May 25: The government has adopted a policy of attaining economic growth by developing the agriculture sector.…
May 25: The government has adopted a policy of attaining economic growth by developing the agriculture sector.…
May 25: Nepali oil producers who were exporting cooking oil to India are now unable to export due to rising prices of unrefined oil in the international market.…
May 25: Leaders of various political parties have given mixed reaction to the policies and programmes for the fiscal year 2022/23 presented in parliament by the government on…
May 24: The government has made public the policies and programs for the upcoming fiscal year with the aim of developing the agricultural sector, reviving the troubled economy and expanding the physical infrastructure.…
May 24: There are signs that the liquidity crisis in the banking system will likely extend for some more…
May 24: Nearly 90 days have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine in one of the biggest invasion since the World War II.…
May 24: The trade union of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has objected to the government's decision to hand over the responsibility of importing petrol, diesel and cooking gas to the private sector.…
May 24: The Government of Nepal has formed a task force to acquire a loan of Rs 33 billion from the World…
May 24: Amir Akhter, the founder of Everest Premier League, has expressed concerns over the recent decision of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) to halt the Everest Premier…
May 24: Buddha Air has resumed Kathmandu-Varanasi flight service that was disrupted since the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.…
May 23: A session of the National Assembly, the upper house of the federal parliament, approved eight different ordinances on…
May 23: An aircraft of Jazeera Airways that met with disturbances while landing at the Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa on Monday is suspected to have been hit by a…
May 23: The government is preparing to implement the programme of blacktopping roads in every…
May 23: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has immediately backtracked from its decision to build a pumped storage hydropower (PSH)…
May 23: Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu informed that the government is doing its homework to keep the ailing industries in operation.…
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 25: The government has adopted a policy of attaining economic growth by developing the agriculture sector. In this regard, it has decided to provide subsidies to the farmers only on the basis of production. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">President Bidya Devi Bhandari made such announcement while presenting the government's policies and programmes for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2022/23) at a joint sitting of the federal parliament on Tuesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It has been found that the grants provided by the government were reaching sectors other than agriculture, therefore, the government adopted the policy of providing subsidy only to the genuine farmers based on production. The government is preparing to formulate the policy of protecting the farmers and make arrangements to purchase the produce of the farmers in order to promote agriculture as a major pillar of economic development.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Agriculture experts, on the other hand, argue that agricultural subsidies cannot be effective if it is based on production alone. Uddhav Adhikari, coordinator of the Agriculture for Food Campaign, said that it would not be right to give subsidies on the basis of production without classifying the farmers into different groups. He stated, “This kind of policy is good only for big farmers but small farmers can get into trouble. Therefore, in case of misuse of agricultural subsidies, it is better to investigate and take action.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although Adhikari welcomed the term “protection of farmers” included by the government in its policies and programmes, he expressed concerns that there is no clear policy to fulfill the commitment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government has also adopted a policy to ensure the availability of chemical fertilizers and to provide subsidies on organic fertilizer on par with the chemical fertilizers from the upcoming fiscal year. Similarly, the policies and programmes of the government states that access to micro insurance will be extended to the remote and deprived sectors by expanding agriculture and livestock insurance programmes for the protection of farmers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government also pledged to provide relief as soon as possible to the farmers whose crops were damage by the unseasonal rains that occurred in last October.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government will encourage farmers to engage in collective and cooperative farming on barren land. The government will run special programmes to produce the food products that are imported in large quantities. Under this heading, a special programme will be introduced to increase the production of imported food like paddy, maize, potato, onion, apple, and walnut that are imported in large quantities. In addition, there the government also plans to promote organic farming. Special emphasis was also laid on increasing the production of food items and reducing the processing cost. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government has set a target of providing irrigation facilities to an additional 22,200 hectares of land next year. Similarly, construction and maintenance of main and branch canals of large and multi-purpose irrigation projects including construction of Bheri Babai diversion headworks and tunnel of powerhouse and Sunkoshi Marin diversion project will be expedited.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Commenting on the policies and programmes announced by the government in the agriculture sector, the outgoing chairman of the National Farmers Commission Chitra Bahadur Shrestha said that it is a good thing that agriculture is considered as one of the top priorities of the government. However, what is more important is the plans that will be included in the budget and passed for implementation rather than the things included in the policies and programmes.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-25', 'modified' => '2022-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15074', 'image' => '20220525013650_agri maize.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-25 13:36:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15331', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal’s Oil Producers Struggling to Export Oil to India', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: Nepali oil producers who were exporting cooking oil to India are now unable to export due to rising prices of unrefined oil in the international market. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 25: Nepali oil producers who were exporting cooking oil to India are now unable to export due to rising prices of unrefined oil in the international market. Due to the halt in export of refined oil, Nepal's export trade is expected to decline as it is a major contributor to government revenue. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nikhil Chachan, the operator of Narayani Oil in Birgunj, says that the price is increasing in the international market and the oil stored in the industrial warehouses has been exported. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It takes up to three months to import raw materials from the international market to Nepal and the domestic companies were exporting by using the price difference in the market. According to the entrepreneurs, the stock of raw materials of the domestic industries is finishing as Russia and Ukraine are at war, and Indonesia, the main producer of palm, has banned the exports for nearly a month. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Indonesia has decided to open exports from Monday. Operator of OCB Food Suresh Rungta says that even if the import of raw material is easier, it cannot be exported to India. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"India imports all types of edible oil at 5.5 percent customs duty and 7 percent goods and services tax. In our country, the government collects 10 percent customs duty and 13 percent value added tax," said Rungta, "The transportation cost from Kolkata to Birgunj is Rs 8. In such a situation, it is no longer possible to export refined oil to India by importing raw materials from third countries." </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chachan said that export by taking advantage of price difference is not possible. He told New Business Age that only nominal exports are being made from the old stock now.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-25', 'modified' => '2022-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15073', 'image' => '20220525125146_oil1501009175_7.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-25 12:51:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15330', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mixed Response to Government's Policies and Programmes ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: Leaders of various political parties have given mixed reaction to the policies and programmes for the fiscal year 2022/23 presented in parliament by the government on Tuesday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 25: Leaders of various political parties have given mixed reaction to the policies and programmes for the fiscal year 2022/23 presented in parliament by the government on Tuesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki described the policies and programs as a blueprint to make Nepal prosperous. </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 policies and programmes reflect our dream of bringing prosperity to the country. It is not just an assurance, it will be implemented," the state-owned national news agency RSS quoted the minister as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Chairperson of Janata Samajwadi Party of Nepal and former Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai said that the policies and programmes were positive as a whole but were insufficient for the overall economic development of the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chairperson of CPN (Unified Socialist) and former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal also remarked that the policies and programmes were positive as the country's agriculture, energy development, tourism promotion and other sectors were given high priority. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">CPN (UML) Vice Chairman and former Finance Minister Surendra Pandey said that many issues included in the policies and programmes have been repeated since a long time. He also said that it would be difficult to implement everything mentioned in the policies and programmes due to limited size of our budget. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chairman Rajendra Lingden remarked that there would be problems in implementation as in the past due to the traditional nature of budget. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-25', 'modified' => '2022-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15072', 'image' => '20220525113445_RS-KTM-Parliamenti (2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-25 11:34:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15329', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government’s Policies and Programmes Emphasize on Revival of Economy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: The government has made public the policies and programs for the upcoming fiscal year with the aim of developing the agricultural sector, reviving the troubled economy and expanding the physical infrastructure. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 24: The government has made public the policies and programs for the upcoming fiscal year with the aim of developing the agricultural sector, reviving the troubled economy and expanding the physical infrastructure. Addressing a joint session of the federal parliament on Tuesday, President Bidya Devi Bhandari made public the policies and programmes of the government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 145-point program highlights the fact that remittance inflow has improved over the past few months and the growth in revenue collection from tourism has been creating a positive environment, despite the external pressure on the economy due to the unfavorable conditions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In order to achieve economic growth and sustainability through the combination of fiscal and monetary policies, the government has outlined agriculture, transport, energy, tourism and information technology as the drivers of economic growth. The government has adopted a clear policy of building a resilient economy through special economic recovery programs and keeping inflation within the limits. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The policies and programmes of the government intend to implement projects from the provincial and local levels except mega projects of national pride and of strategic importance. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government plans to conserve, use and distribute natural resources equitably in coordination among the federal, province and local governments. As per the policies and programmes of the government, the basis of economic prosperity will be laid by linking local economies with the national economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government aims to make policy, legal and systemic reforms to increase domestic production and industrialization by building quality infrastructure, promoting investment, and facilitating business environment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The policies and programme have given clear guidelines to include development programmes and projects in the budget on the basis of national priorities. Budget will not be allocated for projects that have not been prepared beforehand and have not been included in the project bank. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government has given priority to reviewing the existing tax system, creating a clean, transparent and investment-friendly environment, and facilitating local revenue mobilization. It plans to facilitate credit flow to the manufacturing and employment-oriented sectors. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">For the first time, the government has addressed the issue of formulating a new national agricultural policy for developing the agricultural sector as a major driving force of economic growth and employment. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15071', 'image' => '20220524092214_RS-KTM-ParliamentPresidenta.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 21:21:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15328', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Liquidity Crisis to Extend for Some More Time', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: There are signs that the liquidity crisis in the banking system will likely extend for some more time.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 24: There are signs that the liquidity crisis in the banking system will likely extend for some more time. The liquidity crisis is unlikely to end anytime soon as the banks and financial institutions (BFIs) are reeling under shortage of investible capital with just two months left in the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the deposit collection of BFIs increased by Rs 237.85 billion as of mid-April this year while the credit flow during this period was worth Rs 558.99 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NRB officials have concluded that the liquidity crisis is a result of high credit flow against deposit collection and that most of the loans have been invested for importing consumable goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As the crisis started deepening, banks have started taking inter-bank loans and various monetary tools to address their immediate problems.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The short-term lending between banks increased by one and a half times between mid-March and mid-April. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the central bank, in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, the inter-bank loans taken by commercial banks stood at Rs 2299.22 billion while development banks and finance companies took inter-bank loans worth Rs 2069.68 billion during the review period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During the corresponding period of last fiscal year, the inter-bank loans taken by commercial banks was worth Rs 875.50 billion while development banks and finance companies had received inter-bank loans worth Rs 1059.42 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The liquidity crisis has also affected the inter-bank interest rate. Such interest rate has increased to nearly 7 percent. One year ago, the inter-bank interest rate was just 2.03 percent, which increased to 6.99 percent in mid-April.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15070', 'image' => '20220524024820_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 14:47:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15327', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Where is Russian Oil Heading Towards?', 'sub_title' => 'China and India become major importers of Russian oil despite sanctions', 'summary' => 'May 24: Nearly 90 days have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine in one of the biggest invasion since the World War II. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rama Subedi</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 24: Nearly 90 days have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine in one of the biggest invasion since the World War II. European countries have cut Russian oil imports, a key pillar of the Russian economy, as part of sanctions against Russia.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The United States has announced that it will suspend imports of Russian oil. The G7, a group of seven industrialized nations, also announced last weekend that it would gradually reduce Russian oil imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">But Russia still has a lot of buyers. The oil imported by other buyers is enough to keep the Russian government's revenue high and cover the necessary expenses. Before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia sold 785 million barrels of crude oil a day to Europe.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">But since the invasion of Ukraine, Europe has announced a sudden reduction in its dependence on Russian oil and gas. The Ukraine crisis raised the prices of crude oil across the world. Russia, meanwhile, is benefiting from rising crude oil prices as it seeks new buyers and seeks to increase exports to the Asian markets.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Russia's oil revenues are expected to rise sharply to USD 180 billion this year, according to independent research firm Rystad Energy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">This will be 45 per cent higher than the same period last year. Looking at the trend of tanker traffic, Russia's crude oil exports have declined by a maximum of 20 per cent. A study by Spire Global for the Washington Post found that an average of 17 tankers were released from Russian ports daily when the United States imposed economic sanctions on Russia on March 8.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India and China have been buying Russian oil in defiance of sanctions imposed on Russia over the war. At one time, Russian oil accounted for less than 3 per cent of India's total consumption. Now it is constantly increasing.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In March, India bought 274,000 barrels of oil a day from Russia. In April, it rose to 627,000 barrels, according to data from international data company S&P Global.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Russia became India's fourth-largest oil supplier in April. India's oil purchase appears to have increased further in May.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">China is already Russia's largest Asian buyer. China has recently increased its purchases of Russian oil. China's daily import of Russian oil is expected to reach 1.1 million barrels by the sea in May.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">That's 350,000 more barrels a day than in the first quarter of this year, and 300,000 more a day in 2020.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Russian oil has become even cheaper than water for India after Russia offered oil at a much lower price than the international selling mark after the US and Europe imposed sanctions.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Brent and WTI, the international benchmarks for crude oil in the Western markets, are above USD 110 as Europe prepares to ban Russian oil imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Russia is now selling domestic benchmark Ural Brent crude at USD 34 less than before the invasion of Ukraine.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At a time when the economy is slowing, buying cheap Russian oil has been a boon for China. For India, this is a golden opportunity to reduce the trade deficit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Russian oil is now much cheaper for both China and India than the oil imported from the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the United States.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15069', 'image' => '20220524022002_Indiaruaaia.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 14:18:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15325', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘Responsibility for Trading of Petroleum Products should not be Handed Over to Private Sector’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: The trade union of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has objected to the government's decision to hand over the responsibility of importing petrol, diesel and cooking gas to the private sector. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 24: The trade union of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has objected to the government's decision to hand over the responsibility of importing petrol, diesel and cooking gas to the private sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at a programme organized by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Sunday, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu had said that homework is being done to hand over the responsibility of supplying petroleum products in the country to the private sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Madhumas Pun, the chairperson of the Nepal Oil Corporation’s Trade Union, objected to the government's decision after this announcement, claiming that the private sector will not be able to provide services to consumers like the government is providing currently if the responsibility of importing petroleum products is handed over to them.