March 6: A few days ago, Nepal Rastra Bank lowered the cap of domestic remittance and decided not to allow transfer of more than Rs 25,000 per person in one…
March 6: A few days ago, Nepal Rastra Bank lowered the cap of domestic remittance and decided not to allow transfer of more than Rs 25,000 per person in one…
March 6: A study conducted by a parliamentary panel has found that excessive amount of betel nuts have been imported into the country.…
March 6: Airline operators of Nepal have increased the price of air tickets…
March 4: All sorts of prohibitory orders issued earlier in the Kathmandu Valley following the increase in COVID-19 cases have been lifted with the decline in infection…
March 4: Hydropower sector is often linked with Nepal’s prosperity.…
March 4: Oxygen plants worth more than Rs 70 million purchased by Nepali entrepreneurs have been stuck in France due to the negligence of the transportation…
March 4: Asian equities and the euro slumped on Friday after news of a fire near a Ukraine nuclear…
March 4: The price of sugar has been going up in an uncontrolled manner, but the government doesn’t seem to be able to control…
March 4: The government has not invested most of the amount collected under the contribution-based Social Security Fund (SSF) in profit-generating…
March 4: The Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has increased the prices of fuel with effect from Thursday midnight (March 4).…
March 3: A task force formed to study the problems related to visit visas and to recommend solutions to the problems has submitted its report to Home Minister Bal Krishna…
March 3: As the government is preparing for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2079/80), various ministries and related bodies are lobbying to get more…
March 3: There has been a shortage of imported goods in the market after Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) adopted the policy to tighten imports in an attempt to reduce trade…
March 3: There are more Nepalis in Ukraine than it was anticipated…
March 3: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has directed the Securities Board of Nepal, and Nepal Stock Exchange Limited to focus on improving capital market.…
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Earlier, remittances up to Rs 100,000 were allowed within the country.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NRB officials said they took such measures due to an increase in remittances through the illegal ‘hundi; channel. He said that such decision was taken after the Nepali migrant workers started sending money to their relatives through hundi.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Questions have been raised about where the money sent by Nepali workers from abroad goes after the inflow of remittance started declining steadily after the peak of the Covid-19 crisis.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, no study has been conducted on whether the income of Nepali nationals living abroad has declined or whether the inflow of remittance to Nepal has declined.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Some experts suspect that Nepalis are more inclined towards cryptocurrency in recent times.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Former executive director of NRB Nara Bahadur Thapa, on the other hand, argued that the problem has surfaced due to the tiresome process of sending remittance as per the government’s criteria.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Besides, sending remittances to Nepal is expensive," he said, adding that the government casts an evil eye if anyone sends a good amount of money back home. “The government has even suspended accounts of those who send money back home in dollars,” added Thapa.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Labor, immigration expert, and advocate Som Luintel, who is studying the field of foreign employment meticulously, said that the declining remittances at this time is the effect of Covid-19 pandemic which halted the foreign employment business some time ago.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Remittances were sent by Nepalis who had gone abroad earlier during the Corona epidemic. But the number of Nepali migrant workers declined during the peak of Covid-19 and the result is seen now," he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NRB spokesperson Gunakar Bhatt also estimated that remittances have declined due to the decline in the number of people going for foreign employment when the pandemic was at its peak. He said that the inflow of remittances will increase after the number of people going for foreign employment starts rising again.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, some NRB officials say that the activity of hundi trading may have increased after the restrictions were lifted.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 youths who have gone for foreign employment have sent remittances of Rs 468.45 billion as of December 2021 in the current fiscal year, which is 5.5 percent less than the remittance sent during the corresponding period of last fiscal year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-06', 'modified' => '2022-03-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14619', 'image' => '20220306015310_Remittance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-06 13:52:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14876', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Import of Betel Nuts Five Times more than Actual Demand: Report ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 6: A study conducted by a parliamentary panel has found that excessive amount of betel nuts have been imported into the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 6: A study conducted by a parliamentary panel has found that excessive amount of betel nuts have been imported into the country. The report prepared by a subcommittee formed to study policy provisions on the import of betel nuts from third countries has been submitted to the Sustainable Development and Good Governance Committee (SDGGC) of the National Assembly on Friday. The next meeting of the parliamentary committee will discuss about the report and issue directive to the government and other stakeholders, informed Ramesh Jung Rayamajhi, coordinator of the committee. </span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the investigation, it was found that betel nuts were imported much more than the actual demand. According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, Rayamajhi said that 25,000 metric tonnes of betel nuts were imported in the country when the demand for betel nuts from factories in Nepal was just 5,000 metric tonnes. </span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although the upper house committee had summoned the director general of the Department of Customs, some secretaries and the importers to discuss the matter in the meeting, they were absent, RSS said quoting Rayamajhi. </span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government allegedly allowed the import of more betel nuts than the demand under the influence of importers, said the report. The imported betel nuts would be exported to neighbouring India, 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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A report published by New Business Age on March 23 last year states that the government had allowed import of 25,000 metric tons of betel nuts, 5,000 metric tons of dates and 15,000 metric tons of black pepper in fiscal year 2020/21 under the quota system.</span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government had earlier imposed a ban on import of most goods in April 2020 in a bid to prevent foreign currency from flowing out of the country during the crisis created by coronavirus pandemic. The government had put a complete ban on the import of black pepper, peas, dates, and betel nuts initially but later imposed quota system for the imports. Similarly, the government had also restricted the import of alcohol and other luxurious goods during the period.</span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The restriction on import of beetle nuts and other edible items were lifted in March 2021 after the situation turned normal. Interestingly, the ban on alcohol was lifted in September 2020 much before the ban on other items were removed.</span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It was not the first time that the government had imposed a ban on betel nuts though. </span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that former Chief Commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority Lokman Singh Karki lost his temper during a press meet in 2014 when reporters asked him repeatedly to clarify reasons behind the unchecked smuggling of betel nuts and his involvement in it. </span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The reporters were curious to know why the ban on betel nuts was lifted after Karki was appointed CIAA chief. That incident in Biratnagar ultimately led to the downfall of Karki.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-06', 'modified' => '2022-03-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14618', 'image' => '20220306121659_supari.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-06 12:14:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14875', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Airline Operators Hike Price of Air Tickets', 'sub_title' => 'The airfare has been increased by Rs 90 to Rs 540', 'summary' => 'March 6: Airline operators of Nepal have increased the price of air tickets again.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 6: Airline operators of Nepal have increased the price of air tickets again.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Airlines Operators Association of Nepal (AOAN) decided to increase the airfare on Saturday, two days after the Nepal Oil Corporation increased the price of petroleum products. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The state-owned oil monopoly had announced to revise the price of aviation turbine fuel from Rs 126 per litre to Rs 136 per litre. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the decision of the airline operators, the prices of air tickets for domestic flights have been increased from Rs 90 to Rs 540. The tickets for mountain flights from Kathmandu have been increased by Rs 340 per person.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The airfare of Kathmandu-Siamra flights have been increased the least by Rs 90 while the tickets for Biratnagar- Nepalgunj flights have been increased the most by Rs 540. The new airfare will be applicable from Sunday, March 6.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prior to this, the AOAN had increased airfare on February 11 in coordination with the Civil Aviation Association of Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-06', 'modified' => '2022-03-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14617', 'image' => '20220306113039_20201109112912_1604878353.14.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-06 08:27:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14874', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'All Prohibitory Orders Relating to COVID-19 Removed in Kathmandu Valley ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: All sorts of prohibitory orders issued earlier in the Kathmandu Valley following the increase in COVID-19 cases have been lifted with the decline in infection rate.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 4: All sorts of prohibitory orders issued earlier in the Kathmandu Valley following the increase in COVID-19 cases have been lifted with the decline in infection rate.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The prohibitory orders will be removed from March 5. All three districts in the valley (Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur) confirmed this on Friday. With this, activities relating to politics, economy, society, education and other professions will resume in full-fledge by following health protocols. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The decision to lift the prohibitory orders was taken in line with the Local Administration Act, 2028, the Infectious Disease Act, 2020, the smart lockdown procedure, 2078, risk control regulation and prohibition of COVID-19, recommendations of the COVID-19 Crisis Management Coordination Centre, and the decisions taken by the Council of Ministers, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The district administration offices of all three districts of the valley thanked the people for helping the government in the prevention and control of the virus by abiding by the prohibitory orders. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14616', 'image' => '20220304080511_Kathmandu Valley.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 20:04:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14873', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Grants Survey License to Hydropower Projects but Denies PPA', 'sub_title' => 'Promoters of ROR Projects say their Investment has Gone Down the Drain due to Government Policy', 'summary' => 'March 4: Hydropower sector is often linked with Nepal’s prosperity. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 4: Hydropower sector is often linked with Nepal’s prosperity. It is believed that the country’s economy will improve if the electricity produced in the country is exported. However, the government’s policy is causing problems for hydropower developers who have made massive investment with the hope of bountiful return.</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"">Despite the possibility of reaping huge economic benefits from internal consumption of electricity as well as export of power generated in the country, more than 200 run-of-the-river (ROR) based projects which are under construction since the last three years are yet to sign any power purchase agreement with the concerned stakeholder. They have been given survey license but are unable to obtain permission to sell the electricity due to the rigid policy adopted by the government.</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 Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the sole licensed body to trade electricity, has suspended PPA for ROR projects saying that the quota has been exhausted.</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 government's policy on energy, 30 percent of the total electricity connected to the national grid has to come from the ROR projects. The remaining electricity will be sourced from reservoir-based projects, solar plants, and others.</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"">This arrangement has been implemented with the target of generating 15,000 MW of electricity in 10 years. According to the energy producers, the PPA for 215 ROR projects with a combined capacity of 9000 MW has been suspended at the moment.</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"">PPA is an important aspect of power projects. Banks and investors invest in loans and shares in the projects based on PPA. However, the financial management of these projects has not been possible as the government has not come up with a clear policy. It puts the investment of promoters at risk and also the future of the entire projects.</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 government has distributed the survey license to these projects. The promoter company needs to sign the PPA and get the production license within five years after obtaining the survey license. The future of the projects is at stake due to the suspension of PPA by the government. Promoters say that if the PPA is not opened immediately, the survey license will be revoked. They complained that the investments made so far have been wasted.</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"">It has been almost five years since some projects got survey licenses. Without immediate PPA, the survey license of such projects will be revoked within the deadline.</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"">It costs up to Rs 100 million to survey a project of up to 10 MW. Even if you get a survey license, you have to pay Rs 1 million to Rs 3 million annually to the government depending on the size of the project. The promoters argue that the investment will be wasted if the survey license is revoked due to the suspension of PPA.</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 government has a long-term plan to trade electricity with India, Bangladesh, China, and other countries. Accordingly, the private sector has invested heavily in hydropower. Entrepreneurs say they are discouraged by the lack of PPA.</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"">They say that a clear policy should be brought immediately regarding PPA. "The government must open PPA. If not, alternative arrangements should be made,” said an entrepreneur. If the private sector is not allowed to do business and the PPA is not allowed, the development of the energy sector will be pushed backwards, he opined.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14615', 'image' => '20220304055417_604790760.