September 30: Tourism entrepreneurs of Pokhara have complained that a high interest rates charged by banks and financial institutions has made it challenging to sustain their…
September 30: Tourism entrepreneurs of Pokhara have complained that a high interest rates charged by banks and financial institutions has made it challenging to sustain their…
September 30: A total of 612 climbers from across the world have acquired permits to climb 23 different mountain peaks of Nepal during this autumn…
September 29: Revenue collection has had the direct impact of the government's ban on import of luxurious…
September 29: The Cathay Pacific Airlines will start operating direct flights between Hong Kong and Kathmandu from October 1.…
September 29: Nepal Handicraft Entrepreneur Association Kathmandu (NHEAK) organized a group discussion with the motive of promoting export of handicraft products of Nepal.…
September 29: Influx of foreign tourists in Annapurna Circuit has excited the local tourism entrepreneurs.…
September 29: The government is preparing to initiate the process of handing over the printing of excise duty stickers for alcohol and cigarettes to a foreign company.…
September 29: Flying kites around the Tribhuvan International Airport has been…
September 29: Hilaree Nelson, a pioneering ski climber from the United States of America, has been found dead on Mount Manaslu. Nelson had been missing in the mountain area since last…
September 28: A two-day employment fair is being organized in Biratnagar to ensure employment opportunities for people with…
September 28: The Government of Nepal has made it clear that it is not in a position to construct the East-West Railway on its own.…
September 28: The Basantapur Durbar Square area and its surroundings were decked with handicraft goods, clothes, bags, ornaments and articles manufactured from metal and clay on the occasion of World Tourism…
September 28: The Election Commission has enforced the election code of conduct, 2079 BS (2022) starting from today in view of the upcoming elections of the House of Representatives and the Province Assembly.…
September 28: Bank deposits have continued to grow in the third week of September as…
September 28: The tourism industry of Nepal, which was badly affected for nearly two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, has gradually gained…
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 30: Tourism entrepreneurs of Pokhara have complained that a high interest rates charged by banks and financial institutions has made it challenging to sustain their business. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a programme organized on Thursday, they said the double-digit interest rates have pushed their business on the verge of collapse. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Pokhara Tourism Council Chair Pom Narayan Shrestha demanded the facility of soft loan for them to revive the business that has been hard hit by the 2015 earthquake and COVID-19 pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Shrestha complained that BFIs have increased the interest rates on loans in recent days and it poses a grave threat to continue their business. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The rise in interest rate is likely to cause additional financial crisis in the tourism business and displace them altogether, said Shrestha demanding government intervention to protect the tourism industry. He took time to urge the government to create an investment-friendly atmosphere for the sustainability of the business and to come up with a policy that ensures subsidized loan to the entrepreneurs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“The government is expected to adopt a tourism-friendly policy because tourism is the major basis of economic prosperity,” he said, adding that there has already been a delay on part of the government to come up with a protective approach for the tourism business. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President of Pokhara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Pawan Prajapati, expressed his view that women's participation in business has increased in recent time and it would play a significant role in economic transformation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, founding chairperson of WOTEF, Jamuna Parajuli, pointed out the need of common thought and concept of all to resolve the problems seen in tourism sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although women's presence and participation has increased in tourism sector, they have not yet reached the decision-making level, said Parajuli. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Chairperson of Hotel Association Pokhara, Laxman Subedi, Chairperson of Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents, Gandaki, Hariram Adhikari, Advisor Durga Dhakal, Vice-President of Federation of Nepali Journalists, Kaski, Jamuna Barsha Sharma, among others also expressed their views. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Members of the organisation, as well as chairperson and representatives of tourism related organisations were present on the occasion. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-30', 'modified' => '2022-09-30', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15842', 'image' => '20220930124720_Paragliding-in-Pokhara-Nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-30 12:46:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16100', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over Six Hundred Climbers Acquire Climbing Permits this Season', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 30: A total of 612 climbers from across the world have acquired permits to climb 23 different mountain peaks of Nepal during this autumn season.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 30: A total of 612 climbers from across the world have acquired permits to climb 23 different mountain peaks of Nepal during this autumn season. The Department of Tourism confirmed that 612 climbers have obtained permits to climb mountains as of Thursday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the department, the government has collected royalties worth Rs 58.5 million from the climbers. Among the climbers, 142 are women, informed the department.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The spring season is considered ideal for climbing mountains in Nepal. However, a considerable number of climbers arrive here for mountain expeditions even during the autumn season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The arrival of tourists for trekking as well as mountain expedition has been increasing this season due to the decline in Covid-19 cases.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The department has issued the maximum permits for climbers seeking applications to climb Mount Manaslu (<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">8163 meters</span>). The department informed that altogether 404 climbers, including 307 men and 97 women, from 38 expedition teams have been granted permission to climb Mt Manaslu, the eighth highest mountain in the world. The department has collected revenue worth Rs 46.2 million by issuing permits to climb Mt Manaslu alone.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">After Manaslu, Mt Himdung (7126 meters) is the second choice among the climbers. Altogether 64 climbers have acquired permits to scale this mountain. Likewise, 34 climbers have been issued permits to climb Mt Dhaulagiri (8167). </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The department has also issued permits to the climbers to scale Mt Ama Dablam, Mt Annapurna, Mt Baruntse, Mt Nupse, Mt Pumori among others. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Mt Manaslu, which is the first choice mountain among the climbers during this season, was hit by an avalanche earlier this week. A renowned ski climber had died in the avalanche on Monday while ten others sustained minor injuries. According to the government officials, four others were seriously injured in the incident. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-30', 'modified' => '2022-09-30', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15841', 'image' => '20220930110936_20220414091903_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-30 11:08:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16099', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Restriction on Imports Affects Revenue Collection', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: Revenue collection has had the direct impact of the government's ban on import of luxurious items.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 29: Revenue collection has had the direct impact of the government's ban on import of luxurious items. The revenue collection for the first two months of the current financial year has been weak due to the ban on the import of items that generate more revenue.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister Janardan Sharma increased the revenue target by Rs 190 billion this year compared to last year. Even though the budget has set a target of collecting revenue worth Rs 1240 billion in the current fiscal year, the officials at the revenue department are worried that the government is unlikely to meet the target.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to a senior official at the Revenue Division of the Ministry of Finance, the revenue collection has been less than the target in the last two months. In first two months of the current fiscal year, the revenue collection target was Rs 75.60 billion, but the collection was Rs 8 billion less than the target. During this period, only Rs 67.91 billion of internal revenue was collected.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Overall, only 90 per cent of the internal revenue target was achieved.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government's ban on the import of items that generate more revenue has had an impact on revenue collection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Last May, the government banned the import of 10 luxury goods. Although the ban on the import of 6 of those 10 items was lifted in late August, the ban on the import of cars, jeeps, vans, readymade liquor, smartphones worth more than USD 300, and motorcycles with capacity of more than 150 cc is still in place. It is said that the revenue collected from customs duty is not satisfactory due to the government policy of controlling imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Punya Bikram Khadka, director of the Department of Customs, said that revenue collection has been decreasing. According to him, the ban on imports is one reason for the decline in revenue collection, while the decline in the price of fuel in the Indian market is another reason. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"When fuel was expensive in India, Indians from the border areas used to come to Nepal to fill up the fuel, but now it has reduced. We believe that the reduction in fuel consumption in the country has also affected the revenue," Khadka said.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-30', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15840', 'image' => '20220929054951_20201122014524_1606001655.Clipboard04.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 17:49:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16098', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cathay Pacific Operating Hong Kong-Kathmandu Flights after Three Years ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: The Cathay Pacific Airlines will start operating direct flights between Hong Kong and Kathmandu from October 1. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 29: The Cathay Pacific Airlines will start operating direct flights between Hong Kong and Kathmandu from October 1. The airline company is resuming flights to Kathmandu after a gap of three years.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The company had suspended direct flights between the two destination due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The flag carrier of Hong Kong has sent letter to the concerned authority to operate the direct flight from October 1, informed Premnath Thakur, general manager of the Tribhuvan International Airport. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Currently, Nepal Airlines has been conducting regular flights between Kathmandu and Hong Kong and vice-versa. The Cathay Pacific is planning to conduct one flight a week on Saturdays, said GM Thakur. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15839', 'image' => '20220929032016_20220807094102_Cathay-Pacific-Aircraft-e1557145681253-752x348.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 15:19:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16097', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Stakeholders Concerned about Handicraft Business after Nepal Graduates from LDC', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: Nepal Handicraft Entrepreneur Association Kathmandu (NHEAK) organized a group discussion with the motive of promoting export of handicraft products of Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 29: Nepal Handicraft Entrepreneur Association Kathmandu (NHEAK) organized a group discussion with the motive of promoting export of handicraft products of Nepal. The discussion on the topic of “Roadmap for Upgrading Nepal to a Developing Country by 2026: Concerns of Cottage, Small and Medium Handicraft Industries” was inaugurated by chief guest of the programme Dr Ram Kumar Phuyal, who is also a member of the National Planning Commission.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the same occasion, Phuyal said that since Nepal will attain the status of a developing country in 2026, there is a need for a clear roadmap for building the necessary infrastructure. He added that the discussions among a group of experts from the government, foreign agencies and the private sector, focusing on the same issue, will help the Government of Nepal to make necessary preparations.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meera Bhattarai, president of the association, pointed out that Nepal attaining the status of a developing country from an underdeveloped country in 2026 will open avenues for various opportunities. She however said that there will be many challenges to face in the coming days. She expressed her concern saying that the export business of handicraft products might decline even more if they are deprived of concessions they are getting from different countries at present.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The team leader of the European Union trade and investment program, Dr. Claudius Preville said that since Nepal is going to be upgraded to a developing country from 2026, it would be relevant to prepare a roadmap for the country as the number of women employed in handicraft industries, especially domestic, small and medium industries is high.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nita Neupane, senior program officer of International Labor Organization Nepal said that the handicraft sector is providing employment opportunities within the country by using indigenous resources and tools.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The discussion programme was organized by NHEAK with the support from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, EU Nepal Trade and Investment Program (EU/GIZ), ILO, ILO Japan Multi-bilateral Programme, FedEx and Manushi.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15838', 'image' => '20220929031806_handicraft.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 15:17:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16096', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Arrival of Foreign Tourists in Annapurna Circuit Increasing ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: Influx of foreign tourists in Annapurna Circuit has excited the local tourism entrepreneurs. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 29: Influx of foreign tourists in Annapurna Circuit has excited the local tourism entrepreneurs. The arrival of tourists, which was affected by Covid-19 pandemic, has once again gone up this season. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Altogether 7,213 foreign tourists visited the Annapurna Circuit since January this year, according to the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP). Similarly, 2,373 foreign tourists visited the Circuit in 2021 and 1,973 in 2020. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Pancha Bahadur Gurung, a tourism entrepreneur from Marsyangdi Rural Municipality-4 in Lamjung district, expressed joy that he was making Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 income on a daily basis with the increase in the number of tourists. "The arrival of tourists has added special enthusiasm in us," said Gurung. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Another entrepreneur Khus Bahadur Gurung shared that they were worried about making their ends meet when foreign tourists not coming to the circuit. Gurung's whole family is depended on tourism business. Running the business means keeping the family alive for him. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Tourism assistant officer at ACAP's Tourist Check Point in Dharapani, Chettra Bahadur Gurung, shared that around 80-90 foreign tourists were entering Annapurna Circuit on a daily basis lately and most of them were from Israel. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The circuit offers the trekkers panoramic view of mountain ranges, high hills and they can explore and enjoy the customs and traditions of the local residents of Manang. While some tourists choose this circuit to reach Thorang-La Pass, Larke Pass and Kala pass, others use this route to visit Tilicho Lake, the highest lake in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The entrance of Annapurna Circuit starts in Lamjung, Beshisashar while the circuit spans across Manang, Mustang, Myagdi and Kaski districts. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15837', 'image' => '20220929023057_20220508080527_Annapurna circuit (3) (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 14:29:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16095', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Supreme Court Verdict Clears Way for Printing of 9 Billion Excise Duty Stickers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: The government is preparing to initiate the process of handing over the printing of excise duty stickers for alcohol and cigarettes to a foreign company. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 29: The government is preparing to initiate the process of handing over the printing of excise duty stickers for alcohol and cigarettes to a foreign company. The Inland Revenue Department is making necessary preparations to proceed ahead with the process by handing over the responsibility of printing 9 billion excise duty stickers to an Indian company named Madras Security Printers Pvt. Ltd.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although Madras Security Printers was awarded various contracts in the past, it has a poor record when it comes to completing the work on time.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Two years ago, the Indian company failed to print 1 million smart license cards under a contract signed with the Department of Transport Management.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The issue of printing excise duty stickers was dragged into court. However, the Supreme Court’s recent decisions in two such cases has opened the door to proceed with the printing of excise duty stickers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A joint bench of Supreme Court Justices Prakash Kumar Dhungana and Kumar Chudal had recently dismissed the cases filed against the department in relation to the printing process. Now, all the hurdles faced by the department to award the contract to the Indian company have been cleared.