July 8: The Supreme Court has issued an interlocutory order asking the government to give continuity to Yubaraj Adhikari as the executive chairperson of Nepal Airlines Corporation…
July 8: The Supreme Court has issued an interlocutory order asking the government to give continuity to Yubaraj Adhikari as the executive chairperson of Nepal Airlines Corporation…
July 7: The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) is preparing to issue three types of broker licenses to help play a supporting role in securities…
July 7: The government had appointed Maha Prasad Adhikari as the governor of Nepal Rastra Bank on April 8, 2020, while the nation was in lockdown due to the Covid-19…
July 7: Deposit collection of banks and financial institutions in Madhesh Province have increased by 13 percent in the current fiscal…
July 7: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has made it clear that it does not have any policy allowing the operation of any sort of business on the…
July 7: The government has decided to accept the concessional loan of SDR 59.6 million to be provided by the World Bank for drinking water sector and infrastructure…
July 7: A controversy related to budget forced Finance Minister Janardan Sharma to quit from his…
July 6: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has tendered his resignation from the…
July 6: Kiran Shoes Manufacturers, which produces Nepal’s popular shoe brand Goldstar, is planning to open a new factory in Bhairahawa,…
July 6: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has indicated that it will provide loans at cheaper interest rates to the productive sector by prioritizing the manufacturing sector in the monetary policy for the upcoming fiscal…
uly 6: The Confederation of Banks and Financial Institutions Nepal (CBIFIN) held discussions with the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers regarding the problems faced by the economy and their…
July 6: The world's biggest IT company in Malaysia has agreed to take Nepali workers on zero…
July 6: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has courted yet another controversy after saying that the CCTV footage of unauthorized people allowed entry into the Ministry of Finance on the eve of budget announcement has been deleted.…
July 6: The 18th general assembly of the Nepali Young Entrepreneur Forum held in Kathmandu on July 5 has elected a new executive committee under the leadership of Ritesh…
July 6: The industries operating in Chitwan district are in crisis due to irregular power supply.…
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 8: The Supreme Court has issued an interlocutory order asking the government to give continuity to Yubaraj Adhikari as the executive chairperson of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari was appointed for a four-year term by the government, so his term needs to be enforced, the apex court said. Meanwhile, the SC also prohibited newly-appointed General Manager of NAC, Dipu Raj Jwarchan, from carrying out his responsibilities until further notice. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari was appointed by the government on October 28, 2021. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Petitioner Adhikari's appointment letter had explicitly mentioned that he was appointed for four years' term but a wrong provision of NAC Act, 2019 was invoked by the government to sack him. </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"">Section 20 of the NAC Act, 2019 does not allow the government to suspend and sack the executive chairperson of the NAC, the SC stated. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-08', 'modified' => '2022-07-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15322', 'image' => '20220708081637_20220701033256_Supreme Court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-08 08:15:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15580', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'SEBON Task Force Proposes Amendment to Broker Regulation ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 7: The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) is preparing to issue three types of broker licenses to help play a supporting role in securities trading.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 7: The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) is preparing to issue three types of broker licenses to help play a supporting role in securities trading.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A task force formed by the SEBON has approved the draft to amend the existing Securities Dealers Regulations, 2064 BS. The board has been working for the stock market development by forming a separate task force. The same team approved the draft to amend the existing Securities Dealers Regulations, 2064 BS so that three different types of broker licenses can be distributed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ramesh Hamal, chairman of the board, said that the proposed rules and regulations approved by the task force will be implemented after the board of directors approves them. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“The lack of classification of brokers in the securities business led to multiple complaints. Classification makes securities trading more systematic,” said Hamal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">After the implementation of the amended regulations, the way for the subsidiaries of commercial banks to get broker license will be opened. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The first of the three types of brokers will be issued for the group that only buys and sells shares. This is called a limited range of securities brokers. The minimum paid-up capital of this type of broker is fixed to be Rs 200 million. Similarly, a broker who works as a DP along with buying and selling shares, provides investment advisory services and investment management and also provides services related to margin trading is called a full-fledged securities broker who will be issue the second type of license. The minimum paid-up capital of a broker under the second category is fixed to be Rs 600 million.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The board informed that a stock dealer company will be allowed to operate with the license of the third category.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The minimum repayment capital of the third type of securities brokers is fixed to be Rs 1.5 billion. According to the new arrangement proposed for broker license, a limited range of securities brokers have to pay Rs 2.5 million per annum fee and an annual fee of Rs 150,000.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, a full-range securities broker will be charged Rs 5 million and the annual fee is Rs 300,000. In the case of securities brokers, the permission fee is Rs 10 million and the annual fee is Rs 500,000. The board informed that the companies that have met the specified paid-up capital and other criteria as per the regulations will be given broker licenses.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The paid-up capital of these brokers ranges from Rs 200 million to Rs 1.5 billion, as informed by the board.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Stock Brokers Association of Nepal on the other hand objected to the decision of the board. Chairman of the association Santosh Mainali argued that the need for any new policy and directive should be justified before the board implements it. Currently, 50 brokerage firms are working as securities dealers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15321', 'image' => '20220707073920_sebonn.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 19:38:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15579', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Monetary Policy Facing Mounting Challenges ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 7: The government had appointed Maha Prasad Adhikari as the governor of Nepal Rastra Bank on April 8, 2020, while the nation was in lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Yadav Humagain</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 7: The government had appointed Maha Prasad Adhikari as the governor of Nepal Rastra Bank on April 8, 2020, while the nation was in lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. After his appointment, Adhikari introduced a Covid-19 relief plan to provide 10 per cent waiver on the interests on loans to the affected businesses. The two monetary policies issued by the governor focused on providing relief to Covid-19-affected industrialists, businessmen and the general public and reviving the economy after the pandemic.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He was praised for providing relief to the general public through banks and financial institutions when economic activities were halted due to Covid-19.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Due to the flexible monetary policy of the fiscal years 2077/78 and 2078/79 aimed at reviving the Covid-19 affected economy, the cash flow in the market increased and the economy was afloat. However, with businesses and individuals using the cash in unproductive sectors and imports, the indicators of the economy became negative. Due to this, the NRB is not in a comfortable position as it had been in formulating monetary policy for the past two years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Adhikari is formulating the monetary policy for the upcoming fiscal year 2079/80 BS. The central bank is not in a position to fulfill the expectations of the private sector industrialists, businessmen, bankers and the general public through the monetary policy. He has already signaled a tight monetary policy, stating that the concessions given in the past will not be continued and has asked businesses to be ready for the impact.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Pressure on Foreign Exchange Reserves</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The country's foreign exchange reserves have been steadily declining due to high imports. At this time, NRB is under pressure to protect foreign exchange reserves through the monetary policy. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the NRB, foreign exchange reserves stood at Rs 1,146.88 billion in mid-April this year. Reserves, which stood at Rs. 1,399.3 billion during the start of FY 2078/79 declined by 18 per cent until mid-April. Based on the data of the 10-month import of FY 2078/79, the foreign exchange reserves in the banking sector can support 7.34 months of goods and 6.57 months of goods and services.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Even though the NRB has put forward a policy to discourage imports from last December, it has not been able to work accordingly as the balance of payments has been high and foreign exchange reserves have started declining.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the third week of January, the central bank added 27 types of goods to the list requiring cash margins for imports. In the third week of March, the gold import quota was halved to 10 kg per day. The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies has banned the import of 10 different types of luxury goods till April 30. Despite the efforts of the government and NRB, imports have not declined.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The central bank, which is under pressure due to a continuous increase in imports, is facing the challenge of saving foreign exchange for essential commodities by reducing imports of luxury goods. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sri Lanka is facing an unprecedented economic crisis due to the lack of foreign exchange reserves. Sri Lanka has not been able to buy much-needed fuel. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chairman of the Nepal Development Bankers' Association, Pradyuman Pokharel, said that reducing imports by 20 per cent would ease the pressure on foreign exchange reserves.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15320', 'image' => '20220707061750_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 18:16:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15578', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Access to Finance Increasing in Madhes Province', 'sub_title' => 'Deposit collection stands at 13% and credit flow increases to 37%', 'summary' => 'July 7: Deposit collection of banks and financial institutions in Madhesh Province have increased by 13 percent in the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 7: Deposit collection of banks and financial institutions in Madhesh Province have increased by 13 percent in the current fiscal year. In the meantime, credit flow increased by 37 percent. The expansion of the branch network of banks and financial institutions in Madhes has increased the financial literacy of the general public as well as the transactions through banks.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to a study on provincial economic activities conducted by the Janakpur office of Nepal Rastra Bank, the deposits of banks have increased by 13.24 percent and reached Rs 247.09 billion as of last December. Such deposits had increased by 37.56 percent to Rs 218.20 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Credit flow has been higher than the deposit collection of banks. Loans disbursed by banks increased by 37.29 percent to Rs 424.14 billion in the review period. Such loans had increased by 14.22 percent to Rs 308.94 billion in the first six months of last fiscal year.</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 share of Madhesh Province in the total deposits of the banking sector is 5 percent while the credit flow is 9 percent. The number of branches of banks and financial institutions in the state has reached 1,703. Of them, microfinance companies have the highest number of branches which stand at 1,031. Similarly, 559 branches of commercial banks, 82 branches of development banks and 31 branches of finance companies are in operation in the province. In terms of number of branches, Dhanusha has the highest number of branches at 242 and Rautahat has the lowest number at 180.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Loans extended by banks and financial institutions to the agriculture sector have increased by 43.53 percent to Rs 50.01 billion in the current fiscal year. Such a loan was Rs 34.84 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. Similarly, concessional loans have also increased to Rs 44.68 billion. Such a loan was Rs 8.57 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. Agriculture and concessional loans have been expanded due to the policy of NRB.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Of the total loans invested by banks and financial institutions in Madhesh till January, 51.69 percent has been invested in non-food manufacturing industries, 25.60 percent in agro-forestry and beverage manufacturing industries, 14.30 percent in construction industries, 6 in machinery and electronics and metal products manufacturing industries. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15319', 'image' => '20220707045610_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 16:54:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15577', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'There is No Policy to Allow Running Shops or Businesses on Footpath: KMC ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 7: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has made it clear that it does not have any policy allowing the operation of any sort of business on the footpath. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 7: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has made it clear that it does not have any policy allowing the operation of any sort of business on the footpath. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The KMC policy states that no goods and commodities including foodstuff can be sold and distributed from the roadside or on the footpath at any time. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Talking to the RSS, KMC Police Chief Dhanapati Sapkota said that managing the footpath is among the primary responsibilities given by the KMC to the Metropolitan Police. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The pavement is for the pedestrians. It is not made for running shops and stalls. Those operating shops and stalls without obeying this rule have been hauled and their goods confiscated," the KMC Police Chief said, reminding that newly-elected Mayor Balendra Shah had, during the time of filing his candidacy, announced to manage the businesses run on footpath. Shah was elected the KMC mayor through the municipal election held a month back. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It is also stated in the Policy and Programmes for the next fiscal year passed by the KMC municipal assembly on June 22 that the businesses operating from the footpath would be controlled. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"We have moved forward the works as per the decision of the KMC executive. It is not a matter to protest. Why to protest when we have carried our job in line with the municipal executive's decision? It is also our responsibility to transform the business operating from the footpath so that they come under the ambit of tax," Sapkota elaborated. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that it is but natural for criticisms while carrying out works, he said the KMC has only been controlling the encroachment on the road and pavements. As he said, the side running business on the pavement or roads will be affected when the authorities try to control the encroachment and these sides tend to make various comments and criticisms. The KMC Police Chief said he takes such comments and criticisms as obvious. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He insisted that the work on managing the footpath has been done in the interest of the general public. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Sapkota said, "Running a business using street is not positive in any pretext. The policy of the KMC mentions that no one is allowed to run business in the street round the clock, if it has been taking place somewhere, it is being done clandestinely. The KMC will take initiative to bring all of them under the ambit of law in coming days." </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He opined that city police have been focusing its attention to bring vendors under the control in the morning and evening when the movement of people is high. The KMC was criticized after a video of city police confiscating the good from a couple selling maize on the street and misbehaving with the couple was uploaded on social media. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The KMC has been working to control street encroachment by deploying four teams every day. Mostly the street of Sundhara, New Road, Baneshwor, Koteshwor, Gaushala, Chabahil, New Bus Park, Balaju, Kalanki and Kalimati are being encroached. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The KMC was compelled to take such action after its frequent requests not to run any business encroaching street were ignored, Sapkota argued. According to the KMC, goods confiscated from the vendors are put for auction. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> Similarly, goods that become stale easily as well as fruits, vegetables and flammable substances are returned to the concerned businessman after taking fine from them. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the current fiscal year, the local government has proceeded with the sale of confiscated goods at an auction and last fiscal year, goods including iron items, hoarding boards, bicycles and carts worth Rs 5.2 million were sold at an auction, according to Sapkota. </span></span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Vendors Voice for Alternative to Footpath </span></strong><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In one hand, the Metropolis is seeking to implement its policy, while the stories of street vendors are different. Manamaya Poudyal, 53, of Ramechhap who has been selling garments on the footpath of Sundhara since the past one decade, says the situation is different now and they remain watchful to the potential arrivals of city police to intervene in their business. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It has been already 15 years that the Poudyal family left the village. Now Manamaya's children are grown up and they are used to the Valley life. They are reluctant to go back to the village and she is finding its challenging to help her children settle in the Valley. She opines that the Metropolis should come with alternatives to street vending before intervening in their business. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Ramjanam Mishra has a similar story to share with. He has been selling fruits at the entrance of Dallu Bridge since the past 17 years. He has the experiences of getting his goods seized by the city police many times. Each time, he is compelled to pay fine to get his belongings back. He feeds his six-member family from street vending. He also insists that the local government should provide them alternatives to earning a livelihood before it has the policy of vacating the street. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, the Metropolis says it presently finds no situation to provide a space or fix a location for footbath business. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15318', 'image' => '20220707034709_FWu0G2wVEAEfEcG.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 15:45:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15576', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Accept Concessional Loan from World Bank ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 7: The government has decided to accept the concessional loan of SDR 59.6 million to be provided by the World Bank for drinking water sector and infrastructure assistance. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 7: The government has decided to accept the concessional loan of SDR 59.6 million to be provided by the World Bank for drinking water sector and infrastructure assistance. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Unveiling the decisions of the cabinet meeting held on Tuesday, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said that the government has decided to accept the concessional loan from the World Bank.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government has also decided to accept a grant assistance of USD 21 million </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">in a bid to promote modern and climate-friendly clean energy and to reduce greenhouse gas emission. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The cabinet meeting also decided to accept USD 8 billion to be provided by the Korean Republic for the establishment of cyber bureau of Nepal Police. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the economic and financial assistance of 4.5 million euros to be provided by the EU would be accepted for promotion of green and renewal energy. -- RSS</span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15317', 'image' => '20220707014426_IMG-8256.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 13:43:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15575', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Controversy Leads to Downfall of Janardan Sharma', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 7: A controversy related to budget forced Finance Minister Janardan Sharma to quit from his post.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Bijay Damase</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 7: A controversy related to budget forced Finance Minister Janardan Sharma to quit from his post.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He announced his resignation during a meeting of the House of Representatives on Wednesday (July 6). Following his resignation, the President’s Office handed over the responsibility of the finance ministry to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A Parliamentary Special Probe Committee has been formed to investigate the allegations labeled against Sharma. The Maoist leader said he resigned from the post to facilitate the probe committee. He has been accused of allowing entry of unauthorized person into the Ministry of Finance on May 28 - the eve of budget announcement – allegedly with the intention of influencing the budget for the benefit of a certain group of businessmen.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He has also been accused of colluding with high-ranking officials of the ministry in deliberately deleting the CCTV footage that captured the unauthorized person visiting the ministry on May 28. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Instead of keeping the topics of budget secret, Sharma courted controversy by inviting outsiders to the ministry allegedly to influence the budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota informed that the probe committee was formed after massive backlash both in parliament and streets as well as media reports criticizing the outgoing minister’s irresponsible remark that the CCTV footage has been deleted. The probe committee has been mandated to complete the investigation within 10 days.