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 17:53:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14872', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Oxygen Plants Purchased during the Peak of Covid-19 Pandemic yet to Arrive', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: Oxygen plants worth more than Rs 70 million purchased by Nepali entrepreneurs have been stuck in France due to the negligence of the transportation company.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 4: Oxygen plants worth more than Rs 70 million purchased by Nepali entrepreneurs have been stuck in France due to the negligence of the transportation 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"">Nepali businessmen and social organisations had purchased 10 sets of oxygen generator plants from France nine months under the coordination of a non-governmental organization called Reconstruction Nepal. “After purchasing the goods, Flash Freight Logistics Company was entrusted with the task of transporting the goods,” said a businessman who bought the oxygen generator plants, adding, “But even after multiple requests, the company is not even interested in transporting the goods.”</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"">Six different business houses had invested on those oxygen plants during the Covid-19 pandemic. The cost of transporting the oxygen plants was paid by the government. The government had reportedly paid USD 275,000 to the company for transporting the oxygen plants.</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 company then entered into an agreement with Nepal Airlines to transport the plants for USD 272,000. The concerned businessmen said despite the agreement, the transportation company has been refusing to transport the oxygen plants.</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"">Deepesh Adhikari on behalf of the transportation company and president of US-based Reconstruction Nepal, Dr Madan Upreti on behalf of the buyers had signed the agreement for transporting the plants to 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"">The agreement was to bring the oxygen plant to Nepal within the month of December, 2021. After being brought to Nepal, the target was to set up two of the oxygen plants at Kathmandu’s Teaching Hospital, three at Gandaki and Lumbini hospitals, one at Damak's Amda and one at Darchula Hospital. The government had planned to set up another station at Jogbudha Hospital in Dadeldhura with the plants brought from France.</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"">But due to the negligence of the transporter to bring those oxygen plants, not only the investment of the businessman has sunk but also the general public has not been able to get the service. Oxygen plants were urgently needed in hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many patients were killed during the Covid-19 pandemic due to the unavailability of oxygen.</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"">When the representative of the company that did not ship the plants as per the agreement, he declined to comment. He has reportedly been avoiding any kind of contact.</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"">One of the businessmen who bought the oxygen plants said that the cargo company is arguing that the ship fare has increased now.</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 the shipping company had asked for more money to transport the oxygen plants. “We have already given the transport company an additional Rs 1 million per plant, in addition to what the government had already promised,” he said adding, “Now action needs to be taken against that 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"">Batas Foundation, America Nepal Medical Foundation, Creation Nepal, Humanity Foundation Nepal, Reconstruction Nepal, Jagdamba Steel and Syakar Trading Company had partnered to bring the oxygen plant. Businessmen have demanded to confiscate the deposit of the company and blacklist it for not delivering the shipment as per the agreement.</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"">Businessmen are appealing to various agencies for transportation after the oxygen plants purchased on May 20, 2021 failed to arrive.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">How the oxygen plant purchase procedure started</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hospitals across the country were in dire need of oxygen as the Covid-19 pandemic intensified. Reconstruction Nepal bought oxygen plants in France with the aim of setting up oxygen plants in various hospitals after patients started dying due to lack of oxygen.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The buyers had requested the government to assist in the transportation of the plants as the shipment by water would be delayed and transportation by air would be costly. Accepting the request, the then KP Sharma Oli-led government had decided to provide transportation expenses.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14614', 'image' => '20220304040957_1646349322.Clipboard17.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 16:09:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14871', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Asia Stocks Tumble to 16-Month Lows after Ukraine Nuclear Complex Fire', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: Asian equities and the euro slumped on Friday after news of a fire near a Ukraine nuclear facility.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 4: Asian equities and the euro slumped on Friday after news of a fire near a Ukraine nuclear facility. According to Reuters, the fire erupted following clashes between the Russian and Ukrainian forces, which heightened investor fears about the escalating conflict and sent oil prices higher.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The news agency further said that the risk-off appetite battered markets across the region, with European bourses set for a weak open as Euro Stoxx 50 futures while German DAX futures shed 2.6 percent and FTSE futures lost 1.4 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A fire that broke out in a training building near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest of its kind in Europe, during intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces has since been extinguished, Reuters reported Friday citing the local authorities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">While that has helped ease some of the initial panic that hit markets earlier in the day, investors remain extremely anxious about the conflict.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Markets are worried about nuclear fallout. The risk is that there is a miscalculation or overreaction and the war prolongs," Reuters quoted Vasu Menon, executive director of investment strategy at OCBC Bank, as saying.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Stock markets across Asia were in a sea of red, with Japan losing 2.5 percent, South Korea 1.1 percent, China 0.8 percent and Hong Kong 2.5 percent while commodities-heavy Australia was down 0.6 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">S&P 500 futures shed 0.3 percent and Nasdaq futures fell 0.41 percent, paring sharp losses from early trading. Overnight, Wall Street ended lower as investors remained on edge over the Ukraine crisis, while rising prices of commodities also weighed on market sentiment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Investors sought refuge in safe-haven US Treasuries, sending yields on benchmark 10-year yields as much as 14 basis points lower to 1.7 percent, Reuters reported. They later inched back up to 1.79 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Oil prices jumped on Friday after ending steady a day earlier, with the market also focused on whether the OPEC+ producers, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, would increase output from January.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Brent crude futures for May rose to as much as $114.23 a barrel and were last up 0.5% percent at $111. The contract fell 2.2 percent on Thursday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There was no let-up in other commodities also, with Chicago wheat futures jumping nearly 7 percent, taking the weekly gain to more than 40 percent on supply side worries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the news agency, economists said higher interest rates were needed to tame high inflation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Timely determined action from central banks is required to settle inflationary expectations as supply chain disruptions and rising energy prices boost current inflation. The war has intensified these forces," Bill Evans, chief economist at Westpac, was quoted as saying by Reuters.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Central banks have the responsibility to ensure that high inflationary expectations do not become embedded in the system - risking a wage/price spiral. Despite the uncertainties of the war this task should not be compromised," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Gold prices also rose in the international market on Friday, eyeing their best weekly gain since May 2021. Spot gold edged up 0.1 percent to $1,936.9, according to Reuters.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In currency markets, the euro lost further ground and was set for its worst week versus the dollar in nine months. It fell 0.3 percent to $1.10320 and traded above the day's lows. It has lost about 1.8 percent this week, which would be the euro's worst week since June 2021.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14613', 'image' => '20220304022129_Asian-stocks.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 14:20:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14870', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Blame for Hike in Price of Sugar', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: The price of sugar has been going up in an uncontrolled manner, but the government doesn’t seem to be able to control it.', '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"">March 4: The price of sugar has been going up in an uncontrolled manner, but the government doesn’t seem to be able to control it. Concerned authorities say that the price of sugar has been rising because the government itself has not given permission to the Salt Trading Corporation Limited to purchase of sugar since the last one and a half years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">About 15 months ago, Salt Trading had sent a letter to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies seeking permission to purchase 50,000 metric tons of sugar with customs duty exemption. Although the Ministry of Industry has forwarded the letter to the Ministry of Finance seeking release of budget, the letter is gathering dust at the finance ministry. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Salt Trading Corporation has almost run out of stock of subsidized sugar. As a result, the price of sugar has gone out of control in the market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to spokesperson of the Salt Trading Corporation, Kumar Raj Bhandari, the state-owned company currently has only 100 metric tons of sugar in stock. He said that they have been selling sugar only to retail customers to avoid running out of stock as the stock is not enough even for a day if it is sold as per the market demand.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Middlemen and big businessmen are taking advantage of the state-owned company’s inability to supply subsidized sugar in the market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The retail price of sugar has increased by Rs 15 per kg to reach an all-time high of Rs 100 since last December. Although the price has continued to rise, the government has remained a mute spectator. The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies said it has repeatedly requested the finance ministry to release budget but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance claims that the process to release budget is underway.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pavitra Bajracharya, the outgoing president of the Retail Trade Association, said that they are facing problems in selling sugar to the retailers due to the uncontrolled price hike.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Import of sugar increased from Rs 3.12 billion in fiscal year 2075/76 to Rs 12.26 billion in the last fiscal year. Consumers have been complaining that the state-owned company is not even getting permission to buy sugar when large amount of sugar is being imported by the private sector in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14612', 'image' => '20220304020256_sugar.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 14:02:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14869', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'SSF unable to Invest Money in Profit-Generating Sector ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: The government has not invested most of the amount collected under the contribution-based Social Security Fund (SSF) in profit-generating sector.', '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"">March 4: The government has not invested most of the amount collected under the contribution-based Social Security Fund (SSF) in profit-generating sector. The fund was launched by the then government led by KP Sharma Oli with tall promises.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, the government’s inability to mobilize billions of rupees collected under various headings, including the social security program, in profit-generating programmes, has poured cold water on the chances of investors getting additional benefits. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the SSF, it has so far collected Rs 43 billion under different headings from the contributors of the private sector who have been promised of post-retirement benefits and various other facilities. The contribution amount under the social security program is Rs 13.37 billion. Similarly, Rs 28 billion of National Welfare Fund is also with SSF. Likewise, SSF has also collected Rs 1 billion under social security tax and Rs 2 billion under various other topics. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 officials of SSF say that only Rs 2 billion has been mobilised out of the collected amount. As per the investment procedure of SSF, it can invest the amount in government bonds, shares, debentures, mutual funds and fixed assets. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the deputy executive director of the fund Bibek Panthi, out of the amount collected by SSF, Rs 2 billion has been invested in debentures while the rest is kept in fixed deposit account. "Most of the money is kept in a fixed deposit account. The average interest rate is 8 percent. Preparations are being made to invest more money," he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The council of ministers had passed a work procedure one and a half years ago to invest the money of the fund in different sectors. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the issuance of this procedure, the amount of contributors was expected to be invested in various sectors. Although investing in this way is expected to increase the income of the fund, the SSF does not seem to be able to make investment. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14611', 'image' => '20220304012317_SSF (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 13:22:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14868', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Fuel Prices go up Again, Petrol to cost Rs 150 per Litre ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: The Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has increased the prices of fuel with effect from Thursday midnight (March 4). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 4: The Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has increased the prices of fuel with effect from Thursday midnight (March 4). The prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene each have been increased by Rs 5 per litre, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </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"">With the revised price, petrol will now cost Rs 150 per litre while diesel and kerosene will cost Rs 133 per litre in Kathmandu valley. </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, the price of aviation fuel has been increased by Rs 10 per litre for domestic flights while the price has been increased by US$ 100 per kilolitre for international flights. The price of cooking gas (LPG) however has not been changed. </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 NOC hiked the price of petroleum products after receiving a revised list of fuel prices from the Indian Oil Corporation recently. </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"">This is the eighth time in the last seven months that the NOC has increased the prices of petroleum products, according to the data published on NOC’s website. In February alone, NOC had increased the fuel price three times on February 1, February 19 and February 20 (only ATF price). NOC again increased the price in less than two weeks.