5 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The board had called for applications for to operate a new stock exchange company and two commodity exchanges along with broker's license on the September 18. The deadline to submit application for broker license was 30 days while the deadline for stock exchanges and commodity exchanges was of 45 days.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15885', 'image' => '20221013035521_20220913040730_Sebonnn.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 15:54:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16142', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Installation of Broadband Internet Gains Momentum ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has completed broadband service installation in the designated areas of 74 districts through the Rural Telecommunications Development Fund Project. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 13: Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has completed broadband service installation in the designated areas of 74 districts through the Rural Telecommunications Development Fund Project. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NTA is to provide broadband service across the country through 18 different packages. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The service has come into operation in the areas after the completion of the installation work. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NTA Spokesperson Santosh Poudel said monitoring and testing of 10 projects have been completed so far. Monitoring and testing under the third phase of eight projects has yet to be undertaken. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Poudel informed that the process of installing broadband service has been put forward in the eight districts that were most affected by the 2015 earthquakes including Kavre, Sindhupalchowk, Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dolakha, Sindhuli, Ramechhap and Okhaldhunga by mobilizing the same fund. In this connection, the NTA has signed separate memorandum of understanding with 73 out of a total of 76 municipalities and rural municipalities. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NTA has come up with a plan to install at least 20-MBPS capacity broadband internet service in 4,251 areas including offices of all local governments, ward offices, community secondary schools, community health facilities and all primary schools to enhance their institutional capacity. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15884', 'image' => '20221013013456_20210831104852_20210221040652_20191021115126_adsfjjj.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 13:34:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16141', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'IMF Projects Nepal’s Economy to Grow by 4.2 Percent', 'sub_title' => 'Inflation in Nepal will Rise to 8.1 Percent in the Current Fiscal Year', 'summary' => 'October 13: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected Nepal’s economy to grow by 4.2 percent in the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 13: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected Nepal’s economy to grow by 4.2 percent in the current fiscal year. </span></span><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The IMF made such projection while releasing the October issue of the World Economic Outlook. The report says that Nepal’s economy will grow by 5 percent in 2023 and by 5.3 percent by 2027.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the report, inflation in Nepal will rise to 8.1 percent in the current fiscal year and this rate will drop to 7.1 percent in 2023</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the current account deficit of Nepal will remain 12.1 percent in the review period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The IMF report also predicted the world economy to shrink to 3.2 percent in 2022. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the report, global economic activity is experiencing a broad-based and sharper-than-expected slowdown, with inflation higher than seen in several decades. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The cost-of-living crisis, tightening financial conditions in most regions, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the lingering COVID-19 pandemic all weigh heavily on the outlook. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Global growth is forecast to slow from 6.0 percent in 2021 to 3.2 percent in 2022 and 2.7 percent in 2023. This is the weakest growth profile since 2001 except for the global financial crisis and the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic,” reads the report.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, global inflation is forecast to rise from 4.7 percent in 2021 to 8.8 percent in 2022 but to decline to 6.5 percent in 2023 and to 4.1 percent by 2024. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The report suggests that monetary policy should stay the course to restore price stability, and fiscal policy should aim to alleviate the cost-of-living pressures while maintaining a sufficiently tight stance aligned with monetary policy. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Structural reforms can further support the fight against inflation by improving productivity and easing supply constraints, while multilateral cooperation is necessary for fast-tracking the green energy transition and preventing fragmentation.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">l</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15883', 'image' => '20221013115322_iiii.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 11:52:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16140', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Votes in Favor of Ukraine ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution with a majority of member states condemning the barbaric and brutal attack on Ukraine by Russia. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 13: The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution with a majority of member states condemning the barbaric and brutal attack on Ukraine by Russia. According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, 143 member states voted in favour of the resolution, including Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the voting held on Wednesday, five countries voted against the resolution. The countries that voted against the resolution were Belarus, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Nicaragua, Russia and Syria. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, 35 countries abstained from voting. Majority of countries abstaining from voting were African nations, alongside China and India. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"We condemn Russia's illegal so-called referendum within Ukraine's internationally-recognized borders and demand it reverses its annexation declaration," reads the resolution. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Russia launched an attack on Ukraine on February 24 calling it a “special military operation” to protect Russian-speaking people in the troubled Donbas region of Ukraine from the so-called Nazis.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, Kyiv and its western allies dismiss it as a baseless pretext for war which has killed thousands of people and displaced millions in what is said the be the biggest military operation in Europe since World War II.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The war between Russia and Ukraine has raised concerns of food crisis across the world. Both the countries play a vital role in supply of food grains across the globe. Wheat produced in Ukraine and Russia constitute 29 percent of the wheat traded across the world. These two countries also supply 19 percent of maize to the world.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Russia and Ukraine also supply 80 percent of sunflower oil to the world. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The situation has caused fluctuation in the price of oil globally. Commodity prices have also increased. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Russia and Ukraine are also the chief producers of oil, natural gas and metals.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15882', 'image' => '20221013112051_unga.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 11:19:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16146', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Preparing to Issue Ordinance to Allow Private Sector for Power Trade ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: The government is making preparations to bring an ordinance to amend the Electricity Act, 2049 aimed at opening up new avenues for power trade. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 13: The government is making preparations to bring an ordinance to amend the Electricity Act, 2049 aimed at opening up new avenues for power trade. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Electricity Act, 2049 does not have the provision related to power trade. Due to the lack of such arrangement in the law, the government has not been able to give permission to the private sector for power trade. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In order to open ways for the private sector to participate in power trade, the government is making necessary preparations to amend the law. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ordinance has been forwarded to the office of the president for consideration. According to the Ministry of Energy, Water Resource and Irrigation, the ordinance would be introduced to create ways for power trade by addressing the demand of the private sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that the private sector has been demanding subsidy with the government on power trade. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15881', 'image' => '20221013050847_Energy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 17:08:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16139', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nagdhunga Tunnel Achieves 65 Percent Progress in Construction', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: The construction of Nagdhunga tunnel, which was supposed to be completed within 42 months from the start of the project, is unlikely to be completed within the deadline. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 12: The construction of Nagdhunga tunnel, which was supposed to be completed within 42 months from the start of the project, is unlikely to be completed within the deadline. With just six months left for the project to end, the progress achieved is 65 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The foundation stone of the project was laid on October 21, 2019 by the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. As per the agreement signed with the Department of Roads, the contractor, Hazama Ando Corporation of Japan, was supposed to complete the project within 42 months.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, the project has been delayed due to hurdles like the Covid-19 pandemic, prohibitory order as well as the obstruction from the locals, distribution of compensation, unavailability of explosives and equipment among others, according to the Department of Roads. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The project should have been completed within mid-April next year but the deadline has been extended by almost three months (86 days) after assessing the situation. The Japanese construction company Hazama Ando Corporation had demanded an extension of deadline as the work was delayed due to the pandemic, restrictions and a few days of interruption by the locals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The project director Ramhari Pokharel informed New Business Age that the Japanese company had demanded extension of the deadline by six to seven months but the department has made it clear that it is not possible to extend the deadline beyond three months.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the details provided by the project, the Japanese company has already completed construction of the main passage as well as the auxiliary, audit and cross passages. Of them, 1,377 meters are dug on the east and west sides of the main tunnel and 1,507 meters on both sides of the auxiliary tunnel.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Among the other structures of the project, two underpasses have been constructed. There are plans to build three underpasses in the project. Similarly, 4 box culverts, 1 overpass and 3 bridges have also been constructed. The flyover is under construction.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The total length of the tunnel is projected to be 5.7 km including 2.7 kilometers long tunnel section and 3 kilometers of road.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Government of Nepal had reached an agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2016 to construct the tunnel. The total cost of the tunnel is estimated to be around Rs 22 billion, of which JICA will bear Rs 16 billion and the Government of Nepal will bear Rs 6 billion. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15880', 'image' => '20221012035751_20220708015827_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 15:57:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16137', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Qatar Seeks Application for Domestic Helpers from Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: At a time when the Government of Nepal has banned female domestic helpers from going abroad for foreign employment, Qatar has placed a demand for female domestic workers from Nepal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 12: At a time when the Government of Nepal has banned female domestic helpers from going abroad for foreign employment, Qatar has placed a demand for female domestic workers from Nepal. Qatar's Ministry of Interior issued a notice seeking applications from Nepali domestic workers. Qatar had been continuously asking Nepal to provide workers even after the Government of Nepal stopped sending female domestic workers to the Gulf nation. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The ministry said that applications can be submitted at the Qatar Visa Center (QVC) in Kathmandu.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Government of Nepal had stopped sending female domestic workers to all Gulf countries including Qatar since 2016 stating that women who work as domestic helpers are exploited. Despite the ban, many women still go to various countries for this profession illegally through India. Rights activists have been protesting the ban arguing that the government decision has put women in more danger while going for foreign employment through illegal channels.