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He objected to the government's decision through his social media page saying that it will not be acceptable to ruin the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) by not letting it adjust the fuel price making it bankrupt by denying money to buy oil while colluding with the private sector to hand over the responsibilities of supplying fuel in the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He mentioned that if the responsibility is shifted to the private sector, the consumers will not be able to buy petrol at Rs 180 as its actual cost is Rs 195 per liter. Meanwhile, diesel which costs Rs 163 will cost Rs 190 per liter and gas cylinder worth Rs 1800 will cost Rs 2680 per cylinder if the private sector handles the fuel supply, said Pun. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He also mentioned that the state should always work for the welfare of the people.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15068', 'image' => '20220524093816_petrol-pump.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 09:37:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15323', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government forms Task Force to Acquire Rs 33 Billion from World Bank', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: The Government of Nepal has formed a task force to acquire a loan of Rs 33 billion from the World Bank.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 24: The Government of Nepal has formed a task force to acquire a loan of Rs 33 billion from the World Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A recent meeting of the Council of Ministers decided to form the task force headed by a joint secretary at the Ministry of Finance in order to seek the loan to expand transportation and trade sectors. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki informed that the task force has been formed to seek US$ 275 million (approximately Rs 33 billion) from the World Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the cabinet meeting decided to approve a grant of Rs 86,13,00,000 from the Swiss government to re-integrate returnee migrant workers in the society.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15066', 'image' => '20220524091355_ROS_KTM-_6483441(2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 09:13:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15326', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CAN's Decision to Stop EPL will Discourage Private Sector Investment: Franchise Owners ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: Amir Akhter, the founder of Everest Premier League, has expressed concerns over the recent decision of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) to halt the Everest Premier League.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 24: Amir Akhter, the founder of Everest Premier League, has expressed concerns over the recent decision of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) to halt the Everest Premier League. He has urged the cricket governing body to let the the franchise league be held. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at a press conference held in Hotel Yak and Yeti on May 23, Akhter expressed his concern over the CAN's decision to restrict the EPL.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, Vishal Agrawal, owner of Biratnagar Warriors and director of Bishal Group, shared that the decision of CAN has discouraged the private sector and has jeopardized its investment in the sporting sector of Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> CAN has announced a new league-Nepal T20 League. The cricket regulatory body also announced that it will be the only franchise league in Nepal, which has affected the EPL and the franchise team associated with it. The organizer of EPL and six owners held a joint press conference on Monday and asked CAN to give continuity to the EPL. According to the ICC rules, there will be only one league in a country, and now Nepal will have only one T20 league. But the EPL, founder Aamir Akhtar and the owners of six franchise teams have demanded that they be allowed to continue the EPL.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> The cricket authority has cornered us and our effort, time and investment by stopping the EPL. The authorities didn't even make any prior discussion with the concerned stakeholders while coming up with such a major decision, he shared.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Likewise, Kishor Maharjan, former CEO of Civil Bank and owner of Lalitpur Patriots, shared that he is extremely saddened by the decision of CAN to stop EPL. As the owner of the team, we are in trouble. We had put all-our investment, time and effort into our team with a long term vision and now, as things were improving, CAN has deceived us and our faith in investing in sports has become doubtful, he added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Akhter and the six owners, EPL is the 5th biggest franchise T20 league in the world. EPL finished its fourth edition last year and is the number one T20 franchise among the non-Test playing nations. The fourth edition of the league was broadcasted in 18 countries including, India, Akhter shared. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">CAN has not done justice to our effort as EPL was on the verge to be an export product and would put Nepali cricket on the global map. Our efforts were not recognized by CAN and we want to voice our emotions through the media, Akhter added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kishor Bhattrai shared that the only demand is to allow the continuity of EPL. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"We are not against the new league but the decision made is a big shock to the entire sports industry. A lot has been invested in the event. Who will give our investment back, why would someone invest in the sector in the days to come if there is no certainty? We only want the event which has been ranked 5th in the world to continue. CAN should think again about the decision and not stop EPL. We are raising the voice here not only for cricket but for all the sports," he shared. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, giving the example of sports industries abroad Bhattrai opined that the issue is due to a lack of professional sports acts. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, Aditya Shanghai, owner of Bhairahawa Gladiators shared that the step taken by CAN is a big discouragement for the private sector to invest in the sports sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Similarly, EPL is the best example of private and public investment. We were in a situation of bringing in IPL investors. It would have taken the cricket scenario to the next level with personal expertise. EPL is the cleanest league in the world in terms of transparency. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sanjay Agrawal, owner of Kathmandu Kings XI shared that the time, money and effort invested by the corporate house have all gone in vain. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, Sahil Agrawal, owner of Pokhara Rhinos shared that CAN's decision to give license to a new league and discontinue the existing league is nonsensical. Our only demand is to allow the league to happen while continuing the new league, he added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15065', 'image' => '20220524095205_epl.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 09:50:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15322', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Buddha Air Resumes Flight Service to Varanasi', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: Buddha Air has resumed Kathmandu-Varanasi flight service that was disrupted since the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 24: Buddha Air has resumed Kathmandu-Varanasi flight service that was disrupted since the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the airline company, direct flights to Varanasi from Kathmandu resumed from Monday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Buddha Air informed that the company will conduct two flights a week to India’s Varanasi. The flights will be conducted on Mondays days and Fridays. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the flight schedule, an ATR aircraft of Buddha Air left for Varanasi from Kathmandu on May 23 at 7: 15 am carrying 44 passengers and 6 crew members. According to the company, the return flight left Varanasi at 8: 45 am the same day. The return flight carried a total of 39 passengers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Issuing a statement on Monday, Buddha Air said that the flight service to Varanasi will also facilitate foreign tourists. The company further said that Buddha Air’s subsidiary Buddha Holiday has been conducting tours to religious and tourism destinations across the country by announcing attractive packages. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15064', 'image' => '20220524085313_Buddha ATR.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 08:52:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15321', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'National Assembly Approves Eight Ordinances', 'sub_title' => 'President Bidya Bhandari to Present Policies and Programmes of Government in Parliament on Tuesday ', 'summary' => 'May 23: A session of the National Assembly, the upper house of the federal parliament, approved eight different ordinances on Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 23: A session of the National Assembly, the upper house of the federal parliament, approved eight different ordinances on Monday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ordinances approved include the Social Security (First Amendment) Ordinance, 2022; Acid and Other Harmful Chemical Substances (Regulation) Ordinance, 2022; the Nepal Police and Province Police (Operation, Supervision and Coordination) First Amendment Ordinance, 2022; the Medicine (Third Amendment) Ordinance, 2022; the Health Professionals and Health Institutions' Security (First Amendment) Ordinance, 2022; the Ordinance Amending Some Acts Related to Criminal Offence and Criminal Procedures, 2022; the Ordinance Amending Some Acts Against Sexual Violence, 2022 and the Railway Ordinance, 2022. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting unanimously approved all these eight ordinances.</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"">At the conclusion of the meeting, National Assembly chairperson Ganesh Prasad Timilsina directed the lawmakers to be present in the Federal Parliament's assembly hall at the designated time of 4 pm Tuesday (May 24), as President Bidya Devi Bhandari is scheduled to address the joint session of the Federal Parliament and present the policies and programmes of the government for the Fiscal Year 2022/23. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The National Assembly will next meet at 6 pm on Tuesday. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-23', 'modified' => '2022-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15063', 'image' => '20220523091118_RS_KTML8994_1(1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-23 21:10:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15320', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bird Strike Suspected on Jazeera Airways Aircraft ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 23: An aircraft of Jazeera Airways that met with disturbances while landing at the Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa on Monday is suspected to have been hit by a bird.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 23: An aircraft of Jazeera Airways that met with disturbances while landing at the Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa on Monday is suspected to have been hit by a bird.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A bird may have collided with the aircraft at 1:45 am on Monday,” the state-owned national news agency RSS reported quoting the chief of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) at the airport, Prabesh Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As a result, the aircraft has been grounded at the airport and is rescheduling its flight, said Adhikari. </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 plane landed successfully but we suspect bird strike as blood stains can be seen on the surface of the plane. However, the dead bird has not been found. A technical team will check whether it has been sucked into the plane engine," he further told RSS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Adhikari, further investigations are underway. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The flight of the aircraft was rescheduled following the incident. Jazeera Airways has managed accommodation for its passengers in a hotel. Thirty eight passengers had booked tickets for Bhairahawa-Kuwait flight, according to the airport authorities. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-23', 'modified' => '2022-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15062', 'image' => '20220523074434_Jazeera.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-23 19:43:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15319', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Provincial Governments to Implement Blacktopping of Roads at Local Units ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 23: The government is preparing to implement the programme of blacktopping roads in every municipality.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 23: The government is preparing to implement the programme of blacktopping roads in every municipality. The programme will be carried out by the state governments. The previous government led by KP Sharma Oli had announced the policy, plan and programme to blacktop roads at the municipal level.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The work of the road project could not move forward when there was a dispute over whether the state should build it or the federal government. "I heard about the blacktopping of the road at the municipal level in the policy and programme brought by the previous government. It was limited to paper work, not in the budget," Finance Minister Janardhan Sharma told parliament on Friday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Finance Minister Sharma, there is no problem in moving ahead with the work as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have pledged to provide financial assistance for the programme.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government is preparing to send most of the small projects to the state and local levels in the upcoming Fiscal Year (FY 2022/23).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Finance Minister Sharma, preparation are being made for implementing projects with low investment at the state and local levels in 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:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although there has been a long-running debate about the implementation of such projects by the lower-level government, it has not come into practice.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even in the 45th meeting of the National Development Problem Solving Committee chaired by the Prime Minister, it was decided to move small and micro projects forward from the state and local levels. It was also said that the Ministry of Finance should arrange the budget by prioritizing such projects. However, many small and micro projects have not been able to move forward yet.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the implementation of such projects by the federal government would not be effective on the one hand and would also affect the budget expenditure, on the other hand, Minister Sharma urged the parliamentarians not to demand small projects during the discussion on the principles and priorities of the budget.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In particular, the UML lawmakers had raised questions in the House of Representatives stating that the Ministry of Finance had removed 1,400 road projects put forward by the previous government.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sharma that the projects should be selected only after assessing the level of investment and the return on investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Sharma, it is time to review the failure of national pride projects. He also remarked that projects that do not work should not be called national pride project. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-23', 'modified' => '2022-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15061', 'image' => '20220523072556_DhrubasagarSharma_Galeswor_RSS_07_-himalmunikalopatresadak.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-23 19:25:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15318', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Backtracks from Pumped Storage Hydropower Projects ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 23: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has immediately backtracked from its decision to build a pumped storage hydropower (PSH) projects.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 23: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has immediately backtracked from its decision to build a pumped storage hydropower (PSH) projects. NEA, which had already started the process of constructing two PSH projects, has now decided to not construct those projects. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">For the first time, NEA had started the process of constructing Begnas-Rupa Pumped Storage Hydropower Project in Begnas and Rupa lakes in Kaski district. For that, it had obtained permission for survey from the Department of Electricity Development on November 13, 2017. It has been four and a half years since the survey permission was granted for the 150 MW project. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Executive director of NEA Kulman Ghising had put forward the project as his dream project in his first tenure. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After Ghising's first tenure ended, Hitendra Dev Shakya was appointed the executive director of NEA. He did not give much priority to the Begnas-Rupa PSH project. However, he took forward the process of constructing the 100 MW Kulekhani Sisneri Pumped Storage Hydropower Project using the Kulekhani Dam in Makwanpur District. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">For that, the Department of Electricity Development issued permission for the survey in March/April 2021. It has been one year since the survey permission of the project was obtained. However, the NEA is in the mindset of not moving ahead with both the pumped storage projects at present. Ghising says that the pumped storage projects will not be built immediately. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We are focusing on the other types of hydropower projects. This is the need of the hour. So, there is no immediate plan to invest in pumped storage hydropower plants,” he said, “Therefore, there has not been any progress on these projects. However, we will pay attention to this after a certain period of time as we need such projects in the near future.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As the investment in such projects is high, NEA has backtracked from its decision for the time being. A separate dam should be constructed to collect the used water. Also, a lot of electricity is also needed, which makes the operating cost of the project high. Ghising said that due to these reasons the NEA has backtracked its plan to build pumped storage project. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pumped storage project is a new technology to Nepal. In this technology, the water coming out of the power house is collected by constructing another dam nearby. The water is then pumped to the first dam and reused. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA had tried to develop Begnas-Rupa pumped storage hydropower project with an investment of around Rs 14 billion as the first pumped storage project in Nepal. The project has been halted as it was found during the study that the construction of the project will be costly. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A study by the Japanese aid agency JICA showed that the project was not financially viable. JICA's study had shown that electricity used to draw water is expensive. However, NEA says it had conducted the study for the future prospect.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, Kulekhani-Sisneri pumped storage project was planned to be built with an investment of Rs 8 billion. The project was said to be built at Sisneri, two kilometers below Kulekhani Dam. The target was to generate 100 MW of electricity by taking water from Kulekhani Dam during the evening peak hour. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-23', 'modified' => '2022-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15060', 'image' => '20220523041510_PSH.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-23 16:14:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15317', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Working on Modality to keep Problematic Industries Afloat', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 23: Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu informed that the government is doing its homework to keep the ailing industries in operation. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 23: Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu informed that the government is doing its homework to keep the ailing industries in operation. The government plans to work on public-private partnership and other modalities to keep such industries afloat. He urged the private sector to make preparations in this regard, saying that they should move towards self-reliance by increasing production and employment by operating such industries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He made such remarks at a program organized by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) in Kathmandu on Sunday. "We will bring in the budget and programmes to implement this policy," Badu said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the government has announced industrial zones and has allocated land for opening industries, but the government does not have the budget to invest in infrastructure development. He said that the private sector should come up with plans for establishing chemical fertilizer factories, that are urgently required in the country. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Badu said that the fuel prices have spiked drastically, and the monopoly of Nepal Oil Corporation should be broken to make the price competitive.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"The private sector should be allowed to supply petroleum products. This will create competition and will make the price cheaper for consumers. However, the price of cooking gas cannot be subsidized any further, he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Badu said that it was necessary to move towards self-reliance by reducing imports and increasing production.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, he added that the recent ban on wheat exports by India will impact the production of flour in a few months.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the same programme, Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, Maha Prasad Adhikari, said that this year has seen high growth in import and inflation has also remained high.