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Sharma is also accused of ordering the central bank’s governor to unfreeze money brought into the country through illegal means and initiating action against the government for refusing to do so.</span></span></p> <p><strong><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Past Probe Committees</span></span></strong></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Parliamentary probe committees were formed in the past to investigate into the alleged wrongdoings of Janardan Sharma, an influential leader of the CPN Maoist Centre. A parliamentary probe committee had investigated his alleged role in leaking the budget before its formal announcement. However, Sharma didn’t resign from his post back then.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In a similar case, probe committees were formed to investigate against the then finance ministers Bharat Mohan Adhikari and Bishnu Poudel after the media leaked the information of budget beforehand. However, both of them didn’t resign although the parliamentary committees had pointed their mistakes. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Sharma is not the only minister to step down after controversy. In fact, he is the second minister in the incumbent government to resign following a controversy. The then Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Gajendra Bahadur Hamal had resigned from his post on October 10, 2021 within 48 hours after being appointed a minister in the Deuba-led government. Hamal drew widespread criticism for being appointed a minister in the quote of suspended Chief Justice Cholendra SJB Rana. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the then Communication Minister Gokul Baskota had resigned from his post around two and a half years ago after being dragged into a controversy for seeking bribe of Rs 700 million for the procurement of a printing machine. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Another minister Sher Bahadur Tamang had also resigned from the post of health minister after he was accused of misbehaving with female students pursuing their medical studies in Bangladesh.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Other ministers to step down after being dragged into controversy include Dilanath Giri, Prabhu Sah, Sharat Singh Bhandari, Hari Parajuli, Radha Gyawali, Matrika Prasad Yadav, Sarita Giri among others.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15316', 'image' => '20220707122044_ROS_KTM-4187.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 12:19:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15574', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Sharma Resigns ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has tendered his resignation from the post. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 6: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has tendered his resignation from the post. <br /> Addressing a meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR) on Wednesday, Minister Sharma announced his resignation from the post to help the Parliamentary Special Probe Committee. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Speaking at the house meeting, Sharma said he is ready to facilitate the probe committee and maintained that he did not do anything wrong while drafting the budget.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Earlier, the HoR had formed the committee to carry out investigation about the involvement of unauthorized persons in course of preparing budget for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2022/23). <br /> The 11-member probe committee includes Khagaraj Adhikari, Dev Prasad Gurung, Pushpa Bhusal Gautam, Pradeep Gyawali, Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal, Bimala BK, Laxman Lal Karna, Shakti Bahadur Basnet, Sarala Kumari Yadav, Sitaram Mahato and Surendra Prasad Yadav.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">After the finance minister courted controversy, Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini took an indefinite leave starting from today (July 6). (With inputs from RSS)</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Read also:</span></span></span></span></p> <h2><span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Finance Minister Under Pressure to Resign</span></span></span></span></h2> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">https://www.newbusinessage.com/Articles/view/15569</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15315', 'image' => '20220706084444_1657104464.Janardan Sharma 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 20:44:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15573', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Goldstar to Operate a New Factory in Bhairahawa', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: Kiran Shoes Manufacturers, which produces Nepal’s popular shoe brand Goldstar, is planning to open a new factory in Bhairahawa, Rupandehi.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 6: Kiran Shoes Manufacturers, which produces Nepal’s popular shoe brand Goldstar, is planning to open a new factory in Bhairahawa, Rupandehi.The company is planning to operate a factory in Bhairahawa with an investment of Rs 600 million. The company expects to increase the share of footwear exports to India, which has dropped to 30 percent from 70 percent.The company will operate the factory on 7 bighas of land.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company informed that shoe production will start from the new factory in Bhairahawa within three months. It has been 30 years since the company started exporting Goldstar to India in the 40-year history of the company.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Vidushi Rana, executive director (branding and marketing) of the company, said that the company is planning to open a new factory in the border town of Bhairahawa targeting the Indian market after a significant decline in exports to India recently.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"We will be operating a big factory in Bhairahawa," Rana said. Some of the machines in Kathmandu are being prepared to be shifted to Bhairahawa,” said Rana. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">She said that due to the lack of liquidity in the banking system, they are in a wait and watch situation for expanding investment. According to Rana, only one building has been constructed in Bhairahawa at present. It is ready to start production.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company is producing shoes and slippers only from Kathmandu. The number of factories has dropped from 11 to 4 now. Earlier, it was the only shoe industry in Nepal, so factories had to be opened in different places. At that time, there were many factories as they used to make the upper part of shoes, thread and sole. The main factory of Kiran Shoes is in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">There are four factories in operation in Kathmandu including the ones in Nilupul, Balaju Industrial Area and Maharajgunj. Rana informed that even though the daily production capacity of these factories is 100,000, it is still running at 25 percent capacity. The factory has 18 large machines imported from Italy. Some machines of the shoe and slipper industry from Italian technology will be taken to Bhairahawa. Rana said that they are going to operate a factory in Bhairahawa as the export to India is easy due to the proximity of the city.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company directly employs more than 3,000 people. About 70 percent of the factory workers are women. Rana informed that the industry provides employment after giving free training for three months. "After the earthquake in April 2015, the industry had to be shut down for six months because the workers went to their villages," Rana said. It was difficult to export shoes, and the export began to decline.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">India is a very competitive market for Goldstar shoes, says Rana. According to Rana, after the brand became popular in India, counterfeit Goldstar shoes started appearing in every house in India. He said that the shoes exported from Nepal could not compete as the fake shoes were available at cheap prices. According to Rana, the company is fighting a case in an Indian court against a shoe manufacturer who uses its brand illegally.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">She suggested that the interest rate on bank loans and electricity tariff should also be reduced by identifying export-oriented industries. "We pay an electricity tariff of Rs 80 million annually," Rana said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company has also opened franchise stores in other countries such as Qatar, Australia, Bahrain and Japan. Rana said that they are looking for places to open franchise stores in other countries as well. The company also launched the Goldstar brand in the US a few months ago. However, she said that the export and competition has become very challenging due to the high customs duty. The United States has set a 37.5 percent tariff on footwear. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15314', 'image' => '20220706083735_1657082388.Goldsrar.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 20:36:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15572', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Productive Sectors to get Loan at Low Interest Rates: NRB Governor', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has indicated that it will provide loans at cheaper interest rates to the productive sector by prioritizing the manufacturing sector in the monetary policy for the upcoming fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 6: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has indicated that it will provide loans at cheaper interest rates to the productive sector by prioritizing the manufacturing sector in the monetary policy for the upcoming fiscal year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Speaking at an interaction program on monetary policy organized by the Nepal Management Association (NMA) on Tuesday, NRB Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari said there was no alternative to boost production, adding that interest rates for the unproductive sectors would rise.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"We have to invest in the productive sector, otherwise we will have to rely on imports," the governor said. He added that despite investment, its economic impact has not been seen.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the semi-annual review of the current fiscal year's monetary policy, the NRB had stated that among the various types of loans disbursed by banks and financial institutions, the interest rate on loans to the productive sector would be less than the interest rate on loans to other sectors.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">To reduce investment in unproductive sectors, NRB has increased the risk weight of loans including, import receipts, real estate loans related to land plotting, personal higher purchase loans and loans of a margin nature.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Adhikari said that the concessions given during the Covid-19 period could not be given continuity. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"During the Covid-19 pandemic, we provided refinancing facilities to run the business. These facilities cannot always be provided," he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> Stating that 50 per cent of the banks’ credit flow has been invested for interest capitalization, Chairman of the Nepal Bankers' Association Anil Kumar Upadhyaya said that the current situation has prevailed due to the arrangements like SLF and refinancing. He emphasized the need for long-term resource management.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chairman of the Nepal Finance Companies Association Saroj Kaji Tuladhar said that the monetary policy is not the only means for implementing the budget and other state bodies should also be held accountable. He said that the customers were frustrated when they had to fill up separate customer identification forms in each bank and suggested implementing a centralized system.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chairman of Muktinath Agricultural Company Bharatraj Dhakal urged to review the arrangement of agricultural credit.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Srijana Rana, president of the Hotel Association of Nepal, said that many tourists were coming from India and Bangladesh and urged the banks to facilitate the use of Indian and Bangladeshi currency.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Senior Vice President of the Nepal Chamber of Commerce Kamalesh Kumar Agrawal said that a flexible and balanced monetary policy is needed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15313', 'image' => '20220706025605_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 14:55:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15571', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CBFIN holds Discussions with Prime Minister’s Office', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'uly 6: The Confederation of Banks and Financial Institutions Nepal (CBIFIN) held discussions with the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers regarding the problems faced by the economy and their solutions.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 6: The Confederation of Banks and Financial Institutions Nepal (CBIFIN) held discussions with the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers regarding the problems faced by the economy and their solutions. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ministers, chief secretaries, secretaries of various ministries and CIBIFIN delegates were present at the discussion held at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers in Singha Durbar.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">During the discussion, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu expressed concern over the problems faced by the economy. He emphasized on the need to improve the quality of agriculture and forest based products, reduce production costs and increase exports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chief Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi said that the ministries should work together for regional reforms. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Deputy Chairman of the National Planning Commission Dr Bishwa Poudel said that customs administration should be improved for trade and investment. He said that the government should focus on the use of local knowledge, skills and products for economic reform and empowerment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chairman of CBFIN, Pawan Kumar Golyan said that the economy is in a serious crisis and the government of Nepal, its subordinate bodies, various business associations and banks and financial institutions should work together for the solution.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15312', 'image' => '20220706022617_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 14:25:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15567', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Malaysia's Weston Company to Recruit Nepali Workers on Zero Investment', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: The world's biggest IT company in Malaysia has agreed to take Nepali workers on zero cost. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 6: One of the world's biggest IT company in Malaysia has agreed to take Nepali workers on zero cost. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Malaysia's Weston Technology and Nepal-based manpower companies Akarshan International and Laldhanush International signed a bilateral agreement to this effect amid a programme on Tuesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Deputy General Manager of Weston Technology David Weston and Chairperson of Akarshan International Bishnu Bahadur KC and Chairperson of Laldhanush International Dawa Nawang Sherpa signed the agreement to this effect. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the agreement, Nepali workers are permitted to go to Malaysia through the two manpower companies with zero investment. </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 Malaysia-based company announced to take 450 workers in the first phase. A total of 140 women and 60 men are flying to Malaysia through Akarshan international while 175 women and 75 men are being taken through Laldhanush International. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A high-level management team of the company, which is planning to recruit Nepali workforce, has arrived in Kathmandu. Interview dates have been set for Wednesday and Thursday for the selection of workers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">All costs involved in sending the selected Nepali workers to Malaysia would be covered by the company, informed Weston Technology Deputy General Manager David. </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"">"We are sensitive to the safety and health issues of workers," he said, adding there would be no discrimination on wage and opportunities between Nepali and Malaysian workers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The company has industries in different countries including China, India, Taiwan, Mexico, Czech Republic and the Philippines. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15311', 'image' => '20220706104102_foreign emp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 10:40:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15569', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Under Pressure to Resign', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has courted yet another controversy after saying that the CCTV footage of unauthorized people allowed entry into the Ministry of Finance on the eve of budget announcement has been deleted. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 6: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has courted yet another controversy after saying that the CCTV footage of unauthorized people allowed entry into the Ministry of Finance on the eve of budget announcement has been deleted. The finance minister has been criticized in parliament as well as the streets for his irresponsible remark.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">His resignation is being demanded even in the streets over the same issue. On Tuesday, the youth association demanded his resignation. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The minister, on the other hand, maintained that unauthorized people were not allowed to enter the ministry but said that the CCTV footage was deleted within 13 days of May 29.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to CCTV Installation Procedure 2072, the CCTV footages should be kept safe for three months. However, the finance minister’s remark that the CCTV footage was 'deleted' just within 13 days has drawn widespread condemnation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Although such footage can be retrieved, finance minister is not willing to do so and is still maintaining his stance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Pressure is building up on Finance Minister Sharma to resign after the main opposition party -- the CPN-UML -- demanded the formation of a parliamentary probe committee. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Even within the ruling Nepali Congress, there is a growing demand for the finance minister to resign or for the prime minister to remove Sharma from his position.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to a Nepali Congress (NC) source, a formal demand will be made at the meeting of the Central Committee of the Nepali Congress to be held on July 11. NC leaders are of the view that the finance minister should immediately resign and assist in the investigation or Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba should remove him.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Due to the protest from the main opposition party, the ruling Congress and the growing level of dissatisfaction among the citizens, there is an intense pressure within the Maoist Center to recall Minister Sharma from the government.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15310', 'image' => '20220706113952_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 11:39:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15570', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NYEF Elects a New Team under the Leadership of Ritesh Lamichhane ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: The 18th general assembly of the Nepali Young Entrepreneur Forum held in Kathmandu on July 5 has elected a new executive committee under the leadership of Ritesh Lamichhane.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 6: The 18th general assembly of the Nepali Young Entrepreneur Forum held in Kathmandu on July 5 has elected a new executive committee under the leadership of Ritesh Lamichhane.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Sahara Joshi has been elected as the first vice president of NYEF while Kushal Sundar Shrestha bagged the post of second vice president, and Nibhita Pradhan was elected the vice president in women’s category during the election.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the forum has appointed Sudip Ghimire, Richa Shrestha, Krishna Sapkota, Pabitra Gautam, Abhushan Jyoti Kansakar, and Punit Vaidya as executive members.</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 inaugurated the 18th general assembly of the Nepali Young Entrepreneur Forum.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs' Forum (NYEF) is an apex body of young entrepreneurs in Nepal established with a vision to become the most influential community of young entrepreneurs in Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It aims at creating outstanding entrepreneurs through idea exchange, fellowships, education, training and advocacy among the Nepali youth. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The forum was officially instituted by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) on September 26, 2003. NYEF is also one of the founding members of the SAARC Young Entrepreneurs Forum (SYEF), Association of Youth Organization Nepal (AYON) and the World Young Entrepreneurs Forum (WYEF) and a member of the Confederation of Asia Pacific Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CACCI) Committee on Youth Entrepreneurship. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Lamichhane and his team have expressed their commitment to hold a large-scale 'Made in Nepal' exhibition in Kathmandu.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15309', 'image' => '20220706022904_292079403_2570287936439636_2990054633312305936_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 11:48:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15566', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Industries in Chitwan Feeling Heat due to Irregular Power Supply ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: The industries operating in Chitwan district are in crisis due to irregular power supply. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 6: The industries operating in Chitwan district are in crisis due to irregular power supply. Not only the enterprises, the general public too are facing problem due to the frequent power interruptions every day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The industries and individuals who had abandoned inverters and generators for power back up have now started installing these devices after the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)'s Bharatpur Distribution Centre started stopping power supply without issuing prior notice. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">People have started complaining that this problem has arisen due to the negligence of NEA Bharatpur Distribution Centre. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Representatives of the Industry Association of Chitwan had apprised NEA executive director Kulman Ghising about the problem few days back. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The association's Chitwan district president Trilochan Kandel complained that they have reached to a state in which it has become difficult to operate their industries. According to him, it is costly to operate generators as well due to the high price of fuel. He further said that a situation has arisen in which the workers have no work most of the time due to the frequent power outage. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The industries are facing a crisis due to the power supply problem. The industries are bearing huge losses," he lamented. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Kandel said that NEA was ignoring the problems faced by the industrialists and businesspersons. He added that some industries are also losing raw materials due to the erratic power supply. The industrialists are having hard time even to pay their bank loan installments as they are unable to operate their enterprises in full capacity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rajendra Oli, a businessman, who has been running a plastic industry since a long time, complained that although they were able to carry out production as per the schedule even during the period of load shedding, it has now become more unsystematic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Oli, the proprietor of Plasto Tech Nepal and Ashirbad Pipe, said raw materials get wasted as power outage takes place at once the raw materials get heated. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He expressed concern over NEA's apathy to resolve the problems of industries, saying there would be no condition to run the industries if the problem continues. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Not only is the industries that are facing this problem, but the general public is also facing problem due to power outage. Small-scale businessmen have been compelled to buy inverter. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Devi Prasad Sharma of Bharatpur-10 blamed that problem of power outage has been taking place due to collusion between NEA officials and inverter businessmen. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Students are affected due to undeclared load-shedding. Normal life has been affected due to power outage time and again in a hot place like Chitwan. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of NEA Bharatpur Distribution Centre, Rajeev Kumar Singh claimed that the power outage has occurred time and again as construction activities and electricity upgrading activities are underway. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15308', 'image' => '20220706102517_NEA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 10:24:25', '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' => '15581', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'SC Orders Government to Give Continuity to Adhikari as NAC Executive Chair ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 8: The Supreme Court has issued an interlocutory order asking the government to give continuity to Yubaraj Adhikari as the executive chairperson of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 8: The Supreme Court has issued an interlocutory order asking the government to give continuity to Yubaraj Adhikari as the executive chairperson of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari was appointed for a four-year term by the government, so his term needs to be enforced, the apex court said. Meanwhile, the SC also prohibited newly-appointed General Manager of NAC, Dipu Raj Jwarchan, from carrying out his responsibilities until further notice. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari was appointed by the government on October 28, 2021. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Petitioner Adhikari's appointment letter had explicitly mentioned that he was appointed for four years' term but a wrong provision of NAC Act, 2019 was invoked by the government to sack him. </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"">Section 20 of the NAC Act, 2019 does not allow the government to suspend and sack the executive chairperson of the NAC, the SC stated. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-08', 'modified' => '2022-07-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15322', 'image' => '20220708081637_20220701033256_Supreme Court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-08 08:15:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15580', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'SEBON Task Force Proposes Amendment to Broker Regulation ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 7: The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) is preparing to issue three types of broker licenses to help play a supporting role in securities trading.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 7: The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) is preparing to issue three types of broker licenses to help play a supporting role in securities trading.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A task force formed by the SEBON has approved the draft to amend the existing Securities Dealers Regulations, 2064 BS. The board has been working for the stock market development by forming a separate task force. The same team approved the draft to amend the existing Securities Dealers Regulations, 2064 BS so that three different types of broker licenses can be distributed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ramesh Hamal, chairman of the board, said that the proposed rules and regulations approved by the task force will be implemented after the board of directors approves them. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“The lack of classification of brokers in the securities business led to multiple complaints. Classification makes securities trading more systematic,” said Hamal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">After the implementation of the amended regulations, the way for the subsidiaries of commercial banks to get broker license will be opened. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The first of the three types of brokers will be issued for the group that only buys and sells shares. This is called a limited range of securities brokers. The minimum paid-up capital of this type of broker is fixed to be Rs 200 million. Similarly, a broker who works as a DP along with buying and selling shares, provides investment advisory services and investment management and also provides services related to margin trading is called a full-fledged securities broker who will be issue the second type of license. The minimum paid-up capital of a broker under the second category is fixed to be Rs 600 million.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The board informed that a stock dealer company will be allowed to operate with the license of the third category.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The minimum repayment capital of the third type of securities brokers is fixed to be Rs 1.5 billion. According to the new arrangement proposed for broker license, a limited range of securities brokers have to pay Rs 2.5 million per annum fee and an annual fee of Rs 150,000.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, a full-range securities broker will be charged Rs 5 million and the annual fee is Rs 300,000. In the case of securities brokers, the permission fee is Rs 10 million and the annual fee is Rs 500,000. The board informed that the companies that have met the specified paid-up capital and other criteria as per the regulations will be given broker licenses.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The paid-up capital of these brokers ranges from Rs 200 million to Rs 1.5 billion, as informed by the board.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Stock Brokers Association of Nepal on the other hand objected to the decision of the board. Chairman of the association Santosh Mainali argued that the need for any new policy and directive should be justified before the board implements it. Currently, 50 brokerage firms are working as securities dealers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15321', 'image' => '20220707073920_sebonn.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 19:38:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15579', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Monetary Policy Facing Mounting Challenges ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 7: The government had appointed Maha Prasad Adhikari as the governor of Nepal Rastra Bank on April 8, 2020, while the nation was in lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Yadav Humagain</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 7: The government had appointed Maha Prasad Adhikari as the governor of Nepal Rastra Bank on April 8, 2020, while the nation was in lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. After his appointment, Adhikari introduced a Covid-19 relief plan to provide 10 per cent waiver on the interests on loans to the affected businesses. The two monetary policies issued by the governor focused on providing relief to Covid-19-affected industrialists, businessmen and the general public and reviving the economy after the pandemic.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He was praised for providing relief to the general public through banks and financial institutions when economic activities were halted due to Covid-19.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Due to the flexible monetary policy of the fiscal years 2077/78 and 2078/79 aimed at reviving the Covid-19 affected economy, the cash flow in the market increased and the economy was afloat. However, with businesses and individuals using the cash in unproductive sectors and imports, the indicators of the economy became negative. Due to this, the NRB is not in a comfortable position as it had been in formulating monetary policy for the past two years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Adhikari is formulating the monetary policy for the upcoming fiscal year 2079/80 BS. The central bank is not in a position to fulfill the expectations of the private sector industrialists, businessmen, bankers and the general public through the monetary policy. He has already signaled a tight monetary policy, stating that the concessions given in the past will not be continued and has asked businesses to be ready for the impact.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Pressure on Foreign Exchange Reserves</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The country's foreign exchange reserves have been steadily declining due to high imports. At this time, NRB is under pressure to protect foreign exchange reserves through the monetary policy. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the NRB, foreign exchange reserves stood at Rs 1,146.88 billion in mid-April this year. Reserves, which stood at Rs. 1,399.3 billion during the start of FY 2078/79 declined by 18 per cent until mid-April. Based on the data of the 10-month import of FY 2078/79, the foreign exchange reserves in the banking sector can support 7.34 months of goods and 6.57 months of goods and services.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Even though the NRB has put forward a policy to discourage imports from last December, it has not been able to work accordingly as the balance of payments has been high and foreign exchange reserves have started declining.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the third week of January, the central bank added 27 types of goods to the list requiring cash margins for imports. In the third week of March, the gold import quota was halved to 10 kg per day. The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies has banned the import of 10 different types of luxury goods till April 30. Despite the efforts of the government and NRB, imports have not declined.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The central bank, which is under pressure due to a continuous increase in imports, is facing the challenge of saving foreign exchange for essential commodities by reducing imports of luxury goods. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sri Lanka is facing an unprecedented economic crisis due to the lack of foreign exchange reserves. Sri Lanka has not been able to buy much-needed fuel. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chairman of the Nepal Development Bankers' Association, Pradyuman Pokharel, said that reducing imports by 20 per cent would ease the pressure on foreign exchange reserves.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15320', 'image' => '20220707061750_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 18:16:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15578', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Access to Finance Increasing in Madhes Province', 'sub_title' => 'Deposit collection stands at 13% and credit flow increases to 37%', 'summary' => 'July 7: Deposit collection of banks and financial institutions in Madhesh Province have increased by 13 percent in the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 7: Deposit collection of banks and financial institutions in Madhesh Province have increased by 13 percent in the current fiscal year. In the meantime, credit flow increased by 37 percent. The expansion of the branch network of banks and financial institutions in Madhes has increased the financial literacy of the general public as well as the transactions through banks.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to a study on provincial economic activities conducted by the Janakpur office of Nepal Rastra Bank, the deposits of banks have increased by 13.24 percent and reached Rs 247.09 billion as of last December. Such deposits had increased by 37.56 percent to Rs 218.20 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Credit flow has been higher than the deposit collection of banks. Loans disbursed by banks increased by 37.29 percent to Rs 424.14 billion in the review period. Such loans had increased by 14.22 percent to Rs 308.94 billion in the first six months of last fiscal year.</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 share of Madhesh Province in the total deposits of the banking sector is 5 percent while the credit flow is 9 percent. The number of branches of banks and financial institutions in the state has reached 1,703. Of them, microfinance companies have the highest number of branches which stand at 1,031. Similarly, 559 branches of commercial banks, 82 branches of development banks and 31 branches of finance companies are in operation in the province. In terms of number of branches, Dhanusha has the highest number of branches at 242 and Rautahat has the lowest number at 180.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Loans extended by banks and financial institutions to the agriculture sector have increased by 43.53 percent to Rs 50.01 billion in the current fiscal year. Such a loan was Rs 34.84 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. Similarly, concessional loans have also increased to Rs 44.68 billion. Such a loan was Rs 8.57 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. Agriculture and concessional loans have been expanded due to the policy of NRB.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Of the total loans invested by banks and financial institutions in Madhesh till January, 51.69 percent has been invested in non-food manufacturing industries, 25.60 percent in agro-forestry and beverage manufacturing industries, 14.30 percent in construction industries, 6 in machinery and electronics and metal products manufacturing industries. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15319', 'image' => '20220707045610_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 16:54:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15577', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'There is No Policy to Allow Running Shops or Businesses on Footpath: KMC ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 7: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has made it clear that it does not have any policy allowing the operation of any sort of business on the footpath. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 7: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has made it clear that it does not have any policy allowing the operation of any sort of business on the footpath. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The KMC policy states that no goods and commodities including foodstuff can be sold and distributed from the roadside or on the footpath at any time. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Talking to the RSS, KMC Police Chief Dhanapati Sapkota said that managing the footpath is among the primary responsibilities given by the KMC to the Metropolitan Police. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The pavement is for the pedestrians. It is not made for running shops and stalls. Those operating shops and stalls without obeying this rule have been hauled and their goods confiscated," the KMC Police Chief said, reminding that newly-elected Mayor Balendra Shah had, during the time of filing his candidacy, announced to manage the businesses run on footpath. Shah was elected the KMC mayor through the municipal election held a month back. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It is also stated in the Policy and Programmes for the next fiscal year passed by the KMC municipal assembly on June 22 that the businesses operating from the footpath would be controlled. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"We have moved forward the works as per the decision of the KMC executive. It is not a matter to protest. Why to protest when we have carried our job in line with the municipal executive's decision? It is also our responsibility to transform the business operating from the footpath so that they come under the ambit of tax," Sapkota elaborated. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that it is but natural for criticisms while carrying out works, he said the KMC has only been controlling the encroachment on the road and pavements. As he said, the side running business on the pavement or roads will be affected when the authorities try to control the encroachment and these sides tend to make various comments and criticisms. The KMC Police Chief said he takes such comments and criticisms as obvious. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He insisted that the work on managing the footpath has been done in the interest of the general public. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Sapkota said, "Running a business using street is not positive in any pretext. The policy of the KMC mentions that no one is allowed to run business in the street round the clock, if it has been taking place somewhere, it is being done clandestinely. The KMC will take initiative to bring all of them under the ambit of law in coming days." </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He opined that city police have been focusing its attention to bring vendors under the control in the morning and evening when the movement of people is high. The KMC was criticized after a video of city police confiscating the good from a couple selling maize on the street and misbehaving with the couple was uploaded on social media. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The KMC has been working to control street encroachment by deploying four teams every day. Mostly the street of Sundhara, New Road, Baneshwor, Koteshwor, Gaushala, Chabahil, New Bus Park, Balaju, Kalanki and Kalimati are being encroached. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The KMC was compelled to take such action after its frequent requests not to run any business encroaching street were ignored, Sapkota argued. According to the KMC, goods confiscated from the vendors are put for auction. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> Similarly, goods that become stale easily as well as fruits, vegetables and flammable substances are returned to the concerned businessman after taking fine from them. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the current fiscal year, the local government has proceeded with the sale of confiscated goods at an auction and last fiscal year, goods including iron items, hoarding boards, bicycles and carts worth Rs 5.2 million were sold at an auction, according to Sapkota. </span></span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Vendors Voice for Alternative to Footpath </span></strong><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In one hand, the Metropolis is seeking to implement its policy, while the stories of street vendors are different. Manamaya Poudyal, 53, of Ramechhap who has been selling garments on the footpath of Sundhara since the past one decade, says the situation is different now and they remain watchful to the potential arrivals of city police to intervene in their business. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It has been already 15 years that the Poudyal family left the village. Now Manamaya's children are grown up and they are used to the Valley life. They are reluctant to go back to the village and she is finding its challenging to help her children settle in the Valley. She opines that the Metropolis should come with alternatives to street vending before intervening in their business. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Ramjanam Mishra has a similar story to share with. He has been selling fruits at the entrance of Dallu Bridge since the past 17 years. He has the experiences of getting his goods seized by the city police many times. Each time, he is compelled to pay fine to get his belongings back. He feeds his six-member family from street vending. He also insists that the local government should provide them alternatives to earning a livelihood before it has the policy of vacating the street. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, the Metropolis says it presently finds no situation to provide a space or fix a location for footbath business. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15318', 'image' => '20220707034709_FWu0G2wVEAEfEcG.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 15:45:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15576', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Accept Concessional Loan from World Bank ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 7: The government has decided to accept the concessional loan of SDR 59.6 million to be provided by the World Bank for drinking water sector and infrastructure assistance. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 7: The government has decided to accept the concessional loan of SDR 59.6 million to be provided by the World Bank for drinking water sector and infrastructure assistance. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Unveiling the decisions of the cabinet meeting held on Tuesday, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said that the government has decided to accept the concessional loan from the World Bank.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government has also decided to accept a grant assistance of USD 21 million </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">in a bid to promote modern and climate-friendly clean energy and to reduce greenhouse gas emission. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The cabinet meeting also decided to accept USD 8 billion to be provided by the Korean Republic for the establishment of cyber bureau of Nepal Police. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the economic and financial assistance of 4.5 million euros to be provided by the EU would be accepted for promotion of green and renewal energy. -- RSS</span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15317', 'image' => '20220707014426_IMG-8256.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 13:43:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15575', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Controversy Leads to Downfall of Janardan Sharma', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 7: A controversy related to budget forced Finance Minister Janardan Sharma to quit from his post.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Bijay Damase</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 7: A controversy related to budget forced Finance Minister Janardan Sharma to quit from his post.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He announced his resignation during a meeting of the House of Representatives on Wednesday (July 6). Following his resignation, the President’s Office handed over the responsibility of the finance ministry to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A Parliamentary Special Probe Committee has been formed to investigate the allegations labeled against Sharma. The Maoist leader said he resigned from the post to facilitate the probe committee. He has been accused of allowing entry of unauthorized person into the Ministry of Finance on May 28 - the eve of budget announcement – allegedly with the intention of influencing the budget for the benefit of a certain group of businessmen.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He has also been accused of colluding with high-ranking officials of the ministry in deliberately deleting the CCTV footage that captured the unauthorized person visiting the ministry on May 28. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Instead of keeping the topics of budget secret, Sharma courted controversy by inviting outsiders to the ministry allegedly to influence the budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota informed that the probe committee was formed after massive backlash both in parliament and streets as well as media reports criticizing the outgoing minister’s irresponsible remark that the CCTV footage has been deleted. The probe committee has been mandated to complete the investigation within 10 days.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Sharma is also accused of ordering the central bank’s governor to unfreeze money brought into the country through illegal means and initiating action against the government for refusing to do so.</span></span></p> <p><strong><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Past Probe Committees</span></span></strong></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Parliamentary probe committees were formed in the past to investigate into the alleged wrongdoings of Janardan Sharma, an influential leader of the CPN Maoist Centre. A parliamentary probe committee had investigated his alleged role in leaking the budget before its formal announcement. However, Sharma didn’t resign from his post back then.