</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 state-owned oil monopoly has been saying time and again that is under compulsion to increase the price of fuel due to heavy losses it has to incur while selling fuel at subsidized rate.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14610', 'image' => '20220304114313_Petrol-Price-Increase.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 11:42:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14867', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Task Force Recommends Government to Amend Criteria related to Visit Visa', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 3: A task force formed to study the problems related to visit visas and to recommend solutions to the problems has submitted its report to Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 3: A task force formed to study the problems related to visit visas and to recommend solutions to the problems has submitted its report to Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand.</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"">Home Ministry spokesperson Fanindra Mani Pokharel, who is also the head of the task force, presented the report to the minister at a program organized at the Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday.</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 task force formed under the coordination of spokesperson Pokharel on January 25 has recommended the government to identify on what basis is a person eligible for the visit and what is the reason for the visit. </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"">Pokharel said that the report will be implemented after formulating a work procedure in this regard. He said that a committee comprising representatives of the Department of Immigration, Department of Foreign Employment and concerned agencies would be formed to formulate the work procedure.</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 report also suggests to implement the existing criteria and procedures related to visit visa only after amending them. Another recommendation made by the report is to simplify the complex process of approving labour permit and to make the process transparent and quick.</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""> Similarly, the report also suggests to punish the operators of any licensed foreign employment company as per Article 44 of the Foreign Employment Act 2064 if they send people abroad on visit visa or other means without obtaining labor permit.</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"">Buddhisagar Lamichhane, joint secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation; Shesh Narayan Poudel, joint secretary at the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security; Harish Chandra Poudel, joint secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Bhim Prasad Dhakal, senior superintendent of police; Prakash Chandra Adhikari, under secretary of the Department of Immigration; and Deenbandhu Subedi, under secretary at the Foreign Employment Promotion Board were the members of the task force.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-03', 'modified' => '2022-03-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14609', 'image' => '20220303041543_Visit-visa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-03 16:14:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14866', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Making Preparations for Budget ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 3: As the government is preparing for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2079/80), various ministries and related bodies are lobbying to get more budget. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 3: As the government is preparing for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2079/80), various ministries and related bodies are lobbying to get more budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A source at the Ministry of Finance said that various bodies are taking initiative to get more budget than the budget allocated in the current fiscal year. At present, the Ministry of Urban Development and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology are making intense efforts to get more budget. These ministries are lobbying for more budget than their current budget. According to the Ministry of Urban Development, it will require more budget for the upcoming fiscal year than the ceiling fixed by the National Planning Commission. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The ministry is lobbying to increase the budget as it is preparing to announce a budget focusing on big projects. At present, the Ministry of Urban Development is running most of the small projects. But the ministry plans to increase the number of big projects soon. Till now, programs worth at least Rs 4.5 million are being implemented under the ministry. Now, the ministry is preparing to operate projects worth at least Rs 50 million. The ministry is preparing to table a proposal seeking Rs 200 million for large projects in the next fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the high demand for developing integrated settlement, the ministry is not in favor of encouraging such plans. A study by the Ministry of Urban Development found that about 60 percent of the houses were locked during the monitoring of three such integrated settlements. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the mid-term expenditure structure, the National Planning Commission has capped a budget ceiling of Rs 36.68 billion for the ministry in the upcoming fiscal year. However, the ministry is preparing to propose a budget that is double the ceiling fixed by the commission. The ministry is preparing to propose a budget which includes programs worth Rs 73 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Officials claim that the ministry has the capacity to spend if the proposed budget is released. Despite such tall claims, the ministry has not been able to spend the budget allocated in the current fiscal year. In the current fiscal, the budget allocated for the Ministry is Rs 30.75 billion. However, it has spent only Rs 5.75 billion in the last six months. This is 18.72 percent of the total budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is also lobbying for more budget than the budget allocated to it at present. Education Minister Devendra Poudel has already met the vice chairman of the NPC Dr Bishwanath Poudel and asked him to increase the budget for education. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the current fiscal year, more than Rs 58.26 billion was allocated for the education ministry. In the mid-term assessment of the current fiscal year’s budget, the Ministry had spent a total of Rs 20.47 billion which is 35.14 percent of the allocated budget. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-03', 'modified' => '2022-03-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14608', 'image' => '20220303025828_20220210011355_Budget.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-03 14:57:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14865', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Market Reeling under Shortage of Imported Goods', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 3: There has been a shortage of imported goods in the market after Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) adopted the policy to tighten imports in an attempt to reduce trade deficit.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 3: There has been a shortage of imported goods in the market after Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) adopted the policy to tighten imports in an attempt to reduce trade deficit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The market has been reeling under shortage of goods since the last three months after the central bank made it mandatory for importers to have a hundred percent margin while opening LC for importing 46 types of goods that fall under the harmonization code. Concerned authorities say that due to the provision of a hundred percent margin, there has been a shortage of imported goods such as footwear, clothes, fancy dresses, cosmetics for daily use, soap, detergent, powder, shampoo, lip guard, body lotion, soup items, pasta, etc.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Mukunda Poudel, the general secretary of Nepal-China Trade Association, argues that the merchants could order goods directly from foreign companies under TT (telegraphic transfer) system and receive such goods by paying a certain amount in advance through the banking system. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There was a practice of paying the remaining amount upon the delivery of goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">But now, the traders have to pay the entire sum to the bank while opening the LC itself and this has caused problems in importing goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “Traders and businessmen are facing monetary crisis as an importer importing goods worth Rs 10 million has to deposit an additional Rs 10 million to the bank. Shortage of products has now started to occur since the majority of importers are not able to import goods due to the lack of money,” Poudel told New Business Age.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Due to the provision requiring hundred percent margin for opening LC, Nepal has been facing problems in importing certain products which it has to depend on other countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Due to this reason, consumers are facing difficulty in finding the products of their choice in the market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Durga Raj Shrestha, the chairman of Nepal Distributors Association, the cycle of market has been broken due to the provision of keeping a hundred cash percent margin for imports. He added that traders who could import goods worth Rs 20 million can now import goods worth just Rs 2.5 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“First of all, it has made a direct impact on the import of goods. After the import has been affected, there is a shortage of goods in the market and consumers do not get the goods they are looking for and there is no trade in the market,” said Shrestha adding, “When there is no trade, the shopkeepers have no money and face difficulty in sending payment to suppliers and importers. In this way, the market cycle has reached a state of disorder.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-03', 'modified' => '2022-03-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14607', 'image' => '20220303015604_USLUX-header-0423220.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-03 13:55:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14864', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'There are More Nepalis in Ukraine than Anticipated', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 3: There are more Nepalis in Ukraine than it was anticipated before.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Rama Subedi</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 3: There are more Nepalis in Ukraine than it was anticipated before. It was said that there are around 230 to 240 Nepalis in Ukraine. However, Non Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) believes that there could be around 1000 Nepalis in Ukraine. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A total of 192 Nepalis had gone to Ukraine after taking labour permits. Thirty eight Nepalis are living in Ukraine permanently. There are also some Nepali students in Ukraine. It has been learnt that a large number of undocumented Nepalis are also residing in Ukraine. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to NRNA, 402 Nepalis have already fled Ukraine to the neighbouring Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Moldova. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A high-level committee formed under the coordination of Nepal’s embassy in Germany to rescue Nepalis affected by the Russia-Ukraine war said most of the rescued Nepalis are currently in Poland.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal’s acting ambassador to Russia, Sushil Ghimire, informed that all the Nepalis living in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv have already left the country. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Labour expert Som Luitel believes that a lot of Nepali citizens might have been hiding in Ukraine in order to enter other European countries. Those who have documents have come forward openly but those lacking documents might still be hiding out of fear of exposure, says the expert. “Irrespective of their legal status, the government needs to help them.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NRNA has been helping the Nepalis who have fled to European countries from Ukraine. The national associations of NRNA have made temporary arrangements for food and accommodation for the Nepali citizens who have become the victims of conflict . Luitel says that the government must immediately take initiative to arrange food and accommodation of Nepalis as well as their evacuation from the war-affected areas.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He further says that the Government of Nepal must coordinate with European countries that share border with Ukraine to help prepare travel documents for the undocumented Nepalis and make arrangements for their temporary stay in those countries. He suggests the government to prepare its rescue plan according to the priority and needs of the Nepalis who have become the latest victims of Russia-Ukraine war.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">First of all, the government needs to prepare the list of Nepalis – both documented and undocumented – living in Ukraine at present, says Luitel.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-03', 'modified' => '2022-03-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14606', 'image' => '20220303114941_ukraine_refugees.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-03 11:48:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14863', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Directs Securities Board, NEPSE to Improve Capital Market ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 3: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has directed the Securities Board of Nepal, and Nepal Stock Exchange Limited to focus on improving capital market. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 3: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has directed the Securities Board of Nepal, and Nepal Stock Exchange Limited to focus on improving capital market. Both of the agencies were handed a 11-point directive in this regard. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During a programme organized on Wednesday, Finance Minister Sharma asked NEPSE and SEBON leaderships not to be swayed by anyone’s influence and pressure while discharging their respective duties. The government had recently appointed Krishna Bahadur Karki as chief executive officer of NEPSE and Ramesh Hamal as the chairperson of SEBON. There were made aware of how the investment of the general public could be made secure and problems of capital market resolved.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The minister said that the time has come to create environment where money in capital market is spent in mega projects. Individual’s money had entered capital market, which should be further capitalized, the minister told the newly appointed chiefs. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister Sharma claimed that he has discouraged anomalies such as insider trading, pump and dump and circular business which have posed threat to capital market after he assumed the office. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the occasion, Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini said that the new leaderships are expected to lead the capital market in a positive way. Revenue Secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar said that the share market has been improving. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">SEBON’s Chair Ramesh Hamal said share investors must be well informed through financial literacy. -- RSS </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-03', 'modified' => '2022-03-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14605', 'image' => '20220303104955_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-03 08:22:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, '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' => '14877', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Where is Remittance Flowing?', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 6: A few days ago, Nepal Rastra Bank lowered the cap of domestic remittance and decided not to allow transfer of more than Rs 25,000 per person in one 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"">March 6: A few days ago, Nepal Rastra Bank lowered the cap of domestic remittance and decided not to allow transfer of more than Rs 25,000 per person in one day. Earlier, remittances up to Rs 100,000 were allowed within the country.