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"However high the prices may be, we as consumers are ready to pay. If we become cautious and consume little less, the economy will return back on track,” said Adhikari.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Right now, the private sector needs to focus on the economy as a whole rather than profit," the NRB governor said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Dr Rajendra Prasad Mishra, joint secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, said that farmers and industries should be involved in the production of raw materials within the country. He emphasized the need to strengthen the supply chain at the local level.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, FNCCI President Shekhar Golchha said that an imminent food crisis in Nepal cannot not be ignored as other countries have imposed a ban of export of food products. He urged the minister to form a task force representing officials from the Ministry of Energy, Industry, Agriculture Development and the private sector, as well as Nepal Rastra Bank, to solve the current problem. He said that reducing fuel consumption and improving the agricultural ecosystem was the need of the hour.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-23', 'modified' => '2022-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15059', 'image' => '20220523032540_Industrial-Policy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-23 15:24:12', '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' => '15332', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Provide Agricultural Grants on the Basis of Production', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: The government has adopted a policy of attaining economic growth by developing the agriculture sector. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 25: The government has adopted a policy of attaining economic growth by developing the agriculture sector. In this regard, it has decided to provide subsidies to the farmers only on the basis of production. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">President Bidya Devi Bhandari made such announcement while presenting the government's policies and programmes for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2022/23) at a joint sitting of the federal parliament on Tuesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It has been found that the grants provided by the government were reaching sectors other than agriculture, therefore, the government adopted the policy of providing subsidy only to the genuine farmers based on production. The government is preparing to formulate the policy of protecting the farmers and make arrangements to purchase the produce of the farmers in order to promote agriculture as a major pillar of economic development.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Agriculture experts, on the other hand, argue that agricultural subsidies cannot be effective if it is based on production alone. Uddhav Adhikari, coordinator of the Agriculture for Food Campaign, said that it would not be right to give subsidies on the basis of production without classifying the farmers into different groups. He stated, “This kind of policy is good only for big farmers but small farmers can get into trouble. Therefore, in case of misuse of agricultural subsidies, it is better to investigate and take action.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although Adhikari welcomed the term “protection of farmers” included by the government in its policies and programmes, he expressed concerns that there is no clear policy to fulfill the commitment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government has also adopted a policy to ensure the availability of chemical fertilizers and to provide subsidies on organic fertilizer on par with the chemical fertilizers from the upcoming fiscal year. Similarly, the policies and programmes of the government states that access to micro insurance will be extended to the remote and deprived sectors by expanding agriculture and livestock insurance programmes for the protection of farmers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government also pledged to provide relief as soon as possible to the farmers whose crops were damage by the unseasonal rains that occurred in last October.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government will encourage farmers to engage in collective and cooperative farming on barren land. The government will run special programmes to produce the food products that are imported in large quantities. Under this heading, a special programme will be introduced to increase the production of imported food like paddy, maize, potato, onion, apple, and walnut that are imported in large quantities. In addition, there the government also plans to promote organic farming. Special emphasis was also laid on increasing the production of food items and reducing the processing cost. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government has set a target of providing irrigation facilities to an additional 22,200 hectares of land next year. Similarly, construction and maintenance of main and branch canals of large and multi-purpose irrigation projects including construction of Bheri Babai diversion headworks and tunnel of powerhouse and Sunkoshi Marin diversion project will be expedited.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Commenting on the policies and programmes announced by the government in the agriculture sector, the outgoing chairman of the National Farmers Commission Chitra Bahadur Shrestha said that it is a good thing that agriculture is considered as one of the top priorities of the government. However, what is more important is the plans that will be included in the budget and passed for implementation rather than the things included in the policies and programmes.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-25', 'modified' => '2022-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15074', 'image' => '20220525013650_agri maize.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-25 13:36:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15331', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal’s Oil Producers Struggling to Export Oil to India', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: Nepali oil producers who were exporting cooking oil to India are now unable to export due to rising prices of unrefined oil in the international market. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 25: Nepali oil producers who were exporting cooking oil to India are now unable to export due to rising prices of unrefined oil in the international market. Due to the halt in export of refined oil, Nepal's export trade is expected to decline as it is a major contributor to government revenue. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nikhil Chachan, the operator of Narayani Oil in Birgunj, says that the price is increasing in the international market and the oil stored in the industrial warehouses has been exported. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It takes up to three months to import raw materials from the international market to Nepal and the domestic companies were exporting by using the price difference in the market. According to the entrepreneurs, the stock of raw materials of the domestic industries is finishing as Russia and Ukraine are at war, and Indonesia, the main producer of palm, has banned the exports for nearly a month. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Indonesia has decided to open exports from Monday. Operator of OCB Food Suresh Rungta says that even if the import of raw material is easier, it cannot be exported to India. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"India imports all types of edible oil at 5.5 percent customs duty and 7 percent goods and services tax. In our country, the government collects 10 percent customs duty and 13 percent value added tax," said Rungta, "The transportation cost from Kolkata to Birgunj is Rs 8. In such a situation, it is no longer possible to export refined oil to India by importing raw materials from third countries." </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chachan said that export by taking advantage of price difference is not possible. He told New Business Age that only nominal exports are being made from the old stock now.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-25', 'modified' => '2022-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15073', 'image' => '20220525125146_oil1501009175_7.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-25 12:51:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15330', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mixed Response to Government's Policies and Programmes ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: Leaders of various political parties have given mixed reaction to the policies and programmes for the fiscal year 2022/23 presented in parliament by the government on Tuesday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 25: Leaders of various political parties have given mixed reaction to the policies and programmes for the fiscal year 2022/23 presented in parliament by the government on Tuesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki described the policies and programs as a blueprint to make Nepal prosperous. </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 policies and programmes reflect our dream of bringing prosperity to the country. It is not just an assurance, it will be implemented," the state-owned national news agency RSS quoted the minister as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Chairperson of Janata Samajwadi Party of Nepal and former Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai said that the policies and programmes were positive as a whole but were insufficient for the overall economic development of the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chairperson of CPN (Unified Socialist) and former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal also remarked that the policies and programmes were positive as the country's agriculture, energy development, tourism promotion and other sectors were given high priority. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">CPN (UML) Vice Chairman and former Finance Minister Surendra Pandey said that many issues included in the policies and programmes have been repeated since a long time. He also said that it would be difficult to implement everything mentioned in the policies and programmes due to limited size of our budget. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chairman Rajendra Lingden remarked that there would be problems in implementation as in the past due to the traditional nature of budget. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-25', 'modified' => '2022-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15072', 'image' => '20220525113445_RS-KTM-Parliamenti (2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-25 11:34:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15329', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government’s Policies and Programmes Emphasize on Revival of Economy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: The government has made public the policies and programs for the upcoming fiscal year with the aim of developing the agricultural sector, reviving the troubled economy and expanding the physical infrastructure. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 24: The government has made public the policies and programs for the upcoming fiscal year with the aim of developing the agricultural sector, reviving the troubled economy and expanding the physical infrastructure. Addressing a joint session of the federal parliament on Tuesday, President Bidya Devi Bhandari made public the policies and programmes of the government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 145-point program highlights the fact that remittance inflow has improved over the past few months and the growth in revenue collection from tourism has been creating a positive environment, despite the external pressure on the economy due to the unfavorable conditions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In order to achieve economic growth and sustainability through the combination of fiscal and monetary policies, the government has outlined agriculture, transport, energy, tourism and information technology as the drivers of economic growth. The government has adopted a clear policy of building a resilient economy through special economic recovery programs and keeping inflation within the limits. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The policies and programmes of the government intend to implement projects from the provincial and local levels except mega projects of national pride and of strategic importance. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government plans to conserve, use and distribute natural resources equitably in coordination among the federal, province and local governments. As per the policies and programmes of the government, the basis of economic prosperity will be laid by linking local economies with the national economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government aims to make policy, legal and systemic reforms to increase domestic production and industrialization by building quality infrastructure, promoting investment, and facilitating business environment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The policies and programme have given clear guidelines to include development programmes and projects in the budget on the basis of national priorities. Budget will not be allocated for projects that have not been prepared beforehand and have not been included in the project bank. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government has given priority to reviewing the existing tax system, creating a clean, transparent and investment-friendly environment, and facilitating local revenue mobilization. It plans to facilitate credit flow to the manufacturing and employment-oriented sectors. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">For the first time, the government has addressed the issue of formulating a new national agricultural policy for developing the agricultural sector as a major driving force of economic growth and employment. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15071', 'image' => '20220524092214_RS-KTM-ParliamentPresidenta.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 21:21:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15328', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Liquidity Crisis to Extend for Some More Time', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: There are signs that the liquidity crisis in the banking system will likely extend for some more time.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 24: There are signs that the liquidity crisis in the banking system will likely extend for some more time. The liquidity crisis is unlikely to end anytime soon as the banks and financial institutions (BFIs) are reeling under shortage of investible capital with just two months left in the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the deposit collection of BFIs increased by Rs 237.85 billion as of mid-April this year while the credit flow during this period was worth Rs 558.99 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NRB officials have concluded that the liquidity crisis is a result of high credit flow against deposit collection and that most of the loans have been invested for importing consumable goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As the crisis started deepening, banks have started taking inter-bank loans and various monetary tools to address their immediate problems.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The short-term lending between banks increased by one and a half times between mid-March and mid-April. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the central bank, in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, the inter-bank loans taken by commercial banks stood at Rs 2299.22 billion while development banks and finance companies took inter-bank loans worth Rs 2069.68 billion during the review period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During the corresponding period of last fiscal year, the inter-bank loans taken by commercial banks was worth Rs 875.50 billion while development banks and finance companies had received inter-bank loans worth Rs 1059.42 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The liquidity crisis has also affected the inter-bank interest rate. Such interest rate has increased to nearly 7 percent. One year ago, the inter-bank interest rate was just 2.03 percent, which increased to 6.99 percent in mid-April.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15070', 'image' => '20220524024820_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 14:47:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15327', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Where is Russian Oil Heading Towards?', 'sub_title' => 'China and India become major importers of Russian oil despite sanctions', 'summary' => 'May 24: Nearly 90 days have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine in one of the biggest invasion since the World War II. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rama Subedi</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 24: Nearly 90 days have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine in one of the biggest invasion since the World War II. European countries have cut Russian oil imports, a key pillar of the Russian economy, as part of sanctions against Russia.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The United States has announced that it will suspend imports of Russian oil. The G7, a group of seven industrialized nations, also announced last weekend that it would gradually reduce Russian oil imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">But Russia still has a lot of buyers. The oil imported by other buyers is enough to keep the Russian government's revenue high and cover the necessary expenses. Before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia sold 785 million barrels of crude oil a day to Europe.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">But since the invasion of Ukraine, Europe has announced a sudden reduction in its dependence on Russian oil and gas. The Ukraine crisis raised the prices of crude oil across the world. Russia, meanwhile, is benefiting from rising crude oil prices as it seeks new buyers and seeks to increase exports to the Asian markets.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Russia's oil revenues are expected to rise sharply to USD 180 billion this year, according to independent research firm Rystad Energy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">This will be 45 per cent higher than the same period last year. Looking at the trend of tanker traffic, Russia's crude oil exports have declined by a maximum of 20 per cent. A study by Spire Global for the Washington Post found that an average of 17 tankers were released from Russian ports daily when the United States imposed economic sanctions on Russia on March 8.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India and China have been buying Russian oil in defiance of sanctions imposed on Russia over the war. At one time, Russian oil accounted for less than 3 per cent of India's total consumption. Now it is constantly increasing.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In March, India bought 274,000 barrels of oil a day from Russia. In April, it rose to 627,000 barrels, according to data from international data company S&P Global.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Russia became India's fourth-largest oil supplier in April. India's oil purchase appears to have increased further in May.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">China is already Russia's largest Asian buyer. China has recently increased its purchases of Russian oil. China's daily import of Russian oil is expected to reach 1.1 million barrels by the sea in May.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">That's 350,000 more barrels a day than in the first quarter of this year, and 300,000 more a day in 2020.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Russian oil has become even cheaper than water for India after Russia offered oil at a much lower price than the international selling mark after the US and Europe imposed sanctions.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Brent and WTI, the international benchmarks for crude oil in the Western markets, are above USD 110 as Europe prepares to ban Russian oil imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Russia is now selling domestic benchmark Ural Brent crude at USD 34 less than before the invasion of Ukraine.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At a time when the economy is slowing, buying cheap Russian oil has been a boon for China. For India, this is a golden opportunity to reduce the trade deficit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Russian oil is now much cheaper for both China and India than the oil imported from the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the United States.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15069', 'image' => '20220524022002_Indiaruaaia.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 14:18:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15325', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘Responsibility for Trading of Petroleum Products should not be Handed Over to Private Sector’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: The trade union of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has objected to the government's decision to hand over the responsibility of importing petrol, diesel and cooking gas to the private sector. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 24: The trade union of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has objected to the government's decision to hand over the responsibility of importing petrol, diesel and cooking gas to the private sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at a programme organized by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Sunday, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu had said that homework is being done to hand over the responsibility of supplying petroleum products in the country to the private sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Madhumas Pun, the chairperson of the Nepal Oil Corporation’s Trade Union, objected to the government's decision after this announcement, claiming that the private sector will not be able to provide services to consumers like the government is providing currently if the responsibility of importing petroleum products is handed over to them.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He objected to the government's decision through his social media page saying that it will not be acceptable to ruin the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) by not letting it adjust the fuel price making it bankrupt by denying money to buy oil while colluding with the private sector to hand over the responsibilities of supplying fuel in the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He mentioned that if the responsibility is shifted to the private sector, the consumers will not be able to buy petrol at Rs 180 as its actual cost is Rs 195 per liter. Meanwhile, diesel which costs Rs 163 will cost Rs 190 per liter and gas cylinder worth Rs 1800 will cost Rs 2680 per cylinder if the private sector handles the fuel supply, said Pun. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He also mentioned that the state should always work for the welfare of the people.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15068', 'image' => '20220524093816_petrol-pump.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 09:37:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15323', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government forms Task Force to Acquire Rs 33 Billion from World Bank', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: The Government of Nepal has formed a task force to acquire a loan of Rs 33 billion from the World Bank.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 24: The Government of Nepal has formed a task force to acquire a loan of Rs 33 billion from the World Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A recent meeting of the Council of Ministers decided to form the task force headed by a joint secretary at the Ministry of Finance in order to seek the loan to expand transportation and trade sectors. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki informed that the task force has been formed to seek US$ 275 million (approximately Rs 33 billion) from the World Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the cabinet meeting decided to approve a grant of Rs 86,13,00,000 from the Swiss government to re-integrate returnee migrant workers in the society.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15066', 'image' => '20220524091355_ROS_KTM-_6483441(2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 09:13:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15326', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CAN's Decision to Stop EPL will Discourage Private Sector Investment: Franchise Owners ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: Amir Akhter, the founder of Everest Premier League, has expressed concerns over the recent decision of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) to halt the Everest Premier League.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 24: Amir Akhter, the founder of Everest Premier League, has expressed concerns over the recent decision of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) to halt the Everest Premier League. He has urged the cricket governing body to let the the franchise league be held. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at a press conference held in Hotel Yak and Yeti on May 23, Akhter expressed his concern over the CAN's decision to restrict the EPL.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, Vishal Agrawal, owner of Biratnagar Warriors and director of Bishal Group, shared that the decision of CAN has discouraged the private sector and has jeopardized its investment in the sporting sector of Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> CAN has announced a new league-Nepal T20 League. The cricket regulatory body also announced that it will be the only franchise league in Nepal, which has affected the EPL and the franchise team associated with it. The organizer of EPL and six owners held a joint press conference on Monday and asked CAN to give continuity to the EPL. According to the ICC rules, there will be only one league in a country, and now Nepal will have only one T20 league. But the EPL, founder Aamir Akhtar and the owners of six franchise teams have demanded that they be allowed to continue the EPL.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> The cricket authority has cornered us and our effort, time and investment by stopping the EPL. The authorities didn't even make any prior discussion with the concerned stakeholders while coming up with such a major decision, he shared.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Likewise, Kishor Maharjan, former CEO of Civil Bank and owner of Lalitpur Patriots, shared that he is extremely saddened by the decision of CAN to stop EPL. As the owner of the team, we are in trouble. We had put all-our investment, time and effort into our team with a long term vision and now, as things were improving, CAN has deceived us and our faith in investing in sports has become doubtful, he added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Akhter and the six owners, EPL is the 5th biggest franchise T20 league in the world. EPL finished its fourth edition last year and is the number one T20 franchise among the non-Test playing nations. The fourth edition of the league was broadcasted in 18 countries including, India, Akhter shared. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">CAN has not done justice to our effort as EPL was on the verge to be an export product and would put Nepali cricket on the global map. Our efforts were not recognized by CAN and we want to voice our emotions through the media, Akhter added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kishor Bhattrai shared that the only demand is to allow the continuity of EPL. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"We are not against the new league but the decision made is a big shock to the entire sports industry. A lot has been invested in the event. Who will give our investment back, why would someone invest in the sector in the days to come if there is no certainty? We only want the event which has been ranked 5th in the world to continue. CAN should think again about the decision and not stop EPL. We are raising the voice here not only for cricket but for all the sports," he shared. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, giving the example of sports industries abroad Bhattrai opined that the issue is due to a lack of professional sports acts. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, Aditya Shanghai, owner of Bhairahawa Gladiators shared that the step taken by CAN is a big discouragement for the private sector to invest in the sports sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Similarly, EPL is the best example of private and public investment. We were in a situation of bringing in IPL investors. It would have taken the cricket scenario to the next level with personal expertise. EPL is the cleanest league in the world in terms of transparency. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sanjay Agrawal, owner of Kathmandu Kings XI shared that the time, money and effort invested by the corporate house have all gone in vain. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, Sahil Agrawal, owner of Pokhara Rhinos shared that CAN's decision to give license to a new league and discontinue the existing league is nonsensical. Our only demand is to allow the league to happen while continuing the new league, he added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15065', 'image' => '20220524095205_epl.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 09:50:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15322', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Buddha Air Resumes Flight Service to Varanasi', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: Buddha Air has resumed Kathmandu-Varanasi flight service that was disrupted since the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 24: Buddha Air has resumed Kathmandu-Varanasi flight service that was disrupted since the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the airline company, direct flights to Varanasi from Kathmandu resumed from Monday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Buddha Air informed that the company will conduct two flights a week to India’s Varanasi. The flights will be conducted on Mondays days and Fridays. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the flight schedule, an ATR aircraft of Buddha Air left for Varanasi from Kathmandu on May 23 at 7: 15 am carrying 44 passengers and 6 crew members. According to the company, the return flight left Varanasi at 8: 45 am the same day. The return flight carried a total of 39 passengers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Issuing a statement on Monday, Buddha Air said that the flight service to Varanasi will also facilitate foreign tourists. The company further said that Buddha Air’s subsidiary Buddha Holiday has been conducting tours to religious and tourism destinations across the country by announcing attractive packages. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15064', 'image' => '20220524085313_Buddha ATR.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 08:52:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15321', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'National Assembly Approves Eight Ordinances', 'sub_title' => 'President Bidya Bhandari to Present Policies and Programmes of Government in Parliament on Tuesday ', 'summary' => 'May 23: A session of the National Assembly, the upper house of the federal parliament, approved eight different ordinances on Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 23: A session of the National Assembly, the upper house of the federal parliament, approved eight different ordinances on Monday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ordinances approved include the Social Security (First Amendment) Ordinance, 2022; Acid and Other Harmful Chemical Substances (Regulation) Ordinance, 2022; the Nepal Police and Province Police (Operation, Supervision and Coordination) First Amendment Ordinance, 2022; the Medicine (Third Amendment) Ordinance, 2022; the Health Professionals and Health Institutions' Security (First Amendment) Ordinance, 2022; the Ordinance Amending Some Acts Related to Criminal Offence and Criminal Procedures, 2022; the Ordinance Amending Some Acts Against Sexual Violence, 2022 and the Railway Ordinance, 2022. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting unanimously approved all these eight ordinances.</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"">At the conclusion of the meeting, National Assembly chairperson Ganesh Prasad Timilsina directed the lawmakers to be present in the Federal Parliament's assembly hall at the designated time of 4 pm Tuesday (May 24), as President Bidya Devi Bhandari is scheduled to address the joint session of the Federal Parliament and present the policies and programmes of the government for the Fiscal Year 2022/23. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The National Assembly will next meet at 6 pm on Tuesday. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-23', 'modified' => '2022-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15063', 'image' => '20220523091118_RS_KTML8994_1(1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-23 21:10:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15320', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bird Strike Suspected on Jazeera Airways Aircraft ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 23: An aircraft of Jazeera Airways that met with disturbances while landing at the Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa on Monday is suspected to have been hit by a bird.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 23: An aircraft of Jazeera Airways that met with disturbances while landing at the Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa on Monday is suspected to have been hit by a bird.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A bird may have collided with the aircraft at 1:45 am on Monday,” the state-owned national news agency RSS reported quoting the chief of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) at the airport, Prabesh Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As a result, the aircraft has been grounded at the airport and is rescheduling its flight, said Adhikari. </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 plane landed successfully but we suspect bird strike as blood stains can be seen on the surface of the plane. However, the dead bird has not been found. A technical team will check whether it has been sucked into the plane engine," he further told RSS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Adhikari, further investigations are underway. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The flight of the aircraft was rescheduled following the incident. Jazeera Airways has managed accommodation for its passengers in a hotel. Thirty eight passengers had booked tickets for Bhairahawa-Kuwait flight, according to the airport authorities. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-23', 'modified' => '2022-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15062', 'image' => '20220523074434_Jazeera.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-23 19:43:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15319', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Provincial Governments to Implement Blacktopping of Roads at Local Units ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 23: The government is preparing to implement the programme of blacktopping roads in every municipality.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 23: The government is preparing to implement the programme of blacktopping roads in every municipality. The programme will be carried out by the state governments. The previous government led by KP Sharma Oli had announced the policy, plan and programme to blacktop roads at the municipal level.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The work of the road project could not move forward when there was a dispute over whether the state should build it or the federal government. "I heard about the blacktopping of the road at the municipal level in the policy and programme brought by the previous government. It was limited to paper work, not in the budget," Finance Minister Janardhan Sharma told parliament on Friday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Finance Minister Sharma, there is no problem in moving ahead with the work as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have pledged to provide financial assistance for the programme.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government is preparing to send most of the small projects to the state and local levels in the upcoming Fiscal Year (FY 2022/23).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Finance Minister Sharma, preparation are being made for implementing projects with low investment at the state and local levels in 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:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although there has been a long-running debate about the implementation of such projects by the lower-level government, it has not come into practice.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even in the 45th meeting of the National Development Problem Solving Committee chaired by the Prime Minister, it was decided to move small and micro projects forward from the state and local levels. It was also said that the Ministry of Finance should arrange the budget by prioritizing such projects. However, many small and micro projects have not been able to move forward yet.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the implementation of such projects by the federal government would not be effective on the one hand and would also affect the budget expenditure, on the other hand, Minister Sharma urged the parliamentarians not to demand small projects during the discussion on the principles and priorities of the budget.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In particular, the UML lawmakers had raised questions in the House of Representatives stating that the Ministry of Finance had removed 1,400 road projects put forward by the previous government.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sharma that the projects should be selected only after assessing the level of investment and the return on investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Sharma, it is time to review the failure of national pride projects. He also remarked that projects that do not work should not be called national pride project. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-23', 'modified' => '2022-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15061', 'image' => '20220523072556_DhrubasagarSharma_Galeswor_RSS_07_-himalmunikalopatresadak.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-23 19:25:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15318', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Backtracks from Pumped Storage Hydropower Projects ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 23: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has immediately backtracked from its decision to build a pumped storage hydropower (PSH) projects.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 23: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has immediately backtracked from its decision to build a pumped storage hydropower (PSH) projects. NEA, which had already started the process of constructing two PSH projects, has now decided to not construct those projects. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">For the first time, NEA had started the process of constructing Begnas-Rupa Pumped Storage Hydropower Project in Begnas and Rupa lakes in Kaski district. For that, it had obtained permission for survey from the Department of Electricity Development on November 13, 2017. It has been four and a half years since the survey permission was granted for the 150 MW project. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Executive director of NEA Kulman Ghising had put forward the project as his dream project in his first tenure. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After Ghising's first tenure ended, Hitendra Dev Shakya was appointed the executive director of NEA. He did not give much priority to the Begnas-Rupa PSH project. However, he took forward the process of constructing the 100 MW Kulekhani Sisneri Pumped Storage Hydropower Project using the Kulekhani Dam in Makwanpur District. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">For that, the Department of Electricity Development issued permission for the survey in March/April 2021. It has been one year since the survey permission of the project was obtained. However, the NEA is in the mindset of not moving ahead with both the pumped storage projects at present. Ghising says that the pumped storage projects will not be built immediately. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We are focusing on the other types of hydropower projects. This is the need of the hour. So, there is no immediate plan to invest in pumped storage hydropower plants,” he said, “Therefore, there has not been any progress on these projects. However, we will pay attention to this after a certain period of time as we need such projects in the near future.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As the investment in such projects is high, NEA has backtracked from its decision for the time being. A separate dam should be constructed to collect the used water. Also, a lot of electricity is also needed, which makes the operating cost of the project high. Ghising said that due to these reasons the NEA has backtracked its plan to build pumped storage project. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pumped storage project is a new technology to Nepal. In this technology, the water coming out of the power house is collected by constructing another dam nearby. The water is then pumped to the first dam and reused. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA had tried to develop Begnas-Rupa pumped storage hydropower project with an investment of around Rs 14 billion as the first pumped storage project in Nepal. The project has been halted as it was found during the study that the construction of the project will be costly. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A study by the Japanese aid agency JICA showed that the project was not financially viable. JICA's study had shown that electricity used to draw water is expensive. However, NEA says it had conducted the study for the future prospect.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, Kulekhani-Sisneri pumped storage project was planned to be built with an investment of Rs 8 billion. The project was said to be built at Sisneri, two kilometers below Kulekhani Dam. The target was to generate 100 MW of electricity by taking water from Kulekhani Dam during the evening peak hour. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-23', 'modified' => '2022-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15060', 'image' => '20220523041510_PSH.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-23 16:14:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15317', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Working on Modality to keep Problematic Industries Afloat', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 23: Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu informed that the government is doing its homework to keep the ailing industries in operation. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 23: Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu informed that the government is doing its homework to keep the ailing industries in operation. The government plans to work on public-private partnership and other modalities to keep such industries afloat. He urged the private sector to make preparations in this regard, saying that they should move towards self-reliance by increasing production and employment by operating such industries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He made such remarks at a program organized by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) in Kathmandu on Sunday. "We will bring in the budget and programmes to implement this policy," Badu said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the government has announced industrial zones and has allocated land for opening industries, but the government does not have the budget to invest in infrastructure development. He said that the private sector should come up with plans for establishing chemical fertilizer factories, that are urgently required in the country. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Badu said that the fuel prices have spiked drastically, and the monopoly of Nepal Oil Corporation should be broken to make the price competitive.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"The private sector should be allowed to supply petroleum products. This will create competition and will make the price cheaper for consumers. However, the price of cooking gas cannot be subsidized any further, he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Badu said that it was necessary to move towards self-reliance by reducing imports and increasing production.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, he added that the recent ban on wheat exports by India will impact the production of flour in a few months.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the same programme, Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, Maha Prasad Adhikari, said that this year has seen high growth in import and inflation has also remained high.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"However high the prices may be, we as consumers are ready to pay. If we become cautious and consume little less, the economy will return back on track,” said Adhikari.