May 10: Ukraine and its allies have intensified efforts to unblock ports or provide alternate routes for exporting its significant crops of grain, wheat and…
May 10: Ukraine and its allies have intensified efforts to unblock ports or provide alternate routes for exporting its significant crops of grain, wheat and…
May 10: Banana farms in Jhapa are declining due to lack of chemical…
May 10: The credit-deposit (CD) ratio of 18 out of the 27 commercial banks in operation in Nepal is above 90…
May 10: Waste management of all 18 local levels in the Kathmandu Valley has been affected yet again as the Sisdole landfill site in Nuwakot district has been full with…
May 9: The government is preparing to adopt a policy related to wheeling charge for renting out transmission lines.…
May 9: With the upcoming local level elections just around the corner, employees of banks and microfinance have been found involved in preparation for the poll in Rautahat district.…
May 9: Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE), the secondary market of securities, will now continue its transactions on Fridays as well from May…
May 8: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is planning to sell 200 MW of electricity to India in the upcoming rainy…
May 8: The government is planning to give high priority to agriculture, production and employment in the budget of the upcoming fiscal year in an attempt to improve the economy of the…
May 8: The production of the domestic oil industry has fallen by a quarter since Indonesia banned the export of crude oil amid mounting tensions between Russia and Ukraine.…
May 8: More than 6,000 foreign tourists, mostly Europeans, have visited Manang district since the beginning of the current fiscal year (FY…
May 6: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has started supplying electricity to the industries of Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor from Wednesday evening after a week-long power…
May 6: The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has recommended allocating a budget of Rs 196 million for the upcoming fiscal year for tourism promotion.…
May 6: A report prepared by a committee formed by the government has found that some cooperatives have become unable to repay the deposits of the general public.…
May 6: Himalayan General Insurance Company Limited and Everest Insurance Company Limited have agreed for a merger under indirect pressure from the Insurance Board to raise their paid-up…
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We need a global response," BBC quoted Michael as saying.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-10', 'modified' => '2022-05-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14986', 'image' => '20220510014342_wheat.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-10 13:43:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15243', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Banana Farming affected due to Lack of Fertilizers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 10: Banana farms in Jhapa are declining due to lack of chemical fertilizers.', '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 10: Banana farms in Jhapa are declining due to lack of chemical fertilizers. Benu Parajuli of Kankai Municipality-3, who used to cultivate bananas on 50 bighas of land in the past, now cultivates banana in just 30 bighas of land as the income from farming declined. Parajuli said that even though banana farming started with the objective of creating a 'banana zone', the farmers had to incur huge losses due to lack of fertilizer.</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 farmers who received government subsidies by declaring pocket and block areas in the past have now started reducing banana cultivation by returning the land to the landowners. In the past, Durgamata and Kolakheti agricultural farms were cultivating bananas commercially in 400 bighas of land in Kankai Municipality-5, Shivasatakshi Municipality-7, Barhadashi Rural Municipality-6 and Jhapa Rural Municipality-7.</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"">Farmers like Benu Parajuli, Himdal Parajuli, Kul Prasad Chimariya, Laxmi Chimariya and Ganesh Sangraula jointly operated the farm. Although they started collective banana farming by leasing the land of local farmers for five years, they stopped cultivating bananas, and returned the land to the owners after failing to raise investment in three years.</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 Durgamata and Kolakheti agricultural farms, known as the largest banana farms in Jhapa, destroyed the banana cultivation in about 100 bighas of land this time. Laxmi Chimariya, chairperson of the farm, said that the production declines when there is scarcity of chemical fertilizers when needed.</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 bananas need fertilizers up to three times a year, he complained that the production declined due to the failure in acquiring fertilizer even once last year. Banana cultivation requires fertilizers such as urea, DAP, potassium and phosphorus. The farm had received a grant of Rs 5 million from the Agriculture Knowledge Center for two years on the condition of investing 50 percent in farming.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-10', 'modified' => '2022-05-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14985', 'image' => '20220510123328_istockphoto-1030232778-612x612.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-10 12:32:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15242', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CD Ratio of 18 Banks still above 90 Percent ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 10: The credit-deposit (CD) ratio of 18 out of the 27 commercial banks in operation in Nepal is above 90 percent.', '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 10: The credit-deposit (CD) ratio of 18 out of the 27 commercial banks in operation in Nepal is above 90 percent. This is more than the limit set by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) which the banks have to comply within mid-July. The CD ratio of the remaining nine banks is less than 90 percent. </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"">Bankers say the CD ratio has risen to more than 90 percent as deposits could not grow. </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"">Through the monetary policy, NRB has implemented the provision of maintaining CD ratio by removing the provision of capital, loan and deposit (CCD) ratio in banks and financial institutions. As per the announcement of the monetary policy for the current fiscal year (FY), the central bank had issued a directive in August asking the banks and financial institutions to maintain the CD ratio up to 90 percent. Banks with higher than the ratio specified in the directive were given time till mid-July 2022 to bring the ratio within the limit. </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"">Until mid-July, banks will be able to calculate the amount of debentures and refinancing in the CD ratio as deposits. Similarly, the central bank has allowed the banks to calculate 80 percent of the amount at the local level as deposits. The bankers say that since the facility will end in mid-July, there will be more pressure on the CD ratio. </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"">Sunil KC, vice-president of Nepal Bankers' Association and chief executive officer of NMB Bank, said that it would be difficult to bring the CD ratio of banks and financial institutions within the limit in this month as the average CD ratio of BFIs is 91 percent. </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"">“While the credit flow has increased by 12 percent in the current FY, the deposit collection has increased by only 4 percent,” he said, adding, “It is difficult to maintain the prescribed CD ratio as there is no sign of significant growth.” </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 Bankers' Association had urged the NRB to facilitate the implementation of CD ratio in the mid-term assessment of monetary policy. As per the demand of the association, NRB had extended the time till mid-July. </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 banker says that more time is needed as it is difficult to bring the CD ratio within the stipulated limit even in July. According to the association, the CD ratio of only nine banks was within the limit as of April. The CD ratio is more than 91 percent of a dozen banks. The remaining half a dozen have the ratio of 90 percent in average. </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 other hand, NRB officials say that the banks should continue to operate as per the existing system until further notice. “The banks and financial institutions are given time till mid-July to bring the CD ratio within the stipulated limit,” said Narayan Prasad Pokharel, deputy spokesperson of NRB, adding, “Within that time, banks should bring the ratio within prescribed limits even by managing the deposit and credit 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"">He said that as the action plan to bring the CD ratio within the prescribed limits has been approved by the Board of Directors and presented to the central bank, the banks should work accordingly. </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"">Recently, banks have not been able to disburse credit due to high CD ratio. The CD ratio of Standard Chartered, Prabhu Bank, NIC Asia, Rastriya Banijya Bank, Laxmi and NMB Bank is below 90 percent. Similarly, the CD ratio of Sanima, Machhapuchhre and NCC Bank is also below the limit. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-10', 'modified' => '2022-05-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14984', 'image' => '20220510111650_Banks.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-10 11:16:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15241', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Garbage Piled Up Yet Again in Kathmandu Valley ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 10: Waste management of all 18 local levels in the Kathmandu Valley has been affected yet again as the Sisdole landfill site in Nuwakot district has been full with garbage.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 10: Waste management of all 18 local levels in the Kathmandu Valley has been affected yet again as the Sisdole landfill site in Nuwakot district has been full with garbage. The Kathmandu Metropolitan City said waste management on Sunday and Monday was affected in the valley since the workers were working to manage space for more garbage in the Sisdole landfill site. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of Environment Department of KMC Sarita Rai said garbage collection would resume from Tuesday morning if the waste adjustment gets completed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The waste from the Kathmandu Valley has been disposed in Sisdole for the past 15 years although the site was prepared to adjust waste for just two years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The KMC officials said sustainable waste management has become challenging as the under-construction landfill site at Banchare Danda has not been completed within the deadline. As much as 1,200 metric tonnes of waste is being managed in Sisdole landfill site every day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that garbage collection from the Kathmandu Valley had just resumed from Saturday after 14 days of disruption caused by the residents of the Pasang Lhyamu Highway. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-10', 'modified' => '2022-05-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14983', 'image' => '20220510075250_fta-141015-04-np-te.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-10 07:51:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15240', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Preparing Directive to Rent Out Transmission Lines', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 9: The government is preparing to adopt a policy related to wheeling charge for renting out transmission lines. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 9: The government is preparing to adopt a policy related to wheeling charge for renting out transmission lines. The Electricity Regulatory Commission informed that it has already initiated the process in this regard. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The commission says that the transmission lines can be rented after the government issues a directive to this effect. Chairman of the commission Dilli Bahadur Singh informed that they are currently preparing a directive to rent out the transmission lines.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We have already prepared a draft of the directive. We will soon finalize it,” said Singh.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The commission is preparing such directive to allow the private sector to trade electricity. As the private sector has not set up its own transmission lines, it has to rely on government-owned transmission lines. The private sector had been demanding the government to rent its transmission lines.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The state-owned Nepal Electricity Authority is currently involved in setting up transmission lines. The government has also established the National Grid Company especially for this purpose.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Once the directive gets ready, it will open the door for the private sector to use the state-owned transmission lines for electricity trade.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The directive will focus on the rental charge for the use of transmission lines by the private sector, informed Singh. However, the rental charge of the transmission lines has not yet been fixed. Singh informed that they are conducing necessary study and discussions in this regard.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“It is not that easy to determine the charge,” said Singh, adding, “The charge has to be determined considering the length of the transmission line as well as the amount of electricity and the time used for the transmission of electricity.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Once the directive is ready, other institutions can set up separate transmission lines and use them for rental purpose, said Singh.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-09', 'modified' => '2022-05-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14982', 'image' => '20220509064230_Transmission.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-09 18:41:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15239', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'BFI Staffers Busy in Election', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 9: With the upcoming local level elections just around the corner, employees of banks and microfinance have been found involved in preparation for the poll in Rautahat district. ', '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 9: With the upcoming local level elections just around the corner, employees of banks and microfinance have been found involved in preparation for the poll in Rautahat district. Employees of the state-owned Rastriya Banijya Bank, Nepal Bank, Agricultural Development Bank and Grameen Bikas Laghu Bittiya Sanstha Ltd have been deployed for the elections by the District Election Office, Rautahat.</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 service of the financial sector has been affected after the staff were deployed for the elections. Service seekers who reached banks on Friday were deprived of prompt service as the employees of banks and financial institutions were reportedly attending the training given to the polling officer and assistant polling officer. The service seekers complained that the transactions and business were affected on Friday as the bank employees went for training. Meanwhile, the banks of the private sector were open 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"">Chief Election Officer of the District Election Office Chhote Lal Das claimed that the bank staff were deployed in such a way that it would not hinder their work. He claimed that the banks and financial institutions were asked to report immediately in case of any obstruction in the office. He said that only a small number of employees from banks and microfinance have been deployed for the poll. According to him, employees of banks and financial institutions were deployed in the previous election as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-09', 'modified' => '2022-05-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14981', 'image' => '20220510111757_Bankkk.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-09 16:32:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15236', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Share Transactions Available till Friday from May 15', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 9: Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE), the secondary market of securities, will now continue its transactions on Fridays as well from May 15.', '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 9: Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE), the secondary market of securities, will now continue its transactions on Fridays as well from May 15. Till date, the transactions of securities in the secondary market are done between Sunday to Thursday.</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"">After the announcement of the government to give holidays on Saturday and Sunday, NEPSE made arrangements to continue with share transactions on Fridays as well in order to prevent a reduction in the number of transactions of securities in the secondary market. The Board of Directors of NEPSE reached the decision in a meeting held on May 4.</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 Sunday, NEPSE directed all the brokers to make arrangements for share transactions from Monday to Friday. Starting from May 15, NEPSE will keep its offices operational from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM, as per the decision of the Council of Ministers made on May 6. NEPSE informed that the share market will be open from 11 AM to 3 PM on Fridays.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-09', 'modified' => '2022-05-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14978', 'image' => '20220509124220_istockphoto-1322201350-170667a.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-09 12:41:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15232', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Announces Tender Bids to Sell 200 MW Electricity in India', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 8: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is planning to sell 200 MW of electricity to India in the upcoming rainy season.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">May 8: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is planning to sell 200 MW of electricity to India in the upcoming rainy season. NEA said it is going to sell the electricity to India through tender bids. Currently, NEA has imposed load shedding in the industrial sector at present due to lack of adequate electricity generation during the dry season.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">But with the onset of monsoon, NEA will sell 200 MW of electricity generated from various hydropower projects to India. It has published a tender notice on Friday calling for the Indian Electricity Trading Company to submit its proposal.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">NEA is going to sell the same amount of electricity to India for four and a half months (July 1 to November 15, 2022). The pre-condition is that the interested companies should submit a proposal to purchase at least 50 MW of electricity. No limit has been set for the rate of purchase and sale of electricity. The authority said that the company which proposes the highest rate in the tender will be selected.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">If the tender is successful, NEA will start exporting electricity to India commercially for the first time. Earlier, electricity was being exported to India as electricity exchange or energy banking. NEA has received approval to sell 364 MW of electricity from 6 different hydropower projects in Nepal to India.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Out of this, tender has been invited to sell 200 MW at fixed price. NEA will be able to sell the electricity in the Indian open electricity market (Day Ahead Market) by bidding daily.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">NEA has already received permission to buy and sell electricity from the Indian open electricity market. As per the approval, NEA will be able to buy and sell electricity in the Indian market by bidding on a daily basis. When buying and selling electricity in this way, the selling price will be different every day. In addition, electricity can be bought and sold at a fixed price through tender. NEA is currently importing electricity from India's open market through daily bids.