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NRB officials said they took such measures due to an increase in remittances through the illegal ‘hundi; channel. He said that such decision was taken after the Nepali migrant workers started sending money to their relatives through hundi.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Questions have been raised about where the money sent by Nepali workers from abroad goes after the inflow of remittance started declining steadily after the peak of the Covid-19 crisis.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, no study has been conducted on whether the income of Nepali nationals living abroad has declined or whether the inflow of remittance to Nepal has declined.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Some experts suspect that Nepalis are more inclined towards cryptocurrency in recent times.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Former executive director of NRB Nara Bahadur Thapa, on the other hand, argued that the problem has surfaced due to the tiresome process of sending remittance as per the government’s criteria.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Besides, sending remittances to Nepal is expensive," he said, adding that the government casts an evil eye if anyone sends a good amount of money back home. “The government has even suspended accounts of those who send money back home in dollars,” added Thapa.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Labor, immigration expert, and advocate Som Luintel, who is studying the field of foreign employment meticulously, said that the declining remittances at this time is the effect of Covid-19 pandemic which halted the foreign employment business some time ago.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Remittances were sent by Nepalis who had gone abroad earlier during the Corona epidemic. But the number of Nepali migrant workers declined during the peak of Covid-19 and the result is seen now," he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NRB spokesperson Gunakar Bhatt also estimated that remittances have declined due to the decline in the number of people going for foreign employment when the pandemic was at its peak. He said that the inflow of remittances will increase after the number of people going for foreign employment starts rising again.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, some NRB officials say that the activity of hundi trading may have increased after the restrictions were lifted.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 youths who have gone for foreign employment have sent remittances of Rs 468.45 billion as of December 2021 in the current fiscal year, which is 5.5 percent less than the remittance sent during the corresponding period of last fiscal year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-06', 'modified' => '2022-03-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14619', 'image' => '20220306015310_Remittance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-06 13:52:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14876', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Import of Betel Nuts Five Times more than Actual Demand: Report ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 6: A study conducted by a parliamentary panel has found that excessive amount of betel nuts have been imported into the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 6: A study conducted by a parliamentary panel has found that excessive amount of betel nuts have been imported into the country. The report prepared by a subcommittee formed to study policy provisions on the import of betel nuts from third countries has been submitted to the Sustainable Development and Good Governance Committee (SDGGC) of the National Assembly on Friday. The next meeting of the parliamentary committee will discuss about the report and issue directive to the government and other stakeholders, informed Ramesh Jung Rayamajhi, coordinator of the committee. </span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the investigation, it was found that betel nuts were imported much more than the actual demand. According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, Rayamajhi said that 25,000 metric tonnes of betel nuts were imported in the country when the demand for betel nuts from factories in Nepal was just 5,000 metric tonnes. </span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although the upper house committee had summoned the director general of the Department of Customs, some secretaries and the importers to discuss the matter in the meeting, they were absent, RSS said quoting Rayamajhi. </span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government allegedly allowed the import of more betel nuts than the demand under the influence of importers, said the report. The imported betel nuts would be exported to neighbouring India, 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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A report published by New Business Age on March 23 last year states that the government had allowed import of 25,000 metric tons of betel nuts, 5,000 metric tons of dates and 15,000 metric tons of black pepper in fiscal year 2020/21 under the quota system.</span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government had earlier imposed a ban on import of most goods in April 2020 in a bid to prevent foreign currency from flowing out of the country during the crisis created by coronavirus pandemic. The government had put a complete ban on the import of black pepper, peas, dates, and betel nuts initially but later imposed quota system for the imports. Similarly, the government had also restricted the import of alcohol and other luxurious goods during the period.</span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The restriction on import of beetle nuts and other edible items were lifted in March 2021 after the situation turned normal. Interestingly, the ban on alcohol was lifted in September 2020 much before the ban on other items were removed.</span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It was not the first time that the government had imposed a ban on betel nuts though. </span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that former Chief Commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority Lokman Singh Karki lost his temper during a press meet in 2014 when reporters asked him repeatedly to clarify reasons behind the unchecked smuggling of betel nuts and his involvement in it. </span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The reporters were curious to know why the ban on betel nuts was lifted after Karki was appointed CIAA chief. That incident in Biratnagar ultimately led to the downfall of Karki.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-06', 'modified' => '2022-03-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14618', 'image' => '20220306121659_supari.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-06 12:14:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14875', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Airline Operators Hike Price of Air Tickets', 'sub_title' => 'The airfare has been increased by Rs 90 to Rs 540', 'summary' => 'March 6: Airline operators of Nepal have increased the price of air tickets again.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 6: Airline operators of Nepal have increased the price of air tickets again.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Airlines Operators Association of Nepal (AOAN) decided to increase the airfare on Saturday, two days after the Nepal Oil Corporation increased the price of petroleum products. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The state-owned oil monopoly had announced to revise the price of aviation turbine fuel from Rs 126 per litre to Rs 136 per litre. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the decision of the airline operators, the prices of air tickets for domestic flights have been increased from Rs 90 to Rs 540. The tickets for mountain flights from Kathmandu have been increased by Rs 340 per person.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The airfare of Kathmandu-Siamra flights have been increased the least by Rs 90 while the tickets for Biratnagar- Nepalgunj flights have been increased the most by Rs 540. The new airfare will be applicable from Sunday, March 6.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prior to this, the AOAN had increased airfare on February 11 in coordination with the Civil Aviation Association of Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-06', 'modified' => '2022-03-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14617', 'image' => '20220306113039_20201109112912_1604878353.14.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-06 08:27:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14874', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'All Prohibitory Orders Relating to COVID-19 Removed in Kathmandu Valley ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: All sorts of prohibitory orders issued earlier in the Kathmandu Valley following the increase in COVID-19 cases have been lifted with the decline in infection rate.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 4: All sorts of prohibitory orders issued earlier in the Kathmandu Valley following the increase in COVID-19 cases have been lifted with the decline in infection rate.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The prohibitory orders will be removed from March 5. All three districts in the valley (Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur) confirmed this on Friday. With this, activities relating to politics, economy, society, education and other professions will resume in full-fledge by following health protocols. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The decision to lift the prohibitory orders was taken in line with the Local Administration Act, 2028, the Infectious Disease Act, 2020, the smart lockdown procedure, 2078, risk control regulation and prohibition of COVID-19, recommendations of the COVID-19 Crisis Management Coordination Centre, and the decisions taken by the Council of Ministers, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The district administration offices of all three districts of the valley thanked the people for helping the government in the prevention and control of the virus by abiding by the prohibitory orders. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14616', 'image' => '20220304080511_Kathmandu Valley.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 20:04:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14873', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Grants Survey License to Hydropower Projects but Denies PPA', 'sub_title' => 'Promoters of ROR Projects say their Investment has Gone Down the Drain due to Government Policy', 'summary' => 'March 4: Hydropower sector is often linked with Nepal’s prosperity. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 4: Hydropower sector is often linked with Nepal’s prosperity. It is believed that the country’s economy will improve if the electricity produced in the country is exported. However, the government’s policy is causing problems for hydropower developers who have made massive investment with the hope of bountiful return.</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"">Despite the possibility of reaping huge economic benefits from internal consumption of electricity as well as export of power generated in the country, more than 200 run-of-the-river (ROR) based projects which are under construction since the last three years are yet to sign any power purchase agreement with the concerned stakeholder. They have been given survey license but are unable to obtain permission to sell the electricity due to the rigid policy adopted by the government.</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 Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the sole licensed body to trade electricity, has suspended PPA for ROR projects saying that the quota has been exhausted.</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 government's policy on energy, 30 percent of the total electricity connected to the national grid has to come from the ROR projects. The remaining electricity will be sourced from reservoir-based projects, solar plants, and others.</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"">This arrangement has been implemented with the target of generating 15,000 MW of electricity in 10 years. According to the energy producers, the PPA for 215 ROR projects with a combined capacity of 9000 MW has been suspended at the moment.</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"">PPA is an important aspect of power projects. Banks and investors invest in loans and shares in the projects based on PPA. However, the financial management of these projects has not been possible as the government has not come up with a clear policy. It puts the investment of promoters at risk and also the future of the entire projects.</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 government has distributed the survey license to these projects. The promoter company needs to sign the PPA and get the production license within five years after obtaining the survey license. The future of the projects is at stake due to the suspension of PPA by the government. Promoters say that if the PPA is not opened immediately, the survey license will be revoked. They complained that the investments made so far have been wasted.</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"">It has been almost five years since some projects got survey licenses. Without immediate PPA, the survey license of such projects will be revoked within the deadline.</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"">It costs up to Rs 100 million to survey a project of up to 10 MW. Even if you get a survey license, you have to pay Rs 1 million to Rs 3 million annually to the government depending on the size of the project. The promoters argue that the investment will be wasted if the survey license is revoked due to the suspension of PPA.</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 government has a long-term plan to trade electricity with India, Bangladesh, China, and other countries. Accordingly, the private sector has invested heavily in hydropower. Entrepreneurs say they are discouraged by the lack of PPA.</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"">They say that a clear policy should be brought immediately regarding PPA. "The government must open PPA. If not, alternative arrangements should be made,” said an entrepreneur. If the private sector is not allowed to do business and the PPA is not allowed, the development of the energy sector will be pushed backwards, he opined.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14615', 'image' => '20220304055417_604790760.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 17:53:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14872', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Oxygen Plants Purchased during the Peak of Covid-19 Pandemic yet to Arrive', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: Oxygen plants worth more than Rs 70 million purchased by Nepali entrepreneurs have been stuck in France due to the negligence of the transportation company.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 4: Oxygen plants worth more than Rs 70 million purchased by Nepali entrepreneurs have been stuck in France due to the negligence of the transportation 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"">Nepali businessmen and social organisations had purchased 10 sets of oxygen generator plants from France nine months under the coordination of a non-governmental organization called Reconstruction Nepal. “After purchasing the goods, Flash Freight Logistics Company was entrusted with the task of transporting the goods,” said a businessman who bought the oxygen generator plants, adding, “But even after multiple requests, the company is not even interested in transporting the goods.”</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"">Six different business houses had invested on those oxygen plants during the Covid-19 pandemic. The cost of transporting the oxygen plants was paid by the government. The government had reportedly paid USD 275,000 to the company for transporting the oxygen plants.</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 company then entered into an agreement with Nepal Airlines to transport the plants for USD 272,000. The concerned businessmen said despite the agreement, the transportation company has been refusing to transport the oxygen plants.</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"">Deepesh Adhikari on behalf of the transportation company and president of US-based Reconstruction Nepal, Dr Madan Upreti on behalf of the buyers had signed the agreement for transporting the plants to 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"">The agreement was to bring the oxygen plant to Nepal within the month of December, 2021. After being brought to Nepal, the target was to set up two of the oxygen plants at Kathmandu’s Teaching Hospital, three at Gandaki and Lumbini hospitals, one at Damak's Amda and one at Darchula Hospital. The government had planned to set up another station at Jogbudha Hospital in Dadeldhura with the plants brought from France.