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Right now, the private sector needs to focus on the economy as a whole rather than profit," the NRB governor said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Dr Rajendra Prasad Mishra, joint secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, said that farmers and industries should be involved in the production of raw materials within the country. He emphasized the need to strengthen the supply chain at the local level.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, FNCCI President Shekhar Golchha said that an imminent food crisis in Nepal cannot not be ignored as other countries have imposed a ban of export of food products. He urged the minister to form a task force representing officials from the Ministry of Energy, Industry, Agriculture Development and the private sector, as well as Nepal Rastra Bank, to solve the current problem. He said that reducing fuel consumption and improving the agricultural ecosystem was the need of the hour.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-23', 'modified' => '2022-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15059', 'image' => '20220523032540_Industrial-Policy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-23 15:24:12', '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' => '15332', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Provide Agricultural Grants on the Basis of Production', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: The government has adopted a policy of attaining economic growth by developing the agriculture sector. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 25: The government has adopted a policy of attaining economic growth by developing the agriculture sector. In this regard, it has decided to provide subsidies to the farmers only on the basis of production. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">President Bidya Devi Bhandari made such announcement while presenting the government's policies and programmes for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2022/23) at a joint sitting of the federal parliament on Tuesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It has been found that the grants provided by the government were reaching sectors other than agriculture, therefore, the government adopted the policy of providing subsidy only to the genuine farmers based on production. The government is preparing to formulate the policy of protecting the farmers and make arrangements to purchase the produce of the farmers in order to promote agriculture as a major pillar of economic development.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Agriculture experts, on the other hand, argue that agricultural subsidies cannot be effective if it is based on production alone. Uddhav Adhikari, coordinator of the Agriculture for Food Campaign, said that it would not be right to give subsidies on the basis of production without classifying the farmers into different groups. He stated, “This kind of policy is good only for big farmers but small farmers can get into trouble. Therefore, in case of misuse of agricultural subsidies, it is better to investigate and take action.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although Adhikari welcomed the term “protection of farmers” included by the government in its policies and programmes, he expressed concerns that there is no clear policy to fulfill the commitment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government has also adopted a policy to ensure the availability of chemical fertilizers and to provide subsidies on organic fertilizer on par with the chemical fertilizers from the upcoming fiscal year. Similarly, the policies and programmes of the government states that access to micro insurance will be extended to the remote and deprived sectors by expanding agriculture and livestock insurance programmes for the protection of farmers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government also pledged to provide relief as soon as possible to the farmers whose crops were damage by the unseasonal rains that occurred in last October.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government will encourage farmers to engage in collective and cooperative farming on barren land. The government will run special programmes to produce the food products that are imported in large quantities. Under this heading, a special programme will be introduced to increase the production of imported food like paddy, maize, potato, onion, apple, and walnut that are imported in large quantities. In addition, there the government also plans to promote organic farming. Special emphasis was also laid on increasing the production of food items and reducing the processing cost. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government has set a target of providing irrigation facilities to an additional 22,200 hectares of land next year. Similarly, construction and maintenance of main and branch canals of large and multi-purpose irrigation projects including construction of Bheri Babai diversion headworks and tunnel of powerhouse and Sunkoshi Marin diversion project will be expedited.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Commenting on the policies and programmes announced by the government in the agriculture sector, the outgoing chairman of the National Farmers Commission Chitra Bahadur Shrestha said that it is a good thing that agriculture is considered as one of the top priorities of the government. However, what is more important is the plans that will be included in the budget and passed for implementation rather than the things included in the policies and programmes.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-25', 'modified' => '2022-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15074', 'image' => '20220525013650_agri maize.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-25 13:36:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15331', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal’s Oil Producers Struggling to Export Oil to India', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: Nepali oil producers who were exporting cooking oil to India are now unable to export due to rising prices of unrefined oil in the international market. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 25: Nepali oil producers who were exporting cooking oil to India are now unable to export due to rising prices of unrefined oil in the international market. Due to the halt in export of refined oil, Nepal's export trade is expected to decline as it is a major contributor to government revenue. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nikhil Chachan, the operator of Narayani Oil in Birgunj, says that the price is increasing in the international market and the oil stored in the industrial warehouses has been exported. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It takes up to three months to import raw materials from the international market to Nepal and the domestic companies were exporting by using the price difference in the market. According to the entrepreneurs, the stock of raw materials of the domestic industries is finishing as Russia and Ukraine are at war, and Indonesia, the main producer of palm, has banned the exports for nearly a month. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Indonesia has decided to open exports from Monday. Operator of OCB Food Suresh Rungta says that even if the import of raw material is easier, it cannot be exported to India. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"India imports all types of edible oil at 5.5 percent customs duty and 7 percent goods and services tax. In our country, the government collects 10 percent customs duty and 13 percent value added tax," said Rungta, "The transportation cost from Kolkata to Birgunj is Rs 8. In such a situation, it is no longer possible to export refined oil to India by importing raw materials from third countries." </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chachan said that export by taking advantage of price difference is not possible. He told New Business Age that only nominal exports are being made from the old stock now.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-25', 'modified' => '2022-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15073', 'image' => '20220525125146_oil1501009175_7.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-25 12:51:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15330', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mixed Response to Government's Policies and Programmes ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: Leaders of various political parties have given mixed reaction to the policies and programmes for the fiscal year 2022/23 presented in parliament by the government on Tuesday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 25: Leaders of various political parties have given mixed reaction to the policies and programmes for the fiscal year 2022/23 presented in parliament by the government on Tuesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki described the policies and programs as a blueprint to make Nepal prosperous. </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 policies and programmes reflect our dream of bringing prosperity to the country. It is not just an assurance, it will be implemented," the state-owned national news agency RSS quoted the minister as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Chairperson of Janata Samajwadi Party of Nepal and former Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai said that the policies and programmes were positive as a whole but were insufficient for the overall economic development of the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chairperson of CPN (Unified Socialist) and former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal also remarked that the policies and programmes were positive as the country's agriculture, energy development, tourism promotion and other sectors were given high priority. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">CPN (UML) Vice Chairman and former Finance Minister Surendra Pandey said that many issues included in the policies and programmes have been repeated since a long time. He also said that it would be difficult to implement everything mentioned in the policies and programmes due to limited size of our budget. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chairman Rajendra Lingden remarked that there would be problems in implementation as in the past due to the traditional nature of budget. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-25', 'modified' => '2022-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15072', 'image' => '20220525113445_RS-KTM-Parliamenti (2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-25 11:34:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15329', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government’s Policies and Programmes Emphasize on Revival of Economy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: The government has made public the policies and programs for the upcoming fiscal year with the aim of developing the agricultural sector, reviving the troubled economy and expanding the physical infrastructure. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 24: The government has made public the policies and programs for the upcoming fiscal year with the aim of developing the agricultural sector, reviving the troubled economy and expanding the physical infrastructure. Addressing a joint session of the federal parliament on Tuesday, President Bidya Devi Bhandari made public the policies and programmes of the government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 145-point program highlights the fact that remittance inflow has improved over the past few months and the growth in revenue collection from tourism has been creating a positive environment, despite the external pressure on the economy due to the unfavorable conditions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In order to achieve economic growth and sustainability through the combination of fiscal and monetary policies, the government has outlined agriculture, transport, energy, tourism and information technology as the drivers of economic growth. The government has adopted a clear policy of building a resilient economy through special economic recovery programs and keeping inflation within the limits. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The policies and programmes of the government intend to implement projects from the provincial and local levels except mega projects of national pride and of strategic importance. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government plans to conserve, use and distribute natural resources equitably in coordination among the federal, province and local governments. As per the policies and programmes of the government, the basis of economic prosperity will be laid by linking local economies with the national economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government aims to make policy, legal and systemic reforms to increase domestic production and industrialization by building quality infrastructure, promoting investment, and facilitating business environment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The policies and programme have given clear guidelines to include development programmes and projects in the budget on the basis of national priorities. Budget will not be allocated for projects that have not been prepared beforehand and have not been included in the project bank. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government has given priority to reviewing the existing tax system, creating a clean, transparent and investment-friendly environment, and facilitating local revenue mobilization. It plans to facilitate credit flow to the manufacturing and employment-oriented sectors. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">For the first time, the government has addressed the issue of formulating a new national agricultural policy for developing the agricultural sector as a major driving force of economic growth and employment. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15071', 'image' => '20220524092214_RS-KTM-ParliamentPresidenta.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 21:21:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15328', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Liquidity Crisis to Extend for Some More Time', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: There are signs that the liquidity crisis in the banking system will likely extend for some more time.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 24: There are signs that the liquidity crisis in the banking system will likely extend for some more time. The liquidity crisis is unlikely to end anytime soon as the banks and financial institutions (BFIs) are reeling under shortage of investible capital with just two months left in the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the deposit collection of BFIs increased by Rs 237.85 billion as of mid-April this year while the credit flow during this period was worth Rs 558.99 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NRB officials have concluded that the liquidity crisis is a result of high credit flow against deposit collection and that most of the loans have been invested for importing consumable goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As the crisis started deepening, banks have started taking inter-bank loans and various monetary tools to address their immediate problems.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The short-term lending between banks increased by one and a half times between mid-March and mid-April. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the central bank, in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, the inter-bank loans taken by commercial banks stood at Rs 2299.22 billion while development banks and finance companies took inter-bank loans worth Rs 2069.68 billion during the review period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During the corresponding period of last fiscal year, the inter-bank loans taken by commercial banks was worth Rs 875.50 billion while development banks and finance companies had received inter-bank loans worth Rs 1059.42 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The liquidity crisis has also affected the inter-bank interest rate. Such interest rate has increased to nearly 7 percent. One year ago, the inter-bank interest rate was just 2.03 percent, which increased to 6.99 percent in mid-April.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15070', 'image' => '20220524024820_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 14:47:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15327', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Where is Russian Oil Heading Towards?', 'sub_title' => 'China and India become major importers of Russian oil despite sanctions', 'summary' => 'May 24: Nearly 90 days have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine in one of the biggest invasion since the World War II. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rama Subedi</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 24: Nearly 90 days have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine in one of the biggest invasion since the World War II. European countries have cut Russian oil imports, a key pillar of the Russian economy, as part of sanctions against Russia.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The United States has announced that it will suspend imports of Russian oil. The G7, a group of seven industrialized nations, also announced last weekend that it would gradually reduce Russian oil imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">But Russia still has a lot of buyers. The oil imported by other buyers is enough to keep the Russian government's revenue high and cover the necessary expenses. Before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia sold 785 million barrels of crude oil a day to Europe.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">But since the invasion of Ukraine, Europe has announced a sudden reduction in its dependence on Russian oil and gas. The Ukraine crisis raised the prices of crude oil across the world. Russia, meanwhile, is benefiting from rising crude oil prices as it seeks new buyers and seeks to increase exports to the Asian markets.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Russia's oil revenues are expected to rise sharply to USD 180 billion this year, according to independent research firm Rystad Energy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">This will be 45 per cent higher than the same period last year. Looking at the trend of tanker traffic, Russia's crude oil exports have declined by a maximum of 20 per cent. A study by Spire Global for the Washington Post found that an average of 17 tankers were released from Russian ports daily when the United States imposed economic sanctions on Russia on March 8.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India and China have been buying Russian oil in defiance of sanctions imposed on Russia over the war. At one time, Russian oil accounted for less than 3 per cent of India's total consumption. Now it is constantly increasing.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In March, India bought 274,000 barrels of oil a day from Russia. In April, it rose to 627,000 barrels, according to data from international data company S&P Global.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Russia became India's fourth-largest oil supplier in April. India's oil purchase appears to have increased further in May.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">China is already Russia's largest Asian buyer. China has recently increased its purchases of Russian oil. China's daily import of Russian oil is expected to reach 1.1 million barrels by the sea in May.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">That's 350,000 more barrels a day than in the first quarter of this year, and 300,000 more a day in 2020.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Russian oil has become even cheaper than water for India after Russia offered oil at a much lower price than the international selling mark after the US and Europe imposed sanctions.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Brent and WTI, the international benchmarks for crude oil in the Western markets, are above USD 110 as Europe prepares to ban Russian oil imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Russia is now selling domestic benchmark Ural Brent crude at USD 34 less than before the invasion of Ukraine.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At a time when the economy is slowing, buying cheap Russian oil has been a boon for China. For India, this is a golden opportunity to reduce the trade deficit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Russian oil is now much cheaper for both China and India than the oil imported from the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the United States.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15069', 'image' => '20220524022002_Indiaruaaia.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 14:18:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15325', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘Responsibility for Trading of Petroleum Products should not be Handed Over to Private Sector’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: The trade union of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has objected to the government's decision to hand over the responsibility of importing petrol, diesel and cooking gas to the private sector. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 24: The trade union of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has objected to the government's decision to hand over the responsibility of importing petrol, diesel and cooking gas to the private sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at a programme organized by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Sunday, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu had said that homework is being done to hand over the responsibility of supplying petroleum products in the country to the private sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Madhumas Pun, the chairperson of the Nepal Oil Corporation’s Trade Union, objected to the government's decision after this announcement, claiming that the private sector will not be able to provide services to consumers like the government is providing currently if the responsibility of importing petroleum products is handed over to them.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He objected to the government's decision through his social media page saying that it will not be acceptable to ruin the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) by not letting it adjust the fuel price making it bankrupt by denying money to buy oil while colluding with the private sector to hand over the responsibilities of supplying fuel in the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He mentioned that if the responsibility is shifted to the private sector, the consumers will not be able to buy petrol at Rs 180 as its actual cost is Rs 195 per liter. Meanwhile, diesel which costs Rs 163 will cost Rs 190 per liter and gas cylinder worth Rs 1800 will cost Rs 2680 per cylinder if the private sector handles the fuel supply, said Pun. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He also mentioned that the state should always work for the welfare of the people.