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department had called for tender bids on September 30, 2019 for printing 9 billion excise duty stickers. Among the four companies that submitted proposals, only two companies were selected. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">An Indonesian company Perum Peruri, which was selected for the procurement of sticker, did not come to sign the contract. Perum Peruri offered the lowest bid to print and supply stickers for Rs 1.65 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The second company selected by the department was Madras Security Printers Pvt. Ltd. Since the Indian company is willing to print the stickers, the department is preparing to give the responsibility to it despite its poor record.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Earlier, the government had been printing more than 40 types of stickers needed for various purpose through global tenders. Apart from income tax, the government receives about Rs 65 billion in revenue annually from alcohol and tobacco products. The Nepali companies filed a case in the court saying that the government did not involve them in the sticker printing process and only allowed it to foreign companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The purchase of excise duty stickers was stalled for four years due to the case filed by the private companies of Nepal. Now that the case has been dismissed and the printing process is about to begin. When the printing of excise stickers was stopped due to court case, the government had been printing stickers at the state-owned Janak Educational Material Centre Limited.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Raju Pyakurel, director of the Inland Revenue Department clarified that since Nepal does not meet international standards for printing such stickers, foreign companies have been entrusted with the responsibility. According to him, the department started its homework to proceed with the printing process immediately after the Supreme Court cleared the way.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15836', 'image' => '20220929125554_20201213021628_1607815678.Clipboard17.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 12:55:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16094', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CAAN to Take Action Against People Flying Kites around TIA ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: Flying kites around the Tribhuvan International Airport has been banned.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 29: Flying kites around the Tribhuvan International Airport has been banned. </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"">A notice issued by the the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) on Wednesday has warned of action against anyone found flying kites near the airport.</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""> CAAN, the government body responsible for the regulation and oversight of aviation sector in Nepal, argued that flying kites around the airport would pose risks to aircraft. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The CAAN requested the public not to involve in such activity citing aviation safety. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It also warned of taking stern action as per the law against anyone involving in such activities. With the commencement of festivals including Dashain, people in general fly kites at different places of the country including TIA vicinity. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15835', 'image' => '20220929101512_kiteflying-1641908625.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 10:14:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16093', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Pioneering Ski Mountaineer Nelson found Dead on Mt Manaslu', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: Hilaree Nelson, a pioneering ski climber from the United States of America, has been found dead on Mount Manaslu. Nelson had been missing in the mountain area since last Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 29: Hilaree Nelson, a pioneering ski climber from the United States of America, has been found dead on Mount Manaslu. Nelson had been missing in the mountain area since last Monday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Leelaraj Lamichhane of the District Police Office, Gorkha, the climber was reported to have disappeared from the world's eighth highest peak (8163 meters) on Monday. Her lifeless body was found on Wednesday morning, said the police officer. According to DSP Lamichhane, the body has been sent to Kathmandu-based Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), Maharajgunj for post-mortem examinations. A helicopter of Simrik Air was hired to carry the body to Kathmandu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Managing Director of Kathmandu-based Shangri-La Nepal Trek Pvt Ltd, Jeevan Ghimire, another climber Jim Morrison who was accompanying her during the expedition was successful in returning to the base camp safely. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nelson had reportedly vanished from Bhimthang towards Manang. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nelson in 2018 skied down the Lhotse Peak along with Morrison. She held the record of skiing down two peaks above 8,000 meters. The 49-year-old ski mountaineer was born in Seattle of the USA and she was listed in the National Geographic's list of adventurous athletes in 2018. She successfully skied down the Cho Oyu peak in 2005. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15834', 'image' => '20220929101409_Nelson.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 10:11:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16092', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Job Fair for People with Disabilities in November', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: A two-day employment fair is being organized in Biratnagar to ensure employment opportunities for people with disabilities.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 28: A two-day employment fair is being organized in Biratnagar to ensure employment opportunities for people with disabilities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Province 1 chapter of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries is collaborating with private sector organisations to conduct the fair on November 4 and 5.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The organisers said during a press conference held in Biratnagar on Tuesday that the fair will be held with the slogan, “Let’s not leave people with disabilities out of employment, let’s all join hands to build the nation”. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Rajendra Raut, vice president of Province 1 chapter of FNCCI that the private sector is also responsible for ensuring employment opportunities to people with disabilities and therefore they are organizing this fair. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">More than 100 employers and 300 service seekers from Province 1 will be present at the same venue to create employment opportunities for disabled people from Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Ilam, Panchthar, Dhankuta, Sankhuwasabha, Bhojpur, and other districts of the province. Vice President Raut informed that stalls related to health, education, production, hospitality, garment, bank, development partners, small industries, sewing/cutting among others will be arranged to test the ability of prospective employees. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Employment Fair is being jointly organized by the FNCCI, The Leprosy Mission, National Federation of the Disabled Nepal and Karuna Foundation. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The fair will be coordinated by the Ministry of Social Development of Province 1 while other partners of the fair include Morang Chamber of Commerce, Morang Merchants Association, Nepal Cottage and Small Industries’ Federation, Birat Business Association.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15833', 'image' => '20220928061250_job-fair.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 18:12:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16091', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘It is not Possible to Build East-West Railway with Government’s Investment’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: The Government of Nepal has made it clear that it is not in a position to construct the East-West Railway on its own. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 28: The Government of Nepal has made it clear that it is not in a position to construct the East-West Railway on its own. Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Mohammed Istiyak Rai admitted that the East-West railway cannot be built with the investment of the government alone. Speaking to the journalists on Monday. Minister Rai accused the former government led by KP Oli of planning to build railways without any study and said that the government cannot build railways with its own investment. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Minister Rai said that the Janakpur railway, which is currently operating in Nepal, is at a. He claimed that it would cost around Rs 1200 billion to build the East-West Railway. According to him, it will cost Rs 2400 billion to operate the train considering the price adjustment every year and the compensation for land acquisition. He clarified that since the country’s development budget is Rs 400 billion out of which only Rs 300 billion is spent every year, the government cannot build railways with its own investment. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He said that the proposed railway can be developed only with the support from donor agencies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Considering the current situation and resources, it is not viable to undertake the construction of the East-West Railway, said the minister. Besides the railway, Minister Rai also said that it is not relevant to operate ships in the waterways of Nepal as per the concept of the Oli government.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Minister Rai said that the development works have been delayed due to court cases and the court has not been much supportive to the government.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He expressed concerns that the contractors move the court against the government and drag the case from the district court to the Supreme Court. On the other hand, the courts also issue stay orders delaying the process of development, said Minister Rai. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15832', 'image' => '20220928041024_Railwayy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 16:09:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16089', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Handicraft Expo Draws Attention of Tourists ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: The Basantapur Durbar Square area and its surroundings were decked with handicraft goods, clothes, bags, ornaments and articles manufactured from metal and clay on the occasion of World Tourism Day. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 28: The Basantapur Durbar Square area and its surroundings were decked with handicraft goods, clothes, bags, ornaments and articles manufactured from metal and clay on the occasion of World Tourism Day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A day-long handicraft exhibition organised by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Hanumandhoka Durbar Area Tourism Association on Tuesday, attracted lots of tourists to the area. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Deputy Mayor of KMC, Sunita Dangol, said Nepal is well known for its traditional art, craft, culture and indigenous handicraft products. She pointed out the need of producing quality goods and promoting them in order to take domestic products to the global market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Domestic products like metal crafts, pashmina, wood craft and paper craft are in good demand in countries like India, China, the USA, European countries, Japan, Canada and other countries. Nepali handicraft sector has contributed to some extent to reduce trade deficit. It is believed that the handicraft industry has been providing employment to around one million people and contributing to buttress the foreign currency reserves through exports. The internal demand for handicraft goods in the country is worth Rs 10 billion while handicraft products worth around Rs 15 billion are exported in a year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Various organisations and entrepreneurs associated with the Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal had participated in the expo. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15830', 'image' => '20220928035927_20201001053942_1601506595.Clipboard12.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 15:58:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16088', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'EC Enforces Election Code of Conduct from Today', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: The Election Commission has enforced the election code of conduct, 2079 BS (2022) starting from today in view of the upcoming elections of the House of Representatives and the Province Assembly. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 28: The Election Commission has enforced the election code of conduct, 2079 BS (2022) starting from today in view of the upcoming elections of the House of Representatives and the Province Assembly. The voting for the twin elections will be taking place on November 20, Sunday in a single phase. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the Election Commission has directed the government at all three levels to make necessary arrangements for the implementation of the code of conduct. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Election Commission has issued a 60-point instruction to the parties in order to ensure that the polls are held in a free and fair manner.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The commission has asked the parties to use separate bank accounts for the election and to inform the commission about the persons who use the account. The election candidates have been instructed to submit their tentative expenditure plans along with their nomination letters.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government, ministers, province government and ministers, constitutional bodies and office-bearers, the government bodies at all three levels and officials there, local executive and its members, employees at the federal, province and local levels have been instructed to implement and abide by the code of conduct. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The code of conduct is also applicable for the security bodies, security officials and employees, government, semi-government and public offices and employees, political parties and their sister organisations, election candidates and people concerned, political parties and election representative of candidates, vote counting representatives and any person holding public posts. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15829', 'image' => '20220928024631_Election_Commission.2e16d0ba.fill-650x500.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 14:45:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16087', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bank Deposits Growing Steadily', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: Bank deposits have continued to grow in the third week of September as well.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 28: Bank deposits have continued to grow in the third week of September as well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bank deposits have continued to rise mainly due to the long-term deposit schemes launched by the commercial banks to attract deposits as well as the increase in interest rates from mid-September and the positive impact of remittance inflow ahead of the festive season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Nepal Bankers Association, the deposits of commercial banks increased by Rs 26 billion in the third week of September. By mid-September, the total deposits in banks were Rs 4485.51 billion, which increased to 4511.65 billion by September 23.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the current fiscal year, the bank deposits had continuously decreased till the third week of August. However, bank deposits have been continuously increasing since the fourth week of August. The bankers’ association informed that bank deposits increased by Rs 52 billion between mid-August to mid-September.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The reasons for the increase in bank deposits are considered to be new deposit schemes, hike in interest rates and increase in remittances. Lately, banks have announced a 21-year term deposit plan that gives up to 10 times the initial deposit. Banks are competing with each other to attract customers to their fixed deposit schemes.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, bankers say that the remittance inflow has been positive due to the festive season of Dashain which has just kicked off. This has increased the activities in the domestic market, and deposits have increased as well. Even the rise in the value of the dollar has had a positive impact on remittances.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Banks and financial institutions have increased the interest rate from September 17, which had remained stable for the last six months. The banks fixed the new interest rates according to the instructions of the Nepal Rastra Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the instructions of the NRB, it is possible to increase the interest rate by up to 10 percent compared to the previous month. Accordingly, the banks increased the interest rate of individual term deposits to 12.13 percent, institutional term deposits to 10.13 percent and remittance term deposits to 13.13 percent. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the increase in deposit collection, banks are restraining from lending. In the third week of September, credit flow of commercial banks increased by Rs 4 billion only. Banks have not disbursed loans to maintain the credit-deposit ratio (CD ratio) and capital adequacy ratio fixed by NRB. The average CD ratio as of the third week of September is 87.21 percent, which is supposed to be within 90 percent as per the instruction of NRB. Banks that do not maintain the CD ratio will be fined for the excess amount.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15828', 'image' => '20220928014013_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 13:39:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16086', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Manang Sees Increase in Arrival of Tourists', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: The tourism industry of Nepal, which was badly affected for nearly two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, has gradually gained momentum. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 28: The tourism industry of Nepal, which was badly affected for nearly two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, has gradually gained momentum. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that there was almost zero mobility of domestic and foreign tourists in most of the geographic areas of Nepal since March 2020. But lately, the tourism sector has witnessed a gradual rise in the inflow of tourists. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The number of tourists visiting Manang has also increased as this season is an appropriate time for tourists to visit the district which lies beyond the mountains. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of Annapurna Conservation Area Project's Conservation Officeer Lekhnath Gautam shared that a total of 3,818 tourists had entered Manang during the period between mid-July to the third week of September 2022. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the review period, 1,330 men and 614 women from the SAARC countries visited Manang. As many as 1,874 tourists from other countries visited the district, shared Gautam. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the records, Israel topped the list of foreign tourists visiting Manang with 428 visitors followed by Germany (149), Spain (134), the United Kingdom (130), France (122), the United States (108) and other countries (873). -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15827', 'image' => '20220928123415_Manang.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 12:33:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16101', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Entrepreneurs of Pokhara Complain of High Interest on Bank Loans ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 30: Tourism entrepreneurs of Pokhara have complained that a high interest rates charged by banks and financial institutions has made it challenging to sustain their business. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 30: Tourism entrepreneurs of Pokhara have complained that a high interest rates charged by banks and financial institutions has made it challenging to sustain their business. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a programme organized on Thursday, they said the double-digit interest rates have pushed their business on the verge of collapse. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Pokhara Tourism Council Chair Pom Narayan Shrestha demanded the facility of soft loan for them to revive the business that has been hard hit by the 2015 earthquake and COVID-19 pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Shrestha complained that BFIs have increased the interest rates on loans in recent days and it poses a grave threat to continue their business. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The rise in interest rate is likely to cause additional financial crisis in the tourism business and displace them altogether, said Shrestha demanding government intervention to protect the tourism industry. He took time to urge the government to create an investment-friendly atmosphere for the sustainability of the business and to come up with a policy that ensures subsidized loan to the entrepreneurs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“The government is expected to adopt a tourism-friendly policy because tourism is the major basis of economic prosperity,” he said, adding that there has already been a delay on part of the government to come up with a protective approach for the tourism business. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President of Pokhara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Pawan Prajapati, expressed his view that women's participation in business has increased in recent time and it would play a significant role in economic transformation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, founding chairperson of WOTEF, Jamuna Parajuli, pointed out the need of common thought and concept of all to resolve the problems seen in tourism sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although women's presence and participation has increased in tourism sector, they have not yet reached the decision-making level, said Parajuli. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Chairperson of Hotel Association Pokhara, Laxman Subedi, Chairperson of Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents, Gandaki, Hariram Adhikari, Advisor Durga Dhakal, Vice-President of Federation of Nepali Journalists, Kaski, Jamuna Barsha Sharma, among others also expressed their views. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Members of the organisation, as well as chairperson and representatives of tourism related organisations were present on the occasion. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-30', 'modified' => '2022-09-30', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15842', 'image' => '20220930124720_Paragliding-in-Pokhara-Nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-30 12:46:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16100', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over Six Hundred Climbers Acquire Climbing Permits this Season', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 30: A total of 612 climbers from across the world have acquired permits to climb 23 different mountain peaks of Nepal during this autumn season.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 30: A total of 612 climbers from across the world have acquired permits to climb 23 different mountain peaks of Nepal during this autumn season. The Department of Tourism confirmed that 612 climbers have obtained permits to climb mountains as of Thursday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the department, the government has collected royalties worth Rs 58.5 million from the climbers. Among the climbers, 142 are women, informed the department.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The spring season is considered ideal for climbing mountains in Nepal. However, a considerable number of climbers arrive here for mountain expeditions even during the autumn season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The arrival of tourists for trekking as well as mountain expedition has been increasing this season due to the decline in Covid-19 cases.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The department has issued the maximum permits for climbers seeking applications to climb Mount Manaslu (<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">8163 meters</span>). The department informed that altogether 404 climbers, including 307 men and 97 women, from 38 expedition teams have been granted permission to climb Mt Manaslu, the eighth highest mountain in the world. The department has collected revenue worth Rs 46.2 million by issuing permits to climb Mt Manaslu alone.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">After Manaslu, Mt Himdung (7126 meters) is the second choice among the climbers. Altogether 64 climbers have acquired permits to scale this mountain. Likewise, 34 climbers have been issued permits to climb Mt Dhaulagiri (8167). </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The department has also issued permits to the climbers to scale Mt Ama Dablam, Mt Annapurna, Mt Baruntse, Mt Nupse, Mt Pumori among others. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Mt Manaslu, which is the first choice mountain among the climbers during this season, was hit by an avalanche earlier this week. A renowned ski climber had died in the avalanche on Monday while ten others sustained minor injuries. According to the government officials, four others were seriously injured in the incident. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-30', 'modified' => '2022-09-30', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15841', 'image' => '20220930110936_20220414091903_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-30 11:08:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16099', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Restriction on Imports Affects Revenue Collection', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: Revenue collection has had the direct impact of the government's ban on import of luxurious items.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 29: Revenue collection has had the direct impact of the government's ban on import of luxurious items. The revenue collection for the first two months of the current financial year has been weak due to the ban on the import of items that generate more revenue.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister Janardan Sharma increased the revenue target by Rs 190 billion this year compared to last year. Even though the budget has set a target of collecting revenue worth Rs 1240 billion in the current fiscal year, the officials at the revenue department are worried that the government is unlikely to meet the target.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to a senior official at the Revenue Division of the Ministry of Finance, the revenue collection has been less than the target in the last two months. In first two months of the current fiscal year, the revenue collection target was Rs 75.60 billion, but the collection was Rs 8 billion less than the target. During this period, only Rs 67.91 billion of internal revenue was collected.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Overall, only 90 per cent of the internal revenue target was achieved.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government's ban on the import of items that generate more revenue has had an impact on revenue collection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Last May, the government banned the import of 10 luxury goods. Although the ban on the import of 6 of those 10 items was lifted in late August, the ban on the import of cars, jeeps, vans, readymade liquor, smartphones worth more than USD 300, and motorcycles with capacity of more than 150 cc is still in place. It is said that the revenue collected from customs duty is not satisfactory due to the government policy of controlling imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Punya Bikram Khadka, director of the Department of Customs, said that revenue collection has been decreasing. According to him, the ban on imports is one reason for the decline in revenue collection, while the decline in the price of fuel in the Indian market is another reason. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"When fuel was expensive in India, Indians from the border areas used to come to Nepal to fill up the fuel, but now it has reduced. We believe that the reduction in fuel consumption in the country has also affected the revenue," Khadka said.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-30', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15840', 'image' => '20220929054951_20201122014524_1606001655.Clipboard04.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 17:49:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16098', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cathay Pacific Operating Hong Kong-Kathmandu Flights after Three Years ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: The Cathay Pacific Airlines will start operating direct flights between Hong Kong and Kathmandu from October 1. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 29: The Cathay Pacific Airlines will start operating direct flights between Hong Kong and Kathmandu from October 1. The airline company is resuming flights to Kathmandu after a gap of three years.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The company had suspended direct flights between the two destination due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The flag carrier of Hong Kong has sent letter to the concerned authority to operate the direct flight from October 1, informed Premnath Thakur, general manager of the Tribhuvan International Airport. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Currently, Nepal Airlines has been conducting regular flights between Kathmandu and Hong Kong and vice-versa. The Cathay Pacific is planning to conduct one flight a week on Saturdays, said GM Thakur. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15839', 'image' => '20220929032016_20220807094102_Cathay-Pacific-Aircraft-e1557145681253-752x348.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 15:19:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16097', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Stakeholders Concerned about Handicraft Business after Nepal Graduates from LDC', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: Nepal Handicraft Entrepreneur Association Kathmandu (NHEAK) organized a group discussion with the motive of promoting export of handicraft products of Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 29: Nepal Handicraft Entrepreneur Association Kathmandu (NHEAK) organized a group discussion with the motive of promoting export of handicraft products of Nepal. The discussion on the topic of “Roadmap for Upgrading Nepal to a Developing Country by 2026: Concerns of Cottage, Small and Medium Handicraft Industries” was inaugurated by chief guest of the programme Dr Ram Kumar Phuyal, who is also a member of the National Planning Commission.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the same occasion, Phuyal said that since Nepal will attain the status of a developing country in 2026, there is a need for a clear roadmap for building the necessary infrastructure. He added that the discussions among a group of experts from the government, foreign agencies and the private sector, focusing on the same issue, will help the Government of Nepal to make necessary preparations.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meera Bhattarai, president of the association, pointed out that Nepal attaining the status of a developing country from an underdeveloped country in 2026 will open avenues for various opportunities. She however said that there will be many challenges to face in the coming days. She expressed her concern saying that the export business of handicraft products might decline even more if they are deprived of concessions they are getting from different countries at present.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The team leader of the European Union trade and investment program, Dr. Claudius Preville said that since Nepal is going to be upgraded to a developing country from 2026, it would be relevant to prepare a roadmap for the country as the number of women employed in handicraft industries, especially domestic, small and medium industries is high.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nita Neupane, senior program officer of International Labor Organization Nepal said that the handicraft sector is providing employment opportunities within the country by using indigenous resources and tools.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The discussion programme was organized by NHEAK with the support from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, EU Nepal Trade and Investment Program (EU/GIZ), ILO, ILO Japan Multi-bilateral Programme, FedEx and Manushi.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15838', 'image' => '20220929031806_handicraft.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 15:17:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16096', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Arrival of Foreign Tourists in Annapurna Circuit Increasing ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: Influx of foreign tourists in Annapurna Circuit has excited the local tourism entrepreneurs. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 29: Influx of foreign tourists in Annapurna Circuit has excited the local tourism entrepreneurs. The arrival of tourists, which was affected by Covid-19 pandemic, has once again gone up this season. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Altogether 7,213 foreign tourists visited the Annapurna Circuit since January this year, according to the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP). Similarly, 2,373 foreign tourists visited the Circuit in 2021 and 1,973 in 2020. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Pancha Bahadur Gurung, a tourism entrepreneur from Marsyangdi Rural Municipality-4 in Lamjung district, expressed joy that he was making Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 income on a daily basis with the increase in the number of tourists. "The arrival of tourists has added special enthusiasm in us," said Gurung. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Another entrepreneur Khus Bahadur Gurung shared that they were worried about making their ends meet when foreign tourists not coming to the circuit. Gurung's whole family is depended on tourism business. Running the business means keeping the family alive for him. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Tourism assistant officer at ACAP's Tourist Check Point in Dharapani, Chettra Bahadur Gurung, shared that around 80-90 foreign tourists were entering Annapurna Circuit on a daily basis lately and most of them were from Israel. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The circuit offers the trekkers panoramic view of mountain ranges, high hills and they can explore and enjoy the customs and traditions of the local residents of Manang. While some tourists choose this circuit to reach Thorang-La Pass, Larke Pass and Kala pass, others use this route to visit Tilicho Lake, the highest lake in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The entrance of Annapurna Circuit starts in Lamjung, Beshisashar while the circuit spans across Manang, Mustang, Myagdi and Kaski districts. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15837', 'image' => '20220929023057_20220508080527_Annapurna circuit (3) (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 14:29:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16095', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Supreme Court Verdict Clears Way for Printing of 9 Billion Excise Duty Stickers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: The government is preparing to initiate the process of handing over the printing of excise duty stickers for alcohol and cigarettes to a foreign company. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 29: The government is preparing to initiate the process of handing over the printing of excise duty stickers for alcohol and cigarettes to a foreign company. The Inland Revenue Department is making necessary preparations to proceed ahead with the process by handing over the responsibility of printing 9 billion excise duty stickers to an Indian company named Madras Security Printers Pvt. Ltd.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although Madras Security Printers was awarded various contracts in the past, it has a poor record when it comes to completing the work on time.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Two years ago, the Indian company failed to print 1 million smart license cards under a contract signed with the Department of Transport Management.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The issue of printing excise duty stickers was dragged into court. However, the Supreme Court’s recent decisions in two such cases has opened the door to proceed with the printing of excise duty stickers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A joint bench of Supreme Court Justices Prakash Kumar Dhungana and Kumar Chudal had recently dismissed the cases filed against the department in relation to the printing process. Now, all the hurdles faced by the department to award the contract to the Indian company have been cleared.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department had called for tender bids on September 30, 2019 for printing 9 billion excise duty stickers. Among the four companies that submitted proposals, only two companies were selected. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">An Indonesian company Perum Peruri, which was selected for the procurement of sticker, did not come to sign the contract. Perum Peruri offered the lowest bid to print and supply stickers for Rs 1.65 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The second company selected by the department was Madras Security Printers Pvt. Ltd. Since the Indian company is willing to print the stickers, the department is preparing to give the responsibility to it despite its poor record.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Earlier, the government had been printing more than 40 types of stickers needed for various purpose through global tenders. Apart from income tax, the government receives about Rs 65 billion in revenue annually from alcohol and tobacco products. The Nepali companies filed a case in the court saying that the government did not involve them in the sticker printing process and only allowed it to foreign companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The purchase of excise duty stickers was stalled for four years due to the case filed by the private companies of Nepal. Now that the case has been dismissed and the printing process is about to begin. When the printing of excise stickers was stopped due to court case, the government had been printing stickers at the state-owned Janak Educational Material Centre Limited.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Raju Pyakurel, director of the Inland Revenue Department clarified that since Nepal does not meet international standards for printing such stickers, foreign companies have been entrusted with the responsibility. According to him, the department started its homework to proceed with the printing process immediately after the Supreme Court cleared the way.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15836', 'image' => '20220929125554_20201213021628_1607815678.Clipboard17.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 12:55:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16094', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CAAN to Take Action Against People Flying Kites around TIA ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: Flying kites around the Tribhuvan International Airport has been banned.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 29: Flying kites around the Tribhuvan International Airport has been banned. </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"">A notice issued by the the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) on Wednesday has warned of action against anyone found flying kites near the airport.</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""> CAAN, the government body responsible for the regulation and oversight of aviation sector in Nepal, argued that flying kites around the airport would pose risks to aircraft. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The CAAN requested the public not to involve in such activity citing aviation safety. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It also warned of taking stern action as per the law against anyone involving in such activities. With the commencement of festivals including Dashain, people in general fly kites at different places of the country including TIA vicinity. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15835', 'image' => '20220929101512_kiteflying-1641908625.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 10:14:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16093', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Pioneering Ski Mountaineer Nelson found Dead on Mt Manaslu', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: Hilaree Nelson, a pioneering ski climber from the United States of America, has been found dead on Mount Manaslu. Nelson had been missing in the mountain area since last Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 29: Hilaree Nelson, a pioneering ski climber from the United States of America, has been found dead on Mount Manaslu. Nelson had been missing in the mountain area since last Monday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Leelaraj Lamichhane of the District Police Office, Gorkha, the climber was reported to have disappeared from the world's eighth highest peak (8163 meters) on Monday. Her lifeless body was found on Wednesday morning, said the police officer. According to DSP Lamichhane, the body has been sent to Kathmandu-based Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), Maharajgunj for post-mortem examinations. A helicopter of Simrik Air was hired to carry the body to Kathmandu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Managing Director of Kathmandu-based Shangri-La Nepal Trek Pvt Ltd, Jeevan Ghimire, another climber Jim Morrison who was accompanying her during the expedition was successful in returning to the base camp safely. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nelson had reportedly vanished from Bhimthang towards Manang. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nelson in 2018 skied down the Lhotse Peak along with Morrison. She held the record of skiing down two peaks above 8,000 meters. The 49-year-old ski mountaineer was born in Seattle of the USA and she was listed in the National Geographic's list of adventurous athletes in 2018. She successfully skied down the Cho Oyu peak in 2005. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15834', 'image' => '20220929101409_Nelson.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 10:11:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16092', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Job Fair for People with Disabilities in November', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: A two-day employment fair is being organized in Biratnagar to ensure employment opportunities for people with disabilities.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 28: A two-day employment fair is being organized in Biratnagar to ensure employment opportunities for people with disabilities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Province 1 chapter of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries is collaborating with private sector organisations to conduct the fair on November 4 and 5.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The organisers said during a press conference held in Biratnagar on Tuesday that the fair will be held with the slogan, “Let’s not leave people with disabilities out of employment, let’s all join hands to build the nation”. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Rajendra Raut, vice president of Province 1 chapter of FNCCI that the private sector is also responsible for ensuring employment opportunities to people with disabilities and therefore they are organizing this fair. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">More than 100 employers and 300 service seekers from Province 1 will be present at the same venue to create employment opportunities for disabled people from Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Ilam, Panchthar, Dhankuta, Sankhuwasabha, Bhojpur, and other districts of the province. Vice President Raut informed that stalls related to health, education, production, hospitality, garment, bank, development partners, small industries, sewing/cutting among others will be arranged to test the ability of prospective employees. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Employment Fair is being jointly organized by the FNCCI, The Leprosy Mission, National Federation of the Disabled Nepal and Karuna Foundation. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The fair will be coordinated by the Ministry of Social Development of Province 1 while other partners of the fair include Morang Chamber of Commerce, Morang Merchants Association, Nepal Cottage and Small Industries’ Federation, Birat Business Association.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15833', 'image' => '20220928061250_job-fair.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 18:12:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16091', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘It is not Possible to Build East-West Railway with Government’s Investment’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: The Government of Nepal has made it clear that it is not in a position to construct the East-West Railway on its own. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 28: The Government of Nepal has made it clear that it is not in a position to construct the East-West Railway on its own. Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Mohammed Istiyak Rai admitted that the East-West railway cannot be built with the investment of the government alone. Speaking to the journalists on Monday. Minister Rai accused the former government led by KP Oli of planning to build railways without any study and said that the government cannot build railways with its own investment. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Minister Rai said that the Janakpur railway, which is currently operating in Nepal, is at a. He claimed that it would cost around Rs 1200 billion to build the East-West Railway. According to him, it will cost Rs 2400 billion to operate the train considering the price adjustment every year and the compensation for land acquisition. He clarified that since the country’s development budget is Rs 400 billion out of which only Rs 300 billion is spent every year, the government cannot build railways with its own investment. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He said that the proposed railway can be developed only with the support from donor agencies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Considering the current situation and resources, it is not viable to undertake the construction of the East-West Railway, said the minister. Besides the railway, Minister Rai also said that it is not relevant to operate ships in the waterways of Nepal as per the concept of the Oli government.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Minister Rai said that the development works have been delayed due to court cases and the court has not been much supportive to the government.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He expressed concerns that the contractors move the court against the government and drag the case from the district court to the Supreme Court. On the other hand, the courts also issue stay orders delaying the process of development, said Minister Rai. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15832', 'image' => '20220928041024_Railwayy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 16:09:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16089', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Handicraft Expo Draws Attention of Tourists ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: The Basantapur Durbar Square area and its surroundings were decked with handicraft goods, clothes, bags, ornaments and articles manufactured from metal and clay on the occasion of World Tourism Day. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 28: The Basantapur Durbar Square area and its surroundings were decked with handicraft goods, clothes, bags, ornaments and articles manufactured from metal and clay on the occasion of World Tourism Day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A day-long handicraft exhibition organised by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Hanumandhoka Durbar Area Tourism Association on Tuesday, attracted lots of tourists to the area. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Deputy Mayor of KMC, Sunita Dangol, said Nepal is well known for its traditional art, craft, culture and indigenous handicraft products. She pointed out the need of producing quality goods and promoting them in order to take domestic products to the global market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Domestic products like metal crafts, pashmina, wood craft and paper craft are in good demand in countries like India, China, the USA, European countries, Japan, Canada and other countries. Nepali handicraft sector has contributed to some extent to reduce trade deficit. It is believed that the handicraft industry has been providing employment to around one million people and contributing to buttress the foreign currency reserves through exports. The internal demand for handicraft goods in the country is worth Rs 10 billion while handicraft products worth around Rs 15 billion are exported in a year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Various organisations and entrepreneurs associated with the Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal had participated in the expo. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15830', 'image' => '20220928035927_20201001053942_1601506595.Clipboard12.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 15:58:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16088', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'EC Enforces Election Code of Conduct from Today', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: The Election Commission has enforced the election code of conduct, 2079 BS (2022) starting from today in view of the upcoming elections of the House of Representatives and the Province Assembly. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 28: The Election Commission has enforced the election code of conduct, 2079 BS (2022) starting from today in view of the upcoming elections of the House of Representatives and the Province Assembly. The voting for the twin elections will be taking place on November 20, Sunday in a single phase. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the Election Commission has directed the government at all three levels to make necessary arrangements for the implementation of the code of conduct. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Election Commission has issued a 60-point instruction to the parties in order to ensure that the polls are held in a free and fair manner.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The commission has asked the parties to use separate bank accounts for the election and to inform the commission about the persons who use the account. The election candidates have been instructed to submit their tentative expenditure plans along with their nomination letters.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government, ministers, province government and ministers, constitutional bodies and office-bearers, the government bodies at all three levels and officials there, local executive and its members, employees at the federal, province and local levels have been instructed to implement and abide by the code of conduct. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The code of conduct is also applicable for the security bodies, security officials and employees, government, semi-government and public offices and employees, political parties and their sister organisations, election candidates and people concerned, political parties and election representative of candidates, vote counting representatives and any person holding public posts. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15829', 'image' => '20220928024631_Election_Commission.2e16d0ba.fill-650x500.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 14:45:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16087', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bank Deposits Growing Steadily', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: Bank deposits have continued to grow in the third week of September as well.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 28: Bank deposits have continued to grow in the third week of September as well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bank deposits have continued to rise mainly due to the long-term deposit schemes launched by the commercial banks to attract deposits as well as the increase in interest rates from mid-September and the positive impact of remittance inflow ahead of the festive season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Nepal Bankers Association, the deposits of commercial banks increased by Rs 26 billion in the third week of September. By mid-September, the total deposits in banks were Rs 4485.51 billion, which increased to 4511.65 billion by September 23.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the current fiscal year, the bank deposits had continuously decreased till the third week of August. However, bank deposits have been continuously increasing since the fourth week of August. The bankers’ association informed that bank deposits increased by Rs 52 billion between mid-August to mid-September.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The reasons for the increase in bank deposits are considered to be new deposit schemes, hike in interest rates and increase in remittances. Lately, banks have announced a 21-year term deposit plan that gives up to 10 times the initial deposit. Banks are competing with each other to attract customers to their fixed deposit schemes.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, bankers say that the remittance inflow has been positive due to the festive season of Dashain which has just kicked off. This has increased the activities in the domestic market, and deposits have increased as well. Even the rise in the value of the dollar has had a positive impact on remittances.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Banks and financial institutions have increased the interest rate from September 17, which had remained stable for the last six months. The banks fixed the new interest rates according to the instructions of the Nepal Rastra Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the instructions of the NRB, it is possible to increase the interest rate by up to 10 percent compared to the previous month. Accordingly, the banks increased the interest rate of individual term deposits to 12.13 percent, institutional term deposits to 10.13 percent and remittance term deposits to 13.13 percent. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the increase in deposit collection, banks are restraining from lending. In the third week of September, credit flow of commercial banks increased by Rs 4 billion only. Banks have not disbursed loans to maintain the credit-deposit ratio (CD ratio) and capital adequacy ratio fixed by NRB. The average CD ratio as of the third week of September is 87.21 percent, which is supposed to be within 90 percent as per the instruction of NRB. Banks that do not maintain the CD ratio will be fined for the excess amount.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15828', 'image' => '20220928014013_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 13:39:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16086', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Manang Sees Increase in Arrival of Tourists', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: The tourism industry of Nepal, which was badly affected for nearly two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, has gradually gained momentum. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 28: The tourism industry of Nepal, which was badly affected for nearly two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, has gradually gained momentum. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that there was almost zero mobility of domestic and foreign tourists in most of the geographic areas of Nepal since March 2020. But lately, the tourism sector has witnessed a gradual rise in the inflow of tourists. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The number of tourists visiting Manang has also increased as this season is an appropriate time for tourists to visit the district which lies beyond the mountains. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of Annapurna Conservation Area Project's Conservation Officeer Lekhnath Gautam shared that a total of 3,818 tourists had entered Manang during the period between mid-July to the third week of September 2022. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the review period, 1,330 men and 614 women from the SAARC countries visited Manang. As many as 1,874 tourists from other countries visited the district, shared Gautam. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the records, Israel topped the list of foreign tourists visiting Manang with 428 visitors followed by Germany (149), Spain (134), the United Kingdom (130), France (122), the United States (108) and other countries (873). -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15827', 'image' => '20220928123415_Manang.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 12:33:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 30: Tourism entrepreneurs of Pokhara have complained that a high interest rates charged by banks and financial institutions has made it challenging to sustain their business. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a programme organized on Thursday, they said the double-digit interest rates have pushed their business on the verge of collapse. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Pokhara Tourism Council Chair Pom Narayan Shrestha demanded the facility of soft loan for them to revive the business that has been hard hit by the 2015 earthquake and COVID-19 pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Shrestha complained that BFIs have increased the interest rates on loans in recent days and it poses a grave threat to continue their business. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The rise in interest rate is likely to cause additional financial crisis in the tourism business and displace them altogether, said Shrestha demanding government intervention to protect the tourism industry. He took time to urge the government to create an investment-friendly atmosphere for the sustainability of the business and to come up with a policy that ensures subsidized loan to the entrepreneurs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“The government is expected to adopt a tourism-friendly policy because tourism is the major basis of economic prosperity,” he said, adding that there has already been a delay on part of the government to come up with a protective approach for the tourism business. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President of Pokhara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Pawan Prajapati, expressed his view that women's participation in business has increased in recent time and it would play a significant role in economic transformation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, founding chairperson of WOTEF, Jamuna Parajuli, pointed out the need of common thought and concept of all to resolve the problems seen in tourism sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although women's presence and participation has increased in tourism sector, they have not yet reached the decision-making level, said Parajuli. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Chairperson of Hotel Association Pokhara, Laxman Subedi, Chairperson of Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents, Gandaki, Hariram Adhikari, Advisor Durga Dhakal, Vice-President of Federation of Nepali Journalists, Kaski, Jamuna Barsha Sharma, among others also expressed their views. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Members of the organisation, as well as chairperson and representatives of tourism related organisations were present on the occasion. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-30', 'modified' => '2022-09-30', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15842', 'image' => '20220930124720_Paragliding-in-Pokhara-Nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-30 12:46:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16100', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over Six Hundred Climbers Acquire Climbing Permits this Season', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 30: A total of 612 climbers from across the world have acquired permits to climb 23 different mountain peaks of Nepal during this autumn season.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 30: A total of 612 climbers from across the world have acquired permits to climb 23 different mountain peaks of Nepal during this autumn season. The Department of Tourism confirmed that 612 climbers have obtained permits to climb mountains as of Thursday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the department, the government has collected royalties worth Rs 58.5 million from the climbers. Among the climbers, 142 are women, informed the department.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The spring season is considered ideal for climbing mountains in Nepal. However, a considerable number of climbers arrive here for mountain expeditions even during the autumn season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The arrival of tourists for trekking as well as mountain expedition has been increasing this season due to the decline in Covid-19 cases.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The department has issued the maximum permits for climbers seeking applications to climb Mount Manaslu (<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">8163 meters</span>). The department informed that altogether 404 climbers, including 307 men and 97 women, from 38 expedition teams have been granted permission to climb Mt Manaslu, the eighth highest mountain in the world. The department has collected revenue worth Rs 46.2 million by issuing permits to climb Mt Manaslu alone.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">After Manaslu, Mt Himdung (7126 meters) is the second choice among the climbers. Altogether 64 climbers have acquired permits to scale this mountain. Likewise, 34 climbers have been issued permits to climb Mt Dhaulagiri (8167). </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The department has also issued permits to the climbers to scale Mt Ama Dablam, Mt Annapurna, Mt Baruntse, Mt Nupse, Mt Pumori among others. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Mt Manaslu, which is the first choice mountain among the climbers during this season, was hit by an avalanche earlier this week. A renowned ski climber had died in the avalanche on Monday while ten others sustained minor injuries. According to the government officials, four others were seriously injured in the incident. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-30', 'modified' => '2022-09-30', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15841', 'image' => '20220930110936_20220414091903_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-30 11:08:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16099', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Restriction on Imports Affects Revenue Collection', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: Revenue collection has had the direct impact of the government's ban on import of luxurious items.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 29: Revenue collection has had the direct impact of the government's ban on import of luxurious items. The revenue collection for the first two months of the current financial year has been weak due to the ban on the import of items that generate more revenue.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister Janardan Sharma increased the revenue target by Rs 190 billion this year compared to last year. Even though the budget has set a target of collecting revenue worth Rs 1240 billion in the current fiscal year, the officials at the revenue department are worried that the government is unlikely to meet the target.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to a senior official at the Revenue Division of the Ministry of Finance, the revenue collection has been less than the target in the last two months. In first two months of the current fiscal year, the revenue collection target was Rs 75.60 billion, but the collection was Rs 8 billion less than the target. During this period, only Rs 67.91 billion of internal revenue was collected.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Overall, only 90 per cent of the internal revenue target was achieved.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government's ban on the import of items that generate more revenue has had an impact on revenue collection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Last May, the government banned the import of 10 luxury goods. Although the ban on the import of 6 of those 10 items was lifted in late August, the ban on the import of cars, jeeps, vans, readymade liquor, smartphones worth more than USD 300, and motorcycles with capacity of more than 150 cc is still in place. It is said that the revenue collected from customs duty is not satisfactory due to the government policy of controlling imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Punya Bikram Khadka, director of the Department of Customs, said that revenue collection has been decreasing. According to him, the ban on imports is one reason for the decline in revenue collection, while the decline in the price of fuel in the Indian market is another reason. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"When fuel was expensive in India, Indians from the border areas used to come to Nepal to fill up the fuel, but now it has reduced. We believe that the reduction in fuel consumption in the country has also affected the revenue," Khadka said.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-30', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15840', 'image' => '20220929054951_20201122014524_1606001655.Clipboard04.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 17:49:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16098', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cathay Pacific Operating Hong Kong-Kathmandu Flights after Three Years ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: The Cathay Pacific Airlines will start operating direct flights between Hong Kong and Kathmandu from October 1. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 29: The Cathay Pacific Airlines will start operating direct flights between Hong Kong and Kathmandu from October 1. The airline company is resuming flights to Kathmandu after a gap of three years.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The company had suspended direct flights between the two destination due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The flag carrier of Hong Kong has sent letter to the concerned authority to operate the direct flight from October 1, informed Premnath Thakur, general manager of the Tribhuvan International Airport. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Currently, Nepal Airlines has been conducting regular flights between Kathmandu and Hong Kong and vice-versa. The Cathay Pacific is planning to conduct one flight a week on Saturdays, said GM Thakur. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15839', 'image' => '20220929032016_20220807094102_Cathay-Pacific-Aircraft-e1557145681253-752x348.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 15:19:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16097', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Stakeholders Concerned about Handicraft Business after Nepal Graduates from LDC', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: Nepal Handicraft Entrepreneur Association Kathmandu (NHEAK) organized a group discussion with the motive of promoting export of handicraft products of Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 29: Nepal Handicraft Entrepreneur Association Kathmandu (NHEAK) organized a group discussion with the motive of promoting export of handicraft products of Nepal. The discussion on the topic of “Roadmap for Upgrading Nepal to a Developing Country by 2026: Concerns of Cottage, Small and Medium Handicraft Industries” was inaugurated by chief guest of the programme Dr Ram Kumar Phuyal, who is also a member of the National Planning Commission.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the same occasion, Phuyal said that since Nepal will attain the status of a developing country in 2026, there is a need for a clear roadmap for building the necessary infrastructure. He added that the discussions among a group of experts from the government, foreign agencies and the private sector, focusing on the same issue, will help the Government of Nepal to make necessary preparations.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meera Bhattarai, president of the association, pointed out that Nepal attaining the status of a developing country from an underdeveloped country in 2026 will open avenues for various opportunities. She however said that there will be many challenges to face in the coming days. She expressed her concern saying that the export business of handicraft products might decline even more if they are deprived of concessions they are getting from different countries at present.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The team leader of the European Union trade and investment program, Dr. Claudius Preville said that since Nepal is going to be upgraded to a developing country from 2026, it would be relevant to prepare a roadmap for the country as the number of women employed in handicraft industries, especially domestic, small and medium industries is high.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nita Neupane, senior program officer of International Labor Organization Nepal said that the handicraft sector is providing employment opportunities within the country by using indigenous resources and tools.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The discussion programme was organized by NHEAK with the support from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, EU Nepal Trade and Investment Program (EU/GIZ), ILO, ILO Japan Multi-bilateral Programme, FedEx and Manushi.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15838', 'image' => '20220929031806_handicraft.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 15:17:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16096', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Arrival of Foreign Tourists in Annapurna Circuit Increasing ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: Influx of foreign tourists in Annapurna Circuit has excited the local tourism entrepreneurs. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 29: Influx of foreign tourists in Annapurna Circuit has excited the local tourism entrepreneurs. The arrival of tourists, which was affected by Covid-19 pandemic, has once again gone up this season. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Altogether 7,213 foreign tourists visited the Annapurna Circuit since January this year, according to the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP). Similarly, 2,373 foreign tourists visited the Circuit in 2021 and 1,973 in 2020. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Pancha Bahadur Gurung, a tourism entrepreneur from Marsyangdi Rural Municipality-4 in Lamjung district, expressed joy that he was making Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 income on a daily basis with the increase in the number of tourists. "The arrival of tourists has added special enthusiasm in us," said Gurung. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Another entrepreneur Khus Bahadur Gurung shared that they were worried about making their ends meet when foreign tourists not coming to the circuit. Gurung's whole family is depended on tourism business. Running the business means keeping the family alive for him. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Tourism assistant officer at ACAP's Tourist Check Point in Dharapani, Chettra Bahadur Gurung, shared that around 80-90 foreign tourists were entering Annapurna Circuit on a daily basis lately and most of them were from Israel. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The circuit offers the trekkers panoramic view of mountain ranges, high hills and they can explore and enjoy the customs and traditions of the local residents of Manang. While some tourists choose this circuit to reach Thorang-La Pass, Larke Pass and Kala pass, others use this route to visit Tilicho Lake, the highest lake in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The entrance of Annapurna Circuit starts in Lamjung, Beshisashar while the circuit spans across Manang, Mustang, Myagdi and Kaski districts. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15837', 'image' => '20220929023057_20220508080527_Annapurna circuit (3) (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 14:29:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16095', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Supreme Court Verdict Clears Way for Printing of 9 Billion Excise Duty Stickers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: The government is preparing to initiate the process of handing over the printing of excise duty stickers for alcohol and cigarettes to a foreign company. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 29: The government is preparing to initiate the process of handing over the printing of excise duty stickers for alcohol and cigarettes to a foreign company. The Inland Revenue Department is making necessary preparations to proceed ahead with the process by handing over the responsibility of printing 9 billion excise duty stickers to an Indian company named Madras Security Printers Pvt. Ltd.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although Madras Security Printers was awarded various contracts in the past, it has a poor record when it comes to completing the work on time.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Two years ago, the Indian company failed to print 1 million smart license cards under a contract signed with the Department of Transport Management.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The issue of printing excise duty stickers was dragged into court. However, the Supreme Court’s recent decisions in two such cases has opened the door to proceed with the printing of excise duty stickers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A joint bench of Supreme Court Justices Prakash Kumar Dhungana and Kumar Chudal had recently dismissed the cases filed against the department in relation to the printing process. Now, all the hurdles faced by the department to award the contract to the Indian company have been cleared.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department had called for tender bids on September 30, 2019 for printing 9 billion excise duty stickers. Among the four companies that submitted proposals, only two companies were selected. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">An Indonesian company Perum Peruri, which was selected for the procurement of sticker, did not come to sign the contract. Perum Peruri offered the lowest bid to print and supply stickers for Rs 1.65 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The second company selected by the department was Madras Security Printers Pvt. Ltd. Since the Indian company is willing to print the stickers, the department is preparing to give the responsibility to it despite its poor record.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Earlier, the government had been printing more than 40 types of stickers needed for various purpose through global tenders. Apart from income tax, the government receives about Rs 65 billion in revenue annually from alcohol and tobacco products. The Nepali companies filed a case in the court saying that the government did not involve them in the sticker printing process and only allowed it to foreign companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The purchase of excise duty stickers was stalled for four years due to the case filed by the private companies of Nepal. Now that the case has been dismissed and the printing process is about to begin. When the printing of excise stickers was stopped due to court case, the government had been printing stickers at the state-owned Janak Educational Material Centre Limited.