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Danduraj Ghimire, joint secretary and spokesperson of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security confirmed that he too received information about Qatar seeking domestic workers but needs it needs further inquiry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Qatar had requested us to lift the ban on sending female domestic helpers to the Gulf nation during a meeting held between Nepal and Qatar a few months ago,” said Gimire.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He added that even if Qatar has sought application, no one will be allowed to go without the government’s consent. Domestic workers are currently in high demand in Qatar.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15879', 'image' => '20221012032927_foreign emp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 15:28:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16136', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Exports Over One Billion Units of Electricity to India', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: Nepal has exported more than 1 billion units of electricity to India this season.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 12: Nepal has exported more than 1 billion units of electricity to India this season. The Nepal Electricity Authority started selling the surplus electricity during the rainy season through competitive bidding in the day-ahead market of the Indian Energy Exchange Limited from June 2. Since then, as per the information of the authority, 1.3 billion units of electricity has been exported to India.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The authority's executive director Kulman Ghising informed that during this period, a net income of Rs 7.93 billion was generated by selling the surplus electricity.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Selling more than 1 billion units of electricity is another milestone for us,” said Ghising.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the authority, the average price per unit of exported electricity is Rs 7.91.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Initially, the electricity produced from 39 megawatts of two power plants was sold in the Indian market on a daily basis. According to the authority, since June 10, an additional 364 megawatts of electricity produced by six hydropower plants were sold in the Indian market at a competitive rate per day.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Since the electricity trade with India is done in Indian rupees (INR), Nepal received INR 4.95 billion from the sale of electricity during this period. This has contributed to reducing the pressure on Nepal's foreign exchange reserves and the trade deficit between the two countries. The authority aims to earn about Rs 16 billion from electricity exports in the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the Indian Energy Exchange Limited, 24 hours are divided into 96 blocks of 15 minutes each and electricity is traded at a competitive rate set by the market. Therefore, the price of each block is different. The average rate of electricity exported by the authority so far is Rs 7.91 per unit.</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' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15878', 'image' => '20221012014124_electricity.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 13:40:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16138', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Pad Industries Still in Crisis Despite Revision of Unfair Taxes', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: Even though the government has revised the unequal tax rates, the sanitary pad industries of Nepal have not been able to operate at full capacity because of excessive import of sanitary pads from abroad.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 12: Even though the government has revised the unequal tax rates, the sanitary pad industries of Nepal have not been able to operate at full capacity because of excessive import of sanitary pads from abroad.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is an annual demand of 450 million sanitary pads in Nepal. Industrialists say that the annual production capacity of 35 small and big domestic industries is 900 million units. However, as the government has not controlled the import of pads, the investment of Rs 6 billion in the pad industry is at risk.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Dolraj Adhikari, president of Nepal Sanitary Pad and Diaper Manufacturers Association, although the government revised the decision to give 90 percent tax exemption on the import of sanitary pads as per the announcement made in the budget of the current fiscal year, it is yet to increase the customs duty to the previous level of 15 percent from 5 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As a result, the production of the domestic industries has shrunk by 50 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industries that were producing 600 million sanitary pads and selling them domestically and abroad before the government imposed unequal taxes were forced to shut down due to the government's decision. After revising the tax rates, those industries are now operational. However, as the government is yet to control the import of sanitary pads, the industrialists are not able to take full advantage of it, says President Adhikari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Puneet Sharda, general secretary of the association and owner of Jasmine Hygiene, says that the production of the domestic industry is now limited to 300 million units per year. Similarly, out of 6,000 workers, only 3,000 are currently employed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The government should not only reduce the customs duty on raw materials, it should also reduce the customs duty on packaging materials and other goods. The government should give concessions to encourage domestic industries,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Adhikari, the government should stop issuing license to new sanitary pad industry as the existing industries have acquired technology that can produce seven pads in one second.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “There is not a single sanitary pad industry in Bihar, India. However, six large industries have already opened in a small country like Nepal. Since the capacity of those industries exceeds the domestic demand if operated at full capacity, now the government should open the way to earn foreign currency by exporting pads instead of importing them. In order to do so, the government must give concessions on exports,” said Adhikari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rakesh Lahoti, vice president of the association and owner of Health and Hygiene said that although the government revised the unequal tax rates, it has failed to notice that the industries here are not operating at full capacity due to excessive imports. He said that the government should give concessions to the sanitary pad industry like in India. He argued that they have to compete with the industries capable of producing more than 400 pads in a minute. Lahoti revealed that Nepali industry will be able to produce at full capacity only if the government increases the anti-dumping duty and customs duty to 15 percent to replace imports. The government's policy of encouraging imports has also affected the production of diapers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the government decided to waive 90 percent customs duty on the import of sanitary pads from July 17, pads worth Rs 992 million were imported that month. Records of the Customs Department show that pads worth Rs 154,441,000 were imported in August. These pads were imported from India, China, Thailand, Japan and other countries. During the period of 2 months, 8,339,000 thousand pads were exported from Nepal to India. Pads come to Nepal from abroad in kilograms.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the year 2075/76, when the government reduced the customs duty on all raw materials of the sanitary pad industry to 5 percent, the number of such industries increased.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15877', 'image' => '20221012035446_20210119021212_Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 15:54:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16135', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Flower Business Expected to Top Transactions of Rs 130 Million during Tihar', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: Flower businessmen are expecting transactions worth more than Rs 130 million during the upcoming Tihar festival.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 12: Flower businessmen are expecting transactions worth more than Rs 130 million during the upcoming Tihar festival. The Floriculture Association of Nepal says they are planning to sell 2,345,000 pieces of flowers worth Rs 130 million during the Tihar festival which is just around the corner.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The transactions of flower business are expected to grow by Rs 15.4 million this year compared to last year’s festive season. During last year, flowers worth Rs 115.6 million were sold in Tihar.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The association informed that 2 million units of garlands made of marigold flower are expected to be sold during this festival. The demand for 1.7 million such garlands will be met through domestic production while the remaining 300,000 garlands are being imported from India, says Min Bahadur Tamang, president of the Floriculture Association of Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the association expects sale of 325,000 units of globe amaranth garlands and 20,000 units of garlands made from chrysanthemum flowers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The wholesale price of a piece of marigold flower is Rs 55 while the garland made of globe amaranth costs Rs 35 to 40 and that of chrysanthemum flowers costs Rs 350 to Rs 400.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">President Tamang said that the domestic production of flowers was hit by the rainfall that occurred during the Dashain festival. According to him, marigold flowers were damaged by the rainfall and the domestic production is expected to shrink this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, the domestic production of marigold is still expected to increase by 10 percent this year compared to last year because the commercial farming of this particular flower has started in all seven provinces. Marigold flower is cultivated mostly in Kavre, Sindhupalchowk, Jhapa, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Dhading, Chitwan, Ilam, Dhankuta, Kailali, Banke, and Kaski districts.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, commercial farming of globe amaranth flower is done in Ichangu Narayan of Kathmandu, Gundu of Bhaktapur, Badikhel and Godavari of Lalitpur, Dhading, Palpa, Kailali and Ilam.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the association, the business of cultivating flowers with an investment of Rs 6 billion is done in 43 districts of Nepal. More than 700 entrepreneurs are involved in this business which provides direct and indirect employment to 40,000 people.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15876', 'image' => '20221012125640_74357524_3206364359438719_5295578166390161408_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 12:56:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16134', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'EU Positive About Nepal’s Aviation Safety: CAAN ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: A technical team of the European Union (EU) has made a positive observation about Nepal’s aviation safety following an audit of Nepal’s entire aviation safety sector. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 12: A technical team of the European Union (EU) has made a positive observation about Nepal’s aviation safety following an audit of Nepal’s entire aviation safety sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A technical team of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) of the EU had arrived in Nepal and carried out the audit from October 7 to 9. The three-member technical team of the EASA is scheduled to submit its report to Nepal on October 28, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said. CAAN has assured to respond to the issues pointed out in the report. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Spokesperson of CAAN Jagannath Niraula expressed his belief that the EU would remove Nepal from its air safety list since the technical team was positive about Nepal’s aviation safety. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“CAAN will respond to the issues raised in the report and the final decision to remove Nepal from EU’s air safety list would be decided once the final report is submitted to the EU,” said Spokesperson Niraula. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU has blacklisted Nepal since the past one decade for its poor record in air safety. As a result, the airlines companies registered in Nepal are not allowed to make flights to the EU member states. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Niraula claimed that the technical team of EASA is satisfied after the technical studies and consultations with the CAAN officials. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU technical team carried out its audit based on different aspects including International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) audit report that puts Nepal above the global average, Civil Aviation (Investigation of Accident) Regulation passed from the Council of Ministers and others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The CAAN stated that the EU technical team conducted its assessment on eight areas including legislation, personal licensing, flight operation, accident investigation, air navigation services, aerodrome and ground aides. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => 'EU, Nepal, aviation, safety, CAAN, blacklist', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15875', 'image' => '20221012115121_Nepal-Airlines.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 11:50:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16133', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Study Committee says Government Can’t Intervene in Matters Related to Interest Rates', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: A committee formed by the Finance Ministry in late September to study the spiraling interest rates of banks and financial institutions has suggested the government to keep its hands off the matters looked after by the central bank.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">October 12: A committee formed by the Finance Ministry in late September to study the spiraling interest rates of banks and financial institutions has suggested the government to keep its hands off the matters looked after by the central bank.