May 2: Julan Majhi, 40, of Kauwa forest in Sakhuwa Prasauni Rural Municipality-3 of Parsa has no idea about the International Labour…
May 2: Julan Majhi, 40, of Kauwa forest in Sakhuwa Prasauni Rural Municipality-3 of Parsa has no idea about the International Labour…
May 2: The cooking oil industry of Nepal, which is struggling due to the delay in shipment of raw materials due to the Russia-Ukraine war, is now facing an additional…
May 2: New York-based Consulate General of Nepal organized a tourism promotion program in New York in collaboration with the New York chapter of the Asia-Pacific Travel…
May 2: In contrary to the general belief that people become members of cooperatives to get loans, a recent study has revealed that overwhelming majority of people in rural areas join cooperatives with the objective of saving their…
May 2: The Financial Information Unit of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said it received reports of 1,556 suspicious financial transactions till mid-March of the current fiscal…
May 1: The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection took action against the gas dealers who did not cooperate as well as misbehaved during recent…
May 1: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has underscored the need for a culture to respect labour and highlighted the importance of labour and skill in country's economic…
May 1: Production of industries along the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor has come to a standstill due to the disruption in power supply. Industrial establishments in the area have not been supplied with electricity for four…
April 29: The size of Nepal's economy (Gross Domestic Product) is projected to reach Rs 4851 billion by the end of the current fiscal year (FY), according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).…
April 29: The market is currently reeling under shortage of milk. It is estimated that the production of milk falls short by 200,000 liters of the daily requirement in the domestic…
April 28: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has extended domestic flight service time to 18 hours a day to manage the growing air traffic at Tribhuvan International Airport…
April 28: The government has decided to give regular holidays for two days a week starting from May 15.…
April 27: A study conducted by the Nepal Development Research Institute has shown that taxes are being levied on tobacco products at low rates in the country.…
April 27: Foreign reinsurance companies have started to withdraw their investment from Nepal following the rise in the number of insurance claims.…
April 27: The government is preparing to introduce a special provision in the upcoming budget for modernising the postal service as per the need of time, the state-owned national news agency RSS…
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Majhi, who is busy with daily labor for livelihood, was not given any leave on May Day. He worked on road construction in Rampur of Palpa on May 1, which is the International Labour 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"">He started working as a laborer at the age of 10 and it has already been more than three decades since then. He has already worked in the fields of road construction, building and bridge construction, and transportation of goods. He was busy with his daily work even on the Labour Day. Majhi remarked, “What is Labour Day? We need to work every day. The stove in the house does not light up on days when I don’t work.” He earns a daily wage of Rs 600 and supports his family of 4 including children.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Raju Majhi, 25, of Parsa is also busy with labor. He works hard to blacktop the roads from morning till evening. He was also unaware of Labour Day on Sunday. He said, “There is not enough to eat without work. I cannot expect somebody to earn for me. I need to take care of my wife and children at home.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tikaram Pun, 30, of Purtighat in Gulmi's Kali Gandaki Municipality-4 was busy with house construction on the Labour Day. He knows that Labour Day is celebrated on May 1, but it did not make any difference in his routine. He has been working for five years and gets a daily wage of Rs 750. However, if he is late for work even by a single hour, his wage is deducted.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 celebrating the Labour Day, the workers demanded the government to increase the wages on time, provide employment in the villages and create an environment for people compelled to go for foreign employment to stay in the country itself.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Netra Bahadur Rana, 42, of Bahkhola in Rampur Municipality-7 has been earning a living for the past six years. Lately, the election activity in the village is increasing. Leaders and activists are giving him various assurances. But he does not have faith in those leaders and activists as they will not return back after the election.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Most of the workers working in the informal sector are dissatisfied with the government's inability to work for the welfare of the workers. Workers complained that they are not getting even the minimum wage set by the state. They complained that they have to work for wages fixed in the past but the prices of goods and services in the market are constantly rising at present.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14945', 'image' => '20220502055741_Labour Day.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 17:56:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15202', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cooking Oil Industries of Nepal Facing Problems in Importing Raw Materials', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: The cooking oil industry of Nepal, which is struggling due to the delay in shipment of raw materials due to the Russia-Ukraine war, is now facing an additional problem.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 2: The cooking oil industry of Nepal, which is struggling due to the delay in shipment of raw materials due to the Russia-Ukraine war, is now facing an additional problem.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industrialists are in a tight spot after Indonesia halted the export of semi-processed palm oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The price of edible oil has been on the rise since the onset of Covid-19 pandemic. The price increased further due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the two main producers of oil. It disrupted the supply chain of raw materials for cooking oil. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nikhil Chachan, the operator of Birgunj-based Narayani Oil, said that additional problems have surfaced after Indonesia halted the export of semi-processed palm oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Indonesia halted the exports of palm oil since April 28 to control the price of oil in its domestic market. According to Chachan, the traders and importers can do nothing else than wait until Indonesia reviews the decision as per its commitment on May 7.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The domestic industries of Nepal process semi-refined palm oil imported from Indonesia. Most of the oil produced in Nepal is exported to India. Edible oil is the biggest contributor to Nepal's export trade of late. About 2 dozen industries in Nepal produce oil. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prabhudayal Agrawal, manager of Annapurna Vegetable Products said that managing the raw materials is challenging. Agarwal claims that Indonesia controlled its exports a month ago. Agarwal told New Business Age, “Even though the export ban was announced only last week, consignment delivery has been disrupted since the beginning of April.” Russia's military operation, which has been going on for more than two months, has disrupted the supply of unrefined oil to Nepal. Nepal's oil producers used to import more than 80 percent of sunflower and soybean oil from Ukraine prior to the conflict. Russia is also a major supplier of sunflower and mustard to Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Importers remarked that the demand for soybean oil is growing as the imports of sunflower and mustard became uncertain. Director of OCB Food Suresh Rungta informed about the hike in price of cooking oil. Prices skyrocketed mainly due to disruption in supply of raw materials. Rungata said, the price of cooking oil, which was Rs 250 per liter two months ago, is now Rs 300.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the industrialists, the production cost of soybean oil has increased. Chachan said, “The price of semi-refined soybean oil, which was 1,900 USD per metric ton before Russia's military action against Ukraine, is now 2,100 USD.” </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14944', 'image' => '20220502031810_oil1501009175_7.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 15:17:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15201', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Promotion held in New York', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: New York-based Consulate General of Nepal organized a tourism promotion program in New York in collaboration with the New York chapter of the Asia-Pacific Travel Association.', '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 2: New York-based Consulate General of Nepal organized a tourism promotion program in New York in collaboration with the New York chapter of the Asia-Pacific Travel Association as well as an organization named Nepal-The Wonderland of Natural, Cultural and Spiritual Beauty. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 tourism promotion event aimed at imparting the message that Nepal has reopened for travel and tourism after the Covid-19 pandemic and that the country is eager to welcome American tourists.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Amrit Bahadur Rai, Nepal's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, who was the chief guest of the promotional event, said that Nepal's tourism is rich in natural beauty, cultural diversity, yoga, meditation and spirituality. He urged the guests to visit Nepal as tourism and other businesses have returned to normalcy.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 attendee invited to the programme were given information about the major tourist attractions of Nepal, the services provided by Nepal to the tourists during the Covid-19 pandemic, the recently added tourism infrastructure, facilities and the new travel facilitation measures adopted by Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepali representatives also urged the invited guests, pilots, travel and tour business communities to consider Nepal as one of their favourite destinations. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Most of the guests and speakers of the programme had travelled to Nepal earlier. They shared their unforgettable travel experience in Nepal. The event was graced by the presence of Seth Sycroff, Chief Executive Officer of the Sir Edmund Hillary Medal Project, British-American mountaineers, Everest climbers, and the first woman to reach the highest and deepest point on Earth.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 event was organized on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Nepal-US diplomatic relations. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14943', 'image' => '20220502020900_Consulateumb.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 14:07:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15200', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '70 Percent Members of Cooperatives Found Saving Money: Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: In contrary to the general belief that people become members of cooperatives to get loans, a recent study has revealed that overwhelming majority of people in rural areas join cooperatives with the objective of saving their money.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 2: In contrary to the general belief that people become members of cooperatives to get loans, a recent study has revealed that overwhelming majority of people in rural areas join cooperatives with the objective of saving their money. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study conducted by Kathmandu University shows that 70 percent customers join cooperatives with the motive of saving. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The university had conducted the study focused on the contribution of cooperatives in Lumbini and Karnali provinces with the help of National Cooperatives Federation. Unveiling the preliminary report of the study, KU informed that 70 percent of members of cooperatives were found saving money. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the study found that 15 percent members join cooperatives for financial service while another 15 percent become members to get loan. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">At a time when the cooperatives in urban areas are under scrutiny, the study revealed that 86 percent customers in Karnali Province were satisfied with the cooperatives. The report further states that women were more happy with the service of cooperatives than men.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">More than half of the respondents of the study conducted by the KU School of Management said they became entrepreneurs after joining cooperatives.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Cooperatives have not only helped in developing saving habit but also played a vital role in creating entrepreneurship,” Prof Dr Binod Krishna Shrestha of KUSOM said referring to the preliminary report. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The study has shown that 62 percent of people who joined cooperatives in Lumbini Province and 57 percent in Karnali Province started their own business,” he added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study shows that cooperatives have helped in developing saving habit as well as decision-making capacity, establishment of new businesses, creating employment opportunities, and ensuring financial independence among others. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study has recommended concerned bodies to ensure access of services of cooperatives among extremely poor communities and getting cooperatives involved in social works. Other suggestions of the report include involvement of cooperatives in education and risk management. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14942', 'image' => '20220502115836_362_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 11:57:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15199', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 1.5K Suspicious Transaction Reports under Investigation: NRB ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: The Financial Information Unit of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said it received reports of 1,556 suspicious financial transactions till mid-March of the current fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 2: The Financial Information Unit of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said it received reports of 1,556 suspicious financial transactions till mid-March of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During this period, 465 reports were reviewed, 265 were documented while 119 were sent to the law enforcement bodies for investigation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the central bank said that the total internal borrowing liability of the government was Rs 60.57 billion till date while internal debt worth Rs 29.24 has been cleared. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the central bank said it monitored 15 commercial banks under the guidelines prepared to increase supervisory effectiveness for prevention of money laundering and financial investment in terrorist activities. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14941', 'image' => '20220502110410_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 11:03:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15197', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Gas Dealers to Face action for not Cooperating with Monitoring Team', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection took action against the gas dealers who did not cooperate as well as misbehaved during recent monitoring.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 1: The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection took action against the gas dealers who did not cooperate as well as misbehaved during recent monitoring.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Director General of the Department Lila Prasad Sharma informed that action was taken against the dealers who denied showing purchase bills and broke the compliance with consumer law during the monitoring. According to him, action was taken against a gas depot of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-34 for not showing the purchase bill. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similar action was taken against one depot of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-32 Subidhanagar for not showing the bill while two depots in Anamnagar were booked for not acting in accordance with the consumer law.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department claims that various actions were taken and fines were slapped for not showing purchase bills during the monitoring in Chandragiri Municipality 14 and 15 and for not cooperating with the monitoring team by a depot of Lalitpur Metropolitan City 12. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department claimed that they have intensified monitoring focused on gas dealers recently after they created an artificial shortage of cooking gas. The department informed that it is imposing a fine of up to Rs 20,000 if the dealers were found to have hidden cooking gas.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14939', 'image' => '20220501065730_gas.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 18:56:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15195', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'President's Calls for Ensuring Rights of Labourers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has underscored the need for a culture to respect labour and highlighted the importance of labour and skill in country's economic development. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 1: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has underscored the need for a culture to respect labour and highlighted the importance of labour and skill in country's economic development. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a message on the occasion of the International Labour Day (May Day 2022) today, the President made such statement while extending the best wishes for happiness, peace and prosperity to all Nepali working at home and abroad. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President Bhandari also urged to ensure labour rights including decent work, proper wages and social security to the workers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"On this occasion, I would like to extend respect to all workers contributing to the nation's prosperity through their investment of labour and skills in different areas, including the country's industry, agriculture, construction and service sectors," read the president's message. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President Bhandari reminded the responsibility of all to ensure the rights of the working class people through the implementation of constitutional provisions in order to build a socialism-oriented economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She called upon creating employment opportunities at home to the youth who are forced to leave for foreign jobs President Bhandari also said concerned bodies and stakeholders should make continued efforts to safeguard the human rights of migrant workers. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14937', 'image' => '20220501032203_rastrapati.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 15:21:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15193', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor comes to a Grinding Halt', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: Production of industries along the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor has come to a standstill due to the disruption in power supply. Industrial establishments in the area have not been supplied with electricity for four days.', '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 1: Production of industries along the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor has come to a standstill due to the disruption in power supply. Industrial establishments in the area have not been supplied with electricity for four days.</span></span></span></span></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"">Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has announced 12 to 16 hours of load shedding in the industrial areas on a daily basis. However, the industries complain that power supply has been totally cut off.</span></span></span></span></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"">Hari Gautam, vice-president of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the production of industries in the corridor has dropped to zero after the power supply was cut off. The champer estimates that there are 2,000 small and medium scale industries in the region.</span></span></span></span></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"">According to the NEA, it has failed to supply electricity to the industries after India halted the supply 500 MW of electricity for the industries. India itself is facing an energy crisis due to the shortage of coal in the wake of Russia-Ukraine war.