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15068', 'image' => '20220524093816_petrol-pump.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 09:37:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15323', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government forms Task Force to Acquire Rs 33 Billion from World Bank', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: The Government of Nepal has formed a task force to acquire a loan of Rs 33 billion from the World Bank.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 24: The Government of Nepal has formed a task force to acquire a loan of Rs 33 billion from the World Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A recent meeting of the Council of Ministers decided to form the task force headed by a joint secretary at the Ministry of Finance in order to seek the loan to expand transportation and trade sectors. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki informed that the task force has been formed to seek US$ 275 million (approximately Rs 33 billion) from the World Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the cabinet meeting decided to approve a grant of Rs 86,13,00,000 from the Swiss government to re-integrate returnee migrant workers in the society.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15066', 'image' => '20220524091355_ROS_KTM-_6483441(2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 09:13:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15326', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CAN's Decision to Stop EPL will Discourage Private Sector Investment: Franchise Owners ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: Amir Akhter, the founder of Everest Premier League, has expressed concerns over the recent decision of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) to halt the Everest Premier League.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 24: Amir Akhter, the founder of Everest Premier League, has expressed concerns over the recent decision of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) to halt the Everest Premier League. He has urged the cricket governing body to let the the franchise league be held. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at a press conference held in Hotel Yak and Yeti on May 23, Akhter expressed his concern over the CAN's decision to restrict the EPL.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, Vishal Agrawal, owner of Biratnagar Warriors and director of Bishal Group, shared that the decision of CAN has discouraged the private sector and has jeopardized its investment in the sporting sector of Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> CAN has announced a new league-Nepal T20 League. The cricket regulatory body also announced that it will be the only franchise league in Nepal, which has affected the EPL and the franchise team associated with it. The organizer of EPL and six owners held a joint press conference on Monday and asked CAN to give continuity to the EPL. According to the ICC rules, there will be only one league in a country, and now Nepal will have only one T20 league. But the EPL, founder Aamir Akhtar and the owners of six franchise teams have demanded that they be allowed to continue the EPL.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> The cricket authority has cornered us and our effort, time and investment by stopping the EPL. The authorities didn't even make any prior discussion with the concerned stakeholders while coming up with such a major decision, he shared.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Likewise, Kishor Maharjan, former CEO of Civil Bank and owner of Lalitpur Patriots, shared that he is extremely saddened by the decision of CAN to stop EPL. As the owner of the team, we are in trouble. We had put all-our investment, time and effort into our team with a long term vision and now, as things were improving, CAN has deceived us and our faith in investing in sports has become doubtful, he added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Akhter and the six owners, EPL is the 5th biggest franchise T20 league in the world. EPL finished its fourth edition last year and is the number one T20 franchise among the non-Test playing nations. The fourth edition of the league was broadcasted in 18 countries including, India, Akhter shared. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">CAN has not done justice to our effort as EPL was on the verge to be an export product and would put Nepali cricket on the global map. Our efforts were not recognized by CAN and we want to voice our emotions through the media, Akhter added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kishor Bhattrai shared that the only demand is to allow the continuity of EPL. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"We are not against the new league but the decision made is a big shock to the entire sports industry. A lot has been invested in the event. Who will give our investment back, why would someone invest in the sector in the days to come if there is no certainty? We only want the event which has been ranked 5th in the world to continue. CAN should think again about the decision and not stop EPL. We are raising the voice here not only for cricket but for all the sports," he shared. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, giving the example of sports industries abroad Bhattrai opined that the issue is due to a lack of professional sports acts. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, Aditya Shanghai, owner of Bhairahawa Gladiators shared that the step taken by CAN is a big discouragement for the private sector to invest in the sports sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Similarly, EPL is the best example of private and public investment. We were in a situation of bringing in IPL investors. It would have taken the cricket scenario to the next level with personal expertise. EPL is the cleanest league in the world in terms of transparency. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sanjay Agrawal, owner of Kathmandu Kings XI shared that the time, money and effort invested by the corporate house have all gone in vain. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, Sahil Agrawal, owner of Pokhara Rhinos shared that CAN's decision to give license to a new league and discontinue the existing league is nonsensical. Our only demand is to allow the league to happen while continuing the new league, he added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15065', 'image' => '20220524095205_epl.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 09:50:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15322', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Buddha Air Resumes Flight Service to Varanasi', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: Buddha Air has resumed Kathmandu-Varanasi flight service that was disrupted since the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 24: Buddha Air has resumed Kathmandu-Varanasi flight service that was disrupted since the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the airline company, direct flights to Varanasi from Kathmandu resumed from Monday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Buddha Air informed that the company will conduct two flights a week to India’s Varanasi. The flights will be conducted on Mondays days and Fridays. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the flight schedule, an ATR aircraft of Buddha Air left for Varanasi from Kathmandu on May 23 at 7: 15 am carrying 44 passengers and 6 crew members. According to the company, the return flight left Varanasi at 8: 45 am the same day. The return flight carried a total of 39 passengers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Issuing a statement on Monday, Buddha Air said that the flight service to Varanasi will also facilitate foreign tourists. The company further said that Buddha Air’s subsidiary Buddha Holiday has been conducting tours to religious and tourism destinations across the country by announcing attractive packages. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15064', 'image' => '20220524085313_Buddha ATR.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 08:52:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15321', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'National Assembly Approves Eight Ordinances', 'sub_title' => 'President Bidya Bhandari to Present Policies and Programmes of Government in Parliament on Tuesday ', 'summary' => 'May 23: A session of the National Assembly, the upper house of the federal parliament, approved eight different ordinances on Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 23: A session of the National Assembly, the upper house of the federal parliament, approved eight different ordinances on Monday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ordinances approved include the Social Security (First Amendment) Ordinance, 2022; Acid and Other Harmful Chemical Substances (Regulation) Ordinance, 2022; the Nepal Police and Province Police (Operation, Supervision and Coordination) First Amendment Ordinance, 2022; the Medicine (Third Amendment) Ordinance, 2022; the Health Professionals and Health Institutions' Security (First Amendment) Ordinance, 2022; the Ordinance Amending Some Acts Related to Criminal Offence and Criminal Procedures, 2022; the Ordinance Amending Some Acts Against Sexual Violence, 2022 and the Railway Ordinance, 2022. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting unanimously approved all these eight ordinances.</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"">At the conclusion of the meeting, National Assembly chairperson Ganesh Prasad Timilsina directed the lawmakers to be present in the Federal Parliament's assembly hall at the designated time of 4 pm Tuesday (May 24), as President Bidya Devi Bhandari is scheduled to address the joint session of the Federal Parliament and present the policies and programmes of the government for the Fiscal Year 2022/23. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The National Assembly will next meet at 6 pm on Tuesday. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-23', 'modified' => '2022-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15063', 'image' => '20220523091118_RS_KTML8994_1(1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-23 21:10:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15320', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bird Strike Suspected on Jazeera Airways Aircraft ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 23: An aircraft of Jazeera Airways that met with disturbances while landing at the Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa on Monday is suspected to have been hit by a bird.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 23: An aircraft of Jazeera Airways that met with disturbances while landing at the Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa on Monday is suspected to have been hit by a bird.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A bird may have collided with the aircraft at 1:45 am on Monday,” the state-owned national news agency RSS reported quoting the chief of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) at the airport, Prabesh Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As a result, the aircraft has been grounded at the airport and is rescheduling its flight, said Adhikari. </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 plane landed successfully but we suspect bird strike as blood stains can be seen on the surface of the plane. However, the dead bird has not been found. A technical team will check whether it has been sucked into the plane engine," he further told RSS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Adhikari, further investigations are underway. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The flight of the aircraft was rescheduled following the incident. Jazeera Airways has managed accommodation for its passengers in a hotel. Thirty eight passengers had booked tickets for Bhairahawa-Kuwait flight, according to the airport authorities. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-23', 'modified' => '2022-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15062', 'image' => '20220523074434_Jazeera.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-23 19:43:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15319', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Provincial Governments to Implement Blacktopping of Roads at Local Units ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 23: The government is preparing to implement the programme of blacktopping roads in every municipality.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 23: The government is preparing to implement the programme of blacktopping roads in every municipality. The programme will be carried out by the state governments. The previous government led by KP Sharma Oli had announced the policy, plan and programme to blacktop roads at the municipal level.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The work of the road project could not move forward when there was a dispute over whether the state should build it or the federal government. "I heard about the blacktopping of the road at the municipal level in the policy and programme brought by the previous government. It was limited to paper work, not in the budget," Finance Minister Janardhan Sharma told parliament on Friday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Finance Minister Sharma, there is no problem in moving ahead with the work as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have pledged to provide financial assistance for the programme.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government is preparing to send most of the small projects to the state and local levels in the upcoming Fiscal Year (FY 2022/23).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Finance Minister Sharma, preparation are being made for implementing projects with low investment at the state and local levels in 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:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although there has been a long-running debate about the implementation of such projects by the lower-level government, it has not come into practice.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even in the 45th meeting of the National Development Problem Solving Committee chaired by the Prime Minister, it was decided to move small and micro projects forward from the state and local levels. It was also said that the Ministry of Finance should arrange the budget by prioritizing such projects. However, many small and micro projects have not been able to move forward yet.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the implementation of such projects by the federal government would not be effective on the one hand and would also affect the budget expenditure, on the other hand, Minister Sharma urged the parliamentarians not to demand small projects during the discussion on the principles and priorities of the budget.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In particular, the UML lawmakers had raised questions in the House of Representatives stating that the Ministry of Finance had removed 1,400 road projects put forward by the previous government.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sharma that the projects should be selected only after assessing the level of investment and the return on investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Sharma, it is time to review the failure of national pride projects. He also remarked that projects that do not work should not be called national pride project. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-23', 'modified' => '2022-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15061', 'image' => '20220523072556_DhrubasagarSharma_Galeswor_RSS_07_-himalmunikalopatresadak.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-23 19:25:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15318', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Backtracks from Pumped Storage Hydropower Projects ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 23: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has immediately backtracked from its decision to build a pumped storage hydropower (PSH) projects.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 23: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has immediately backtracked from its decision to build a pumped storage hydropower (PSH) projects. NEA, which had already started the process of constructing two PSH projects, has now decided to not construct those projects. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">For the first time, NEA had started the process of constructing Begnas-Rupa Pumped Storage Hydropower Project in Begnas and Rupa lakes in Kaski district. For that, it had obtained permission for survey from the Department of Electricity Development on November 13, 2017. It has been four and a half years since the survey permission was granted for the 150 MW project. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Executive director of NEA Kulman Ghising had put forward the project as his dream project in his first tenure. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After Ghising's first tenure ended, Hitendra Dev Shakya was appointed the executive director of NEA. He did not give much priority to the Begnas-Rupa PSH project. However, he took forward the process of constructing the 100 MW Kulekhani Sisneri Pumped Storage Hydropower Project using the Kulekhani Dam in Makwanpur District. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">For that, the Department of Electricity Development issued permission for the survey in March/April 2021. It has been one year since the survey permission of the project was obtained. However, the NEA is in the mindset of not moving ahead with both the pumped storage projects at present. Ghising says that the pumped storage projects will not be built immediately. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We are focusing on the other types of hydropower projects. This is the need of the hour. So, there is no immediate plan to invest in pumped storage hydropower plants,” he said, “Therefore, there has not been any progress on these projects. However, we will pay attention to this after a certain period of time as we need such projects in the near future.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As the investment in such projects is high, NEA has backtracked from its decision for the time being. A separate dam should be constructed to collect the used water. Also, a lot of electricity is also needed, which makes the operating cost of the project high. Ghising said that due to these reasons the NEA has backtracked its plan to build pumped storage project. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pumped storage project is a new technology to Nepal. In this technology, the water coming out of the power house is collected by constructing another dam nearby. The water is then pumped to the first dam and reused. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA had tried to develop Begnas-Rupa pumped storage hydropower project with an investment of around Rs 14 billion as the first pumped storage project in Nepal. The project has been halted as it was found during the study that the construction of the project will be costly. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A study by the Japanese aid agency JICA showed that the project was not financially viable. JICA's study had shown that electricity used to draw water is expensive. However, NEA says it had conducted the study for the future prospect.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, Kulekhani-Sisneri pumped storage project was planned to be built with an investment of Rs 8 billion. The project was said to be built at Sisneri, two kilometers below Kulekhani Dam. The target was to generate 100 MW of electricity by taking water from Kulekhani Dam during the evening peak hour. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-23', 'modified' => '2022-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15060', 'image' => '20220523041510_PSH.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-23 16:14:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15317', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Working on Modality to keep Problematic Industries Afloat', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 23: Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu informed that the government is doing its homework to keep the ailing industries in operation. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 23: Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu informed that the government is doing its homework to keep the ailing industries in operation. The government plans to work on public-private partnership and other modalities to keep such industries afloat. He urged the private sector to make preparations in this regard, saying that they should move towards self-reliance by increasing production and employment by operating such industries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He made such remarks at a program organized by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) in Kathmandu on Sunday. "We will bring in the budget and programmes to implement this policy," Badu said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the government has announced industrial zones and has allocated land for opening industries, but the government does not have the budget to invest in infrastructure development. He said that the private sector should come up with plans for establishing chemical fertilizer factories, that are urgently required in the country. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Badu said that the fuel prices have spiked drastically, and the monopoly of Nepal Oil Corporation should be broken to make the price competitive.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"The private sector should be allowed to supply petroleum products. This will create competition and will make the price cheaper for consumers. However, the price of cooking gas cannot be subsidized any further, he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Badu said that it was necessary to move towards self-reliance by reducing imports and increasing production.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, he added that the recent ban on wheat exports by India will impact the production of flour in a few months.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the same programme, Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, Maha Prasad Adhikari, said that this year has seen high growth in import and inflation has also remained high.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"However high the prices may be, we as consumers are ready to pay. If we become cautious and consume little less, the economy will return back on track,” said Adhikari.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Right now, the private sector needs to focus on the economy as a whole rather than profit," the NRB governor said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Dr Rajendra Prasad Mishra, joint secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, said that farmers and industries should be involved in the production of raw materials within the country. He emphasized the need to strengthen the supply chain at the local level.