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">NEA Executive Director Kulman Ghising said that the process of selling 200 MW of electricity in India through tender has been moved forward. "We have already got permission to sell 364 MW of electricity in the Indian market. We are going to sell 200 MW through tender,” 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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Currently, the NEA is struggling to purchase electricity from the open market of India as per the demand. Coal is major source of electricity in India. Due to the recent shortage of coal in the wake of Russia-Ukraine tensions, India's power generation has been reduced and load shedding has started. As a result, NEA has not been able to get electricity from India. In order to manage the supply of electricity, NEA has started load shedding in the industrial sector across Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-08', 'modified' => '2022-05-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14974', 'image' => '20220508022533_NEA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-08 14:24:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15231', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Upcoming Budget to Prioritize Agriculture, Production and Employment', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 8: The government is planning to give high priority to agriculture, production and employment in the budget of the upcoming fiscal year in an attempt to improve the economy of the country.', '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 8: The government is planning to give high priority to agriculture, production and employment in the budget of the upcoming fiscal year in an attempt to improve the economy of 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"">According to Dr Surendra Upreti, senior economic adviser at the Ministry of Finance, the country is performing poorly in agriculture at present. “Last year, agricultural products worth Rs 325 billion were imported. We need a new approach and different policies and programmes for the agricultural sector. A budget focused on promoting production-based economy will be introduced,” said Upreti.</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 also claimed that despite some pressure on the external sector and inflation, the problem in the economy will be resolved soon. Upreti also said that the problem of loan investment is high as well. At the same time, imports have skyrocketed. Therefore, there was pressure on the external sector. “Problems occurred due to the high imports,” said Upreti adding that the second major problem at present is inflation. </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 inflation was expected to reach 6.5 percent in the current fiscal year, it climbed to 7.1 percent due to the Russia-Ukraine war, said Upreti. He further said that although the current year's economic growth rate is projected to reach 7 percent, it is not practically possible due to natural calamities.</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"">Bank and Financial Advisor at the Ministry of Finance, Dr Shalikram Pokhrel said that the upcoming budget is focused on promoting small and medium enterprises. According to Pokhrel, who is working in the core team of Finance Minister Janardan Sharma, different approaches to formulate various policies were taken to strengthen the economy for a long term. </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 focus should now be on production and not just policy. The budget will be introduced accordingly.” Pokhrel said, adding, “There are many benefits if remittances can be linked to 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"">Economic and political analyst Hari Roka said that the upcoming budget should focus on agriculture and production. Roka also said that work should be done from the grassroots level to find a long-term solution to the current problems.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-08', 'modified' => '2022-05-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14973', 'image' => '20220508020319_agri maize.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-08 14:02:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15230', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Cooking Oil declines by a Quarter ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 8: The production of the domestic oil industry has fallen by a quarter since Indonesia banned the export of crude oil amid mounting tensions between Russia and Ukraine. ', '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 8: The production of the domestic oil industry has fallen by a quarter since Indonesia banned the export of crude oil amid mounting tensions between Russia and Ukraine. The industrialists say that the production has shrunk due to the obstruction in the import of raw materials. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the industrialists, the oil industries of Bara-Parsa are now running at 25 percent of their capacity due to the inconvenience in supply of raw materials. </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"">Nikhil Chachan, director of Narayani Oil, said that the production has dropped to about a quarter after the import of semi-refined oil from major producers was stopped. </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"">“Prior to this, the industries were producing at 80 percent of their capacity. At present, their production capacity has decreased to 25/30 percent,” said Chachan. Entrepreneurs say that the production will keep declining if the problems in the supply chain prevails. </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"">Among the two dozen edible oil industries, the majority are in this corridor. Few others are operating in Biratnagar and Bhairahawa. </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 domestic producers used to import semi-refined sunflower and soybean oil from Ukraine and Russia before the war on February 24 halted the shipments. A high quantity of mustard oil used to be imported from these countries. However, the mounting tension between these countries for a couple of months has affected the supply chain. </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"">Another major exporter of palm oil, Indonesia, has banned the export since April 28 in order to control the price in the domestic market. </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"">Suresh Rungta, operator of OBC Foods, said that the industrialists, who have been exporting edible oil to India by importing semi-refined oil from Indonesia, are finding it difficult to operate the industries at the moment. </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"">Rungta informed that they have started importing soybean from Australia and India after the embargo of semi-refined oil. Furthermore, he said that the stock of soybeans in the warehouse is not enough even for a month. Currently, his industry has been consuming 80 metric tons of soybean per day. </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 inconvenience in supply of raw materials can lead to the scarcity of oil in the domestic market. The industrialists say that the price of oil is skyrocketing due to the decline in production. According to Chachan, the price of semi-refined soybean oil in the international market which was USD 1,000 per metric ton a year ago, has now increased to USD 2,100. </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 shortage in the international market and the pressure of inflation have impacted the domestic market price. The price of edible oil has risen by Rs 50 per liter since the Russia-Ukraine tensions started. According to Rungta, the price of cooking oil, which was Rs 250 per liter two months ago, is now Rs 300 per liter. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-08', 'modified' => '2022-05-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14972', 'image' => '20220508125051_oil1501009175_7.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-08 12:50:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15228', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Annapurna Circuit Sees Rise in Arrival of European Tourists', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 8: More than 6,000 foreign tourists, mostly Europeans, have visited Manang district since the beginning of the current fiscal year (FY 2021/22).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 8: More than 6,000 foreign tourists, mostly Europeans, have visited Manang district since the beginning of the current fiscal year (FY 2021/22). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Annapurna Circuit, which is one of the major tourist attractions of Nepal, has welcomed 6,584 European tourists during the review period. Among them, French tourists constituted the highest number at 801 followed by 699 German tourists. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, tourists from other countries such as Israel, the UK and India among others have also visited to the mountainous district, according to Annapurna Conservation Area, Manang chief Lekhnath Gautam. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The maximum number of foreign tourists arrived in the month of April when 2,382 visitors were recorded, said Gautam. </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 Annapurna trail is popular among the foreigners as it includes sub-tropical forests, famous trekking routes such as snow-capped Thorang-La pass, Larke Pass and places such as world's highest altitude fresh water lake Tilicho Lake and holiest shrine-Muktinath Temple and high mountains. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On an average, around 77 foreign tourists are visiting Annapurna trail on a daily basis since the onset of tourist season this spring. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Lately, domestic tourists are also seen in Annapurna trail, recognized as one of top 10 incredible travel experiences in the world by Lonely Planet for 2021. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-08', 'modified' => '2022-05-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14970', 'image' => '20220508080527_Annapurna circuit (3).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-08 08:04:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15227', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Electricity Supply to Industries Resumes after a Week', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 6: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has started supplying electricity to the industries of Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor from Wednesday evening after a week-long power cuts.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 6: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has started supplying electricity to the industries of Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor from Wednesday evening after a week-long power cuts.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The NEA had cut off power supply to the industrial sector from last Wednesday due to its failure in importing electricity from India. Initially, the NEA had said that the electricity supply would be cut for 12 to 16 hours but later, it was completely cut off for a week.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industries in the corridor shut down entirely due to the lack of electricity. NEA had been supplying electricity to the industries by importing 500 MW of electricity daily from India. The power supply to industry was cut off after NEA failed to bring electricity from India.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India halted electricity exports to Nepal as India itself was facing an energy crisis due to a shortage of coal. Following the halt in supply of electricity from India, NEA imposed load shedding in the industrial sector to ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity to domestic customers. Chief of NEA Birgunj Distribution Center Jitendra Kumar Jha informed that power supply to industries resumed from Wednesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Jha, NEA started supplying electricity from 11 and 66 KV transmission lines. “Electricity has been restored in the industrial corridor since Wednesday evening. The problem of scarcity is still prevalent as a permanent solution is not made,” said Jha.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Jha informed that the supply eased a bit as the water level in flowing water bodies rose due to rainfall on Tuesday and Wednesday. Madhav Rajpal, vice-president of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the industries in the Bara-Parsa corridor, which were closed for a week due to lack of energy supply, are now operational.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As many as 2,000 small and medium enterprises along the corridor were shut down for a week due to the lack of electricity.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-06', 'modified' => '2022-05-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14969', 'image' => '20220506032210_elec.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-06 15:21:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15226', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Ministry Proposes a Budget of Rs 196 Million for Tourism Promotion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 6: The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has recommended allocating a budget of Rs 196 million for the upcoming fiscal year for tourism promotion. ', '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 6: The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has recommended allocating a budget of Rs 196 million for the upcoming fiscal year for tourism promotion. The ministry aims to revive the tourism sector affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The National Tourism Revival Committee has said that an additional budget has been demanded to promote Nepal's tourism nationally and internationally and to circulate the message that Nepal is now safe for travel.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A technical committee formed under the chairmanship of Tourism Minister Prem Ale has suggested that an additional budget is needed for tourism promotion. According to Rajaram Giri, coordinator of the technical committee, they are planning to carry out promotional in a more creative way than the traditional way.</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 ministry is organizing an international tourism summit in September to bring in tourists. High-level delegations from more than 20 countries are expected to attend the conference. The ministry plans to invite the tourism minister of the country contributing to the highest number of tourists visiting Nepal. Tourism ministers of South Asian countries and experts working in the field of tourism will be invited to the summit.</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, Giri added that international mountaineers, hikers and personalities will attend the summit. The committee believes that the summit will spread the message worldwide that Nepal is open and safe for travel.</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, world-famous celebrities are also being invited to the event. </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"">At the same time, the committee aims to bring Nepal to the centre of global discussion by inviting artists, athletes and mountaineers from other countries. </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"">Similarly, the committee is going to make a 'Tourism Digital Map' keeping in view the information of every tourist area of Nepal. The aim is to include the 'One Village One Tourism Area' campaign on the same digital map. That work will be done by Nepal Tourism Board. </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 digital map will include new tourist destinations to old ones. Tourists will know about the tourist areas of Nepal as soon as they see the map. Giri said that Rs 5 million has been allocated for the project alone.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-06', 'modified' => '2022-05-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14968', 'image' => '20220506023045_20220213081358_Clipboard31.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-06 14:29:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15225', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Credit Flow to Fake Business Establishments lands Cooperatives in Trouble', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 6: A report prepared by a committee formed by the government has found that some cooperatives have become unable to repay the deposits of the general public. ', '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 6: A report prepared by a committee formed by the government has found that some cooperatives have become unable to repay the deposits of the general public. The report states that those cooperatives have become problematic due to the credit flow to fake business establishments set up by the cooperatives themselves. </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 Problematic Cooperative Management Committee submitted the report on the problematic cooperatives to Minister for Land Management Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Shashi Shrestha on Thursday.</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 report has declared Oriental Co-operative Limited, Social Savings and Loan Cooperative Limited and Luniva Multipurpose Cooperative Limited as problematic cooperatives.</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"">Receiving the report, Minister Shrestha requested to work in such a way that the basic values, beliefs and principles of the cooperatives are adhered to and arrangements are made to provide funds to the claimants on the basis of principles and criteria of the cooperatives.</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""> To prevent problems in the cooperatives, Minister Shrestha said that the ministry is ready to make necessary legal and policy arrangements while emphasizing on the need to work out an action plan.</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 committee also concluded that the cooperatives are facing problems because they acted contrary to the legal responsibility of promoting good governance in the cooperatives and strayed from embracing the concepts of self-accountability, honesty and mutual assistance.</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 report denotes that the problem surfaced due to the misuse of depositors’ savings by the cooperatives in direct violation of the law against the purpose and principle of the cooperative, lending without collateral or security or maintaining unnaturally high value of collateral, setting up artificial business and lending.</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"">Chairman of the Problematic Cooperative Management Committee, Kashiraj Dahal expressed his commitment to work in a way to solve the problem of problematic cooperatives by formulating certain criteria.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-06', 'modified' => '2022-05-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14967', 'image' => '20220506015945_Cooperative.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-06 13:59:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15224', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Himalayan and Everest Insurance Companies opt for Merger', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 6: Himalayan General Insurance Company Limited and Everest Insurance Company Limited have agreed for a merger under indirect pressure from the Insurance Board to raise their paid-up capital.', '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 6: Himalayan General Insurance Company Limited and Everest Insurance Company Limited have agreed for a merger under indirect pressure from the Insurance Board to raise their paid-up capital.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed by chairman of Everest Insurance Rajiv Sapkota and Mahendra Krishna Shrestha on behalf of Himalayan General INsurance. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A six-member merger committee representing three directors of each company has been formed to take the merger process forward. </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 merger committee will now decide on everything from <strong>asset liability assessment</strong> to determining the swap ratio in order to restructure of the company after the merger,” said Kamal Gautam, CEO of Everest Insurance, “Then we will merge with each other. As we merge with each other, the name of the company will be kept in such a way that it will reflect the identities of both the companies.” </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 him, the target is to do integrated business within the current fiscal year. “We will now proceed with the necessary process after getting approval in principle from the board. Overall, our initial goal is to start integrated business within the current fiscal year,” he said, “Our goal is to become the first company to merge in the insurance sector.” </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 Insurance Board had issued a directive a month ago instructing the insurance companies to increase their paid-up capital. At present, non-life insurance companies should have a minimum paid-up capital of Rs 1 billion and life insurance companies should have a minimum paid-up capital of Rs 2 billion. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board has directed that the non-life insurance companies should raise the minimum limit of paid-up capital to Rs 2.5 billion and life insurance companies should increase it to Rs 5 billion by mid-April 2023. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-06', 'modified' => '2022-05-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14966', 'image' => '20220506122607_merger.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-06 12:25:09', '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' => '15244', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Global Food Crisis Looms as Russia Blocks Black Sea Ports', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 10: Ukraine and its allies have intensified efforts to unblock ports or provide alternate routes for exporting its significant crops of grain, wheat and corn.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Agencies</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 10: Ukraine and its allies have intensified efforts to unblock ports or provide alternate routes for exporting its significant crops of grain, wheat and corn.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the BBC, Ukraine and the EU discussed taking "immediate measures to unblock Ukraine's ports for grain exports" after Russia's blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports has forced its grain exporters to look for alternatives to move their cargo.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he discussed preventing "a global food crisis triggered by Russia's aggressive actions" during talks with European Council President Charles Michel on his visit to Odesa on Monday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Reuters reported that buildings in Odesa, a major Black Sea port for exporting agricultural products, lay in ruins on Tuesday, a day after Kremlin forces pounded the southern Ukrainian port with missiles.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Before the war, Ukraine exported 4.5 million tonnes of agricultural produce per month through its ports -12% of the world's wheat, 15% of its corn and 50% of its sunflower oil, the AFP news agency reports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">But the invasion has crippled its export capacity, with Russia destroying transportation infrastructure and blockading Odesa, the main port for grain exports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Food is stranded because of the Russian war and blockade of Black Sea ports causing dramatic consequences for vulnerable countries. We need a global response," BBC quoted Michael as saying.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-10', 'modified' => '2022-05-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14986', 'image' => '20220510014342_wheat.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-10 13:43:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15243', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Banana Farming affected due to Lack of Fertilizers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 10: Banana farms in Jhapa are declining due to lack of chemical fertilizers.', '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 10: Banana farms in Jhapa are declining due to lack of chemical fertilizers. Benu Parajuli of Kankai Municipality-3, who used to cultivate bananas on 50 bighas of land in the past, now cultivates banana in just 30 bighas of land as the income from farming declined. Parajuli said that even though banana farming started with the objective of creating a 'banana zone', the farmers had to incur huge losses due to lack of fertilizer.</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 farmers who received government subsidies by declaring pocket and block areas in the past have now started reducing banana cultivation by returning the land to the landowners. In the past, Durgamata and Kolakheti agricultural farms were cultivating bananas commercially in 400 bighas of land in Kankai Municipality-5, Shivasatakshi Municipality-7, Barhadashi Rural Municipality-6 and Jhapa Rural Municipality-7.</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"">Farmers like Benu Parajuli, Himdal Parajuli, Kul Prasad Chimariya, Laxmi Chimariya and Ganesh Sangraula jointly operated the farm. Although they started collective banana farming by leasing the land of local farmers for five years, they stopped cultivating bananas, and returned the land to the owners after failing to raise investment in three years.</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 Durgamata and Kolakheti agricultural farms, known as the largest banana farms in Jhapa, destroyed the banana cultivation in about 100 bighas of land this time. Laxmi Chimariya, chairperson of the farm, said that the production declines when there is scarcity of chemical fertilizers when needed.</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 bananas need fertilizers up to three times a year, he complained that the production declined due to the failure in acquiring fertilizer even once last year. Banana cultivation requires fertilizers such as urea, DAP, potassium and phosphorus. The farm had received a grant of Rs 5 million from the Agriculture Knowledge Center for two years on the condition of investing 50 percent in farming.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-10', 'modified' => '2022-05-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14985', 'image' => '20220510123328_istockphoto-1030232778-612x612.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-10 12:32:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15242', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CD Ratio of 18 Banks still above 90 Percent ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 10: The credit-deposit (CD) ratio of 18 out of the 27 commercial banks in operation in Nepal is above 90 percent.', '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 10: The credit-deposit (CD) ratio of 18 out of the 27 commercial banks in operation in Nepal is above 90 percent. This is more than the limit set by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) which the banks have to comply within mid-July. The CD ratio of the remaining nine banks is less than 90 percent. </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"">Bankers say the CD ratio has risen to more than 90 percent as deposits could not grow. </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"">Through the monetary policy, NRB has implemented the provision of maintaining CD ratio by removing the provision of capital, loan and deposit (CCD) ratio in banks and financial institutions. As per the announcement of the monetary policy for the current fiscal year (FY), the central bank had issued a directive in August asking the banks and financial institutions to maintain the CD ratio up to 90 percent. Banks with higher than the ratio specified in the directive were given time till mid-July 2022 to bring the ratio within the limit. </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"">Until mid-July, banks will be able to calculate the amount of debentures and refinancing in the CD ratio as deposits. Similarly, the central bank has allowed the banks to calculate 80 percent of the amount at the local level as deposits. The bankers say that since the facility will end in mid-July, there will be more pressure on the CD ratio. </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"">Sunil KC, vice-president of Nepal Bankers' Association and chief executive officer of NMB Bank, said that it would be difficult to bring the CD ratio of banks and financial institutions within the limit in this month as the average CD ratio of BFIs is 91 percent. </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"">“While the credit flow has increased by 12 percent in the current FY, the deposit collection has increased by only 4 percent,” he said, adding, “It is difficult to maintain the prescribed CD ratio as there is no sign of significant growth.” </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 Bankers' Association had urged the NRB to facilitate the implementation of CD ratio in the mid-term assessment of monetary policy. As per the demand of the association, NRB had extended the time till mid-July. </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 banker says that more time is needed as it is difficult to bring the CD ratio within the stipulated limit even in July. According to the association, the CD ratio of only nine banks was within the limit as of April. The CD ratio is more than 91 percent of a dozen banks. The remaining half a dozen have the ratio of 90 percent in average. </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 other hand, NRB officials say that the banks should continue to operate as per the existing system until further notice. “The banks and financial institutions are given time till mid-July to bring the CD ratio within the stipulated limit,” said Narayan Prasad Pokharel, deputy spokesperson of NRB, adding, “Within that time, banks should bring the ratio within prescribed limits even by managing the deposit and credit 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"">He said that as the action plan to bring the CD ratio within the prescribed limits has been approved by the Board of Directors and presented to the central bank, the banks should work accordingly. </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"">Recently, banks have not been able to disburse credit due to high CD ratio. The CD ratio of Standard Chartered, Prabhu Bank, NIC Asia, Rastriya Banijya Bank, Laxmi and NMB Bank is below 90 percent. Similarly, the CD ratio of Sanima, Machhapuchhre and NCC Bank is also below the limit. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-10', 'modified' => '2022-05-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14984', 'image' => '20220510111650_Banks.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-10 11:16:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15241', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Garbage Piled Up Yet Again in Kathmandu Valley ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 10: Waste management of all 18 local levels in the Kathmandu Valley has been affected yet again as the Sisdole landfill site in Nuwakot district has been full with garbage.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 10: Waste management of all 18 local levels in the Kathmandu Valley has been affected yet again as the Sisdole landfill site in Nuwakot district has been full with garbage. The Kathmandu Metropolitan City said waste management on Sunday and Monday was affected in the valley since the workers were working to manage space for more garbage in the Sisdole landfill site. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of Environment Department of KMC Sarita Rai said garbage collection would resume from Tuesday morning if the waste adjustment gets completed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The waste from the Kathmandu Valley has been disposed in Sisdole for the past 15 years although the site was prepared to adjust waste for just two years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The KMC officials said sustainable waste management has become challenging as the under-construction landfill site at Banchare Danda has not been completed within the deadline. As much as 1,200 metric tonnes of waste is being managed in Sisdole landfill site every day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that garbage collection from the Kathmandu Valley had just resumed from Saturday after 14 days of disruption caused by the residents of the Pasang Lhyamu Highway. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-10', 'modified' => '2022-05-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14983', 'image' => '20220510075250_fta-141015-04-np-te.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-10 07:51:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15240', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Preparing Directive to Rent Out Transmission Lines', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 9: The government is preparing to adopt a policy related to wheeling charge for renting out transmission lines. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 9: The government is preparing to adopt a policy related to wheeling charge for renting out transmission lines. The Electricity Regulatory Commission informed that it has already initiated the process in this regard. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The commission says that the transmission lines can be rented after the government issues a directive to this effect. Chairman of the commission Dilli Bahadur Singh informed that they are currently preparing a directive to rent out the transmission lines.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We have already prepared a draft of the directive. We will soon finalize it,” said Singh.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The commission is preparing such directive to allow the private sector to trade electricity. As the private sector has not set up its own transmission lines, it has to rely on government-owned transmission lines. The private sector had been demanding the government to rent its transmission lines.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The state-owned Nepal Electricity Authority is currently involved in setting up transmission lines. The government has also established the National Grid Company especially for this purpose.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Once the directive gets ready, it will open the door for the private sector to use the state-owned transmission lines for electricity trade.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The directive will focus on the rental charge for the use of transmission lines by the private sector, informed Singh. However, the rental charge of the transmission lines has not yet been fixed. Singh informed that they are conducing necessary study and discussions in this regard.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“It is not that easy to determine the charge,” said Singh, adding, “The charge has to be determined considering the length of the transmission line as well as the amount of electricity and the time used for the transmission of electricity.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Once the directive is ready, other institutions can set up separate transmission lines and use them for rental purpose, said Singh.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-09', 'modified' => '2022-05-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14982', 'image' => '20220509064230_Transmission.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-09 18:41:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15239', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'BFI Staffers Busy in Election', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 9: With the upcoming local level elections just around the corner, employees of banks and microfinance have been found involved in preparation for the poll in Rautahat district. ', '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 9: With the upcoming local level elections just around the corner, employees of banks and microfinance have been found involved in preparation for the poll in Rautahat district. Employees of the state-owned Rastriya Banijya Bank, Nepal Bank, Agricultural Development Bank and Grameen Bikas Laghu Bittiya Sanstha Ltd have been deployed for the elections by the District Election Office, Rautahat.</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 service of the financial sector has been affected after the staff were deployed for the elections. Service seekers who reached banks on Friday were deprived of prompt service as the employees of banks and financial institutions were reportedly attending the training given to the polling officer and assistant polling officer. The service seekers complained that the transactions and business were affected on Friday as the bank employees went for training. Meanwhile, the banks of the private sector were open 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"">Chief Election Officer of the District Election Office Chhote Lal Das claimed that the bank staff were deployed in such a way that it would not hinder their work. He claimed that the banks and financial institutions were asked to report immediately in case of any obstruction in the office. He said that only a small number of employees from banks and microfinance have been deployed for the poll. According to him, employees of banks and financial institutions were deployed in the previous election as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-09', 'modified' => '2022-05-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14981', 'image' => '20220510111757_Bankkk.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-09 16:32:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15236', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Share Transactions Available till Friday from May 15', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 9: Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE), the secondary market of securities, will now continue its transactions on Fridays as well from May 15.', '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 9: Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE), the secondary market of securities, will now continue its transactions on Fridays as well from May 15. Till date, the transactions of securities in the secondary market are done between Sunday to Thursday.</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"">After the announcement of the government to give holidays on Saturday and Sunday, NEPSE made arrangements to continue with share transactions on Fridays as well in order to prevent a reduction in the number of transactions of securities in the secondary market. The Board of Directors of NEPSE reached the decision in a meeting held on May 4.</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 Sunday, NEPSE directed all the brokers to make arrangements for share transactions from Monday to Friday. Starting from May 15, NEPSE will keep its offices operational from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM, as per the decision of the Council of Ministers made on May 6. NEPSE informed that the share market will be open from 11 AM to 3 PM on Fridays.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-09', 'modified' => '2022-05-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14978', 'image' => '20220509124220_istockphoto-1322201350-170667a.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-09 12:41:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15232', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Announces Tender Bids to Sell 200 MW Electricity in India', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 8: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is planning to sell 200 MW of electricity to India in the upcoming rainy season.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">May 8: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is planning to sell 200 MW of electricity to India in the upcoming rainy season. NEA said it is going to sell the electricity to India through tender bids. Currently, NEA has imposed load shedding in the industrial sector at present due to lack of adequate electricity generation during the dry season.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">But with the onset of monsoon, NEA will sell 200 MW of electricity generated from various hydropower projects to India. It has published a tender notice on Friday calling for the Indian Electricity Trading Company to submit its proposal.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">NEA is going to sell the same amount of electricity to India for four and a half months (July 1 to November 15, 2022). The pre-condition is that the interested companies should submit a proposal to purchase at least 50 MW of electricity. No limit has been set for the rate of purchase and sale of electricity. The authority said that the company which proposes the highest rate in the tender will be selected.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">If the tender is successful, NEA will start exporting electricity to India commercially for the first time. Earlier, electricity was being exported to India as electricity exchange or energy banking. NEA has received approval to sell 364 MW of electricity from 6 different hydropower projects in Nepal to India.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Out of this, tender has been invited to sell 200 MW at fixed price. NEA will be able to sell the electricity in the Indian open electricity market (Day Ahead Market) by bidding daily.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">NEA has already received permission to buy and sell electricity from the Indian open electricity market. As per the approval, NEA will be able to buy and sell electricity in the Indian market by bidding on a daily basis. When buying and selling electricity in this way, the selling price will be different every day. In addition, electricity can be bought and sold at a fixed price through tender. NEA is currently importing electricity from India's open market through daily bids.