</span></span></span></span></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"">India has stopped exporting electricity to Nepal for its internal supply.</span></span></span></span></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"">Jitendra Kumar Jha, head of NEA Birgunj Distribution Center, said that 500 MW of electricity coming from India has now dropped to 36 MW. </span></span></span></span></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"">“The supply to industries in the Bara-Parsa corridor has been cut off. At present, electricity is being supplied only to the household consumers. It may take a few more days to provide electricity to the industries,” said Jha.</span></span></span></span></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"">The NEA had promised to supply to the industries alternately but the power supply was completely cut off due to the failure to bring electricity from 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"">Jha also informed that efforts are being made to resume the supply of electricity. "Efforts are being made to supply electricity. Electricity is likely to be supplied to the industries as early as Tuesday,” 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"">NEA has informed that 40 percent of the water of Kulekhani project has been consumed. NEA is under pressure to make arrangements for distribution of electricity generated from the remaining 60 percent water. According to the NEA, the shortage of energy will remain unless the flow of water in the rivers increases.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14935', 'image' => '20220501120609_Industries.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 12:04:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15191', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal's GDP Projected to reach Rs 4851 Billion this Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 29: The size of Nepal's economy (Gross Domestic Product) is projected to reach Rs 4851 billion by the end of the current fiscal year (FY), according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). ', '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"">April 29: The size of Nepal's economy (Gross Domestic Product) is projected to reach Rs 4851 billion by the end of the current fiscal year (FY), according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). This is based on consumer price estimates. As per the base rate, the size of the economy this year will be equal to Rs 4155 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 department estimates that the GDP will grow by 5.84 on the basis of consumer prices. The fiscal Year 2067/68 is considered the base year for calculating the growth rate of GDP.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 department's estimate is more than the 4.1 percent projected by the International Monetary Fund two days ago. However, this is less than the government's target of 7 percent growth in the replacement budget.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to a projection released by the World Bank last year, Nepal's economy was set to grow by 3.7 percent this year. The Asian Development Bank has projected a growth rate of 3.9 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"">The department estimated the economic growth rate for 6 to 9 months of the current fiscal year based on the data and information related to the economic sector, officials from the department said during a press conference held 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"">With only three months left for the fiscal year to end with no major factors affecting GDP and the impact of COVID-19 also declining, this estimate will be prove to be correct, said Nevin Lal Shrestha, Director General of the bureau.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 CBS informed that the contribution of service and secondary sector to the GDP has increased in the current fiscal year. However, the contribution of the primary sector has declined. According to the bureau, the overall industrial sector has been divided into three groups-primary, secondary and service 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"">Primary sectors include agro-forestry, fisheries, mining and excavation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 primary sector is projected to contribute 24.5 percent to the current year's GDP," the department said. Due to the decline in the production of paddy in the current fiscal year, the growth rate of this sector has been lower than that of the previous fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The CBS has estimated that the contribution of the second sector to the GDP will be 13.7 percent in the current fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The second area includes industry, electricity and gas, water supply and construction. The service sector includes wholesale and retail trade, housing and food services, transportation communication and storage, financial, real estate business, professional and administrative services, public administration and defense, education, health and other services. It is estimated that this sector has contributed 61.8 percent to the GDP in the current fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The bureau estimates that imports will reach Rs 2 trillion and exports Rs 320 billion this year. The per capita GDP is expected to be USD 1,372. The average per capita income of Nepalis is estimated to be 1,381 dollars. The department estimates the average per capita income for the previous year was 1,246. This year, total household savings will be 9.3 percent of the GDP.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14933', 'image' => '20220429044433_gdp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 16:43:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15186', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Market Reeling under Shortage of Milk', 'sub_title' => 'Demand for Yogurt and Ice Cream Increases during Summer while Production Declines', 'summary' => 'April 29: The market is currently reeling under shortage of milk. It is estimated that the production of milk falls short by 200,000 liters of the daily requirement in the domestic market.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 29: The market is currently reeling under shortage of milk. It is estimated that the production of milk falls short by 200,000 liters of the daily requirement in the domestic market. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On one hand, the production of fresh milk has declined, while on the other hand, the stock of powdered milk and butter of the industries is half the requirement.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As a result, the National Dairy Development Board informed that there is a shortage of 200,000 liters of milk in the market per day.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Milk production decreases from February to August and the demand for yogurt, ice cream and other dairy products increases in the summer as well as during the wedding season. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the board, the total demand of milk in the market is around 900,000 liters per day. However, the supply is only 710,000 liters, creating a shortage of 200,000 liters of milk. Milk production also decreases around this time as cattle do not get enough green grass to feed upon. The board informed that in previous years, the state-owned Dairy Development Corporation (DDC) and the private sector dairies used to have sufficient stocks of butter and powdered milk, which has declined this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Deputy Executive Director of the Board Babukaji Panta informed that the private and government dairies have 1400 metric tons of powdered milk and 2200 tons of butter in stock. Speaking at a program organized on the occasion of the 31st founding day of the board, he stated that about 3100 metric tons of powdered milk and 2900 metric tons of butter is required in the market from February to August.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The collection of fresh milk decreased with the decline in production. According to Balak Chaudhary, spokesperson of the board, the Dairy Development Corporation used to collect 150,000 liters of milk daily some time ago, but now it collects only 110,000 liters. Similarly, the Dairy Industry Association is collecting 350,000 liters of milk daily and the Nepal Dairy Association is collecting 260,000 liters of milk daily. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14929', 'image' => '20220429092708_milk.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 09:26:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15183', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'TIA to Extends Domestic Flight Time to 18 hours a Day ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 28: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has extended domestic flight service time to 18 hours a day to manage the growing air traffic at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 28: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has extended domestic flight service time to 18 hours a day to manage the growing air traffic at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In order to manage the air traffic congestion, the TIA has made necessary coordination with six airports of terai to operate domestic flights up to 18 hours a day from today, the state-owned national news agency reported citing CAAN Director-General Pradeep Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The CAAN has decided to run the airport from 6.00 am to midnight in Bhadrapur, Biratnagar, Janakpur, Simara, Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj and Dhangadhi airports. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This would help reduce existing air service pressure in Kathmandu-based TIA and also give a relief to the pandemic-battered tourism sector, he shared. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-28', 'modified' => '2022-04-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14925', 'image' => '20220428023242_5e.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-28 14:31:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15179', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Announces Public Holiday for 2 Days a Week from May 15', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 28: The government has decided to give regular holidays for two days a week starting from May 15. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 28: The government has decided to give regular holidays for two days a week starting from May 15. A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Tuesday took a decision to this effect on a trial basis, Government Spokesperson Gyanendra Bahadur Karki informed during a press meet on Wednesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Karki, who is also the Minister for Communications and Information Technology, declared public holiday on Saturdays and Sundays after a fortnight. The minister further said that the cabinet meeting agreed to fix office hours from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm during the weekdays. </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"">He shared that the cabinet decided to give holidays for two days a week with the belief that it would reduce fuel consumption. </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"">Although the cabinet meeting took such decision to reduce fuel consumption with the objective of easing the pressure on declining foreign exchange reserves, the Council of Ministers has ironically approved foreign visits of high-ranking government officials.</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 cabinet meeting approved a delegation led by Energy Minister Pampha Bhusal to visit Bangladesh and Education Minister Devendra Poudel’s visit to the UK. Likewise, Labour Minister Krishna Kumar Shrestha has been given the go ahead to visit Malaysia.</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"">Similarly, the cabinet meeting also approved India visit of National Planning Commission’s Vice Chairman Bishwonath Poudel and South Korea visit of Forest Secretary Dr Prem Narayan Kandel.</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"">Likewise, Health Secretary Dr Roshan Pokharel has been granted permission to visit Norway to attend a programme.</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 concept of two-day holiday a week was implemented by the government more than two decades ago. The provision was implemented on July 17, 1999 during the tenure of then then Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai. Such decision was taken upon the recommendation of the then Administrative Reform Commission in 1991 with the objective of reducing administrative costs. The provision was revoked almost after three years without conducting a study on its impact.</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"">Recently, the government had floated a similar concept but to boost the tourism sector that has been battered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Experts had suggested the government to give two days holiday in a week in order to promote domestic tourism. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-28', 'modified' => '2022-04-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14921', 'image' => '20220428110554_20220427142651_IMGL6946.JPG', 'article_date' => '2022-04-28 11:05:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15178', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Tax on Tobacco Products Comparatively Less in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 27: A study conducted by the Nepal Development Research Institute has shown that taxes are being levied on tobacco products at low rates in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 27: A study conducted by the Nepal Development Research Institute has shown that taxes are being levied on tobacco products at low rates in the country. In fact, the tax rate imposed by the government on tobacco products in Nepal is lower than that of neighboring countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the study, more than 27,000 people die annually from diseases caused by the use of tobacco in Nepal. Therefore, it has been recommended to raise the tax rate on tobacco products. According to the study conducted by the institute, the highest selling brand of tobacco in India in 2008 was taxed at 45.76 percent of the retail price. In 2018, this tax rate increased to 54.04 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The study believes that the prevalence of tobacco products in India is the result of high tax imposition. However, it also found that the tax in Nepal was 24.27 percent in 2008 and only 30 percent in 2018. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Taxes are a very effective tactics to control tobacco. However, due the government's presumption that raising taxes would encourage illegal trade, the rate of taxes in Nepal is not increasing,” the report states.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The study report also states that the use of tobacco has direct impact on healthcare cost. It also has a negative impact on the productivity of the family. According to the report, 1.4 percent of the annual GDP is lost due to tobacco. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Increasing the tax rate on tobacco products is a win-win situation. Taxes reduce consumption and improve public health, reduce economic losses and benefit the government.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The report states that due to the increase in taxes, the price of tobacco products will increase and consumption will decrease. “Raising the tax rate automatically increases the revenue. Despite this reality, the tax rate on tobacco products in Nepal is very low and these products have become very affordable in the last few years.” The study has disproved the notion that raising taxes on tobacco products will increase illegal trade. During the study, only the prevalence of 0.33 percent illegal cigarettes was found in Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Of the 4,300 packs of cigarettes inspected in 11 districts including all three geographical subdivisions of the nation, only 0.33 percent was found to be illegal. Most of the illegal cigarettes are manufactured in Indonesia and most of them were found in Kathmandu and Pokhara, far from the Nepal-India border. The excise duty sticker certified by the Inland Revenue Department was not affixed on the illegal packets.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The general secretary of the research institute, Dr. Jaya Kumar Gurung said that the study dismissed the assumption that the imposition of additional tax on tobacco products would increase the illegal trade. According to him, it is necessary to impose additional tax to reduce the use of tobacco products.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the approval of the Nepal Health Research Council, the institute conducted a nationwide study in order to check the level of illegal trade of cigarettes.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-27', 'modified' => '2022-04-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14920', 'image' => '20220427100429_istockphoto-1133345196-612x612.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-27 22:03:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15177', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Foreign Reinsurance Companies start Withdrawing Business from Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 27: Foreign reinsurance companies have started to withdraw their investment from Nepal following the rise in the number of insurance claims. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 27: Foreign reinsurance companies have started to withdraw their investment from Nepal following the rise in the number of insurance claims. As the proportion of insurance claims in Nepal has increased, foreign reinsurance companies have been incurring losses in their business. As a result, they have started leaving Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Lately, high level, i.e. A-rated foreign companies have stopped reinsuring Nepali insurance companies. A report by the Nepal Insurers Association has shown that even B-rated companies are reluctant to take up business here.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the association, in the last five fiscal years, foreign reinsurance companies have incurred losses in their business in Nepal. According to the association, insurance companies of Nepal get a commission of 35 per cent of the premium from foreign companies. In addition, they are also paid an additional 60 per cent as insurance claim. Thus, foreign reinsurance companies have to return 95 per cent of the amount to Nepal. Adding management costs to that, they say the business is running at a loss.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even after the 2015 earthquakes, foreign reinsurance companies had suffered heavy losses in their business in Nepal. However, due to the recent natural calamities, the insurance claims have been increasing in Nepal every year. That has obviously affected foreign reinsurance companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As a result, foreign reinsurance companies have started exiting the business here, says Chunky Chhetri, president of Nepal Insurance Association.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Insurance claims have increased in Nepal due for various reasons. This has automatically affected the foreign reinsurance companies. They are at a loss in their business with Nepal. Reinsurance companies are also profit-oriented entities. That's why foreign reinsurance companies are leaving Nepal,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the Insurance Board, insurance companies and the customers should be serious about this issue. “Failure to reinsure poses a challenge to make claims. However, there is a challenge to reinsurance,” he said. “It has become a big problem in the insurance sector. The time has come for everyone to join hands to solve this problem,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In this case, the association has concluded that the Insurance Board should revise the policy on reinsurance. The association says insurance premium rates are likely to increase in order to address this issue.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The association has also submitted its suggestions to the board</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The association has also demanded that the compulsory provision of reinsurance from Nepali companies be scrapped. The association demands that the board should immediately revoke this provision and make arrangements for reinsurance from a foreign company.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Keeping the entire risk within the country is considered dangerous even for the economy. On top of that, the risk is the same as the occurrence of natural disasters in Nepal. Therefore, the association demands that reinsurance should have external backing rather than within the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-27', 'modified' => '2022-04-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14919', 'image' => '20220427073816_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-27 19:36:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15174', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Discusses Modernizing Postal Service ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 27: The government is preparing to introduce a special provision in the upcoming budget for modernising the postal service as per the need of time, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 27: The government is preparing to introduce a special provision in the upcoming budget for modernising the postal service as per the need of time, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During a discussion between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology on Tuesday for the upcoming budget, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma called for coming up with an action plan for the modernization of postal service. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He was of the view of doing away with the outdated practices of the postal service. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In his presentation, communications secretary Dr Baikuntha Aryal highlighted the need of improvement in the postal service, suggesting the implementation of a new approach. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The finance minister was of the view of hiring new workforce to operate the service while the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology proposed to use the post offices as e-commerce platform. </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 meeting was attended by Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, finance secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini, revenue secretary Krishnahari Puskar, communications secretary Dr Baikuntha Aryal and the budget drafting committee members. </span></span></span><br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-27', 'modified' => '2022-04-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14916', 'image' => '20220427100836_postal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-27 10:07:54', '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' => '15203', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Daily Wage Workers Compelled to Work on Labour Day', 'sub_title' => 'Many Labourers Unaware about May Day', 'summary' => 'May 2: Julan Majhi, 40, of Kauwa forest in Sakhuwa Prasauni Rural Municipality-3 of Parsa has no idea about the International Labour Day.', '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 2: Julan Majhi, 40, of Kauwa forest in Sakhuwa Prasauni Rural Municipality-3 of Parsa has no idea about the International Labour Day. Majhi, who is busy with daily labor for livelihood, was not given any leave on May Day. He worked on road construction in Rampur of Palpa on May 1, which is the International Labour 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"">He started working as a laborer at the age of 10 and it has already been more than three decades since then. He has already worked in the fields of road construction, building and bridge construction, and transportation of goods. He was busy with his daily work even on the Labour Day. Majhi remarked, “What is Labour Day? We need to work every day. The stove in the house does not light up on days when I don’t work.” He earns a daily wage of Rs 600 and supports his family of 4 including children.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Raju Majhi, 25, of Parsa is also busy with labor. He works hard to blacktop the roads from morning till evening. He was also unaware of Labour Day on Sunday. He said, “There is not enough to eat without work. I cannot expect somebody to earn for me. I need to take care of my wife and children at home.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tikaram Pun, 30, of Purtighat in Gulmi's Kali Gandaki Municipality-4 was busy with house construction on the Labour Day. He knows that Labour Day is celebrated on May 1, but it did not make any difference in his routine. He has been working for five years and gets a daily wage of Rs 750. However, if he is late for work even by a single hour, his wage is deducted.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 celebrating the Labour Day, the workers demanded the government to increase the wages on time, provide employment in the villages and create an environment for people compelled to go for foreign employment to stay in the country itself.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Netra Bahadur Rana, 42, of Bahkhola in Rampur Municipality-7 has been earning a living for the past six years. Lately, the election activity in the village is increasing. Leaders and activists are giving him various assurances. But he does not have faith in those leaders and activists as they will not return back after the election.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Most of the workers working in the informal sector are dissatisfied with the government's inability to work for the welfare of the workers. Workers complained that they are not getting even the minimum wage set by the state. They complained that they have to work for wages fixed in the past but the prices of goods and services in the market are constantly rising at present.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14945', 'image' => '20220502055741_Labour Day.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 17:56:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15202', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cooking Oil Industries of Nepal Facing Problems in Importing Raw Materials', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: The cooking oil industry of Nepal, which is struggling due to the delay in shipment of raw materials due to the Russia-Ukraine war, is now facing an additional problem.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 2: The cooking oil industry of Nepal, which is struggling due to the delay in shipment of raw materials due to the Russia-Ukraine war, is now facing an additional problem.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industrialists are in a tight spot after Indonesia halted the export of semi-processed palm oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The price of edible oil has been on the rise since the onset of Covid-19 pandemic. The price increased further due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the two main producers of oil. It disrupted the supply chain of raw materials for cooking oil. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nikhil Chachan, the operator of Birgunj-based Narayani Oil, said that additional problems have surfaced after Indonesia halted the export of semi-processed palm oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Indonesia halted the exports of palm oil since April 28 to control the price of oil in its domestic market. According to Chachan, the traders and importers can do nothing else than wait until Indonesia reviews the decision as per its commitment on May 7.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The domestic industries of Nepal process semi-refined palm oil imported from Indonesia. Most of the oil produced in Nepal is exported to India. Edible oil is the biggest contributor to Nepal's export trade of late. About 2 dozen industries in Nepal produce oil. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prabhudayal Agrawal, manager of Annapurna Vegetable Products said that managing the raw materials is challenging. Agarwal claims that Indonesia controlled its exports a month ago. Agarwal told New Business Age, “Even though the export ban was announced only last week, consignment delivery has been disrupted since the beginning of April.” Russia's military operation, which has been going on for more than two months, has disrupted the supply of unrefined oil to Nepal. Nepal's oil producers used to import more than 80 percent of sunflower and soybean oil from Ukraine prior to the conflict. Russia is also a major supplier of sunflower and mustard to Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Importers remarked that the demand for soybean oil is growing as the imports of sunflower and mustard became uncertain. Director of OCB Food Suresh Rungta informed about the hike in price of cooking oil. Prices skyrocketed mainly due to disruption in supply of raw materials. Rungata said, the price of cooking oil, which was Rs 250 per liter two months ago, is now Rs 300.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the industrialists, the production cost of soybean oil has increased. Chachan said, “The price of semi-refined soybean oil, which was 1,900 USD per metric ton before Russia's military action against Ukraine, is now 2,100 USD.” </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14944', 'image' => '20220502031810_oil1501009175_7.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 15:17:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15201', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Promotion held in New York', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: New York-based Consulate General of Nepal organized a tourism promotion program in New York in collaboration with the New York chapter of the Asia-Pacific Travel Association.', '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 2: New York-based Consulate General of Nepal organized a tourism promotion program in New York in collaboration with the New York chapter of the Asia-Pacific Travel Association as well as an organization named Nepal-The Wonderland of Natural, Cultural and Spiritual Beauty. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 tourism promotion event aimed at imparting the message that Nepal has reopened for travel and tourism after the Covid-19 pandemic and that the country is eager to welcome American tourists.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Amrit Bahadur Rai, Nepal's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, who was the chief guest of the promotional event, said that Nepal's tourism is rich in natural beauty, cultural diversity, yoga, meditation and spirituality. He urged the guests to visit Nepal as tourism and other businesses have returned to normalcy.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 attendee invited to the programme were given information about the major tourist attractions of Nepal, the services provided by Nepal to the tourists during the Covid-19 pandemic, the recently added tourism infrastructure, facilities and the new travel facilitation measures adopted by Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepali representatives also urged the invited guests, pilots, travel and tour business communities to consider Nepal as one of their favourite destinations. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Most of the guests and speakers of the programme had travelled to Nepal earlier. They shared their unforgettable travel experience in Nepal. The event was graced by the presence of Seth Sycroff, Chief Executive Officer of the Sir Edmund Hillary Medal Project, British-American mountaineers, Everest climbers, and the first woman to reach the highest and deepest point on Earth.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 event was organized on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Nepal-US diplomatic relations. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14943', 'image' => '20220502020900_Consulateumb.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 14:07:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15200', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '70 Percent Members of Cooperatives Found Saving Money: Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: In contrary to the general belief that people become members of cooperatives to get loans, a recent study has revealed that overwhelming majority of people in rural areas join cooperatives with the objective of saving their money.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 2: In contrary to the general belief that people become members of cooperatives to get loans, a recent study has revealed that overwhelming majority of people in rural areas join cooperatives with the objective of saving their money. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study conducted by Kathmandu University shows that 70 percent customers join cooperatives with the motive of saving. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The university had conducted the study focused on the contribution of cooperatives in Lumbini and Karnali provinces with the help of National Cooperatives Federation. Unveiling the preliminary report of the study, KU informed that 70 percent of members of cooperatives were found saving money. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the study found that 15 percent members join cooperatives for financial service while another 15 percent become members to get loan. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">At a time when the cooperatives in urban areas are under scrutiny, the study revealed that 86 percent customers in Karnali Province were satisfied with the cooperatives. The report further states that women were more happy with the service of cooperatives than men.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">More than half of the respondents of the study conducted by the KU School of Management said they became entrepreneurs after joining cooperatives.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Cooperatives have not only helped in developing saving habit but also played a vital role in creating entrepreneurship,” Prof Dr Binod Krishna Shrestha of KUSOM said referring to the preliminary report. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The study has shown that 62 percent of people who joined cooperatives in Lumbini Province and 57 percent in Karnali Province started their own business,” he added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study shows that cooperatives have helped in developing saving habit as well as decision-making capacity, establishment of new businesses, creating employment opportunities, and ensuring financial independence among others. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study has recommended concerned bodies to ensure access of services of cooperatives among extremely poor communities and getting cooperatives involved in social works. Other suggestions of the report include involvement of cooperatives in education and risk management. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14942', 'image' => '20220502115836_362_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 11:57:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15199', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 1.5K Suspicious Transaction Reports under Investigation: NRB ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: The Financial Information Unit of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said it received reports of 1,556 suspicious financial transactions till mid-March of the current fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 2: The Financial Information Unit of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said it received reports of 1,556 suspicious financial transactions till mid-March of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During this period, 465 reports were reviewed, 265 were documented while 119 were sent to the law enforcement bodies for investigation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the central bank said that the total internal borrowing liability of the government was Rs 60.57 billion till date while internal debt worth Rs 29.24 has been cleared. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the central bank said it monitored 15 commercial banks under the guidelines prepared to increase supervisory effectiveness for prevention of money laundering and financial investment in terrorist activities. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14941', 'image' => '20220502110410_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 11:03:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15197', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Gas Dealers to Face action for not Cooperating with Monitoring Team', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection took action against the gas dealers who did not cooperate as well as misbehaved during recent monitoring.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 1: The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection took action against the gas dealers who did not cooperate as well as misbehaved during recent monitoring.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Director General of the Department Lila Prasad Sharma informed that action was taken against the dealers who denied showing purchase bills and broke the compliance with consumer law during the monitoring. According to him, action was taken against a gas depot of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-34 for not showing the purchase bill. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similar action was taken against one depot of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-32 Subidhanagar for not showing the bill while two depots in Anamnagar were booked for not acting in accordance with the consumer law.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department claims that various actions were taken and fines were slapped for not showing purchase bills during the monitoring in Chandragiri Municipality 14 and 15 and for not cooperating with the monitoring team by a depot of Lalitpur Metropolitan City 12. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department claimed that they have intensified monitoring focused on gas dealers recently after they created an artificial shortage of cooking gas. The department informed that it is imposing a fine of up to Rs 20,000 if the dealers were found to have hidden cooking gas.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14939', 'image' => '20220501065730_gas.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 18:56:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15195', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'President's Calls for Ensuring Rights of Labourers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has underscored the need for a culture to respect labour and highlighted the importance of labour and skill in country's economic development. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 1: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has underscored the need for a culture to respect labour and highlighted the importance of labour and skill in country's economic development. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a message on the occasion of the International Labour Day (May Day 2022) today, the President made such statement while extending the best wishes for happiness, peace and prosperity to all Nepali working at home and abroad. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President Bhandari also urged to ensure labour rights including decent work, proper wages and social security to the workers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"On this occasion, I would like to extend respect to all workers contributing to the nation's prosperity through their investment of labour and skills in different areas, including the country's industry, agriculture, construction and service sectors," read the president's message. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President Bhandari reminded the responsibility of all to ensure the rights of the working class people through the implementation of constitutional provisions in order to build a socialism-oriented economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She called upon creating employment opportunities at home to the youth who are forced to leave for foreign jobs President Bhandari also said concerned bodies and stakeholders should make continued efforts to safeguard the human rights of migrant workers. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14937', 'image' => '20220501032203_rastrapati.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 15:21:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15193', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor comes to a Grinding Halt', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: Production of industries along the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor has come to a standstill due to the disruption in power supply. Industrial establishments in the area have not been supplied with electricity for four days.', '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 1: Production of industries along the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor has come to a standstill due to the disruption in power supply. Industrial establishments in the area have not been supplied with electricity for four days.</span></span></span></span></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"">Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has announced 12 to 16 hours of load shedding in the industrial areas on a daily basis. However, the industries complain that power supply has been totally cut off.</span></span></span></span></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"">Hari Gautam, vice-president of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the production of industries in the corridor has dropped to zero after the power supply was cut off. The champer estimates that there are 2,000 small and medium scale industries in the region.</span></span></span></span></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"">According to the NEA, it has failed to supply electricity to the industries after India halted the supply 500 MW of electricity for the industries. India itself is facing an energy crisis due to the shortage of coal in the wake of Russia-Ukraine war.</span></span></span></span></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"">India has stopped exporting electricity to Nepal for its internal supply.