</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"">But due to the negligence of the transporter to bring those oxygen plants, not only the investment of the businessman has sunk but also the general public has not been able to get the service. Oxygen plants were urgently needed in hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many patients were killed during the Covid-19 pandemic due to the unavailability of oxygen.</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"">When the representative of the company that did not ship the plants as per the agreement, he declined to comment. He has reportedly been avoiding any kind of contact.</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"">One of the businessmen who bought the oxygen plants said that the cargo company is arguing that the ship fare has increased now.</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 the shipping company had asked for more money to transport the oxygen plants. “We have already given the transport company an additional Rs 1 million per plant, in addition to what the government had already promised,” he said adding, “Now action needs to be taken against that 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"">Batas Foundation, America Nepal Medical Foundation, Creation Nepal, Humanity Foundation Nepal, Reconstruction Nepal, Jagdamba Steel and Syakar Trading Company had partnered to bring the oxygen plant. Businessmen have demanded to confiscate the deposit of the company and blacklist it for not delivering the shipment as per the agreement.</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"">Businessmen are appealing to various agencies for transportation after the oxygen plants purchased on May 20, 2021 failed to arrive.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">How the oxygen plant purchase procedure started</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hospitals across the country were in dire need of oxygen as the Covid-19 pandemic intensified. Reconstruction Nepal bought oxygen plants in France with the aim of setting up oxygen plants in various hospitals after patients started dying due to lack of oxygen.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The buyers had requested the government to assist in the transportation of the plants as the shipment by water would be delayed and transportation by air would be costly. Accepting the request, the then KP Sharma Oli-led government had decided to provide transportation expenses.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14614', 'image' => '20220304040957_1646349322.Clipboard17.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 16:09:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14871', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Asia Stocks Tumble to 16-Month Lows after Ukraine Nuclear Complex Fire', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: Asian equities and the euro slumped on Friday after news of a fire near a Ukraine nuclear facility.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 4: Asian equities and the euro slumped on Friday after news of a fire near a Ukraine nuclear facility. According to Reuters, the fire erupted following clashes between the Russian and Ukrainian forces, which heightened investor fears about the escalating conflict and sent oil prices higher.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The news agency further said that the risk-off appetite battered markets across the region, with European bourses set for a weak open as Euro Stoxx 50 futures while German DAX futures shed 2.6 percent and FTSE futures lost 1.4 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A fire that broke out in a training building near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest of its kind in Europe, during intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces has since been extinguished, Reuters reported Friday citing the local authorities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">While that has helped ease some of the initial panic that hit markets earlier in the day, investors remain extremely anxious about the conflict.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Markets are worried about nuclear fallout. The risk is that there is a miscalculation or overreaction and the war prolongs," Reuters quoted Vasu Menon, executive director of investment strategy at OCBC Bank, as saying.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Stock markets across Asia were in a sea of red, with Japan losing 2.5 percent, South Korea 1.1 percent, China 0.8 percent and Hong Kong 2.5 percent while commodities-heavy Australia was down 0.6 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">S&P 500 futures shed 0.3 percent and Nasdaq futures fell 0.41 percent, paring sharp losses from early trading. Overnight, Wall Street ended lower as investors remained on edge over the Ukraine crisis, while rising prices of commodities also weighed on market sentiment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Investors sought refuge in safe-haven US Treasuries, sending yields on benchmark 10-year yields as much as 14 basis points lower to 1.7 percent, Reuters reported. They later inched back up to 1.79 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Oil prices jumped on Friday after ending steady a day earlier, with the market also focused on whether the OPEC+ producers, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, would increase output from January.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Brent crude futures for May rose to as much as $114.23 a barrel and were last up 0.5% percent at $111. The contract fell 2.2 percent on Thursday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There was no let-up in other commodities also, with Chicago wheat futures jumping nearly 7 percent, taking the weekly gain to more than 40 percent on supply side worries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the news agency, economists said higher interest rates were needed to tame high inflation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Timely determined action from central banks is required to settle inflationary expectations as supply chain disruptions and rising energy prices boost current inflation. The war has intensified these forces," Bill Evans, chief economist at Westpac, was quoted as saying by Reuters.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Central banks have the responsibility to ensure that high inflationary expectations do not become embedded in the system - risking a wage/price spiral. Despite the uncertainties of the war this task should not be compromised," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Gold prices also rose in the international market on Friday, eyeing their best weekly gain since May 2021. Spot gold edged up 0.1 percent to $1,936.9, according to Reuters.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In currency markets, the euro lost further ground and was set for its worst week versus the dollar in nine months. It fell 0.3 percent to $1.10320 and traded above the day's lows. It has lost about 1.8 percent this week, which would be the euro's worst week since June 2021.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14613', 'image' => '20220304022129_Asian-stocks.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 14:20:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14870', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Blame for Hike in Price of Sugar', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: The price of sugar has been going up in an uncontrolled manner, but the government doesn’t seem to be able to control it.', '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"">March 4: The price of sugar has been going up in an uncontrolled manner, but the government doesn’t seem to be able to control it. Concerned authorities say that the price of sugar has been rising because the government itself has not given permission to the Salt Trading Corporation Limited to purchase of sugar since the last one and a half years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">About 15 months ago, Salt Trading had sent a letter to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies seeking permission to purchase 50,000 metric tons of sugar with customs duty exemption. Although the Ministry of Industry has forwarded the letter to the Ministry of Finance seeking release of budget, the letter is gathering dust at the finance ministry. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Salt Trading Corporation has almost run out of stock of subsidized sugar. As a result, the price of sugar has gone out of control in the market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to spokesperson of the Salt Trading Corporation, Kumar Raj Bhandari, the state-owned company currently has only 100 metric tons of sugar in stock. He said that they have been selling sugar only to retail customers to avoid running out of stock as the stock is not enough even for a day if it is sold as per the market demand.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Middlemen and big businessmen are taking advantage of the state-owned company’s inability to supply subsidized sugar in the market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The retail price of sugar has increased by Rs 15 per kg to reach an all-time high of Rs 100 since last December. Although the price has continued to rise, the government has remained a mute spectator. The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies said it has repeatedly requested the finance ministry to release budget but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance claims that the process to release budget is underway.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pavitra Bajracharya, the outgoing president of the Retail Trade Association, said that they are facing problems in selling sugar to the retailers due to the uncontrolled price hike.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Import of sugar increased from Rs 3.12 billion in fiscal year 2075/76 to Rs 12.26 billion in the last fiscal year. Consumers have been complaining that the state-owned company is not even getting permission to buy sugar when large amount of sugar is being imported by the private sector in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14612', 'image' => '20220304020256_sugar.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 14:02:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14869', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'SSF unable to Invest Money in Profit-Generating Sector ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: The government has not invested most of the amount collected under the contribution-based Social Security Fund (SSF) in profit-generating sector.', '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"">March 4: The government has not invested most of the amount collected under the contribution-based Social Security Fund (SSF) in profit-generating sector. The fund was launched by the then government led by KP Sharma Oli with tall promises.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, the government’s inability to mobilize billions of rupees collected under various headings, including the social security program, in profit-generating programmes, has poured cold water on the chances of investors getting additional benefits. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the SSF, it has so far collected Rs 43 billion under different headings from the contributors of the private sector who have been promised of post-retirement benefits and various other facilities. The contribution amount under the social security program is Rs 13.37 billion. Similarly, Rs 28 billion of National Welfare Fund is also with SSF. Likewise, SSF has also collected Rs 1 billion under social security tax and Rs 2 billion under various other topics. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 officials of SSF say that only Rs 2 billion has been mobilised out of the collected amount. As per the investment procedure of SSF, it can invest the amount in government bonds, shares, debentures, mutual funds and fixed assets. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the deputy executive director of the fund Bibek Panthi, out of the amount collected by SSF, Rs 2 billion has been invested in debentures while the rest is kept in fixed deposit account. "Most of the money is kept in a fixed deposit account. The average interest rate is 8 percent. Preparations are being made to invest more money," he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The council of ministers had passed a work procedure one and a half years ago to invest the money of the fund in different sectors. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the issuance of this procedure, the amount of contributors was expected to be invested in various sectors. Although investing in this way is expected to increase the income of the fund, the SSF does not seem to be able to make investment. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14611', 'image' => '20220304012317_SSF (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 13:22:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14868', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Fuel Prices go up Again, Petrol to cost Rs 150 per Litre ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: The Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has increased the prices of fuel with effect from Thursday midnight (March 4). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 4: The Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has increased the prices of fuel with effect from Thursday midnight (March 4). The prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene each have been increased by Rs 5 per litre, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </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"">With the revised price, petrol will now cost Rs 150 per litre while diesel and kerosene will cost Rs 133 per litre in Kathmandu valley. </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, the price of aviation fuel has been increased by Rs 10 per litre for domestic flights while the price has been increased by US$ 100 per kilolitre for international flights. The price of cooking gas (LPG) however has not been changed. </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 NOC hiked the price of petroleum products after receiving a revised list of fuel prices from the Indian Oil Corporation recently. </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"">This is the eighth time in the last seven months that the NOC has increased the prices of petroleum products, according to the data published on NOC’s website. In February alone, NOC had increased the fuel price three times on February 1, February 19 and February 20 (only ATF price). NOC again increased the price in less than two weeks.</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 state-owned oil monopoly has been saying time and again that is under compulsion to increase the price of fuel due to heavy losses it has to incur while selling fuel at subsidized rate.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14610', 'image' => '20220304114313_Petrol-Price-Increase.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 11:42:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14867', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Task Force Recommends Government to Amend Criteria related to Visit Visa', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 3: A task force formed to study the problems related to visit visas and to recommend solutions to the problems has submitted its report to Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 3: A task force formed to study the problems related to visit visas and to recommend solutions to the problems has submitted its report to Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand.</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"">Home Ministry spokesperson Fanindra Mani Pokharel, who is also the head of the task force, presented the report to the minister at a program organized at the Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday.</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 task force formed under the coordination of spokesperson Pokharel on January 25 has recommended the government to identify on what basis is a person eligible for the visit and what is the reason for the visit. </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"">Pokharel said that the report will be implemented after formulating a work procedure in this regard. He said that a committee comprising representatives of the Department of Immigration, Department of Foreign Employment and concerned agencies would be formed to formulate the work procedure.</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 report also suggests to implement the existing criteria and procedures related to visit visa only after amending them. Another recommendation made by the report is to simplify the complex process of approving labour permit and to make the process transparent and quick.