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In a similar case, probe committees were formed to investigate against the then finance ministers Bharat Mohan Adhikari and Bishnu Poudel after the media leaked the information of budget beforehand. However, both of them didn’t resign although the parliamentary committees had pointed their mistakes. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Sharma is not the only minister to step down after controversy. In fact, he is the second minister in the incumbent government to resign following a controversy. The then Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Gajendra Bahadur Hamal had resigned from his post on October 10, 2021 within 48 hours after being appointed a minister in the Deuba-led government. Hamal drew widespread criticism for being appointed a minister in the quote of suspended Chief Justice Cholendra SJB Rana. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the then Communication Minister Gokul Baskota had resigned from his post around two and a half years ago after being dragged into a controversy for seeking bribe of Rs 700 million for the procurement of a printing machine. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Another minister Sher Bahadur Tamang had also resigned from the post of health minister after he was accused of misbehaving with female students pursuing their medical studies in Bangladesh.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Other ministers to step down after being dragged into controversy include Dilanath Giri, Prabhu Sah, Sharat Singh Bhandari, Hari Parajuli, Radha Gyawali, Matrika Prasad Yadav, Sarita Giri among others.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15316', 'image' => '20220707122044_ROS_KTM-4187.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 12:19:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15574', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Sharma Resigns ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has tendered his resignation from the post. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 6: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has tendered his resignation from the post. <br /> Addressing a meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR) on Wednesday, Minister Sharma announced his resignation from the post to help the Parliamentary Special Probe Committee. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Speaking at the house meeting, Sharma said he is ready to facilitate the probe committee and maintained that he did not do anything wrong while drafting the budget.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Earlier, the HoR had formed the committee to carry out investigation about the involvement of unauthorized persons in course of preparing budget for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2022/23). <br /> The 11-member probe committee includes Khagaraj Adhikari, Dev Prasad Gurung, Pushpa Bhusal Gautam, Pradeep Gyawali, Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal, Bimala BK, Laxman Lal Karna, Shakti Bahadur Basnet, Sarala Kumari Yadav, Sitaram Mahato and Surendra Prasad Yadav.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">After the finance minister courted controversy, Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini took an indefinite leave starting from today (July 6). (With inputs from RSS)</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Read also:</span></span></span></span></p> <h2><span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Finance Minister Under Pressure to Resign</span></span></span></span></h2> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">https://www.newbusinessage.com/Articles/view/15569</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15315', 'image' => '20220706084444_1657104464.Janardan Sharma 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 20:44:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15573', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Goldstar to Operate a New Factory in Bhairahawa', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: Kiran Shoes Manufacturers, which produces Nepal’s popular shoe brand Goldstar, is planning to open a new factory in Bhairahawa, Rupandehi.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 6: Kiran Shoes Manufacturers, which produces Nepal’s popular shoe brand Goldstar, is planning to open a new factory in Bhairahawa, Rupandehi.The company is planning to operate a factory in Bhairahawa with an investment of Rs 600 million. The company expects to increase the share of footwear exports to India, which has dropped to 30 percent from 70 percent.The company will operate the factory on 7 bighas of land.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company informed that shoe production will start from the new factory in Bhairahawa within three months. It has been 30 years since the company started exporting Goldstar to India in the 40-year history of the company.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Vidushi Rana, executive director (branding and marketing) of the company, said that the company is planning to open a new factory in the border town of Bhairahawa targeting the Indian market after a significant decline in exports to India recently.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"We will be operating a big factory in Bhairahawa," Rana said. Some of the machines in Kathmandu are being prepared to be shifted to Bhairahawa,” said Rana. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">She said that due to the lack of liquidity in the banking system, they are in a wait and watch situation for expanding investment. According to Rana, only one building has been constructed in Bhairahawa at present. It is ready to start production.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company is producing shoes and slippers only from Kathmandu. The number of factories has dropped from 11 to 4 now. Earlier, it was the only shoe industry in Nepal, so factories had to be opened in different places. At that time, there were many factories as they used to make the upper part of shoes, thread and sole. The main factory of Kiran Shoes is in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">There are four factories in operation in Kathmandu including the ones in Nilupul, Balaju Industrial Area and Maharajgunj. Rana informed that even though the daily production capacity of these factories is 100,000, it is still running at 25 percent capacity. The factory has 18 large machines imported from Italy. Some machines of the shoe and slipper industry from Italian technology will be taken to Bhairahawa. Rana said that they are going to operate a factory in Bhairahawa as the export to India is easy due to the proximity of the city.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company directly employs more than 3,000 people. About 70 percent of the factory workers are women. Rana informed that the industry provides employment after giving free training for three months. "After the earthquake in April 2015, the industry had to be shut down for six months because the workers went to their villages," Rana said. It was difficult to export shoes, and the export began to decline.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">India is a very competitive market for Goldstar shoes, says Rana. According to Rana, after the brand became popular in India, counterfeit Goldstar shoes started appearing in every house in India. He said that the shoes exported from Nepal could not compete as the fake shoes were available at cheap prices. According to Rana, the company is fighting a case in an Indian court against a shoe manufacturer who uses its brand illegally.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">She suggested that the interest rate on bank loans and electricity tariff should also be reduced by identifying export-oriented industries. "We pay an electricity tariff of Rs 80 million annually," Rana said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company has also opened franchise stores in other countries such as Qatar, Australia, Bahrain and Japan. Rana said that they are looking for places to open franchise stores in other countries as well. The company also launched the Goldstar brand in the US a few months ago. However, she said that the export and competition has become very challenging due to the high customs duty. The United States has set a 37.5 percent tariff on footwear. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15314', 'image' => '20220706083735_1657082388.Goldsrar.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 20:36:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15572', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Productive Sectors to get Loan at Low Interest Rates: NRB Governor', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has indicated that it will provide loans at cheaper interest rates to the productive sector by prioritizing the manufacturing sector in the monetary policy for the upcoming fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 6: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has indicated that it will provide loans at cheaper interest rates to the productive sector by prioritizing the manufacturing sector in the monetary policy for the upcoming fiscal year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Speaking at an interaction program on monetary policy organized by the Nepal Management Association (NMA) on Tuesday, NRB Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari said there was no alternative to boost production, adding that interest rates for the unproductive sectors would rise.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"We have to invest in the productive sector, otherwise we will have to rely on imports," the governor said. He added that despite investment, its economic impact has not been seen.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the semi-annual review of the current fiscal year's monetary policy, the NRB had stated that among the various types of loans disbursed by banks and financial institutions, the interest rate on loans to the productive sector would be less than the interest rate on loans to other sectors.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">To reduce investment in unproductive sectors, NRB has increased the risk weight of loans including, import receipts, real estate loans related to land plotting, personal higher purchase loans and loans of a margin nature.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Adhikari said that the concessions given during the Covid-19 period could not be given continuity. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"During the Covid-19 pandemic, we provided refinancing facilities to run the business. These facilities cannot always be provided," he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> Stating that 50 per cent of the banks’ credit flow has been invested for interest capitalization, Chairman of the Nepal Bankers' Association Anil Kumar Upadhyaya said that the current situation has prevailed due to the arrangements like SLF and refinancing. He emphasized the need for long-term resource management.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chairman of the Nepal Finance Companies Association Saroj Kaji Tuladhar said that the monetary policy is not the only means for implementing the budget and other state bodies should also be held accountable. He said that the customers were frustrated when they had to fill up separate customer identification forms in each bank and suggested implementing a centralized system.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chairman of Muktinath Agricultural Company Bharatraj Dhakal urged to review the arrangement of agricultural credit.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Srijana Rana, president of the Hotel Association of Nepal, said that many tourists were coming from India and Bangladesh and urged the banks to facilitate the use of Indian and Bangladeshi currency.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Senior Vice President of the Nepal Chamber of Commerce Kamalesh Kumar Agrawal said that a flexible and balanced monetary policy is needed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15313', 'image' => '20220706025605_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 14:55:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15571', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CBFIN holds Discussions with Prime Minister’s Office', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'uly 6: The Confederation of Banks and Financial Institutions Nepal (CBIFIN) held discussions with the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers regarding the problems faced by the economy and their solutions.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 6: The Confederation of Banks and Financial Institutions Nepal (CBIFIN) held discussions with the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers regarding the problems faced by the economy and their solutions. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ministers, chief secretaries, secretaries of various ministries and CIBIFIN delegates were present at the discussion held at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers in Singha Durbar.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">During the discussion, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu expressed concern over the problems faced by the economy. He emphasized on the need to improve the quality of agriculture and forest based products, reduce production costs and increase exports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chief Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi said that the ministries should work together for regional reforms. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Deputy Chairman of the National Planning Commission Dr Bishwa Poudel said that customs administration should be improved for trade and investment. He said that the government should focus on the use of local knowledge, skills and products for economic reform and empowerment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chairman of CBFIN, Pawan Kumar Golyan said that the economy is in a serious crisis and the government of Nepal, its subordinate bodies, various business associations and banks and financial institutions should work together for the solution.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15312', 'image' => '20220706022617_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 14:25:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15567', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Malaysia's Weston Company to Recruit Nepali Workers on Zero Investment', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: The world's biggest IT company in Malaysia has agreed to take Nepali workers on zero cost. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 6: One of the world's biggest IT company in Malaysia has agreed to take Nepali workers on zero cost. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Malaysia's Weston Technology and Nepal-based manpower companies Akarshan International and Laldhanush International signed a bilateral agreement to this effect amid a programme on Tuesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Deputy General Manager of Weston Technology David Weston and Chairperson of Akarshan International Bishnu Bahadur KC and Chairperson of Laldhanush International Dawa Nawang Sherpa signed the agreement to this effect. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the agreement, Nepali workers are permitted to go to Malaysia through the two manpower companies with zero investment. </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 Malaysia-based company announced to take 450 workers in the first phase. A total of 140 women and 60 men are flying to Malaysia through Akarshan international while 175 women and 75 men are being taken through Laldhanush International. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A high-level management team of the company, which is planning to recruit Nepali workforce, has arrived in Kathmandu. Interview dates have been set for Wednesday and Thursday for the selection of workers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">All costs involved in sending the selected Nepali workers to Malaysia would be covered by the company, informed Weston Technology Deputy General Manager David. </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"">"We are sensitive to the safety and health issues of workers," he said, adding there would be no discrimination on wage and opportunities between Nepali and Malaysian workers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The company has industries in different countries including China, India, Taiwan, Mexico, Czech Republic and the Philippines. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15311', 'image' => '20220706104102_foreign emp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 10:40:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15569', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Under Pressure to Resign', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has courted yet another controversy after saying that the CCTV footage of unauthorized people allowed entry into the Ministry of Finance on the eve of budget announcement has been deleted. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 6: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has courted yet another controversy after saying that the CCTV footage of unauthorized people allowed entry into the Ministry of Finance on the eve of budget announcement has been deleted. The finance minister has been criticized in parliament as well as the streets for his irresponsible remark.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">His resignation is being demanded even in the streets over the same issue. On Tuesday, the youth association demanded his resignation. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The minister, on the other hand, maintained that unauthorized people were not allowed to enter the ministry but said that the CCTV footage was deleted within 13 days of May 29.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to CCTV Installation Procedure 2072, the CCTV footages should be kept safe for three months. However, the finance minister’s remark that the CCTV footage was 'deleted' just within 13 days has drawn widespread condemnation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Although such footage can be retrieved, finance minister is not willing to do so and is still maintaining his stance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Pressure is building up on Finance Minister Sharma to resign after the main opposition party -- the CPN-UML -- demanded the formation of a parliamentary probe committee. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Even within the ruling Nepali Congress, there is a growing demand for the finance minister to resign or for the prime minister to remove Sharma from his position.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to a Nepali Congress (NC) source, a formal demand will be made at the meeting of the Central Committee of the Nepali Congress to be held on July 11. NC leaders are of the view that the finance minister should immediately resign and assist in the investigation or Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba should remove him.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Due to the protest from the main opposition party, the ruling Congress and the growing level of dissatisfaction among the citizens, there is an intense pressure within the Maoist Center to recall Minister Sharma from the government.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15310', 'image' => '20220706113952_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 11:39:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15570', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NYEF Elects a New Team under the Leadership of Ritesh Lamichhane ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: The 18th general assembly of the Nepali Young Entrepreneur Forum held in Kathmandu on July 5 has elected a new executive committee under the leadership of Ritesh Lamichhane.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 6: The 18th general assembly of the Nepali Young Entrepreneur Forum held in Kathmandu on July 5 has elected a new executive committee under the leadership of Ritesh Lamichhane.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Sahara Joshi has been elected as the first vice president of NYEF while Kushal Sundar Shrestha bagged the post of second vice president, and Nibhita Pradhan was elected the vice president in women’s category during the election.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the forum has appointed Sudip Ghimire, Richa Shrestha, Krishna Sapkota, Pabitra Gautam, Abhushan Jyoti Kansakar, and Punit Vaidya as executive members.</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 inaugurated the 18th general assembly of the Nepali Young Entrepreneur Forum.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs' Forum (NYEF) is an apex body of young entrepreneurs in Nepal established with a vision to become the most influential community of young entrepreneurs in Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It aims at creating outstanding entrepreneurs through idea exchange, fellowships, education, training and advocacy among the Nepali youth. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The forum was officially instituted by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) on September 26, 2003. NYEF is also one of the founding members of the SAARC Young Entrepreneurs Forum (SYEF), Association of Youth Organization Nepal (AYON) and the World Young Entrepreneurs Forum (WYEF) and a member of the Confederation of Asia Pacific Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CACCI) Committee on Youth Entrepreneurship. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Lamichhane and his team have expressed their commitment to hold a large-scale 'Made in Nepal' exhibition in Kathmandu.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15309', 'image' => '20220706022904_292079403_2570287936439636_2990054633312305936_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 11:48:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15566', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Industries in Chitwan Feeling Heat due to Irregular Power Supply ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: The industries operating in Chitwan district are in crisis due to irregular power supply. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 6: The industries operating in Chitwan district are in crisis due to irregular power supply. Not only the enterprises, the general public too are facing problem due to the frequent power interruptions every day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The industries and individuals who had abandoned inverters and generators for power back up have now started installing these devices after the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)'s Bharatpur Distribution Centre started stopping power supply without issuing prior notice. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">People have started complaining that this problem has arisen due to the negligence of NEA Bharatpur Distribution Centre. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Representatives of the Industry Association of Chitwan had apprised NEA executive director Kulman Ghising about the problem few days back. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The association's Chitwan district president Trilochan Kandel complained that they have reached to a state in which it has become difficult to operate their industries. According to him, it is costly to operate generators as well due to the high price of fuel. He further said that a situation has arisen in which the workers have no work most of the time due to the frequent power outage. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The industries are facing a crisis due to the power supply problem. The industries are bearing huge losses," he lamented. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Kandel said that NEA was ignoring the problems faced by the industrialists and businesspersons. He added that some industries are also losing raw materials due to the erratic power supply. The industrialists are having hard time even to pay their bank loan installments as they are unable to operate their enterprises in full capacity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rajendra Oli, a businessman, who has been running a plastic industry since a long time, complained that although they were able to carry out production as per the schedule even during the period of load shedding, it has now become more unsystematic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Oli, the proprietor of Plasto Tech Nepal and Ashirbad Pipe, said raw materials get wasted as power outage takes place at once the raw materials get heated. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He expressed concern over NEA's apathy to resolve the problems of industries, saying there would be no condition to run the industries if the problem continues. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Not only is the industries that are facing this problem, but the general public is also facing problem due to power outage. Small-scale businessmen have been compelled to buy inverter. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Devi Prasad Sharma of Bharatpur-10 blamed that problem of power outage has been taking place due to collusion between NEA officials and inverter businessmen. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Students are affected due to undeclared load-shedding. Normal life has been affected due to power outage time and again in a hot place like Chitwan. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of NEA Bharatpur Distribution Centre, Rajeev Kumar Singh claimed that the power outage has occurred time and again as construction activities and electricity upgrading activities are underway. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15308', 'image' => '20220706102517_NEA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 10:24:25', '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' => '15581', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'SC Orders Government to Give Continuity to Adhikari as NAC Executive Chair ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 8: The Supreme Court has issued an interlocutory order asking the government to give continuity to Yubaraj Adhikari as the executive chairperson of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 8: The Supreme Court has issued an interlocutory order asking the government to give continuity to Yubaraj Adhikari as the executive chairperson of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari was appointed for a four-year term by the government, so his term needs to be enforced, the apex court said. Meanwhile, the SC also prohibited newly-appointed General Manager of NAC, Dipu Raj Jwarchan, from carrying out his responsibilities until further notice. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari was appointed by the government on October 28, 2021. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Petitioner Adhikari's appointment letter had explicitly mentioned that he was appointed for four years' term but a wrong provision of NAC Act, 2019 was invoked by the government to sack him. </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"">Section 20 of the NAC Act, 2019 does not allow the government to suspend and sack the executive chairperson of the NAC, the SC stated. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-08', 'modified' => '2022-07-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15322', 'image' => '20220708081637_20220701033256_Supreme Court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-08 08:15:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15580', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'SEBON Task Force Proposes Amendment to Broker Regulation ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 7: The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) is preparing to issue three types of broker licenses to help play a supporting role in securities trading.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 7: The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) is preparing to issue three types of broker licenses to help play a supporting role in securities trading.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A task force formed by the SEBON has approved the draft to amend the existing Securities Dealers Regulations, 2064 BS. The board has been working for the stock market development by forming a separate task force. The same team approved the draft to amend the existing Securities Dealers Regulations, 2064 BS so that three different types of broker licenses can be distributed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ramesh Hamal, chairman of the board, said that the proposed rules and regulations approved by the task force will be implemented after the board of directors approves them. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“The lack of classification of brokers in the securities business led to multiple complaints. Classification makes securities trading more systematic,” said Hamal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">After the implementation of the amended regulations, the way for the subsidiaries of commercial banks to get broker license will be opened. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The first of the three types of brokers will be issued for the group that only buys and sells shares. This is called a limited range of securities brokers. The minimum paid-up capital of this type of broker is fixed to be Rs 200 million. Similarly, a broker who works as a DP along with buying and selling shares, provides investment advisory services and investment management and also provides services related to margin trading is called a full-fledged securities broker who will be issue the second type of license. The minimum paid-up capital of a broker under the second category is fixed to be Rs 600 million.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The board informed that a stock dealer company will be allowed to operate with the license of the third category.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The minimum repayment capital of the third type of securities brokers is fixed to be Rs 1.5 billion. According to the new arrangement proposed for broker license, a limited range of securities brokers have to pay Rs 2.5 million per annum fee and an annual fee of Rs 150,000.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, a full-range securities broker will be charged Rs 5 million and the annual fee is Rs 300,000. In the case of securities brokers, the permission fee is Rs 10 million and the annual fee is Rs 500,000. The board informed that the companies that have met the specified paid-up capital and other criteria as per the regulations will be given broker licenses.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The paid-up capital of these brokers ranges from Rs 200 million to Rs 1.5 billion, as informed by the board.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Stock Brokers Association of Nepal on the other hand objected to the decision of the board. Chairman of the association Santosh Mainali argued that the need for any new policy and directive should be justified before the board implements it. Currently, 50 brokerage firms are working as securities dealers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15321', 'image' => '20220707073920_sebonn.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 19:38:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15579', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Monetary Policy Facing Mounting Challenges ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 7: The government had appointed Maha Prasad Adhikari as the governor of Nepal Rastra Bank on April 8, 2020, while the nation was in lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Yadav Humagain</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 7: The government had appointed Maha Prasad Adhikari as the governor of Nepal Rastra Bank on April 8, 2020, while the nation was in lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. After his appointment, Adhikari introduced a Covid-19 relief plan to provide 10 per cent waiver on the interests on loans to the affected businesses. The two monetary policies issued by the governor focused on providing relief to Covid-19-affected industrialists, businessmen and the general public and reviving the economy after the pandemic.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He was praised for providing relief to the general public through banks and financial institutions when economic activities were halted due to Covid-19.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Due to the flexible monetary policy of the fiscal years 2077/78 and 2078/79 aimed at reviving the Covid-19 affected economy, the cash flow in the market increased and the economy was afloat. However, with businesses and individuals using the cash in unproductive sectors and imports, the indicators of the economy became negative. Due to this, the NRB is not in a comfortable position as it had been in formulating monetary policy for the past two years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Adhikari is formulating the monetary policy for the upcoming fiscal year 2079/80 BS. The central bank is not in a position to fulfill the expectations of the private sector industrialists, businessmen, bankers and the general public through the monetary policy. He has already signaled a tight monetary policy, stating that the concessions given in the past will not be continued and has asked businesses to be ready for the impact.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Pressure on Foreign Exchange Reserves</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The country's foreign exchange reserves have been steadily declining due to high imports. At this time, NRB is under pressure to protect foreign exchange reserves through the monetary policy. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the NRB, foreign exchange reserves stood at Rs 1,146.88 billion in mid-April this year. Reserves, which stood at Rs. 1,399.3 billion during the start of FY 2078/79 declined by 18 per cent until mid-April. Based on the data of the 10-month import of FY 2078/79, the foreign exchange reserves in the banking sector can support 7.34 months of goods and 6.57 months of goods and services.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Even though the NRB has put forward a policy to discourage imports from last December, it has not been able to work accordingly as the balance of payments has been high and foreign exchange reserves have started declining.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the third week of January, the central bank added 27 types of goods to the list requiring cash margins for imports. In the third week of March, the gold import quota was halved to 10 kg per day. The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies has banned the import of 10 different types of luxury goods till April 30. Despite the efforts of the government and NRB, imports have not declined.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The central bank, which is under pressure due to a continuous increase in imports, is facing the challenge of saving foreign exchange for essential commodities by reducing imports of luxury goods. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sri Lanka is facing an unprecedented economic crisis due to the lack of foreign exchange reserves. Sri Lanka has not been able to buy much-needed fuel. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chairman of the Nepal Development Bankers' Association, Pradyuman Pokharel, said that reducing imports by 20 per cent would ease the pressure on foreign exchange reserves.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15320', 'image' => '20220707061750_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 18:16:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15578', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Access to Finance Increasing in Madhes Province', 'sub_title' => 'Deposit collection stands at 13% and credit flow increases to 37%', 'summary' => 'July 7: Deposit collection of banks and financial institutions in Madhesh Province have increased by 13 percent in the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 7: Deposit collection of banks and financial institutions in Madhesh Province have increased by 13 percent in the current fiscal year. In the meantime, credit flow increased by 37 percent. The expansion of the branch network of banks and financial institutions in Madhes has increased the financial literacy of the general public as well as the transactions through banks.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to a study on provincial economic activities conducted by the Janakpur office of Nepal Rastra Bank, the deposits of banks have increased by 13.24 percent and reached Rs 247.09 billion as of last December. Such deposits had increased by 37.56 percent to Rs 218.20 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Credit flow has been higher than the deposit collection of banks. Loans disbursed by banks increased by 37.29 percent to Rs 424.14 billion in the review period. Such loans had increased by 14.22 percent to Rs 308.94 billion in the first six months of last fiscal year.</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 share of Madhesh Province in the total deposits of the banking sector is 5 percent while the credit flow is 9 percent. The number of branches of banks and financial institutions in the state has reached 1,703. Of them, microfinance companies have the highest number of branches which stand at 1,031. Similarly, 559 branches of commercial banks, 82 branches of development banks and 31 branches of finance companies are in operation in the province. In terms of number of branches, Dhanusha has the highest number of branches at 242 and Rautahat has the lowest number at 180.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Loans extended by banks and financial institutions to the agriculture sector have increased by 43.53 percent to Rs 50.01 billion in the current fiscal year. Such a loan was Rs 34.84 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. Similarly, concessional loans have also increased to Rs 44.68 billion. Such a loan was Rs 8.57 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. Agriculture and concessional loans have been expanded due to the policy of NRB.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Of the total loans invested by banks and financial institutions in Madhesh till January, 51.69 percent has been invested in non-food manufacturing industries, 25.60 percent in agro-forestry and beverage manufacturing industries, 14.30 percent in construction industries, 6 in machinery and electronics and metal products manufacturing industries. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15319', 'image' => '20220707045610_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 16:54:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15577', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'There is No Policy to Allow Running Shops or Businesses on Footpath: KMC ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 7: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has made it clear that it does not have any policy allowing the operation of any sort of business on the footpath. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 7: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has made it clear that it does not have any policy allowing the operation of any sort of business on the footpath. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The KMC policy states that no goods and commodities including foodstuff can be sold and distributed from the roadside or on the footpath at any time. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Talking to the RSS, KMC Police Chief Dhanapati Sapkota said that managing the footpath is among the primary responsibilities given by the KMC to the Metropolitan Police. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The pavement is for the pedestrians. It is not made for running shops and stalls. Those operating shops and stalls without obeying this rule have been hauled and their goods confiscated," the KMC Police Chief said, reminding that newly-elected Mayor Balendra Shah had, during the time of filing his candidacy, announced to manage the businesses run on footpath. Shah was elected the KMC mayor through the municipal election held a month back. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It is also stated in the Policy and Programmes for the next fiscal year passed by the KMC municipal assembly on June 22 that the businesses operating from the footpath would be controlled. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"We have moved forward the works as per the decision of the KMC executive. It is not a matter to protest. Why to protest when we have carried our job in line with the municipal executive's decision? It is also our responsibility to transform the business operating from the footpath so that they come under the ambit of tax," Sapkota elaborated. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that it is but natural for criticisms while carrying out works, he said the KMC has only been controlling the encroachment on the road and pavements. As he said, the side running business on the pavement or roads will be affected when the authorities try to control the encroachment and these sides tend to make various comments and criticisms. The KMC Police Chief said he takes such comments and criticisms as obvious. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He insisted that the work on managing the footpath has been done in the interest of the general public. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Sapkota said, "Running a business using street is not positive in any pretext. The policy of the KMC mentions that no one is allowed to run business in the street round the clock, if it has been taking place somewhere, it is being done clandestinely. The KMC will take initiative to bring all of them under the ambit of law in coming days." </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He opined that city police have been focusing its attention to bring vendors under the control in the morning and evening when the movement of people is high. The KMC was criticized after a video of city police confiscating the good from a couple selling maize on the street and misbehaving with the couple was uploaded on social media. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The KMC has been working to control street encroachment by deploying four teams every day. Mostly the street of Sundhara, New Road, Baneshwor, Koteshwor, Gaushala, Chabahil, New Bus Park, Balaju, Kalanki and Kalimati are being encroached. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The KMC was compelled to take such action after its frequent requests not to run any business encroaching street were ignored, Sapkota argued. According to the KMC, goods confiscated from the vendors are put for auction. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> Similarly, goods that become stale easily as well as fruits, vegetables and flammable substances are returned to the concerned businessman after taking fine from them. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the current fiscal year, the local government has proceeded with the sale of confiscated goods at an auction and last fiscal year, goods including iron items, hoarding boards, bicycles and carts worth Rs 5.2 million were sold at an auction, according to Sapkota. </span></span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Vendors Voice for Alternative to Footpath </span></strong><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In one hand, the Metropolis is seeking to implement its policy, while the stories of street vendors are different. Manamaya Poudyal, 53, of Ramechhap who has been selling garments on the footpath of Sundhara since the past one decade, says the situation is different now and they remain watchful to the potential arrivals of city police to intervene in their business. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It has been already 15 years that the Poudyal family left the village. Now Manamaya's children are grown up and they are used to the Valley life. They are reluctant to go back to the village and she is finding its challenging to help her children settle in the Valley. She opines that the Metropolis should come with alternatives to street vending before intervening in their business. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Ramjanam Mishra has a similar story to share with. He has been selling fruits at the entrance of Dallu Bridge since the past 17 years. He has the experiences of getting his goods seized by the city police many times. Each time, he is compelled to pay fine to get his belongings back. He feeds his six-member family from street vending. He also insists that the local government should provide them alternatives to earning a livelihood before it has the policy of vacating the street. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, the Metropolis says it presently finds no situation to provide a space or fix a location for footbath business. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15318', 'image' => '20220707034709_FWu0G2wVEAEfEcG.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 15:45:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15576', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Accept Concessional Loan from World Bank ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 7: The government has decided to accept the concessional loan of SDR 59.6 million to be provided by the World Bank for drinking water sector and infrastructure assistance. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 7: The government has decided to accept the concessional loan of SDR 59.6 million to be provided by the World Bank for drinking water sector and infrastructure assistance. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Unveiling the decisions of the cabinet meeting held on Tuesday, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said that the government has decided to accept the concessional loan from the World Bank.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government has also decided to accept a grant assistance of USD 21 million </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">in a bid to promote modern and climate-friendly clean energy and to reduce greenhouse gas emission. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The cabinet meeting also decided to accept USD 8 billion to be provided by the Korean Republic for the establishment of cyber bureau of Nepal Police. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the economic and financial assistance of 4.5 million euros to be provided by the EU would be accepted for promotion of green and renewal energy. -- RSS</span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15317', 'image' => '20220707014426_IMG-8256.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 13:43:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15575', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Controversy Leads to Downfall of Janardan Sharma', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 7: A controversy related to budget forced Finance Minister Janardan Sharma to quit from his post.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Bijay Damase</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 7: A controversy related to budget forced Finance Minister Janardan Sharma to quit from his post.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He announced his resignation during a meeting of the House of Representatives on Wednesday (July 6). Following his resignation, the President’s Office handed over the responsibility of the finance ministry to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A Parliamentary Special Probe Committee has been formed to investigate the allegations labeled against Sharma. The Maoist leader said he resigned from the post to facilitate the probe committee. He has been accused of allowing entry of unauthorized person into the Ministry of Finance on May 28 - the eve of budget announcement – allegedly with the intention of influencing the budget for the benefit of a certain group of businessmen.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He has also been accused of colluding with high-ranking officials of the ministry in deliberately deleting the CCTV footage that captured the unauthorized person visiting the ministry on May 28. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Instead of keeping the topics of budget secret, Sharma courted controversy by inviting outsiders to the ministry allegedly to influence the budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota informed that the probe committee was formed after massive backlash both in parliament and streets as well as media reports criticizing the outgoing minister’s irresponsible remark that the CCTV footage has been deleted. The probe committee has been mandated to complete the investigation within 10 days.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Sharma is also accused of ordering the central bank’s governor to unfreeze money brought into the country through illegal means and initiating action against the government for refusing to do so.</span></span></p> <p><strong><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Past Probe Committees</span></span></strong></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Parliamentary probe committees were formed in the past to investigate into the alleged wrongdoings of Janardan Sharma, an influential leader of the CPN Maoist Centre. A parliamentary probe committee had investigated his alleged role in leaking the budget before its formal announcement. However, Sharma didn’t resign from his post back then.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In a similar case, probe committees were formed to investigate against the then finance ministers Bharat Mohan Adhikari and Bishnu Poudel after the media leaked the information of budget beforehand. However, both of them didn’t resign although the parliamentary committees had pointed their mistakes. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Sharma is not the only minister to step down after controversy. In fact, he is the second minister in the incumbent government to resign following a controversy. The then Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Gajendra Bahadur Hamal had resigned from his post on October 10, 2021 within 48 hours after being appointed a minister in the Deuba-led government. Hamal drew widespread criticism for being appointed a minister in the quote of suspended Chief Justice Cholendra SJB Rana. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the then Communication Minister Gokul Baskota had resigned from his post around two and a half years ago after being dragged into a controversy for seeking bribe of Rs 700 million for the procurement of a printing machine. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Another minister Sher Bahadur Tamang had also resigned from the post of health minister after he was accused of misbehaving with female students pursuing their medical studies in Bangladesh.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Other ministers to step down after being dragged into controversy include Dilanath Giri, Prabhu Sah, Sharat Singh Bhandari, Hari Parajuli, Radha Gyawali, Matrika Prasad Yadav, Sarita Giri among others.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15316', 'image' => '20220707122044_ROS_KTM-4187.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 12:19:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15574', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Sharma Resigns ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has tendered his resignation from the post. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 6: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has tendered his resignation from the post. <br /> Addressing a meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR) on Wednesday, Minister Sharma announced his resignation from the post to help the Parliamentary Special Probe Committee. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Speaking at the house meeting, Sharma said he is ready to facilitate the probe committee and maintained that he did not do anything wrong while drafting the budget.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Earlier, the HoR had formed the committee to carry out investigation about the involvement of unauthorized persons in course of preparing budget for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2022/23). <br /> The 11-member probe committee includes Khagaraj Adhikari, Dev Prasad Gurung, Pushpa Bhusal Gautam, Pradeep Gyawali, Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal, Bimala BK, Laxman Lal Karna, Shakti Bahadur Basnet, Sarala Kumari Yadav, Sitaram Mahato and Surendra Prasad Yadav.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">After the finance minister courted controversy, Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini took an indefinite leave starting from today (July 6). (With inputs from RSS)</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Read also:</span></span></span></span></p> <h2><span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Finance Minister Under Pressure to Resign</span></span></span></span></h2> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">https://www.newbusinessage.com/Articles/view/15569</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15315', 'image' => '20220706084444_1657104464.Janardan Sharma 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 20:44:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15573', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Goldstar to Operate a New Factory in Bhairahawa', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: Kiran Shoes Manufacturers, which produces Nepal’s popular shoe brand Goldstar, is planning to open a new factory in Bhairahawa, Rupandehi.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 6: Kiran Shoes Manufacturers, which produces Nepal’s popular shoe brand Goldstar, is planning to open a new factory in Bhairahawa, Rupandehi.The company is planning to operate a factory in Bhairahawa with an investment of Rs 600 million. The company expects to increase the share of footwear exports to India, which has dropped to 30 percent from 70 percent.The company will operate the factory on 7 bighas of land.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company informed that shoe production will start from the new factory in Bhairahawa within three months. It has been 30 years since the company started exporting Goldstar to India in the 40-year history of the company.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Vidushi Rana, executive director (branding and marketing) of the company, said that the company is planning to open a new factory in the border town of Bhairahawa targeting the Indian market after a significant decline in exports to India recently.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"We will be operating a big factory in Bhairahawa," Rana said. Some of the machines in Kathmandu are being prepared to be shifted to Bhairahawa,” said Rana. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">She said that due to the lack of liquidity in the banking system, they are in a wait and watch situation for expanding investment. According to Rana, only one building has been constructed in Bhairahawa at present. It is ready to start production.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company is producing shoes and slippers only from Kathmandu. The number of factories has dropped from 11 to 4 now. Earlier, it was the only shoe industry in Nepal, so factories had to be opened in different places. At that time, there were many factories as they used to make the upper part of shoes, thread and sole. The main factory of Kiran Shoes is in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">There are four factories in operation in Kathmandu including the ones in Nilupul, Balaju Industrial Area and Maharajgunj. Rana informed that even though the daily production capacity of these factories is 100,000, it is still running at 25 percent capacity. The factory has 18 large machines imported from Italy. Some machines of the shoe and slipper industry from Italian technology will be taken to Bhairahawa. Rana said that they are going to operate a factory in Bhairahawa as the export to India is easy due to the proximity of the city.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company directly employs more than 3,000 people. About 70 percent of the factory workers are women. Rana informed that the industry provides employment after giving free training for three months. "After the earthquake in April 2015, the industry had to be shut down for six months because the workers went to their villages," Rana said. It was difficult to export shoes, and the export began to decline.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">India is a very competitive market for Goldstar shoes, says Rana. According to Rana, after the brand became popular in India, counterfeit Goldstar shoes started appearing in every house in India. He said that the shoes exported from Nepal could not compete as the fake shoes were available at cheap prices. According to Rana, the company is fighting a case in an Indian court against a shoe manufacturer who uses its brand illegally.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">She suggested that the interest rate on bank loans and electricity tariff should also be reduced by identifying export-oriented industries. "We pay an electricity tariff of Rs 80 million annually," Rana said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company has also opened franchise stores in other countries such as Qatar, Australia, Bahrain and Japan. Rana said that they are looking for places to open franchise stores in other countries as well. The company also launched the Goldstar brand in the US a few months ago. However, she said that the export and competition has become very challenging due to the high customs duty. The United States has set a 37.5 percent tariff on footwear. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15314', 'image' => '20220706083735_1657082388.Goldsrar.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 20:36:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15572', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Productive Sectors to get Loan at Low Interest Rates: NRB Governor', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has indicated that it will provide loans at cheaper interest rates to the productive sector by prioritizing the manufacturing sector in the monetary policy for the upcoming fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 6: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has indicated that it will provide loans at cheaper interest rates to the productive sector by prioritizing the manufacturing sector in the monetary policy for the upcoming fiscal year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Speaking at an interaction program on monetary policy organized by the Nepal Management Association (NMA) on Tuesday, NRB Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari said there was no alternative to boost production, adding that interest rates for the unproductive sectors would rise.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"We have to invest in the productive sector, otherwise we will have to rely on imports," the governor said. He added that despite investment, its economic impact has not been seen.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the semi-annual review of the current fiscal year's monetary policy, the NRB had stated that among the various types of loans disbursed by banks and financial institutions, the interest rate on loans to the productive sector would be less than the interest rate on loans to other sectors.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">To reduce investment in unproductive sectors, NRB has increased the risk weight of loans including, import receipts, real estate loans related to land plotting, personal higher purchase loans and loans of a margin nature.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Adhikari said that the concessions given during the Covid-19 period could not be given continuity. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"During the Covid-19 pandemic, we provided refinancing facilities to run the business. These facilities cannot always be provided," he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> Stating that 50 per cent of the banks’ credit flow has been invested for interest capitalization, Chairman of the Nepal Bankers' Association Anil Kumar Upadhyaya said that the current situation has prevailed due to the arrangements like SLF and refinancing. He emphasized the need for long-term resource management.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chairman of the Nepal Finance Companies Association Saroj Kaji Tuladhar said that the monetary policy is not the only means for implementing the budget and other state bodies should also be held accountable. He said that the customers were frustrated when they had to fill up separate customer identification forms in each bank and suggested implementing a centralized system.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chairman of Muktinath Agricultural Company Bharatraj Dhakal urged to review the arrangement of agricultural credit.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Srijana Rana, president of the Hotel Association of Nepal, said that many tourists were coming from India and Bangladesh and urged the banks to facilitate the use of Indian and Bangladeshi currency.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Senior Vice President of the Nepal Chamber of Commerce Kamalesh Kumar Agrawal said that a flexible and balanced monetary policy is needed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15313', 'image' => '20220706025605_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 14:55:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15571', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CBFIN holds Discussions with Prime Minister’s Office', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'uly 6: The Confederation of Banks and Financial Institutions Nepal (CBIFIN) held discussions with the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers regarding the problems faced by the economy and their solutions.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 6: The Confederation of Banks and Financial Institutions Nepal (CBIFIN) held discussions with the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers regarding the problems faced by the economy and their solutions. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ministers, chief secretaries, secretaries of various ministries and CIBIFIN delegates were present at the discussion held at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers in Singha Durbar.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">During the discussion, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu expressed concern over the problems faced by the economy. He emphasized on the need to improve the quality of agriculture and forest based products, reduce production costs and increase exports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chief Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi said that the ministries should work together for regional reforms. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Deputy Chairman of the National Planning Commission Dr Bishwa Poudel said that customs administration should be improved for trade and investment. He said that the government should focus on the use of local knowledge, skills and products for economic reform and empowerment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chairman of CBFIN, Pawan Kumar Golyan said that the economy is in a serious crisis and the government of Nepal, its subordinate bodies, various business associations and banks and financial institutions should work together for the solution.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15312', 'image' => '20220706022617_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 14:25:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15567', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Malaysia's Weston Company to Recruit Nepali Workers on Zero Investment', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: The world's biggest IT company in Malaysia has agreed to take Nepali workers on zero cost. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 6: One of the world's biggest IT company in Malaysia has agreed to take Nepali workers on zero cost. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Malaysia's Weston Technology and Nepal-based manpower companies Akarshan International and Laldhanush International signed a bilateral agreement to this effect amid a programme on Tuesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Deputy General Manager of Weston Technology David Weston and Chairperson of Akarshan International Bishnu Bahadur KC and Chairperson of Laldhanush International Dawa Nawang Sherpa signed the agreement to this effect. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the agreement, Nepali workers are permitted to go to Malaysia through the two manpower companies with zero investment. </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 Malaysia-based company announced to take 450 workers in the first phase. A total of 140 women and 60 men are flying to Malaysia through Akarshan international while 175 women and 75 men are being taken through Laldhanush International. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A high-level management team of the company, which is planning to recruit Nepali workforce, has arrived in Kathmandu. Interview dates have been set for Wednesday and Thursday for the selection of workers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">All costs involved in sending the selected Nepali workers to Malaysia would be covered by the company, informed Weston Technology Deputy General Manager David. </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"">"We are sensitive to the safety and health issues of workers," he said, adding there would be no discrimination on wage and opportunities between Nepali and Malaysian workers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The company has industries in different countries including China, India, Taiwan, Mexico, Czech Republic and the Philippines. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15311', 'image' => '20220706104102_foreign emp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 10:40:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15569', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Under Pressure to Resign', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has courted yet another controversy after saying that the CCTV footage of unauthorized people allowed entry into the Ministry of Finance on the eve of budget announcement has been deleted. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 6: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has courted yet another controversy after saying that the CCTV footage of unauthorized people allowed entry into the Ministry of Finance on the eve of budget announcement has been deleted. The finance minister has been criticized in parliament as well as the streets for his irresponsible remark.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">His resignation is being demanded even in the streets over the same issue. On Tuesday, the youth association demanded his resignation. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The minister, on the other hand, maintained that unauthorized people were not allowed to enter the ministry but said that the CCTV footage was deleted within 13 days of May 29.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to CCTV Installation Procedure 2072, the CCTV footages should be kept safe for three months. However, the finance minister’s remark that the CCTV footage was 'deleted' just within 13 days has drawn widespread condemnation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Although such footage can be retrieved, finance minister is not willing to do so and is still maintaining his stance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Pressure is building up on Finance Minister Sharma to resign after the main opposition party -- the CPN-UML -- demanded the formation of a parliamentary probe committee. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Even within the ruling Nepali Congress, there is a growing demand for the finance minister to resign or for the prime minister to remove Sharma from his position.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to a Nepali Congress (NC) source, a formal demand will be made at the meeting of the Central Committee of the Nepali Congress to be held on July 11. NC leaders are of the view that the finance minister should immediately resign and assist in the investigation or Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba should remove him.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Due to the protest from the main opposition party, the ruling Congress and the growing level of dissatisfaction among the citizens, there is an intense pressure within the Maoist Center to recall Minister Sharma from the government.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15310', 'image' => '20220706113952_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 11:39:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15570', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NYEF Elects a New Team under the Leadership of Ritesh Lamichhane ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: The 18th general assembly of the Nepali Young Entrepreneur Forum held in Kathmandu on July 5 has elected a new executive committee under the leadership of Ritesh Lamichhane.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 6: The 18th general assembly of the Nepali Young Entrepreneur Forum held in Kathmandu on July 5 has elected a new executive committee under the leadership of Ritesh Lamichhane.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Sahara Joshi has been elected as the first vice president of NYEF while Kushal Sundar Shrestha bagged the post of second vice president, and Nibhita Pradhan was elected the vice president in women’s category during the election.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the forum has appointed Sudip Ghimire, Richa Shrestha, Krishna Sapkota, Pabitra Gautam, Abhushan Jyoti Kansakar, and Punit Vaidya as executive members.</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 inaugurated the 18th general assembly of the Nepali Young Entrepreneur Forum.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs' Forum (NYEF) is an apex body of young entrepreneurs in Nepal established with a vision to become the most influential community of young entrepreneurs in Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It aims at creating outstanding entrepreneurs through idea exchange, fellowships, education, training and advocacy among the Nepali youth. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The forum was officially instituted by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) on September 26, 2003. NYEF is also one of the founding members of the SAARC Young Entrepreneurs Forum (SYEF), Association of Youth Organization Nepal (AYON) and the World Young Entrepreneurs Forum (WYEF) and a member of the Confederation of Asia Pacific Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CACCI) Committee on Youth Entrepreneurship. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Lamichhane and his team have expressed their commitment to hold a large-scale 'Made in Nepal' exhibition in Kathmandu.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15309', 'image' => '20220706022904_292079403_2570287936439636_2990054633312305936_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 11:48:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15566', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Industries in Chitwan Feeling Heat due to Irregular Power Supply ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: The industries operating in Chitwan district are in crisis due to irregular power supply. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 6: The industries operating in Chitwan district are in crisis due to irregular power supply. Not only the enterprises, the general public too are facing problem due to the frequent power interruptions every day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The industries and individuals who had abandoned inverters and generators for power back up have now started installing these devices after the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)'s Bharatpur Distribution Centre started stopping power supply without issuing prior notice. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">People have started complaining that this problem has arisen due to the negligence of NEA Bharatpur Distribution Centre. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Representatives of the Industry Association of Chitwan had apprised NEA executive director Kulman Ghising about the problem few days back. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The association's Chitwan district president Trilochan Kandel complained that they have reached to a state in which it has become difficult to operate their industries. According to him, it is costly to operate generators as well due to the high price of fuel. He further said that a situation has arisen in which the workers have no work most of the time due to the frequent power outage. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The industries are facing a crisis due to the power supply problem. The industries are bearing huge losses," he lamented. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Kandel said that NEA was ignoring the problems faced by the industrialists and businesspersons. He added that some industries are also losing raw materials due to the erratic power supply. The industrialists are having hard time even to pay their bank loan installments as they are unable to operate their enterprises in full capacity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rajendra Oli, a businessman, who has been running a plastic industry since a long time, complained that although they were able to carry out production as per the schedule even during the period of load shedding, it has now become more unsystematic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Oli, the proprietor of Plasto Tech Nepal and Ashirbad Pipe, said raw materials get wasted as power outage takes place at once the raw materials get heated. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He expressed concern over NEA's apathy to resolve the problems of industries, saying there would be no condition to run the industries if the problem continues. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Not only is the industries that are facing this problem, but the general public is also facing problem due to power outage. Small-scale businessmen have been compelled to buy inverter. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Devi Prasad Sharma of Bharatpur-10 blamed that problem of power outage has been taking place due to collusion between NEA officials and inverter businessmen. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Students are affected due to undeclared load-shedding. Normal life has been affected due to power outage time and again in a hot place like Chitwan. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of NEA Bharatpur Distribution Centre, Rajeev Kumar Singh claimed that the power outage has occurred time and again as construction activities and electricity upgrading activities are underway. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15308', 'image' => '20220706102517_NEA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 10:24:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15581', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'SC Orders Government to Give Continuity to Adhikari as NAC Executive Chair ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 8: The Supreme Court has issued an interlocutory order asking the government to give continuity to Yubaraj Adhikari as the executive chairperson of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 8: The Supreme Court has issued an interlocutory order asking the government to give continuity to Yubaraj Adhikari as the executive chairperson of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari was appointed for a four-year term by the government, so his term needs to be enforced, the apex court said. Meanwhile, the SC also prohibited newly-appointed General Manager of NAC, Dipu Raj Jwarchan, from carrying out his responsibilities until further notice. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari was appointed by the government on October 28, 2021. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Petitioner Adhikari's appointment letter had explicitly mentioned that he was appointed for four years' term but a wrong provision of NAC Act, 2019 was invoked by the government to sack him. </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"">Section 20 of the NAC Act, 2019 does not allow the government to suspend and sack the executive chairperson of the NAC, the SC stated. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-08', 'modified' => '2022-07-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15322', 'image' => '20220708081637_20220701033256_Supreme Court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-08 08:15:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15580', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'SEBON Task Force Proposes Amendment to Broker Regulation ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 7: The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) is preparing to issue three types of broker licenses to help play a supporting role in securities trading.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 7: The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) is preparing to issue three types of broker licenses to help play a supporting role in securities trading.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A task force formed by the SEBON has approved the draft to amend the existing Securities Dealers Regulations, 2064 BS. The board has been working for the stock market development by forming a separate task force. The same team approved the draft to amend the existing Securities Dealers Regulations, 2064 BS so that three different types of broker licenses can be distributed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ramesh Hamal, chairman of the board, said that the proposed rules and regulations approved by the task force will be implemented after the board of directors approves them. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“The lack of classification of brokers in the securities business led to multiple complaints. Classification makes securities trading more systematic,” said Hamal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">After the implementation of the amended regulations, the way for the subsidiaries of commercial banks to get broker license will be opened. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The first of the three types of brokers will be issued for the group that only buys and sells shares. This is called a limited range of securities brokers. The minimum paid-up capital of this type of broker is fixed to be Rs 200 million. Similarly, a broker who works as a DP along with buying and selling shares, provides investment advisory services and investment management and also provides services related to margin trading is called a full-fledged securities broker who will be issue the second type of license. The minimum paid-up capital of a broker under the second category is fixed to be Rs 600 million.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The board informed that a stock dealer company will be allowed to operate with the license of the third category.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The minimum repayment capital of the third type of securities brokers is fixed to be Rs 1.5 billion. According to the new arrangement proposed for broker license, a limited range of securities brokers have to pay Rs 2.5 million per annum fee and an annual fee of Rs 150,000.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, a full-range securities broker will be charged Rs 5 million and the annual fee is Rs 300,000. In the case of securities brokers, the permission fee is Rs 10 million and the annual fee is Rs 500,000. The board informed that the companies that have met the specified paid-up capital and other criteria as per the regulations will be given broker licenses.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The paid-up capital of these brokers ranges from Rs 200 million to Rs 1.5 billion, as informed by the board.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Stock Brokers Association of Nepal on the other hand objected to the decision of the board. Chairman of the association Santosh Mainali argued that the need for any new policy and directive should be justified before the board implements it. Currently, 50 brokerage firms are working as securities dealers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15321', 'image' => '20220707073920_sebonn.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 19:38:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15579', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Monetary Policy Facing Mounting Challenges ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 7: The government had appointed Maha Prasad Adhikari as the governor of Nepal Rastra Bank on April 8, 2020, while the nation was in lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Yadav Humagain</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 7: The government had appointed Maha Prasad Adhikari as the governor of Nepal Rastra Bank on April 8, 2020, while the nation was in lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. After his appointment, Adhikari introduced a Covid-19 relief plan to provide 10 per cent waiver on the interests on loans to the affected businesses. The two monetary policies issued by the governor focused on providing relief to Covid-19-affected industrialists, businessmen and the general public and reviving the economy after the pandemic.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He was praised for providing relief to the general public through banks and financial institutions when economic activities were halted due to Covid-19.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Due to the flexible monetary policy of the fiscal years 2077/78 and 2078/79 aimed at reviving the Covid-19 affected economy, the cash flow in the market increased and the economy was afloat. However, with businesses and individuals using the cash in unproductive sectors and imports, the indicators of the economy became negative. Due to this, the NRB is not in a comfortable position as it had been in formulating monetary policy for the past two years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Adhikari is formulating the monetary policy for the upcoming fiscal year 2079/80 BS. The central bank is not in a position to fulfill the expectations of the private sector industrialists, businessmen, bankers and the general public through the monetary policy. He has already signaled a tight monetary policy, stating that the concessions given in the past will not be continued and has asked businesses to be ready for the impact.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Pressure on Foreign Exchange Reserves</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The country's foreign exchange reserves have been steadily declining due to high imports. At this time, NRB is under pressure to protect foreign exchange reserves through the monetary policy. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the NRB, foreign exchange reserves stood at Rs 1,146.88 billion in mid-April this year. Reserves, which stood at Rs. 1,399.3 billion during the start of FY 2078/79 declined by 18 per cent until mid-April. Based on the data of the 10-month import of FY 2078/79, the foreign exchange reserves in the banking sector can support 7.34 months of goods and 6.57 months of goods and services.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Even though the NRB has put forward a policy to discourage imports from last December, it has not been able to work accordingly as the balance of payments has been high and foreign exchange reserves have started declining.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the third week of January, the central bank added 27 types of goods to the list requiring cash margins for imports. In the third week of March, the gold import quota was halved to 10 kg per day. The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies has banned the import of 10 different types of luxury goods till April 30. Despite the efforts of the government and NRB, imports have not declined.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The central bank, which is under pressure due to a continuous increase in imports, is facing the challenge of saving foreign exchange for essential commodities by reducing imports of luxury goods. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sri Lanka is facing an unprecedented economic crisis due to the lack of foreign exchange reserves. Sri Lanka has not been able to buy much-needed fuel. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chairman of the Nepal Development Bankers' Association, Pradyuman Pokharel, said that reducing imports by 20 per cent would ease the pressure on foreign exchange reserves.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15320', 'image' => '20220707061750_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 18:16:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15578', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Access to Finance Increasing in Madhes Province', 'sub_title' => 'Deposit collection stands at 13% and credit flow increases to 37%', 'summary' => 'July 7: Deposit collection of banks and financial institutions in Madhesh Province have increased by 13 percent in the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 7: Deposit collection of banks and financial institutions in Madhesh Province have increased by 13 percent in the current fiscal year. In the meantime, credit flow increased by 37 percent. The expansion of the branch network of banks and financial institutions in Madhes has increased the financial literacy of the general public as well as the transactions through banks.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to a study on provincial economic activities conducted by the Janakpur office of Nepal Rastra Bank, the deposits of banks have increased by 13.24 percent and reached Rs 247.09 billion as of last December. Such deposits had increased by 37.56 percent to Rs 218.20 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Credit flow has been higher than the deposit collection of banks. Loans disbursed by banks increased by 37.29 percent to Rs 424.14 billion in the review period. Such loans had increased by 14.22 percent to Rs 308.94 billion in the first six months of last fiscal year.</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 share of Madhesh Province in the total deposits of the banking sector is 5 percent while the credit flow is 9 percent. The number of branches of banks and financial institutions in the state has reached 1,703. Of them, microfinance companies have the highest number of branches which stand at 1,031. Similarly, 559 branches of commercial banks, 82 branches of development banks and 31 branches of finance companies are in operation in the province. In terms of number of branches, Dhanusha has the highest number of branches at 242 and Rautahat has the lowest number at 180.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Loans extended by banks and financial institutions to the agriculture sector have increased by 43.53 percent to Rs 50.01 billion in the current fiscal year. Such a loan was Rs 34.84 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. Similarly, concessional loans have also increased to Rs 44.68 billion. Such a loan was Rs 8.57 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. Agriculture and concessional loans have been expanded due to the policy of NRB.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Of the total loans invested by banks and financial institutions in Madhesh till January, 51.69 percent has been invested in non-food manufacturing industries, 25.60 percent in agro-forestry and beverage manufacturing industries, 14.30 percent in construction industries, 6 in machinery and electronics and metal products manufacturing industries. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15319', 'image' => '20220707045610_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 16:54:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15577', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'There is No Policy to Allow Running Shops or Businesses on Footpath: KMC ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 7: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has made it clear that it does not have any policy allowing the operation of any sort of business on the footpath. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 7: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has made it clear that it does not have any policy allowing the operation of any sort of business on the footpath. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The KMC policy states that no goods and commodities including foodstuff can be sold and distributed from the roadside or on the footpath at any time. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Talking to the RSS, KMC Police Chief Dhanapati Sapkota said that managing the footpath is among the primary responsibilities given by the KMC to the Metropolitan Police. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The pavement is for the pedestrians. It is not made for running shops and stalls. Those operating shops and stalls without obeying this rule have been hauled and their goods confiscated," the KMC Police Chief said, reminding that newly-elected Mayor Balendra Shah had, during the time of filing his candidacy, announced to manage the businesses run on footpath. Shah was elected the KMC mayor through the municipal election held a month back. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It is also stated in the Policy and Programmes for the next fiscal year passed by the KMC municipal assembly on June 22 that the businesses operating from the footpath would be controlled. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"We have moved forward the works as per the decision of the KMC executive. It is not a matter to protest. Why to protest when we have carried our job in line with the municipal executive's decision? It is also our responsibility to transform the business operating from the footpath so that they come under the ambit of tax," Sapkota elaborated. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that it is but natural for criticisms while carrying out works, he said the KMC has only been controlling the encroachment on the road and pavements. As he said, the side running business on the pavement or roads will be affected when the authorities try to control the encroachment and these sides tend to make various comments and criticisms. The KMC Police Chief said he takes such comments and criticisms as obvious. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He insisted that the work on managing the footpath has been done in the interest of the general public. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Sapkota said, "Running a business using street is not positive in any pretext. The policy of the KMC mentions that no one is allowed to run business in the street round the clock, if it has been taking place somewhere, it is being done clandestinely. The KMC will take initiative to bring all of them under the ambit of law in coming days." </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He opined that city police have been focusing its attention to bring vendors under the control in the morning and evening when the movement of people is high. The KMC was criticized after a video of city police confiscating the good from a couple selling maize on the street and misbehaving with the couple was uploaded on social media. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The KMC has been working to control street encroachment by deploying four teams every day. Mostly the street of Sundhara, New Road, Baneshwor, Koteshwor, Gaushala, Chabahil, New Bus Park, Balaju, Kalanki and Kalimati are being encroached. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The KMC was compelled to take such action after its frequent requests not to run any business encroaching street were ignored, Sapkota argued. According to the KMC, goods confiscated from the vendors are put for auction. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> Similarly, goods that become stale easily as well as fruits, vegetables and flammable substances are returned to the concerned businessman after taking fine from them. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the current fiscal year, the local government has proceeded with the sale of confiscated goods at an auction and last fiscal year, goods including iron items, hoarding boards, bicycles and carts worth Rs 5.2 million were sold at an auction, according to Sapkota. </span></span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Vendors Voice for Alternative to Footpath </span></strong><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In one hand, the Metropolis is seeking to implement its policy, while the stories of street vendors are different. Manamaya Poudyal, 53, of Ramechhap who has been selling garments on the footpath of Sundhara since the past one decade, says the situation is different now and they remain watchful to the potential arrivals of city police to intervene in their business. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It has been already 15 years that the Poudyal family left the village. Now Manamaya's children are grown up and they are used to the Valley life. They are reluctant to go back to the village and she is finding its challenging to help her children settle in the Valley. She opines that the Metropolis should come with alternatives to street vending before intervening in their business. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Ramjanam Mishra has a similar story to share with. He has been selling fruits at the entrance of Dallu Bridge since the past 17 years. He has the experiences of getting his goods seized by the city police many times. Each time, he is compelled to pay fine to get his belongings back. He feeds his six-member family from street vending. He also insists that the local government should provide them alternatives to earning a livelihood before it has the policy of vacating the street. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, the Metropolis says it presently finds no situation to provide a space or fix a location for footbath business. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15318', 'image' => '20220707034709_FWu0G2wVEAEfEcG.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 15:45:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15576', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Accept Concessional Loan from World Bank ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 7: The government has decided to accept the concessional loan of SDR 59.6 million to be provided by the World Bank for drinking water sector and infrastructure assistance. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 7: The government has decided to accept the concessional loan of SDR 59.6 million to be provided by the World Bank for drinking water sector and infrastructure assistance. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Unveiling the decisions of the cabinet meeting held on Tuesday, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said that the government has decided to accept the concessional loan from the World Bank.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government has also decided to accept a grant assistance of USD 21 million </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">in a bid to promote modern and climate-friendly clean energy and to reduce greenhouse gas emission. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The cabinet meeting also decided to accept USD 8 billion to be provided by the Korean Republic for the establishment of cyber bureau of Nepal Police. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the economic and financial assistance of 4.5 million euros to be provided by the EU would be accepted for promotion of green and renewal energy. -- RSS</span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15317', 'image' => '20220707014426_IMG-8256.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 13:43:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15575', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Controversy Leads to Downfall of Janardan Sharma', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 7: A controversy related to budget forced Finance Minister Janardan Sharma to quit from his post.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Bijay Damase</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 7: A controversy related to budget forced Finance Minister Janardan Sharma to quit from his post.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He announced his resignation during a meeting of the House of Representatives on Wednesday (July 6). Following his resignation, the President’s Office handed over the responsibility of the finance ministry to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A Parliamentary Special Probe Committee has been formed to investigate the allegations labeled against Sharma. The Maoist leader said he resigned from the post to facilitate the probe committee. He has been accused of allowing entry of unauthorized person into the Ministry of Finance on May 28 - the eve of budget announcement – allegedly with the intention of influencing the budget for the benefit of a certain group of businessmen.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He has also been accused of colluding with high-ranking officials of the ministry in deliberately deleting the CCTV footage that captured the unauthorized person visiting the ministry on May 28. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Instead of keeping the topics of budget secret, Sharma courted controversy by inviting outsiders to the ministry allegedly to influence the budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota informed that the probe committee was formed after massive backlash both in parliament and streets as well as media reports criticizing the outgoing minister’s irresponsible remark that the CCTV footage has been deleted. The probe committee has been mandated to complete the investigation within 10 days.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Sharma is also accused of ordering the central bank’s governor to unfreeze money brought into the country through illegal means and initiating action against the government for refusing to do so.</span></span></p> <p><strong><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Past Probe Committees</span></span></strong></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Parliamentary probe committees were formed in the past to investigate into the alleged wrongdoings of Janardan Sharma, an influential leader of the CPN Maoist Centre. A parliamentary probe committee had investigated his alleged role in leaking the budget before its formal announcement. However, Sharma didn’t resign from his post back then.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In a similar case, probe committees were formed to investigate against the then finance ministers Bharat Mohan Adhikari and Bishnu Poudel after the media leaked the information of budget beforehand. However, both of them didn’t resign although the parliamentary committees had pointed their mistakes. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Sharma is not the only minister to step down after controversy. In fact, he is the second minister in the incumbent government to resign following a controversy. The then Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Gajendra Bahadur Hamal had resigned from his post on October 10, 2021 within 48 hours after being appointed a minister in the Deuba-led government. Hamal drew widespread criticism for being appointed a minister in the quote of suspended Chief Justice Cholendra SJB Rana. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the then Communication Minister Gokul Baskota had resigned from his post around two and a half years ago after being dragged into a controversy for seeking bribe of Rs 700 million for the procurement of a printing machine. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Another minister Sher Bahadur Tamang had also resigned from the post of health minister after he was accused of misbehaving with female students pursuing their medical studies in Bangladesh.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Other ministers to step down after being dragged into controversy include Dilanath Giri, Prabhu Sah, Sharat Singh Bhandari, Hari Parajuli, Radha Gyawali, Matrika Prasad Yadav, Sarita Giri among others.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-07', 'modified' => '2022-07-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15316', 'image' => '20220707122044_ROS_KTM-4187.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-07 12:19:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15574', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Sharma Resigns ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has tendered his resignation from the post. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 6: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has tendered his resignation from the post. <br /> Addressing a meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR) on Wednesday, Minister Sharma announced his resignation from the post to help the Parliamentary Special Probe Committee. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Speaking at the house meeting, Sharma said he is ready to facilitate the probe committee and maintained that he did not do anything wrong while drafting the budget.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Earlier, the HoR had formed the committee to carry out investigation about the involvement of unauthorized persons in course of preparing budget for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2022/23). <br /> The 11-member probe committee includes Khagaraj Adhikari, Dev Prasad Gurung, Pushpa Bhusal Gautam, Pradeep Gyawali, Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal, Bimala BK, Laxman Lal Karna, Shakti Bahadur Basnet, Sarala Kumari Yadav, Sitaram Mahato and Surendra Prasad Yadav.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">After the finance minister courted controversy, Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini took an indefinite leave starting from today (July 6). (With inputs from RSS)</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Read also:</span></span></span></span></p> <h2><span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Finance Minister Under Pressure to Resign</span></span></span></span></h2> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">https://www.newbusinessage.com/Articles/view/15569</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15315', 'image' => '20220706084444_1657104464.Janardan Sharma 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 20:44:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15573', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Goldstar to Operate a New Factory in Bhairahawa', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: Kiran Shoes Manufacturers, which produces Nepal’s popular shoe brand Goldstar, is planning to open a new factory in Bhairahawa, Rupandehi.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 6: Kiran Shoes Manufacturers, which produces Nepal’s popular shoe brand Goldstar, is planning to open a new factory in Bhairahawa, Rupandehi.The company is planning to operate a factory in Bhairahawa with an investment of Rs 600 million. The company expects to increase the share of footwear exports to India, which has dropped to 30 percent from 70 percent.The company will operate the factory on 7 bighas of land.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company informed that shoe production will start from the new factory in Bhairahawa within three months. It has been 30 years since the company started exporting Goldstar to India in the 40-year history of the company.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Vidushi Rana, executive director (branding and marketing) of the company, said that the company is planning to open a new factory in the border town of Bhairahawa targeting the Indian market after a significant decline in exports to India recently.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"We will be operating a big factory in Bhairahawa," Rana said. Some of the machines in Kathmandu are being prepared to be shifted to Bhairahawa,” said Rana. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">She said that due to the lack of liquidity in the banking system, they are in a wait and watch situation for expanding investment. According to Rana, only one building has been constructed in Bhairahawa at present. It is ready to start production.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company is producing shoes and slippers only from Kathmandu. The number of factories has dropped from 11 to 4 now. Earlier, it was the only shoe industry in Nepal, so factories had to be opened in different places. At that time, there were many factories as they used to make the upper part of shoes, thread and sole. The main factory of Kiran Shoes is in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">There are four factories in operation in Kathmandu including the ones in Nilupul, Balaju Industrial Area and Maharajgunj. Rana informed that even though the daily production capacity of these factories is 100,000, it is still running at 25 percent capacity. The factory has 18 large machines imported from Italy. Some machines of the shoe and slipper industry from Italian technology will be taken to Bhairahawa. Rana said that they are going to operate a factory in Bhairahawa as the export to India is easy due to the proximity of the city.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company directly employs more than 3,000 people. About 70 percent of the factory workers are women. Rana informed that the industry provides employment after giving free training for three months. "After the earthquake in April 2015, the industry had to be shut down for six months because the workers went to their villages," Rana said. It was difficult to export shoes, and the export began to decline.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">India is a very competitive market for Goldstar shoes, says Rana. According to Rana, after the brand became popular in India, counterfeit Goldstar shoes started appearing in every house in India. He said that the shoes exported from Nepal could not compete as the fake shoes were available at cheap prices. According to Rana, the company is fighting a case in an Indian court against a shoe manufacturer who uses its brand illegally.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">She suggested that the interest rate on bank loans and electricity tariff should also be reduced by identifying export-oriented industries. "We pay an electricity tariff of Rs 80 million annually," Rana said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The company has also opened franchise stores in other countries such as Qatar, Australia, Bahrain and Japan. Rana said that they are looking for places to open franchise stores in other countries as well. The company also launched the Goldstar brand in the US a few months ago. However, she said that the export and competition has become very challenging due to the high customs duty. The United States has set a 37.5 percent tariff on footwear. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15314', 'image' => '20220706083735_1657082388.Goldsrar.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 20:36:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15572', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Productive Sectors to get Loan at Low Interest Rates: NRB Governor', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has indicated that it will provide loans at cheaper interest rates to the productive sector by prioritizing the manufacturing sector in the monetary policy for the upcoming fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 6: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has indicated that it will provide loans at cheaper interest rates to the productive sector by prioritizing the manufacturing sector in the monetary policy for the upcoming fiscal year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Speaking at an interaction program on monetary policy organized by the Nepal Management Association (NMA) on Tuesday, NRB Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari said there was no alternative to boost production, adding that interest rates for the unproductive sectors would rise.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"We have to invest in the productive sector, otherwise we will have to rely on imports," the governor said. He added that despite investment, its economic impact has not been seen.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the semi-annual review of the current fiscal year's monetary policy, the NRB had stated that among the various types of loans disbursed by banks and financial institutions, the interest rate on loans to the productive sector would be less than the interest rate on loans to other sectors.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">To reduce investment in unproductive sectors, NRB has increased the risk weight of loans including, import receipts, real estate loans related to land plotting, personal higher purchase loans and loans of a margin nature.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Adhikari said that the concessions given during the Covid-19 period could not be given continuity. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"During the Covid-19 pandemic, we provided refinancing facilities to run the business. These facilities cannot always be provided," he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> Stating that 50 per cent of the banks’ credit flow has been invested for interest capitalization, Chairman of the Nepal Bankers' Association Anil Kumar Upadhyaya said that the current situation has prevailed due to the arrangements like SLF and refinancing. He emphasized the need for long-term resource management.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chairman of the Nepal Finance Companies Association Saroj Kaji Tuladhar said that the monetary policy is not the only means for implementing the budget and other state bodies should also be held accountable. He said that the customers were frustrated when they had to fill up separate customer identification forms in each bank and suggested implementing a centralized system.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chairman of Muktinath Agricultural Company Bharatraj Dhakal urged to review the arrangement of agricultural credit.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Srijana Rana, president of the Hotel Association of Nepal, said that many tourists were coming from India and Bangladesh and urged the banks to facilitate the use of Indian and Bangladeshi currency.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Senior Vice President of the Nepal Chamber of Commerce Kamalesh Kumar Agrawal said that a flexible and balanced monetary policy is needed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15313', 'image' => '20220706025605_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 14:55:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15571', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CBFIN holds Discussions with Prime Minister’s Office', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'uly 6: The Confederation of Banks and Financial Institutions Nepal (CBIFIN) held discussions with the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers regarding the problems faced by the economy and their solutions.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 6: The Confederation of Banks and Financial Institutions Nepal (CBIFIN) held discussions with the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers regarding the problems faced by the economy and their solutions. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ministers, chief secretaries, secretaries of various ministries and CIBIFIN delegates were present at the discussion held at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers in Singha Durbar.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">During the discussion, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu expressed concern over the problems faced by the economy. He emphasized on the need to improve the quality of agriculture and forest based products, reduce production costs and increase exports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chief Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi said that the ministries should work together for regional reforms. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Deputy Chairman of the National Planning Commission Dr Bishwa Poudel said that customs administration should be improved for trade and investment. He said that the government should focus on the use of local knowledge, skills and products for economic reform and empowerment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chairman of CBFIN, Pawan Kumar Golyan said that the economy is in a serious crisis and the government of Nepal, its subordinate bodies, various business associations and banks and financial institutions should work together for the solution.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15312', 'image' => '20220706022617_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 14:25:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15567', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Malaysia's Weston Company to Recruit Nepali Workers on Zero Investment', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: The world's biggest IT company in Malaysia has agreed to take Nepali workers on zero cost. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 6: One of the world's biggest IT company in Malaysia has agreed to take Nepali workers on zero cost. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Malaysia's Weston Technology and Nepal-based manpower companies Akarshan International and Laldhanush International signed a bilateral agreement to this effect amid a programme on Tuesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Deputy General Manager of Weston Technology David Weston and Chairperson of Akarshan International Bishnu Bahadur KC and Chairperson of Laldhanush International Dawa Nawang Sherpa signed the agreement to this effect. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the agreement, Nepali workers are permitted to go to Malaysia through the two manpower companies with zero investment. </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 Malaysia-based company announced to take 450 workers in the first phase. A total of 140 women and 60 men are flying to Malaysia through Akarshan international while 175 women and 75 men are being taken through Laldhanush International. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A high-level management team of the company, which is planning to recruit Nepali workforce, has arrived in Kathmandu. Interview dates have been set for Wednesday and Thursday for the selection of workers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">All costs involved in sending the selected Nepali workers to Malaysia would be covered by the company, informed Weston Technology Deputy General Manager David. </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"">"We are sensitive to the safety and health issues of workers," he said, adding there would be no discrimination on wage and opportunities between Nepali and Malaysian workers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The company has industries in different countries including China, India, Taiwan, Mexico, Czech Republic and the Philippines. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15311', 'image' => '20220706104102_foreign emp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 10:40:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15569', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Under Pressure to Resign', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has courted yet another controversy after saying that the CCTV footage of unauthorized people allowed entry into the Ministry of Finance on the eve of budget announcement has been deleted. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 6: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has courted yet another controversy after saying that the CCTV footage of unauthorized people allowed entry into the Ministry of Finance on the eve of budget announcement has been deleted. The finance minister has been criticized in parliament as well as the streets for his irresponsible remark.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">His resignation is being demanded even in the streets over the same issue. On Tuesday, the youth association demanded his resignation. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The minister, on the other hand, maintained that unauthorized people were not allowed to enter the ministry but said that the CCTV footage was deleted within 13 days of May 29.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to CCTV Installation Procedure 2072, the CCTV footages should be kept safe for three months. However, the finance minister’s remark that the CCTV footage was 'deleted' just within 13 days has drawn widespread condemnation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Although such footage can be retrieved, finance minister is not willing to do so and is still maintaining his stance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Pressure is building up on Finance Minister Sharma to resign after the main opposition party -- the CPN-UML -- demanded the formation of a parliamentary probe committee. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Even within the ruling Nepali Congress, there is a growing demand for the finance minister to resign or for the prime minister to remove Sharma from his position.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to a Nepali Congress (NC) source, a formal demand will be made at the meeting of the Central Committee of the Nepali Congress to be held on July 11. NC leaders are of the view that the finance minister should immediately resign and assist in the investigation or Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba should remove him.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Due to the protest from the main opposition party, the ruling Congress and the growing level of dissatisfaction among the citizens, there is an intense pressure within the Maoist Center to recall Minister Sharma from the government.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15310', 'image' => '20220706113952_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 11:39:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15570', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NYEF Elects a New Team under the Leadership of Ritesh Lamichhane ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: The 18th general assembly of the Nepali Young Entrepreneur Forum held in Kathmandu on July 5 has elected a new executive committee under the leadership of Ritesh Lamichhane.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 6: The 18th general assembly of the Nepali Young Entrepreneur Forum held in Kathmandu on July 5 has elected a new executive committee under the leadership of Ritesh Lamichhane.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Sahara Joshi has been elected as the first vice president of NYEF while Kushal Sundar Shrestha bagged the post of second vice president, and Nibhita Pradhan was elected the vice president in women’s category during the election.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the forum has appointed Sudip Ghimire, Richa Shrestha, Krishna Sapkota, Pabitra Gautam, Abhushan Jyoti Kansakar, and Punit Vaidya as executive members.</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 inaugurated the 18th general assembly of the Nepali Young Entrepreneur Forum.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs' Forum (NYEF) is an apex body of young entrepreneurs in Nepal established with a vision to become the most influential community of young entrepreneurs in Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It aims at creating outstanding entrepreneurs through idea exchange, fellowships, education, training and advocacy among the Nepali youth. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The forum was officially instituted by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) on September 26, 2003. NYEF is also one of the founding members of the SAARC Young Entrepreneurs Forum (SYEF), Association of Youth Organization Nepal (AYON) and the World Young Entrepreneurs Forum (WYEF) and a member of the Confederation of Asia Pacific Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CACCI) Committee on Youth Entrepreneurship. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Lamichhane and his team have expressed their commitment to hold a large-scale 'Made in Nepal' exhibition in Kathmandu.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15309', 'image' => '20220706022904_292079403_2570287936439636_2990054633312305936_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 11:48:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15566', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Industries in Chitwan Feeling Heat due to Irregular Power Supply ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 6: The industries operating in Chitwan district are in crisis due to irregular power supply. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 6: The industries operating in Chitwan district are in crisis due to irregular power supply. Not only the enterprises, the general public too are facing problem due to the frequent power interruptions every day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The industries and individuals who had abandoned inverters and generators for power back up have now started installing these devices after the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)'s Bharatpur Distribution Centre started stopping power supply without issuing prior notice. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">People have started complaining that this problem has arisen due to the negligence of NEA Bharatpur Distribution Centre. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Representatives of the Industry Association of Chitwan had apprised NEA executive director Kulman Ghising about the problem few days back. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The association's Chitwan district president Trilochan Kandel complained that they have reached to a state in which it has become difficult to operate their industries. According to him, it is costly to operate generators as well due to the high price of fuel. He further said that a situation has arisen in which the workers have no work most of the time due to the frequent power outage. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The industries are facing a crisis due to the power supply problem. The industries are bearing huge losses," he lamented. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Kandel said that NEA was ignoring the problems faced by the industrialists and businesspersons. He added that some industries are also losing raw materials due to the erratic power supply. The industrialists are having hard time even to pay their bank loan installments as they are unable to operate their enterprises in full capacity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rajendra Oli, a businessman, who has been running a plastic industry since a long time, complained that although they were able to carry out production as per the schedule even during the period of load shedding, it has now become more unsystematic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Oli, the proprietor of Plasto Tech Nepal and Ashirbad Pipe, said raw materials get wasted as power outage takes place at once the raw materials get heated. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He expressed concern over NEA's apathy to resolve the problems of industries, saying there would be no condition to run the industries if the problem continues. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Not only is the industries that are facing this problem, but the general public is also facing problem due to power outage. Small-scale businessmen have been compelled to buy inverter. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Devi Prasad Sharma of Bharatpur-10 blamed that problem of power outage has been taking place due to collusion between NEA officials and inverter businessmen. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Students are affected due to undeclared load-shedding. Normal life has been affected due to power outage time and again in a hot place like Chitwan. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of NEA Bharatpur Distribution Centre, Rajeev Kumar Singh claimed that the power outage has occurred time and again as construction activities and electricity upgrading activities are underway. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-06', 'modified' => '2022-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15308', 'image' => '20220706102517_NEA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-06 10:24:25', '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