</span></span></span></span></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"">Jitendra Kumar Jha, head of NEA Birgunj Distribution Center, said that 500 MW of electricity coming from India has now dropped to 36 MW. </span></span></span></span></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"">“The supply to industries in the Bara-Parsa corridor has been cut off. At present, electricity is being supplied only to the household consumers. It may take a few more days to provide electricity to the industries,” said Jha.</span></span></span></span></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"">The NEA had promised to supply to the industries alternately but the power supply was completely cut off due to the failure to bring electricity from 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"">Jha also informed that efforts are being made to resume the supply of electricity. "Efforts are being made to supply electricity. Electricity is likely to be supplied to the industries as early as Tuesday,” 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"">NEA has informed that 40 percent of the water of Kulekhani project has been consumed. NEA is under pressure to make arrangements for distribution of electricity generated from the remaining 60 percent water. According to the NEA, the shortage of energy will remain unless the flow of water in the rivers increases.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14935', 'image' => '20220501120609_Industries.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 12:04:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15191', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal's GDP Projected to reach Rs 4851 Billion this Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 29: The size of Nepal's economy (Gross Domestic Product) is projected to reach Rs 4851 billion by the end of the current fiscal year (FY), according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). ', '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"">April 29: The size of Nepal's economy (Gross Domestic Product) is projected to reach Rs 4851 billion by the end of the current fiscal year (FY), according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). This is based on consumer price estimates. As per the base rate, the size of the economy this year will be equal to Rs 4155 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 department estimates that the GDP will grow by 5.84 on the basis of consumer prices. The fiscal Year 2067/68 is considered the base year for calculating the growth rate of GDP.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 department's estimate is more than the 4.1 percent projected by the International Monetary Fund two days ago. However, this is less than the government's target of 7 percent growth in the replacement budget.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to a projection released by the World Bank last year, Nepal's economy was set to grow by 3.7 percent this year. The Asian Development Bank has projected a growth rate of 3.9 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"">The department estimated the economic growth rate for 6 to 9 months of the current fiscal year based on the data and information related to the economic sector, officials from the department said during a press conference held 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"">With only three months left for the fiscal year to end with no major factors affecting GDP and the impact of COVID-19 also declining, this estimate will be prove to be correct, said Nevin Lal Shrestha, Director General of the bureau.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 CBS informed that the contribution of service and secondary sector to the GDP has increased in the current fiscal year. However, the contribution of the primary sector has declined. According to the bureau, the overall industrial sector has been divided into three groups-primary, secondary and service 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"">Primary sectors include agro-forestry, fisheries, mining and excavation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 primary sector is projected to contribute 24.5 percent to the current year's GDP," the department said. Due to the decline in the production of paddy in the current fiscal year, the growth rate of this sector has been lower than that of the previous fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The CBS has estimated that the contribution of the second sector to the GDP will be 13.7 percent in the current fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The second area includes industry, electricity and gas, water supply and construction. The service sector includes wholesale and retail trade, housing and food services, transportation communication and storage, financial, real estate business, professional and administrative services, public administration and defense, education, health and other services. It is estimated that this sector has contributed 61.8 percent to the GDP in the current fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The bureau estimates that imports will reach Rs 2 trillion and exports Rs 320 billion this year. The per capita GDP is expected to be USD 1,372. The average per capita income of Nepalis is estimated to be 1,381 dollars. The department estimates the average per capita income for the previous year was 1,246. This year, total household savings will be 9.3 percent of the GDP.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14933', 'image' => '20220429044433_gdp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 16:43:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15186', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Market Reeling under Shortage of Milk', 'sub_title' => 'Demand for Yogurt and Ice Cream Increases during Summer while Production Declines', 'summary' => 'April 29: The market is currently reeling under shortage of milk. It is estimated that the production of milk falls short by 200,000 liters of the daily requirement in the domestic market.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 29: The market is currently reeling under shortage of milk. It is estimated that the production of milk falls short by 200,000 liters of the daily requirement in the domestic market. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On one hand, the production of fresh milk has declined, while on the other hand, the stock of powdered milk and butter of the industries is half the requirement.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As a result, the National Dairy Development Board informed that there is a shortage of 200,000 liters of milk in the market per day.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Milk production decreases from February to August and the demand for yogurt, ice cream and other dairy products increases in the summer as well as during the wedding season. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the board, the total demand of milk in the market is around 900,000 liters per day. However, the supply is only 710,000 liters, creating a shortage of 200,000 liters of milk. Milk production also decreases around this time as cattle do not get enough green grass to feed upon. The board informed that in previous years, the state-owned Dairy Development Corporation (DDC) and the private sector dairies used to have sufficient stocks of butter and powdered milk, which has declined this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Deputy Executive Director of the Board Babukaji Panta informed that the private and government dairies have 1400 metric tons of powdered milk and 2200 tons of butter in stock. Speaking at a program organized on the occasion of the 31st founding day of the board, he stated that about 3100 metric tons of powdered milk and 2900 metric tons of butter is required in the market from February to August.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The collection of fresh milk decreased with the decline in production. According to Balak Chaudhary, spokesperson of the board, the Dairy Development Corporation used to collect 150,000 liters of milk daily some time ago, but now it collects only 110,000 liters. Similarly, the Dairy Industry Association is collecting 350,000 liters of milk daily and the Nepal Dairy Association is collecting 260,000 liters of milk daily. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14929', 'image' => '20220429092708_milk.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 09:26:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15183', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'TIA to Extends Domestic Flight Time to 18 hours a Day ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 28: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has extended domestic flight service time to 18 hours a day to manage the growing air traffic at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 28: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has extended domestic flight service time to 18 hours a day to manage the growing air traffic at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In order to manage the air traffic congestion, the TIA has made necessary coordination with six airports of terai to operate domestic flights up to 18 hours a day from today, the state-owned national news agency reported citing CAAN Director-General Pradeep Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The CAAN has decided to run the airport from 6.00 am to midnight in Bhadrapur, Biratnagar, Janakpur, Simara, Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj and Dhangadhi airports. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This would help reduce existing air service pressure in Kathmandu-based TIA and also give a relief to the pandemic-battered tourism sector, he shared. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-28', 'modified' => '2022-04-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14925', 'image' => '20220428023242_5e.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-28 14:31:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15179', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Announces Public Holiday for 2 Days a Week from May 15', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 28: The government has decided to give regular holidays for two days a week starting from May 15. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 28: The government has decided to give regular holidays for two days a week starting from May 15. A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Tuesday took a decision to this effect on a trial basis, Government Spokesperson Gyanendra Bahadur Karki informed during a press meet on Wednesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Karki, who is also the Minister for Communications and Information Technology, declared public holiday on Saturdays and Sundays after a fortnight. The minister further said that the cabinet meeting agreed to fix office hours from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm during the weekdays. </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"">He shared that the cabinet decided to give holidays for two days a week with the belief that it would reduce fuel consumption. </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"">Although the cabinet meeting took such decision to reduce fuel consumption with the objective of easing the pressure on declining foreign exchange reserves, the Council of Ministers has ironically approved foreign visits of high-ranking government officials.</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 cabinet meeting approved a delegation led by Energy Minister Pampha Bhusal to visit Bangladesh and Education Minister Devendra Poudel’s visit to the UK. Likewise, Labour Minister Krishna Kumar Shrestha has been given the go ahead to visit Malaysia.</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"">Similarly, the cabinet meeting also approved India visit of National Planning Commission’s Vice Chairman Bishwonath Poudel and South Korea visit of Forest Secretary Dr Prem Narayan Kandel.</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"">Likewise, Health Secretary Dr Roshan Pokharel has been granted permission to visit Norway to attend a programme.</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 concept of two-day holiday a week was implemented by the government more than two decades ago. The provision was implemented on July 17, 1999 during the tenure of then then Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai. Such decision was taken upon the recommendation of the then Administrative Reform Commission in 1991 with the objective of reducing administrative costs. The provision was revoked almost after three years without conducting a study on its impact.</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"">Recently, the government had floated a similar concept but to boost the tourism sector that has been battered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Experts had suggested the government to give two days holiday in a week in order to promote domestic tourism. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-28', 'modified' => '2022-04-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14921', 'image' => '20220428110554_20220427142651_IMGL6946.JPG', 'article_date' => '2022-04-28 11:05:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15178', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Tax on Tobacco Products Comparatively Less in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 27: A study conducted by the Nepal Development Research Institute has shown that taxes are being levied on tobacco products at low rates in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 27: A study conducted by the Nepal Development Research Institute has shown that taxes are being levied on tobacco products at low rates in the country. In fact, the tax rate imposed by the government on tobacco products in Nepal is lower than that of neighboring countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the study, more than 27,000 people die annually from diseases caused by the use of tobacco in Nepal. Therefore, it has been recommended to raise the tax rate on tobacco products. According to the study conducted by the institute, the highest selling brand of tobacco in India in 2008 was taxed at 45.76 percent of the retail price. In 2018, this tax rate increased to 54.04 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The study believes that the prevalence of tobacco products in India is the result of high tax imposition. However, it also found that the tax in Nepal was 24.27 percent in 2008 and only 30 percent in 2018. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Taxes are a very effective tactics to control tobacco. However, due the government's presumption that raising taxes would encourage illegal trade, the rate of taxes in Nepal is not increasing,” the report states.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The study report also states that the use of tobacco has direct impact on healthcare cost. It also has a negative impact on the productivity of the family. According to the report, 1.4 percent of the annual GDP is lost due to tobacco. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Increasing the tax rate on tobacco products is a win-win situation. Taxes reduce consumption and improve public health, reduce economic losses and benefit the government.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The report states that due to the increase in taxes, the price of tobacco products will increase and consumption will decrease. “Raising the tax rate automatically increases the revenue. Despite this reality, the tax rate on tobacco products in Nepal is very low and these products have become very affordable in the last few years.” The study has disproved the notion that raising taxes on tobacco products will increase illegal trade. During the study, only the prevalence of 0.33 percent illegal cigarettes was found in Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Of the 4,300 packs of cigarettes inspected in 11 districts including all three geographical subdivisions of the nation, only 0.33 percent was found to be illegal. Most of the illegal cigarettes are manufactured in Indonesia and most of them were found in Kathmandu and Pokhara, far from the Nepal-India border. The excise duty sticker certified by the Inland Revenue Department was not affixed on the illegal packets.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The general secretary of the research institute, Dr. Jaya Kumar Gurung said that the study dismissed the assumption that the imposition of additional tax on tobacco products would increase the illegal trade. According to him, it is necessary to impose additional tax to reduce the use of tobacco products.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the approval of the Nepal Health Research Council, the institute conducted a nationwide study in order to check the level of illegal trade of cigarettes.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-27', 'modified' => '2022-04-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14920', 'image' => '20220427100429_istockphoto-1133345196-612x612.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-27 22:03:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15177', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Foreign Reinsurance Companies start Withdrawing Business from Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 27: Foreign reinsurance companies have started to withdraw their investment from Nepal following the rise in the number of insurance claims. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 27: Foreign reinsurance companies have started to withdraw their investment from Nepal following the rise in the number of insurance claims. As the proportion of insurance claims in Nepal has increased, foreign reinsurance companies have been incurring losses in their business. As a result, they have started leaving Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Lately, high level, i.e. A-rated foreign companies have stopped reinsuring Nepali insurance companies. A report by the Nepal Insurers Association has shown that even B-rated companies are reluctant to take up business here.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the association, in the last five fiscal years, foreign reinsurance companies have incurred losses in their business in Nepal. According to the association, insurance companies of Nepal get a commission of 35 per cent of the premium from foreign companies. In addition, they are also paid an additional 60 per cent as insurance claim. Thus, foreign reinsurance companies have to return 95 per cent of the amount to Nepal. Adding management costs to that, they say the business is running at a loss.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even after the 2015 earthquakes, foreign reinsurance companies had suffered heavy losses in their business in Nepal. However, due to the recent natural calamities, the insurance claims have been increasing in Nepal every year. That has obviously affected foreign reinsurance companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As a result, foreign reinsurance companies have started exiting the business here, says Chunky Chhetri, president of Nepal Insurance Association.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Insurance claims have increased in Nepal due for various reasons. This has automatically affected the foreign reinsurance companies. They are at a loss in their business with Nepal. Reinsurance companies are also profit-oriented entities. That's why foreign reinsurance companies are leaving Nepal,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the Insurance Board, insurance companies and the customers should be serious about this issue. “Failure to reinsure poses a challenge to make claims. However, there is a challenge to reinsurance,” he said. “It has become a big problem in the insurance sector. The time has come for everyone to join hands to solve this problem,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In this case, the association has concluded that the Insurance Board should revise the policy on reinsurance. The association says insurance premium rates are likely to increase in order to address this issue.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The association has also submitted its suggestions to the board</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The association has also demanded that the compulsory provision of reinsurance from Nepali companies be scrapped. The association demands that the board should immediately revoke this provision and make arrangements for reinsurance from a foreign company.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Keeping the entire risk within the country is considered dangerous even for the economy. On top of that, the risk is the same as the occurrence of natural disasters in Nepal. Therefore, the association demands that reinsurance should have external backing rather than within the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-27', 'modified' => '2022-04-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14919', 'image' => '20220427073816_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-27 19:36:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15174', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Discusses Modernizing Postal Service ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 27: The government is preparing to introduce a special provision in the upcoming budget for modernising the postal service as per the need of time, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 27: The government is preparing to introduce a special provision in the upcoming budget for modernising the postal service as per the need of time, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During a discussion between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology on Tuesday for the upcoming budget, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma called for coming up with an action plan for the modernization of postal service. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He was of the view of doing away with the outdated practices of the postal service. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In his presentation, communications secretary Dr Baikuntha Aryal highlighted the need of improvement in the postal service, suggesting the implementation of a new approach. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The finance minister was of the view of hiring new workforce to operate the service while the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology proposed to use the post offices as e-commerce platform. </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 meeting was attended by Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, finance secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini, revenue secretary Krishnahari Puskar, communications secretary Dr Baikuntha Aryal and the budget drafting committee members. </span></span></span><br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-27', 'modified' => '2022-04-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14916', 'image' => '20220427100836_postal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-27 10:07:54', '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' => '15203', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Daily Wage Workers Compelled to Work on Labour Day', 'sub_title' => 'Many Labourers Unaware about May Day', 'summary' => 'May 2: Julan Majhi, 40, of Kauwa forest in Sakhuwa Prasauni Rural Municipality-3 of Parsa has no idea about the International Labour Day.', '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 2: Julan Majhi, 40, of Kauwa forest in Sakhuwa Prasauni Rural Municipality-3 of Parsa has no idea about the International Labour Day. Majhi, who is busy with daily labor for livelihood, was not given any leave on May Day. He worked on road construction in Rampur of Palpa on May 1, which is the International Labour 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"">He started working as a laborer at the age of 10 and it has already been more than three decades since then. He has already worked in the fields of road construction, building and bridge construction, and transportation of goods. He was busy with his daily work even on the Labour Day. Majhi remarked, “What is Labour Day? We need to work every day. The stove in the house does not light up on days when I don’t work.” He earns a daily wage of Rs 600 and supports his family of 4 including children.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Raju Majhi, 25, of Parsa is also busy with labor. He works hard to blacktop the roads from morning till evening. He was also unaware of Labour Day on Sunday. He said, “There is not enough to eat without work. I cannot expect somebody to earn for me. I need to take care of my wife and children at home.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tikaram Pun, 30, of Purtighat in Gulmi's Kali Gandaki Municipality-4 was busy with house construction on the Labour Day. He knows that Labour Day is celebrated on May 1, but it did not make any difference in his routine. He has been working for five years and gets a daily wage of Rs 750. However, if he is late for work even by a single hour, his wage is deducted.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 celebrating the Labour Day, the workers demanded the government to increase the wages on time, provide employment in the villages and create an environment for people compelled to go for foreign employment to stay in the country itself.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Netra Bahadur Rana, 42, of Bahkhola in Rampur Municipality-7 has been earning a living for the past six years. Lately, the election activity in the village is increasing. Leaders and activists are giving him various assurances. But he does not have faith in those leaders and activists as they will not return back after the election.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Most of the workers working in the informal sector are dissatisfied with the government's inability to work for the welfare of the workers. Workers complained that they are not getting even the minimum wage set by the state. They complained that they have to work for wages fixed in the past but the prices of goods and services in the market are constantly rising at present.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14945', 'image' => '20220502055741_Labour Day.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 17:56:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15202', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cooking Oil Industries of Nepal Facing Problems in Importing Raw Materials', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: The cooking oil industry of Nepal, which is struggling due to the delay in shipment of raw materials due to the Russia-Ukraine war, is now facing an additional problem.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 2: The cooking oil industry of Nepal, which is struggling due to the delay in shipment of raw materials due to the Russia-Ukraine war, is now facing an additional problem.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industrialists are in a tight spot after Indonesia halted the export of semi-processed palm oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The price of edible oil has been on the rise since the onset of Covid-19 pandemic. The price increased further due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the two main producers of oil. It disrupted the supply chain of raw materials for cooking oil. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nikhil Chachan, the operator of Birgunj-based Narayani Oil, said that additional problems have surfaced after Indonesia halted the export of semi-processed palm oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Indonesia halted the exports of palm oil since April 28 to control the price of oil in its domestic market. According to Chachan, the traders and importers can do nothing else than wait until Indonesia reviews the decision as per its commitment on May 7.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The domestic industries of Nepal process semi-refined palm oil imported from Indonesia. Most of the oil produced in Nepal is exported to India. Edible oil is the biggest contributor to Nepal's export trade of late. About 2 dozen industries in Nepal produce oil. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prabhudayal Agrawal, manager of Annapurna Vegetable Products said that managing the raw materials is challenging. Agarwal claims that Indonesia controlled its exports a month ago. Agarwal told New Business Age, “Even though the export ban was announced only last week, consignment delivery has been disrupted since the beginning of April.” Russia's military operation, which has been going on for more than two months, has disrupted the supply of unrefined oil to Nepal. Nepal's oil producers used to import more than 80 percent of sunflower and soybean oil from Ukraine prior to the conflict. Russia is also a major supplier of sunflower and mustard to Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Importers remarked that the demand for soybean oil is growing as the imports of sunflower and mustard became uncertain. Director of OCB Food Suresh Rungta informed about the hike in price of cooking oil. Prices skyrocketed mainly due to disruption in supply of raw materials. Rungata said, the price of cooking oil, which was Rs 250 per liter two months ago, is now Rs 300.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the industrialists, the production cost of soybean oil has increased. Chachan said, “The price of semi-refined soybean oil, which was 1,900 USD per metric ton before Russia's military action against Ukraine, is now 2,100 USD.” </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14944', 'image' => '20220502031810_oil1501009175_7.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 15:17:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15201', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Promotion held in New York', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: New York-based Consulate General of Nepal organized a tourism promotion program in New York in collaboration with the New York chapter of the Asia-Pacific Travel Association.', '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 2: New York-based Consulate General of Nepal organized a tourism promotion program in New York in collaboration with the New York chapter of the Asia-Pacific Travel Association as well as an organization named Nepal-The Wonderland of Natural, Cultural and Spiritual Beauty. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 tourism promotion event aimed at imparting the message that Nepal has reopened for travel and tourism after the Covid-19 pandemic and that the country is eager to welcome American tourists.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Amrit Bahadur Rai, Nepal's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, who was the chief guest of the promotional event, said that Nepal's tourism is rich in natural beauty, cultural diversity, yoga, meditation and spirituality. He urged the guests to visit Nepal as tourism and other businesses have returned to normalcy.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 attendee invited to the programme were given information about the major tourist attractions of Nepal, the services provided by Nepal to the tourists during the Covid-19 pandemic, the recently added tourism infrastructure, facilities and the new travel facilitation measures adopted by Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepali representatives also urged the invited guests, pilots, travel and tour business communities to consider Nepal as one of their favourite destinations. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Most of the guests and speakers of the programme had travelled to Nepal earlier. They shared their unforgettable travel experience in Nepal. The event was graced by the presence of Seth Sycroff, Chief Executive Officer of the Sir Edmund Hillary Medal Project, British-American mountaineers, Everest climbers, and the first woman to reach the highest and deepest point on Earth.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 event was organized on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Nepal-US diplomatic relations. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14943', 'image' => '20220502020900_Consulateumb.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 14:07:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15200', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '70 Percent Members of Cooperatives Found Saving Money: Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: In contrary to the general belief that people become members of cooperatives to get loans, a recent study has revealed that overwhelming majority of people in rural areas join cooperatives with the objective of saving their money.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 2: In contrary to the general belief that people become members of cooperatives to get loans, a recent study has revealed that overwhelming majority of people in rural areas join cooperatives with the objective of saving their money. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study conducted by Kathmandu University shows that 70 percent customers join cooperatives with the motive of saving. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The university had conducted the study focused on the contribution of cooperatives in Lumbini and Karnali provinces with the help of National Cooperatives Federation. Unveiling the preliminary report of the study, KU informed that 70 percent of members of cooperatives were found saving money. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the study found that 15 percent members join cooperatives for financial service while another 15 percent become members to get loan. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">At a time when the cooperatives in urban areas are under scrutiny, the study revealed that 86 percent customers in Karnali Province were satisfied with the cooperatives. The report further states that women were more happy with the service of cooperatives than men.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">More than half of the respondents of the study conducted by the KU School of Management said they became entrepreneurs after joining cooperatives.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Cooperatives have not only helped in developing saving habit but also played a vital role in creating entrepreneurship,” Prof Dr Binod Krishna Shrestha of KUSOM said referring to the preliminary report. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The study has shown that 62 percent of people who joined cooperatives in Lumbini Province and 57 percent in Karnali Province started their own business,” he added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study shows that cooperatives have helped in developing saving habit as well as decision-making capacity, establishment of new businesses, creating employment opportunities, and ensuring financial independence among others. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study has recommended concerned bodies to ensure access of services of cooperatives among extremely poor communities and getting cooperatives involved in social works. Other suggestions of the report include involvement of cooperatives in education and risk management. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14942', 'image' => '20220502115836_362_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 11:57:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15199', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 1.5K Suspicious Transaction Reports under Investigation: NRB ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: The Financial Information Unit of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said it received reports of 1,556 suspicious financial transactions till mid-March of the current fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 2: The Financial Information Unit of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said it received reports of 1,556 suspicious financial transactions till mid-March of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During this period, 465 reports were reviewed, 265 were documented while 119 were sent to the law enforcement bodies for investigation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the central bank said that the total internal borrowing liability of the government was Rs 60.57 billion till date while internal debt worth Rs 29.24 has been cleared. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the central bank said it monitored 15 commercial banks under the guidelines prepared to increase supervisory effectiveness for prevention of money laundering and financial investment in terrorist activities. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14941', 'image' => '20220502110410_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 11:03:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15197', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Gas Dealers to Face action for not Cooperating with Monitoring Team', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection took action against the gas dealers who did not cooperate as well as misbehaved during recent monitoring.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 1: The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection took action against the gas dealers who did not cooperate as well as misbehaved during recent monitoring.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Director General of the Department Lila Prasad Sharma informed that action was taken against the dealers who denied showing purchase bills and broke the compliance with consumer law during the monitoring. According to him, action was taken against a gas depot of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-34 for not showing the purchase bill. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similar action was taken against one depot of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-32 Subidhanagar for not showing the bill while two depots in Anamnagar were booked for not acting in accordance with the consumer law.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department claims that various actions were taken and fines were slapped for not showing purchase bills during the monitoring in Chandragiri Municipality 14 and 15 and for not cooperating with the monitoring team by a depot of Lalitpur Metropolitan City 12. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department claimed that they have intensified monitoring focused on gas dealers recently after they created an artificial shortage of cooking gas. The department informed that it is imposing a fine of up to Rs 20,000 if the dealers were found to have hidden cooking gas.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14939', 'image' => '20220501065730_gas.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 18:56:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15195', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'President's Calls for Ensuring Rights of Labourers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has underscored the need for a culture to respect labour and highlighted the importance of labour and skill in country's economic development. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 1: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has underscored the need for a culture to respect labour and highlighted the importance of labour and skill in country's economic development. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a message on the occasion of the International Labour Day (May Day 2022) today, the President made such statement while extending the best wishes for happiness, peace and prosperity to all Nepali working at home and abroad. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President Bhandari also urged to ensure labour rights including decent work, proper wages and social security to the workers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"On this occasion, I would like to extend respect to all workers contributing to the nation's prosperity through their investment of labour and skills in different areas, including the country's industry, agriculture, construction and service sectors," read the president's message. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President Bhandari reminded the responsibility of all to ensure the rights of the working class people through the implementation of constitutional provisions in order to build a socialism-oriented economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She called upon creating employment opportunities at home to the youth who are forced to leave for foreign jobs President Bhandari also said concerned bodies and stakeholders should make continued efforts to safeguard the human rights of migrant workers. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14937', 'image' => '20220501032203_rastrapati.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 15:21:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15193', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor comes to a Grinding Halt', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: Production of industries along the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor has come to a standstill due to the disruption in power supply. Industrial establishments in the area have not been supplied with electricity for four days.', '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 1: Production of industries along the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor has come to a standstill due to the disruption in power supply. Industrial establishments in the area have not been supplied with electricity for four days.</span></span></span></span></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"">Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has announced 12 to 16 hours of load shedding in the industrial areas on a daily basis. However, the industries complain that power supply has been totally cut off.</span></span></span></span></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"">Hari Gautam, vice-president of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the production of industries in the corridor has dropped to zero after the power supply was cut off. The champer estimates that there are 2,000 small and medium scale industries in the region.</span></span></span></span></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"">According to the NEA, it has failed to supply electricity to the industries after India halted the supply 500 MW of electricity for the industries. India itself is facing an energy crisis due to the shortage of coal in the wake of Russia-Ukraine war.</span></span></span></span></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"">India has stopped exporting electricity to Nepal for its internal supply.</span></span></span></span></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"">Jitendra Kumar Jha, head of NEA Birgunj Distribution Center, said that 500 MW of electricity coming from India has now dropped to 36 MW. </span></span></span></span></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"">“The supply to industries in the Bara-Parsa corridor has been cut off. At present, electricity is being supplied only to the household consumers. It may take a few more days to provide electricity to the industries,” said Jha.