</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""> Similarly, the report also suggests to punish the operators of any licensed foreign employment company as per Article 44 of the Foreign Employment Act 2064 if they send people abroad on visit visa or other means without obtaining labor permit.</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"">Buddhisagar Lamichhane, joint secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation; Shesh Narayan Poudel, joint secretary at the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security; Harish Chandra Poudel, joint secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Bhim Prasad Dhakal, senior superintendent of police; Prakash Chandra Adhikari, under secretary of the Department of Immigration; and Deenbandhu Subedi, under secretary at the Foreign Employment Promotion Board were the members of the task force.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-03', 'modified' => '2022-03-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14609', 'image' => '20220303041543_Visit-visa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-03 16:14:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14866', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Making Preparations for Budget ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 3: As the government is preparing for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2079/80), various ministries and related bodies are lobbying to get more budget. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 3: As the government is preparing for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2079/80), various ministries and related bodies are lobbying to get more budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A source at the Ministry of Finance said that various bodies are taking initiative to get more budget than the budget allocated in the current fiscal year. At present, the Ministry of Urban Development and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology are making intense efforts to get more budget. These ministries are lobbying for more budget than their current budget. According to the Ministry of Urban Development, it will require more budget for the upcoming fiscal year than the ceiling fixed by the National Planning Commission. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The ministry is lobbying to increase the budget as it is preparing to announce a budget focusing on big projects. At present, the Ministry of Urban Development is running most of the small projects. But the ministry plans to increase the number of big projects soon. Till now, programs worth at least Rs 4.5 million are being implemented under the ministry. Now, the ministry is preparing to operate projects worth at least Rs 50 million. The ministry is preparing to table a proposal seeking Rs 200 million for large projects in the next fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the high demand for developing integrated settlement, the ministry is not in favor of encouraging such plans. A study by the Ministry of Urban Development found that about 60 percent of the houses were locked during the monitoring of three such integrated settlements. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the mid-term expenditure structure, the National Planning Commission has capped a budget ceiling of Rs 36.68 billion for the ministry in the upcoming fiscal year. However, the ministry is preparing to propose a budget that is double the ceiling fixed by the commission. The ministry is preparing to propose a budget which includes programs worth Rs 73 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Officials claim that the ministry has the capacity to spend if the proposed budget is released. Despite such tall claims, the ministry has not been able to spend the budget allocated in the current fiscal year. In the current fiscal, the budget allocated for the Ministry is Rs 30.75 billion. However, it has spent only Rs 5.75 billion in the last six months. This is 18.72 percent of the total budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is also lobbying for more budget than the budget allocated to it at present. Education Minister Devendra Poudel has already met the vice chairman of the NPC Dr Bishwanath Poudel and asked him to increase the budget for education. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the current fiscal year, more than Rs 58.26 billion was allocated for the education ministry. In the mid-term assessment of the current fiscal year’s budget, the Ministry had spent a total of Rs 20.47 billion which is 35.14 percent of the allocated budget. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-03', 'modified' => '2022-03-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14608', 'image' => '20220303025828_20220210011355_Budget.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-03 14:57:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14865', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Market Reeling under Shortage of Imported Goods', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 3: There has been a shortage of imported goods in the market after Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) adopted the policy to tighten imports in an attempt to reduce trade deficit.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 3: There has been a shortage of imported goods in the market after Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) adopted the policy to tighten imports in an attempt to reduce trade deficit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The market has been reeling under shortage of goods since the last three months after the central bank made it mandatory for importers to have a hundred percent margin while opening LC for importing 46 types of goods that fall under the harmonization code. Concerned authorities say that due to the provision of a hundred percent margin, there has been a shortage of imported goods such as footwear, clothes, fancy dresses, cosmetics for daily use, soap, detergent, powder, shampoo, lip guard, body lotion, soup items, pasta, etc.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Mukunda Poudel, the general secretary of Nepal-China Trade Association, argues that the merchants could order goods directly from foreign companies under TT (telegraphic transfer) system and receive such goods by paying a certain amount in advance through the banking system. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There was a practice of paying the remaining amount upon the delivery of goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">But now, the traders have to pay the entire sum to the bank while opening the LC itself and this has caused problems in importing goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “Traders and businessmen are facing monetary crisis as an importer importing goods worth Rs 10 million has to deposit an additional Rs 10 million to the bank. Shortage of products has now started to occur since the majority of importers are not able to import goods due to the lack of money,” Poudel told New Business Age.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Due to the provision requiring hundred percent margin for opening LC, Nepal has been facing problems in importing certain products which it has to depend on other countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Due to this reason, consumers are facing difficulty in finding the products of their choice in the market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Durga Raj Shrestha, the chairman of Nepal Distributors Association, the cycle of market has been broken due to the provision of keeping a hundred cash percent margin for imports. He added that traders who could import goods worth Rs 20 million can now import goods worth just Rs 2.5 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“First of all, it has made a direct impact on the import of goods. After the import has been affected, there is a shortage of goods in the market and consumers do not get the goods they are looking for and there is no trade in the market,” said Shrestha adding, “When there is no trade, the shopkeepers have no money and face difficulty in sending payment to suppliers and importers. In this way, the market cycle has reached a state of disorder.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-03', 'modified' => '2022-03-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14607', 'image' => '20220303015604_USLUX-header-0423220.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-03 13:55:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14864', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'There are More Nepalis in Ukraine than Anticipated', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 3: There are more Nepalis in Ukraine than it was anticipated before.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Rama Subedi</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 3: There are more Nepalis in Ukraine than it was anticipated before. It was said that there are around 230 to 240 Nepalis in Ukraine. However, Non Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) believes that there could be around 1000 Nepalis in Ukraine. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A total of 192 Nepalis had gone to Ukraine after taking labour permits. Thirty eight Nepalis are living in Ukraine permanently. There are also some Nepali students in Ukraine. It has been learnt that a large number of undocumented Nepalis are also residing in Ukraine. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to NRNA, 402 Nepalis have already fled Ukraine to the neighbouring Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Moldova. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A high-level committee formed under the coordination of Nepal’s embassy in Germany to rescue Nepalis affected by the Russia-Ukraine war said most of the rescued Nepalis are currently in Poland.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal’s acting ambassador to Russia, Sushil Ghimire, informed that all the Nepalis living in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv have already left the country. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Labour expert Som Luitel believes that a lot of Nepali citizens might have been hiding in Ukraine in order to enter other European countries. Those who have documents have come forward openly but those lacking documents might still be hiding out of fear of exposure, says the expert. “Irrespective of their legal status, the government needs to help them.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NRNA has been helping the Nepalis who have fled to European countries from Ukraine. The national associations of NRNA have made temporary arrangements for food and accommodation for the Nepali citizens who have become the victims of conflict . Luitel says that the government must immediately take initiative to arrange food and accommodation of Nepalis as well as their evacuation from the war-affected areas.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He further says that the Government of Nepal must coordinate with European countries that share border with Ukraine to help prepare travel documents for the undocumented Nepalis and make arrangements for their temporary stay in those countries. He suggests the government to prepare its rescue plan according to the priority and needs of the Nepalis who have become the latest victims of Russia-Ukraine war.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">First of all, the government needs to prepare the list of Nepalis – both documented and undocumented – living in Ukraine at present, says Luitel.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-03', 'modified' => '2022-03-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14606', 'image' => '20220303114941_ukraine_refugees.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-03 11:48:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14863', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Directs Securities Board, NEPSE to Improve Capital Market ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 3: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has directed the Securities Board of Nepal, and Nepal Stock Exchange Limited to focus on improving capital market. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 3: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has directed the Securities Board of Nepal, and Nepal Stock Exchange Limited to focus on improving capital market. Both of the agencies were handed a 11-point directive in this regard. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During a programme organized on Wednesday, Finance Minister Sharma asked NEPSE and SEBON leaderships not to be swayed by anyone’s influence and pressure while discharging their respective duties. The government had recently appointed Krishna Bahadur Karki as chief executive officer of NEPSE and Ramesh Hamal as the chairperson of SEBON. There were made aware of how the investment of the general public could be made secure and problems of capital market resolved.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The minister said that the time has come to create environment where money in capital market is spent in mega projects. Individual’s money had entered capital market, which should be further capitalized, the minister told the newly appointed chiefs. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister Sharma claimed that he has discouraged anomalies such as insider trading, pump and dump and circular business which have posed threat to capital market after he assumed the office. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the occasion, Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini said that the new leaderships are expected to lead the capital market in a positive way. Revenue Secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar said that the share market has been improving. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">SEBON’s Chair Ramesh Hamal said share investors must be well informed through financial literacy. -- RSS </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-03', 'modified' => '2022-03-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14605', 'image' => '20220303104955_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-03 08:22:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, '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
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Earlier, remittances up to Rs 100,000 were allowed within the country.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NRB officials said they took such measures due to an increase in remittances through the illegal ‘hundi; channel. He said that such decision was taken after the Nepali migrant workers started sending money to their relatives through hundi.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Questions have been raised about where the money sent by Nepali workers from abroad goes after the inflow of remittance started declining steadily after the peak of the Covid-19 crisis.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, no study has been conducted on whether the income of Nepali nationals living abroad has declined or whether the inflow of remittance to Nepal has declined.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Some experts suspect that Nepalis are more inclined towards cryptocurrency in recent times.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Former executive director of NRB Nara Bahadur Thapa, on the other hand, argued that the problem has surfaced due to the tiresome process of sending remittance as per the government’s criteria.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Besides, sending remittances to Nepal is expensive," he said, adding that the government casts an evil eye if anyone sends a good amount of money back home. “The government has even suspended accounts of those who send money back home in dollars,” added Thapa.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Labor, immigration expert, and advocate Som Luintel, who is studying the field of foreign employment meticulously, said that the declining remittances at this time is the effect of Covid-19 pandemic which halted the foreign employment business some time ago.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Remittances were sent by Nepalis who had gone abroad earlier during the Corona epidemic. But the number of Nepali migrant workers declined during the peak of Covid-19 and the result is seen now," he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NRB spokesperson Gunakar Bhatt also estimated that remittances have declined due to the decline in the number of people going for foreign employment when the pandemic was at its peak. He said that the inflow of remittances will increase after the number of people going for foreign employment starts rising again.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, some NRB officials say that the activity of hundi trading may have increased after the restrictions were lifted.