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">NEA Executive Director Kulman Ghising said that the process of selling 200 MW of electricity in India through tender has been moved forward. "We have already got permission to sell 364 MW of electricity in the Indian market. We are going to sell 200 MW through tender,” 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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Currently, the NEA is struggling to purchase electricity from the open market of India as per the demand. Coal is major source of electricity in India. Due to the recent shortage of coal in the wake of Russia-Ukraine tensions, India's power generation has been reduced and load shedding has started. As a result, NEA has not been able to get electricity from India. In order to manage the supply of electricity, NEA has started load shedding in the industrial sector across Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-08', 'modified' => '2022-05-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14974', 'image' => '20220508022533_NEA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-08 14:24:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15231', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Upcoming Budget to Prioritize Agriculture, Production and Employment', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 8: The government is planning to give high priority to agriculture, production and employment in the budget of the upcoming fiscal year in an attempt to improve the economy of the country.', '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 8: The government is planning to give high priority to agriculture, production and employment in the budget of the upcoming fiscal year in an attempt to improve the economy of 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"">According to Dr Surendra Upreti, senior economic adviser at the Ministry of Finance, the country is performing poorly in agriculture at present. “Last year, agricultural products worth Rs 325 billion were imported. We need a new approach and different policies and programmes for the agricultural sector. A budget focused on promoting production-based economy will be introduced,” said Upreti.</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 also claimed that despite some pressure on the external sector and inflation, the problem in the economy will be resolved soon. Upreti also said that the problem of loan investment is high as well. At the same time, imports have skyrocketed. Therefore, there was pressure on the external sector. “Problems occurred due to the high imports,” said Upreti adding that the second major problem at present is inflation. </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 inflation was expected to reach 6.5 percent in the current fiscal year, it climbed to 7.1 percent due to the Russia-Ukraine war, said Upreti. He further said that although the current year's economic growth rate is projected to reach 7 percent, it is not practically possible due to natural calamities.</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"">Bank and Financial Advisor at the Ministry of Finance, Dr Shalikram Pokhrel said that the upcoming budget is focused on promoting small and medium enterprises. According to Pokhrel, who is working in the core team of Finance Minister Janardan Sharma, different approaches to formulate various policies were taken to strengthen the economy for a long term. </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 focus should now be on production and not just policy. The budget will be introduced accordingly.” Pokhrel said, adding, “There are many benefits if remittances can be linked to 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"">Economic and political analyst Hari Roka said that the upcoming budget should focus on agriculture and production. Roka also said that work should be done from the grassroots level to find a long-term solution to the current problems.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-08', 'modified' => '2022-05-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14973', 'image' => '20220508020319_agri maize.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-08 14:02:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15230', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Cooking Oil declines by a Quarter ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 8: The production of the domestic oil industry has fallen by a quarter since Indonesia banned the export of crude oil amid mounting tensions between Russia and Ukraine. ', '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 8: The production of the domestic oil industry has fallen by a quarter since Indonesia banned the export of crude oil amid mounting tensions between Russia and Ukraine. The industrialists say that the production has shrunk due to the obstruction in the import of raw materials. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the industrialists, the oil industries of Bara-Parsa are now running at 25 percent of their capacity due to the inconvenience in supply of raw materials. </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"">Nikhil Chachan, director of Narayani Oil, said that the production has dropped to about a quarter after the import of semi-refined oil from major producers was stopped. </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"">“Prior to this, the industries were producing at 80 percent of their capacity. At present, their production capacity has decreased to 25/30 percent,” said Chachan. Entrepreneurs say that the production will keep declining if the problems in the supply chain prevails. </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"">Among the two dozen edible oil industries, the majority are in this corridor. Few others are operating in Biratnagar and Bhairahawa. </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 domestic producers used to import semi-refined sunflower and soybean oil from Ukraine and Russia before the war on February 24 halted the shipments. A high quantity of mustard oil used to be imported from these countries. However, the mounting tension between these countries for a couple of months has affected the supply chain. </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"">Another major exporter of palm oil, Indonesia, has banned the export since April 28 in order to control the price in the domestic market. </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"">Suresh Rungta, operator of OBC Foods, said that the industrialists, who have been exporting edible oil to India by importing semi-refined oil from Indonesia, are finding it difficult to operate the industries at the moment. </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"">Rungta informed that they have started importing soybean from Australia and India after the embargo of semi-refined oil. Furthermore, he said that the stock of soybeans in the warehouse is not enough even for a month. Currently, his industry has been consuming 80 metric tons of soybean per day. </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 inconvenience in supply of raw materials can lead to the scarcity of oil in the domestic market. The industrialists say that the price of oil is skyrocketing due to the decline in production. According to Chachan, the price of semi-refined soybean oil in the international market which was USD 1,000 per metric ton a year ago, has now increased to USD 2,100. </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 shortage in the international market and the pressure of inflation have impacted the domestic market price. The price of edible oil has risen by Rs 50 per liter since the Russia-Ukraine tensions started. According to Rungta, the price of cooking oil, which was Rs 250 per liter two months ago, is now Rs 300 per liter. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-08', 'modified' => '2022-05-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14972', 'image' => '20220508125051_oil1501009175_7.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-08 12:50:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15228', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Annapurna Circuit Sees Rise in Arrival of European Tourists', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 8: More than 6,000 foreign tourists, mostly Europeans, have visited Manang district since the beginning of the current fiscal year (FY 2021/22).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 8: More than 6,000 foreign tourists, mostly Europeans, have visited Manang district since the beginning of the current fiscal year (FY 2021/22). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Annapurna Circuit, which is one of the major tourist attractions of Nepal, has welcomed 6,584 European tourists during the review period. Among them, French tourists constituted the highest number at 801 followed by 699 German tourists. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, tourists from other countries such as Israel, the UK and India among others have also visited to the mountainous district, according to Annapurna Conservation Area, Manang chief Lekhnath Gautam. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The maximum number of foreign tourists arrived in the month of April when 2,382 visitors were recorded, said Gautam. </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 Annapurna trail is popular among the foreigners as it includes sub-tropical forests, famous trekking routes such as snow-capped Thorang-La pass, Larke Pass and places such as world's highest altitude fresh water lake Tilicho Lake and holiest shrine-Muktinath Temple and high mountains. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On an average, around 77 foreign tourists are visiting Annapurna trail on a daily basis since the onset of tourist season this spring. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Lately, domestic tourists are also seen in Annapurna trail, recognized as one of top 10 incredible travel experiences in the world by Lonely Planet for 2021. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-08', 'modified' => '2022-05-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14970', 'image' => '20220508080527_Annapurna circuit (3).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-08 08:04:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15227', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Electricity Supply to Industries Resumes after a Week', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 6: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has started supplying electricity to the industries of Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor from Wednesday evening after a week-long power cuts.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 6: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has started supplying electricity to the industries of Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor from Wednesday evening after a week-long power cuts.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The NEA had cut off power supply to the industrial sector from last Wednesday due to its failure in importing electricity from India. Initially, the NEA had said that the electricity supply would be cut for 12 to 16 hours but later, it was completely cut off for a week.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industries in the corridor shut down entirely due to the lack of electricity. NEA had been supplying electricity to the industries by importing 500 MW of electricity daily from India. The power supply to industry was cut off after NEA failed to bring electricity from India.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India halted electricity exports to Nepal as India itself was facing an energy crisis due to a shortage of coal. Following the halt in supply of electricity from India, NEA imposed load shedding in the industrial sector to ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity to domestic customers. Chief of NEA Birgunj Distribution Center Jitendra Kumar Jha informed that power supply to industries resumed from Wednesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Jha, NEA started supplying electricity from 11 and 66 KV transmission lines. “Electricity has been restored in the industrial corridor since Wednesday evening. The problem of scarcity is still prevalent as a permanent solution is not made,” said Jha.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Jha informed that the supply eased a bit as the water level in flowing water bodies rose due to rainfall on Tuesday and Wednesday. Madhav Rajpal, vice-president of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the industries in the Bara-Parsa corridor, which were closed for a week due to lack of energy supply, are now operational.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As many as 2,000 small and medium enterprises along the corridor were shut down for a week due to the lack of electricity.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-06', 'modified' => '2022-05-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14969', 'image' => '20220506032210_elec.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-06 15:21:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15226', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Ministry Proposes a Budget of Rs 196 Million for Tourism Promotion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 6: The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has recommended allocating a budget of Rs 196 million for the upcoming fiscal year for tourism promotion. ', '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 6: The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has recommended allocating a budget of Rs 196 million for the upcoming fiscal year for tourism promotion. The ministry aims to revive the tourism sector affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The National Tourism Revival Committee has said that an additional budget has been demanded to promote Nepal's tourism nationally and internationally and to circulate the message that Nepal is now safe for travel.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A technical committee formed under the chairmanship of Tourism Minister Prem Ale has suggested that an additional budget is needed for tourism promotion. According to Rajaram Giri, coordinator of the technical committee, they are planning to carry out promotional in a more creative way than the traditional way.</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 ministry is organizing an international tourism summit in September to bring in tourists. High-level delegations from more than 20 countries are expected to attend the conference. The ministry plans to invite the tourism minister of the country contributing to the highest number of tourists visiting Nepal. Tourism ministers of South Asian countries and experts working in the field of tourism will be invited to the summit.</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, Giri added that international mountaineers, hikers and personalities will attend the summit. The committee believes that the summit will spread the message worldwide that Nepal is open and safe for travel.</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, world-famous celebrities are also being invited to the event. </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"">At the same time, the committee aims to bring Nepal to the centre of global discussion by inviting artists, athletes and mountaineers from other countries. </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"">Similarly, the committee is going to make a 'Tourism Digital Map' keeping in view the information of every tourist area of Nepal. The aim is to include the 'One Village One Tourism Area' campaign on the same digital map. That work will be done by Nepal Tourism Board. </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 digital map will include new tourist destinations to old ones. Tourists will know about the tourist areas of Nepal as soon as they see the map. Giri said that Rs 5 million has been allocated for the project alone.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-06', 'modified' => '2022-05-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14968', 'image' => '20220506023045_20220213081358_Clipboard31.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-06 14:29:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15225', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Credit Flow to Fake Business Establishments lands Cooperatives in Trouble', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 6: A report prepared by a committee formed by the government has found that some cooperatives have become unable to repay the deposits of the general public. ', '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 6: A report prepared by a committee formed by the government has found that some cooperatives have become unable to repay the deposits of the general public. The report states that those cooperatives have become problematic due to the credit flow to fake business establishments set up by the cooperatives themselves. </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 Problematic Cooperative Management Committee submitted the report on the problematic cooperatives to Minister for Land Management Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Shashi Shrestha on Thursday.</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 report has declared Oriental Co-operative Limited, Social Savings and Loan Cooperative Limited and Luniva Multipurpose Cooperative Limited as problematic cooperatives.</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"">Receiving the report, Minister Shrestha requested to work in such a way that the basic values, beliefs and principles of the cooperatives are adhered to and arrangements are made to provide funds to the claimants on the basis of principles and criteria of the cooperatives.</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""> To prevent problems in the cooperatives, Minister Shrestha said that the ministry is ready to make necessary legal and policy arrangements while emphasizing on the need to work out an action plan.</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 committee also concluded that the cooperatives are facing problems because they acted contrary to the legal responsibility of promoting good governance in the cooperatives and strayed from embracing the concepts of self-accountability, honesty and mutual assistance.</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 report denotes that the problem surfaced due to the misuse of depositors’ savings by the cooperatives in direct violation of the law against the purpose and principle of the cooperative, lending without collateral or security or maintaining unnaturally high value of collateral, setting up artificial business and lending.</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"">Chairman of the Problematic Cooperative Management Committee, Kashiraj Dahal expressed his commitment to work in a way to solve the problem of problematic cooperatives by formulating certain criteria.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-06', 'modified' => '2022-05-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14967', 'image' => '20220506015945_Cooperative.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-06 13:59:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15224', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Himalayan and Everest Insurance Companies opt for Merger', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 6: Himalayan General Insurance Company Limited and Everest Insurance Company Limited have agreed for a merger under indirect pressure from the Insurance Board to raise their paid-up capital.', '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 6: Himalayan General Insurance Company Limited and Everest Insurance Company Limited have agreed for a merger under indirect pressure from the Insurance Board to raise their paid-up capital.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed by chairman of Everest Insurance Rajiv Sapkota and Mahendra Krishna Shrestha on behalf of Himalayan General INsurance. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A six-member merger committee representing three directors of each company has been formed to take the merger process forward. </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 merger committee will now decide on everything from <strong>asset liability assessment</strong> to determining the swap ratio in order to restructure of the company after the merger,” said Kamal Gautam, CEO of Everest Insurance, “Then we will merge with each other. As we merge with each other, the name of the company will be kept in such a way that it will reflect the identities of both the companies.” </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 him, the target is to do integrated business within the current fiscal year. “We will now proceed with the necessary process after getting approval in principle from the board. Overall, our initial goal is to start integrated business within the current fiscal year,” he said, “Our goal is to become the first company to merge in the insurance sector.” </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 Insurance Board had issued a directive a month ago instructing the insurance companies to increase their paid-up capital. At present, non-life insurance companies should have a minimum paid-up capital of Rs 1 billion and life insurance companies should have a minimum paid-up capital of Rs 2 billion. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board has directed that the non-life insurance companies should raise the minimum limit of paid-up capital to Rs 2.5 billion and life insurance companies should increase it to Rs 5 billion by mid-April 2023. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-06', 'modified' => '2022-05-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14966', 'image' => '20220506122607_merger.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-06 12:25:09', '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' => '15244', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Global Food Crisis Looms as Russia Blocks Black Sea Ports', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 10: Ukraine and its allies have intensified efforts to unblock ports or provide alternate routes for exporting its significant crops of grain, wheat and corn.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Agencies</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 10: Ukraine and its allies have intensified efforts to unblock ports or provide alternate routes for exporting its significant crops of grain, wheat and corn.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the BBC, Ukraine and the EU discussed taking "immediate measures to unblock Ukraine's ports for grain exports" after Russia's blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports has forced its grain exporters to look for alternatives to move their cargo.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he discussed preventing "a global food crisis triggered by Russia's aggressive actions" during talks with European Council President Charles Michel on his visit to Odesa on Monday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Reuters reported that buildings in Odesa, a major Black Sea port for exporting agricultural products, lay in ruins on Tuesday, a day after Kremlin forces pounded the southern Ukrainian port with missiles.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Before the war, Ukraine exported 4.5 million tonnes of agricultural produce per month through its ports -12% of the world's wheat, 15% of its corn and 50% of its sunflower oil, the AFP news agency reports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">But the invasion has crippled its export capacity, with Russia destroying transportation infrastructure and blockading Odesa, the main port for grain exports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Food is stranded because of the Russian war and blockade of Black Sea ports causing dramatic consequences for vulnerable countries. We need a global response," BBC quoted Michael as saying.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-10', 'modified' => '2022-05-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14986', 'image' => '20220510014342_wheat.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-10 13:43:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15243', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Banana Farming affected due to Lack of Fertilizers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 10: Banana farms in Jhapa are declining due to lack of chemical fertilizers.', '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 10: Banana farms in Jhapa are declining due to lack of chemical fertilizers. Benu Parajuli of Kankai Municipality-3, who used to cultivate bananas on 50 bighas of land in the past, now cultivates banana in just 30 bighas of land as the income from farming declined. Parajuli said that even though banana farming started with the objective of creating a 'banana zone', the farmers had to incur huge losses due to lack of fertilizer.</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 farmers who received government subsidies by declaring pocket and block areas in the past have now started reducing banana cultivation by returning the land to the landowners. In the past, Durgamata and Kolakheti agricultural farms were cultivating bananas commercially in 400 bighas of land in Kankai Municipality-5, Shivasatakshi Municipality-7, Barhadashi Rural Municipality-6 and Jhapa Rural Municipality-7.</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"">Farmers like Benu Parajuli, Himdal Parajuli, Kul Prasad Chimariya, Laxmi Chimariya and Ganesh Sangraula jointly operated the farm. Although they started collective banana farming by leasing the land of local farmers for five years, they stopped cultivating bananas, and returned the land to the owners after failing to raise investment in three years.</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 Durgamata and Kolakheti agricultural farms, known as the largest banana farms in Jhapa, destroyed the banana cultivation in about 100 bighas of land this time. Laxmi Chimariya, chairperson of the farm, said that the production declines when there is scarcity of chemical fertilizers when needed.</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 bananas need fertilizers up to three times a year, he complained that the production declined due to the failure in acquiring fertilizer even once last year. Banana cultivation requires fertilizers such as urea, DAP, potassium and phosphorus. The farm had received a grant of Rs 5 million from the Agriculture Knowledge Center for two years on the condition of investing 50 percent in farming.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-10', 'modified' => '2022-05-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14985', 'image' => '20220510123328_istockphoto-1030232778-612x612.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-10 12:32:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15242', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CD Ratio of 18 Banks still above 90 Percent ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 10: The credit-deposit (CD) ratio of 18 out of the 27 commercial banks in operation in Nepal is above 90 percent.', '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 10: The credit-deposit (CD) ratio of 18 out of the 27 commercial banks in operation in Nepal is above 90 percent. This is more than the limit set by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) which the banks have to comply within mid-July. The CD ratio of the remaining nine banks is less than 90 percent. </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"">Bankers say the CD ratio has risen to more than 90 percent as deposits could not grow. </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"">Through the monetary policy, NRB has implemented the provision of maintaining CD ratio by removing the provision of capital, loan and deposit (CCD) ratio in banks and financial institutions. As per the announcement of the monetary policy for the current fiscal year (FY), the central bank had issued a directive in August asking the banks and financial institutions to maintain the CD ratio up to 90 percent. Banks with higher than the ratio specified in the directive were given time till mid-July 2022 to bring the ratio within the limit. </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"">Until mid-July, banks will be able to calculate the amount of debentures and refinancing in the CD ratio as deposits. Similarly, the central bank has allowed the banks to calculate 80 percent of the amount at the local level as deposits. The bankers say that since the facility will end in mid-July, there will be more pressure on the CD ratio. </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"">Sunil KC, vice-president of Nepal Bankers' Association and chief executive officer of NMB Bank, said that it would be difficult to bring the CD ratio of banks and financial institutions within the limit in this month as the average CD ratio of BFIs is 91 percent. </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"">“While the credit flow has increased by 12 percent in the current FY, the deposit collection has increased by only 4 percent,” he said, adding, “It is difficult to maintain the prescribed CD ratio as there is no sign of significant growth.” </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 Bankers' Association had urged the NRB to facilitate the implementation of CD ratio in the mid-term assessment of monetary policy. As per the demand of the association, NRB had extended the time till mid-July. </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 banker says that more time is needed as it is difficult to bring the CD ratio within the stipulated limit even in July. According to the association, the CD ratio of only nine banks was within the limit as of April. The CD ratio is more than 91 percent of a dozen banks. The remaining half a dozen have the ratio of 90 percent in average. </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 other hand, NRB officials say that the banks should continue to operate as per the existing system until further notice. “The banks and financial institutions are given time till mid-July to bring the CD ratio within the stipulated limit,” said Narayan Prasad Pokharel, deputy spokesperson of NRB, adding, “Within that time, banks should bring the ratio within prescribed limits even by managing the deposit and credit 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"">He said that as the action plan to bring the CD ratio within the prescribed limits has been approved by the Board of Directors and presented to the central bank, the banks should work accordingly. </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"">Recently, banks have not been able to disburse credit due to high CD ratio. The CD ratio of Standard Chartered, Prabhu Bank, NIC Asia, Rastriya Banijya Bank, Laxmi and NMB Bank is below 90 percent. Similarly, the CD ratio of Sanima, Machhapuchhre and NCC Bank is also below the limit. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-10', 'modified' => '2022-05-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14984', 'image' => '20220510111650_Banks.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-10 11:16:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15241', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Garbage Piled Up Yet Again in Kathmandu Valley ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 10: Waste management of all 18 local levels in the Kathmandu Valley has been affected yet again as the Sisdole landfill site in Nuwakot district has been full with garbage.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 10: Waste management of all 18 local levels in the Kathmandu Valley has been affected yet again as the Sisdole landfill site in Nuwakot district has been full with garbage. The Kathmandu Metropolitan City said waste management on Sunday and Monday was affected in the valley since the workers were working to manage space for more garbage in the Sisdole landfill site. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of Environment Department of KMC Sarita Rai said garbage collection would resume from Tuesday morning if the waste adjustment gets completed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The waste from the Kathmandu Valley has been disposed in Sisdole for the past 15 years although the site was prepared to adjust waste for just two years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The KMC officials said sustainable waste management has become challenging as the under-construction landfill site at Banchare Danda has not been completed within the deadline. As much as 1,200 metric tonnes of waste is being managed in Sisdole landfill site every day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that garbage collection from the Kathmandu Valley had just resumed from Saturday after 14 days of disruption caused by the residents of the Pasang Lhyamu Highway. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-10', 'modified' => '2022-05-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14983', 'image' => '20220510075250_fta-141015-04-np-te.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-10 07:51:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15240', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Preparing Directive to Rent Out Transmission Lines', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 9: The government is preparing to adopt a policy related to wheeling charge for renting out transmission lines. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 9: The government is preparing to adopt a policy related to wheeling charge for renting out transmission lines. The Electricity Regulatory Commission informed that it has already initiated the process in this regard. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The commission says that the transmission lines can be rented after the government issues a directive to this effect. Chairman of the commission Dilli Bahadur Singh informed that they are currently preparing a directive to rent out the transmission lines.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We have already prepared a draft of the directive. We will soon finalize it,” said Singh.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The commission is preparing such directive to allow the private sector to trade electricity. As the private sector has not set up its own transmission lines, it has to rely on government-owned transmission lines. The private sector had been demanding the government to rent its transmission lines.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The state-owned Nepal Electricity Authority is currently involved in setting up transmission lines. The government has also established the National Grid Company especially for this purpose.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Once the directive gets ready, it will open the door for the private sector to use the state-owned transmission lines for electricity trade.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The directive will focus on the rental charge for the use of transmission lines by the private sector, informed Singh. However, the rental charge of the transmission lines has not yet been fixed. Singh informed that they are conducing necessary study and discussions in this regard.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“It is not that easy to determine the charge,” said Singh, adding, “The charge has to be determined considering the length of the transmission line as well as the amount of electricity and the time used for the transmission of electricity.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Once the directive is ready, other institutions can set up separate transmission lines and use them for rental purpose, said Singh.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-09', 'modified' => '2022-05-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14982', 'image' => '20220509064230_Transmission.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-09 18:41:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15239', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'BFI Staffers Busy in Election', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 9: With the upcoming local level elections just around the corner, employees of banks and microfinance have been found involved in preparation for the poll in Rautahat district. ', '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 9: With the upcoming local level elections just around the corner, employees of banks and microfinance have been found involved in preparation for the poll in Rautahat district. Employees of the state-owned Rastriya Banijya Bank, Nepal Bank, Agricultural Development Bank and Grameen Bikas Laghu Bittiya Sanstha Ltd have been deployed for the elections by the District Election Office, Rautahat.</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 service of the financial sector has been affected after the staff were deployed for the elections. Service seekers who reached banks on Friday were deprived of prompt service as the employees of banks and financial institutions were reportedly attending the training given to the polling officer and assistant polling officer. The service seekers complained that the transactions and business were affected on Friday as the bank employees went for training. Meanwhile, the banks of the private sector were open 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"">Chief Election Officer of the District Election Office Chhote Lal Das claimed that the bank staff were deployed in such a way that it would not hinder their work. He claimed that the banks and financial institutions were asked to report immediately in case of any obstruction in the office. He said that only a small number of employees from banks and microfinance have been deployed for the poll. According to him, employees of banks and financial institutions were deployed in the previous election as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-09', 'modified' => '2022-05-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14981', 'image' => '20220510111757_Bankkk.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-09 16:32:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15236', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Share Transactions Available till Friday from May 15', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 9: Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE), the secondary market of securities, will now continue its transactions on Fridays as well from May 15.', '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 9: Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE), the secondary market of securities, will now continue its transactions on Fridays as well from May 15. Till date, the transactions of securities in the secondary market are done between Sunday to Thursday.</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"">After the announcement of the government to give holidays on Saturday and Sunday, NEPSE made arrangements to continue with share transactions on Fridays as well in order to prevent a reduction in the number of transactions of securities in the secondary market. The Board of Directors of NEPSE reached the decision in a meeting held on May 4.</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 Sunday, NEPSE directed all the brokers to make arrangements for share transactions from Monday to Friday. Starting from May 15, NEPSE will keep its offices operational from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM, as per the decision of the Council of Ministers made on May 6. NEPSE informed that the share market will be open from 11 AM to 3 PM on Fridays.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-09', 'modified' => '2022-05-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14978', 'image' => '20220509124220_istockphoto-1322201350-170667a.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-09 12:41:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15232', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Announces Tender Bids to Sell 200 MW Electricity in India', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 8: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is planning to sell 200 MW of electricity to India in the upcoming rainy season.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">May 8: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is planning to sell 200 MW of electricity to India in the upcoming rainy season. NEA said it is going to sell the electricity to India through tender bids. Currently, NEA has imposed load shedding in the industrial sector at present due to lack of adequate electricity generation during the dry season.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">But with the onset of monsoon, NEA will sell 200 MW of electricity generated from various hydropower projects to India. It has published a tender notice on Friday calling for the Indian Electricity Trading Company to submit its proposal.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">NEA is going to sell the same amount of electricity to India for four and a half months (July 1 to November 15, 2022). The pre-condition is that the interested companies should submit a proposal to purchase at least 50 MW of electricity. No limit has been set for the rate of purchase and sale of electricity. The authority said that the company which proposes the highest rate in the tender will be selected.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">If the tender is successful, NEA will start exporting electricity to India commercially for the first time. Earlier, electricity was being exported to India as electricity exchange or energy banking. NEA has received approval to sell 364 MW of electricity from 6 different hydropower projects in Nepal to India.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Out of this, tender has been invited to sell 200 MW at fixed price. NEA will be able to sell the electricity in the Indian open electricity market (Day Ahead Market) by bidding daily.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">NEA has already received permission to buy and sell electricity from the Indian open electricity market. As per the approval, NEA will be able to buy and sell electricity in the Indian market by bidding on a daily basis. When buying and selling electricity in this way, the selling price will be different every day. In addition, electricity can be bought and sold at a fixed price through tender. NEA is currently importing electricity from India's open market through daily bids.