</span></span></span></span></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"">The NEA had promised to supply to the industries alternately but the power supply was completely cut off due to the failure to bring electricity from 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"">Jha also informed that efforts are being made to resume the supply of electricity. "Efforts are being made to supply electricity. Electricity is likely to be supplied to the industries as early as Tuesday,” 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"">NEA has informed that 40 percent of the water of Kulekhani project has been consumed. NEA is under pressure to make arrangements for distribution of electricity generated from the remaining 60 percent water. According to the NEA, the shortage of energy will remain unless the flow of water in the rivers increases.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14935', 'image' => '20220501120609_Industries.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 12:04:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15191', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal's GDP Projected to reach Rs 4851 Billion this Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 29: The size of Nepal's economy (Gross Domestic Product) is projected to reach Rs 4851 billion by the end of the current fiscal year (FY), according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). ', '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"">April 29: The size of Nepal's economy (Gross Domestic Product) is projected to reach Rs 4851 billion by the end of the current fiscal year (FY), according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). This is based on consumer price estimates. As per the base rate, the size of the economy this year will be equal to Rs 4155 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 department estimates that the GDP will grow by 5.84 on the basis of consumer prices. The fiscal Year 2067/68 is considered the base year for calculating the growth rate of GDP.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 department's estimate is more than the 4.1 percent projected by the International Monetary Fund two days ago. However, this is less than the government's target of 7 percent growth in the replacement budget.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to a projection released by the World Bank last year, Nepal's economy was set to grow by 3.7 percent this year. The Asian Development Bank has projected a growth rate of 3.9 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"">The department estimated the economic growth rate for 6 to 9 months of the current fiscal year based on the data and information related to the economic sector, officials from the department said during a press conference held 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"">With only three months left for the fiscal year to end with no major factors affecting GDP and the impact of COVID-19 also declining, this estimate will be prove to be correct, said Nevin Lal Shrestha, Director General of the bureau.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 CBS informed that the contribution of service and secondary sector to the GDP has increased in the current fiscal year. However, the contribution of the primary sector has declined. According to the bureau, the overall industrial sector has been divided into three groups-primary, secondary and service 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"">Primary sectors include agro-forestry, fisheries, mining and excavation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 primary sector is projected to contribute 24.5 percent to the current year's GDP," the department said. Due to the decline in the production of paddy in the current fiscal year, the growth rate of this sector has been lower than that of the previous fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The CBS has estimated that the contribution of the second sector to the GDP will be 13.7 percent in the current fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The second area includes industry, electricity and gas, water supply and construction. The service sector includes wholesale and retail trade, housing and food services, transportation communication and storage, financial, real estate business, professional and administrative services, public administration and defense, education, health and other services. It is estimated that this sector has contributed 61.8 percent to the GDP in the current fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The bureau estimates that imports will reach Rs 2 trillion and exports Rs 320 billion this year. The per capita GDP is expected to be USD 1,372. The average per capita income of Nepalis is estimated to be 1,381 dollars. The department estimates the average per capita income for the previous year was 1,246. This year, total household savings will be 9.3 percent of the GDP.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14933', 'image' => '20220429044433_gdp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 16:43:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15186', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Market Reeling under Shortage of Milk', 'sub_title' => 'Demand for Yogurt and Ice Cream Increases during Summer while Production Declines', 'summary' => 'April 29: The market is currently reeling under shortage of milk. It is estimated that the production of milk falls short by 200,000 liters of the daily requirement in the domestic market.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 29: The market is currently reeling under shortage of milk. It is estimated that the production of milk falls short by 200,000 liters of the daily requirement in the domestic market. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On one hand, the production of fresh milk has declined, while on the other hand, the stock of powdered milk and butter of the industries is half the requirement.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As a result, the National Dairy Development Board informed that there is a shortage of 200,000 liters of milk in the market per day.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Milk production decreases from February to August and the demand for yogurt, ice cream and other dairy products increases in the summer as well as during the wedding season. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the board, the total demand of milk in the market is around 900,000 liters per day. However, the supply is only 710,000 liters, creating a shortage of 200,000 liters of milk. Milk production also decreases around this time as cattle do not get enough green grass to feed upon. The board informed that in previous years, the state-owned Dairy Development Corporation (DDC) and the private sector dairies used to have sufficient stocks of butter and powdered milk, which has declined this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Deputy Executive Director of the Board Babukaji Panta informed that the private and government dairies have 1400 metric tons of powdered milk and 2200 tons of butter in stock. Speaking at a program organized on the occasion of the 31st founding day of the board, he stated that about 3100 metric tons of powdered milk and 2900 metric tons of butter is required in the market from February to August.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The collection of fresh milk decreased with the decline in production. According to Balak Chaudhary, spokesperson of the board, the Dairy Development Corporation used to collect 150,000 liters of milk daily some time ago, but now it collects only 110,000 liters. Similarly, the Dairy Industry Association is collecting 350,000 liters of milk daily and the Nepal Dairy Association is collecting 260,000 liters of milk daily. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14929', 'image' => '20220429092708_milk.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 09:26:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15183', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'TIA to Extends Domestic Flight Time to 18 hours a Day ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 28: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has extended domestic flight service time to 18 hours a day to manage the growing air traffic at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 28: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has extended domestic flight service time to 18 hours a day to manage the growing air traffic at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In order to manage the air traffic congestion, the TIA has made necessary coordination with six airports of terai to operate domestic flights up to 18 hours a day from today, the state-owned national news agency reported citing CAAN Director-General Pradeep Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The CAAN has decided to run the airport from 6.00 am to midnight in Bhadrapur, Biratnagar, Janakpur, Simara, Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj and Dhangadhi airports. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This would help reduce existing air service pressure in Kathmandu-based TIA and also give a relief to the pandemic-battered tourism sector, he shared. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-28', 'modified' => '2022-04-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14925', 'image' => '20220428023242_5e.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-28 14:31:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15179', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Announces Public Holiday for 2 Days a Week from May 15', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 28: The government has decided to give regular holidays for two days a week starting from May 15. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 28: The government has decided to give regular holidays for two days a week starting from May 15. A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Tuesday took a decision to this effect on a trial basis, Government Spokesperson Gyanendra Bahadur Karki informed during a press meet on Wednesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Karki, who is also the Minister for Communications and Information Technology, declared public holiday on Saturdays and Sundays after a fortnight. The minister further said that the cabinet meeting agreed to fix office hours from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm during the weekdays. </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"">He shared that the cabinet decided to give holidays for two days a week with the belief that it would reduce fuel consumption. </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"">Although the cabinet meeting took such decision to reduce fuel consumption with the objective of easing the pressure on declining foreign exchange reserves, the Council of Ministers has ironically approved foreign visits of high-ranking government officials.</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 cabinet meeting approved a delegation led by Energy Minister Pampha Bhusal to visit Bangladesh and Education Minister Devendra Poudel’s visit to the UK. Likewise, Labour Minister Krishna Kumar Shrestha has been given the go ahead to visit Malaysia.</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"">Similarly, the cabinet meeting also approved India visit of National Planning Commission’s Vice Chairman Bishwonath Poudel and South Korea visit of Forest Secretary Dr Prem Narayan Kandel.</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"">Likewise, Health Secretary Dr Roshan Pokharel has been granted permission to visit Norway to attend a programme.</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 concept of two-day holiday a week was implemented by the government more than two decades ago. The provision was implemented on July 17, 1999 during the tenure of then then Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai. Such decision was taken upon the recommendation of the then Administrative Reform Commission in 1991 with the objective of reducing administrative costs. The provision was revoked almost after three years without conducting a study on its impact.</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"">Recently, the government had floated a similar concept but to boost the tourism sector that has been battered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Experts had suggested the government to give two days holiday in a week in order to promote domestic tourism. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-28', 'modified' => '2022-04-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14921', 'image' => '20220428110554_20220427142651_IMGL6946.JPG', 'article_date' => '2022-04-28 11:05:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15178', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Tax on Tobacco Products Comparatively Less in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 27: A study conducted by the Nepal Development Research Institute has shown that taxes are being levied on tobacco products at low rates in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 27: A study conducted by the Nepal Development Research Institute has shown that taxes are being levied on tobacco products at low rates in the country. In fact, the tax rate imposed by the government on tobacco products in Nepal is lower than that of neighboring countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the study, more than 27,000 people die annually from diseases caused by the use of tobacco in Nepal. Therefore, it has been recommended to raise the tax rate on tobacco products. According to the study conducted by the institute, the highest selling brand of tobacco in India in 2008 was taxed at 45.76 percent of the retail price. In 2018, this tax rate increased to 54.04 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The study believes that the prevalence of tobacco products in India is the result of high tax imposition. However, it also found that the tax in Nepal was 24.27 percent in 2008 and only 30 percent in 2018. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Taxes are a very effective tactics to control tobacco. However, due the government's presumption that raising taxes would encourage illegal trade, the rate of taxes in Nepal is not increasing,” the report states.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The study report also states that the use of tobacco has direct impact on healthcare cost. It also has a negative impact on the productivity of the family. According to the report, 1.4 percent of the annual GDP is lost due to tobacco. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Increasing the tax rate on tobacco products is a win-win situation. Taxes reduce consumption and improve public health, reduce economic losses and benefit the government.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The report states that due to the increase in taxes, the price of tobacco products will increase and consumption will decrease. “Raising the tax rate automatically increases the revenue. Despite this reality, the tax rate on tobacco products in Nepal is very low and these products have become very affordable in the last few years.” The study has disproved the notion that raising taxes on tobacco products will increase illegal trade. During the study, only the prevalence of 0.33 percent illegal cigarettes was found in Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Of the 4,300 packs of cigarettes inspected in 11 districts including all three geographical subdivisions of the nation, only 0.33 percent was found to be illegal. Most of the illegal cigarettes are manufactured in Indonesia and most of them were found in Kathmandu and Pokhara, far from the Nepal-India border. The excise duty sticker certified by the Inland Revenue Department was not affixed on the illegal packets.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The general secretary of the research institute, Dr. Jaya Kumar Gurung said that the study dismissed the assumption that the imposition of additional tax on tobacco products would increase the illegal trade. According to him, it is necessary to impose additional tax to reduce the use of tobacco products.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the approval of the Nepal Health Research Council, the institute conducted a nationwide study in order to check the level of illegal trade of cigarettes.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-27', 'modified' => '2022-04-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14920', 'image' => '20220427100429_istockphoto-1133345196-612x612.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-27 22:03:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15177', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Foreign Reinsurance Companies start Withdrawing Business from Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 27: Foreign reinsurance companies have started to withdraw their investment from Nepal following the rise in the number of insurance claims. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 27: Foreign reinsurance companies have started to withdraw their investment from Nepal following the rise in the number of insurance claims. As the proportion of insurance claims in Nepal has increased, foreign reinsurance companies have been incurring losses in their business. As a result, they have started leaving Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Lately, high level, i.e. A-rated foreign companies have stopped reinsuring Nepali insurance companies. A report by the Nepal Insurers Association has shown that even B-rated companies are reluctant to take up business here.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the association, in the last five fiscal years, foreign reinsurance companies have incurred losses in their business in Nepal. According to the association, insurance companies of Nepal get a commission of 35 per cent of the premium from foreign companies. In addition, they are also paid an additional 60 per cent as insurance claim. Thus, foreign reinsurance companies have to return 95 per cent of the amount to Nepal. Adding management costs to that, they say the business is running at a loss.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even after the 2015 earthquakes, foreign reinsurance companies had suffered heavy losses in their business in Nepal. However, due to the recent natural calamities, the insurance claims have been increasing in Nepal every year. That has obviously affected foreign reinsurance companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As a result, foreign reinsurance companies have started exiting the business here, says Chunky Chhetri, president of Nepal Insurance Association.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Insurance claims have increased in Nepal due for various reasons. This has automatically affected the foreign reinsurance companies. They are at a loss in their business with Nepal. Reinsurance companies are also profit-oriented entities. That's why foreign reinsurance companies are leaving Nepal,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the Insurance Board, insurance companies and the customers should be serious about this issue. “Failure to reinsure poses a challenge to make claims. However, there is a challenge to reinsurance,” he said. “It has become a big problem in the insurance sector. The time has come for everyone to join hands to solve this problem,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In this case, the association has concluded that the Insurance Board should revise the policy on reinsurance. The association says insurance premium rates are likely to increase in order to address this issue.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The association has also submitted its suggestions to the board</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The association has also demanded that the compulsory provision of reinsurance from Nepali companies be scrapped. The association demands that the board should immediately revoke this provision and make arrangements for reinsurance from a foreign company.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Keeping the entire risk within the country is considered dangerous even for the economy. On top of that, the risk is the same as the occurrence of natural disasters in Nepal. Therefore, the association demands that reinsurance should have external backing rather than within the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-27', 'modified' => '2022-04-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14919', 'image' => '20220427073816_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-27 19:36:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15174', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Discusses Modernizing Postal Service ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 27: The government is preparing to introduce a special provision in the upcoming budget for modernising the postal service as per the need of time, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 27: The government is preparing to introduce a special provision in the upcoming budget for modernising the postal service as per the need of time, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During a discussion between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology on Tuesday for the upcoming budget, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma called for coming up with an action plan for the modernization of postal service. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He was of the view of doing away with the outdated practices of the postal service. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In his presentation, communications secretary Dr Baikuntha Aryal highlighted the need of improvement in the postal service, suggesting the implementation of a new approach. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The finance minister was of the view of hiring new workforce to operate the service while the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology proposed to use the post offices as e-commerce platform. </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 meeting was attended by Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, finance secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini, revenue secretary Krishnahari Puskar, communications secretary Dr Baikuntha Aryal and the budget drafting committee members. </span></span></span><br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-27', 'modified' => '2022-04-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14916', 'image' => '20220427100836_postal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-27 10:07:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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Majhi, who is busy with daily labor for livelihood, was not given any leave on May Day. He worked on road construction in Rampur of Palpa on May 1, which is the International Labour 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"">He started working as a laborer at the age of 10 and it has already been more than three decades since then. He has already worked in the fields of road construction, building and bridge construction, and transportation of goods. He was busy with his daily work even on the Labour Day. Majhi remarked, “What is Labour Day? We need to work every day. The stove in the house does not light up on days when I don’t work.” He earns a daily wage of Rs 600 and supports his family of 4 including children.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Raju Majhi, 25, of Parsa is also busy with labor. He works hard to blacktop the roads from morning till evening. He was also unaware of Labour Day on Sunday. He said, “There is not enough to eat without work. I cannot expect somebody to earn for me. I need to take care of my wife and children at home.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tikaram Pun, 30, of Purtighat in Gulmi's Kali Gandaki Municipality-4 was busy with house construction on the Labour Day. He knows that Labour Day is celebrated on May 1, but it did not make any difference in his routine. He has been working for five years and gets a daily wage of Rs 750. However, if he is late for work even by a single hour, his wage is deducted.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 celebrating the Labour Day, the workers demanded the government to increase the wages on time, provide employment in the villages and create an environment for people compelled to go for foreign employment to stay in the country itself.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Netra Bahadur Rana, 42, of Bahkhola in Rampur Municipality-7 has been earning a living for the past six years. Lately, the election activity in the village is increasing. Leaders and activists are giving him various assurances. But he does not have faith in those leaders and activists as they will not return back after the election.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Most of the workers working in the informal sector are dissatisfied with the government's inability to work for the welfare of the workers. Workers complained that they are not getting even the minimum wage set by the state. They complained that they have to work for wages fixed in the past but the prices of goods and services in the market are constantly rising at present.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14945', 'image' => '20220502055741_Labour Day.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 17:56:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15202', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cooking Oil Industries of Nepal Facing Problems in Importing Raw Materials', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: The cooking oil industry of Nepal, which is struggling due to the delay in shipment of raw materials due to the Russia-Ukraine war, is now facing an additional problem.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 2: The cooking oil industry of Nepal, which is struggling due to the delay in shipment of raw materials due to the Russia-Ukraine war, is now facing an additional problem.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industrialists are in a tight spot after Indonesia halted the export of semi-processed palm oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The price of edible oil has been on the rise since the onset of Covid-19 pandemic. The price increased further due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the two main producers of oil. It disrupted the supply chain of raw materials for cooking oil. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nikhil Chachan, the operator of Birgunj-based Narayani Oil, said that additional problems have surfaced after Indonesia halted the export of semi-processed palm oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Indonesia halted the exports of palm oil since April 28 to control the price of oil in its domestic market. According to Chachan, the traders and importers can do nothing else than wait until Indonesia reviews the decision as per its commitment on May 7.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The domestic industries of Nepal process semi-refined palm oil imported from Indonesia. Most of the oil produced in Nepal is exported to India. Edible oil is the biggest contributor to Nepal's export trade of late. About 2 dozen industries in Nepal produce oil. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prabhudayal Agrawal, manager of Annapurna Vegetable Products said that managing the raw materials is challenging. Agarwal claims that Indonesia controlled its exports a month ago. Agarwal told New Business Age, “Even though the export ban was announced only last week, consignment delivery has been disrupted since the beginning of April.” Russia's military operation, which has been going on for more than two months, has disrupted the supply of unrefined oil to Nepal. Nepal's oil producers used to import more than 80 percent of sunflower and soybean oil from Ukraine prior to the conflict. Russia is also a major supplier of sunflower and mustard to Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Importers remarked that the demand for soybean oil is growing as the imports of sunflower and mustard became uncertain. Director of OCB Food Suresh Rungta informed about the hike in price of cooking oil. Prices skyrocketed mainly due to disruption in supply of raw materials. Rungata said, the price of cooking oil, which was Rs 250 per liter two months ago, is now Rs 300.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the industrialists, the production cost of soybean oil has increased. Chachan said, “The price of semi-refined soybean oil, which was 1,900 USD per metric ton before Russia's military action against Ukraine, is now 2,100 USD.” </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14944', 'image' => '20220502031810_oil1501009175_7.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 15:17:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15201', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Promotion held in New York', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: New York-based Consulate General of Nepal organized a tourism promotion program in New York in collaboration with the New York chapter of the Asia-Pacific Travel Association.', '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 2: New York-based Consulate General of Nepal organized a tourism promotion program in New York in collaboration with the New York chapter of the Asia-Pacific Travel Association as well as an organization named Nepal-The Wonderland of Natural, Cultural and Spiritual Beauty. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 tourism promotion event aimed at imparting the message that Nepal has reopened for travel and tourism after the Covid-19 pandemic and that the country is eager to welcome American tourists.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Amrit Bahadur Rai, Nepal's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, who was the chief guest of the promotional event, said that Nepal's tourism is rich in natural beauty, cultural diversity, yoga, meditation and spirituality. He urged the guests to visit Nepal as tourism and other businesses have returned to normalcy.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 attendee invited to the programme were given information about the major tourist attractions of Nepal, the services provided by Nepal to the tourists during the Covid-19 pandemic, the recently added tourism infrastructure, facilities and the new travel facilitation measures adopted by Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepali representatives also urged the invited guests, pilots, travel and tour business communities to consider Nepal as one of their favourite destinations. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Most of the guests and speakers of the programme had travelled to Nepal earlier. They shared their unforgettable travel experience in Nepal. The event was graced by the presence of Seth Sycroff, Chief Executive Officer of the Sir Edmund Hillary Medal Project, British-American mountaineers, Everest climbers, and the first woman to reach the highest and deepest point on Earth.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 event was organized on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Nepal-US diplomatic relations. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14943', 'image' => '20220502020900_Consulateumb.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 14:07:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15200', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '70 Percent Members of Cooperatives Found Saving Money: Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: In contrary to the general belief that people become members of cooperatives to get loans, a recent study has revealed that overwhelming majority of people in rural areas join cooperatives with the objective of saving their money.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 2: In contrary to the general belief that people become members of cooperatives to get loans, a recent study has revealed that overwhelming majority of people in rural areas join cooperatives with the objective of saving their money. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study conducted by Kathmandu University shows that 70 percent customers join cooperatives with the motive of saving. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The university had conducted the study focused on the contribution of cooperatives in Lumbini and Karnali provinces with the help of National Cooperatives Federation. Unveiling the preliminary report of the study, KU informed that 70 percent of members of cooperatives were found saving money. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the study found that 15 percent members join cooperatives for financial service while another 15 percent become members to get loan. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">At a time when the cooperatives in urban areas are under scrutiny, the study revealed that 86 percent customers in Karnali Province were satisfied with the cooperatives. The report further states that women were more happy with the service of cooperatives than men.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">More than half of the respondents of the study conducted by the KU School of Management said they became entrepreneurs after joining cooperatives.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Cooperatives have not only helped in developing saving habit but also played a vital role in creating entrepreneurship,” Prof Dr Binod Krishna Shrestha of KUSOM said referring to the preliminary report. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The study has shown that 62 percent of people who joined cooperatives in Lumbini Province and 57 percent in Karnali Province started their own business,” he added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study shows that cooperatives have helped in developing saving habit as well as decision-making capacity, establishment of new businesses, creating employment opportunities, and ensuring financial independence among others. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study has recommended concerned bodies to ensure access of services of cooperatives among extremely poor communities and getting cooperatives involved in social works. Other suggestions of the report include involvement of cooperatives in education and risk management. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14942', 'image' => '20220502115836_362_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 11:57:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15199', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 1.5K Suspicious Transaction Reports under Investigation: NRB ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: The Financial Information Unit of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said it received reports of 1,556 suspicious financial transactions till mid-March of the current fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 2: The Financial Information Unit of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said it received reports of 1,556 suspicious financial transactions till mid-March of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During this period, 465 reports were reviewed, 265 were documented while 119 were sent to the law enforcement bodies for investigation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the central bank said that the total internal borrowing liability of the government was Rs 60.57 billion till date while internal debt worth Rs 29.24 has been cleared. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the central bank said it monitored 15 commercial banks under the guidelines prepared to increase supervisory effectiveness for prevention of money laundering and financial investment in terrorist activities. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14941', 'image' => '20220502110410_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 11:03:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15197', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Gas Dealers to Face action for not Cooperating with Monitoring Team', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection took action against the gas dealers who did not cooperate as well as misbehaved during recent monitoring.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 1: The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection took action against the gas dealers who did not cooperate as well as misbehaved during recent monitoring.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Director General of the Department Lila Prasad Sharma informed that action was taken against the dealers who denied showing purchase bills and broke the compliance with consumer law during the monitoring. According to him, action was taken against a gas depot of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-34 for not showing the purchase bill. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similar action was taken against one depot of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-32 Subidhanagar for not showing the bill while two depots in Anamnagar were booked for not acting in accordance with the consumer law.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department claims that various actions were taken and fines were slapped for not showing purchase bills during the monitoring in Chandragiri Municipality 14 and 15 and for not cooperating with the monitoring team by a depot of Lalitpur Metropolitan City 12. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department claimed that they have intensified monitoring focused on gas dealers recently after they created an artificial shortage of cooking gas. The department informed that it is imposing a fine of up to Rs 20,000 if the dealers were found to have hidden cooking gas.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14939', 'image' => '20220501065730_gas.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 18:56:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15195', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'President's Calls for Ensuring Rights of Labourers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has underscored the need for a culture to respect labour and highlighted the importance of labour and skill in country's economic development. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 1: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has underscored the need for a culture to respect labour and highlighted the importance of labour and skill in country's economic development. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a message on the occasion of the International Labour Day (May Day 2022) today, the President made such statement while extending the best wishes for happiness, peace and prosperity to all Nepali working at home and abroad. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President Bhandari also urged to ensure labour rights including decent work, proper wages and social security to the workers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"On this occasion, I would like to extend respect to all workers contributing to the nation's prosperity through their investment of labour and skills in different areas, including the country's industry, agriculture, construction and service sectors," read the president's message. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President Bhandari reminded the responsibility of all to ensure the rights of the working class people through the implementation of constitutional provisions in order to build a socialism-oriented economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She called upon creating employment opportunities at home to the youth who are forced to leave for foreign jobs President Bhandari also said concerned bodies and stakeholders should make continued efforts to safeguard the human rights of migrant workers. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14937', 'image' => '20220501032203_rastrapati.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 15:21:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15193', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor comes to a Grinding Halt', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: Production of industries along the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor has come to a standstill due to the disruption in power supply. Industrial establishments in the area have not been supplied with electricity for four days.', '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 1: Production of industries along the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor has come to a standstill due to the disruption in power supply. Industrial establishments in the area have not been supplied with electricity for four days.</span></span></span></span></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"">Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has announced 12 to 16 hours of load shedding in the industrial areas on a daily basis. However, the industries complain that power supply has been totally cut off.</span></span></span></span></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"">Hari Gautam, vice-president of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the production of industries in the corridor has dropped to zero after the power supply was cut off. The champer estimates that there are 2,000 small and medium scale industries in the region.</span></span></span></span></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"">According to the NEA, it has failed to supply electricity to the industries after India halted the supply 500 MW of electricity for the industries. India itself is facing an energy crisis due to the shortage of coal in the wake of Russia-Ukraine war.</span></span></span></span></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"">India has stopped exporting electricity to Nepal for its internal supply.</span></span></span></span></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"">Jitendra Kumar Jha, head of NEA Birgunj Distribution Center, said that 500 MW of electricity coming from India has now dropped to 36 MW. </span></span></span></span></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"">“The supply to industries in the Bara-Parsa corridor has been cut off. At present, electricity is being supplied only to the household consumers. It may take a few more days to provide electricity to the industries,” said Jha.</span></span></span></span></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"">The NEA had promised to supply to the industries alternately but the power supply was completely cut off due to the failure to bring electricity from 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"">Jha also informed that efforts are being made to resume the supply of electricity. "Efforts are being made to supply electricity. Electricity is likely to be supplied to the industries as early as Tuesday,” 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"">NEA has informed that 40 percent of the water of Kulekhani project has been consumed. NEA is under pressure to make arrangements for distribution of electricity generated from the remaining 60 percent water. According to the NEA, the shortage of energy will remain unless the flow of water in the rivers increases.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14935', 'image' => '20220501120609_Industries.