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">While submitting its report to Finance Minister Janardan Sharma, the ten-member committee headed by Joint Secretary Baburam Subedi, who is also the chief of the Economic Policy Analysis Division of the ministry, said that the interest rate is determined by the market and that the government should not intervene unnecessarily. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The study conducted by the committee concluded that Nepal Rastra Bank is responsible to fix the interest rates and government should not issue instructions in this matter because it would undermine the central bank’s autonomy.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The committee had one representative each from the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Nepal Rastra Bank, National Planning Commission and the Ministry of Industry, Supplies and Commerce the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries and Nepal Chamber of Commerce while the banking sector was represented by two members of Nepal Bankers Association.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">It may be noted that banks have increased the interest rates effective from September 17 almost five months after maintaining a stable interest rate. Such an initiative was taken upon the instruction of the central bank.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15874', 'image' => '20221012105504_20220926050939_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 10:54:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16149', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Deuba Sacks Four Ministers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 14: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Thursday relieved four ministers representing the Janata Samajbadi Party from their posts.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 14: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Thursday relieved four ministers representing the Janata Samajbadi Party from their posts. The PM took such measure after the Janata Samajbadi Party decided to forge an electoral alliance with the main opposition party CPN UML during the upcoming November 20 elections.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It has been learnt that PM Deuba is not happy with the decision of the coalition partner to join hands with the UML. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">PM Deuba relieved Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration, Rajendra Prasad Shrestha; Minister for Agriculture and Livestock, Mrigendra Kumar Singh; Minister for Physical Infrastructures and Transport, Istiyak Raya; and Minister for Forest and Environment, Pradip Yadav in accordance with Article 77 (2.b) of the Constitution of Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although PM Deuba relieved the ministers from their post, he has not appointed any new ministers due to the Election Code of Conduct. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, President Bidya Devi Bhandari has assigned PM Deuba to look after the relieved posts. According to the President's Office, Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, has been given responsibility to look after the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-14', 'modified' => '2022-10-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15888', 'image' => '20221014015026_Deuba.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-14 13:49:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16145', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Import of Vehicles Powered by Diesel and Petrol Declines', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: The import of vehicles powered by diesel and petrol has declined significantly at the Birgunj customs in the first two months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 13: The import of vehicles powered by diesel and petrol has declined significantly at the Birgunj customs in the first two months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. The records of Birgunj customs also revealed that the import of electric vehicles has increased during the same period.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the data of Birgunj customs, the import of jeeps, cars, and vans decreased by 81 percent. A total of 1,673 vehicles including jeeps, cars, and vans had entered the dry port from mid-July to mid-August last year. However, only 310 of such vehicles entered the customs premises during the same period this year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The import of vehicles took a nosedive due to the policy adopted by the government to curb imports in order to reduce the pressure on foreign exchange reserves and the lack of investable capital in banks. Since vehicles are the main source of revenue of the customs, the revenue collection has decreased along with the decline in the import of vehicles. As a result, Birgunj customs has not been able to collect revenue as per the target.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The import of electric jeeps, cars and vans on the other hand increased by 56 percent. According to the customs office, 45 electric vehicles were imported in the first two months of the last fiscal year, which increased to 70 in the same period this year. Similarly, there has been a significant increase in the import of electric motorcycles by 193 percent. The number of electric motorcycles imported into the country increased from 123 to 361.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government has taken a policy to encourage the import of electric vehicles. Compared to other vehicles, the attraction of such vehicles has increased due to low customs duty and low registration fees. But although the government encourages the import of such vehicles, stakeholders say that the current incentives are not enough.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Customs records show that the import of motorcycles decreased by 61 percent. According to Dhan Bahadur Baruwal, the Chief Customs Officer of Birgunj customs, 12,633 motorcycles were imported in the first two months of the previous year, which decreased to 4,968 this year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The import of unassembled motorcycles on the other hand increased by 160 percent. In the first two months of last fiscal year, 3,196 such motorcycles entered through Birgunj customs, which increased to 8,307 this year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Along with the decrease in the import of vehicles, the import of spare parts has also decreased. According to the customs data, such imports decreased by 27 percent. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15887', 'image' => '20221013045929_1665642168.Gadi.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 16:58:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16144', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Business of Life Insurance Companies Slump due to Global Economic Recession', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: Life insurance companies of Nepal have collected insurance worth more than Rs 26 billion as of mid-September this year. ', 'content' => '<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"">October 13: Life insurance companies of Nepal have collected insurance worth more than Rs 26 billion as of mid-September this year. However, the business of insurance companies has declined due to the effect of the global economic recession and the rising interest rates of banks.</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"">According to the Insurance Board, the 19 life insurance companies in operation have issued 14.14 million policies and collected insurance fees of Rs 26.37 billion until mid-September.</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"">Between mid-August to mid-September, the companies collected insurance amount of Rs 10.97 billion. However, the collection of insurance fees in the review month declined by 27.11 per cent compared to a month ago. Between mid-July and mid-August, insurance companies had collected insurance amount of Rs 15.57 billion.</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"">Raju Raman Paudel, executive director of the board, said that the business of insurance companies has affected by the decline in economic activities and the increase in interest rates of banks. </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 effect of the financial recession and the increase in interest rates of banks have affected the business of insurance companies. That is why the business of insurance companies has decreased in September compared to August," he added.</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"">Lately, banks have announced term deposit schemes for a period of up to 20 years with returns up to 10 times the initial deposit.</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"">A large part of the insurance amount collected in the review month is the result of by the renewal of policy. According to the board, the companies collected Rs 2.20 billion as the insurance fee and Rs 12.85 billion as renewal fee.</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"">Ramesh Kumar Bhattarai, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mahalakshmi Life Insurance Limited, said that the business of the insurance companies has also been affected due to the slump in banking activities. </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"">"People pay for insurance only when all the needs are met," he said, "When the banks have stopped lending, and the cash flow in the market is low, the priority of the general public is on meeting the basic needs,'' he said.</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"">According to the data of the Insurance Board, Nepal Life Insurance Company has done the most business till mid-September. This company has collected Rs 7.62 billion in insurance fees as of mid-September. Similarly, National Life Insurance Company has collected Rs 3.23 billion, Life Insurance Corporation (Nepal) Limited has collected Rs 3.19 billion , Union Life has collected Rs 1.44 billion, and Asian Life has collected Rs 1.21 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15886', 'image' => '20221013043854_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 16:38:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16143', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Only One Company Submits Application for Broker's License', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: With just five days remaining for the submission of application for new broker license, only one company has filed application so far seeking such license.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 13: With just five days remaining for the submission of application for new broker license, only one company has filed application so far seeking such license. According to the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON), Himalayan Securities Limited has applied for a limited operating broker license.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Spokesperson of the board, Rupesh KC, informed that only one company has applied for a broker's license. The board had recently announced application for three types of broker licenses. According to KC, Himalayan Securities has presented a letter to the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) seeking its recommendation for the license. Stating that the application should be submitted to the board along with the recommendation of NEPSE within the specified period, KC said that Himalayan Securities should attest the recommendation letter of NEPSE by October 17.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As of Wednesday, 21 companies have sought recommendations for broker licenses from NEPSE. Murahari Parajuli, information officer of NEPSE, informed that only 11 companies asked for recommendations on Wednesday. According to him, by Tuesday, 10 companies, including Himalayan Securities, had requested recommendations from NEPSE.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Parajuli informed that among the companies that have sought recommendations from NEPSE are Machhapuchche Securities, NMB Securities, KBL Securities, Kalash Securities, Volenlej Securities, Capital Max Securities, Property Bigad, Share Pro Securities and Prabhu Stock. He added that the number of companies seeking recommendations is increasing as the application deadline is getting shorter. NEPSE’s Board of Directors held a meeting on Wednesday and decided to give recommendations for new broker licenses only to the eligible companies. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, Parajuli informed that NEPSE has not yet issued recommendation letters to any company so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There is a mandatory provision to seek the recommendation of NEPSE before submitting an application to the board for a new broker license. Himalayan Securities, which applied for the license with the board without the recommendation of NEPSE, will be denied the license if it fails to present the recommendation letter to the board by October 17.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">SEBON is planning to issue three types of broker licenses based on the capital structure of the company.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the KC, the minimum paid-up capital required for the new stock exchange company is Rs 3 billion. Likewise, the capital requirement for new broker license has been fixed between Rs 200 million to Rs 1.5 billion. Brokers will be issued three different types of licenses based on their capital.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the new provision, the first kind of brokers providing limited services of stock market transaction require a minimum capital of Rs 200 million to acquire license. Likewise, the brokers providing services like share transaction, depository participant, investment consultancy, investment management and margin business need to have a minimum paid up capital of Rs 600 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the third type of license will be issued for stock dealers who must maintain a minimum capital of Rs 1.5 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The board had called for applications for to operate a new stock exchange company and two commodity exchanges along with broker's license on the September 18. The deadline to submit application for broker license was 30 days while the deadline for stock exchanges and commodity exchanges was of 45 days.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15885', 'image' => '20221013035521_20220913040730_Sebonnn.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 15:54:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16142', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Installation of Broadband Internet Gains Momentum ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has completed broadband service installation in the designated areas of 74 districts through the Rural Telecommunications Development Fund Project. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 13: Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has completed broadband service installation in the designated areas of 74 districts through the Rural Telecommunications Development Fund Project. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NTA is to provide broadband service across the country through 18 different packages. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The service has come into operation in the areas after the completion of the installation work. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NTA Spokesperson Santosh Poudel said monitoring and testing of 10 projects have been completed so far. Monitoring and testing under the third phase of eight projects has yet to be undertaken. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Poudel informed that the process of installing broadband service has been put forward in the eight districts that were most affected by the 2015 earthquakes including Kavre, Sindhupalchowk, Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dolakha, Sindhuli, Ramechhap and Okhaldhunga by mobilizing the same fund. In this connection, the NTA has signed separate memorandum of understanding with 73 out of a total of 76 municipalities and rural municipalities. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NTA has come up with a plan to install at least 20-MBPS capacity broadband internet service in 4,251 areas including offices of all local governments, ward offices, community secondary schools, community health facilities and all primary schools to enhance their institutional capacity. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15884', 'image' => '20221013013456_20210831104852_20210221040652_20191021115126_adsfjjj.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 13:34:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16141', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'IMF Projects Nepal’s Economy to Grow by 4.2 Percent', 'sub_title' => 'Inflation in Nepal will Rise to 8.1 Percent in the Current Fiscal Year', 'summary' => 'October 13: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected Nepal’s economy to grow by 4.2 percent in the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 13: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected Nepal’s economy to grow by 4.2 percent in the current fiscal year. </span></span><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The IMF made such projection while releasing the October issue of the World Economic Outlook. The report says that Nepal’s economy will grow by 5 percent in 2023 and by 5.3 percent by 2027.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the report, inflation in Nepal will rise to 8.1 percent in the current fiscal year and this rate will drop to 7.1 percent in 2023</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the current account deficit of Nepal will remain 12.1 percent in the review period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The IMF report also predicted the world economy to shrink to 3.2 percent in 2022. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the report, global economic activity is experiencing a broad-based and sharper-than-expected slowdown, with inflation higher than seen in several decades. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The cost-of-living crisis, tightening financial conditions in most regions, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the lingering COVID-19 pandemic all weigh heavily on the outlook. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Global growth is forecast to slow from 6.0 percent in 2021 to 3.2 percent in 2022 and 2.7 percent in 2023. This is the weakest growth profile since 2001 except for the global financial crisis and the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic,” reads the report.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, global inflation is forecast to rise from 4.7 percent in 2021 to 8.8 percent in 2022 but to decline to 6.5 percent in 2023 and to 4.1 percent by 2024. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The report suggests that monetary policy should stay the course to restore price stability, and fiscal policy should aim to alleviate the cost-of-living pressures while maintaining a sufficiently tight stance aligned with monetary policy. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Structural reforms can further support the fight against inflation by improving productivity and easing supply constraints, while multilateral cooperation is necessary for fast-tracking the green energy transition and preventing fragmentation.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">l</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15883', 'image' => '20221013115322_iiii.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 11:52:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16140', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Votes in Favor of Ukraine ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution with a majority of member states condemning the barbaric and brutal attack on Ukraine by Russia. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 13: The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution with a majority of member states condemning the barbaric and brutal attack on Ukraine by Russia. According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, 143 member states voted in favour of the resolution, including Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the voting held on Wednesday, five countries voted against the resolution. The countries that voted against the resolution were Belarus, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Nicaragua, Russia and Syria. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, 35 countries abstained from voting. Majority of countries abstaining from voting were African nations, alongside China and India. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"We condemn Russia's illegal so-called referendum within Ukraine's internationally-recognized borders and demand it reverses its annexation declaration," reads the resolution. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Russia launched an attack on Ukraine on February 24 calling it a “special military operation” to protect Russian-speaking people in the troubled Donbas region of Ukraine from the so-called Nazis.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, Kyiv and its western allies dismiss it as a baseless pretext for war which has killed thousands of people and displaced millions in what is said the be the biggest military operation in Europe since World War II.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The war between Russia and Ukraine has raised concerns of food crisis across the world. Both the countries play a vital role in supply of food grains across the globe. Wheat produced in Ukraine and Russia constitute 29 percent of the wheat traded across the world. These two countries also supply 19 percent of maize to the world.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Russia and Ukraine also supply 80 percent of sunflower oil to the world. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The situation has caused fluctuation in the price of oil globally. Commodity prices have also increased. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Russia and Ukraine are also the chief producers of oil, natural gas and metals.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15882', 'image' => '20221013112051_unga.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 11:19:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16146', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Preparing to Issue Ordinance to Allow Private Sector for Power Trade ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: The government is making preparations to bring an ordinance to amend the Electricity Act, 2049 aimed at opening up new avenues for power trade. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 13: The government is making preparations to bring an ordinance to amend the Electricity Act, 2049 aimed at opening up new avenues for power trade. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Electricity Act, 2049 does not have the provision related to power trade. Due to the lack of such arrangement in the law, the government has not been able to give permission to the private sector for power trade. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In order to open ways for the private sector to participate in power trade, the government is making necessary preparations to amend the law. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ordinance has been forwarded to the office of the president for consideration. According to the Ministry of Energy, Water Resource and Irrigation, the ordinance would be introduced to create ways for power trade by addressing the demand of the private sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that the private sector has been demanding subsidy with the government on power trade. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15881', 'image' => '20221013050847_Energy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 17:08:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16139', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nagdhunga Tunnel Achieves 65 Percent Progress in Construction', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: The construction of Nagdhunga tunnel, which was supposed to be completed within 42 months from the start of the project, is unlikely to be completed within the deadline. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 12: The construction of Nagdhunga tunnel, which was supposed to be completed within 42 months from the start of the project, is unlikely to be completed within the deadline. With just six months left for the project to end, the progress achieved is 65 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The foundation stone of the project was laid on October 21, 2019 by the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. As per the agreement signed with the Department of Roads, the contractor, Hazama Ando Corporation of Japan, was supposed to complete the project within 42 months.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, the project has been delayed due to hurdles like the Covid-19 pandemic, prohibitory order as well as the obstruction from the locals, distribution of compensation, unavailability of explosives and equipment among others, according to the Department of Roads. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The project should have been completed within mid-April next year but the deadline has been extended by almost three months (86 days) after assessing the situation. The Japanese construction company Hazama Ando Corporation had demanded an extension of deadline as the work was delayed due to the pandemic, restrictions and a few days of interruption by the locals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The project director Ramhari Pokharel informed New Business Age that the Japanese company had demanded extension of the deadline by six to seven months but the department has made it clear that it is not possible to extend the deadline beyond three months.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the details provided by the project, the Japanese company has already completed construction of the main passage as well as the auxiliary, audit and cross passages. Of them, 1,377 meters are dug on the east and west sides of the main tunnel and 1,507 meters on both sides of the auxiliary tunnel.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Among the other structures of the project, two underpasses have been constructed. There are plans to build three underpasses in the project. Similarly, 4 box culverts, 1 overpass and 3 bridges have also been constructed. The flyover is under construction.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The total length of the tunnel is projected to be 5.7 km including 2.7 kilometers long tunnel section and 3 kilometers of road.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Government of Nepal had reached an agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2016 to construct the tunnel. The total cost of the tunnel is estimated to be around Rs 22 billion, of which JICA will bear Rs 16 billion and the Government of Nepal will bear Rs 6 billion. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15880', 'image' => '20221012035751_20220708015827_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 15:57:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16137', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Qatar Seeks Application for Domestic Helpers from Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: At a time when the Government of Nepal has banned female domestic helpers from going abroad for foreign employment, Qatar has placed a demand for female domestic workers from Nepal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 12: At a time when the Government of Nepal has banned female domestic helpers from going abroad for foreign employment, Qatar has placed a demand for female domestic workers from Nepal. Qatar's Ministry of Interior issued a notice seeking applications from Nepali domestic workers. Qatar had been continuously asking Nepal to provide workers even after the Government of Nepal stopped sending female domestic workers to the Gulf nation. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The ministry said that applications can be submitted at the Qatar Visa Center (QVC) in Kathmandu.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Government of Nepal had stopped sending female domestic workers to all Gulf countries including Qatar since 2016 stating that women who work as domestic helpers are exploited. Despite the ban, many women still go to various countries for this profession illegally through India. Rights activists have been protesting the ban arguing that the government decision has put women in more danger while going for foreign employment through illegal channels.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Danduraj Ghimire, joint secretary and spokesperson of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security confirmed that he too received information about Qatar seeking domestic workers but needs it needs further inquiry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Qatar had requested us to lift the ban on sending female domestic helpers to the Gulf nation during a meeting held between Nepal and Qatar a few months ago,” said Gimire.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He added that even if Qatar has sought application, no one will be allowed to go without the government’s consent. Domestic workers are currently in high demand in Qatar.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15879', 'image' => '20221012032927_foreign emp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 15:28:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16136', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Exports Over One Billion Units of Electricity to India', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: Nepal has exported more than 1 billion units of electricity to India this season.