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 youths who have gone for foreign employment have sent remittances of Rs 468.45 billion as of December 2021 in the current fiscal year, which is 5.5 percent less than the remittance sent during the corresponding period of last fiscal year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-06', 'modified' => '2022-03-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14619', 'image' => '20220306015310_Remittance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-06 13:52:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14876', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Import of Betel Nuts Five Times more than Actual Demand: Report ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 6: A study conducted by a parliamentary panel has found that excessive amount of betel nuts have been imported into the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 6: A study conducted by a parliamentary panel has found that excessive amount of betel nuts have been imported into the country. The report prepared by a subcommittee formed to study policy provisions on the import of betel nuts from third countries has been submitted to the Sustainable Development and Good Governance Committee (SDGGC) of the National Assembly on Friday. The next meeting of the parliamentary committee will discuss about the report and issue directive to the government and other stakeholders, informed Ramesh Jung Rayamajhi, coordinator of the committee. </span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the investigation, it was found that betel nuts were imported much more than the actual demand. According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, Rayamajhi said that 25,000 metric tonnes of betel nuts were imported in the country when the demand for betel nuts from factories in Nepal was just 5,000 metric tonnes. </span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although the upper house committee had summoned the director general of the Department of Customs, some secretaries and the importers to discuss the matter in the meeting, they were absent, RSS said quoting Rayamajhi. </span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government allegedly allowed the import of more betel nuts than the demand under the influence of importers, said the report. The imported betel nuts would be exported to neighbouring India, 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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A report published by New Business Age on March 23 last year states that the government had allowed import of 25,000 metric tons of betel nuts, 5,000 metric tons of dates and 15,000 metric tons of black pepper in fiscal year 2020/21 under the quota system.</span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government had earlier imposed a ban on import of most goods in April 2020 in a bid to prevent foreign currency from flowing out of the country during the crisis created by coronavirus pandemic. The government had put a complete ban on the import of black pepper, peas, dates, and betel nuts initially but later imposed quota system for the imports. Similarly, the government had also restricted the import of alcohol and other luxurious goods during the period.</span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The restriction on import of beetle nuts and other edible items were lifted in March 2021 after the situation turned normal. Interestingly, the ban on alcohol was lifted in September 2020 much before the ban on other items were removed.</span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It was not the first time that the government had imposed a ban on betel nuts though. </span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that former Chief Commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority Lokman Singh Karki lost his temper during a press meet in 2014 when reporters asked him repeatedly to clarify reasons behind the unchecked smuggling of betel nuts and his involvement in it. </span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The reporters were curious to know why the ban on betel nuts was lifted after Karki was appointed CIAA chief. That incident in Biratnagar ultimately led to the downfall of Karki.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-06', 'modified' => '2022-03-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14618', 'image' => '20220306121659_supari.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-06 12:14:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14875', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Airline Operators Hike Price of Air Tickets', 'sub_title' => 'The airfare has been increased by Rs 90 to Rs 540', 'summary' => 'March 6: Airline operators of Nepal have increased the price of air tickets again.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 6: Airline operators of Nepal have increased the price of air tickets again.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Airlines Operators Association of Nepal (AOAN) decided to increase the airfare on Saturday, two days after the Nepal Oil Corporation increased the price of petroleum products. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The state-owned oil monopoly had announced to revise the price of aviation turbine fuel from Rs 126 per litre to Rs 136 per litre. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the decision of the airline operators, the prices of air tickets for domestic flights have been increased from Rs 90 to Rs 540. The tickets for mountain flights from Kathmandu have been increased by Rs 340 per person.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The airfare of Kathmandu-Siamra flights have been increased the least by Rs 90 while the tickets for Biratnagar- Nepalgunj flights have been increased the most by Rs 540. The new airfare will be applicable from Sunday, March 6.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prior to this, the AOAN had increased airfare on February 11 in coordination with the Civil Aviation Association of Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-06', 'modified' => '2022-03-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14617', 'image' => '20220306113039_20201109112912_1604878353.14.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-06 08:27:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14874', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'All Prohibitory Orders Relating to COVID-19 Removed in Kathmandu Valley ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: All sorts of prohibitory orders issued earlier in the Kathmandu Valley following the increase in COVID-19 cases have been lifted with the decline in infection rate.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 4: All sorts of prohibitory orders issued earlier in the Kathmandu Valley following the increase in COVID-19 cases have been lifted with the decline in infection rate.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The prohibitory orders will be removed from March 5. All three districts in the valley (Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur) confirmed this on Friday. With this, activities relating to politics, economy, society, education and other professions will resume in full-fledge by following health protocols. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The decision to lift the prohibitory orders was taken in line with the Local Administration Act, 2028, the Infectious Disease Act, 2020, the smart lockdown procedure, 2078, risk control regulation and prohibition of COVID-19, recommendations of the COVID-19 Crisis Management Coordination Centre, and the decisions taken by the Council of Ministers, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The district administration offices of all three districts of the valley thanked the people for helping the government in the prevention and control of the virus by abiding by the prohibitory orders. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14616', 'image' => '20220304080511_Kathmandu Valley.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 20:04:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14873', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Grants Survey License to Hydropower Projects but Denies PPA', 'sub_title' => 'Promoters of ROR Projects say their Investment has Gone Down the Drain due to Government Policy', 'summary' => 'March 4: Hydropower sector is often linked with Nepal’s prosperity. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 4: Hydropower sector is often linked with Nepal’s prosperity. It is believed that the country’s economy will improve if the electricity produced in the country is exported. However, the government’s policy is causing problems for hydropower developers who have made massive investment with the hope of bountiful return.</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"">Despite the possibility of reaping huge economic benefits from internal consumption of electricity as well as export of power generated in the country, more than 200 run-of-the-river (ROR) based projects which are under construction since the last three years are yet to sign any power purchase agreement with the concerned stakeholder. They have been given survey license but are unable to obtain permission to sell the electricity due to the rigid policy adopted by the government.</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 Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the sole licensed body to trade electricity, has suspended PPA for ROR projects saying that the quota has been exhausted.</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 government's policy on energy, 30 percent of the total electricity connected to the national grid has to come from the ROR projects. The remaining electricity will be sourced from reservoir-based projects, solar plants, and others.</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"">This arrangement has been implemented with the target of generating 15,000 MW of electricity in 10 years. According to the energy producers, the PPA for 215 ROR projects with a combined capacity of 9000 MW has been suspended at the moment.</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"">PPA is an important aspect of power projects. Banks and investors invest in loans and shares in the projects based on PPA. However, the financial management of these projects has not been possible as the government has not come up with a clear policy. It puts the investment of promoters at risk and also the future of the entire projects.</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 government has distributed the survey license to these projects. The promoter company needs to sign the PPA and get the production license within five years after obtaining the survey license. The future of the projects is at stake due to the suspension of PPA by the government. Promoters say that if the PPA is not opened immediately, the survey license will be revoked. They complained that the investments made so far have been wasted.</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"">It has been almost five years since some projects got survey licenses. Without immediate PPA, the survey license of such projects will be revoked within the deadline.</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"">It costs up to Rs 100 million to survey a project of up to 10 MW. Even if you get a survey license, you have to pay Rs 1 million to Rs 3 million annually to the government depending on the size of the project. The promoters argue that the investment will be wasted if the survey license is revoked due to the suspension of PPA.</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 government has a long-term plan to trade electricity with India, Bangladesh, China, and other countries. Accordingly, the private sector has invested heavily in hydropower. Entrepreneurs say they are discouraged by the lack of PPA.</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"">They say that a clear policy should be brought immediately regarding PPA. "The government must open PPA. If not, alternative arrangements should be made,” said an entrepreneur. If the private sector is not allowed to do business and the PPA is not allowed, the development of the energy sector will be pushed backwards, he opined.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14615', 'image' => '20220304055417_604790760.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 17:53:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14872', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Oxygen Plants Purchased during the Peak of Covid-19 Pandemic yet to Arrive', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: Oxygen plants worth more than Rs 70 million purchased by Nepali entrepreneurs have been stuck in France due to the negligence of the transportation company.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 4: Oxygen plants worth more than Rs 70 million purchased by Nepali entrepreneurs have been stuck in France due to the negligence of the transportation 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"">Nepali businessmen and social organisations had purchased 10 sets of oxygen generator plants from France nine months under the coordination of a non-governmental organization called Reconstruction Nepal. “After purchasing the goods, Flash Freight Logistics Company was entrusted with the task of transporting the goods,” said a businessman who bought the oxygen generator plants, adding, “But even after multiple requests, the company is not even interested in transporting the goods.”</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"">Six different business houses had invested on those oxygen plants during the Covid-19 pandemic. The cost of transporting the oxygen plants was paid by the government. The government had reportedly paid USD 275,000 to the company for transporting the oxygen plants.</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 company then entered into an agreement with Nepal Airlines to transport the plants for USD 272,000. The concerned businessmen said despite the agreement, the transportation company has been refusing to transport the oxygen plants.</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"">Deepesh Adhikari on behalf of the transportation company and president of US-based Reconstruction Nepal, Dr Madan Upreti on behalf of the buyers had signed the agreement for transporting the plants to 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"">The agreement was to bring the oxygen plant to Nepal within the month of December, 2021. After being brought to Nepal, the target was to set up two of the oxygen plants at Kathmandu’s Teaching Hospital, three at Gandaki and Lumbini hospitals, one at Damak's Amda and one at Darchula Hospital. The government had planned to set up another station at Jogbudha Hospital in Dadeldhura with the plants brought from France.</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"">But due to the negligence of the transporter to bring those oxygen plants, not only the investment of the businessman has sunk but also the general public has not been able to get the service. Oxygen plants were urgently needed in hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many patients were killed during the Covid-19 pandemic due to the unavailability of oxygen.</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"">When the representative of the company that did not ship the plants as per the agreement, he declined to comment. He has reportedly been avoiding any kind of contact.</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"">One of the businessmen who bought the oxygen plants said that the cargo company is arguing that the ship fare has increased now.</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 the shipping company had asked for more money to transport the oxygen plants. “We have already given the transport company an additional Rs 1 million per plant, in addition to what the government had already promised,” he said adding, “Now action needs to be taken against that 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"">Batas Foundation, America Nepal Medical Foundation, Creation Nepal, Humanity Foundation Nepal, Reconstruction Nepal, Jagdamba Steel and Syakar Trading Company had partnered to bring the oxygen plant. Businessmen have demanded to confiscate the deposit of the company and blacklist it for not delivering the shipment as per the agreement.</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"">Businessmen are appealing to various agencies for transportation after the oxygen plants purchased on May 20, 2021 failed to arrive.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">How the oxygen plant purchase procedure started</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hospitals across the country were in dire need of oxygen as the Covid-19 pandemic intensified. Reconstruction Nepal bought oxygen plants in France with the aim of setting up oxygen plants in various hospitals after patients started dying due to lack of oxygen.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The buyers had requested the government to assist in the transportation of the plants as the shipment by water would be delayed and transportation by air would be costly. Accepting the request, the then KP Sharma Oli-led government had decided to provide transportation expenses.