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Raju Pyakurel, director of the Inland Revenue Department clarified that since Nepal does not meet international standards for printing such stickers, foreign companies have been entrusted with the responsibility. According to him, the department started its homework to proceed with the printing process immediately after the Supreme Court cleared the way.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15836', 'image' => '20220929125554_20201213021628_1607815678.Clipboard17.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 12:55:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16094', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CAAN to Take Action Against People Flying Kites around TIA ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: Flying kites around the Tribhuvan International Airport has been banned.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 29: Flying kites around the Tribhuvan International Airport has been banned. </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"">A notice issued by the the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) on Wednesday has warned of action against anyone found flying kites near the airport.</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""> CAAN, the government body responsible for the regulation and oversight of aviation sector in Nepal, argued that flying kites around the airport would pose risks to aircraft. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The CAAN requested the public not to involve in such activity citing aviation safety. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It also warned of taking stern action as per the law against anyone involving in such activities. With the commencement of festivals including Dashain, people in general fly kites at different places of the country including TIA vicinity. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15835', 'image' => '20220929101512_kiteflying-1641908625.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 10:14:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16093', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Pioneering Ski Mountaineer Nelson found Dead on Mt Manaslu', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: Hilaree Nelson, a pioneering ski climber from the United States of America, has been found dead on Mount Manaslu. Nelson had been missing in the mountain area since last Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 29: Hilaree Nelson, a pioneering ski climber from the United States of America, has been found dead on Mount Manaslu. Nelson had been missing in the mountain area since last Monday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Leelaraj Lamichhane of the District Police Office, Gorkha, the climber was reported to have disappeared from the world's eighth highest peak (8163 meters) on Monday. Her lifeless body was found on Wednesday morning, said the police officer. According to DSP Lamichhane, the body has been sent to Kathmandu-based Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), Maharajgunj for post-mortem examinations. A helicopter of Simrik Air was hired to carry the body to Kathmandu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Managing Director of Kathmandu-based Shangri-La Nepal Trek Pvt Ltd, Jeevan Ghimire, another climber Jim Morrison who was accompanying her during the expedition was successful in returning to the base camp safely. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nelson had reportedly vanished from Bhimthang towards Manang. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nelson in 2018 skied down the Lhotse Peak along with Morrison. She held the record of skiing down two peaks above 8,000 meters. The 49-year-old ski mountaineer was born in Seattle of the USA and she was listed in the National Geographic's list of adventurous athletes in 2018. She successfully skied down the Cho Oyu peak in 2005. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15834', 'image' => '20220929101409_Nelson.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 10:11:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16092', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Job Fair for People with Disabilities in November', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: A two-day employment fair is being organized in Biratnagar to ensure employment opportunities for people with disabilities.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 28: A two-day employment fair is being organized in Biratnagar to ensure employment opportunities for people with disabilities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Province 1 chapter of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries is collaborating with private sector organisations to conduct the fair on November 4 and 5.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The organisers said during a press conference held in Biratnagar on Tuesday that the fair will be held with the slogan, “Let’s not leave people with disabilities out of employment, let’s all join hands to build the nation”. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Rajendra Raut, vice president of Province 1 chapter of FNCCI that the private sector is also responsible for ensuring employment opportunities to people with disabilities and therefore they are organizing this fair. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">More than 100 employers and 300 service seekers from Province 1 will be present at the same venue to create employment opportunities for disabled people from Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Ilam, Panchthar, Dhankuta, Sankhuwasabha, Bhojpur, and other districts of the province. Vice President Raut informed that stalls related to health, education, production, hospitality, garment, bank, development partners, small industries, sewing/cutting among others will be arranged to test the ability of prospective employees. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Employment Fair is being jointly organized by the FNCCI, The Leprosy Mission, National Federation of the Disabled Nepal and Karuna Foundation. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The fair will be coordinated by the Ministry of Social Development of Province 1 while other partners of the fair include Morang Chamber of Commerce, Morang Merchants Association, Nepal Cottage and Small Industries’ Federation, Birat Business Association.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15833', 'image' => '20220928061250_job-fair.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 18:12:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16091', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘It is not Possible to Build East-West Railway with Government’s Investment’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: The Government of Nepal has made it clear that it is not in a position to construct the East-West Railway on its own. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 28: The Government of Nepal has made it clear that it is not in a position to construct the East-West Railway on its own. Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Mohammed Istiyak Rai admitted that the East-West railway cannot be built with the investment of the government alone. Speaking to the journalists on Monday. Minister Rai accused the former government led by KP Oli of planning to build railways without any study and said that the government cannot build railways with its own investment. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Minister Rai said that the Janakpur railway, which is currently operating in Nepal, is at a. He claimed that it would cost around Rs 1200 billion to build the East-West Railway. According to him, it will cost Rs 2400 billion to operate the train considering the price adjustment every year and the compensation for land acquisition. He clarified that since the country’s development budget is Rs 400 billion out of which only Rs 300 billion is spent every year, the government cannot build railways with its own investment. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He said that the proposed railway can be developed only with the support from donor agencies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Considering the current situation and resources, it is not viable to undertake the construction of the East-West Railway, said the minister. Besides the railway, Minister Rai also said that it is not relevant to operate ships in the waterways of Nepal as per the concept of the Oli government.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Minister Rai said that the development works have been delayed due to court cases and the court has not been much supportive to the government.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He expressed concerns that the contractors move the court against the government and drag the case from the district court to the Supreme Court. On the other hand, the courts also issue stay orders delaying the process of development, said Minister Rai. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15832', 'image' => '20220928041024_Railwayy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 16:09:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16089', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Handicraft Expo Draws Attention of Tourists ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: The Basantapur Durbar Square area and its surroundings were decked with handicraft goods, clothes, bags, ornaments and articles manufactured from metal and clay on the occasion of World Tourism Day. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 28: The Basantapur Durbar Square area and its surroundings were decked with handicraft goods, clothes, bags, ornaments and articles manufactured from metal and clay on the occasion of World Tourism Day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A day-long handicraft exhibition organised by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Hanumandhoka Durbar Area Tourism Association on Tuesday, attracted lots of tourists to the area. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Deputy Mayor of KMC, Sunita Dangol, said Nepal is well known for its traditional art, craft, culture and indigenous handicraft products. She pointed out the need of producing quality goods and promoting them in order to take domestic products to the global market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Domestic products like metal crafts, pashmina, wood craft and paper craft are in good demand in countries like India, China, the USA, European countries, Japan, Canada and other countries. Nepali handicraft sector has contributed to some extent to reduce trade deficit. It is believed that the handicraft industry has been providing employment to around one million people and contributing to buttress the foreign currency reserves through exports. The internal demand for handicraft goods in the country is worth Rs 10 billion while handicraft products worth around Rs 15 billion are exported in a year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Various organisations and entrepreneurs associated with the Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal had participated in the expo. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15830', 'image' => '20220928035927_20201001053942_1601506595.Clipboard12.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 15:58:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16088', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'EC Enforces Election Code of Conduct from Today', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: The Election Commission has enforced the election code of conduct, 2079 BS (2022) starting from today in view of the upcoming elections of the House of Representatives and the Province Assembly. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 28: The Election Commission has enforced the election code of conduct, 2079 BS (2022) starting from today in view of the upcoming elections of the House of Representatives and the Province Assembly. The voting for the twin elections will be taking place on November 20, Sunday in a single phase. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the Election Commission has directed the government at all three levels to make necessary arrangements for the implementation of the code of conduct. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Election Commission has issued a 60-point instruction to the parties in order to ensure that the polls are held in a free and fair manner.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The commission has asked the parties to use separate bank accounts for the election and to inform the commission about the persons who use the account. The election candidates have been instructed to submit their tentative expenditure plans along with their nomination letters.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government, ministers, province government and ministers, constitutional bodies and office-bearers, the government bodies at all three levels and officials there, local executive and its members, employees at the federal, province and local levels have been instructed to implement and abide by the code of conduct. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The code of conduct is also applicable for the security bodies, security officials and employees, government, semi-government and public offices and employees, political parties and their sister organisations, election candidates and people concerned, political parties and election representative of candidates, vote counting representatives and any person holding public posts. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15829', 'image' => '20220928024631_Election_Commission.2e16d0ba.fill-650x500.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 14:45:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16087', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bank Deposits Growing Steadily', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: Bank deposits have continued to grow in the third week of September as well.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 28: Bank deposits have continued to grow in the third week of September as well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bank deposits have continued to rise mainly due to the long-term deposit schemes launched by the commercial banks to attract deposits as well as the increase in interest rates from mid-September and the positive impact of remittance inflow ahead of the festive season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Nepal Bankers Association, the deposits of commercial banks increased by Rs 26 billion in the third week of September. By mid-September, the total deposits in banks were Rs 4485.51 billion, which increased to 4511.65 billion by September 23.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the current fiscal year, the bank deposits had continuously decreased till the third week of August. However, bank deposits have been continuously increasing since the fourth week of August. The bankers’ association informed that bank deposits increased by Rs 52 billion between mid-August to mid-September.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The reasons for the increase in bank deposits are considered to be new deposit schemes, hike in interest rates and increase in remittances. Lately, banks have announced a 21-year term deposit plan that gives up to 10 times the initial deposit. Banks are competing with each other to attract customers to their fixed deposit schemes.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, bankers say that the remittance inflow has been positive due to the festive season of Dashain which has just kicked off. This has increased the activities in the domestic market, and deposits have increased as well. Even the rise in the value of the dollar has had a positive impact on remittances.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Banks and financial institutions have increased the interest rate from September 17, which had remained stable for the last six months. The banks fixed the new interest rates according to the instructions of the Nepal Rastra Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the instructions of the NRB, it is possible to increase the interest rate by up to 10 percent compared to the previous month. Accordingly, the banks increased the interest rate of individual term deposits to 12.13 percent, institutional term deposits to 10.13 percent and remittance term deposits to 13.13 percent. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the increase in deposit collection, banks are restraining from lending. In the third week of September, credit flow of commercial banks increased by Rs 4 billion only. Banks have not disbursed loans to maintain the credit-deposit ratio (CD ratio) and capital adequacy ratio fixed by NRB. The average CD ratio as of the third week of September is 87.21 percent, which is supposed to be within 90 percent as per the instruction of NRB. Banks that do not maintain the CD ratio will be fined for the excess amount.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15828', 'image' => '20220928014013_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 13:39:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16086', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Manang Sees Increase in Arrival of Tourists', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: The tourism industry of Nepal, which was badly affected for nearly two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, has gradually gained momentum. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 28: The tourism industry of Nepal, which was badly affected for nearly two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, has gradually gained momentum. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that there was almost zero mobility of domestic and foreign tourists in most of the geographic areas of Nepal since March 2020. But lately, the tourism sector has witnessed a gradual rise in the inflow of tourists. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The number of tourists visiting Manang has also increased as this season is an appropriate time for tourists to visit the district which lies beyond the mountains. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of Annapurna Conservation Area Project's Conservation Officeer Lekhnath Gautam shared that a total of 3,818 tourists had entered Manang during the period between mid-July to the third week of September 2022. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the review period, 1,330 men and 614 women from the SAARC countries visited Manang. As many as 1,874 tourists from other countries visited the district, shared Gautam. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the records, Israel topped the list of foreign tourists visiting Manang with 428 visitors followed by Germany (149), Spain (134), the United Kingdom (130), France (122), the United States (108) and other countries (873). -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15827', 'image' => '20220928123415_Manang.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 12:33:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 30: Tourism entrepreneurs of Pokhara have complained that a high interest rates charged by banks and financial institutions has made it challenging to sustain their business. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a programme organized on Thursday, they said the double-digit interest rates have pushed their business on the verge of collapse. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Pokhara Tourism Council Chair Pom Narayan Shrestha demanded the facility of soft loan for them to revive the business that has been hard hit by the 2015 earthquake and COVID-19 pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Shrestha complained that BFIs have increased the interest rates on loans in recent days and it poses a grave threat to continue their business. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The rise in interest rate is likely to cause additional financial crisis in the tourism business and displace them altogether, said Shrestha demanding government intervention to protect the tourism industry. He took time to urge the government to create an investment-friendly atmosphere for the sustainability of the business and to come up with a policy that ensures subsidized loan to the entrepreneurs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“The government is expected to adopt a tourism-friendly policy because tourism is the major basis of economic prosperity,” he said, adding that there has already been a delay on part of the government to come up with a protective approach for the tourism business. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President of Pokhara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Pawan Prajapati, expressed his view that women's participation in business has increased in recent time and it would play a significant role in economic transformation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, founding chairperson of WOTEF, Jamuna Parajuli, pointed out the need of common thought and concept of all to resolve the problems seen in tourism sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although women's presence and participation has increased in tourism sector, they have not yet reached the decision-making level, said Parajuli. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Chairperson of Hotel Association Pokhara, Laxman Subedi, Chairperson of Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents, Gandaki, Hariram Adhikari, Advisor Durga Dhakal, Vice-President of Federation of Nepali Journalists, Kaski, Jamuna Barsha Sharma, among others also expressed their views. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Members of the organisation, as well as chairperson and representatives of tourism related organisations were present on the occasion. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-30', 'modified' => '2022-09-30', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15842', 'image' => '20220930124720_Paragliding-in-Pokhara-Nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-30 12:46:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16100', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over Six Hundred Climbers Acquire Climbing Permits this Season', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 30: A total of 612 climbers from across the world have acquired permits to climb 23 different mountain peaks of Nepal during this autumn season.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 30: A total of 612 climbers from across the world have acquired permits to climb 23 different mountain peaks of Nepal during this autumn season. The Department of Tourism confirmed that 612 climbers have obtained permits to climb mountains as of Thursday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the department, the government has collected royalties worth Rs 58.5 million from the climbers. Among the climbers, 142 are women, informed the department.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The spring season is considered ideal for climbing mountains in Nepal. However, a considerable number of climbers arrive here for mountain expeditions even during the autumn season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The arrival of tourists for trekking as well as mountain expedition has been increasing this season due to the decline in Covid-19 cases.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The department has issued the maximum permits for climbers seeking applications to climb Mount Manaslu (<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">8163 meters</span>). The department informed that altogether 404 climbers, including 307 men and 97 women, from 38 expedition teams have been granted permission to climb Mt Manaslu, the eighth highest mountain in the world. The department has collected revenue worth Rs 46.2 million by issuing permits to climb Mt Manaslu alone.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">After Manaslu, Mt Himdung (7126 meters) is the second choice among the climbers. Altogether 64 climbers have acquired permits to scale this mountain. Likewise, 34 climbers have been issued permits to climb Mt Dhaulagiri (8167). </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The department has also issued permits to the climbers to scale Mt Ama Dablam, Mt Annapurna, Mt Baruntse, Mt Nupse, Mt Pumori among others. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Mt Manaslu, which is the first choice mountain among the climbers during this season, was hit by an avalanche earlier this week. A renowned ski climber had died in the avalanche on Monday while ten others sustained minor injuries. According to the government officials, four others were seriously injured in the incident. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-30', 'modified' => '2022-09-30', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15841', 'image' => '20220930110936_20220414091903_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-30 11:08:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16099', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Restriction on Imports Affects Revenue Collection', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: Revenue collection has had the direct impact of the government's ban on import of luxurious items.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 29: Revenue collection has had the direct impact of the government's ban on import of luxurious items. The revenue collection for the first two months of the current financial year has been weak due to the ban on the import of items that generate more revenue.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister Janardan Sharma increased the revenue target by Rs 190 billion this year compared to last year. Even though the budget has set a target of collecting revenue worth Rs 1240 billion in the current fiscal year, the officials at the revenue department are worried that the government is unlikely to meet the target.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to a senior official at the Revenue Division of the Ministry of Finance, the revenue collection has been less than the target in the last two months. In first two months of the current fiscal year, the revenue collection target was Rs 75.60 billion, but the collection was Rs 8 billion less than the target. During this period, only Rs 67.91 billion of internal revenue was collected.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Overall, only 90 per cent of the internal revenue target was achieved.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government's ban on the import of items that generate more revenue has had an impact on revenue collection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Last May, the government banned the import of 10 luxury goods. Although the ban on the import of 6 of those 10 items was lifted in late August, the ban on the import of cars, jeeps, vans, readymade liquor, smartphones worth more than USD 300, and motorcycles with capacity of more than 150 cc is still in place. It is said that the revenue collected from customs duty is not satisfactory due to the government policy of controlling imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Punya Bikram Khadka, director of the Department of Customs, said that revenue collection has been decreasing. According to him, the ban on imports is one reason for the decline in revenue collection, while the decline in the price of fuel in the Indian market is another reason. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"When fuel was expensive in India, Indians from the border areas used to come to Nepal to fill up the fuel, but now it has reduced. We believe that the reduction in fuel consumption in the country has also affected the revenue," Khadka said.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-30', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15840', 'image' => '20220929054951_20201122014524_1606001655.Clipboard04.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 17:49:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16098', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cathay Pacific Operating Hong Kong-Kathmandu Flights after Three Years ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: The Cathay Pacific Airlines will start operating direct flights between Hong Kong and Kathmandu from October 1. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 29: The Cathay Pacific Airlines will start operating direct flights between Hong Kong and Kathmandu from October 1. The airline company is resuming flights to Kathmandu after a gap of three years.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The company had suspended direct flights between the two destination due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The flag carrier of Hong Kong has sent letter to the concerned authority to operate the direct flight from October 1, informed Premnath Thakur, general manager of the Tribhuvan International Airport. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Currently, Nepal Airlines has been conducting regular flights between Kathmandu and Hong Kong and vice-versa. The Cathay Pacific is planning to conduct one flight a week on Saturdays, said GM Thakur. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15839', 'image' => '20220929032016_20220807094102_Cathay-Pacific-Aircraft-e1557145681253-752x348.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 15:19:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16097', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Stakeholders Concerned about Handicraft Business after Nepal Graduates from LDC', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: Nepal Handicraft Entrepreneur Association Kathmandu (NHEAK) organized a group discussion with the motive of promoting export of handicraft products of Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 29: Nepal Handicraft Entrepreneur Association Kathmandu (NHEAK) organized a group discussion with the motive of promoting export of handicraft products of Nepal. The discussion on the topic of “Roadmap for Upgrading Nepal to a Developing Country by 2026: Concerns of Cottage, Small and Medium Handicraft Industries” was inaugurated by chief guest of the programme Dr Ram Kumar Phuyal, who is also a member of the National Planning Commission.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the same occasion, Phuyal said that since Nepal will attain the status of a developing country in 2026, there is a need for a clear roadmap for building the necessary infrastructure. He added that the discussions among a group of experts from the government, foreign agencies and the private sector, focusing on the same issue, will help the Government of Nepal to make necessary preparations.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meera Bhattarai, president of the association, pointed out that Nepal attaining the status of a developing country from an underdeveloped country in 2026 will open avenues for various opportunities. She however said that there will be many challenges to face in the coming days. She expressed her concern saying that the export business of handicraft products might decline even more if they are deprived of concessions they are getting from different countries at present.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The team leader of the European Union trade and investment program, Dr. Claudius Preville said that since Nepal is going to be upgraded to a developing country from 2026, it would be relevant to prepare a roadmap for the country as the number of women employed in handicraft industries, especially domestic, small and medium industries is high.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nita Neupane, senior program officer of International Labor Organization Nepal said that the handicraft sector is providing employment opportunities within the country by using indigenous resources and tools.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The discussion programme was organized by NHEAK with the support from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, EU Nepal Trade and Investment Program (EU/GIZ), ILO, ILO Japan Multi-bilateral Programme, FedEx and Manushi.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15838', 'image' => '20220929031806_handicraft.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 15:17:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16096', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Arrival of Foreign Tourists in Annapurna Circuit Increasing ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: Influx of foreign tourists in Annapurna Circuit has excited the local tourism entrepreneurs. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 29: Influx of foreign tourists in Annapurna Circuit has excited the local tourism entrepreneurs. The arrival of tourists, which was affected by Covid-19 pandemic, has once again gone up this season. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Altogether 7,213 foreign tourists visited the Annapurna Circuit since January this year, according to the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP). Similarly, 2,373 foreign tourists visited the Circuit in 2021 and 1,973 in 2020. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Pancha Bahadur Gurung, a tourism entrepreneur from Marsyangdi Rural Municipality-4 in Lamjung district, expressed joy that he was making Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 income on a daily basis with the increase in the number of tourists. "The arrival of tourists has added special enthusiasm in us," said Gurung. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Another entrepreneur Khus Bahadur Gurung shared that they were worried about making their ends meet when foreign tourists not coming to the circuit. Gurung's whole family is depended on tourism business. Running the business means keeping the family alive for him. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Tourism assistant officer at ACAP's Tourist Check Point in Dharapani, Chettra Bahadur Gurung, shared that around 80-90 foreign tourists were entering Annapurna Circuit on a daily basis lately and most of them were from Israel. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The circuit offers the trekkers panoramic view of mountain ranges, high hills and they can explore and enjoy the customs and traditions of the local residents of Manang. While some tourists choose this circuit to reach Thorang-La Pass, Larke Pass and Kala pass, others use this route to visit Tilicho Lake, the highest lake in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The entrance of Annapurna Circuit starts in Lamjung, Beshisashar while the circuit spans across Manang, Mustang, Myagdi and Kaski districts. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15837', 'image' => '20220929023057_20220508080527_Annapurna circuit (3) (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 14:29:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16095', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Supreme Court Verdict Clears Way for Printing of 9 Billion Excise Duty Stickers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: The government is preparing to initiate the process of handing over the printing of excise duty stickers for alcohol and cigarettes to a foreign company. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 29: The government is preparing to initiate the process of handing over the printing of excise duty stickers for alcohol and cigarettes to a foreign company. The Inland Revenue Department is making necessary preparations to proceed ahead with the process by handing over the responsibility of printing 9 billion excise duty stickers to an Indian company named Madras Security Printers Pvt. Ltd.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although Madras Security Printers was awarded various contracts in the past, it has a poor record when it comes to completing the work on time.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Two years ago, the Indian company failed to print 1 million smart license cards under a contract signed with the Department of Transport Management.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The issue of printing excise duty stickers was dragged into court. However, the Supreme Court’s recent decisions in two such cases has opened the door to proceed with the printing of excise duty stickers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A joint bench of Supreme Court Justices Prakash Kumar Dhungana and Kumar Chudal had recently dismissed the cases filed against the department in relation to the printing process. Now, all the hurdles faced by the department to award the contract to the Indian company have been cleared.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department had called for tender bids on September 30, 2019 for printing 9 billion excise duty stickers. Among the four companies that submitted proposals, only two companies were selected. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">An Indonesian company Perum Peruri, which was selected for the procurement of sticker, did not come to sign the contract. Perum Peruri offered the lowest bid to print and supply stickers for Rs 1.65 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The second company selected by the department was Madras Security Printers Pvt. Ltd. Since the Indian company is willing to print the stickers, the department is preparing to give the responsibility to it despite its poor record.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Earlier, the government had been printing more than 40 types of stickers needed for various purpose through global tenders. Apart from income tax, the government receives about Rs 65 billion in revenue annually from alcohol and tobacco products. The Nepali companies filed a case in the court saying that the government did not involve them in the sticker printing process and only allowed it to foreign companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The purchase of excise duty stickers was stalled for four years due to the case filed by the private companies of Nepal. Now that the case has been dismissed and the printing process is about to begin. When the printing of excise stickers was stopped due to court case, the government had been printing stickers at the state-owned Janak Educational Material Centre Limited.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Raju Pyakurel, director of the Inland Revenue Department clarified that since Nepal does not meet international standards for printing such stickers, foreign companies have been entrusted with the responsibility. According to him, the department started its homework to proceed with the printing process immediately after the Supreme Court cleared the way.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15836', 'image' => '20220929125554_20201213021628_1607815678.Clipboard17.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 12:55:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16094', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CAAN to Take Action Against People Flying Kites around TIA ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: Flying kites around the Tribhuvan International Airport has been banned.