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">NEA Executive Director Kulman Ghising said that the process of selling 200 MW of electricity in India through tender has been moved forward. "We have already got permission to sell 364 MW of electricity in the Indian market. We are going to sell 200 MW through tender,” 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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Currently, the NEA is struggling to purchase electricity from the open market of India as per the demand. Coal is major source of electricity in India. Due to the recent shortage of coal in the wake of Russia-Ukraine tensions, India's power generation has been reduced and load shedding has started. As a result, NEA has not been able to get electricity from India. In order to manage the supply of electricity, NEA has started load shedding in the industrial sector across Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-08', 'modified' => '2022-05-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14974', 'image' => '20220508022533_NEA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-08 14:24:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15231', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Upcoming Budget to Prioritize Agriculture, Production and Employment', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 8: The government is planning to give high priority to agriculture, production and employment in the budget of the upcoming fiscal year in an attempt to improve the economy of the country.', '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 8: The government is planning to give high priority to agriculture, production and employment in the budget of the upcoming fiscal year in an attempt to improve the economy of 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"">According to Dr Surendra Upreti, senior economic adviser at the Ministry of Finance, the country is performing poorly in agriculture at present. “Last year, agricultural products worth Rs 325 billion were imported. We need a new approach and different policies and programmes for the agricultural sector. A budget focused on promoting production-based economy will be introduced,” said Upreti.</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 also claimed that despite some pressure on the external sector and inflation, the problem in the economy will be resolved soon. Upreti also said that the problem of loan investment is high as well. At the same time, imports have skyrocketed. Therefore, there was pressure on the external sector. “Problems occurred due to the high imports,” said Upreti adding that the second major problem at present is inflation. </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 inflation was expected to reach 6.5 percent in the current fiscal year, it climbed to 7.1 percent due to the Russia-Ukraine war, said Upreti. He further said that although the current year's economic growth rate is projected to reach 7 percent, it is not practically possible due to natural calamities.</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"">Bank and Financial Advisor at the Ministry of Finance, Dr Shalikram Pokhrel said that the upcoming budget is focused on promoting small and medium enterprises. According to Pokhrel, who is working in the core team of Finance Minister Janardan Sharma, different approaches to formulate various policies were taken to strengthen the economy for a long term. </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 focus should now be on production and not just policy. The budget will be introduced accordingly.” Pokhrel said, adding, “There are many benefits if remittances can be linked to 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"">Economic and political analyst Hari Roka said that the upcoming budget should focus on agriculture and production. Roka also said that work should be done from the grassroots level to find a long-term solution to the current problems.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-08', 'modified' => '2022-05-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14973', 'image' => '20220508020319_agri maize.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-08 14:02:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15230', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Cooking Oil declines by a Quarter ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 8: The production of the domestic oil industry has fallen by a quarter since Indonesia banned the export of crude oil amid mounting tensions between Russia and Ukraine. ', '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 8: The production of the domestic oil industry has fallen by a quarter since Indonesia banned the export of crude oil amid mounting tensions between Russia and Ukraine. The industrialists say that the production has shrunk due to the obstruction in the import of raw materials. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the industrialists, the oil industries of Bara-Parsa are now running at 25 percent of their capacity due to the inconvenience in supply of raw materials. </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"">Nikhil Chachan, director of Narayani Oil, said that the production has dropped to about a quarter after the import of semi-refined oil from major producers was stopped. </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"">“Prior to this, the industries were producing at 80 percent of their capacity. At present, their production capacity has decreased to 25/30 percent,” said Chachan. Entrepreneurs say that the production will keep declining if the problems in the supply chain prevails. </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"">Among the two dozen edible oil industries, the majority are in this corridor. Few others are operating in Biratnagar and Bhairahawa. </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 domestic producers used to import semi-refined sunflower and soybean oil from Ukraine and Russia before the war on February 24 halted the shipments. A high quantity of mustard oil used to be imported from these countries. However, the mounting tension between these countries for a couple of months has affected the supply chain. </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"">Another major exporter of palm oil, Indonesia, has banned the export since April 28 in order to control the price in the domestic market. </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"">Suresh Rungta, operator of OBC Foods, said that the industrialists, who have been exporting edible oil to India by importing semi-refined oil from Indonesia, are finding it difficult to operate the industries at the moment. </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"">Rungta informed that they have started importing soybean from Australia and India after the embargo of semi-refined oil. Furthermore, he said that the stock of soybeans in the warehouse is not enough even for a month. Currently, his industry has been consuming 80 metric tons of soybean per day. </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 inconvenience in supply of raw materials can lead to the scarcity of oil in the domestic market. The industrialists say that the price of oil is skyrocketing due to the decline in production. According to Chachan, the price of semi-refined soybean oil in the international market which was USD 1,000 per metric ton a year ago, has now increased to USD 2,100. </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 shortage in the international market and the pressure of inflation have impacted the domestic market price. The price of edible oil has risen by Rs 50 per liter since the Russia-Ukraine tensions started. According to Rungta, the price of cooking oil, which was Rs 250 per liter two months ago, is now Rs 300 per liter. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-08', 'modified' => '2022-05-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14972', 'image' => '20220508125051_oil1501009175_7.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-08 12:50:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15228', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Annapurna Circuit Sees Rise in Arrival of European Tourists', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 8: More than 6,000 foreign tourists, mostly Europeans, have visited Manang district since the beginning of the current fiscal year (FY 2021/22).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 8: More than 6,000 foreign tourists, mostly Europeans, have visited Manang district since the beginning of the current fiscal year (FY 2021/22). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Annapurna Circuit, which is one of the major tourist attractions of Nepal, has welcomed 6,584 European tourists during the review period. Among them, French tourists constituted the highest number at 801 followed by 699 German tourists. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, tourists from other countries such as Israel, the UK and India among others have also visited to the mountainous district, according to Annapurna Conservation Area, Manang chief Lekhnath Gautam. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The maximum number of foreign tourists arrived in the month of April when 2,382 visitors were recorded, said Gautam. </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 Annapurna trail is popular among the foreigners as it includes sub-tropical forests, famous trekking routes such as snow-capped Thorang-La pass, Larke Pass and places such as world's highest altitude fresh water lake Tilicho Lake and holiest shrine-Muktinath Temple and high mountains. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On an average, around 77 foreign tourists are visiting Annapurna trail on a daily basis since the onset of tourist season this spring. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Lately, domestic tourists are also seen in Annapurna trail, recognized as one of top 10 incredible travel experiences in the world by Lonely Planet for 2021. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-08', 'modified' => '2022-05-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14970', 'image' => '20220508080527_Annapurna circuit (3).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-08 08:04:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15227', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Electricity Supply to Industries Resumes after a Week', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 6: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has started supplying electricity to the industries of Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor from Wednesday evening after a week-long power cuts.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 6: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has started supplying electricity to the industries of Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor from Wednesday evening after a week-long power cuts.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The NEA had cut off power supply to the industrial sector from last Wednesday due to its failure in importing electricity from India. Initially, the NEA had said that the electricity supply would be cut for 12 to 16 hours but later, it was completely cut off for a week.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industries in the corridor shut down entirely due to the lack of electricity. NEA had been supplying electricity to the industries by importing 500 MW of electricity daily from India. The power supply to industry was cut off after NEA failed to bring electricity from India.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India halted electricity exports to Nepal as India itself was facing an energy crisis due to a shortage of coal. Following the halt in supply of electricity from India, NEA imposed load shedding in the industrial sector to ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity to domestic customers. Chief of NEA Birgunj Distribution Center Jitendra Kumar Jha informed that power supply to industries resumed from Wednesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Jha, NEA started supplying electricity from 11 and 66 KV transmission lines. “Electricity has been restored in the industrial corridor since Wednesday evening. The problem of scarcity is still prevalent as a permanent solution is not made,” said Jha.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Jha informed that the supply eased a bit as the water level in flowing water bodies rose due to rainfall on Tuesday and Wednesday. Madhav Rajpal, vice-president of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the industries in the Bara-Parsa corridor, which were closed for a week due to lack of energy supply, are now operational.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As many as 2,000 small and medium enterprises along the corridor were shut down for a week due to the lack of electricity.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-06', 'modified' => '2022-05-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14969', 'image' => '20220506032210_elec.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-06 15:21:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15226', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Ministry Proposes a Budget of Rs 196 Million for Tourism Promotion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 6: The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has recommended allocating a budget of Rs 196 million for the upcoming fiscal year for tourism promotion. ', '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 6: The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has recommended allocating a budget of Rs 196 million for the upcoming fiscal year for tourism promotion. The ministry aims to revive the tourism sector affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The National Tourism Revival Committee has said that an additional budget has been demanded to promote Nepal's tourism nationally and internationally and to circulate the message that Nepal is now safe for travel.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A technical committee formed under the chairmanship of Tourism Minister Prem Ale has suggested that an additional budget is needed for tourism promotion. According to Rajaram Giri, coordinator of the technical committee, they are planning to carry out promotional in a more creative way than the traditional way.</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 ministry is organizing an international tourism summit in September to bring in tourists. High-level delegations from more than 20 countries are expected to attend the conference. The ministry plans to invite the tourism minister of the country contributing to the highest number of tourists visiting Nepal. Tourism ministers of South Asian countries and experts working in the field of tourism will be invited to the summit.</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, Giri added that international mountaineers, hikers and personalities will attend the summit. The committee believes that the summit will spread the message worldwide that Nepal is open and safe for travel.</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, world-famous celebrities are also being invited to the event. </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"">At the same time, the committee aims to bring Nepal to the centre of global discussion by inviting artists, athletes and mountaineers from other countries. </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"">Similarly, the committee is going to make a 'Tourism Digital Map' keeping in view the information of every tourist area of Nepal. The aim is to include the 'One Village One Tourism Area' campaign on the same digital map. That work will be done by Nepal Tourism Board. </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 digital map will include new tourist destinations to old ones. Tourists will know about the tourist areas of Nepal as soon as they see the map. Giri said that Rs 5 million has been allocated for the project alone.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-06', 'modified' => '2022-05-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14968', 'image' => '20220506023045_20220213081358_Clipboard31.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-06 14:29:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15225', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Credit Flow to Fake Business Establishments lands Cooperatives in Trouble', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 6: A report prepared by a committee formed by the government has found that some cooperatives have become unable to repay the deposits of the general public. ', '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 6: A report prepared by a committee formed by the government has found that some cooperatives have become unable to repay the deposits of the general public. The report states that those cooperatives have become problematic due to the credit flow to fake business establishments set up by the cooperatives themselves. </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 Problematic Cooperative Management Committee submitted the report on the problematic cooperatives to Minister for Land Management Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Shashi Shrestha on Thursday.</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 report has declared Oriental Co-operative Limited, Social Savings and Loan Cooperative Limited and Luniva Multipurpose Cooperative Limited as problematic cooperatives.</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"">Receiving the report, Minister Shrestha requested to work in such a way that the basic values, beliefs and principles of the cooperatives are adhered to and arrangements are made to provide funds to the claimants on the basis of principles and criteria of the cooperatives.</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""> To prevent problems in the cooperatives, Minister Shrestha said that the ministry is ready to make necessary legal and policy arrangements while emphasizing on the need to work out an action plan.</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 committee also concluded that the cooperatives are facing problems because they acted contrary to the legal responsibility of promoting good governance in the cooperatives and strayed from embracing the concepts of self-accountability, honesty and mutual assistance.</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 report denotes that the problem surfaced due to the misuse of depositors’ savings by the cooperatives in direct violation of the law against the purpose and principle of the cooperative, lending without collateral or security or maintaining unnaturally high value of collateral, setting up artificial business and lending.</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"">Chairman of the Problematic Cooperative Management Committee, Kashiraj Dahal expressed his commitment to work in a way to solve the problem of problematic cooperatives by formulating certain criteria.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-06', 'modified' => '2022-05-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14967', 'image' => '20220506015945_Cooperative.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-06 13:59:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15224', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Himalayan and Everest Insurance Companies opt for Merger', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 6: Himalayan General Insurance Company Limited and Everest Insurance Company Limited have agreed for a merger under indirect pressure from the Insurance Board to raise their paid-up capital.', '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 6: Himalayan General Insurance Company Limited and Everest Insurance Company Limited have agreed for a merger under indirect pressure from the Insurance Board to raise their paid-up capital.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed by chairman of Everest Insurance Rajiv Sapkota and Mahendra Krishna Shrestha on behalf of Himalayan General INsurance. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A six-member merger committee representing three directors of each company has been formed to take the merger process forward. </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 merger committee will now decide on everything from <strong>asset liability assessment</strong> to determining the swap ratio in order to restructure of the company after the merger,” said Kamal Gautam, CEO of Everest Insurance, “Then we will merge with each other. As we merge with each other, the name of the company will be kept in such a way that it will reflect the identities of both the companies.” </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 him, the target is to do integrated business within the current fiscal year. “We will now proceed with the necessary process after getting approval in principle from the board. Overall, our initial goal is to start integrated business within the current fiscal year,” he said, “Our goal is to become the first company to merge in the insurance sector.” </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 Insurance Board had issued a directive a month ago instructing the insurance companies to increase their paid-up capital. At present, non-life insurance companies should have a minimum paid-up capital of Rs 1 billion and life insurance companies should have a minimum paid-up capital of Rs 2 billion. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board has directed that the non-life insurance companies should raise the minimum limit of paid-up capital to Rs 2.5 billion and life insurance companies should increase it to Rs 5 billion by mid-April 2023. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-06', 'modified' => '2022-05-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14966', 'image' => '20220506122607_merger.