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, FNCCI President Shekhar Golchha said that an imminent food crisis in Nepal cannot not be ignored as other countries have imposed a ban of export of food products. He urged the minister to form a task force representing officials from the Ministry of Energy, Industry, Agriculture Development and the private sector, as well as Nepal Rastra Bank, to solve the current problem. He said that reducing fuel consumption and improving the agricultural ecosystem was the need of the hour.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-23', 'modified' => '2022-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15059', 'image' => '20220523032540_Industrial-Policy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-23 15:24:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 25: The government has adopted a policy of attaining economic growth by developing the agriculture sector. In this regard, it has decided to provide subsidies to the farmers only on the basis of production. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">President Bidya Devi Bhandari made such announcement while presenting the government's policies and programmes for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2022/23) at a joint sitting of the federal parliament on Tuesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It has been found that the grants provided by the government were reaching sectors other than agriculture, therefore, the government adopted the policy of providing subsidy only to the genuine farmers based on production. The government is preparing to formulate the policy of protecting the farmers and make arrangements to purchase the produce of the farmers in order to promote agriculture as a major pillar of economic development.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Agriculture experts, on the other hand, argue that agricultural subsidies cannot be effective if it is based on production alone. Uddhav Adhikari, coordinator of the Agriculture for Food Campaign, said that it would not be right to give subsidies on the basis of production without classifying the farmers into different groups. He stated, “This kind of policy is good only for big farmers but small farmers can get into trouble. Therefore, in case of misuse of agricultural subsidies, it is better to investigate and take action.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although Adhikari welcomed the term “protection of farmers” included by the government in its policies and programmes, he expressed concerns that there is no clear policy to fulfill the commitment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government has also adopted a policy to ensure the availability of chemical fertilizers and to provide subsidies on organic fertilizer on par with the chemical fertilizers from the upcoming fiscal year. Similarly, the policies and programmes of the government states that access to micro insurance will be extended to the remote and deprived sectors by expanding agriculture and livestock insurance programmes for the protection of farmers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government also pledged to provide relief as soon as possible to the farmers whose crops were damage by the unseasonal rains that occurred in last October.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government will encourage farmers to engage in collective and cooperative farming on barren land. The government will run special programmes to produce the food products that are imported in large quantities. Under this heading, a special programme will be introduced to increase the production of imported food like paddy, maize, potato, onion, apple, and walnut that are imported in large quantities. In addition, there the government also plans to promote organic farming. Special emphasis was also laid on increasing the production of food items and reducing the processing cost. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government has set a target of providing irrigation facilities to an additional 22,200 hectares of land next year. Similarly, construction and maintenance of main and branch canals of large and multi-purpose irrigation projects including construction of Bheri Babai diversion headworks and tunnel of powerhouse and Sunkoshi Marin diversion project will be expedited.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Commenting on the policies and programmes announced by the government in the agriculture sector, the outgoing chairman of the National Farmers Commission Chitra Bahadur Shrestha said that it is a good thing that agriculture is considered as one of the top priorities of the government. However, what is more important is the plans that will be included in the budget and passed for implementation rather than the things included in the policies and programmes.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-25', 'modified' => '2022-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15074', 'image' => '20220525013650_agri maize.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-25 13:36:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15331', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal’s Oil Producers Struggling to Export Oil to India', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: Nepali oil producers who were exporting cooking oil to India are now unable to export due to rising prices of unrefined oil in the international market. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 25: Nepali oil producers who were exporting cooking oil to India are now unable to export due to rising prices of unrefined oil in the international market. Due to the halt in export of refined oil, Nepal's export trade is expected to decline as it is a major contributor to government revenue. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nikhil Chachan, the operator of Narayani Oil in Birgunj, says that the price is increasing in the international market and the oil stored in the industrial warehouses has been exported. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It takes up to three months to import raw materials from the international market to Nepal and the domestic companies were exporting by using the price difference in the market. According to the entrepreneurs, the stock of raw materials of the domestic industries is finishing as Russia and Ukraine are at war, and Indonesia, the main producer of palm, has banned the exports for nearly a month. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Indonesia has decided to open exports from Monday. Operator of OCB Food Suresh Rungta says that even if the import of raw material is easier, it cannot be exported to India. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"India imports all types of edible oil at 5.5 percent customs duty and 7 percent goods and services tax. In our country, the government collects 10 percent customs duty and 13 percent value added tax," said Rungta, "The transportation cost from Kolkata to Birgunj is Rs 8. In such a situation, it is no longer possible to export refined oil to India by importing raw materials from third countries." </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chachan said that export by taking advantage of price difference is not possible. He told New Business Age that only nominal exports are being made from the old stock now.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-25', 'modified' => '2022-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15073', 'image' => '20220525125146_oil1501009175_7.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-25 12:51:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15330', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mixed Response to Government's Policies and Programmes ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: Leaders of various political parties have given mixed reaction to the policies and programmes for the fiscal year 2022/23 presented in parliament by the government on Tuesday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 25: Leaders of various political parties have given mixed reaction to the policies and programmes for the fiscal year 2022/23 presented in parliament by the government on Tuesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki described the policies and programs as a blueprint to make Nepal prosperous. </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 policies and programmes reflect our dream of bringing prosperity to the country. It is not just an assurance, it will be implemented," the state-owned national news agency RSS quoted the minister as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Chairperson of Janata Samajwadi Party of Nepal and former Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai said that the policies and programmes were positive as a whole but were insufficient for the overall economic development of the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chairperson of CPN (Unified Socialist) and former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal also remarked that the policies and programmes were positive as the country's agriculture, energy development, tourism promotion and other sectors were given high priority. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">CPN (UML) Vice Chairman and former Finance Minister Surendra Pandey said that many issues included in the policies and programmes have been repeated since a long time. He also said that it would be difficult to implement everything mentioned in the policies and programmes due to limited size of our budget. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chairman Rajendra Lingden remarked that there would be problems in implementation as in the past due to the traditional nature of budget. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-25', 'modified' => '2022-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15072', 'image' => '20220525113445_RS-KTM-Parliamenti (2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-25 11:34:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15329', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government’s Policies and Programmes Emphasize on Revival of Economy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: The government has made public the policies and programs for the upcoming fiscal year with the aim of developing the agricultural sector, reviving the troubled economy and expanding the physical infrastructure. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 24: The government has made public the policies and programs for the upcoming fiscal year with the aim of developing the agricultural sector, reviving the troubled economy and expanding the physical infrastructure. Addressing a joint session of the federal parliament on Tuesday, President Bidya Devi Bhandari made public the policies and programmes of the government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 145-point program highlights the fact that remittance inflow has improved over the past few months and the growth in revenue collection from tourism has been creating a positive environment, despite the external pressure on the economy due to the unfavorable conditions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In order to achieve economic growth and sustainability through the combination of fiscal and monetary policies, the government has outlined agriculture, transport, energy, tourism and information technology as the drivers of economic growth. The government has adopted a clear policy of building a resilient economy through special economic recovery programs and keeping inflation within the limits. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The policies and programmes of the government intend to implement projects from the provincial and local levels except mega projects of national pride and of strategic importance. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government plans to conserve, use and distribute natural resources equitably in coordination among the federal, province and local governments. As per the policies and programmes of the government, the basis of economic prosperity will be laid by linking local economies with the national economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government aims to make policy, legal and systemic reforms to increase domestic production and industrialization by building quality infrastructure, promoting investment, and facilitating business environment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The policies and programme have given clear guidelines to include development programmes and projects in the budget on the basis of national priorities. Budget will not be allocated for projects that have not been prepared beforehand and have not been included in the project bank. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government has given priority to reviewing the existing tax system, creating a clean, transparent and investment-friendly environment, and facilitating local revenue mobilization. It plans to facilitate credit flow to the manufacturing and employment-oriented sectors. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">For the first time, the government has addressed the issue of formulating a new national agricultural policy for developing the agricultural sector as a major driving force of economic growth and employment. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15071', 'image' => '20220524092214_RS-KTM-ParliamentPresidenta.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 21:21:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15328', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Liquidity Crisis to Extend for Some More Time', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: There are signs that the liquidity crisis in the banking system will likely extend for some more time.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 24: There are signs that the liquidity crisis in the banking system will likely extend for some more time. The liquidity crisis is unlikely to end anytime soon as the banks and financial institutions (BFIs) are reeling under shortage of investible capital with just two months left in the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the deposit collection of BFIs increased by Rs 237.85 billion as of mid-April this year while the credit flow during this period was worth Rs 558.99 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NRB officials have concluded that the liquidity crisis is a result of high credit flow against deposit collection and that most of the loans have been invested for importing consumable goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As the crisis started deepening, banks have started taking inter-bank loans and various monetary tools to address their immediate problems.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The short-term lending between banks increased by one and a half times between mid-March and mid-April. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the central bank, in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, the inter-bank loans taken by commercial banks stood at Rs 2299.22 billion while development banks and finance companies took inter-bank loans worth Rs 2069.68 billion during the review period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During the corresponding period of last fiscal year, the inter-bank loans taken by commercial banks was worth Rs 875.50 billion while development banks and finance companies had received inter-bank loans worth Rs 1059.42 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The liquidity crisis has also affected the inter-bank interest rate. Such interest rate has increased to nearly 7 percent. One year ago, the inter-bank interest rate was just 2.03 percent, which increased to 6.99 percent in mid-April.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15070', 'image' => '20220524024820_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 14:47:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15327', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Where is Russian Oil Heading Towards?', 'sub_title' => 'China and India become major importers of Russian oil despite sanctions', 'summary' => 'May 24: Nearly 90 days have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine in one of the biggest invasion since the World War II. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rama Subedi</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 24: Nearly 90 days have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine in one of the biggest invasion since the World War II. European countries have cut Russian oil imports, a key pillar of the Russian economy, as part of sanctions against Russia.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The United States has announced that it will suspend imports of Russian oil. The G7, a group of seven industrialized nations, also announced last weekend that it would gradually reduce Russian oil imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">But Russia still has a lot of buyers. The oil imported by other buyers is enough to keep the Russian government's revenue high and cover the necessary expenses. Before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia sold 785 million barrels of crude oil a day to Europe.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">But since the invasion of Ukraine, Europe has announced a sudden reduction in its dependence on Russian oil and gas. The Ukraine crisis raised the prices of crude oil across the world. Russia, meanwhile, is benefiting from rising crude oil prices as it seeks new buyers and seeks to increase exports to the Asian markets.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Russia's oil revenues are expected to rise sharply to USD 180 billion this year, according to independent research firm Rystad Energy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">This will be 45 per cent higher than the same period last year. Looking at the trend of tanker traffic, Russia's crude oil exports have declined by a maximum of 20 per cent. A study by Spire Global for the Washington Post found that an average of 17 tankers were released from Russian ports daily when the United States imposed economic sanctions on Russia on March 8.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India and China have been buying Russian oil in defiance of sanctions imposed on Russia over the war. At one time, Russian oil accounted for less than 3 per cent of India's total consumption. Now it is constantly increasing.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In March, India bought 274,000 barrels of oil a day from Russia. In April, it rose to 627,000 barrels, according to data from international data company S&P Global.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Russia became India's fourth-largest oil supplier in April. India's oil purchase appears to have increased further in May.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">China is already Russia's largest Asian buyer. China has recently increased its purchases of Russian oil. China's daily import of Russian oil is expected to reach 1.1 million barrels by the sea in May.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">That's 350,000 more barrels a day than in the first quarter of this year, and 300,000 more a day in 2020.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Russian oil has become even cheaper than water for India after Russia offered oil at a much lower price than the international selling mark after the US and Europe imposed sanctions.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Brent and WTI, the international benchmarks for crude oil in the Western markets, are above USD 110 as Europe prepares to ban Russian oil imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Russia is now selling domestic benchmark Ural Brent crude at USD 34 less than before the invasion of Ukraine.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At a time when the economy is slowing, buying cheap Russian oil has been a boon for China. For India, this is a golden opportunity to reduce the trade deficit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Russian oil is now much cheaper for both China and India than the oil imported from the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the United States.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15069', 'image' => '20220524022002_Indiaruaaia.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 14:18:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15325', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘Responsibility for Trading of Petroleum Products should not be Handed Over to Private Sector’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: The trade union of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has objected to the government's decision to hand over the responsibility of importing petrol, diesel and cooking gas to the private sector. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 24: The trade union of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has objected to the government's decision to hand over the responsibility of importing petrol, diesel and cooking gas to the private sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at a programme organized by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Sunday, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu had said that homework is being done to hand over the responsibility of supplying petroleum products in the country to the private sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Madhumas Pun, the chairperson of the Nepal Oil Corporation’s Trade Union, objected to the government's decision after this announcement, claiming that the private sector will not be able to provide services to consumers like the government is providing currently if the responsibility of importing petroleum products is handed over to them.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He objected to the government's decision through his social media page saying that it will not be acceptable to ruin the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) by not letting it adjust the fuel price making it bankrupt by denying money to buy oil while colluding with the private sector to hand over the responsibilities of supplying fuel in the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He mentioned that if the responsibility is shifted to the private sector, the consumers will not be able to buy petrol at Rs 180 as its actual cost is Rs 195 per liter. Meanwhile, diesel which costs Rs 163 will cost Rs 190 per liter and gas cylinder worth Rs 1800 will cost Rs 2680 per cylinder if the private sector handles the fuel supply, said Pun. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He also mentioned that the state should always work for the welfare of the people.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15068', 'image' => '20220524093816_petrol-pump.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 09:37:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15323', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government forms Task Force to Acquire Rs 33 Billion from World Bank', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: The Government of Nepal has formed a task force to acquire a loan of Rs 33 billion from the World Bank.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 24: The Government of Nepal has formed a task force to acquire a loan of Rs 33 billion from the World Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A recent meeting of the Council of Ministers decided to form the task force headed by a joint secretary at the Ministry of Finance in order to seek the loan to expand transportation and trade sectors. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki informed that the task force has been formed to seek US$ 275 million (approximately Rs 33 billion) from the World Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the cabinet meeting decided to approve a grant of Rs 86,13,00,000 from the Swiss government to re-integrate returnee migrant workers in the society.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15066', 'image' => '20220524091355_ROS_KTM-_6483441(2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 09:13:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15326', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CAN's Decision to Stop EPL will Discourage Private Sector Investment: Franchise Owners ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: Amir Akhter, the founder of Everest Premier League, has expressed concerns over the recent decision of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) to halt the Everest Premier League.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 24: Amir Akhter, the founder of Everest Premier League, has expressed concerns over the recent decision of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) to halt the Everest Premier League. He has urged the cricket governing body to let the the franchise league be held. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at a press conference held in Hotel Yak and Yeti on May 23, Akhter expressed his concern over the CAN's decision to restrict the EPL.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, Vishal Agrawal, owner of Biratnagar Warriors and director of Bishal Group, shared that the decision of CAN has discouraged the private sector and has jeopardized its investment in the sporting sector of Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> CAN has announced a new league-Nepal T20 League. The cricket regulatory body also announced that it will be the only franchise league in Nepal, which has affected the EPL and the franchise team associated with it. The organizer of EPL and six owners held a joint press conference on Monday and asked CAN to give continuity to the EPL. According to the ICC rules, there will be only one league in a country, and now Nepal will have only one T20 league. But the EPL, founder Aamir Akhtar and the owners of six franchise teams have demanded that they be allowed to continue the EPL.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> The cricket authority has cornered us and our effort, time and investment by stopping the EPL. The authorities didn't even make any prior discussion with the concerned stakeholders while coming up with such a major decision, he shared.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Likewise, Kishor Maharjan, former CEO of Civil Bank and owner of Lalitpur Patriots, shared that he is extremely saddened by the decision of CAN to stop EPL. As the owner of the team, we are in trouble. We had put all-our investment, time and effort into our team with a long term vision and now, as things were improving, CAN has deceived us and our faith in investing in sports has become doubtful, he added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Akhter and the six owners, EPL is the 5th biggest franchise T20 league in the world. EPL finished its fourth edition last year and is the number one T20 franchise among the non-Test playing nations. The fourth edition of the league was broadcasted in 18 countries including, India, Akhter shared. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">CAN has not done justice to our effort as EPL was on the verge to be an export product and would put Nepali cricket on the global map. Our efforts were not recognized by CAN and we want to voice our emotions through the media, Akhter added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kishor Bhattrai shared that the only demand is to allow the continuity of EPL. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"We are not against the new league but the decision made is a big shock to the entire sports industry. A lot has been invested in the event. Who will give our investment back, why would someone invest in the sector in the days to come if there is no certainty? We only want the event which has been ranked 5th in the world to continue. CAN should think again about the decision and not stop EPL. We are raising the voice here not only for cricket but for all the sports," he shared. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, giving the example of sports industries abroad Bhattrai opined that the issue is due to a lack of professional sports acts. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, Aditya Shanghai, owner of Bhairahawa Gladiators shared that the step taken by CAN is a big discouragement for the private sector to invest in the sports sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Similarly, EPL is the best example of private and public investment. We were in a situation of bringing in IPL investors. It would have taken the cricket scenario to the next level with personal expertise. EPL is the cleanest league in the world in terms of transparency. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sanjay Agrawal, owner of Kathmandu Kings XI shared that the time, money and effort invested by the corporate house have all gone in vain. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, Sahil Agrawal, owner of Pokhara Rhinos shared that CAN's decision to give license to a new league and discontinue the existing league is nonsensical. Our only demand is to allow the league to happen while continuing the new league, he added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15065', 'image' => '20220524095205_epl.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 09:50:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15322', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Buddha Air Resumes Flight Service to Varanasi', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 24: Buddha Air has resumed Kathmandu-Varanasi flight service that was disrupted since the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 24: Buddha Air has resumed Kathmandu-Varanasi flight service that was disrupted since the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the airline company, direct flights to Varanasi from Kathmandu resumed from Monday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Buddha Air informed that the company will conduct two flights a week to India’s Varanasi. The flights will be conducted on Mondays days and Fridays. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the flight schedule, an ATR aircraft of Buddha Air left for Varanasi from Kathmandu on May 23 at 7: 15 am carrying 44 passengers and 6 crew members. According to the company, the return flight left Varanasi at 8: 45 am the same day. The return flight carried a total of 39 passengers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Issuing a statement on Monday, Buddha Air said that the flight service to Varanasi will also facilitate foreign tourists. The company further said that Buddha Air’s subsidiary Buddha Holiday has been conducting tours to religious and tourism destinations across the country by announcing attractive packages. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-24', 'modified' => '2022-05-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15064', 'image' => '20220524085313_Buddha ATR.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-24 08:52:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15321', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'National Assembly Approves Eight Ordinances', 'sub_title' => 'President Bidya Bhandari to Present Policies and Programmes of Government in Parliament on Tuesday ', 'summary' => 'May 23: A session of the National Assembly, the upper house of the federal parliament, approved eight different ordinances on Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 23: A session of the National Assembly, the upper house of the federal parliament, approved eight different ordinances on Monday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ordinances approved include the Social Security (First Amendment) Ordinance, 2022; Acid and Other Harmful Chemical Substances (Regulation) Ordinance, 2022; the Nepal Police and Province Police (Operation, Supervision and Coordination) First Amendment Ordinance, 2022; the Medicine (Third Amendment) Ordinance, 2022; the Health Professionals and Health Institutions' Security (First Amendment) Ordinance, 2022; the Ordinance Amending Some Acts Related to Criminal Offence and Criminal Procedures, 2022; the Ordinance Amending Some Acts Against Sexual Violence, 2022 and the Railway Ordinance, 2022. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting unanimously approved all these eight ordinances.</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"">At the conclusion of the meeting, National Assembly chairperson Ganesh Prasad Timilsina directed the lawmakers to be present in the Federal Parliament's assembly hall at the designated time of 4 pm Tuesday (May 24), as President Bidya Devi Bhandari is scheduled to address the joint session of the Federal Parliament and present the policies and programmes of the government for the Fiscal Year 2022/23. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The National Assembly will next meet at 6 pm on Tuesday. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-23', 'modified' => '2022-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15063', 'image' => '20220523091118_RS_KTML8994_1(1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-23 21:10:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15320', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bird Strike Suspected on Jazeera Airways Aircraft ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 23: An aircraft of Jazeera Airways that met with disturbances while landing at the Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa on Monday is suspected to have been hit by a bird.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 23: An aircraft of Jazeera Airways that met with disturbances while landing at the Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa on Monday is suspected to have been hit by a bird.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A bird may have collided with the aircraft at 1:45 am on Monday,” the state-owned national news agency RSS reported quoting the chief of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) at the airport, Prabesh Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As a result, the aircraft has been grounded at the airport and is rescheduling its flight, said Adhikari. </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 plane landed successfully but we suspect bird strike as blood stains can be seen on the surface of the plane. However, the dead bird has not been found. A technical team will check whether it has been sucked into the plane engine," he further told RSS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Adhikari, further investigations are underway. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The flight of the aircraft was rescheduled following the incident. Jazeera Airways has managed accommodation for its passengers in a hotel. Thirty eight passengers had booked tickets for Bhairahawa-Kuwait flight, according to the airport authorities. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-23', 'modified' => '2022-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15062', 'image' => '20220523074434_Jazeera.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-23 19:43:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15319', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Provincial Governments to Implement Blacktopping of Roads at Local Units ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 23: The government is preparing to implement the programme of blacktopping roads in every municipality.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 23: The government is preparing to implement the programme of blacktopping roads in every municipality. The programme will be carried out by the state governments. The previous government led by KP Sharma Oli had announced the policy, plan and programme to blacktop roads at the municipal level.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The work of the road project could not move forward when there was a dispute over whether the state should build it or the federal government. "I heard about the blacktopping of the road at the municipal level in the policy and programme brought by the previous government. It was limited to paper work, not in the budget," Finance Minister Janardhan Sharma told parliament on Friday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Finance Minister Sharma, there is no problem in moving ahead with the work as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have pledged to provide financial assistance for the programme.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government is preparing to send most of the small projects to the state and local levels in the upcoming Fiscal Year (FY 2022/23).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Finance Minister Sharma, preparation are being made for implementing projects with low investment at the state and local levels in 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:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although there has been a long-running debate about the implementation of such projects by the lower-level government, it has not come into practice.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even in the 45th meeting of the National Development Problem Solving Committee chaired by the Prime Minister, it was decided to move small and micro projects forward from the state and local levels. It was also said that the Ministry of Finance should arrange the budget by prioritizing such projects. However, many small and micro projects have not been able to move forward yet.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the implementation of such projects by the federal government would not be effective on the one hand and would also affect the budget expenditure, on the other hand, Minister Sharma urged the parliamentarians not to demand small projects during the discussion on the principles and priorities of the budget.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In particular, the UML lawmakers had raised questions in the House of Representatives stating that the Ministry of Finance had removed 1,400 road projects put forward by the previous government.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sharma that the projects should be selected only after assessing the level of investment and the return on investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Sharma, it is time to review the failure of national pride projects. He also remarked that projects that do not work should not be called national pride project. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-23', 'modified' => '2022-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15061', 'image' => '20220523072556_DhrubasagarSharma_Galeswor_RSS_07_-himalmunikalopatresadak.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-23 19:25:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15318', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Backtracks from Pumped Storage Hydropower Projects ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 23: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has immediately backtracked from its decision to build a pumped storage hydropower (PSH) projects.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 23: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has immediately backtracked from its decision to build a pumped storage hydropower (PSH) projects. NEA, which had already started the process of constructing two PSH projects, has now decided to not construct those projects. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">For the first time, NEA had started the process of constructing Begnas-Rupa Pumped Storage Hydropower Project in Begnas and Rupa lakes in Kaski district. For that, it had obtained permission for survey from the Department of Electricity Development on November 13, 2017. It has been four and a half years since the survey permission was granted for the 150 MW project. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Executive director of NEA Kulman Ghising had put forward the project as his dream project in his first tenure. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After Ghising's first tenure ended, Hitendra Dev Shakya was appointed the executive director of NEA. He did not give much priority to the Begnas-Rupa PSH project. However, he took forward the process of constructing the 100 MW Kulekhani Sisneri Pumped Storage Hydropower Project using the Kulekhani Dam in Makwanpur District. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">For that, the Department of Electricity Development issued permission for the survey in March/April 2021. It has been one year since the survey permission of the project was obtained. However, the NEA is in the mindset of not moving ahead with both the pumped storage projects at present. Ghising says that the pumped storage projects will not be built immediately. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We are focusing on the other types of hydropower projects. This is the need of the hour. So, there is no immediate plan to invest in pumped storage hydropower plants,” he said, “Therefore, there has not been any progress on these projects. However, we will pay attention to this after a certain period of time as we need such projects in the near future.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As the investment in such projects is high, NEA has backtracked from its decision for the time being. A separate dam should be constructed to collect the used water. Also, a lot of electricity is also needed, which makes the operating cost of the project high. Ghising said that due to these reasons the NEA has backtracked its plan to build pumped storage project. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pumped storage project is a new technology to Nepal. In this technology, the water coming out of the power house is collected by constructing another dam nearby. The water is then pumped to the first dam and reused. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA had tried to develop Begnas-Rupa pumped storage hydropower project with an investment of around Rs 14 billion as the first pumped storage project in Nepal. The project has been halted as it was found during the study that the construction of the project will be costly. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A study by the Japanese aid agency JICA showed that the project was not financially viable. JICA's study had shown that electricity used to draw water is expensive. However, NEA says it had conducted the study for the future prospect.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, Kulekhani-Sisneri pumped storage project was planned to be built with an investment of Rs 8 billion. The project was said to be built at Sisneri, two kilometers below Kulekhani Dam. The target was to generate 100 MW of electricity by taking water from Kulekhani Dam during the evening peak hour. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-23', 'modified' => '2022-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15060', 'image' => '20220523041510_PSH.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-23 16:14:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15317', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Working on Modality to keep Problematic Industries Afloat', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 23: Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu informed that the government is doing its homework to keep the ailing industries in operation. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 23: Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu informed that the government is doing its homework to keep the ailing industries in operation. The government plans to work on public-private partnership and other modalities to keep such industries afloat. He urged the private sector to make preparations in this regard, saying that they should move towards self-reliance by increasing production and employment by operating such industries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He made such remarks at a program organized by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) in Kathmandu on Sunday. "We will bring in the budget and programmes to implement this policy," Badu said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the government has announced industrial zones and has allocated land for opening industries, but the government does not have the budget to invest in infrastructure development. He said that the private sector should come up with plans for establishing chemical fertilizer factories, that are urgently required in the country. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Badu said that the fuel prices have spiked drastically, and the monopoly of Nepal Oil Corporation should be broken to make the price competitive.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"The private sector should be allowed to supply petroleum products. This will create competition and will make the price cheaper for consumers. However, the price of cooking gas cannot be subsidized any further, he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Badu said that it was necessary to move towards self-reliance by reducing imports and increasing production.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, he added that the recent ban on wheat exports by India will impact the production of flour in a few months.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the same programme, Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, Maha Prasad Adhikari, said that this year has seen high growth in import and inflation has also remained high.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"However high the prices may be, we as consumers are ready to pay. If we become cautious and consume little less, the economy will return back on track,” said Adhikari.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Right now, the private sector needs to focus on the economy as a whole rather than profit," the NRB governor said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Dr Rajendra Prasad Mishra, joint secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, said that farmers and industries should be involved in the production of raw materials within the country. He emphasized the need to strengthen the supply chain at the local level.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, FNCCI President Shekhar Golchha said that an imminent food crisis in Nepal cannot not be ignored as other countries have imposed a ban of export of food products. He urged the minister to form a task force representing officials from the Ministry of Energy, Industry, Agriculture Development and the private sector, as well as Nepal Rastra Bank, to solve the current problem. He said that reducing fuel consumption and improving the agricultural ecosystem was the need of the hour.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-23', 'modified' => '2022-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15059', 'image' => '20220523032540_Industrial-Policy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-23 15:24:12', '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