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 12:04:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15191', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal's GDP Projected to reach Rs 4851 Billion this Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 29: The size of Nepal's economy (Gross Domestic Product) is projected to reach Rs 4851 billion by the end of the current fiscal year (FY), according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). ', '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"">April 29: The size of Nepal's economy (Gross Domestic Product) is projected to reach Rs 4851 billion by the end of the current fiscal year (FY), according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). This is based on consumer price estimates. As per the base rate, the size of the economy this year will be equal to Rs 4155 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 department estimates that the GDP will grow by 5.84 on the basis of consumer prices. The fiscal Year 2067/68 is considered the base year for calculating the growth rate of GDP.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 department's estimate is more than the 4.1 percent projected by the International Monetary Fund two days ago. However, this is less than the government's target of 7 percent growth in the replacement budget.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to a projection released by the World Bank last year, Nepal's economy was set to grow by 3.7 percent this year. The Asian Development Bank has projected a growth rate of 3.9 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"">The department estimated the economic growth rate for 6 to 9 months of the current fiscal year based on the data and information related to the economic sector, officials from the department said during a press conference held 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"">With only three months left for the fiscal year to end with no major factors affecting GDP and the impact of COVID-19 also declining, this estimate will be prove to be correct, said Nevin Lal Shrestha, Director General of the bureau.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 CBS informed that the contribution of service and secondary sector to the GDP has increased in the current fiscal year. However, the contribution of the primary sector has declined. According to the bureau, the overall industrial sector has been divided into three groups-primary, secondary and service 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"">Primary sectors include agro-forestry, fisheries, mining and excavation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 primary sector is projected to contribute 24.5 percent to the current year's GDP," the department said. Due to the decline in the production of paddy in the current fiscal year, the growth rate of this sector has been lower than that of the previous fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The CBS has estimated that the contribution of the second sector to the GDP will be 13.7 percent in the current fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The second area includes industry, electricity and gas, water supply and construction. The service sector includes wholesale and retail trade, housing and food services, transportation communication and storage, financial, real estate business, professional and administrative services, public administration and defense, education, health and other services. It is estimated that this sector has contributed 61.8 percent to the GDP in the current fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The bureau estimates that imports will reach Rs 2 trillion and exports Rs 320 billion this year. The per capita GDP is expected to be USD 1,372. The average per capita income of Nepalis is estimated to be 1,381 dollars. The department estimates the average per capita income for the previous year was 1,246. This year, total household savings will be 9.3 percent of the GDP.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14933', 'image' => '20220429044433_gdp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 16:43:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15186', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Market Reeling under Shortage of Milk', 'sub_title' => 'Demand for Yogurt and Ice Cream Increases during Summer while Production Declines', 'summary' => 'April 29: The market is currently reeling under shortage of milk. It is estimated that the production of milk falls short by 200,000 liters of the daily requirement in the domestic market.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 29: The market is currently reeling under shortage of milk. It is estimated that the production of milk falls short by 200,000 liters of the daily requirement in the domestic market. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On one hand, the production of fresh milk has declined, while on the other hand, the stock of powdered milk and butter of the industries is half the requirement.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As a result, the National Dairy Development Board informed that there is a shortage of 200,000 liters of milk in the market per day.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Milk production decreases from February to August and the demand for yogurt, ice cream and other dairy products increases in the summer as well as during the wedding season. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the board, the total demand of milk in the market is around 900,000 liters per day. However, the supply is only 710,000 liters, creating a shortage of 200,000 liters of milk. Milk production also decreases around this time as cattle do not get enough green grass to feed upon. The board informed that in previous years, the state-owned Dairy Development Corporation (DDC) and the private sector dairies used to have sufficient stocks of butter and powdered milk, which has declined this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Deputy Executive Director of the Board Babukaji Panta informed that the private and government dairies have 1400 metric tons of powdered milk and 2200 tons of butter in stock. Speaking at a program organized on the occasion of the 31st founding day of the board, he stated that about 3100 metric tons of powdered milk and 2900 metric tons of butter is required in the market from February to August.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The collection of fresh milk decreased with the decline in production. According to Balak Chaudhary, spokesperson of the board, the Dairy Development Corporation used to collect 150,000 liters of milk daily some time ago, but now it collects only 110,000 liters. Similarly, the Dairy Industry Association is collecting 350,000 liters of milk daily and the Nepal Dairy Association is collecting 260,000 liters of milk daily. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14929', 'image' => '20220429092708_milk.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 09:26:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15183', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'TIA to Extends Domestic Flight Time to 18 hours a Day ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 28: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has extended domestic flight service time to 18 hours a day to manage the growing air traffic at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 28: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has extended domestic flight service time to 18 hours a day to manage the growing air traffic at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In order to manage the air traffic congestion, the TIA has made necessary coordination with six airports of terai to operate domestic flights up to 18 hours a day from today, the state-owned national news agency reported citing CAAN Director-General Pradeep Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The CAAN has decided to run the airport from 6.00 am to midnight in Bhadrapur, Biratnagar, Janakpur, Simara, Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj and Dhangadhi airports. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This would help reduce existing air service pressure in Kathmandu-based TIA and also give a relief to the pandemic-battered tourism sector, he shared. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-28', 'modified' => '2022-04-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14925', 'image' => '20220428023242_5e.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-28 14:31:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15179', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Announces Public Holiday for 2 Days a Week from May 15', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 28: The government has decided to give regular holidays for two days a week starting from May 15. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 28: The government has decided to give regular holidays for two days a week starting from May 15. A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Tuesday took a decision to this effect on a trial basis, Government Spokesperson Gyanendra Bahadur Karki informed during a press meet on Wednesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Karki, who is also the Minister for Communications and Information Technology, declared public holiday on Saturdays and Sundays after a fortnight. The minister further said that the cabinet meeting agreed to fix office hours from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm during the weekdays. </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"">He shared that the cabinet decided to give holidays for two days a week with the belief that it would reduce fuel consumption. </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"">Although the cabinet meeting took such decision to reduce fuel consumption with the objective of easing the pressure on declining foreign exchange reserves, the Council of Ministers has ironically approved foreign visits of high-ranking government officials.</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 cabinet meeting approved a delegation led by Energy Minister Pampha Bhusal to visit Bangladesh and Education Minister Devendra Poudel’s visit to the UK. Likewise, Labour Minister Krishna Kumar Shrestha has been given the go ahead to visit Malaysia.</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"">Similarly, the cabinet meeting also approved India visit of National Planning Commission’s Vice Chairman Bishwonath Poudel and South Korea visit of Forest Secretary Dr Prem Narayan Kandel.</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"">Likewise, Health Secretary Dr Roshan Pokharel has been granted permission to visit Norway to attend a programme.</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 concept of two-day holiday a week was implemented by the government more than two decades ago. The provision was implemented on July 17, 1999 during the tenure of then then Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai. Such decision was taken upon the recommendation of the then Administrative Reform Commission in 1991 with the objective of reducing administrative costs. The provision was revoked almost after three years without conducting a study on its impact.</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"">Recently, the government had floated a similar concept but to boost the tourism sector that has been battered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Experts had suggested the government to give two days holiday in a week in order to promote domestic tourism. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-28', 'modified' => '2022-04-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14921', 'image' => '20220428110554_20220427142651_IMGL6946.JPG', 'article_date' => '2022-04-28 11:05:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15178', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Tax on Tobacco Products Comparatively Less in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 27: A study conducted by the Nepal Development Research Institute has shown that taxes are being levied on tobacco products at low rates in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 27: A study conducted by the Nepal Development Research Institute has shown that taxes are being levied on tobacco products at low rates in the country. In fact, the tax rate imposed by the government on tobacco products in Nepal is lower than that of neighboring countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the study, more than 27,000 people die annually from diseases caused by the use of tobacco in Nepal. Therefore, it has been recommended to raise the tax rate on tobacco products. According to the study conducted by the institute, the highest selling brand of tobacco in India in 2008 was taxed at 45.76 percent of the retail price. In 2018, this tax rate increased to 54.04 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The study believes that the prevalence of tobacco products in India is the result of high tax imposition. However, it also found that the tax in Nepal was 24.27 percent in 2008 and only 30 percent in 2018. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Taxes are a very effective tactics to control tobacco. However, due the government's presumption that raising taxes would encourage illegal trade, the rate of taxes in Nepal is not increasing,” the report states.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The study report also states that the use of tobacco has direct impact on healthcare cost. It also has a negative impact on the productivity of the family. According to the report, 1.4 percent of the annual GDP is lost due to tobacco. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Increasing the tax rate on tobacco products is a win-win situation. Taxes reduce consumption and improve public health, reduce economic losses and benefit the government.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The report states that due to the increase in taxes, the price of tobacco products will increase and consumption will decrease. “Raising the tax rate automatically increases the revenue. Despite this reality, the tax rate on tobacco products in Nepal is very low and these products have become very affordable in the last few years.” The study has disproved the notion that raising taxes on tobacco products will increase illegal trade. During the study, only the prevalence of 0.33 percent illegal cigarettes was found in Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Of the 4,300 packs of cigarettes inspected in 11 districts including all three geographical subdivisions of the nation, only 0.33 percent was found to be illegal. Most of the illegal cigarettes are manufactured in Indonesia and most of them were found in Kathmandu and Pokhara, far from the Nepal-India border. The excise duty sticker certified by the Inland Revenue Department was not affixed on the illegal packets.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The general secretary of the research institute, Dr. Jaya Kumar Gurung said that the study dismissed the assumption that the imposition of additional tax on tobacco products would increase the illegal trade. According to him, it is necessary to impose additional tax to reduce the use of tobacco products.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the approval of the Nepal Health Research Council, the institute conducted a nationwide study in order to check the level of illegal trade of cigarettes.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-27', 'modified' => '2022-04-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14920', 'image' => '20220427100429_istockphoto-1133345196-612x612.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-27 22:03:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15177', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Foreign Reinsurance Companies start Withdrawing Business from Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 27: Foreign reinsurance companies have started to withdraw their investment from Nepal following the rise in the number of insurance claims. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 27: Foreign reinsurance companies have started to withdraw their investment from Nepal following the rise in the number of insurance claims. As the proportion of insurance claims in Nepal has increased, foreign reinsurance companies have been incurring losses in their business. As a result, they have started leaving Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Lately, high level, i.e. A-rated foreign companies have stopped reinsuring Nepali insurance companies. A report by the Nepal Insurers Association has shown that even B-rated companies are reluctant to take up business here.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the association, in the last five fiscal years, foreign reinsurance companies have incurred losses in their business in Nepal. According to the association, insurance companies of Nepal get a commission of 35 per cent of the premium from foreign companies. In addition, they are also paid an additional 60 per cent as insurance claim. Thus, foreign reinsurance companies have to return 95 per cent of the amount to Nepal. Adding management costs to that, they say the business is running at a loss.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even after the 2015 earthquakes, foreign reinsurance companies had suffered heavy losses in their business in Nepal. However, due to the recent natural calamities, the insurance claims have been increasing in Nepal every year. That has obviously affected foreign reinsurance companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As a result, foreign reinsurance companies have started exiting the business here, says Chunky Chhetri, president of Nepal Insurance Association.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Insurance claims have increased in Nepal due for various reasons. This has automatically affected the foreign reinsurance companies. They are at a loss in their business with Nepal. Reinsurance companies are also profit-oriented entities. That's why foreign reinsurance companies are leaving Nepal,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the Insurance Board, insurance companies and the customers should be serious about this issue. “Failure to reinsure poses a challenge to make claims. However, there is a challenge to reinsurance,” he said. “It has become a big problem in the insurance sector. The time has come for everyone to join hands to solve this problem,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In this case, the association has concluded that the Insurance Board should revise the policy on reinsurance. The association says insurance premium rates are likely to increase in order to address this issue.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The association has also submitted its suggestions to the board</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The association has also demanded that the compulsory provision of reinsurance from Nepali companies be scrapped. The association demands that the board should immediately revoke this provision and make arrangements for reinsurance from a foreign company.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Keeping the entire risk within the country is considered dangerous even for the economy. On top of that, the risk is the same as the occurrence of natural disasters in Nepal. Therefore, the association demands that reinsurance should have external backing rather than within the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-27', 'modified' => '2022-04-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14919', 'image' => '20220427073816_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-27 19:36:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15174', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Discusses Modernizing Postal Service ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 27: The government is preparing to introduce a special provision in the upcoming budget for modernising the postal service as per the need of time, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 27: The government is preparing to introduce a special provision in the upcoming budget for modernising the postal service as per the need of time, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During a discussion between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology on Tuesday for the upcoming budget, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma called for coming up with an action plan for the modernization of postal service. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He was of the view of doing away with the outdated practices of the postal service. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In his presentation, communications secretary Dr Baikuntha Aryal highlighted the need of improvement in the postal service, suggesting the implementation of a new approach. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The finance minister was of the view of hiring new workforce to operate the service while the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology proposed to use the post offices as e-commerce platform. </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 meeting was attended by Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, finance secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini, revenue secretary Krishnahari Puskar, communications secretary Dr Baikuntha Aryal and the budget drafting committee members. </span></span></span><br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-27', 'modified' => '2022-04-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14916', 'image' => '20220427100836_postal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-27 10:07:54', '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