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 12: Nepal has exported more than 1 billion units of electricity to India this season. The Nepal Electricity Authority started selling the surplus electricity during the rainy season through competitive bidding in the day-ahead market of the Indian Energy Exchange Limited from June 2. Since then, as per the information of the authority, 1.3 billion units of electricity has been exported to India.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The authority's executive director Kulman Ghising informed that during this period, a net income of Rs 7.93 billion was generated by selling the surplus electricity.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Selling more than 1 billion units of electricity is another milestone for us,” said Ghising.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the authority, the average price per unit of exported electricity is Rs 7.91.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Initially, the electricity produced from 39 megawatts of two power plants was sold in the Indian market on a daily basis. According to the authority, since June 10, an additional 364 megawatts of electricity produced by six hydropower plants were sold in the Indian market at a competitive rate per day.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Since the electricity trade with India is done in Indian rupees (INR), Nepal received INR 4.95 billion from the sale of electricity during this period. This has contributed to reducing the pressure on Nepal's foreign exchange reserves and the trade deficit between the two countries. The authority aims to earn about Rs 16 billion from electricity exports in the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the Indian Energy Exchange Limited, 24 hours are divided into 96 blocks of 15 minutes each and electricity is traded at a competitive rate set by the market. Therefore, the price of each block is different. The average rate of electricity exported by the authority so far is Rs 7.91 per unit.</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' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15878', 'image' => '20221012014124_electricity.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 13:40:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16138', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Pad Industries Still in Crisis Despite Revision of Unfair Taxes', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: Even though the government has revised the unequal tax rates, the sanitary pad industries of Nepal have not been able to operate at full capacity because of excessive import of sanitary pads from abroad.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 12: Even though the government has revised the unequal tax rates, the sanitary pad industries of Nepal have not been able to operate at full capacity because of excessive import of sanitary pads from abroad.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is an annual demand of 450 million sanitary pads in Nepal. Industrialists say that the annual production capacity of 35 small and big domestic industries is 900 million units. However, as the government has not controlled the import of pads, the investment of Rs 6 billion in the pad industry is at risk.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Dolraj Adhikari, president of Nepal Sanitary Pad and Diaper Manufacturers Association, although the government revised the decision to give 90 percent tax exemption on the import of sanitary pads as per the announcement made in the budget of the current fiscal year, it is yet to increase the customs duty to the previous level of 15 percent from 5 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As a result, the production of the domestic industries has shrunk by 50 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industries that were producing 600 million sanitary pads and selling them domestically and abroad before the government imposed unequal taxes were forced to shut down due to the government's decision. After revising the tax rates, those industries are now operational. However, as the government is yet to control the import of sanitary pads, the industrialists are not able to take full advantage of it, says President Adhikari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Puneet Sharda, general secretary of the association and owner of Jasmine Hygiene, says that the production of the domestic industry is now limited to 300 million units per year. Similarly, out of 6,000 workers, only 3,000 are currently employed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The government should not only reduce the customs duty on raw materials, it should also reduce the customs duty on packaging materials and other goods. The government should give concessions to encourage domestic industries,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Adhikari, the government should stop issuing license to new sanitary pad industry as the existing industries have acquired technology that can produce seven pads in one second.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “There is not a single sanitary pad industry in Bihar, India. However, six large industries have already opened in a small country like Nepal. Since the capacity of those industries exceeds the domestic demand if operated at full capacity, now the government should open the way to earn foreign currency by exporting pads instead of importing them. In order to do so, the government must give concessions on exports,” said Adhikari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rakesh Lahoti, vice president of the association and owner of Health and Hygiene said that although the government revised the unequal tax rates, it has failed to notice that the industries here are not operating at full capacity due to excessive imports. He said that the government should give concessions to the sanitary pad industry like in India. He argued that they have to compete with the industries capable of producing more than 400 pads in a minute. Lahoti revealed that Nepali industry will be able to produce at full capacity only if the government increases the anti-dumping duty and customs duty to 15 percent to replace imports. The government's policy of encouraging imports has also affected the production of diapers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the government decided to waive 90 percent customs duty on the import of sanitary pads from July 17, pads worth Rs 992 million were imported that month. Records of the Customs Department show that pads worth Rs 154,441,000 were imported in August. These pads were imported from India, China, Thailand, Japan and other countries. During the period of 2 months, 8,339,000 thousand pads were exported from Nepal to India. Pads come to Nepal from abroad in kilograms.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the year 2075/76, when the government reduced the customs duty on all raw materials of the sanitary pad industry to 5 percent, the number of such industries increased.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15877', 'image' => '20221012035446_20210119021212_Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 15:54:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16135', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Flower Business Expected to Top Transactions of Rs 130 Million during Tihar', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: Flower businessmen are expecting transactions worth more than Rs 130 million during the upcoming Tihar festival.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 12: Flower businessmen are expecting transactions worth more than Rs 130 million during the upcoming Tihar festival. The Floriculture Association of Nepal says they are planning to sell 2,345,000 pieces of flowers worth Rs 130 million during the Tihar festival which is just around the corner.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The transactions of flower business are expected to grow by Rs 15.4 million this year compared to last year’s festive season. During last year, flowers worth Rs 115.6 million were sold in Tihar.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The association informed that 2 million units of garlands made of marigold flower are expected to be sold during this festival. The demand for 1.7 million such garlands will be met through domestic production while the remaining 300,000 garlands are being imported from India, says Min Bahadur Tamang, president of the Floriculture Association of Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the association expects sale of 325,000 units of globe amaranth garlands and 20,000 units of garlands made from chrysanthemum flowers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The wholesale price of a piece of marigold flower is Rs 55 while the garland made of globe amaranth costs Rs 35 to 40 and that of chrysanthemum flowers costs Rs 350 to Rs 400.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">President Tamang said that the domestic production of flowers was hit by the rainfall that occurred during the Dashain festival. According to him, marigold flowers were damaged by the rainfall and the domestic production is expected to shrink this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, the domestic production of marigold is still expected to increase by 10 percent this year compared to last year because the commercial farming of this particular flower has started in all seven provinces. Marigold flower is cultivated mostly in Kavre, Sindhupalchowk, Jhapa, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Dhading, Chitwan, Ilam, Dhankuta, Kailali, Banke, and Kaski districts.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, commercial farming of globe amaranth flower is done in Ichangu Narayan of Kathmandu, Gundu of Bhaktapur, Badikhel and Godavari of Lalitpur, Dhading, Palpa, Kailali and Ilam.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the association, the business of cultivating flowers with an investment of Rs 6 billion is done in 43 districts of Nepal. More than 700 entrepreneurs are involved in this business which provides direct and indirect employment to 40,000 people.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15876', 'image' => '20221012125640_74357524_3206364359438719_5295578166390161408_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 12:56:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16134', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'EU Positive About Nepal’s Aviation Safety: CAAN ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: A technical team of the European Union (EU) has made a positive observation about Nepal’s aviation safety following an audit of Nepal’s entire aviation safety sector. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 12: A technical team of the European Union (EU) has made a positive observation about Nepal’s aviation safety following an audit of Nepal’s entire aviation safety sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A technical team of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) of the EU had arrived in Nepal and carried out the audit from October 7 to 9. The three-member technical team of the EASA is scheduled to submit its report to Nepal on October 28, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said. CAAN has assured to respond to the issues pointed out in the report. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Spokesperson of CAAN Jagannath Niraula expressed his belief that the EU would remove Nepal from its air safety list since the technical team was positive about Nepal’s aviation safety. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“CAAN will respond to the issues raised in the report and the final decision to remove Nepal from EU’s air safety list would be decided once the final report is submitted to the EU,” said Spokesperson Niraula. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU has blacklisted Nepal since the past one decade for its poor record in air safety. As a result, the airlines companies registered in Nepal are not allowed to make flights to the EU member states. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Niraula claimed that the technical team of EASA is satisfied after the technical studies and consultations with the CAAN officials. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU technical team carried out its audit based on different aspects including International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) audit report that puts Nepal above the global average, Civil Aviation (Investigation of Accident) Regulation passed from the Council of Ministers and others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The CAAN stated that the EU technical team conducted its assessment on eight areas including legislation, personal licensing, flight operation, accident investigation, air navigation services, aerodrome and ground aides. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => 'EU, Nepal, aviation, safety, CAAN, blacklist', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15875', 'image' => '20221012115121_Nepal-Airlines.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 11:50:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16133', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Study Committee says Government Can’t Intervene in Matters Related to Interest Rates', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: A committee formed by the Finance Ministry in late September to study the spiraling interest rates of banks and financial institutions has suggested the government to keep its hands off the matters looked after by the central bank.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">October 12: A committee formed by the Finance Ministry in late September to study the spiraling interest rates of banks and financial institutions has suggested the government to keep its hands off the matters looked after by the central bank.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">While submitting its report to Finance Minister Janardan Sharma, the ten-member committee headed by Joint Secretary Baburam Subedi, who is also the chief of the Economic Policy Analysis Division of the ministry, said that the interest rate is determined by the market and that the government should not intervene unnecessarily. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The study conducted by the committee concluded that Nepal Rastra Bank is responsible to fix the interest rates and government should not issue instructions in this matter because it would undermine the central bank’s autonomy.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The committee had one representative each from the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Nepal Rastra Bank, National Planning Commission and the Ministry of Industry, Supplies and Commerce the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries and Nepal Chamber of Commerce while the banking sector was represented by two members of Nepal Bankers Association.