September 13: China has assured that it will clear all containers bound for Nepal at the earliest before the festive season in…
September 13: China has assured that it will clear all containers bound for Nepal at the earliest before the festive season in…
September 12: The Insurance Board is preparing to change the investment guidelines after insurance companies were found to have deposited most of the amount collected from their clients in fixed deposits accounts of banks.…
September 12: A parliamentary panel has found various problems related to the under-construction railway tracks in different sections of Janakpur-Kurtha-Bardibas-Nijgarh route as well as the 35-Kilometer Janakpur-Jayanagar route which is already…
September 12: Businessmen of Sindhupalchok Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Nepal Trans Himalayan Border Commerce Association (NTHBCA) have submitted a memorandum to Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Narayan Khadka, requesting the government to reopen the Tatopani border.…
September 12: The restriction imposed by the government on the import of vehicles has caused problems not only to the importers but also to the agencies invilved in trade…
September 12: Minister for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation Jeevan Ram Shrestha shared that the incumbent government had introduced the concept of 'Tourism Decade 2023-2032' for development of sustainable…
September 12: With a focus on informing potential investors about investment opportunities for sustainable infrastructure in Nepal and to create a conducive environment for investment, the Investment Board Nepal is organising the Sustainable Infrastructure Investment Forum on September…
September 11: Chennai-based Madras Security Printers, which was awarded the contract to facilitate the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) to issue smart driving license, has failed to deliver its services as per the…
September 11: Cargo materials were exported for the first time using Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport on July 27.…
September 11: Stakeholders have complained that the government has been ignoring the ready-made garment industry of Nepal.…
September 11: A total of 41 percent of the population has got access to insurance as of mid-August 2022.…
September 11: The Nepal Infrastructure Summit 2022 concluded on…
September 11: Minister for Forest and Environment Pradeep Yadav has stressed on the need to develop green economy.…
September 11: Rice traders of Bara and Parsa industrial corridor have said the 20 percent customs duty on export of rice and paddy imposed by India would have direct impact on the Nepali…
September 10: Premier IB Continuum School marked the International Literacy Day 2022 on Thursday by organising a literature festival alongside a food…
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He added that the people and Government of Nepal are grateful to the Chinese government for providing Nepal with substantial amount of medical supplies, equipment and COVID-19 vaccines. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Li expressed China’s continued support to Nepal’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the meeting, both sides agreed to further strengthen inter-parliamentary exchanges and cooperation. They also underscored the role of Parliamentary Friendship Group in each other’s parliament in further promoting goodwill and understanding between the two legislatures. Li promised to provide assistance to Nepal’s parliament as per its need and requirement at the institution level. The two leaders also exchanged views on the importance of implementing connectivity infrastructures under the Belt and Road Initiative. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Following the bilateral talks, Speaker Sapkota and Li signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Inter-parliamentary Cooperation between the two countries. Later in the evening, Speaker Sapkota hosted a dinner in honour of Li Zhanshu and the visiting delegation. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-13', 'modified' => '2022-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15724', 'image' => '20220913115559_PRO_KTM_AGNISAPKOTA_CHINISEDELAGATE_PARLIAMENTAHOUSE.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-13 11:34:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15981', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Board Preparing to Amend Investment Guidelines', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: The Insurance Board is preparing to change the investment guidelines after insurance companies were found to have deposited most of the amount collected from their clients in fixed deposits accounts of banks. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 12: The Insurance Board is preparing to change the investment guidelines after insurance companies were found to have deposited most of the amount collected from their clients in fixed deposits accounts of banks. The insurance companies complained that they were unable to diversify their investment due to the investment guidelines. Following the grudges of the insurance companies, the Insurance Board decided to amend the guidelines to allow diversify the investment of the companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We received complaints that the insurance companies were unable to invest in sectors like hydropower, agriculture, tourism, infrastructure development and other productive sectors due to the investment guidelines,” said Surya Prasad Silwal, chairman of the Insurance Board.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Therefore, we are preparing to amend the guidelines so that the insurance companies can invest in new areas,” added Silwal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Insurance Board had changed the investment guidelines three years ago and allowed to diversify investment as per the suggestion of the insurance companies. However, they are still unable to invest. As a result, they focused on fixed deposits.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The guidelines issued by the board in March 2019 has opened way to invest in infrastructure and productive sectors such as real estate business, water resources, agriculture, tourism, in addition to fixed deposits and shares. However, insurance companies do not seem to be attracted to other areas except fixed deposits.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Insurance Board, by the end of the fiscal year 2021/22, 19 life insurance companies and 20 non-life insurance companies invested a total of Rs 527.8 billion. Among these investments, 408 billion has invested in fixed deposits of banks and financial institutions. This is 77.48 percent of the total investment of insurance companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The insurance companies have invested only 1.41 percent in infrastructure development which includes investment of Rs 7.14 billion by life insurance companies and Rs 300 million investment by non-life insurance companies. The investment of insurance companies in the real estate sector is negligible.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the guidelines, companies should invest a minimum of 40 percent of their total technical reserve in fixed deposits of commercial and infrastructure banks and a minimum of 5 percent in government bonds. Similarly, a maximum of 20 percent can be invested in development banks and a maximum of 10 percent in finance companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, they can invest up to 5 percent in real estate business, up to 10 percent in ordinary shares of listed companies, up to 20 percent in preference shares, up to 20 percent in shares of listed companies, up to 20 percent in infrastructure including agriculture, tourism and water resources, and up to 5 percent in Citizens Investment Trust and mutual funds.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15722', 'image' => '20220912041127_20220907110038_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 16:10:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15980', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Railway Route Full of Problems ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: A parliamentary panel has found various problems related to the under-construction railway tracks in different sections of Janakpur-Kurtha-Bardibas-Nijgarh route as well as the 35-Kilometer Janakpur-Jayanagar route which is already operational.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 12: A parliamentary panel has found various problems related to the under-construction railway tracks in different sections of Janakpur-Kurtha-Bardibas-Nijgarh route as well as the 35-Kilometer Janakpur-Jayanagar route which is already operational. The workers engaged in the construction of the railway track are not being paid on time, states a report prepared by the Development and Technology Committee of the House of Representatives. As per the report, other major problems include the use of substandard materials in the construction of the trackbed and land encroachment in different places.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The report prepared by a delegation of the House Committee, which visited Janakpur-Jayanagar and Janakpur-Kurtha-Bardibas-Nijgarh sections in August, has pointed out more than a dozen such problems. The report has also pointed out problems like land acquisition for the construction of a bridge in Bardibas, distribution of compensation, and deforestation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Problems like acquisition of public land and community forests have also surfaced while constructing a 30 km trackbed in Sarlahi. This has delayed the construction itself. Out of the 18 km trackbed under construction in Mahottari, 3.1 km of the trackbed has problem in acquisition of public land.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The parliamentary committee found that the builders who were entrusted with the construction of this section of track handed over the construction work to local builders. The report further states that the quality of trackbed is questionable.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The parliamentary team led by chairperson of the committee Kalyani Kumari Khadka had made an on-site inspection of this section on August 21, 22 and 23. The report also mentions that the quality of work has been compromised due to the workers abandoning the work abruptly after they were not paid on time. Also, the construction materials were not readily available for the construction. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Construction of railway tracks in various sections of the 73.64 kilometer Jayanagar-Janakpur-Kurtha-Bardibas-Nijgadh route is currently underway. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Out of this, 35 kilometers of the Janakpur-Jayanagar section is already operational since the last five months.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> The state-owned railway company of Nepal has reached an agreement with the Indian company Konkan Railway Corporation Limited for the Indian company to operate the trains in Nepal until the government prepares its human resources capable to undertake the responsibility.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Niranjan Jha, general manager of Nepal Railway Company Limited, said that the budget for the current fiscal year, including Rs 48 million due to be paid to Konkan, has not been approved yet. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">An official of the Department of Railways said that the issue of operating trains in Nepal is complicated. "There is no concrete plan yet on how to run the train in the Janakpur-Jayanagar section," said the official. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15721', 'image' => '20220912030858_Railwayy (1).jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 15:07:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15979', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Stakeholders Submit Memo to Foreign Minister Demanding Reopening of Tatopani Border', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: Businessmen of Sindhupalchok Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Nepal Trans Himalayan Border Commerce Association (NTHBCA) have submitted a memorandum to Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Narayan Khadka, requesting the government to reopen the Tatopani border. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 12: Businessmen of Sindhupalchok Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Nepal Trans Himalayan Border Commerce Association (NTHBCA) have submitted a memorandum to Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Narayan Khadka, requesting the government to reopen the Tatopani border. They submitted the memorandum on Sunday asking the government to open the border in order to facilitate in creating a favourable environment for conducting business.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Khadka assured the businessmen while receiving the memo that efforts are being made to open the Tatopani border immediately. He informed that talks are being held with the Chinese authorities to operate the border without any hassles. He also expressed his commitment that the issue of reopening the border will be given priority during the meeting with the Chinese side as well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Foreign Minister Khadka expressed hope of positive outcome in easing supply of goods before Dashain. He said that chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Congress, Li Zhanshu will arrive in Nepal on Monday and pay a courtesy call on Tuesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Discussions are underway to resume import and export with China through the border points. We have been requesting the Chinese side to reopen the border as soon as possible. I will give special emphasis on the opening of the Tatopani border during the courtesy meeting with Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Congress, who is visiting Nepal,” said Minister Khadka.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Nepali Congress leader and former minister Mohan Basnet said that it is not appropriate to shut the border while blaming the rise in Covid-19 infection. He said that the government should take initiative to open the border as soon as possible so that there is no shortage of consumable goods during the upcoming festivals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Recalling that the local residents up to 32 kilometers away from the border crossing had the facility of exemption of customs tax for personal use items before the earthquake, Basnet urged Foreign Minister Khadka to negotiate with the Chinese side to avail the same facility again. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After submitting the memorandum, Ashok Kumar Shrestha, president of NTHBCA, said that they are facing problems in the market management as the Dashain festival is just around the corner while the e border has not reopened fully. He urged the government to take the initiative to open the border as soon as possible since some traders are abandoning their business as they cannot afford the cost because of the delay in arrival of goods from China.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> During the meeting, President of Sindhupalchok Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Hom Bahadur Basnet also emphasized that Tatopani border point should be operated without any hassles. He said that around 200 freight vehicles used to enter the country daily when the checkpoint was operating smoothly. But now, not even 10 of them are allowed entry. He complained that it is very challenging to do business in such situation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15720', 'image' => '20220912021505_Tatopani.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 14:14:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15978', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'More than 1800 Vehicles Stuck in Birgunj due to Import Restriction ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: The restriction imposed by the government on the import of vehicles has caused problems not only to the importers but also to the agencies invilved in trade facilitation.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 12: The restriction imposed by the government on the import of vehicles has caused problems not only to the importers but also to the agencies invilved in trade facilitation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">More than 1,800 vehicles are currently stuck at Birgunj customs, the largest checkpoint in terms of the volume of vehicle import.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The vehicles are stopped at the Integrated Checkpoint (ICP) Customs at Birganj. Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board, which operates the ICP, said that they are facing pressure to manage the parking area of the vehicles and also to ensure safety of the parked vehicles.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Due to the pressure to accommodate increasing number of vehicles, the board is planning to construct a parking lot with a capacity to park 300 more vehicles.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kamal Gyawali, chief of the board, believes that the pressure to manage the vehicles at the ICP will ease after the construction of a new parking lot. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The vehicles that have arrived here have not got customs clearance. The number of vehicles is increasing each day and it is becoming difficult to manage the ICP,” said Gyawali. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Preparations are underway to build a separate warehouse and parking lot at the ICP with support from the World Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Under this plan, warehouse and parking will be prepared in an area of 40,000 square meters, the board said. For this, a team from the World Bank has already conducted an on-site study of the ICP.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In order to reduce the pressure on the foreign exchange reserves, the government had imposed a ban on import of some luxury items including vehicles for personal use. As a result, the cars have been piling up at the customs point after banks stopped credit investment for purchase of vehicles upon instruction from the government. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even the vehicles that arrived at the customs point before the government imposed the restrictions have been held at the customs. As there is no demand for new vehicles in the market at present, the importers have not shown any interest in releasing the vehicles that arrived here before the ban was imposed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Importers have to pay heavy parking fees at ICP. To reduce such expenses, they rented land in the bordering Indian city of Raxaul to store the vehicles.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15719', 'image' => '20220912012041_20220815011457_1660393906.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 13:19:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15977', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Decade Announced for Development of Sustainable Tourism ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: Minister for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation Jeevan Ram Shrestha shared that the incumbent government had introduced the concept of 'Tourism Decade 2023-2032' for development of sustainable tourism. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 12: Minister for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation Jeevan Ram Shrestha shared that the incumbent government had introduced the concept of 'Tourism Decade 2023-2032' for development of sustainable tourism. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at an interaction with the stakeholders on Sunday, Minister Shrestha said that this concept was visualized to revive the tourism industry of Nepal battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that tourism was one of the mainstays of national economy, Minister Shrestha pledged to facilitate the tourism entrepreneurs and also promised policy reforms for the development and promotion of the tourism sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Tourism Secretary Suresh Adhikari shed light on the concept of the Tourism Decade and said that the concept was put in place to earn foreign currencies in the long run. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government aims to attract as many as 3.5 million foreign tourists in Nepal by 2032, according to Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Nepal Tourism Board’s (NTB) CEO Dr Dhananjay Regmi shared that Nepal would reap a lot of benefits from tourism if there was proper coordination among the concerned bodies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Former State Minister for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation Yankila Sherpa urged the government to accord high priority to coordination and collaboration with the private sector for implementing programmes related to tourism promotion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">HAAN President Shreejan Rana recommended the government to introduce action-plans to bring in as many as foreign tourists as possible in Nepal during the Tourism Decade. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15718', 'image' => '20220912114233_Tourist.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 11:42:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15976', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'IBN to Organise Sustainable Infrastructure Investment Forum ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: With a focus on informing potential investors about investment opportunities for sustainable infrastructure in Nepal and to create a conducive environment for investment, the Investment Board Nepal is organising the Sustainable Infrastructure Investment Forum on September 14. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 12: With a focus on informing potential investors about investment opportunities for sustainable infrastructure in Nepal and to create a conducive environment for investment, the Investment Board Nepal is organising the Sustainable Infrastructure Investment Forum on September 14. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The key objective of the forum is to explore ways on how foreign investment could be made more reliable and systematic in the country while ensuring sustainability of the development process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Organising a news conference on Sunday, Chief Executive Officer of the board Sushil Bhatta said the forum would discuss the ideas of making development and construction works sustainable while making it green, resilient and inclusive. He added that the forum would be a cornerstone for resource mobilisation to achieve the net-zero carbon emissions as committed by Nepal in the COP-26. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is scheduled to inaugurate the forum, informed the board's Spokesperson Amrit Lamsal. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15717', 'image' => '20220912112957_20210823044910_MG_3290.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 11:29:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15975', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Madras Security Printers Blamed for Technical Issues in Printing Smart License ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: Chennai-based Madras Security Printers, which was awarded the contract to facilitate the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) to issue smart driving license, has failed to deliver its services as per the agreement.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 11: Chennai-based Madras Security Printers, which was awarded the contract to facilitate the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) to issue smart driving license, has failed to deliver its services as per the agreement. According to the department, they are still awaiting for the company to develop the software system to a full scale. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The company’s failure to deliver the service as per the agreement has caused delay in the printing and distribution of smart driving license cards, according to the department. </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 department claimed that it has already paid 90 percent of the contract amount equivalent to Rs 700 billion to the company, but it has failed to deliver the system as per the agreement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The department’s computer engineer Suraj Prasad Aryal shared that the DoTM has already informed the Indian company about technical issues it is facing in the smart card software system. Though the company was urged to send a technical team here to fix the issues, it did not find it necessary to respond to the call. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A letter dispatched by the department to the company states that TMO /TMSO and modules are not functioning properly, there is a problem for the online payment of tax and insurance and it is tackling with a software bug and loopholes in the security system. Moreover, the security audit of electronic driving license is yet to be carried out. Due to these reasons, the Department's Online System (EDL and VRS) remains non-functional. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, work on 18 TMS has also not moved ahead as the company has not sent the skilled human resources required for technical assistance as per the agreement. The company has to provide the software project manager, senior and junior Web Java programmer, database specialist and quality assurance specialist, but it has not completed its obligation till now. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Not only this, the company has also not fully handed over the software and hardware necessary for online renewal of the driving license and vehicle registration. The DoTM has alleged that it is facing problems frequently due to this reason. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15716', 'image' => '20220911054844_Smart-driving-licence-specimen.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 17:47:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15974', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepali Exporters show Lack of Interest to Export Goods using Gautam Buddha Int’l Airport', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: Cargo materials were exported for the first time using Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport on July 27. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 11: Cargo materials were exported for the first time using Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport on July 27. Himalex Traders of Kathmandu had exported Nepali products through Rising Star Cargo Pvt. Ltd using the newly-built airport. The consignment of handicraft items was sent to France through a transit in Kuwait by Jazeera Airways. Since then, none other goods have been exported through the airport.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Export of goods from the airport has not increased due to lack of interest among the businessmen. Although the exporters are using the Tribhuvan International Airport to export Nepali goods abroad, hardly anyone is interested in Bhairahawa Airport.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Freight Forwarders Association’s President Manoj Adhikari says that the exporters have shown little interest in using Bhairahawa-based airport for export although it has all necessary infrastructure to export their products.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We cannot expect businessmen from Kathmandu to use this airport to export goods. The private sector of this area should take initiative to export goods using this airport,” says Adhikari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We have to identify the local products and export them through this airport,” he added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Rupandehi district is best knowngreen vegetables and fishery. Adhikari says that vegetables, medicinal herbs, coffee, noodles, and flour can be exported through this airport. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He argues that the stakeholders need to identify the products that have good potential for export and focus on production of those goods. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“NFFA is ready to facilitate the identification of the goods that have high potential for export,” says Adhikari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The airport has a capacity to import/export up to 500 tons of goods per day for the time being. However, exporters of this area are also using Kathmandu-based Tribhuvan International Airport instead of this airport, says Adhikari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> Bhishma Neupane, chairman of Siddhartha Industry and Commerce Association, says that the industrialists are confused what should they export from this airport.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Neupane argues that the industrialists and businessmen are in dilemma because the airport has just come into operation. The businessmen say that there are still many legal hurdles to export goods from this airport. They say that the airport lacks cold storage to export green vegetables and also customs point for export.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, chief of the Gautam Buddha International Airport Customs Office Tikaram Gaire says that the airport is fully prepared to handle export and import of goods. He says that there is no hurdle for foreign trade through this airport. The storage house in the airport will come into operation soon, says Gaire.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Only one airline company – Jazeera Airways – has been operating regular flights using this airport which came into operation on May 16 this year. The airline company has been conducting three flights a week between Bhairahawa and Kuwait.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The airport has announced various concessions to attract more airline companies. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15715', 'image' => '20220911045302_GBIAAA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 16:52:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15973', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘Government’s Apathy led to Downfall of Ready-made Garment Industry’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: Stakeholders have complained that the government has been ignoring the ready-made garment industry of Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 11: Stakeholders have complained that the government has been ignoring the ready-made garment industry of Nepal. The ready-made garment manufacturers of the country made such remark during the 28<sup>th</sup> Annual General Assembly of Nepal Ready-made Garment Industry Association. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking on the occasion, Senior Vice President of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Chandra Prasad Dhakal said that the government has not given as much priority to the ready-made garment industry as it used to give some 30 to 35 years ago. He is of the view that the garment industry can contribute a lot to the economy if the government gives as much priority to this sector as it used to give about three decades ago.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">President of the association Chandi Prasad Aryal said that the government’s apathy has led to the downfall of the readymade garment industry which once exported goods worth USD 400 million a year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the association, Nepal’s annual export of ready-made goods in the fiscal year 2020/21 was worth Rs 5.31 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Bangladesh, which started exporting ready-made garment around the same time along with Nepal, exported goods worth Rs 35 billion during fiscal year 2020/21, said Aryal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He urged the government to develop infrastructure to make the ready-made garment industry more competitive in the market. He said that the concerned ministry as well as prime minister and other concerned bodies are always supportive to their demands but they fail to implement them. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We were given assurance by three different prime ministers to resolve our problems but none of them fulfilled their promises,” said Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Aryal said that the private sector organisations like FNCCI, the Confederation of Nepalese Industry and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce have also turned a deaf ear to the problems of the ready-made garment industry. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Senior Vice President of NCC Kamalesh Agrawal said that it was unfortunate that the export of ready-made garments did not increase even when then value of Nepalese currency depreciated by ten percent. He urged the government to promote this industry by concessions and other facilities. He said that Nepal cannot avail the facilities given to the least developed countries after 2026 and therefore urged the government to initiate bilateral talks with foreign countries based on export potential to ensure Nepal’s access to the international market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu, who was the chief guest of the programme, said that he will work with sincerity to prove the misconception of the private sector regarding the government wrong.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“You might have been complaining based on your past experience. But I will prove it wrong,” said Minister Badu.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15714', 'image' => '20220911034930_1662888877.tayari.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 15:48:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15972', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '41 Percent Population has Access to Insurance', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: A total of 41 percent of the population has got access to insurance as of mid-August 2022. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 11: A total of 41 percent of the population has got access to insurance as of mid-August 2022. The Insurance Board informed that the interest in insurance is growing among the general public because of the expansion of services of insurance companies and the increase in access due to new schemes.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data published by the board, by mid-August 2022, 41.15 percent of the total population has been included in the insurance schemes of insurance companies. Compared to mid-August 2021, access to insurance among the people has increased by 13.64 percentage points. During the corresponding period of last fiscal year, only 27.51 percent of people had access to insurance.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Insurance Board published the status of access to insurance based on the data collected from insurance companies including term insurance, short term insurance and foreign employment insurance. If the term insurance, short-term insurance and foreign employment life insurance are not included, the access to insurance is limited to just 16.68 percent. Similarly, the access to insurance is 38.26 percent based on the data other than foreign employment life insurance policy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the increase in access to insurance, the lack of liquidity in the financial sector has started affecting the business of insurance companies. Due to the lack of liquidity, the sale of insurance policies and the collection of insurance premiums of the insurance companies are getting affected.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Statistics of the board show that the number of non-life insurance policies decreased by 8.35 percent in mid-August 2022 compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year. In mid-August 2021, non-life insurance companies had issued 241,837 insurance policies, which dropped to 221,642 by mid-August 2022.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although the number of non-life insurance policies have declined, the number of life insurance policies is on the rise. By mid-August 2022, life insurance companies issued a total of 13,089,486 life insurance policies, which were only 8,587,044 in mid-August 2021. Life insurance policies increased by 52.43 percent in a single year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the increase in life insurance policies, the collection of insurance premium of the companies has been affected. The collection of insurance premiums of life insurance companies increased by 9.35 percent, while that of non-life companies increased by 49.68 percent. Compared to mid-August 2021, the total collection of insurance premium of all the insurance companies in mid-August 2022 decreased by 0.34 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data, by mid-August of the current year, insurance companies collected Rs 19.53 billion, which was Rs 19.60 billion in the same period of last year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board informed that by mid-August 2022, the number of offices and employees of insurance companies increased as well. Compared to last year, the number of branch offices increased by 9.57 percent and reached 3,363. Similarly, the number of employees working in insurance companies increased by 8.56 percent and reached 11,530.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15713', 'image' => '20220911020959_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 14:09:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15971', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Infrastructure Summit Concludes', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: The Nepal Infrastructure Summit 2022 concluded on Friday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 11: The Nepal Infrastructure Summit 2022 concluded on Friday. Various issues ranging from roads, railways, and tunnels to industrial infrastructure were discussed during the summit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The 2-day summit held in Kathmandu stressed on the need to set priorities and raise financial resources. On the second day of the conference on Friday, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma said that it is necessary to increase savings to increase domestic investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the summit which was jointly organized by the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport and the Confederation of Nepal Industries (CNI), Minister Sharma said that if 90 per cent of the income is spent there will be no savings.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He also informed that capital market and insurance are going to be linked to infrastructure development with the intention to utilize internal resources for construction. Similarly, Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said that we should work to make Nepal prosperous in 10 years. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"We will have to invest up to 9 per cent of the gross domestic product to build infrastructure," said Karki, adding "The government alone cannot invest in the infrastructure, and we are ready to create an environment for the private sector to invest in infrastructure."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Umesh Shrestha, minister of state at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, emphasized that the thinking of the political leadership and government employees should be changed in order to develop the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bindu Lohani, former vice president of the Asian Development Bank, said Nepal’s investment in the infrastructure sector in proportion to the gross domestic product is the lowest in the Asia Pacific region.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, Deputy Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Bam Bahadur Mishra said that it is not possible to invest long-term loans from bank deposits of unstable nature and emphasized that funds must be raised from other sources including debentures. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"We have made a policy arrangement to keep the interest rate of long-term investment stable," Mishra said, adding "We are trying to create a big bank so that we can invest in big infrastructure projects and arrangements have been made to issue 100 per cent of core capital bonds," said Mishra.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On that occasion, CNI Chairman Bishnu Agarwal said that the summit witnessed intensive discussions on how to build large infrastructure and ways to reduce the cost of business operations by building industrial infrastructure.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He expressed his commitment to take all the suggestions to the regulatory bodies and complete the work to be done on behalf of the private sector. Likewise, he added that many suggestions were received at the summit on how to build infrastructure in the changed context after the coronavirus pandemic.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15712', 'image' => '20220911010405_1662848947.Clipboard05.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 13:03:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15970', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Forest Minister Bats for Green Development', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: Minister for Forest and Environment Pradeep Yadav has stressed on the need to develop green economy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 11: Minister for Forest and Environment Pradeep Yadav has stressed on the need to develop green economy. Speaking at the Nepal Infrastructure Summit-2022 organised by the Confederation of Nepalese Industries, Minister Yadav said that the country needs to adopt a framework to develop green economy in order to achieve development goals through minimum impact to the environment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Developing infrastructure by minimizing impacts on environment is the basis of green development. We need to develop a model for development based on green economy,” said Minister Yadav, adding, “This will ensure development and also protect environment.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The focus of all local units and provincial governments during the last five years was infrastructure development, said Minister Yadav adding that all three tiers of government must now focus on green development. He further s aid that the Covid- 19 pandemic has also taught the same lesson. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The minister said that infrastructure development is the pre-requisite for development of human civilization and economic prosperity. He added that infrastructure development plays a vital role in making human lives comfortable. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The development of Nepal is negligible in terms of quantity and standard compared to the international level. Therefore, infrastructure development must be our first priority for economic prosperity,” said Minister Yadav.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He also said that the stakeholders need to pay special attention in preserving endangered flora and fauna while developing infrastructure in national parks and protected areas. Failing to do so will not ensure sustainable development, said Minister Yadav.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister Yadav added that the Government of Nepal has set an ambitious plan of generating 15000 megawatts of electricity by 2030 and this will serve as a strong basis of green development.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He argued that the country can achieve prosperity if we stress on e-mobility for the operation of transportation and railway services.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister Yadav claimed that the government has already achieved the target of expanding forest areas to 45 percent of the country which was supposed to be met by 2030. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15711', 'image' => '20220911120913_go8922.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 12:08:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15969', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Rice Mills of Nepal in Crisis after India Imposes 20 Percent Customs Duty on Exports', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: Rice traders of Bara and Parsa industrial corridor have said the 20 percent customs duty on export of rice and paddy imposed by India would have direct impact on the Nepali market. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 11: Rice traders of Bara and Parsa industrial corridor have said the 20 percent customs duty on export of rice and paddy imposed by India would have direct impact on the Nepali market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Organizing a press conference in Birgunj on Friday, the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that India recently fixed 20 percent customs duty on the export of paddy and rice. Prior to this, there wasn’t any customs duty on the export of rice and paddy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The chamber said that the 20 percent customs duty imposed by India on rice and paddy export will hit the industries, consumers and the economy of Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal Rice, Oil, Lentil Industries Association’s President Dr Subodh Gupta said India's latest decision is not fair for the industries, traders, consumers and the market of Nepal. Gupta is also the president of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Another rice trader Suresh Rungta expressed concern that the consumers would be hit hardest due to the customs tariff imposed by India on paddy and rice export. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Gupta was worried that this drastic decision of India might lead to a situation in which the rice mills in Nepal will be closed and called on the government to address the problem at the earliest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal has been importing rice worth over Rs 8 billion annually from India. Nepal imported 550,000 metric tonnes of paddy, 520,000 metric tonnes of rice and 50,000 metric tonnes of rice grits from India last year alone. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There are around 2,500 rice industries registered across the country and half of these are already closed. Even those rice industries which are operating are not operating in full capacity due to various reasons. The rice industries of Nepal have been producing 40 percent rice and the rest of the demand is met through imports from India. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15710', 'image' => '20220911105024_640px-Rice_Plants_(IRRI).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 10:49:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15968', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Premier IB Continuum School marks International Literacy Day', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 10: Premier IB Continuum School marked the International Literacy Day 2022 on Thursday by organising a literature festival alongside a food fest.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 10: Premier IB Continuum School marked the International Literacy Day 2022 on Thursday by organising a literature festival alongside a food fest. The school said in a statement that “the wide array of activities, that celebrated international and national literature, kept the students and visitors engaged throughout the day.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the statement, international authors and illustrators including Sally Alstchuler from Denmark, Maria Amelia Jannarelli from Brazil, Lawrence Shimel from Spain and Sassa Buregren from Sweden interacted with students online on a wide variety of subjects. The topics discussed during the online interaction were reading and writing on different themes, how to select a book according to grade level, opportunities and challenges of developing books for children and young adults in the context of developing countries, and much more, added the statement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Besides the international exposure, students got to interact with local celebrities and authors/illustrators through in-person discussions, workshops, and panel discussions,” reads the statement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Some notable examples, according to the school, were a session on music, literature, and social change by popular singer-songwriter Samriddhi Rai, session on understanding poetry by celebrated poet, Viplov Pratik, interesting illustration sessions that encompassed both the historic, mythological and modern by Dhruba Prajapati and Binita Buddhacharya, and an engaging panel discussion on “The art of telling stories through movies’ that included Gaurav Pahari, Bijay Baral, Hem Raj BC. The panel discussion was moderated by Sujan Oli. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The school’s Director Pawitra Limbu had an engaging session with parents on “Bonding with Books”. Also, around 90 students and teachers from Harisiddhi Madhyamik Vidyalaya, Harisiddhi, Prabhat Madhyamik Vidyalaya, Gwarko, and Namuna Machhindra Madhyamik Vidyalaya attended the festival. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the statement, a range of food stalls served delicacies that “everyone enjoyed”. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“One USP of the event was that students could discover that literature and stories are everywhere – in the history of food, music, drama, and movies – and not just limited to books. With enthusiastic involvement and participation of students, parents, special invitees, and partners, this was a day to remember,” added the statement.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-10', 'modified' => '2022-09-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15709', 'image' => '20220910103112_aaaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-10 10:30:29', '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' => '15983', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'China Assures to Clear all Containers Bound for Nepal before Dashain', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 13: China has assured that it will clear all containers bound for Nepal at the earliest before the festive season in Nepal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 13: China has assured that it will clear all containers bound for Nepal at the earliest before the festive season in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">China gave such assurance during an official meeting held between Speaker of the House of Representatives Agni Prasad Sapkota and visiting Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China Li Zhanshu held in Kathmandu on Monday afternoon. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Upon request from Nepal, the Chinese side also assured that it will take necessary measures to address the widening trade gaps between the two countries and encourage its entrepreneurs to invest in Nepal, particularly in areas that support the livelihood of the Nepali people. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the talks, the two dignitaries expressed happiness over the excellent state of bilateral relations and cooperation between Nepal and China and held discussions on different matters of mutual interests. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaker Sapkota reiterated Nepal’s commitment to One-China Policy and not to allow any activity against China in Nepali territory, according to a press statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaker appreciated the people and Government of the China for their generous support and cooperation to Nepal’s development endeavor and expressed hope for an enhanced level of support from China for post-pandemic recovery and other development priorities of Nepal. He added that the people and Government of Nepal are grateful to the Chinese government for providing Nepal with substantial amount of medical supplies, equipment and COVID-19 vaccines. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Li expressed China’s continued support to Nepal’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the meeting, both sides agreed to further strengthen inter-parliamentary exchanges and cooperation. They also underscored the role of Parliamentary Friendship Group in each other’s parliament in further promoting goodwill and understanding between the two legislatures. Li promised to provide assistance to Nepal’s parliament as per its need and requirement at the institution level. The two leaders also exchanged views on the importance of implementing connectivity infrastructures under the Belt and Road Initiative. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Following the bilateral talks, Speaker Sapkota and Li signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Inter-parliamentary Cooperation between the two countries. Later in the evening, Speaker Sapkota hosted a dinner in honour of Li Zhanshu and the visiting delegation. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-13', 'modified' => '2022-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15724', 'image' => '20220913115559_PRO_KTM_AGNISAPKOTA_CHINISEDELAGATE_PARLIAMENTAHOUSE.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-13 11:34:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15981', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Board Preparing to Amend Investment Guidelines', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: The Insurance Board is preparing to change the investment guidelines after insurance companies were found to have deposited most of the amount collected from their clients in fixed deposits accounts of banks. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 12: The Insurance Board is preparing to change the investment guidelines after insurance companies were found to have deposited most of the amount collected from their clients in fixed deposits accounts of banks. The insurance companies complained that they were unable to diversify their investment due to the investment guidelines. Following the grudges of the insurance companies, the Insurance Board decided to amend the guidelines to allow diversify the investment of the companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We received complaints that the insurance companies were unable to invest in sectors like hydropower, agriculture, tourism, infrastructure development and other productive sectors due to the investment guidelines,” said Surya Prasad Silwal, chairman of the Insurance Board.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Therefore, we are preparing to amend the guidelines so that the insurance companies can invest in new areas,” added Silwal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Insurance Board had changed the investment guidelines three years ago and allowed to diversify investment as per the suggestion of the insurance companies. However, they are still unable to invest. As a result, they focused on fixed deposits.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The guidelines issued by the board in March 2019 has opened way to invest in infrastructure and productive sectors such as real estate business, water resources, agriculture, tourism, in addition to fixed deposits and shares. However, insurance companies do not seem to be attracted to other areas except fixed deposits.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Insurance Board, by the end of the fiscal year 2021/22, 19 life insurance companies and 20 non-life insurance companies invested a total of Rs 527.8 billion. Among these investments, 408 billion has invested in fixed deposits of banks and financial institutions. This is 77.48 percent of the total investment of insurance companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The insurance companies have invested only 1.41 percent in infrastructure development which includes investment of Rs 7.14 billion by life insurance companies and Rs 300 million investment by non-life insurance companies. The investment of insurance companies in the real estate sector is negligible.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the guidelines, companies should invest a minimum of 40 percent of their total technical reserve in fixed deposits of commercial and infrastructure banks and a minimum of 5 percent in government bonds. Similarly, a maximum of 20 percent can be invested in development banks and a maximum of 10 percent in finance companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, they can invest up to 5 percent in real estate business, up to 10 percent in ordinary shares of listed companies, up to 20 percent in preference shares, up to 20 percent in shares of listed companies, up to 20 percent in infrastructure including agriculture, tourism and water resources, and up to 5 percent in Citizens Investment Trust and mutual funds.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15722', 'image' => '20220912041127_20220907110038_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 16:10:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15980', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Railway Route Full of Problems ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: A parliamentary panel has found various problems related to the under-construction railway tracks in different sections of Janakpur-Kurtha-Bardibas-Nijgarh route as well as the 35-Kilometer Janakpur-Jayanagar route which is already operational.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 12: A parliamentary panel has found various problems related to the under-construction railway tracks in different sections of Janakpur-Kurtha-Bardibas-Nijgarh route as well as the 35-Kilometer Janakpur-Jayanagar route which is already operational. The workers engaged in the construction of the railway track are not being paid on time, states a report prepared by the Development and Technology Committee of the House of Representatives. As per the report, other major problems include the use of substandard materials in the construction of the trackbed and land encroachment in different places.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The report prepared by a delegation of the House Committee, which visited Janakpur-Jayanagar and Janakpur-Kurtha-Bardibas-Nijgarh sections in August, has pointed out more than a dozen such problems. The report has also pointed out problems like land acquisition for the construction of a bridge in Bardibas, distribution of compensation, and deforestation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Problems like acquisition of public land and community forests have also surfaced while constructing a 30 km trackbed in Sarlahi. This has delayed the construction itself. Out of the 18 km trackbed under construction in Mahottari, 3.1 km of the trackbed has problem in acquisition of public land.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The parliamentary committee found that the builders who were entrusted with the construction of this section of track handed over the construction work to local builders. The report further states that the quality of trackbed is questionable.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The parliamentary team led by chairperson of the committee Kalyani Kumari Khadka had made an on-site inspection of this section on August 21, 22 and 23. The report also mentions that the quality of work has been compromised due to the workers abandoning the work abruptly after they were not paid on time. Also, the construction materials were not readily available for the construction. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Construction of railway tracks in various sections of the 73.64 kilometer Jayanagar-Janakpur-Kurtha-Bardibas-Nijgadh route is currently underway. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Out of this, 35 kilometers of the Janakpur-Jayanagar section is already operational since the last five months.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> The state-owned railway company of Nepal has reached an agreement with the Indian company Konkan Railway Corporation Limited for the Indian company to operate the trains in Nepal until the government prepares its human resources capable to undertake the responsibility.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Niranjan Jha, general manager of Nepal Railway Company Limited, said that the budget for the current fiscal year, including Rs 48 million due to be paid to Konkan, has not been approved yet. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">An official of the Department of Railways said that the issue of operating trains in Nepal is complicated. "There is no concrete plan yet on how to run the train in the Janakpur-Jayanagar section," said the official. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15721', 'image' => '20220912030858_Railwayy (1).jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 15:07:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15979', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Stakeholders Submit Memo to Foreign Minister Demanding Reopening of Tatopani Border', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: Businessmen of Sindhupalchok Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Nepal Trans Himalayan Border Commerce Association (NTHBCA) have submitted a memorandum to Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Narayan Khadka, requesting the government to reopen the Tatopani border. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 12: Businessmen of Sindhupalchok Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Nepal Trans Himalayan Border Commerce Association (NTHBCA) have submitted a memorandum to Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Narayan Khadka, requesting the government to reopen the Tatopani border. They submitted the memorandum on Sunday asking the government to open the border in order to facilitate in creating a favourable environment for conducting business.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Khadka assured the businessmen while receiving the memo that efforts are being made to open the Tatopani border immediately. He informed that talks are being held with the Chinese authorities to operate the border without any hassles. He also expressed his commitment that the issue of reopening the border will be given priority during the meeting with the Chinese side as well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Foreign Minister Khadka expressed hope of positive outcome in easing supply of goods before Dashain. He said that chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Congress, Li Zhanshu will arrive in Nepal on Monday and pay a courtesy call on Tuesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Discussions are underway to resume import and export with China through the border points. We have been requesting the Chinese side to reopen the border as soon as possible. I will give special emphasis on the opening of the Tatopani border during the courtesy meeting with Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Congress, who is visiting Nepal,” said Minister Khadka.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Nepali Congress leader and former minister Mohan Basnet said that it is not appropriate to shut the border while blaming the rise in Covid-19 infection. He said that the government should take initiative to open the border as soon as possible so that there is no shortage of consumable goods during the upcoming festivals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Recalling that the local residents up to 32 kilometers away from the border crossing had the facility of exemption of customs tax for personal use items before the earthquake, Basnet urged Foreign Minister Khadka to negotiate with the Chinese side to avail the same facility again. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After submitting the memorandum, Ashok Kumar Shrestha, president of NTHBCA, said that they are facing problems in the market management as the Dashain festival is just around the corner while the e border has not reopened fully. He urged the government to take the initiative to open the border as soon as possible since some traders are abandoning their business as they cannot afford the cost because of the delay in arrival of goods from China.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> During the meeting, President of Sindhupalchok Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Hom Bahadur Basnet also emphasized that Tatopani border point should be operated without any hassles. He said that around 200 freight vehicles used to enter the country daily when the checkpoint was operating smoothly. But now, not even 10 of them are allowed entry. He complained that it is very challenging to do business in such situation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15720', 'image' => '20220912021505_Tatopani.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 14:14:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15978', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'More than 1800 Vehicles Stuck in Birgunj due to Import Restriction ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: The restriction imposed by the government on the import of vehicles has caused problems not only to the importers but also to the agencies invilved in trade facilitation.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 12: The restriction imposed by the government on the import of vehicles has caused problems not only to the importers but also to the agencies invilved in trade facilitation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">More than 1,800 vehicles are currently stuck at Birgunj customs, the largest checkpoint in terms of the volume of vehicle import.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The vehicles are stopped at the Integrated Checkpoint (ICP) Customs at Birganj. Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board, which operates the ICP, said that they are facing pressure to manage the parking area of the vehicles and also to ensure safety of the parked vehicles.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Due to the pressure to accommodate increasing number of vehicles, the board is planning to construct a parking lot with a capacity to park 300 more vehicles.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kamal Gyawali, chief of the board, believes that the pressure to manage the vehicles at the ICP will ease after the construction of a new parking lot. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The vehicles that have arrived here have not got customs clearance. The number of vehicles is increasing each day and it is becoming difficult to manage the ICP,” said Gyawali. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Preparations are underway to build a separate warehouse and parking lot at the ICP with support from the World Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Under this plan, warehouse and parking will be prepared in an area of 40,000 square meters, the board said. For this, a team from the World Bank has already conducted an on-site study of the ICP.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In order to reduce the pressure on the foreign exchange reserves, the government had imposed a ban on import of some luxury items including vehicles for personal use. As a result, the cars have been piling up at the customs point after banks stopped credit investment for purchase of vehicles upon instruction from the government. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even the vehicles that arrived at the customs point before the government imposed the restrictions have been held at the customs. As there is no demand for new vehicles in the market at present, the importers have not shown any interest in releasing the vehicles that arrived here before the ban was imposed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Importers have to pay heavy parking fees at ICP. To reduce such expenses, they rented land in the bordering Indian city of Raxaul to store the vehicles.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15719', 'image' => '20220912012041_20220815011457_1660393906.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 13:19:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15977', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Decade Announced for Development of Sustainable Tourism ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: Minister for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation Jeevan Ram Shrestha shared that the incumbent government had introduced the concept of 'Tourism Decade 2023-2032' for development of sustainable tourism. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 12: Minister for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation Jeevan Ram Shrestha shared that the incumbent government had introduced the concept of 'Tourism Decade 2023-2032' for development of sustainable tourism. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at an interaction with the stakeholders on Sunday, Minister Shrestha said that this concept was visualized to revive the tourism industry of Nepal battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that tourism was one of the mainstays of national economy, Minister Shrestha pledged to facilitate the tourism entrepreneurs and also promised policy reforms for the development and promotion of the tourism sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Tourism Secretary Suresh Adhikari shed light on the concept of the Tourism Decade and said that the concept was put in place to earn foreign currencies in the long run. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government aims to attract as many as 3.5 million foreign tourists in Nepal by 2032, according to Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Nepal Tourism Board’s (NTB) CEO Dr Dhananjay Regmi shared that Nepal would reap a lot of benefits from tourism if there was proper coordination among the concerned bodies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Former State Minister for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation Yankila Sherpa urged the government to accord high priority to coordination and collaboration with the private sector for implementing programmes related to tourism promotion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">HAAN President Shreejan Rana recommended the government to introduce action-plans to bring in as many as foreign tourists as possible in Nepal during the Tourism Decade. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15718', 'image' => '20220912114233_Tourist.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 11:42:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15976', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'IBN to Organise Sustainable Infrastructure Investment Forum ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: With a focus on informing potential investors about investment opportunities for sustainable infrastructure in Nepal and to create a conducive environment for investment, the Investment Board Nepal is organising the Sustainable Infrastructure Investment Forum on September 14. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 12: With a focus on informing potential investors about investment opportunities for sustainable infrastructure in Nepal and to create a conducive environment for investment, the Investment Board Nepal is organising the Sustainable Infrastructure Investment Forum on September 14. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The key objective of the forum is to explore ways on how foreign investment could be made more reliable and systematic in the country while ensuring sustainability of the development process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Organising a news conference on Sunday, Chief Executive Officer of the board Sushil Bhatta said the forum would discuss the ideas of making development and construction works sustainable while making it green, resilient and inclusive. He added that the forum would be a cornerstone for resource mobilisation to achieve the net-zero carbon emissions as committed by Nepal in the COP-26. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is scheduled to inaugurate the forum, informed the board's Spokesperson Amrit Lamsal. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15717', 'image' => '20220912112957_20210823044910_MG_3290.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 11:29:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15975', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Madras Security Printers Blamed for Technical Issues in Printing Smart License ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: Chennai-based Madras Security Printers, which was awarded the contract to facilitate the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) to issue smart driving license, has failed to deliver its services as per the agreement.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 11: Chennai-based Madras Security Printers, which was awarded the contract to facilitate the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) to issue smart driving license, has failed to deliver its services as per the agreement. According to the department, they are still awaiting for the company to develop the software system to a full scale. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The company’s failure to deliver the service as per the agreement has caused delay in the printing and distribution of smart driving license cards, according to the department. </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 department claimed that it has already paid 90 percent of the contract amount equivalent to Rs 700 billion to the company, but it has failed to deliver the system as per the agreement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The department’s computer engineer Suraj Prasad Aryal shared that the DoTM has already informed the Indian company about technical issues it is facing in the smart card software system. Though the company was urged to send a technical team here to fix the issues, it did not find it necessary to respond to the call. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A letter dispatched by the department to the company states that TMO /TMSO and modules are not functioning properly, there is a problem for the online payment of tax and insurance and it is tackling with a software bug and loopholes in the security system. Moreover, the security audit of electronic driving license is yet to be carried out. Due to these reasons, the Department's Online System (EDL and VRS) remains non-functional. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, work on 18 TMS has also not moved ahead as the company has not sent the skilled human resources required for technical assistance as per the agreement. The company has to provide the software project manager, senior and junior Web Java programmer, database specialist and quality assurance specialist, but it has not completed its obligation till now. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Not only this, the company has also not fully handed over the software and hardware necessary for online renewal of the driving license and vehicle registration. The DoTM has alleged that it is facing problems frequently due to this reason. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15716', 'image' => '20220911054844_Smart-driving-licence-specimen.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 17:47:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15974', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepali Exporters show Lack of Interest to Export Goods using Gautam Buddha Int’l Airport', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: Cargo materials were exported for the first time using Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport on July 27. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 11: Cargo materials were exported for the first time using Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport on July 27. Himalex Traders of Kathmandu had exported Nepali products through Rising Star Cargo Pvt. Ltd using the newly-built airport. The consignment of handicraft items was sent to France through a transit in Kuwait by Jazeera Airways. Since then, none other goods have been exported through the airport.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Export of goods from the airport has not increased due to lack of interest among the businessmen. Although the exporters are using the Tribhuvan International Airport to export Nepali goods abroad, hardly anyone is interested in Bhairahawa Airport.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Freight Forwarders Association’s President Manoj Adhikari says that the exporters have shown little interest in using Bhairahawa-based airport for export although it has all necessary infrastructure to export their products.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We cannot expect businessmen from Kathmandu to use this airport to export goods. The private sector of this area should take initiative to export goods using this airport,” says Adhikari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We have to identify the local products and export them through this airport,” he added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Rupandehi district is best knowngreen vegetables and fishery. Adhikari says that vegetables, medicinal herbs, coffee, noodles, and flour can be exported through this airport. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He argues that the stakeholders need to identify the products that have good potential for export and focus on production of those goods. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“NFFA is ready to facilitate the identification of the goods that have high potential for export,” says Adhikari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The airport has a capacity to import/export up to 500 tons of goods per day for the time being. However, exporters of this area are also using Kathmandu-based Tribhuvan International Airport instead of this airport, says Adhikari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> Bhishma Neupane, chairman of Siddhartha Industry and Commerce Association, says that the industrialists are confused what should they export from this airport.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Neupane argues that the industrialists and businessmen are in dilemma because the airport has just come into operation. The businessmen say that there are still many legal hurdles to export goods from this airport. They say that the airport lacks cold storage to export green vegetables and also customs point for export.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, chief of the Gautam Buddha International Airport Customs Office Tikaram Gaire says that the airport is fully prepared to handle export and import of goods. He says that there is no hurdle for foreign trade through this airport. The storage house in the airport will come into operation soon, says Gaire.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Only one airline company – Jazeera Airways – has been operating regular flights using this airport which came into operation on May 16 this year. The airline company has been conducting three flights a week between Bhairahawa and Kuwait.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The airport has announced various concessions to attract more airline companies. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15715', 'image' => '20220911045302_GBIAAA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 16:52:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15973', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘Government’s Apathy led to Downfall of Ready-made Garment Industry’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: Stakeholders have complained that the government has been ignoring the ready-made garment industry of Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 11: Stakeholders have complained that the government has been ignoring the ready-made garment industry of Nepal. The ready-made garment manufacturers of the country made such remark during the 28<sup>th</sup> Annual General Assembly of Nepal Ready-made Garment Industry Association. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking on the occasion, Senior Vice President of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Chandra Prasad Dhakal said that the government has not given as much priority to the ready-made garment industry as it used to give some 30 to 35 years ago. He is of the view that the garment industry can contribute a lot to the economy if the government gives as much priority to this sector as it used to give about three decades ago.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">President of the association Chandi Prasad Aryal said that the government’s apathy has led to the downfall of the readymade garment industry which once exported goods worth USD 400 million a year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the association, Nepal’s annual export of ready-made goods in the fiscal year 2020/21 was worth Rs 5.31 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Bangladesh, which started exporting ready-made garment around the same time along with Nepal, exported goods worth Rs 35 billion during fiscal year 2020/21, said Aryal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He urged the government to develop infrastructure to make the ready-made garment industry more competitive in the market. He said that the concerned ministry as well as prime minister and other concerned bodies are always supportive to their demands but they fail to implement them. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We were given assurance by three different prime ministers to resolve our problems but none of them fulfilled their promises,” said Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Aryal said that the private sector organisations like FNCCI, the Confederation of Nepalese Industry and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce have also turned a deaf ear to the problems of the ready-made garment industry. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Senior Vice President of NCC Kamalesh Agrawal said that it was unfortunate that the export of ready-made garments did not increase even when then value of Nepalese currency depreciated by ten percent. He urged the government to promote this industry by concessions and other facilities. He said that Nepal cannot avail the facilities given to the least developed countries after 2026 and therefore urged the government to initiate bilateral talks with foreign countries based on export potential to ensure Nepal’s access to the international market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu, who was the chief guest of the programme, said that he will work with sincerity to prove the misconception of the private sector regarding the government wrong.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“You might have been complaining based on your past experience. But I will prove it wrong,” said Minister Badu.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15714', 'image' => '20220911034930_1662888877.tayari.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 15:48:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15972', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '41 Percent Population has Access to Insurance', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: A total of 41 percent of the population has got access to insurance as of mid-August 2022. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 11: A total of 41 percent of the population has got access to insurance as of mid-August 2022. The Insurance Board informed that the interest in insurance is growing among the general public because of the expansion of services of insurance companies and the increase in access due to new schemes.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data published by the board, by mid-August 2022, 41.15 percent of the total population has been included in the insurance schemes of insurance companies. Compared to mid-August 2021, access to insurance among the people has increased by 13.64 percentage points. During the corresponding period of last fiscal year, only 27.51 percent of people had access to insurance.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Insurance Board published the status of access to insurance based on the data collected from insurance companies including term insurance, short term insurance and foreign employment insurance. If the term insurance, short-term insurance and foreign employment life insurance are not included, the access to insurance is limited to just 16.68 percent. Similarly, the access to insurance is 38.26 percent based on the data other than foreign employment life insurance policy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the increase in access to insurance, the lack of liquidity in the financial sector has started affecting the business of insurance companies. Due to the lack of liquidity, the sale of insurance policies and the collection of insurance premiums of the insurance companies are getting affected.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Statistics of the board show that the number of non-life insurance policies decreased by 8.35 percent in mid-August 2022 compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year. In mid-August 2021, non-life insurance companies had issued 241,837 insurance policies, which dropped to 221,642 by mid-August 2022.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although the number of non-life insurance policies have declined, the number of life insurance policies is on the rise. By mid-August 2022, life insurance companies issued a total of 13,089,486 life insurance policies, which were only 8,587,044 in mid-August 2021. Life insurance policies increased by 52.43 percent in a single year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the increase in life insurance policies, the collection of insurance premium of the companies has been affected. The collection of insurance premiums of life insurance companies increased by 9.35 percent, while that of non-life companies increased by 49.68 percent. Compared to mid-August 2021, the total collection of insurance premium of all the insurance companies in mid-August 2022 decreased by 0.34 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data, by mid-August of the current year, insurance companies collected Rs 19.53 billion, which was Rs 19.60 billion in the same period of last year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board informed that by mid-August 2022, the number of offices and employees of insurance companies increased as well. Compared to last year, the number of branch offices increased by 9.57 percent and reached 3,363. Similarly, the number of employees working in insurance companies increased by 8.56 percent and reached 11,530.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15713', 'image' => '20220911020959_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 14:09:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15971', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Infrastructure Summit Concludes', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: The Nepal Infrastructure Summit 2022 concluded on Friday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 11: The Nepal Infrastructure Summit 2022 concluded on Friday. Various issues ranging from roads, railways, and tunnels to industrial infrastructure were discussed during the summit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The 2-day summit held in Kathmandu stressed on the need to set priorities and raise financial resources. On the second day of the conference on Friday, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma said that it is necessary to increase savings to increase domestic investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the summit which was jointly organized by the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport and the Confederation of Nepal Industries (CNI), Minister Sharma said that if 90 per cent of the income is spent there will be no savings.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He also informed that capital market and insurance are going to be linked to infrastructure development with the intention to utilize internal resources for construction. Similarly, Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said that we should work to make Nepal prosperous in 10 years. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"We will have to invest up to 9 per cent of the gross domestic product to build infrastructure," said Karki, adding "The government alone cannot invest in the infrastructure, and we are ready to create an environment for the private sector to invest in infrastructure."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Umesh Shrestha, minister of state at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, emphasized that the thinking of the political leadership and government employees should be changed in order to develop the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bindu Lohani, former vice president of the Asian Development Bank, said Nepal’s investment in the infrastructure sector in proportion to the gross domestic product is the lowest in the Asia Pacific region.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, Deputy Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Bam Bahadur Mishra said that it is not possible to invest long-term loans from bank deposits of unstable nature and emphasized that funds must be raised from other sources including debentures. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"We have made a policy arrangement to keep the interest rate of long-term investment stable," Mishra said, adding "We are trying to create a big bank so that we can invest in big infrastructure projects and arrangements have been made to issue 100 per cent of core capital bonds," said Mishra.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On that occasion, CNI Chairman Bishnu Agarwal said that the summit witnessed intensive discussions on how to build large infrastructure and ways to reduce the cost of business operations by building industrial infrastructure.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He expressed his commitment to take all the suggestions to the regulatory bodies and complete the work to be done on behalf of the private sector. Likewise, he added that many suggestions were received at the summit on how to build infrastructure in the changed context after the coronavirus pandemic.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15712', 'image' => '20220911010405_1662848947.Clipboard05.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 13:03:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15970', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Forest Minister Bats for Green Development', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: Minister for Forest and Environment Pradeep Yadav has stressed on the need to develop green economy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 11: Minister for Forest and Environment Pradeep Yadav has stressed on the need to develop green economy. Speaking at the Nepal Infrastructure Summit-2022 organised by the Confederation of Nepalese Industries, Minister Yadav said that the country needs to adopt a framework to develop green economy in order to achieve development goals through minimum impact to the environment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Developing infrastructure by minimizing impacts on environment is the basis of green development. We need to develop a model for development based on green economy,” said Minister Yadav, adding, “This will ensure development and also protect environment.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The focus of all local units and provincial governments during the last five years was infrastructure development, said Minister Yadav adding that all three tiers of government must now focus on green development. He further s aid that the Covid- 19 pandemic has also taught the same lesson. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The minister said that infrastructure development is the pre-requisite for development of human civilization and economic prosperity. He added that infrastructure development plays a vital role in making human lives comfortable. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The development of Nepal is negligible in terms of quantity and standard compared to the international level. Therefore, infrastructure development must be our first priority for economic prosperity,” said Minister Yadav.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He also said that the stakeholders need to pay special attention in preserving endangered flora and fauna while developing infrastructure in national parks and protected areas. Failing to do so will not ensure sustainable development, said Minister Yadav.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister Yadav added that the Government of Nepal has set an ambitious plan of generating 15000 megawatts of electricity by 2030 and this will serve as a strong basis of green development.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He argued that the country can achieve prosperity if we stress on e-mobility for the operation of transportation and railway services.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister Yadav claimed that the government has already achieved the target of expanding forest areas to 45 percent of the country which was supposed to be met by 2030. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15711', 'image' => '20220911120913_go8922.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 12:08:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15969', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Rice Mills of Nepal in Crisis after India Imposes 20 Percent Customs Duty on Exports', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: Rice traders of Bara and Parsa industrial corridor have said the 20 percent customs duty on export of rice and paddy imposed by India would have direct impact on the Nepali market. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 11: Rice traders of Bara and Parsa industrial corridor have said the 20 percent customs duty on export of rice and paddy imposed by India would have direct impact on the Nepali market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Organizing a press conference in Birgunj on Friday, the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that India recently fixed 20 percent customs duty on the export of paddy and rice. Prior to this, there wasn’t any customs duty on the export of rice and paddy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The chamber said that the 20 percent customs duty imposed by India on rice and paddy export will hit the industries, consumers and the economy of Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal Rice, Oil, Lentil Industries Association’s President Dr Subodh Gupta said India's latest decision is not fair for the industries, traders, consumers and the market of Nepal. Gupta is also the president of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Another rice trader Suresh Rungta expressed concern that the consumers would be hit hardest due to the customs tariff imposed by India on paddy and rice export. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Gupta was worried that this drastic decision of India might lead to a situation in which the rice mills in Nepal will be closed and called on the government to address the problem at the earliest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal has been importing rice worth over Rs 8 billion annually from India. Nepal imported 550,000 metric tonnes of paddy, 520,000 metric tonnes of rice and 50,000 metric tonnes of rice grits from India last year alone. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There are around 2,500 rice industries registered across the country and half of these are already closed. Even those rice industries which are operating are not operating in full capacity due to various reasons. The rice industries of Nepal have been producing 40 percent rice and the rest of the demand is met through imports from India. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15710', 'image' => '20220911105024_640px-Rice_Plants_(IRRI).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 10:49:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15968', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Premier IB Continuum School marks International Literacy Day', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 10: Premier IB Continuum School marked the International Literacy Day 2022 on Thursday by organising a literature festival alongside a food fest.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 10: Premier IB Continuum School marked the International Literacy Day 2022 on Thursday by organising a literature festival alongside a food fest. The school said in a statement that “the wide array of activities, that celebrated international and national literature, kept the students and visitors engaged throughout the day.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the statement, international authors and illustrators including Sally Alstchuler from Denmark, Maria Amelia Jannarelli from Brazil, Lawrence Shimel from Spain and Sassa Buregren from Sweden interacted with students online on a wide variety of subjects. The topics discussed during the online interaction were reading and writing on different themes, how to select a book according to grade level, opportunities and challenges of developing books for children and young adults in the context of developing countries, and much more, added the statement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Besides the international exposure, students got to interact with local celebrities and authors/illustrators through in-person discussions, workshops, and panel discussions,” reads the statement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Some notable examples, according to the school, were a session on music, literature, and social change by popular singer-songwriter Samriddhi Rai, session on understanding poetry by celebrated poet, Viplov Pratik, interesting illustration sessions that encompassed both the historic, mythological and modern by Dhruba Prajapati and Binita Buddhacharya, and an engaging panel discussion on “The art of telling stories through movies’ that included Gaurav Pahari, Bijay Baral, Hem Raj BC. The panel discussion was moderated by Sujan Oli. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The school’s Director Pawitra Limbu had an engaging session with parents on “Bonding with Books”. Also, around 90 students and teachers from Harisiddhi Madhyamik Vidyalaya, Harisiddhi, Prabhat Madhyamik Vidyalaya, Gwarko, and Namuna Machhindra Madhyamik Vidyalaya attended the festival. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the statement, a range of food stalls served delicacies that “everyone enjoyed”. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“One USP of the event was that students could discover that literature and stories are everywhere – in the history of food, music, drama, and movies – and not just limited to books. With enthusiastic involvement and participation of students, parents, special invitees, and partners, this was a day to remember,” added the statement.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-10', 'modified' => '2022-09-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15709', 'image' => '20220910103112_aaaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-10 10:30:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15983', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'China Assures to Clear all Containers Bound for Nepal before Dashain', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 13: China has assured that it will clear all containers bound for Nepal at the earliest before the festive season in Nepal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 13: China has assured that it will clear all containers bound for Nepal at the earliest before the festive season in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">China gave such assurance during an official meeting held between Speaker of the House of Representatives Agni Prasad Sapkota and visiting Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China Li Zhanshu held in Kathmandu on Monday afternoon. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Upon request from Nepal, the Chinese side also assured that it will take necessary measures to address the widening trade gaps between the two countries and encourage its entrepreneurs to invest in Nepal, particularly in areas that support the livelihood of the Nepali people. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the talks, the two dignitaries expressed happiness over the excellent state of bilateral relations and cooperation between Nepal and China and held discussions on different matters of mutual interests. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaker Sapkota reiterated Nepal’s commitment to One-China Policy and not to allow any activity against China in Nepali territory, according to a press statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaker appreciated the people and Government of the China for their generous support and cooperation to Nepal’s development endeavor and expressed hope for an enhanced level of support from China for post-pandemic recovery and other development priorities of Nepal. He added that the people and Government of Nepal are grateful to the Chinese government for providing Nepal with substantial amount of medical supplies, equipment and COVID-19 vaccines. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Li expressed China’s continued support to Nepal’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the meeting, both sides agreed to further strengthen inter-parliamentary exchanges and cooperation. They also underscored the role of Parliamentary Friendship Group in each other’s parliament in further promoting goodwill and understanding between the two legislatures. Li promised to provide assistance to Nepal’s parliament as per its need and requirement at the institution level. The two leaders also exchanged views on the importance of implementing connectivity infrastructures under the Belt and Road Initiative. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Following the bilateral talks, Speaker Sapkota and Li signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Inter-parliamentary Cooperation between the two countries. Later in the evening, Speaker Sapkota hosted a dinner in honour of Li Zhanshu and the visiting delegation. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-13', 'modified' => '2022-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15724', 'image' => '20220913115559_PRO_KTM_AGNISAPKOTA_CHINISEDELAGATE_PARLIAMENTAHOUSE.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-13 11:34:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15981', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Board Preparing to Amend Investment Guidelines', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: The Insurance Board is preparing to change the investment guidelines after insurance companies were found to have deposited most of the amount collected from their clients in fixed deposits accounts of banks. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 12: The Insurance Board is preparing to change the investment guidelines after insurance companies were found to have deposited most of the amount collected from their clients in fixed deposits accounts of banks. The insurance companies complained that they were unable to diversify their investment due to the investment guidelines. Following the grudges of the insurance companies, the Insurance Board decided to amend the guidelines to allow diversify the investment of the companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We received complaints that the insurance companies were unable to invest in sectors like hydropower, agriculture, tourism, infrastructure development and other productive sectors due to the investment guidelines,” said Surya Prasad Silwal, chairman of the Insurance Board.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Therefore, we are preparing to amend the guidelines so that the insurance companies can invest in new areas,” added Silwal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Insurance Board had changed the investment guidelines three years ago and allowed to diversify investment as per the suggestion of the insurance companies. However, they are still unable to invest. As a result, they focused on fixed deposits.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The guidelines issued by the board in March 2019 has opened way to invest in infrastructure and productive sectors such as real estate business, water resources, agriculture, tourism, in addition to fixed deposits and shares. However, insurance companies do not seem to be attracted to other areas except fixed deposits.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Insurance Board, by the end of the fiscal year 2021/22, 19 life insurance companies and 20 non-life insurance companies invested a total of Rs 527.8 billion. Among these investments, 408 billion has invested in fixed deposits of banks and financial institutions. This is 77.48 percent of the total investment of insurance companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The insurance companies have invested only 1.41 percent in infrastructure development which includes investment of Rs 7.14 billion by life insurance companies and Rs 300 million investment by non-life insurance companies. The investment of insurance companies in the real estate sector is negligible.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the guidelines, companies should invest a minimum of 40 percent of their total technical reserve in fixed deposits of commercial and infrastructure banks and a minimum of 5 percent in government bonds. Similarly, a maximum of 20 percent can be invested in development banks and a maximum of 10 percent in finance companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, they can invest up to 5 percent in real estate business, up to 10 percent in ordinary shares of listed companies, up to 20 percent in preference shares, up to 20 percent in shares of listed companies, up to 20 percent in infrastructure including agriculture, tourism and water resources, and up to 5 percent in Citizens Investment Trust and mutual funds.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15722', 'image' => '20220912041127_20220907110038_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 16:10:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15980', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Railway Route Full of Problems ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: A parliamentary panel has found various problems related to the under-construction railway tracks in different sections of Janakpur-Kurtha-Bardibas-Nijgarh route as well as the 35-Kilometer Janakpur-Jayanagar route which is already operational.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 12: A parliamentary panel has found various problems related to the under-construction railway tracks in different sections of Janakpur-Kurtha-Bardibas-Nijgarh route as well as the 35-Kilometer Janakpur-Jayanagar route which is already operational. The workers engaged in the construction of the railway track are not being paid on time, states a report prepared by the Development and Technology Committee of the House of Representatives. As per the report, other major problems include the use of substandard materials in the construction of the trackbed and land encroachment in different places.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The report prepared by a delegation of the House Committee, which visited Janakpur-Jayanagar and Janakpur-Kurtha-Bardibas-Nijgarh sections in August, has pointed out more than a dozen such problems. The report has also pointed out problems like land acquisition for the construction of a bridge in Bardibas, distribution of compensation, and deforestation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Problems like acquisition of public land and community forests have also surfaced while constructing a 30 km trackbed in Sarlahi. This has delayed the construction itself. Out of the 18 km trackbed under construction in Mahottari, 3.1 km of the trackbed has problem in acquisition of public land.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The parliamentary committee found that the builders who were entrusted with the construction of this section of track handed over the construction work to local builders. The report further states that the quality of trackbed is questionable.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The parliamentary team led by chairperson of the committee Kalyani Kumari Khadka had made an on-site inspection of this section on August 21, 22 and 23. The report also mentions that the quality of work has been compromised due to the workers abandoning the work abruptly after they were not paid on time. Also, the construction materials were not readily available for the construction. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Construction of railway tracks in various sections of the 73.64 kilometer Jayanagar-Janakpur-Kurtha-Bardibas-Nijgadh route is currently underway. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Out of this, 35 kilometers of the Janakpur-Jayanagar section is already operational since the last five months.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> The state-owned railway company of Nepal has reached an agreement with the Indian company Konkan Railway Corporation Limited for the Indian company to operate the trains in Nepal until the government prepares its human resources capable to undertake the responsibility.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Niranjan Jha, general manager of Nepal Railway Company Limited, said that the budget for the current fiscal year, including Rs 48 million due to be paid to Konkan, has not been approved yet. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">An official of the Department of Railways said that the issue of operating trains in Nepal is complicated. "There is no concrete plan yet on how to run the train in the Janakpur-Jayanagar section," said the official. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15721', 'image' => '20220912030858_Railwayy (1).jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 15:07:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15979', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Stakeholders Submit Memo to Foreign Minister Demanding Reopening of Tatopani Border', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: Businessmen of Sindhupalchok Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Nepal Trans Himalayan Border Commerce Association (NTHBCA) have submitted a memorandum to Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Narayan Khadka, requesting the government to reopen the Tatopani border. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 12: Businessmen of Sindhupalchok Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Nepal Trans Himalayan Border Commerce Association (NTHBCA) have submitted a memorandum to Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Narayan Khadka, requesting the government to reopen the Tatopani border. They submitted the memorandum on Sunday asking the government to open the border in order to facilitate in creating a favourable environment for conducting business.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Khadka assured the businessmen while receiving the memo that efforts are being made to open the Tatopani border immediately. He informed that talks are being held with the Chinese authorities to operate the border without any hassles. He also expressed his commitment that the issue of reopening the border will be given priority during the meeting with the Chinese side as well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Foreign Minister Khadka expressed hope of positive outcome in easing supply of goods before Dashain. He said that chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Congress, Li Zhanshu will arrive in Nepal on Monday and pay a courtesy call on Tuesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Discussions are underway to resume import and export with China through the border points. We have been requesting the Chinese side to reopen the border as soon as possible. I will give special emphasis on the opening of the Tatopani border during the courtesy meeting with Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Congress, who is visiting Nepal,” said Minister Khadka.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Nepali Congress leader and former minister Mohan Basnet said that it is not appropriate to shut the border while blaming the rise in Covid-19 infection. He said that the government should take initiative to open the border as soon as possible so that there is no shortage of consumable goods during the upcoming festivals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Recalling that the local residents up to 32 kilometers away from the border crossing had the facility of exemption of customs tax for personal use items before the earthquake, Basnet urged Foreign Minister Khadka to negotiate with the Chinese side to avail the same facility again. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After submitting the memorandum, Ashok Kumar Shrestha, president of NTHBCA, said that they are facing problems in the market management as the Dashain festival is just around the corner while the e border has not reopened fully. He urged the government to take the initiative to open the border as soon as possible since some traders are abandoning their business as they cannot afford the cost because of the delay in arrival of goods from China.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> During the meeting, President of Sindhupalchok Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Hom Bahadur Basnet also emphasized that Tatopani border point should be operated without any hassles. He said that around 200 freight vehicles used to enter the country daily when the checkpoint was operating smoothly. But now, not even 10 of them are allowed entry. He complained that it is very challenging to do business in such situation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15720', 'image' => '20220912021505_Tatopani.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 14:14:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15978', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'More than 1800 Vehicles Stuck in Birgunj due to Import Restriction ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: The restriction imposed by the government on the import of vehicles has caused problems not only to the importers but also to the agencies invilved in trade facilitation.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 12: The restriction imposed by the government on the import of vehicles has caused problems not only to the importers but also to the agencies invilved in trade facilitation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">More than 1,800 vehicles are currently stuck at Birgunj customs, the largest checkpoint in terms of the volume of vehicle import.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The vehicles are stopped at the Integrated Checkpoint (ICP) Customs at Birganj. Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board, which operates the ICP, said that they are facing pressure to manage the parking area of the vehicles and also to ensure safety of the parked vehicles.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Due to the pressure to accommodate increasing number of vehicles, the board is planning to construct a parking lot with a capacity to park 300 more vehicles.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kamal Gyawali, chief of the board, believes that the pressure to manage the vehicles at the ICP will ease after the construction of a new parking lot. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The vehicles that have arrived here have not got customs clearance. The number of vehicles is increasing each day and it is becoming difficult to manage the ICP,” said Gyawali. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Preparations are underway to build a separate warehouse and parking lot at the ICP with support from the World Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Under this plan, warehouse and parking will be prepared in an area of 40,000 square meters, the board said. For this, a team from the World Bank has already conducted an on-site study of the ICP.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In order to reduce the pressure on the foreign exchange reserves, the government had imposed a ban on import of some luxury items including vehicles for personal use. As a result, the cars have been piling up at the customs point after banks stopped credit investment for purchase of vehicles upon instruction from the government. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even the vehicles that arrived at the customs point before the government imposed the restrictions have been held at the customs. As there is no demand for new vehicles in the market at present, the importers have not shown any interest in releasing the vehicles that arrived here before the ban was imposed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Importers have to pay heavy parking fees at ICP. To reduce such expenses, they rented land in the bordering Indian city of Raxaul to store the vehicles.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15719', 'image' => '20220912012041_20220815011457_1660393906.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 13:19:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15977', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Decade Announced for Development of Sustainable Tourism ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: Minister for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation Jeevan Ram Shrestha shared that the incumbent government had introduced the concept of 'Tourism Decade 2023-2032' for development of sustainable tourism. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 12: Minister for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation Jeevan Ram Shrestha shared that the incumbent government had introduced the concept of 'Tourism Decade 2023-2032' for development of sustainable tourism. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at an interaction with the stakeholders on Sunday, Minister Shrestha said that this concept was visualized to revive the tourism industry of Nepal battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that tourism was one of the mainstays of national economy, Minister Shrestha pledged to facilitate the tourism entrepreneurs and also promised policy reforms for the development and promotion of the tourism sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Tourism Secretary Suresh Adhikari shed light on the concept of the Tourism Decade and said that the concept was put in place to earn foreign currencies in the long run. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government aims to attract as many as 3.5 million foreign tourists in Nepal by 2032, according to Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Nepal Tourism Board’s (NTB) CEO Dr Dhananjay Regmi shared that Nepal would reap a lot of benefits from tourism if there was proper coordination among the concerned bodies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Former State Minister for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation Yankila Sherpa urged the government to accord high priority to coordination and collaboration with the private sector for implementing programmes related to tourism promotion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">HAAN President Shreejan Rana recommended the government to introduce action-plans to bring in as many as foreign tourists as possible in Nepal during the Tourism Decade. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15718', 'image' => '20220912114233_Tourist.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 11:42:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15976', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'IBN to Organise Sustainable Infrastructure Investment Forum ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: With a focus on informing potential investors about investment opportunities for sustainable infrastructure in Nepal and to create a conducive environment for investment, the Investment Board Nepal is organising the Sustainable Infrastructure Investment Forum on September 14. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 12: With a focus on informing potential investors about investment opportunities for sustainable infrastructure in Nepal and to create a conducive environment for investment, the Investment Board Nepal is organising the Sustainable Infrastructure Investment Forum on September 14. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The key objective of the forum is to explore ways on how foreign investment could be made more reliable and systematic in the country while ensuring sustainability of the development process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Organising a news conference on Sunday, Chief Executive Officer of the board Sushil Bhatta said the forum would discuss the ideas of making development and construction works sustainable while making it green, resilient and inclusive. He added that the forum would be a cornerstone for resource mobilisation to achieve the net-zero carbon emissions as committed by Nepal in the COP-26. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is scheduled to inaugurate the forum, informed the board's Spokesperson Amrit Lamsal. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15717', 'image' => '20220912112957_20210823044910_MG_3290.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 11:29:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15975', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Madras Security Printers Blamed for Technical Issues in Printing Smart License ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: Chennai-based Madras Security Printers, which was awarded the contract to facilitate the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) to issue smart driving license, has failed to deliver its services as per the agreement.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 11: Chennai-based Madras Security Printers, which was awarded the contract to facilitate the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) to issue smart driving license, has failed to deliver its services as per the agreement. According to the department, they are still awaiting for the company to develop the software system to a full scale. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The company’s failure to deliver the service as per the agreement has caused delay in the printing and distribution of smart driving license cards, according to the department. </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 department claimed that it has already paid 90 percent of the contract amount equivalent to Rs 700 billion to the company, but it has failed to deliver the system as per the agreement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The department’s computer engineer Suraj Prasad Aryal shared that the DoTM has already informed the Indian company about technical issues it is facing in the smart card software system. Though the company was urged to send a technical team here to fix the issues, it did not find it necessary to respond to the call. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A letter dispatched by the department to the company states that TMO /TMSO and modules are not functioning properly, there is a problem for the online payment of tax and insurance and it is tackling with a software bug and loopholes in the security system. Moreover, the security audit of electronic driving license is yet to be carried out. Due to these reasons, the Department's Online System (EDL and VRS) remains non-functional. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, work on 18 TMS has also not moved ahead as the company has not sent the skilled human resources required for technical assistance as per the agreement. The company has to provide the software project manager, senior and junior Web Java programmer, database specialist and quality assurance specialist, but it has not completed its obligation till now. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Not only this, the company has also not fully handed over the software and hardware necessary for online renewal of the driving license and vehicle registration. The DoTM has alleged that it is facing problems frequently due to this reason. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15716', 'image' => '20220911054844_Smart-driving-licence-specimen.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 17:47:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15974', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepali Exporters show Lack of Interest to Export Goods using Gautam Buddha Int’l Airport', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: Cargo materials were exported for the first time using Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport on July 27. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 11: Cargo materials were exported for the first time using Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport on July 27. Himalex Traders of Kathmandu had exported Nepali products through Rising Star Cargo Pvt. Ltd using the newly-built airport. The consignment of handicraft items was sent to France through a transit in Kuwait by Jazeera Airways. Since then, none other goods have been exported through the airport.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Export of goods from the airport has not increased due to lack of interest among the businessmen. Although the exporters are using the Tribhuvan International Airport to export Nepali goods abroad, hardly anyone is interested in Bhairahawa Airport.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Freight Forwarders Association’s President Manoj Adhikari says that the exporters have shown little interest in using Bhairahawa-based airport for export although it has all necessary infrastructure to export their products.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We cannot expect businessmen from Kathmandu to use this airport to export goods. The private sector of this area should take initiative to export goods using this airport,” says Adhikari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We have to identify the local products and export them through this airport,” he added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Rupandehi district is best knowngreen vegetables and fishery. Adhikari says that vegetables, medicinal herbs, coffee, noodles, and flour can be exported through this airport. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He argues that the stakeholders need to identify the products that have good potential for export and focus on production of those goods. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“NFFA is ready to facilitate the identification of the goods that have high potential for export,” says Adhikari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The airport has a capacity to import/export up to 500 tons of goods per day for the time being. However, exporters of this area are also using Kathmandu-based Tribhuvan International Airport instead of this airport, says Adhikari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> Bhishma Neupane, chairman of Siddhartha Industry and Commerce Association, says that the industrialists are confused what should they export from this airport.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Neupane argues that the industrialists and businessmen are in dilemma because the airport has just come into operation. The businessmen say that there are still many legal hurdles to export goods from this airport. They say that the airport lacks cold storage to export green vegetables and also customs point for export.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, chief of the Gautam Buddha International Airport Customs Office Tikaram Gaire says that the airport is fully prepared to handle export and import of goods. He says that there is no hurdle for foreign trade through this airport. The storage house in the airport will come into operation soon, says Gaire.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Only one airline company – Jazeera Airways – has been operating regular flights using this airport which came into operation on May 16 this year. The airline company has been conducting three flights a week between Bhairahawa and Kuwait.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The airport has announced various concessions to attract more airline companies. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15715', 'image' => '20220911045302_GBIAAA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 16:52:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15973', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘Government’s Apathy led to Downfall of Ready-made Garment Industry’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: Stakeholders have complained that the government has been ignoring the ready-made garment industry of Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 11: Stakeholders have complained that the government has been ignoring the ready-made garment industry of Nepal. The ready-made garment manufacturers of the country made such remark during the 28<sup>th</sup> Annual General Assembly of Nepal Ready-made Garment Industry Association. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking on the occasion, Senior Vice President of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Chandra Prasad Dhakal said that the government has not given as much priority to the ready-made garment industry as it used to give some 30 to 35 years ago. He is of the view that the garment industry can contribute a lot to the economy if the government gives as much priority to this sector as it used to give about three decades ago.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">President of the association Chandi Prasad Aryal said that the government’s apathy has led to the downfall of the readymade garment industry which once exported goods worth USD 400 million a year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the association, Nepal’s annual export of ready-made goods in the fiscal year 2020/21 was worth Rs 5.31 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Bangladesh, which started exporting ready-made garment around the same time along with Nepal, exported goods worth Rs 35 billion during fiscal year 2020/21, said Aryal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He urged the government to develop infrastructure to make the ready-made garment industry more competitive in the market. He said that the concerned ministry as well as prime minister and other concerned bodies are always supportive to their demands but they fail to implement them. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We were given assurance by three different prime ministers to resolve our problems but none of them fulfilled their promises,” said Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Aryal said that the private sector organisations like FNCCI, the Confederation of Nepalese Industry and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce have also turned a deaf ear to the problems of the ready-made garment industry. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Senior Vice President of NCC Kamalesh Agrawal said that it was unfortunate that the export of ready-made garments did not increase even when then value of Nepalese currency depreciated by ten percent. He urged the government to promote this industry by concessions and other facilities. He said that Nepal cannot avail the facilities given to the least developed countries after 2026 and therefore urged the government to initiate bilateral talks with foreign countries based on export potential to ensure Nepal’s access to the international market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu, who was the chief guest of the programme, said that he will work with sincerity to prove the misconception of the private sector regarding the government wrong.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“You might have been complaining based on your past experience. But I will prove it wrong,” said Minister Badu.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15714', 'image' => '20220911034930_1662888877.tayari.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 15:48:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15972', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '41 Percent Population has Access to Insurance', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: A total of 41 percent of the population has got access to insurance as of mid-August 2022. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 11: A total of 41 percent of the population has got access to insurance as of mid-August 2022. The Insurance Board informed that the interest in insurance is growing among the general public because of the expansion of services of insurance companies and the increase in access due to new schemes.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data published by the board, by mid-August 2022, 41.15 percent of the total population has been included in the insurance schemes of insurance companies. Compared to mid-August 2021, access to insurance among the people has increased by 13.64 percentage points. During the corresponding period of last fiscal year, only 27.51 percent of people had access to insurance.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Insurance Board published the status of access to insurance based on the data collected from insurance companies including term insurance, short term insurance and foreign employment insurance. If the term insurance, short-term insurance and foreign employment life insurance are not included, the access to insurance is limited to just 16.68 percent. Similarly, the access to insurance is 38.26 percent based on the data other than foreign employment life insurance policy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the increase in access to insurance, the lack of liquidity in the financial sector has started affecting the business of insurance companies. Due to the lack of liquidity, the sale of insurance policies and the collection of insurance premiums of the insurance companies are getting affected.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Statistics of the board show that the number of non-life insurance policies decreased by 8.35 percent in mid-August 2022 compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year. In mid-August 2021, non-life insurance companies had issued 241,837 insurance policies, which dropped to 221,642 by mid-August 2022.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although the number of non-life insurance policies have declined, the number of life insurance policies is on the rise. By mid-August 2022, life insurance companies issued a total of 13,089,486 life insurance policies, which were only 8,587,044 in mid-August 2021. Life insurance policies increased by 52.43 percent in a single year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the increase in life insurance policies, the collection of insurance premium of the companies has been affected. The collection of insurance premiums of life insurance companies increased by 9.35 percent, while that of non-life companies increased by 49.68 percent. Compared to mid-August 2021, the total collection of insurance premium of all the insurance companies in mid-August 2022 decreased by 0.34 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data, by mid-August of the current year, insurance companies collected Rs 19.53 billion, which was Rs 19.60 billion in the same period of last year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board informed that by mid-August 2022, the number of offices and employees of insurance companies increased as well. Compared to last year, the number of branch offices increased by 9.57 percent and reached 3,363. Similarly, the number of employees working in insurance companies increased by 8.56 percent and reached 11,530.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15713', 'image' => '20220911020959_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 14:09:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15971', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Infrastructure Summit Concludes', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: The Nepal Infrastructure Summit 2022 concluded on Friday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 11: The Nepal Infrastructure Summit 2022 concluded on Friday. Various issues ranging from roads, railways, and tunnels to industrial infrastructure were discussed during the summit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The 2-day summit held in Kathmandu stressed on the need to set priorities and raise financial resources. On the second day of the conference on Friday, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma said that it is necessary to increase savings to increase domestic investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the summit which was jointly organized by the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport and the Confederation of Nepal Industries (CNI), Minister Sharma said that if 90 per cent of the income is spent there will be no savings.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He also informed that capital market and insurance are going to be linked to infrastructure development with the intention to utilize internal resources for construction. Similarly, Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said that we should work to make Nepal prosperous in 10 years. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"We will have to invest up to 9 per cent of the gross domestic product to build infrastructure," said Karki, adding "The government alone cannot invest in the infrastructure, and we are ready to create an environment for the private sector to invest in infrastructure."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Umesh Shrestha, minister of state at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, emphasized that the thinking of the political leadership and government employees should be changed in order to develop the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bindu Lohani, former vice president of the Asian Development Bank, said Nepal’s investment in the infrastructure sector in proportion to the gross domestic product is the lowest in the Asia Pacific region.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, Deputy Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Bam Bahadur Mishra said that it is not possible to invest long-term loans from bank deposits of unstable nature and emphasized that funds must be raised from other sources including debentures. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"We have made a policy arrangement to keep the interest rate of long-term investment stable," Mishra said, adding "We are trying to create a big bank so that we can invest in big infrastructure projects and arrangements have been made to issue 100 per cent of core capital bonds," said Mishra.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On that occasion, CNI Chairman Bishnu Agarwal said that the summit witnessed intensive discussions on how to build large infrastructure and ways to reduce the cost of business operations by building industrial infrastructure.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He expressed his commitment to take all the suggestions to the regulatory bodies and complete the work to be done on behalf of the private sector. Likewise, he added that many suggestions were received at the summit on how to build infrastructure in the changed context after the coronavirus pandemic.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15712', 'image' => '20220911010405_1662848947.Clipboard05.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 13:03:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15970', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Forest Minister Bats for Green Development', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: Minister for Forest and Environment Pradeep Yadav has stressed on the need to develop green economy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 11: Minister for Forest and Environment Pradeep Yadav has stressed on the need to develop green economy. Speaking at the Nepal Infrastructure Summit-2022 organised by the Confederation of Nepalese Industries, Minister Yadav said that the country needs to adopt a framework to develop green economy in order to achieve development goals through minimum impact to the environment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Developing infrastructure by minimizing impacts on environment is the basis of green development. We need to develop a model for development based on green economy,” said Minister Yadav, adding, “This will ensure development and also protect environment.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The focus of all local units and provincial governments during the last five years was infrastructure development, said Minister Yadav adding that all three tiers of government must now focus on green development. He further s aid that the Covid- 19 pandemic has also taught the same lesson. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The minister said that infrastructure development is the pre-requisite for development of human civilization and economic prosperity. He added that infrastructure development plays a vital role in making human lives comfortable. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The development of Nepal is negligible in terms of quantity and standard compared to the international level. Therefore, infrastructure development must be our first priority for economic prosperity,” said Minister Yadav.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He also said that the stakeholders need to pay special attention in preserving endangered flora and fauna while developing infrastructure in national parks and protected areas. Failing to do so will not ensure sustainable development, said Minister Yadav.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister Yadav added that the Government of Nepal has set an ambitious plan of generating 15000 megawatts of electricity by 2030 and this will serve as a strong basis of green development.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He argued that the country can achieve prosperity if we stress on e-mobility for the operation of transportation and railway services.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister Yadav claimed that the government has already achieved the target of expanding forest areas to 45 percent of the country which was supposed to be met by 2030. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15711', 'image' => '20220911120913_go8922.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 12:08:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15969', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Rice Mills of Nepal in Crisis after India Imposes 20 Percent Customs Duty on Exports', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: Rice traders of Bara and Parsa industrial corridor have said the 20 percent customs duty on export of rice and paddy imposed by India would have direct impact on the Nepali market. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 11: Rice traders of Bara and Parsa industrial corridor have said the 20 percent customs duty on export of rice and paddy imposed by India would have direct impact on the Nepali market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Organizing a press conference in Birgunj on Friday, the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that India recently fixed 20 percent customs duty on the export of paddy and rice. Prior to this, there wasn’t any customs duty on the export of rice and paddy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The chamber said that the 20 percent customs duty imposed by India on rice and paddy export will hit the industries, consumers and the economy of Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal Rice, Oil, Lentil Industries Association’s President Dr Subodh Gupta said India's latest decision is not fair for the industries, traders, consumers and the market of Nepal. Gupta is also the president of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Another rice trader Suresh Rungta expressed concern that the consumers would be hit hardest due to the customs tariff imposed by India on paddy and rice export. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Gupta was worried that this drastic decision of India might lead to a situation in which the rice mills in Nepal will be closed and called on the government to address the problem at the earliest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal has been importing rice worth over Rs 8 billion annually from India. Nepal imported 550,000 metric tonnes of paddy, 520,000 metric tonnes of rice and 50,000 metric tonnes of rice grits from India last year alone. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There are around 2,500 rice industries registered across the country and half of these are already closed. Even those rice industries which are operating are not operating in full capacity due to various reasons. The rice industries of Nepal have been producing 40 percent rice and the rest of the demand is met through imports from India. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15710', 'image' => '20220911105024_640px-Rice_Plants_(IRRI).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 10:49:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15968', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Premier IB Continuum School marks International Literacy Day', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 10: Premier IB Continuum School marked the International Literacy Day 2022 on Thursday by organising a literature festival alongside a food fest.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 10: Premier IB Continuum School marked the International Literacy Day 2022 on Thursday by organising a literature festival alongside a food fest. The school said in a statement that “the wide array of activities, that celebrated international and national literature, kept the students and visitors engaged throughout the day.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the statement, international authors and illustrators including Sally Alstchuler from Denmark, Maria Amelia Jannarelli from Brazil, Lawrence Shimel from Spain and Sassa Buregren from Sweden interacted with students online on a wide variety of subjects. The topics discussed during the online interaction were reading and writing on different themes, how to select a book according to grade level, opportunities and challenges of developing books for children and young adults in the context of developing countries, and much more, added the statement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Besides the international exposure, students got to interact with local celebrities and authors/illustrators through in-person discussions, workshops, and panel discussions,” reads the statement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Some notable examples, according to the school, were a session on music, literature, and social change by popular singer-songwriter Samriddhi Rai, session on understanding poetry by celebrated poet, Viplov Pratik, interesting illustration sessions that encompassed both the historic, mythological and modern by Dhruba Prajapati and Binita Buddhacharya, and an engaging panel discussion on “The art of telling stories through movies’ that included Gaurav Pahari, Bijay Baral, Hem Raj BC. The panel discussion was moderated by Sujan Oli. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The school’s Director Pawitra Limbu had an engaging session with parents on “Bonding with Books”. Also, around 90 students and teachers from Harisiddhi Madhyamik Vidyalaya, Harisiddhi, Prabhat Madhyamik Vidyalaya, Gwarko, and Namuna Machhindra Madhyamik Vidyalaya attended the festival. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the statement, a range of food stalls served delicacies that “everyone enjoyed”. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“One USP of the event was that students could discover that literature and stories are everywhere – in the history of food, music, drama, and movies – and not just limited to books. With enthusiastic involvement and participation of students, parents, special invitees, and partners, this was a day to remember,” added the statement.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-10', 'modified' => '2022-09-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15709', 'image' => '20220910103112_aaaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-10 10:30:29', '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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He added that the people and Government of Nepal are grateful to the Chinese government for providing Nepal with substantial amount of medical supplies, equipment and COVID-19 vaccines. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Li expressed China’s continued support to Nepal’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the meeting, both sides agreed to further strengthen inter-parliamentary exchanges and cooperation. They also underscored the role of Parliamentary Friendship Group in each other’s parliament in further promoting goodwill and understanding between the two legislatures. Li promised to provide assistance to Nepal’s parliament as per its need and requirement at the institution level. The two leaders also exchanged views on the importance of implementing connectivity infrastructures under the Belt and Road Initiative. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Following the bilateral talks, Speaker Sapkota and Li signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Inter-parliamentary Cooperation between the two countries. Later in the evening, Speaker Sapkota hosted a dinner in honour of Li Zhanshu and the visiting delegation. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-13', 'modified' => '2022-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15724', 'image' => '20220913115559_PRO_KTM_AGNISAPKOTA_CHINISEDELAGATE_PARLIAMENTAHOUSE.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-13 11:34:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15981', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Board Preparing to Amend Investment Guidelines', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: The Insurance Board is preparing to change the investment guidelines after insurance companies were found to have deposited most of the amount collected from their clients in fixed deposits accounts of banks. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 12: The Insurance Board is preparing to change the investment guidelines after insurance companies were found to have deposited most of the amount collected from their clients in fixed deposits accounts of banks. The insurance companies complained that they were unable to diversify their investment due to the investment guidelines. Following the grudges of the insurance companies, the Insurance Board decided to amend the guidelines to allow diversify the investment of the companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We received complaints that the insurance companies were unable to invest in sectors like hydropower, agriculture, tourism, infrastructure development and other productive sectors due to the investment guidelines,” said Surya Prasad Silwal, chairman of the Insurance Board.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Therefore, we are preparing to amend the guidelines so that the insurance companies can invest in new areas,” added Silwal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Insurance Board had changed the investment guidelines three years ago and allowed to diversify investment as per the suggestion of the insurance companies. However, they are still unable to invest. As a result, they focused on fixed deposits.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The guidelines issued by the board in March 2019 has opened way to invest in infrastructure and productive sectors such as real estate business, water resources, agriculture, tourism, in addition to fixed deposits and shares. However, insurance companies do not seem to be attracted to other areas except fixed deposits.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Insurance Board, by the end of the fiscal year 2021/22, 19 life insurance companies and 20 non-life insurance companies invested a total of Rs 527.8 billion. Among these investments, 408 billion has invested in fixed deposits of banks and financial institutions. This is 77.48 percent of the total investment of insurance companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The insurance companies have invested only 1.41 percent in infrastructure development which includes investment of Rs 7.14 billion by life insurance companies and Rs 300 million investment by non-life insurance companies. The investment of insurance companies in the real estate sector is negligible.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the guidelines, companies should invest a minimum of 40 percent of their total technical reserve in fixed deposits of commercial and infrastructure banks and a minimum of 5 percent in government bonds. Similarly, a maximum of 20 percent can be invested in development banks and a maximum of 10 percent in finance companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, they can invest up to 5 percent in real estate business, up to 10 percent in ordinary shares of listed companies, up to 20 percent in preference shares, up to 20 percent in shares of listed companies, up to 20 percent in infrastructure including agriculture, tourism and water resources, and up to 5 percent in Citizens Investment Trust and mutual funds.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15722', 'image' => '20220912041127_20220907110038_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 16:10:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15980', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Railway Route Full of Problems ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: A parliamentary panel has found various problems related to the under-construction railway tracks in different sections of Janakpur-Kurtha-Bardibas-Nijgarh route as well as the 35-Kilometer Janakpur-Jayanagar route which is already operational.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 12: A parliamentary panel has found various problems related to the under-construction railway tracks in different sections of Janakpur-Kurtha-Bardibas-Nijgarh route as well as the 35-Kilometer Janakpur-Jayanagar route which is already operational. The workers engaged in the construction of the railway track are not being paid on time, states a report prepared by the Development and Technology Committee of the House of Representatives. As per the report, other major problems include the use of substandard materials in the construction of the trackbed and land encroachment in different places.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The report prepared by a delegation of the House Committee, which visited Janakpur-Jayanagar and Janakpur-Kurtha-Bardibas-Nijgarh sections in August, has pointed out more than a dozen such problems. The report has also pointed out problems like land acquisition for the construction of a bridge in Bardibas, distribution of compensation, and deforestation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Problems like acquisition of public land and community forests have also surfaced while constructing a 30 km trackbed in Sarlahi. This has delayed the construction itself. Out of the 18 km trackbed under construction in Mahottari, 3.1 km of the trackbed has problem in acquisition of public land.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The parliamentary committee found that the builders who were entrusted with the construction of this section of track handed over the construction work to local builders. The report further states that the quality of trackbed is questionable.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The parliamentary team led by chairperson of the committee Kalyani Kumari Khadka had made an on-site inspection of this section on August 21, 22 and 23. The report also mentions that the quality of work has been compromised due to the workers abandoning the work abruptly after they were not paid on time. Also, the construction materials were not readily available for the construction. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Construction of railway tracks in various sections of the 73.64 kilometer Jayanagar-Janakpur-Kurtha-Bardibas-Nijgadh route is currently underway. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Out of this, 35 kilometers of the Janakpur-Jayanagar section is already operational since the last five months.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> The state-owned railway company of Nepal has reached an agreement with the Indian company Konkan Railway Corporation Limited for the Indian company to operate the trains in Nepal until the government prepares its human resources capable to undertake the responsibility.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Niranjan Jha, general manager of Nepal Railway Company Limited, said that the budget for the current fiscal year, including Rs 48 million due to be paid to Konkan, has not been approved yet. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">An official of the Department of Railways said that the issue of operating trains in Nepal is complicated. "There is no concrete plan yet on how to run the train in the Janakpur-Jayanagar section," said the official. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15721', 'image' => '20220912030858_Railwayy (1).jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 15:07:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15979', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Stakeholders Submit Memo to Foreign Minister Demanding Reopening of Tatopani Border', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: Businessmen of Sindhupalchok Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Nepal Trans Himalayan Border Commerce Association (NTHBCA) have submitted a memorandum to Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Narayan Khadka, requesting the government to reopen the Tatopani border. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 12: Businessmen of Sindhupalchok Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Nepal Trans Himalayan Border Commerce Association (NTHBCA) have submitted a memorandum to Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Narayan Khadka, requesting the government to reopen the Tatopani border. They submitted the memorandum on Sunday asking the government to open the border in order to facilitate in creating a favourable environment for conducting business.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Khadka assured the businessmen while receiving the memo that efforts are being made to open the Tatopani border immediately. He informed that talks are being held with the Chinese authorities to operate the border without any hassles. He also expressed his commitment that the issue of reopening the border will be given priority during the meeting with the Chinese side as well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Foreign Minister Khadka expressed hope of positive outcome in easing supply of goods before Dashain. He said that chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Congress, Li Zhanshu will arrive in Nepal on Monday and pay a courtesy call on Tuesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Discussions are underway to resume import and export with China through the border points. We have been requesting the Chinese side to reopen the border as soon as possible. I will give special emphasis on the opening of the Tatopani border during the courtesy meeting with Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Congress, who is visiting Nepal,” said Minister Khadka.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Nepali Congress leader and former minister Mohan Basnet said that it is not appropriate to shut the border while blaming the rise in Covid-19 infection. He said that the government should take initiative to open the border as soon as possible so that there is no shortage of consumable goods during the upcoming festivals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Recalling that the local residents up to 32 kilometers away from the border crossing had the facility of exemption of customs tax for personal use items before the earthquake, Basnet urged Foreign Minister Khadka to negotiate with the Chinese side to avail the same facility again. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After submitting the memorandum, Ashok Kumar Shrestha, president of NTHBCA, said that they are facing problems in the market management as the Dashain festival is just around the corner while the e border has not reopened fully. He urged the government to take the initiative to open the border as soon as possible since some traders are abandoning their business as they cannot afford the cost because of the delay in arrival of goods from China.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> During the meeting, President of Sindhupalchok Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Hom Bahadur Basnet also emphasized that Tatopani border point should be operated without any hassles. He said that around 200 freight vehicles used to enter the country daily when the checkpoint was operating smoothly. But now, not even 10 of them are allowed entry. He complained that it is very challenging to do business in such situation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15720', 'image' => '20220912021505_Tatopani.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 14:14:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15978', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'More than 1800 Vehicles Stuck in Birgunj due to Import Restriction ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: The restriction imposed by the government on the import of vehicles has caused problems not only to the importers but also to the agencies invilved in trade facilitation.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 12: The restriction imposed by the government on the import of vehicles has caused problems not only to the importers but also to the agencies invilved in trade facilitation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">More than 1,800 vehicles are currently stuck at Birgunj customs, the largest checkpoint in terms of the volume of vehicle import.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The vehicles are stopped at the Integrated Checkpoint (ICP) Customs at Birganj. Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board, which operates the ICP, said that they are facing pressure to manage the parking area of the vehicles and also to ensure safety of the parked vehicles.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Due to the pressure to accommodate increasing number of vehicles, the board is planning to construct a parking lot with a capacity to park 300 more vehicles.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kamal Gyawali, chief of the board, believes that the pressure to manage the vehicles at the ICP will ease after the construction of a new parking lot. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The vehicles that have arrived here have not got customs clearance. The number of vehicles is increasing each day and it is becoming difficult to manage the ICP,” said Gyawali. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Preparations are underway to build a separate warehouse and parking lot at the ICP with support from the World Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Under this plan, warehouse and parking will be prepared in an area of 40,000 square meters, the board said. For this, a team from the World Bank has already conducted an on-site study of the ICP.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In order to reduce the pressure on the foreign exchange reserves, the government had imposed a ban on import of some luxury items including vehicles for personal use. As a result, the cars have been piling up at the customs point after banks stopped credit investment for purchase of vehicles upon instruction from the government. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even the vehicles that arrived at the customs point before the government imposed the restrictions have been held at the customs. As there is no demand for new vehicles in the market at present, the importers have not shown any interest in releasing the vehicles that arrived here before the ban was imposed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Importers have to pay heavy parking fees at ICP. To reduce such expenses, they rented land in the bordering Indian city of Raxaul to store the vehicles.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15719', 'image' => '20220912012041_20220815011457_1660393906.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 13:19:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15977', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Decade Announced for Development of Sustainable Tourism ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: Minister for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation Jeevan Ram Shrestha shared that the incumbent government had introduced the concept of 'Tourism Decade 2023-2032' for development of sustainable tourism. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 12: Minister for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation Jeevan Ram Shrestha shared that the incumbent government had introduced the concept of 'Tourism Decade 2023-2032' for development of sustainable tourism. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at an interaction with the stakeholders on Sunday, Minister Shrestha said that this concept was visualized to revive the tourism industry of Nepal battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that tourism was one of the mainstays of national economy, Minister Shrestha pledged to facilitate the tourism entrepreneurs and also promised policy reforms for the development and promotion of the tourism sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Tourism Secretary Suresh Adhikari shed light on the concept of the Tourism Decade and said that the concept was put in place to earn foreign currencies in the long run. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government aims to attract as many as 3.5 million foreign tourists in Nepal by 2032, according to Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Nepal Tourism Board’s (NTB) CEO Dr Dhananjay Regmi shared that Nepal would reap a lot of benefits from tourism if there was proper coordination among the concerned bodies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Former State Minister for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation Yankila Sherpa urged the government to accord high priority to coordination and collaboration with the private sector for implementing programmes related to tourism promotion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">HAAN President Shreejan Rana recommended the government to introduce action-plans to bring in as many as foreign tourists as possible in Nepal during the Tourism Decade. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15718', 'image' => '20220912114233_Tourist.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 11:42:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15976', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'IBN to Organise Sustainable Infrastructure Investment Forum ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: With a focus on informing potential investors about investment opportunities for sustainable infrastructure in Nepal and to create a conducive environment for investment, the Investment Board Nepal is organising the Sustainable Infrastructure Investment Forum on September 14. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 12: With a focus on informing potential investors about investment opportunities for sustainable infrastructure in Nepal and to create a conducive environment for investment, the Investment Board Nepal is organising the Sustainable Infrastructure Investment Forum on September 14. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The key objective of the forum is to explore ways on how foreign investment could be made more reliable and systematic in the country while ensuring sustainability of the development process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Organising a news conference on Sunday, Chief Executive Officer of the board Sushil Bhatta said the forum would discuss the ideas of making development and construction works sustainable while making it green, resilient and inclusive. He added that the forum would be a cornerstone for resource mobilisation to achieve the net-zero carbon emissions as committed by Nepal in the COP-26. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is scheduled to inaugurate the forum, informed the board's Spokesperson Amrit Lamsal. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-12', 'modified' => '2022-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15717', 'image' => '20220912112957_20210823044910_MG_3290.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-12 11:29:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15975', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Madras Security Printers Blamed for Technical Issues in Printing Smart License ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: Chennai-based Madras Security Printers, which was awarded the contract to facilitate the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) to issue smart driving license, has failed to deliver its services as per the agreement.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 11: Chennai-based Madras Security Printers, which was awarded the contract to facilitate the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) to issue smart driving license, has failed to deliver its services as per the agreement. According to the department, they are still awaiting for the company to develop the software system to a full scale. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The company’s failure to deliver the service as per the agreement has caused delay in the printing and distribution of smart driving license cards, according to the department. </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 department claimed that it has already paid 90 percent of the contract amount equivalent to Rs 700 billion to the company, but it has failed to deliver the system as per the agreement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The department’s computer engineer Suraj Prasad Aryal shared that the DoTM has already informed the Indian company about technical issues it is facing in the smart card software system. Though the company was urged to send a technical team here to fix the issues, it did not find it necessary to respond to the call. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A letter dispatched by the department to the company states that TMO /TMSO and modules are not functioning properly, there is a problem for the online payment of tax and insurance and it is tackling with a software bug and loopholes in the security system. Moreover, the security audit of electronic driving license is yet to be carried out. Due to these reasons, the Department's Online System (EDL and VRS) remains non-functional. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, work on 18 TMS has also not moved ahead as the company has not sent the skilled human resources required for technical assistance as per the agreement. The company has to provide the software project manager, senior and junior Web Java programmer, database specialist and quality assurance specialist, but it has not completed its obligation till now. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Not only this, the company has also not fully handed over the software and hardware necessary for online renewal of the driving license and vehicle registration. The DoTM has alleged that it is facing problems frequently due to this reason. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15716', 'image' => '20220911054844_Smart-driving-licence-specimen.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 17:47:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15974', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepali Exporters show Lack of Interest to Export Goods using Gautam Buddha Int’l Airport', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: Cargo materials were exported for the first time using Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport on July 27. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 11: Cargo materials were exported for the first time using Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport on July 27. Himalex Traders of Kathmandu had exported Nepali products through Rising Star Cargo Pvt. Ltd using the newly-built airport. The consignment of handicraft items was sent to France through a transit in Kuwait by Jazeera Airways. Since then, none other goods have been exported through the airport.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Export of goods from the airport has not increased due to lack of interest among the businessmen. Although the exporters are using the Tribhuvan International Airport to export Nepali goods abroad, hardly anyone is interested in Bhairahawa Airport.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Freight Forwarders Association’s President Manoj Adhikari says that the exporters have shown little interest in using Bhairahawa-based airport for export although it has all necessary infrastructure to export their products.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We cannot expect businessmen from Kathmandu to use this airport to export goods. The private sector of this area should take initiative to export goods using this airport,” says Adhikari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We have to identify the local products and export them through this airport,” he added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Rupandehi district is best knowngreen vegetables and fishery. Adhikari says that vegetables, medicinal herbs, coffee, noodles, and flour can be exported through this airport. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He argues that the stakeholders need to identify the products that have good potential for export and focus on production of those goods. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“NFFA is ready to facilitate the identification of the goods that have high potential for export,” says Adhikari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The airport has a capacity to import/export up to 500 tons of goods per day for the time being. However, exporters of this area are also using Kathmandu-based Tribhuvan International Airport instead of this airport, says Adhikari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> Bhishma Neupane, chairman of Siddhartha Industry and Commerce Association, says that the industrialists are confused what should they export from this airport.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Neupane argues that the industrialists and businessmen are in dilemma because the airport has just come into operation. The businessmen say that there are still many legal hurdles to export goods from this airport. They say that the airport lacks cold storage to export green vegetables and also customs point for export.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, chief of the Gautam Buddha International Airport Customs Office Tikaram Gaire says that the airport is fully prepared to handle export and import of goods. He says that there is no hurdle for foreign trade through this airport. The storage house in the airport will come into operation soon, says Gaire.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Only one airline company – Jazeera Airways – has been operating regular flights using this airport which came into operation on May 16 this year. The airline company has been conducting three flights a week between Bhairahawa and Kuwait.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The airport has announced various concessions to attract more airline companies. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15715', 'image' => '20220911045302_GBIAAA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 16:52:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15973', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘Government’s Apathy led to Downfall of Ready-made Garment Industry’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: Stakeholders have complained that the government has been ignoring the ready-made garment industry of Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 11: Stakeholders have complained that the government has been ignoring the ready-made garment industry of Nepal. The ready-made garment manufacturers of the country made such remark during the 28<sup>th</sup> Annual General Assembly of Nepal Ready-made Garment Industry Association. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking on the occasion, Senior Vice President of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Chandra Prasad Dhakal said that the government has not given as much priority to the ready-made garment industry as it used to give some 30 to 35 years ago. He is of the view that the garment industry can contribute a lot to the economy if the government gives as much priority to this sector as it used to give about three decades ago.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">President of the association Chandi Prasad Aryal said that the government’s apathy has led to the downfall of the readymade garment industry which once exported goods worth USD 400 million a year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the association, Nepal’s annual export of ready-made goods in the fiscal year 2020/21 was worth Rs 5.31 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Bangladesh, which started exporting ready-made garment around the same time along with Nepal, exported goods worth Rs 35 billion during fiscal year 2020/21, said Aryal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He urged the government to develop infrastructure to make the ready-made garment industry more competitive in the market. He said that the concerned ministry as well as prime minister and other concerned bodies are always supportive to their demands but they fail to implement them. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We were given assurance by three different prime ministers to resolve our problems but none of them fulfilled their promises,” said Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Aryal said that the private sector organisations like FNCCI, the Confederation of Nepalese Industry and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce have also turned a deaf ear to the problems of the ready-made garment industry. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Senior Vice President of NCC Kamalesh Agrawal said that it was unfortunate that the export of ready-made garments did not increase even when then value of Nepalese currency depreciated by ten percent. He urged the government to promote this industry by concessions and other facilities. He said that Nepal cannot avail the facilities given to the least developed countries after 2026 and therefore urged the government to initiate bilateral talks with foreign countries based on export potential to ensure Nepal’s access to the international market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu, who was the chief guest of the programme, said that he will work with sincerity to prove the misconception of the private sector regarding the government wrong.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“You might have been complaining based on your past experience. But I will prove it wrong,” said Minister Badu.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15714', 'image' => '20220911034930_1662888877.tayari.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 15:48:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15972', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '41 Percent Population has Access to Insurance', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: A total of 41 percent of the population has got access to insurance as of mid-August 2022. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 11: A total of 41 percent of the population has got access to insurance as of mid-August 2022. The Insurance Board informed that the interest in insurance is growing among the general public because of the expansion of services of insurance companies and the increase in access due to new schemes.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data published by the board, by mid-August 2022, 41.15 percent of the total population has been included in the insurance schemes of insurance companies. Compared to mid-August 2021, access to insurance among the people has increased by 13.64 percentage points. During the corresponding period of last fiscal year, only 27.51 percent of people had access to insurance.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Insurance Board published the status of access to insurance based on the data collected from insurance companies including term insurance, short term insurance and foreign employment insurance. If the term insurance, short-term insurance and foreign employment life insurance are not included, the access to insurance is limited to just 16.68 percent. Similarly, the access to insurance is 38.26 percent based on the data other than foreign employment life insurance policy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the increase in access to insurance, the lack of liquidity in the financial sector has started affecting the business of insurance companies. Due to the lack of liquidity, the sale of insurance policies and the collection of insurance premiums of the insurance companies are getting affected.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Statistics of the board show that the number of non-life insurance policies decreased by 8.35 percent in mid-August 2022 compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year. In mid-August 2021, non-life insurance companies had issued 241,837 insurance policies, which dropped to 221,642 by mid-August 2022.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although the number of non-life insurance policies have declined, the number of life insurance policies is on the rise. By mid-August 2022, life insurance companies issued a total of 13,089,486 life insurance policies, which were only 8,587,044 in mid-August 2021. Life insurance policies increased by 52.43 percent in a single year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the increase in life insurance policies, the collection of insurance premium of the companies has been affected. The collection of insurance premiums of life insurance companies increased by 9.35 percent, while that of non-life companies increased by 49.68 percent. Compared to mid-August 2021, the total collection of insurance premium of all the insurance companies in mid-August 2022 decreased by 0.34 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data, by mid-August of the current year, insurance companies collected Rs 19.53 billion, which was Rs 19.60 billion in the same period of last year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board informed that by mid-August 2022, the number of offices and employees of insurance companies increased as well. Compared to last year, the number of branch offices increased by 9.57 percent and reached 3,363. Similarly, the number of employees working in insurance companies increased by 8.56 percent and reached 11,530.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15713', 'image' => '20220911020959_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 14:09:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15971', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Infrastructure Summit Concludes', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: The Nepal Infrastructure Summit 2022 concluded on Friday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 11: The Nepal Infrastructure Summit 2022 concluded on Friday. Various issues ranging from roads, railways, and tunnels to industrial infrastructure were discussed during the summit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The 2-day summit held in Kathmandu stressed on the need to set priorities and raise financial resources. On the second day of the conference on Friday, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma said that it is necessary to increase savings to increase domestic investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the summit which was jointly organized by the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport and the Confederation of Nepal Industries (CNI), Minister Sharma said that if 90 per cent of the income is spent there will be no savings.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He also informed that capital market and insurance are going to be linked to infrastructure development with the intention to utilize internal resources for construction. Similarly, Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said that we should work to make Nepal prosperous in 10 years. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"We will have to invest up to 9 per cent of the gross domestic product to build infrastructure," said Karki, adding "The government alone cannot invest in the infrastructure, and we are ready to create an environment for the private sector to invest in infrastructure."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Umesh Shrestha, minister of state at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, emphasized that the thinking of the political leadership and government employees should be changed in order to develop the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bindu Lohani, former vice president of the Asian Development Bank, said Nepal’s investment in the infrastructure sector in proportion to the gross domestic product is the lowest in the Asia Pacific region.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, Deputy Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Bam Bahadur Mishra said that it is not possible to invest long-term loans from bank deposits of unstable nature and emphasized that funds must be raised from other sources including debentures. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"We have made a policy arrangement to keep the interest rate of long-term investment stable," Mishra said, adding "We are trying to create a big bank so that we can invest in big infrastructure projects and arrangements have been made to issue 100 per cent of core capital bonds," said Mishra.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On that occasion, CNI Chairman Bishnu Agarwal said that the summit witnessed intensive discussions on how to build large infrastructure and ways to reduce the cost of business operations by building industrial infrastructure.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He expressed his commitment to take all the suggestions to the regulatory bodies and complete the work to be done on behalf of the private sector. Likewise, he added that many suggestions were received at the summit on how to build infrastructure in the changed context after the coronavirus pandemic.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15712', 'image' => '20220911010405_1662848947.Clipboard05.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 13:03:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15970', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Forest Minister Bats for Green Development', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: Minister for Forest and Environment Pradeep Yadav has stressed on the need to develop green economy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 11: Minister for Forest and Environment Pradeep Yadav has stressed on the need to develop green economy. Speaking at the Nepal Infrastructure Summit-2022 organised by the Confederation of Nepalese Industries, Minister Yadav said that the country needs to adopt a framework to develop green economy in order to achieve development goals through minimum impact to the environment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Developing infrastructure by minimizing impacts on environment is the basis of green development. We need to develop a model for development based on green economy,” said Minister Yadav, adding, “This will ensure development and also protect environment.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The focus of all local units and provincial governments during the last five years was infrastructure development, said Minister Yadav adding that all three tiers of government must now focus on green development. He further s aid that the Covid- 19 pandemic has also taught the same lesson. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The minister said that infrastructure development is the pre-requisite for development of human civilization and economic prosperity. He added that infrastructure development plays a vital role in making human lives comfortable. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The development of Nepal is negligible in terms of quantity and standard compared to the international level. Therefore, infrastructure development must be our first priority for economic prosperity,” said Minister Yadav.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He also said that the stakeholders need to pay special attention in preserving endangered flora and fauna while developing infrastructure in national parks and protected areas. Failing to do so will not ensure sustainable development, said Minister Yadav.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister Yadav added that the Government of Nepal has set an ambitious plan of generating 15000 megawatts of electricity by 2030 and this will serve as a strong basis of green development.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He argued that the country can achieve prosperity if we stress on e-mobility for the operation of transportation and railway services.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister Yadav claimed that the government has already achieved the target of expanding forest areas to 45 percent of the country which was supposed to be met by 2030. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15711', 'image' => '20220911120913_go8922.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 12:08:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15969', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Rice Mills of Nepal in Crisis after India Imposes 20 Percent Customs Duty on Exports', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 11: Rice traders of Bara and Parsa industrial corridor have said the 20 percent customs duty on export of rice and paddy imposed by India would have direct impact on the Nepali market. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 11: Rice traders of Bara and Parsa industrial corridor have said the 20 percent customs duty on export of rice and paddy imposed by India would have direct impact on the Nepali market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Organizing a press conference in Birgunj on Friday, the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that India recently fixed 20 percent customs duty on the export of paddy and rice. Prior to this, there wasn’t any customs duty on the export of rice and paddy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The chamber said that the 20 percent customs duty imposed by India on rice and paddy export will hit the industries, consumers and the economy of Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal Rice, Oil, Lentil Industries Association’s President Dr Subodh Gupta said India's latest decision is not fair for the industries, traders, consumers and the market of Nepal. Gupta is also the president of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Another rice trader Suresh Rungta expressed concern that the consumers would be hit hardest due to the customs tariff imposed by India on paddy and rice export. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Gupta was worried that this drastic decision of India might lead to a situation in which the rice mills in Nepal will be closed and called on the government to address the problem at the earliest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal has been importing rice worth over Rs 8 billion annually from India. Nepal imported 550,000 metric tonnes of paddy, 520,000 metric tonnes of rice and 50,000 metric tonnes of rice grits from India last year alone. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There are around 2,500 rice industries registered across the country and half of these are already closed. Even those rice industries which are operating are not operating in full capacity due to various reasons. The rice industries of Nepal have been producing 40 percent rice and the rest of the demand is met through imports from India. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-11', 'modified' => '2022-09-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15710', 'image' => '20220911105024_640px-Rice_Plants_(IRRI).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-11 10:49:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15968', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Premier IB Continuum School marks International Literacy Day', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 10: Premier IB Continuum School marked the International Literacy Day 2022 on Thursday by organising a literature festival alongside a food fest.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 10: Premier IB Continuum School marked the International Literacy Day 2022 on Thursday by organising a literature festival alongside a food fest. The school said in a statement that “the wide array of activities, that celebrated international and national literature, kept the students and visitors engaged throughout the day.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the statement, international authors and illustrators including Sally Alstchuler from Denmark, Maria Amelia Jannarelli from Brazil, Lawrence Shimel from Spain and Sassa Buregren from Sweden interacted with students online on a wide variety of subjects. The topics discussed during the online interaction were reading and writing on different themes, how to select a book according to grade level, opportunities and challenges of developing books for children and young adults in the context of developing countries, and much more, added the statement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Besides the international exposure, students got to interact with local celebrities and authors/illustrators through in-person discussions, workshops, and panel discussions,” reads the statement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Some notable examples, according to the school, were a session on music, literature, and social change by popular singer-songwriter Samriddhi Rai, session on understanding poetry by celebrated poet, Viplov Pratik, interesting illustration sessions that encompassed both the historic, mythological and modern by Dhruba Prajapati and Binita Buddhacharya, and an engaging panel discussion on “The art of telling stories through movies’ that included Gaurav Pahari, Bijay Baral, Hem Raj BC. The panel discussion was moderated by Sujan Oli. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The school’s Director Pawitra Limbu had an engaging session with parents on “Bonding with Books”. Also, around 90 students and teachers from Harisiddhi Madhyamik Vidyalaya, Harisiddhi, Prabhat Madhyamik Vidyalaya, Gwarko, and Namuna Machhindra Madhyamik Vidyalaya attended the festival. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the statement, a range of food stalls served delicacies that “everyone enjoyed”. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“One USP of the event was that students could discover that literature and stories are everywhere – in the history of food, music, drama, and movies – and not just limited to books. With enthusiastic involvement and participation of students, parents, special invitees, and partners, this was a day to remember,” added the statement.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-10', 'modified' => '2022-09-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15709', 'image' => '20220910103112_aaaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-10 10:30:29', '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