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-06 12:25:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15244', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Global Food Crisis Looms as Russia Blocks Black Sea Ports', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 10: Ukraine and its allies have intensified efforts to unblock ports or provide alternate routes for exporting its significant crops of grain, wheat and corn.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Agencies</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 10: Ukraine and its allies have intensified efforts to unblock ports or provide alternate routes for exporting its significant crops of grain, wheat and corn.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the BBC, Ukraine and the EU discussed taking "immediate measures to unblock Ukraine's ports for grain exports" after Russia's blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports has forced its grain exporters to look for alternatives to move their cargo.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he discussed preventing "a global food crisis triggered by Russia's aggressive actions" during talks with European Council President Charles Michel on his visit to Odesa on Monday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Reuters reported that buildings in Odesa, a major Black Sea port for exporting agricultural products, lay in ruins on Tuesday, a day after Kremlin forces pounded the southern Ukrainian port with missiles.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Before the war, Ukraine exported 4.5 million tonnes of agricultural produce per month through its ports -12% of the world's wheat, 15% of its corn and 50% of its sunflower oil, the AFP news agency reports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">But the invasion has crippled its export capacity, with Russia destroying transportation infrastructure and blockading Odesa, the main port for grain exports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Food is stranded because of the Russian war and blockade of Black Sea ports causing dramatic consequences for vulnerable countries. We need a global response," BBC quoted Michael as saying.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-10', 'modified' => '2022-05-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14986', 'image' => '20220510014342_wheat.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-10 13:43:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15243', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Banana Farming affected due to Lack of Fertilizers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 10: Banana farms in Jhapa are declining due to lack of chemical fertilizers.', '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 10: Banana farms in Jhapa are declining due to lack of chemical fertilizers. Benu Parajuli of Kankai Municipality-3, who used to cultivate bananas on 50 bighas of land in the past, now cultivates banana in just 30 bighas of land as the income from farming declined. Parajuli said that even though banana farming started with the objective of creating a 'banana zone', the farmers had to incur huge losses due to lack of fertilizer.</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 farmers who received government subsidies by declaring pocket and block areas in the past have now started reducing banana cultivation by returning the land to the landowners. In the past, Durgamata and Kolakheti agricultural farms were cultivating bananas commercially in 400 bighas of land in Kankai Municipality-5, Shivasatakshi Municipality-7, Barhadashi Rural Municipality-6 and Jhapa Rural Municipality-7.</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"">Farmers like Benu Parajuli, Himdal Parajuli, Kul Prasad Chimariya, Laxmi Chimariya and Ganesh Sangraula jointly operated the farm. Although they started collective banana farming by leasing the land of local farmers for five years, they stopped cultivating bananas, and returned the land to the owners after failing to raise investment in three years.</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 Durgamata and Kolakheti agricultural farms, known as the largest banana farms in Jhapa, destroyed the banana cultivation in about 100 bighas of land this time. Laxmi Chimariya, chairperson of the farm, said that the production declines when there is scarcity of chemical fertilizers when needed.</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 bananas need fertilizers up to three times a year, he complained that the production declined due to the failure in acquiring fertilizer even once last year. Banana cultivation requires fertilizers such as urea, DAP, potassium and phosphorus. The farm had received a grant of Rs 5 million from the Agriculture Knowledge Center for two years on the condition of investing 50 percent in farming.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-10', 'modified' => '2022-05-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14985', 'image' => '20220510123328_istockphoto-1030232778-612x612.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-10 12:32:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15242', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CD Ratio of 18 Banks still above 90 Percent ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 10: The credit-deposit (CD) ratio of 18 out of the 27 commercial banks in operation in Nepal is above 90 percent.', '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 10: The credit-deposit (CD) ratio of 18 out of the 27 commercial banks in operation in Nepal is above 90 percent. This is more than the limit set by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) which the banks have to comply within mid-July. The CD ratio of the remaining nine banks is less than 90 percent. </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"">Bankers say the CD ratio has risen to more than 90 percent as deposits could not grow. </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"">Through the monetary policy, NRB has implemented the provision of maintaining CD ratio by removing the provision of capital, loan and deposit (CCD) ratio in banks and financial institutions. As per the announcement of the monetary policy for the current fiscal year (FY), the central bank had issued a directive in August asking the banks and financial institutions to maintain the CD ratio up to 90 percent. Banks with higher than the ratio specified in the directive were given time till mid-July 2022 to bring the ratio within the limit. </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"">Until mid-July, banks will be able to calculate the amount of debentures and refinancing in the CD ratio as deposits. Similarly, the central bank has allowed the banks to calculate 80 percent of the amount at the local level as deposits. The bankers say that since the facility will end in mid-July, there will be more pressure on the CD ratio. </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"">Sunil KC, vice-president of Nepal Bankers' Association and chief executive officer of NMB Bank, said that it would be difficult to bring the CD ratio of banks and financial institutions within the limit in this month as the average CD ratio of BFIs is 91 percent. </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"">“While the credit flow has increased by 12 percent in the current FY, the deposit collection has increased by only 4 percent,” he said, adding, “It is difficult to maintain the prescribed CD ratio as there is no sign of significant growth.” </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 Bankers' Association had urged the NRB to facilitate the implementation of CD ratio in the mid-term assessment of monetary policy. As per the demand of the association, NRB had extended the time till mid-July. </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 banker says that more time is needed as it is difficult to bring the CD ratio within the stipulated limit even in July. According to the association, the CD ratio of only nine banks was within the limit as of April. The CD ratio is more than 91 percent of a dozen banks. The remaining half a dozen have the ratio of 90 percent in average. </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 other hand, NRB officials say that the banks should continue to operate as per the existing system until further notice. “The banks and financial institutions are given time till mid-July to bring the CD ratio within the stipulated limit,” said Narayan Prasad Pokharel, deputy spokesperson of NRB, adding, “Within that time, banks should bring the ratio within prescribed limits even by managing the deposit and credit 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"">He said that as the action plan to bring the CD ratio within the prescribed limits has been approved by the Board of Directors and presented to the central bank, the banks should work accordingly. </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"">Recently, banks have not been able to disburse credit due to high CD ratio. The CD ratio of Standard Chartered, Prabhu Bank, NIC Asia, Rastriya Banijya Bank, Laxmi and NMB Bank is below 90 percent. Similarly, the CD ratio of Sanima, Machhapuchhre and NCC Bank is also below the limit. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-10', 'modified' => '2022-05-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14984', 'image' => '20220510111650_Banks.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-10 11:16:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15241', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Garbage Piled Up Yet Again in Kathmandu Valley ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 10: Waste management of all 18 local levels in the Kathmandu Valley has been affected yet again as the Sisdole landfill site in Nuwakot district has been full with garbage.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 10: Waste management of all 18 local levels in the Kathmandu Valley has been affected yet again as the Sisdole landfill site in Nuwakot district has been full with garbage. The Kathmandu Metropolitan City said waste management on Sunday and Monday was affected in the valley since the workers were working to manage space for more garbage in the Sisdole landfill site. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of Environment Department of KMC Sarita Rai said garbage collection would resume from Tuesday morning if the waste adjustment gets completed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The waste from the Kathmandu Valley has been disposed in Sisdole for the past 15 years although the site was prepared to adjust waste for just two years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The KMC officials said sustainable waste management has become challenging as the under-construction landfill site at Banchare Danda has not been completed within the deadline. As much as 1,200 metric tonnes of waste is being managed in Sisdole landfill site every day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that garbage collection from the Kathmandu Valley had just resumed from Saturday after 14 days of disruption caused by the residents of the Pasang Lhyamu Highway. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-10', 'modified' => '2022-05-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14983', 'image' => '20220510075250_fta-141015-04-np-te.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-10 07:51:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15240', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Preparing Directive to Rent Out Transmission Lines', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 9: The government is preparing to adopt a policy related to wheeling charge for renting out transmission lines. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 9: The government is preparing to adopt a policy related to wheeling charge for renting out transmission lines. The Electricity Regulatory Commission informed that it has already initiated the process in this regard. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The commission says that the transmission lines can be rented after the government issues a directive to this effect. Chairman of the commission Dilli Bahadur Singh informed that they are currently preparing a directive to rent out the transmission lines.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We have already prepared a draft of the directive. We will soon finalize it,” said Singh.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The commission is preparing such directive to allow the private sector to trade electricity. As the private sector has not set up its own transmission lines, it has to rely on government-owned transmission lines. The private sector had been demanding the government to rent its transmission lines.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The state-owned Nepal Electricity Authority is currently involved in setting up transmission lines. The government has also established the National Grid Company especially for this purpose.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Once the directive gets ready, it will open the door for the private sector to use the state-owned transmission lines for electricity trade.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The directive will focus on the rental charge for the use of transmission lines by the private sector, informed Singh. However, the rental charge of the transmission lines has not yet been fixed. Singh informed that they are conducing necessary study and discussions in this regard.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“It is not that easy to determine the charge,” said Singh, adding, “The charge has to be determined considering the length of the transmission line as well as the amount of electricity and the time used for the transmission of electricity.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Once the directive is ready, other institutions can set up separate transmission lines and use them for rental purpose, said Singh.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-09', 'modified' => '2022-05-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14982', 'image' => '20220509064230_Transmission.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-09 18:41:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15239', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'BFI Staffers Busy in Election', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 9: With the upcoming local level elections just around the corner, employees of banks and microfinance have been found involved in preparation for the poll in Rautahat district. ', '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 9: With the upcoming local level elections just around the corner, employees of banks and microfinance have been found involved in preparation for the poll in Rautahat district. Employees of the state-owned Rastriya Banijya Bank, Nepal Bank, Agricultural Development Bank and Grameen Bikas Laghu Bittiya Sanstha Ltd have been deployed for the elections by the District Election Office, Rautahat.</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 service of the financial sector has been affected after the staff were deployed for the elections. Service seekers who reached banks on Friday were deprived of prompt service as the employees of banks and financial institutions were reportedly attending the training given to the polling officer and assistant polling officer. The service seekers complained that the transactions and business were affected on Friday as the bank employees went for training. Meanwhile, the banks of the private sector were open 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"">Chief Election Officer of the District Election Office Chhote Lal Das claimed that the bank staff were deployed in such a way that it would not hinder their work. He claimed that the banks and financial institutions were asked to report immediately in case of any obstruction in the office. He said that only a small number of employees from banks and microfinance have been deployed for the poll. According to him, employees of banks and financial institutions were deployed in the previous election as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-09', 'modified' => '2022-05-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14981', 'image' => '20220510111757_Bankkk.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-09 16:32:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15236', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Share Transactions Available till Friday from May 15', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 9: Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE), the secondary market of securities, will now continue its transactions on Fridays as well from May 15.', '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 9: Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE), the secondary market of securities, will now continue its transactions on Fridays as well from May 15. Till date, the transactions of securities in the secondary market are done between Sunday to Thursday.</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"">After the announcement of the government to give holidays on Saturday and Sunday, NEPSE made arrangements to continue with share transactions on Fridays as well in order to prevent a reduction in the number of transactions of securities in the secondary market. The Board of Directors of NEPSE reached the decision in a meeting held on May 4.</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 Sunday, NEPSE directed all the brokers to make arrangements for share transactions from Monday to Friday. Starting from May 15, NEPSE will keep its offices operational from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM, as per the decision of the Council of Ministers made on May 6. NEPSE informed that the share market will be open from 11 AM to 3 PM on Fridays.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-09', 'modified' => '2022-05-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14978', 'image' => '20220509124220_istockphoto-1322201350-170667a.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-09 12:41:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15232', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Announces Tender Bids to Sell 200 MW Electricity in India', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 8: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is planning to sell 200 MW of electricity to India in the upcoming rainy season.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">May 8: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is planning to sell 200 MW of electricity to India in the upcoming rainy season. NEA said it is going to sell the electricity to India through tender bids. Currently, NEA has imposed load shedding in the industrial sector at present due to lack of adequate electricity generation during the dry season.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">But with the onset of monsoon, NEA will sell 200 MW of electricity generated from various hydropower projects to India. It has published a tender notice on Friday calling for the Indian Electricity Trading Company to submit its proposal.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">NEA is going to sell the same amount of electricity to India for four and a half months (July 1 to November 15, 2022). The pre-condition is that the interested companies should submit a proposal to purchase at least 50 MW of electricity. No limit has been set for the rate of purchase and sale of electricity. The authority said that the company which proposes the highest rate in the tender will be selected.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">If the tender is successful, NEA will start exporting electricity to India commercially for the first time. Earlier, electricity was being exported to India as electricity exchange or energy banking. NEA has received approval to sell 364 MW of electricity from 6 different hydropower projects in Nepal to India.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Out of this, tender has been invited to sell 200 MW at fixed price. NEA will be able to sell the electricity in the Indian open electricity market (Day Ahead Market) by bidding daily.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">NEA has already received permission to buy and sell electricity from the Indian open electricity market. As per the approval, NEA will be able to buy and sell electricity in the Indian market by bidding on a daily basis. When buying and selling electricity in this way, the selling price will be different every day. In addition, electricity can be bought and sold at a fixed price through tender. NEA is currently importing electricity from India's open market through daily bids.