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">It may be noted that banks have increased the interest rates effective from September 17 almost five months after maintaining a stable interest rate. Such an initiative was taken upon the instruction of the central bank.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15874', 'image' => '20221012105504_20220926050939_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 10:54:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16149', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Deuba Sacks Four Ministers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 14: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Thursday relieved four ministers representing the Janata Samajbadi Party from their posts.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 14: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Thursday relieved four ministers representing the Janata Samajbadi Party from their posts. The PM took such measure after the Janata Samajbadi Party decided to forge an electoral alliance with the main opposition party CPN UML during the upcoming November 20 elections.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It has been learnt that PM Deuba is not happy with the decision of the coalition partner to join hands with the UML. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">PM Deuba relieved Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration, Rajendra Prasad Shrestha; Minister for Agriculture and Livestock, Mrigendra Kumar Singh; Minister for Physical Infrastructures and Transport, Istiyak Raya; and Minister for Forest and Environment, Pradip Yadav in accordance with Article 77 (2.b) of the Constitution of Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although PM Deuba relieved the ministers from their post, he has not appointed any new ministers due to the Election Code of Conduct. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, President Bidya Devi Bhandari has assigned PM Deuba to look after the relieved posts. According to the President's Office, Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, has been given responsibility to look after the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-14', 'modified' => '2022-10-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15888', 'image' => '20221014015026_Deuba.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-14 13:49:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16145', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Import of Vehicles Powered by Diesel and Petrol Declines', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: The import of vehicles powered by diesel and petrol has declined significantly at the Birgunj customs in the first two months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 13: The import of vehicles powered by diesel and petrol has declined significantly at the Birgunj customs in the first two months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. The records of Birgunj customs also revealed that the import of electric vehicles has increased during the same period.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the data of Birgunj customs, the import of jeeps, cars, and vans decreased by 81 percent. A total of 1,673 vehicles including jeeps, cars, and vans had entered the dry port from mid-July to mid-August last year. However, only 310 of such vehicles entered the customs premises during the same period this year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The import of vehicles took a nosedive due to the policy adopted by the government to curb imports in order to reduce the pressure on foreign exchange reserves and the lack of investable capital in banks. Since vehicles are the main source of revenue of the customs, the revenue collection has decreased along with the decline in the import of vehicles. As a result, Birgunj customs has not been able to collect revenue as per the target.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The import of electric jeeps, cars and vans on the other hand increased by 56 percent. According to the customs office, 45 electric vehicles were imported in the first two months of the last fiscal year, which increased to 70 in the same period this year. Similarly, there has been a significant increase in the import of electric motorcycles by 193 percent. The number of electric motorcycles imported into the country increased from 123 to 361.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government has taken a policy to encourage the import of electric vehicles. Compared to other vehicles, the attraction of such vehicles has increased due to low customs duty and low registration fees. But although the government encourages the import of such vehicles, stakeholders say that the current incentives are not enough.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Customs records show that the import of motorcycles decreased by 61 percent. According to Dhan Bahadur Baruwal, the Chief Customs Officer of Birgunj customs, 12,633 motorcycles were imported in the first two months of the previous year, which decreased to 4,968 this year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The import of unassembled motorcycles on the other hand increased by 160 percent. In the first two months of last fiscal year, 3,196 such motorcycles entered through Birgunj customs, which increased to 8,307 this year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Along with the decrease in the import of vehicles, the import of spare parts has also decreased. According to the customs data, such imports decreased by 27 percent. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15887', 'image' => '20221013045929_1665642168.Gadi.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 16:58:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16144', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Business of Life Insurance Companies Slump due to Global Economic Recession', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: Life insurance companies of Nepal have collected insurance worth more than Rs 26 billion as of mid-September this year. ', 'content' => '<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"">October 13: Life insurance companies of Nepal have collected insurance worth more than Rs 26 billion as of mid-September this year. However, the business of insurance companies has declined due to the effect of the global economic recession and the rising interest rates of banks.</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"">According to the Insurance Board, the 19 life insurance companies in operation have issued 14.14 million policies and collected insurance fees of Rs 26.37 billion until mid-September.</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"">Between mid-August to mid-September, the companies collected insurance amount of Rs 10.97 billion. However, the collection of insurance fees in the review month declined by 27.11 per cent compared to a month ago. Between mid-July and mid-August, insurance companies had collected insurance amount of Rs 15.57 billion.</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"">Raju Raman Paudel, executive director of the board, said that the business of insurance companies has affected by the decline in economic activities and the increase in interest rates of banks. </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 effect of the financial recession and the increase in interest rates of banks have affected the business of insurance companies. That is why the business of insurance companies has decreased in September compared to August," he added.</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"">Lately, banks have announced term deposit schemes for a period of up to 20 years with returns up to 10 times the initial deposit.</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"">A large part of the insurance amount collected in the review month is the result of by the renewal of policy. According to the board, the companies collected Rs 2.20 billion as the insurance fee and Rs 12.85 billion as renewal fee.</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"">Ramesh Kumar Bhattarai, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mahalakshmi Life Insurance Limited, said that the business of the insurance companies has also been affected due to the slump in banking activities. </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"">"People pay for insurance only when all the needs are met," he said, "When the banks have stopped lending, and the cash flow in the market is low, the priority of the general public is on meeting the basic needs,'' he said.</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"">According to the data of the Insurance Board, Nepal Life Insurance Company has done the most business till mid-September. This company has collected Rs 7.62 billion in insurance fees as of mid-September. Similarly, National Life Insurance Company has collected Rs 3.23 billion, Life Insurance Corporation (Nepal) Limited has collected Rs 3.19 billion , Union Life has collected Rs 1.44 billion, and Asian Life has collected Rs 1.21 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15886', 'image' => '20221013043854_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 16:38:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16143', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Only One Company Submits Application for Broker's License', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: With just five days remaining for the submission of application for new broker license, only one company has filed application so far seeking such license.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 13: With just five days remaining for the submission of application for new broker license, only one company has filed application so far seeking such license. According to the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON), Himalayan Securities Limited has applied for a limited operating broker license.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Spokesperson of the board, Rupesh KC, informed that only one company has applied for a broker's license. The board had recently announced application for three types of broker licenses. According to KC, Himalayan Securities has presented a letter to the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) seeking its recommendation for the license. Stating that the application should be submitted to the board along with the recommendation of NEPSE within the specified period, KC said that Himalayan Securities should attest the recommendation letter of NEPSE by October 17.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As of Wednesday, 21 companies have sought recommendations for broker licenses from NEPSE. Murahari Parajuli, information officer of NEPSE, informed that only 11 companies asked for recommendations on Wednesday. According to him, by Tuesday, 10 companies, including Himalayan Securities, had requested recommendations from NEPSE.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Parajuli informed that among the companies that have sought recommendations from NEPSE are Machhapuchche Securities, NMB Securities, KBL Securities, Kalash Securities, Volenlej Securities, Capital Max Securities, Property Bigad, Share Pro Securities and Prabhu Stock. He added that the number of companies seeking recommendations is increasing as the application deadline is getting shorter. NEPSE’s Board of Directors held a meeting on Wednesday and decided to give recommendations for new broker licenses only to the eligible companies. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, Parajuli informed that NEPSE has not yet issued recommendation letters to any company so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There is a mandatory provision to seek the recommendation of NEPSE before submitting an application to the board for a new broker license. Himalayan Securities, which applied for the license with the board without the recommendation of NEPSE, will be denied the license if it fails to present the recommendation letter to the board by October 17.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">SEBON is planning to issue three types of broker licenses based on the capital structure of the company.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the KC, the minimum paid-up capital required for the new stock exchange company is Rs 3 billion. Likewise, the capital requirement for new broker license has been fixed between Rs 200 million to Rs 1.5 billion. Brokers will be issued three different types of licenses based on their capital.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the new provision, the first kind of brokers providing limited services of stock market transaction require a minimum capital of Rs 200 million to acquire license. Likewise, the brokers providing services like share transaction, depository participant, investment consultancy, investment management and margin business need to have a minimum paid up capital of Rs 600 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the third type of license will be issued for stock dealers who must maintain a minimum capital of Rs 1.5 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The board had called for applications for to operate a new stock exchange company and two commodity exchanges along with broker's license on the September 18. The deadline to submit application for broker license was 30 days while the deadline for stock exchanges and commodity exchanges was of 45 days.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15885', 'image' => '20221013035521_20220913040730_Sebonnn.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 15:54:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16142', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Installation of Broadband Internet Gains Momentum ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has completed broadband service installation in the designated areas of 74 districts through the Rural Telecommunications Development Fund Project. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 13: Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has completed broadband service installation in the designated areas of 74 districts through the Rural Telecommunications Development Fund Project. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NTA is to provide broadband service across the country through 18 different packages. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The service has come into operation in the areas after the completion of the installation work. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NTA Spokesperson Santosh Poudel said monitoring and testing of 10 projects have been completed so far. Monitoring and testing under the third phase of eight projects has yet to be undertaken. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Poudel informed that the process of installing broadband service has been put forward in the eight districts that were most affected by the 2015 earthquakes including Kavre, Sindhupalchowk, Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dolakha, Sindhuli, Ramechhap and Okhaldhunga by mobilizing the same fund. In this connection, the NTA has signed separate memorandum of understanding with 73 out of a total of 76 municipalities and rural municipalities. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NTA has come up with a plan to install at least 20-MBPS capacity broadband internet service in 4,251 areas including offices of all local governments, ward offices, community secondary schools, community health facilities and all primary schools to enhance their institutional capacity. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15884', 'image' => '20221013013456_20210831104852_20210221040652_20191021115126_adsfjjj.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 13:34:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16141', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'IMF Projects Nepal’s Economy to Grow by 4.2 Percent', 'sub_title' => 'Inflation in Nepal will Rise to 8.1 Percent in the Current Fiscal Year', 'summary' => 'October 13: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected Nepal’s economy to grow by 4.2 percent in the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 13: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected Nepal’s economy to grow by 4.2 percent in the current fiscal year. </span></span><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The IMF made such projection while releasing the October issue of the World Economic Outlook. The report says that Nepal’s economy will grow by 5 percent in 2023 and by 5.3 percent by 2027.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the report, inflation in Nepal will rise to 8.1 percent in the current fiscal year and this rate will drop to 7.1 percent in 2023</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the current account deficit of Nepal will remain 12.1 percent in the review period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The IMF report also predicted the world economy to shrink to 3.2 percent in 2022. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the report, global economic activity is experiencing a broad-based and sharper-than-expected slowdown, with inflation higher than seen in several decades. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The cost-of-living crisis, tightening financial conditions in most regions, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the lingering COVID-19 pandemic all weigh heavily on the outlook. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Global growth is forecast to slow from 6.0 percent in 2021 to 3.2 percent in 2022 and 2.7 percent in 2023. This is the weakest growth profile since 2001 except for the global financial crisis and the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic,” reads the report.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, global inflation is forecast to rise from 4.7 percent in 2021 to 8.8 percent in 2022 but to decline to 6.5 percent in 2023 and to 4.1 percent by 2024. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The report suggests that monetary policy should stay the course to restore price stability, and fiscal policy should aim to alleviate the cost-of-living pressures while maintaining a sufficiently tight stance aligned with monetary policy. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Structural reforms can further support the fight against inflation by improving productivity and easing supply constraints, while multilateral cooperation is necessary for fast-tracking the green energy transition and preventing fragmentation.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">l</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15883', 'image' => '20221013115322_iiii.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 11:52:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16140', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Votes in Favor of Ukraine ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution with a majority of member states condemning the barbaric and brutal attack on Ukraine by Russia. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 13: The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution with a majority of member states condemning the barbaric and brutal attack on Ukraine by Russia. According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, 143 member states voted in favour of the resolution, including Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the voting held on Wednesday, five countries voted against the resolution. The countries that voted against the resolution were Belarus, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Nicaragua, Russia and Syria. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, 35 countries abstained from voting. Majority of countries abstaining from voting were African nations, alongside China and India. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"We condemn Russia's illegal so-called referendum within Ukraine's internationally-recognized borders and demand it reverses its annexation declaration," reads the resolution. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Russia launched an attack on Ukraine on February 24 calling it a “special military operation” to protect Russian-speaking people in the troubled Donbas region of Ukraine from the so-called Nazis.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, Kyiv and its western allies dismiss it as a baseless pretext for war which has killed thousands of people and displaced millions in what is said the be the biggest military operation in Europe since World War II.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The war between Russia and Ukraine has raised concerns of food crisis across the world. Both the countries play a vital role in supply of food grains across the globe. Wheat produced in Ukraine and Russia constitute 29 percent of the wheat traded across the world. These two countries also supply 19 percent of maize to the world.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Russia and Ukraine also supply 80 percent of sunflower oil to the world. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The situation has caused fluctuation in the price of oil globally. Commodity prices have also increased. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Russia and Ukraine are also the chief producers of oil, natural gas and metals.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15882', 'image' => '20221013112051_unga.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 11:19:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16146', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Preparing to Issue Ordinance to Allow Private Sector for Power Trade ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 13: The government is making preparations to bring an ordinance to amend the Electricity Act, 2049 aimed at opening up new avenues for power trade. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 13: The government is making preparations to bring an ordinance to amend the Electricity Act, 2049 aimed at opening up new avenues for power trade. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Electricity Act, 2049 does not have the provision related to power trade. Due to the lack of such arrangement in the law, the government has not been able to give permission to the private sector for power trade. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In order to open ways for the private sector to participate in power trade, the government is making necessary preparations to amend the law. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ordinance has been forwarded to the office of the president for consideration. According to the Ministry of Energy, Water Resource and Irrigation, the ordinance would be introduced to create ways for power trade by addressing the demand of the private sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that the private sector has been demanding subsidy with the government on power trade. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-13', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15881', 'image' => '20221013050847_Energy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-13 17:08:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16139', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nagdhunga Tunnel Achieves 65 Percent Progress in Construction', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: The construction of Nagdhunga tunnel, which was supposed to be completed within 42 months from the start of the project, is unlikely to be completed within the deadline. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 12: The construction of Nagdhunga tunnel, which was supposed to be completed within 42 months from the start of the project, is unlikely to be completed within the deadline. With just six months left for the project to end, the progress achieved is 65 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The foundation stone of the project was laid on October 21, 2019 by the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. As per the agreement signed with the Department of Roads, the contractor, Hazama Ando Corporation of Japan, was supposed to complete the project within 42 months.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, the project has been delayed due to hurdles like the Covid-19 pandemic, prohibitory order as well as the obstruction from the locals, distribution of compensation, unavailability of explosives and equipment among others, according to the Department of Roads. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The project should have been completed within mid-April next year but the deadline has been extended by almost three months (86 days) after assessing the situation. The Japanese construction company Hazama Ando Corporation had demanded an extension of deadline as the work was delayed due to the pandemic, restrictions and a few days of interruption by the locals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The project director Ramhari Pokharel informed New Business Age that the Japanese company had demanded extension of the deadline by six to seven months but the department has made it clear that it is not possible to extend the deadline beyond three months.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the details provided by the project, the Japanese company has already completed construction of the main passage as well as the auxiliary, audit and cross passages. Of them, 1,377 meters are dug on the east and west sides of the main tunnel and 1,507 meters on both sides of the auxiliary tunnel.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Among the other structures of the project, two underpasses have been constructed. There are plans to build three underpasses in the project. Similarly, 4 box culverts, 1 overpass and 3 bridges have also been constructed. The flyover is under construction.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The total length of the tunnel is projected to be 5.7 km including 2.7 kilometers long tunnel section and 3 kilometers of road.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Government of Nepal had reached an agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2016 to construct the tunnel. The total cost of the tunnel is estimated to be around Rs 22 billion, of which JICA will bear Rs 16 billion and the Government of Nepal will bear Rs 6 billion. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15880', 'image' => '20221012035751_20220708015827_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 15:57:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16137', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Qatar Seeks Application for Domestic Helpers from Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: At a time when the Government of Nepal has banned female domestic helpers from going abroad for foreign employment, Qatar has placed a demand for female domestic workers from Nepal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 12: At a time when the Government of Nepal has banned female domestic helpers from going abroad for foreign employment, Qatar has placed a demand for female domestic workers from Nepal. Qatar's Ministry of Interior issued a notice seeking applications from Nepali domestic workers. Qatar had been continuously asking Nepal to provide workers even after the Government of Nepal stopped sending female domestic workers to the Gulf nation. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The ministry said that applications can be submitted at the Qatar Visa Center (QVC) in Kathmandu.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Government of Nepal had stopped sending female domestic workers to all Gulf countries including Qatar since 2016 stating that women who work as domestic helpers are exploited. Despite the ban, many women still go to various countries for this profession illegally through India. Rights activists have been protesting the ban arguing that the government decision has put women in more danger while going for foreign employment through illegal channels.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Danduraj Ghimire, joint secretary and spokesperson of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security confirmed that he too received information about Qatar seeking domestic workers but needs it needs further inquiry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Qatar had requested us to lift the ban on sending female domestic helpers to the Gulf nation during a meeting held between Nepal and Qatar a few months ago,” said Gimire.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He added that even if Qatar has sought application, no one will be allowed to go without the government’s consent. Domestic workers are currently in high demand in Qatar.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15879', 'image' => '20221012032927_foreign emp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 15:28:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16136', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Exports Over One Billion Units of Electricity to India', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: Nepal has exported more than 1 billion units of electricity to India this season.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 12: Nepal has exported more than 1 billion units of electricity to India this season. The Nepal Electricity Authority started selling the surplus electricity during the rainy season through competitive bidding in the day-ahead market of the Indian Energy Exchange Limited from June 2. Since then, as per the information of the authority, 1.3 billion units of electricity has been exported to India.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The authority's executive director Kulman Ghising informed that during this period, a net income of Rs 7.93 billion was generated by selling the surplus electricity.