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 29: Flying kites around the Tribhuvan International Airport has been banned. </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"">A notice issued by the the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) on Wednesday has warned of action against anyone found flying kites near the airport.</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""> CAAN, the government body responsible for the regulation and oversight of aviation sector in Nepal, argued that flying kites around the airport would pose risks to aircraft. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The CAAN requested the public not to involve in such activity citing aviation safety. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It also warned of taking stern action as per the law against anyone involving in such activities. With the commencement of festivals including Dashain, people in general fly kites at different places of the country including TIA vicinity. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15835', 'image' => '20220929101512_kiteflying-1641908625.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 10:14:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16093', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Pioneering Ski Mountaineer Nelson found Dead on Mt Manaslu', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 29: Hilaree Nelson, a pioneering ski climber from the United States of America, has been found dead on Mount Manaslu. Nelson had been missing in the mountain area since last Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 29: Hilaree Nelson, a pioneering ski climber from the United States of America, has been found dead on Mount Manaslu. Nelson had been missing in the mountain area since last Monday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Leelaraj Lamichhane of the District Police Office, Gorkha, the climber was reported to have disappeared from the world's eighth highest peak (8163 meters) on Monday. Her lifeless body was found on Wednesday morning, said the police officer. According to DSP Lamichhane, the body has been sent to Kathmandu-based Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), Maharajgunj for post-mortem examinations. A helicopter of Simrik Air was hired to carry the body to Kathmandu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Managing Director of Kathmandu-based Shangri-La Nepal Trek Pvt Ltd, Jeevan Ghimire, another climber Jim Morrison who was accompanying her during the expedition was successful in returning to the base camp safely. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nelson had reportedly vanished from Bhimthang towards Manang. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nelson in 2018 skied down the Lhotse Peak along with Morrison. She held the record of skiing down two peaks above 8,000 meters. The 49-year-old ski mountaineer was born in Seattle of the USA and she was listed in the National Geographic's list of adventurous athletes in 2018. She successfully skied down the Cho Oyu peak in 2005. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-29', 'modified' => '2022-09-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15834', 'image' => '20220929101409_Nelson.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-29 10:11:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16092', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Job Fair for People with Disabilities in November', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: A two-day employment fair is being organized in Biratnagar to ensure employment opportunities for people with disabilities.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 28: A two-day employment fair is being organized in Biratnagar to ensure employment opportunities for people with disabilities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Province 1 chapter of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries is collaborating with private sector organisations to conduct the fair on November 4 and 5.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The organisers said during a press conference held in Biratnagar on Tuesday that the fair will be held with the slogan, “Let’s not leave people with disabilities out of employment, let’s all join hands to build the nation”. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Rajendra Raut, vice president of Province 1 chapter of FNCCI that the private sector is also responsible for ensuring employment opportunities to people with disabilities and therefore they are organizing this fair. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">More than 100 employers and 300 service seekers from Province 1 will be present at the same venue to create employment opportunities for disabled people from Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Ilam, Panchthar, Dhankuta, Sankhuwasabha, Bhojpur, and other districts of the province. Vice President Raut informed that stalls related to health, education, production, hospitality, garment, bank, development partners, small industries, sewing/cutting among others will be arranged to test the ability of prospective employees. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Employment Fair is being jointly organized by the FNCCI, The Leprosy Mission, National Federation of the Disabled Nepal and Karuna Foundation. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The fair will be coordinated by the Ministry of Social Development of Province 1 while other partners of the fair include Morang Chamber of Commerce, Morang Merchants Association, Nepal Cottage and Small Industries’ Federation, Birat Business Association.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15833', 'image' => '20220928061250_job-fair.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 18:12:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16091', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘It is not Possible to Build East-West Railway with Government’s Investment’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: The Government of Nepal has made it clear that it is not in a position to construct the East-West Railway on its own. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 28: The Government of Nepal has made it clear that it is not in a position to construct the East-West Railway on its own. Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Mohammed Istiyak Rai admitted that the East-West railway cannot be built with the investment of the government alone. Speaking to the journalists on Monday. Minister Rai accused the former government led by KP Oli of planning to build railways without any study and said that the government cannot build railways with its own investment. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Minister Rai said that the Janakpur railway, which is currently operating in Nepal, is at a. He claimed that it would cost around Rs 1200 billion to build the East-West Railway. According to him, it will cost Rs 2400 billion to operate the train considering the price adjustment every year and the compensation for land acquisition. He clarified that since the country’s development budget is Rs 400 billion out of which only Rs 300 billion is spent every year, the government cannot build railways with its own investment. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He said that the proposed railway can be developed only with the support from donor agencies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Considering the current situation and resources, it is not viable to undertake the construction of the East-West Railway, said the minister. Besides the railway, Minister Rai also said that it is not relevant to operate ships in the waterways of Nepal as per the concept of the Oli government.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Minister Rai said that the development works have been delayed due to court cases and the court has not been much supportive to the government.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He expressed concerns that the contractors move the court against the government and drag the case from the district court to the Supreme Court. On the other hand, the courts also issue stay orders delaying the process of development, said Minister Rai. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15832', 'image' => '20220928041024_Railwayy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 16:09:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16089', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Handicraft Expo Draws Attention of Tourists ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: The Basantapur Durbar Square area and its surroundings were decked with handicraft goods, clothes, bags, ornaments and articles manufactured from metal and clay on the occasion of World Tourism Day. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 28: The Basantapur Durbar Square area and its surroundings were decked with handicraft goods, clothes, bags, ornaments and articles manufactured from metal and clay on the occasion of World Tourism Day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A day-long handicraft exhibition organised by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Hanumandhoka Durbar Area Tourism Association on Tuesday, attracted lots of tourists to the area. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Deputy Mayor of KMC, Sunita Dangol, said Nepal is well known for its traditional art, craft, culture and indigenous handicraft products. She pointed out the need of producing quality goods and promoting them in order to take domestic products to the global market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Domestic products like metal crafts, pashmina, wood craft and paper craft are in good demand in countries like India, China, the USA, European countries, Japan, Canada and other countries. Nepali handicraft sector has contributed to some extent to reduce trade deficit. It is believed that the handicraft industry has been providing employment to around one million people and contributing to buttress the foreign currency reserves through exports. The internal demand for handicraft goods in the country is worth Rs 10 billion while handicraft products worth around Rs 15 billion are exported in a year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Various organisations and entrepreneurs associated with the Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal had participated in the expo. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15830', 'image' => '20220928035927_20201001053942_1601506595.Clipboard12.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 15:58:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16088', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'EC Enforces Election Code of Conduct from Today', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: The Election Commission has enforced the election code of conduct, 2079 BS (2022) starting from today in view of the upcoming elections of the House of Representatives and the Province Assembly. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 28: The Election Commission has enforced the election code of conduct, 2079 BS (2022) starting from today in view of the upcoming elections of the House of Representatives and the Province Assembly. The voting for the twin elections will be taking place on November 20, Sunday in a single phase. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the Election Commission has directed the government at all three levels to make necessary arrangements for the implementation of the code of conduct. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Election Commission has issued a 60-point instruction to the parties in order to ensure that the polls are held in a free and fair manner.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The commission has asked the parties to use separate bank accounts for the election and to inform the commission about the persons who use the account. The election candidates have been instructed to submit their tentative expenditure plans along with their nomination letters.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government, ministers, province government and ministers, constitutional bodies and office-bearers, the government bodies at all three levels and officials there, local executive and its members, employees at the federal, province and local levels have been instructed to implement and abide by the code of conduct. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The code of conduct is also applicable for the security bodies, security officials and employees, government, semi-government and public offices and employees, political parties and their sister organisations, election candidates and people concerned, political parties and election representative of candidates, vote counting representatives and any person holding public posts. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15829', 'image' => '20220928024631_Election_Commission.2e16d0ba.fill-650x500.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 14:45:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16087', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bank Deposits Growing Steadily', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: Bank deposits have continued to grow in the third week of September as well.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 28: Bank deposits have continued to grow in the third week of September as well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bank deposits have continued to rise mainly due to the long-term deposit schemes launched by the commercial banks to attract deposits as well as the increase in interest rates from mid-September and the positive impact of remittance inflow ahead of the festive season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Nepal Bankers Association, the deposits of commercial banks increased by Rs 26 billion in the third week of September. By mid-September, the total deposits in banks were Rs 4485.51 billion, which increased to 4511.65 billion by September 23.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the current fiscal year, the bank deposits had continuously decreased till the third week of August. However, bank deposits have been continuously increasing since the fourth week of August. The bankers’ association informed that bank deposits increased by Rs 52 billion between mid-August to mid-September.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The reasons for the increase in bank deposits are considered to be new deposit schemes, hike in interest rates and increase in remittances. Lately, banks have announced a 21-year term deposit plan that gives up to 10 times the initial deposit. Banks are competing with each other to attract customers to their fixed deposit schemes.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, bankers say that the remittance inflow has been positive due to the festive season of Dashain which has just kicked off. This has increased the activities in the domestic market, and deposits have increased as well. Even the rise in the value of the dollar has had a positive impact on remittances.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Banks and financial institutions have increased the interest rate from September 17, which had remained stable for the last six months. The banks fixed the new interest rates according to the instructions of the Nepal Rastra Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the instructions of the NRB, it is possible to increase the interest rate by up to 10 percent compared to the previous month. Accordingly, the banks increased the interest rate of individual term deposits to 12.13 percent, institutional term deposits to 10.13 percent and remittance term deposits to 13.13 percent. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the increase in deposit collection, banks are restraining from lending. In the third week of September, credit flow of commercial banks increased by Rs 4 billion only. Banks have not disbursed loans to maintain the credit-deposit ratio (CD ratio) and capital adequacy ratio fixed by NRB. The average CD ratio as of the third week of September is 87.21 percent, which is supposed to be within 90 percent as per the instruction of NRB. Banks that do not maintain the CD ratio will be fined for the excess amount.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15828', 'image' => '20220928014013_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 13:39:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16086', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Manang Sees Increase in Arrival of Tourists', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 28: The tourism industry of Nepal, which was badly affected for nearly two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, has gradually gained momentum. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 28: The tourism industry of Nepal, which was badly affected for nearly two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, has gradually gained momentum. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that there was almost zero mobility of domestic and foreign tourists in most of the geographic areas of Nepal since March 2020. But lately, the tourism sector has witnessed a gradual rise in the inflow of tourists. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The number of tourists visiting Manang has also increased as this season is an appropriate time for tourists to visit the district which lies beyond the mountains. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of Annapurna Conservation Area Project's Conservation Officeer Lekhnath Gautam shared that a total of 3,818 tourists had entered Manang during the period between mid-July to the third week of September 2022. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the review period, 1,330 men and 614 women from the SAARC countries visited Manang. As many as 1,874 tourists from other countries visited the district, shared Gautam. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the records, Israel topped the list of foreign tourists visiting Manang with 428 visitors followed by Germany (149), Spain (134), the United Kingdom (130), France (122), the United States (108) and other countries (873). -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-28', 'modified' => '2022-09-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15827', 'image' => '20220928123415_Manang.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-28 12:33:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
| Currency | Unit |
Buy | Sell |
| U.S. Dollar | 1 | 121.23 | 121.83 |
| European Euro | 1 | 131.65 | 132.31 |
| UK Pound Sterling | 1 | 142.47 | 143.18 |
| Swiss Franc | 1 | 124.29 | 124.90 |
| Australian Dollar | 1 | 71.69 | 72.05 |
| Canadian Dollar | 1 | 83.90 | 84.32 |
| Japanese Yen | 10 | 10.94 | 11.00 |
| Chinese Yuan | 1 | 17.17 | 17.26 |
| Saudi Arabian Riyal | 1 | 32.27 | 32.43 |
| UAE Dirham | 1 | 33.01 | 33.17 |
| Malaysian Ringgit | 1 | 27.36 | 27.50 |
| South Korean Won | 100 | 9.77 | 9.82 |
Update: 2020-03-25 | Source: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)
| Fine Gold | 1 tola | 77000.00 |
| Tejabi Gold | 1 tola | 76700.00 |
| Silver | 1 tola | 720.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
Source: Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association
| Petrol | 1 Liter | 106.00 |
| Diesel | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| Kerosene | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| LP Gas | 1 Cylinder | 1375.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