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">NEA Executive Director Kulman Ghising said that the process of selling 200 MW of electricity in India through tender has been moved forward. "We have already got permission to sell 364 MW of electricity in the Indian market. We are going to sell 200 MW through tender,” 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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Currently, the NEA is struggling to purchase electricity from the open market of India as per the demand. Coal is major source of electricity in India. Due to the recent shortage of coal in the wake of Russia-Ukraine tensions, India's power generation has been reduced and load shedding has started. As a result, NEA has not been able to get electricity from India. In order to manage the supply of electricity, NEA has started load shedding in the industrial sector across Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-08', 'modified' => '2022-05-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14974', 'image' => '20220508022533_NEA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-08 14:24:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15231', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Upcoming Budget to Prioritize Agriculture, Production and Employment', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 8: The government is planning to give high priority to agriculture, production and employment in the budget of the upcoming fiscal year in an attempt to improve the economy of the country.', '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 8: The government is planning to give high priority to agriculture, production and employment in the budget of the upcoming fiscal year in an attempt to improve the economy of 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"">According to Dr Surendra Upreti, senior economic adviser at the Ministry of Finance, the country is performing poorly in agriculture at present. “Last year, agricultural products worth Rs 325 billion were imported. We need a new approach and different policies and programmes for the agricultural sector. A budget focused on promoting production-based economy will be introduced,” said Upreti.</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 also claimed that despite some pressure on the external sector and inflation, the problem in the economy will be resolved soon. Upreti also said that the problem of loan investment is high as well. At the same time, imports have skyrocketed. Therefore, there was pressure on the external sector. “Problems occurred due to the high imports,” said Upreti adding that the second major problem at present is inflation. </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 inflation was expected to reach 6.5 percent in the current fiscal year, it climbed to 7.1 percent due to the Russia-Ukraine war, said Upreti. He further said that although the current year's economic growth rate is projected to reach 7 percent, it is not practically possible due to natural calamities.</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"">Bank and Financial Advisor at the Ministry of Finance, Dr Shalikram Pokhrel said that the upcoming budget is focused on promoting small and medium enterprises. According to Pokhrel, who is working in the core team of Finance Minister Janardan Sharma, different approaches to formulate various policies were taken to strengthen the economy for a long term. </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 focus should now be on production and not just policy. The budget will be introduced accordingly.” Pokhrel said, adding, “There are many benefits if remittances can be linked to 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"">Economic and political analyst Hari Roka said that the upcoming budget should focus on agriculture and production. Roka also said that work should be done from the grassroots level to find a long-term solution to the current problems.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-08', 'modified' => '2022-05-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14973', 'image' => '20220508020319_agri maize.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-08 14:02:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15230', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Cooking Oil declines by a Quarter ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 8: The production of the domestic oil industry has fallen by a quarter since Indonesia banned the export of crude oil amid mounting tensions between Russia and Ukraine. ', '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 8: The production of the domestic oil industry has fallen by a quarter since Indonesia banned the export of crude oil amid mounting tensions between Russia and Ukraine. The industrialists say that the production has shrunk due to the obstruction in the import of raw materials. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the industrialists, the oil industries of Bara-Parsa are now running at 25 percent of their capacity due to the inconvenience in supply of raw materials. </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"">Nikhil Chachan, director of Narayani Oil, said that the production has dropped to about a quarter after the import of semi-refined oil from major producers was stopped. </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"">“Prior to this, the industries were producing at 80 percent of their capacity. At present, their production capacity has decreased to 25/30 percent,” said Chachan. Entrepreneurs say that the production will keep declining if the problems in the supply chain prevails. </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"">Among the two dozen edible oil industries, the majority are in this corridor. Few others are operating in Biratnagar and Bhairahawa. </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 domestic producers used to import semi-refined sunflower and soybean oil from Ukraine and Russia before the war on February 24 halted the shipments. A high quantity of mustard oil used to be imported from these countries. However, the mounting tension between these countries for a couple of months has affected the supply chain. </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"">Another major exporter of palm oil, Indonesia, has banned the export since April 28 in order to control the price in the domestic market. </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"">Suresh Rungta, operator of OBC Foods, said that the industrialists, who have been exporting edible oil to India by importing semi-refined oil from Indonesia, are finding it difficult to operate the industries at the moment. </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"">Rungta informed that they have started importing soybean from Australia and India after the embargo of semi-refined oil. Furthermore, he said that the stock of soybeans in the warehouse is not enough even for a month. Currently, his industry has been consuming 80 metric tons of soybean per day. </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 inconvenience in supply of raw materials can lead to the scarcity of oil in the domestic market. The industrialists say that the price of oil is skyrocketing due to the decline in production. According to Chachan, the price of semi-refined soybean oil in the international market which was USD 1,000 per metric ton a year ago, has now increased to USD 2,100. </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 shortage in the international market and the pressure of inflation have impacted the domestic market price. The price of edible oil has risen by Rs 50 per liter since the Russia-Ukraine tensions started. According to Rungta, the price of cooking oil, which was Rs 250 per liter two months ago, is now Rs 300 per liter. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-08', 'modified' => '2022-05-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14972', 'image' => '20220508125051_oil1501009175_7.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-08 12:50:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15228', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Annapurna Circuit Sees Rise in Arrival of European Tourists', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 8: More than 6,000 foreign tourists, mostly Europeans, have visited Manang district since the beginning of the current fiscal year (FY 2021/22).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 8: More than 6,000 foreign tourists, mostly Europeans, have visited Manang district since the beginning of the current fiscal year (FY 2021/22). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Annapurna Circuit, which is one of the major tourist attractions of Nepal, has welcomed 6,584 European tourists during the review period. Among them, French tourists constituted the highest number at 801 followed by 699 German tourists. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, tourists from other countries such as Israel, the UK and India among others have also visited to the mountainous district, according to Annapurna Conservation Area, Manang chief Lekhnath Gautam. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The maximum number of foreign tourists arrived in the month of April when 2,382 visitors were recorded, said Gautam. </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 Annapurna trail is popular among the foreigners as it includes sub-tropical forests, famous trekking routes such as snow-capped Thorang-La pass, Larke Pass and places such as world's highest altitude fresh water lake Tilicho Lake and holiest shrine-Muktinath Temple and high mountains. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On an average, around 77 foreign tourists are visiting Annapurna trail on a daily basis since the onset of tourist season this spring. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Lately, domestic tourists are also seen in Annapurna trail, recognized as one of top 10 incredible travel experiences in the world by Lonely Planet for 2021. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-08', 'modified' => '2022-05-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14970', 'image' => '20220508080527_Annapurna circuit (3).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-08 08:04:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15227', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Electricity Supply to Industries Resumes after a Week', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 6: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has started supplying electricity to the industries of Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor from Wednesday evening after a week-long power cuts.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 6: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has started supplying electricity to the industries of Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor from Wednesday evening after a week-long power cuts.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The NEA had cut off power supply to the industrial sector from last Wednesday due to its failure in importing electricity from India. Initially, the NEA had said that the electricity supply would be cut for 12 to 16 hours but later, it was completely cut off for a week.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industries in the corridor shut down entirely due to the lack of electricity. NEA had been supplying electricity to the industries by importing 500 MW of electricity daily from India. The power supply to industry was cut off after NEA failed to bring electricity from India.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India halted electricity exports to Nepal as India itself was facing an energy crisis due to a shortage of coal. Following the halt in supply of electricity from India, NEA imposed load shedding in the industrial sector to ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity to domestic customers. Chief of NEA Birgunj Distribution Center Jitendra Kumar Jha informed that power supply to industries resumed from Wednesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Jha, NEA started supplying electricity from 11 and 66 KV transmission lines. “Electricity has been restored in the industrial corridor since Wednesday evening. The problem of scarcity is still prevalent as a permanent solution is not made,” said Jha.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Jha informed that the supply eased a bit as the water level in flowing water bodies rose due to rainfall on Tuesday and Wednesday. Madhav Rajpal, vice-president of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the industries in the Bara-Parsa corridor, which were closed for a week due to lack of energy supply, are now operational.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As many as 2,000 small and medium enterprises along the corridor were shut down for a week due to the lack of electricity.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-06', 'modified' => '2022-05-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14969', 'image' => '20220506032210_elec.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-06 15:21:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15226', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Ministry Proposes a Budget of Rs 196 Million for Tourism Promotion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 6: The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has recommended allocating a budget of Rs 196 million for the upcoming fiscal year for tourism promotion. ', '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 6: The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has recommended allocating a budget of Rs 196 million for the upcoming fiscal year for tourism promotion. The ministry aims to revive the tourism sector affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The National Tourism Revival Committee has said that an additional budget has been demanded to promote Nepal's tourism nationally and internationally and to circulate the message that Nepal is now safe for travel.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A technical committee formed under the chairmanship of Tourism Minister Prem Ale has suggested that an additional budget is needed for tourism promotion. According to Rajaram Giri, coordinator of the technical committee, they are planning to carry out promotional in a more creative way than the traditional way.</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 ministry is organizing an international tourism summit in September to bring in tourists. High-level delegations from more than 20 countries are expected to attend the conference. The ministry plans to invite the tourism minister of the country contributing to the highest number of tourists visiting Nepal. Tourism ministers of South Asian countries and experts working in the field of tourism will be invited to the summit.</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, Giri added that international mountaineers, hikers and personalities will attend the summit. The committee believes that the summit will spread the message worldwide that Nepal is open and safe for travel.</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, world-famous celebrities are also being invited to the event. </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"">At the same time, the committee aims to bring Nepal to the centre of global discussion by inviting artists, athletes and mountaineers from other countries. </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"">Similarly, the committee is going to make a 'Tourism Digital Map' keeping in view the information of every tourist area of Nepal. The aim is to include the 'One Village One Tourism Area' campaign on the same digital map. That work will be done by Nepal Tourism Board. </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 digital map will include new tourist destinations to old ones. Tourists will know about the tourist areas of Nepal as soon as they see the map. Giri said that Rs 5 million has been allocated for the project alone.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-06', 'modified' => '2022-05-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14968', 'image' => '20220506023045_20220213081358_Clipboard31.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-06 14:29:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15225', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Credit Flow to Fake Business Establishments lands Cooperatives in Trouble', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 6: A report prepared by a committee formed by the government has found that some cooperatives have become unable to repay the deposits of the general public. ', '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 6: A report prepared by a committee formed by the government has found that some cooperatives have become unable to repay the deposits of the general public. The report states that those cooperatives have become problematic due to the credit flow to fake business establishments set up by the cooperatives themselves. </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 Problematic Cooperative Management Committee submitted the report on the problematic cooperatives to Minister for Land Management Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Shashi Shrestha on Thursday.</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 report has declared Oriental Co-operative Limited, Social Savings and Loan Cooperative Limited and Luniva Multipurpose Cooperative Limited as problematic cooperatives.</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"">Receiving the report, Minister Shrestha requested to work in such a way that the basic values, beliefs and principles of the cooperatives are adhered to and arrangements are made to provide funds to the claimants on the basis of principles and criteria of the cooperatives.</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""> To prevent problems in the cooperatives, Minister Shrestha said that the ministry is ready to make necessary legal and policy arrangements while emphasizing on the need to work out an action plan.</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 committee also concluded that the cooperatives are facing problems because they acted contrary to the legal responsibility of promoting good governance in the cooperatives and strayed from embracing the concepts of self-accountability, honesty and mutual assistance.</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 report denotes that the problem surfaced due to the misuse of depositors’ savings by the cooperatives in direct violation of the law against the purpose and principle of the cooperative, lending without collateral or security or maintaining unnaturally high value of collateral, setting up artificial business and lending.</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"">Chairman of the Problematic Cooperative Management Committee, Kashiraj Dahal expressed his commitment to work in a way to solve the problem of problematic cooperatives by formulating certain criteria.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-06', 'modified' => '2022-05-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14967', 'image' => '20220506015945_Cooperative.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-06 13:59:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15224', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Himalayan and Everest Insurance Companies opt for Merger', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 6: Himalayan General Insurance Company Limited and Everest Insurance Company Limited have agreed for a merger under indirect pressure from the Insurance Board to raise their paid-up capital.', '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 6: Himalayan General Insurance Company Limited and Everest Insurance Company Limited have agreed for a merger under indirect pressure from the Insurance Board to raise their paid-up capital.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed by chairman of Everest Insurance Rajiv Sapkota and Mahendra Krishna Shrestha on behalf of Himalayan General INsurance. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A six-member merger committee representing three directors of each company has been formed to take the merger process forward. </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 merger committee will now decide on everything from <strong>asset liability assessment</strong> to determining the swap ratio in order to restructure of the company after the merger,” said Kamal Gautam, CEO of Everest Insurance, “Then we will merge with each other. As we merge with each other, the name of the company will be kept in such a way that it will reflect the identities of both the companies.” </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 him, the target is to do integrated business within the current fiscal year. “We will now proceed with the necessary process after getting approval in principle from the board. Overall, our initial goal is to start integrated business within the current fiscal year,” he said, “Our goal is to become the first company to merge in the insurance sector.” </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 Insurance Board had issued a directive a month ago instructing the insurance companies to increase their paid-up capital. At present, non-life insurance companies should have a minimum paid-up capital of Rs 1 billion and life insurance companies should have a minimum paid-up capital of Rs 2 billion. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board has directed that the non-life insurance companies should raise the minimum limit of paid-up capital to Rs 2.5 billion and life insurance companies should increase it to Rs 5 billion by mid-April 2023. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-06', 'modified' => '2022-05-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14966', 'image' => '20220506122607_merger.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-06 12:25:09', '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