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Selling more than 1 billion units of electricity is another milestone for us,” said Ghising.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the authority, the average price per unit of exported electricity is Rs 7.91.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Initially, the electricity produced from 39 megawatts of two power plants was sold in the Indian market on a daily basis. According to the authority, since June 10, an additional 364 megawatts of electricity produced by six hydropower plants were sold in the Indian market at a competitive rate per day.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Since the electricity trade with India is done in Indian rupees (INR), Nepal received INR 4.95 billion from the sale of electricity during this period. This has contributed to reducing the pressure on Nepal's foreign exchange reserves and the trade deficit between the two countries. The authority aims to earn about Rs 16 billion from electricity exports in the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the Indian Energy Exchange Limited, 24 hours are divided into 96 blocks of 15 minutes each and electricity is traded at a competitive rate set by the market. Therefore, the price of each block is different. The average rate of electricity exported by the authority so far is Rs 7.91 per unit.</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' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15878', 'image' => '20221012014124_electricity.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 13:40:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16138', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Pad Industries Still in Crisis Despite Revision of Unfair Taxes', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: Even though the government has revised the unequal tax rates, the sanitary pad industries of Nepal have not been able to operate at full capacity because of excessive import of sanitary pads from abroad.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 12: Even though the government has revised the unequal tax rates, the sanitary pad industries of Nepal have not been able to operate at full capacity because of excessive import of sanitary pads from abroad.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is an annual demand of 450 million sanitary pads in Nepal. Industrialists say that the annual production capacity of 35 small and big domestic industries is 900 million units. However, as the government has not controlled the import of pads, the investment of Rs 6 billion in the pad industry is at risk.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Dolraj Adhikari, president of Nepal Sanitary Pad and Diaper Manufacturers Association, although the government revised the decision to give 90 percent tax exemption on the import of sanitary pads as per the announcement made in the budget of the current fiscal year, it is yet to increase the customs duty to the previous level of 15 percent from 5 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As a result, the production of the domestic industries has shrunk by 50 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industries that were producing 600 million sanitary pads and selling them domestically and abroad before the government imposed unequal taxes were forced to shut down due to the government's decision. After revising the tax rates, those industries are now operational. However, as the government is yet to control the import of sanitary pads, the industrialists are not able to take full advantage of it, says President Adhikari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Puneet Sharda, general secretary of the association and owner of Jasmine Hygiene, says that the production of the domestic industry is now limited to 300 million units per year. Similarly, out of 6,000 workers, only 3,000 are currently employed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The government should not only reduce the customs duty on raw materials, it should also reduce the customs duty on packaging materials and other goods. The government should give concessions to encourage domestic industries,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Adhikari, the government should stop issuing license to new sanitary pad industry as the existing industries have acquired technology that can produce seven pads in one second.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “There is not a single sanitary pad industry in Bihar, India. However, six large industries have already opened in a small country like Nepal. Since the capacity of those industries exceeds the domestic demand if operated at full capacity, now the government should open the way to earn foreign currency by exporting pads instead of importing them. In order to do so, the government must give concessions on exports,” said Adhikari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rakesh Lahoti, vice president of the association and owner of Health and Hygiene said that although the government revised the unequal tax rates, it has failed to notice that the industries here are not operating at full capacity due to excessive imports. He said that the government should give concessions to the sanitary pad industry like in India. He argued that they have to compete with the industries capable of producing more than 400 pads in a minute. Lahoti revealed that Nepali industry will be able to produce at full capacity only if the government increases the anti-dumping duty and customs duty to 15 percent to replace imports. The government's policy of encouraging imports has also affected the production of diapers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the government decided to waive 90 percent customs duty on the import of sanitary pads from July 17, pads worth Rs 992 million were imported that month. Records of the Customs Department show that pads worth Rs 154,441,000 were imported in August. These pads were imported from India, China, Thailand, Japan and other countries. During the period of 2 months, 8,339,000 thousand pads were exported from Nepal to India. Pads come to Nepal from abroad in kilograms.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the year 2075/76, when the government reduced the customs duty on all raw materials of the sanitary pad industry to 5 percent, the number of such industries increased.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15877', 'image' => '20221012035446_20210119021212_Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 15:54:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16135', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Flower Business Expected to Top Transactions of Rs 130 Million during Tihar', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: Flower businessmen are expecting transactions worth more than Rs 130 million during the upcoming Tihar festival.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 12: Flower businessmen are expecting transactions worth more than Rs 130 million during the upcoming Tihar festival. The Floriculture Association of Nepal says they are planning to sell 2,345,000 pieces of flowers worth Rs 130 million during the Tihar festival which is just around the corner.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The transactions of flower business are expected to grow by Rs 15.4 million this year compared to last year’s festive season. During last year, flowers worth Rs 115.6 million were sold in Tihar.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The association informed that 2 million units of garlands made of marigold flower are expected to be sold during this festival. The demand for 1.7 million such garlands will be met through domestic production while the remaining 300,000 garlands are being imported from India, says Min Bahadur Tamang, president of the Floriculture Association of Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the association expects sale of 325,000 units of globe amaranth garlands and 20,000 units of garlands made from chrysanthemum flowers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The wholesale price of a piece of marigold flower is Rs 55 while the garland made of globe amaranth costs Rs 35 to 40 and that of chrysanthemum flowers costs Rs 350 to Rs 400.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">President Tamang said that the domestic production of flowers was hit by the rainfall that occurred during the Dashain festival. According to him, marigold flowers were damaged by the rainfall and the domestic production is expected to shrink this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, the domestic production of marigold is still expected to increase by 10 percent this year compared to last year because the commercial farming of this particular flower has started in all seven provinces. Marigold flower is cultivated mostly in Kavre, Sindhupalchowk, Jhapa, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Dhading, Chitwan, Ilam, Dhankuta, Kailali, Banke, and Kaski districts.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, commercial farming of globe amaranth flower is done in Ichangu Narayan of Kathmandu, Gundu of Bhaktapur, Badikhel and Godavari of Lalitpur, Dhading, Palpa, Kailali and Ilam.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the association, the business of cultivating flowers with an investment of Rs 6 billion is done in 43 districts of Nepal. More than 700 entrepreneurs are involved in this business which provides direct and indirect employment to 40,000 people.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15876', 'image' => '20221012125640_74357524_3206364359438719_5295578166390161408_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 12:56:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16134', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'EU Positive About Nepal’s Aviation Safety: CAAN ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: A technical team of the European Union (EU) has made a positive observation about Nepal’s aviation safety following an audit of Nepal’s entire aviation safety sector. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 12: A technical team of the European Union (EU) has made a positive observation about Nepal’s aviation safety following an audit of Nepal’s entire aviation safety sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A technical team of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) of the EU had arrived in Nepal and carried out the audit from October 7 to 9. The three-member technical team of the EASA is scheduled to submit its report to Nepal on October 28, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said. CAAN has assured to respond to the issues pointed out in the report. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Spokesperson of CAAN Jagannath Niraula expressed his belief that the EU would remove Nepal from its air safety list since the technical team was positive about Nepal’s aviation safety. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“CAAN will respond to the issues raised in the report and the final decision to remove Nepal from EU’s air safety list would be decided once the final report is submitted to the EU,” said Spokesperson Niraula. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU has blacklisted Nepal since the past one decade for its poor record in air safety. As a result, the airlines companies registered in Nepal are not allowed to make flights to the EU member states. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Niraula claimed that the technical team of EASA is satisfied after the technical studies and consultations with the CAAN officials. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The EU technical team carried out its audit based on different aspects including International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) audit report that puts Nepal above the global average, Civil Aviation (Investigation of Accident) Regulation passed from the Council of Ministers and others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The CAAN stated that the EU technical team conducted its assessment on eight areas including legislation, personal licensing, flight operation, accident investigation, air navigation services, aerodrome and ground aides. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => 'EU, Nepal, aviation, safety, CAAN, blacklist', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15875', 'image' => '20221012115121_Nepal-Airlines.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 11:50:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16133', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Study Committee says Government Can’t Intervene in Matters Related to Interest Rates', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 12: A committee formed by the Finance Ministry in late September to study the spiraling interest rates of banks and financial institutions has suggested the government to keep its hands off the matters looked after by the central bank.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">October 12: A committee formed by the Finance Ministry in late September to study the spiraling interest rates of banks and financial institutions has suggested the government to keep its hands off the matters looked after by the central bank.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">While submitting its report to Finance Minister Janardan Sharma, the ten-member committee headed by Joint Secretary Baburam Subedi, who is also the chief of the Economic Policy Analysis Division of the ministry, said that the interest rate is determined by the market and that the government should not intervene unnecessarily. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The study conducted by the committee concluded that Nepal Rastra Bank is responsible to fix the interest rates and government should not issue instructions in this matter because it would undermine the central bank’s autonomy.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The committee had one representative each from the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Nepal Rastra Bank, National Planning Commission and the Ministry of Industry, Supplies and Commerce the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries and Nepal Chamber of Commerce while the banking sector was represented by two members of Nepal Bankers Association.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">It may be noted that banks have increased the interest rates effective from September 17 almost five months after maintaining a stable interest rate. Such an initiative was taken upon the instruction of the central bank.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-12', 'modified' => '2022-10-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15874', 'image' => '20221012105504_20220926050939_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-12 10:54:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, '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