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14614', 'image' => '20220304040957_1646349322.Clipboard17.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 16:09:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14871', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Asia Stocks Tumble to 16-Month Lows after Ukraine Nuclear Complex Fire', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: Asian equities and the euro slumped on Friday after news of a fire near a Ukraine nuclear facility.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 4: Asian equities and the euro slumped on Friday after news of a fire near a Ukraine nuclear facility. According to Reuters, the fire erupted following clashes between the Russian and Ukrainian forces, which heightened investor fears about the escalating conflict and sent oil prices higher.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The news agency further said that the risk-off appetite battered markets across the region, with European bourses set for a weak open as Euro Stoxx 50 futures while German DAX futures shed 2.6 percent and FTSE futures lost 1.4 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A fire that broke out in a training building near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest of its kind in Europe, during intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces has since been extinguished, Reuters reported Friday citing the local authorities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">While that has helped ease some of the initial panic that hit markets earlier in the day, investors remain extremely anxious about the conflict.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Markets are worried about nuclear fallout. The risk is that there is a miscalculation or overreaction and the war prolongs," Reuters quoted Vasu Menon, executive director of investment strategy at OCBC Bank, as saying.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Stock markets across Asia were in a sea of red, with Japan losing 2.5 percent, South Korea 1.1 percent, China 0.8 percent and Hong Kong 2.5 percent while commodities-heavy Australia was down 0.6 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">S&P 500 futures shed 0.3 percent and Nasdaq futures fell 0.41 percent, paring sharp losses from early trading. Overnight, Wall Street ended lower as investors remained on edge over the Ukraine crisis, while rising prices of commodities also weighed on market sentiment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Investors sought refuge in safe-haven US Treasuries, sending yields on benchmark 10-year yields as much as 14 basis points lower to 1.7 percent, Reuters reported. They later inched back up to 1.79 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Oil prices jumped on Friday after ending steady a day earlier, with the market also focused on whether the OPEC+ producers, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, would increase output from January.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Brent crude futures for May rose to as much as $114.23 a barrel and were last up 0.5% percent at $111. The contract fell 2.2 percent on Thursday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There was no let-up in other commodities also, with Chicago wheat futures jumping nearly 7 percent, taking the weekly gain to more than 40 percent on supply side worries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the news agency, economists said higher interest rates were needed to tame high inflation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Timely determined action from central banks is required to settle inflationary expectations as supply chain disruptions and rising energy prices boost current inflation. The war has intensified these forces," Bill Evans, chief economist at Westpac, was quoted as saying by Reuters.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Central banks have the responsibility to ensure that high inflationary expectations do not become embedded in the system - risking a wage/price spiral. Despite the uncertainties of the war this task should not be compromised," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Gold prices also rose in the international market on Friday, eyeing their best weekly gain since May 2021. Spot gold edged up 0.1 percent to $1,936.9, according to Reuters.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In currency markets, the euro lost further ground and was set for its worst week versus the dollar in nine months. It fell 0.3 percent to $1.10320 and traded above the day's lows. It has lost about 1.8 percent this week, which would be the euro's worst week since June 2021.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14613', 'image' => '20220304022129_Asian-stocks.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 14:20:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14870', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Blame for Hike in Price of Sugar', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: The price of sugar has been going up in an uncontrolled manner, but the government doesn’t seem to be able to control it.', '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"">March 4: The price of sugar has been going up in an uncontrolled manner, but the government doesn’t seem to be able to control it. Concerned authorities say that the price of sugar has been rising because the government itself has not given permission to the Salt Trading Corporation Limited to purchase of sugar since the last one and a half years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">About 15 months ago, Salt Trading had sent a letter to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies seeking permission to purchase 50,000 metric tons of sugar with customs duty exemption. Although the Ministry of Industry has forwarded the letter to the Ministry of Finance seeking release of budget, the letter is gathering dust at the finance ministry. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Salt Trading Corporation has almost run out of stock of subsidized sugar. As a result, the price of sugar has gone out of control in the market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to spokesperson of the Salt Trading Corporation, Kumar Raj Bhandari, the state-owned company currently has only 100 metric tons of sugar in stock. He said that they have been selling sugar only to retail customers to avoid running out of stock as the stock is not enough even for a day if it is sold as per the market demand.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Middlemen and big businessmen are taking advantage of the state-owned company’s inability to supply subsidized sugar in the market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The retail price of sugar has increased by Rs 15 per kg to reach an all-time high of Rs 100 since last December. Although the price has continued to rise, the government has remained a mute spectator. The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies said it has repeatedly requested the finance ministry to release budget but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance claims that the process to release budget is underway.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pavitra Bajracharya, the outgoing president of the Retail Trade Association, said that they are facing problems in selling sugar to the retailers due to the uncontrolled price hike.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Import of sugar increased from Rs 3.12 billion in fiscal year 2075/76 to Rs 12.26 billion in the last fiscal year. Consumers have been complaining that the state-owned company is not even getting permission to buy sugar when large amount of sugar is being imported by the private sector in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14612', 'image' => '20220304020256_sugar.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 14:02:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14869', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'SSF unable to Invest Money in Profit-Generating Sector ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: The government has not invested most of the amount collected under the contribution-based Social Security Fund (SSF) in profit-generating sector.', '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"">March 4: The government has not invested most of the amount collected under the contribution-based Social Security Fund (SSF) in profit-generating sector. The fund was launched by the then government led by KP Sharma Oli with tall promises.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, the government’s inability to mobilize billions of rupees collected under various headings, including the social security program, in profit-generating programmes, has poured cold water on the chances of investors getting additional benefits. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the SSF, it has so far collected Rs 43 billion under different headings from the contributors of the private sector who have been promised of post-retirement benefits and various other facilities. The contribution amount under the social security program is Rs 13.37 billion. Similarly, Rs 28 billion of National Welfare Fund is also with SSF. Likewise, SSF has also collected Rs 1 billion under social security tax and Rs 2 billion under various other topics. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 officials of SSF say that only Rs 2 billion has been mobilised out of the collected amount. As per the investment procedure of SSF, it can invest the amount in government bonds, shares, debentures, mutual funds and fixed assets. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the deputy executive director of the fund Bibek Panthi, out of the amount collected by SSF, Rs 2 billion has been invested in debentures while the rest is kept in fixed deposit account. "Most of the money is kept in a fixed deposit account. The average interest rate is 8 percent. Preparations are being made to invest more money," he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The council of ministers had passed a work procedure one and a half years ago to invest the money of the fund in different sectors. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the issuance of this procedure, the amount of contributors was expected to be invested in various sectors. Although investing in this way is expected to increase the income of the fund, the SSF does not seem to be able to make investment. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14611', 'image' => '20220304012317_SSF (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 13:22:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14868', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Fuel Prices go up Again, Petrol to cost Rs 150 per Litre ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: The Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has increased the prices of fuel with effect from Thursday midnight (March 4). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 4: The Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has increased the prices of fuel with effect from Thursday midnight (March 4). The prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene each have been increased by Rs 5 per litre, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </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"">With the revised price, petrol will now cost Rs 150 per litre while diesel and kerosene will cost Rs 133 per litre in Kathmandu valley. </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, the price of aviation fuel has been increased by Rs 10 per litre for domestic flights while the price has been increased by US$ 100 per kilolitre for international flights. The price of cooking gas (LPG) however has not been changed. </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 NOC hiked the price of petroleum products after receiving a revised list of fuel prices from the Indian Oil Corporation recently. </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"">This is the eighth time in the last seven months that the NOC has increased the prices of petroleum products, according to the data published on NOC’s website. In February alone, NOC had increased the fuel price three times on February 1, February 19 and February 20 (only ATF price). NOC again increased the price in less than two weeks.</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 state-owned oil monopoly has been saying time and again that is under compulsion to increase the price of fuel due to heavy losses it has to incur while selling fuel at subsidized rate.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14610', 'image' => '20220304114313_Petrol-Price-Increase.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 11:42:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14867', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Task Force Recommends Government to Amend Criteria related to Visit Visa', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 3: A task force formed to study the problems related to visit visas and to recommend solutions to the problems has submitted its report to Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 3: A task force formed to study the problems related to visit visas and to recommend solutions to the problems has submitted its report to Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand.</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"">Home Ministry spokesperson Fanindra Mani Pokharel, who is also the head of the task force, presented the report to the minister at a program organized at the Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday.</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 task force formed under the coordination of spokesperson Pokharel on January 25 has recommended the government to identify on what basis is a person eligible for the visit and what is the reason for the visit. </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"">Pokharel said that the report will be implemented after formulating a work procedure in this regard. He said that a committee comprising representatives of the Department of Immigration, Department of Foreign Employment and concerned agencies would be formed to formulate the work procedure.</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 report also suggests to implement the existing criteria and procedures related to visit visa only after amending them. Another recommendation made by the report is to simplify the complex process of approving labour permit and to make the process transparent and quick.</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""> Similarly, the report also suggests to punish the operators of any licensed foreign employment company as per Article 44 of the Foreign Employment Act 2064 if they send people abroad on visit visa or other means without obtaining labor permit.</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"">Buddhisagar Lamichhane, joint secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation; Shesh Narayan Poudel, joint secretary at the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security; Harish Chandra Poudel, joint secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Bhim Prasad Dhakal, senior superintendent of police; Prakash Chandra Adhikari, under secretary of the Department of Immigration; and Deenbandhu Subedi, under secretary at the Foreign Employment Promotion Board were the members of the task force.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-03', 'modified' => '2022-03-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14609', 'image' => '20220303041543_Visit-visa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-03 16:14:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14866', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Making Preparations for Budget ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 3: As the government is preparing for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2079/80), various ministries and related bodies are lobbying to get more budget. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 3: As the government is preparing for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2079/80), various ministries and related bodies are lobbying to get more budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A source at the Ministry of Finance said that various bodies are taking initiative to get more budget than the budget allocated in the current fiscal year. At present, the Ministry of Urban Development and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology are making intense efforts to get more budget. These ministries are lobbying for more budget than their current budget. According to the Ministry of Urban Development, it will require more budget for the upcoming fiscal year than the ceiling fixed by the National Planning Commission. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The ministry is lobbying to increase the budget as it is preparing to announce a budget focusing on big projects. At present, the Ministry of Urban Development is running most of the small projects. But the ministry plans to increase the number of big projects soon. Till now, programs worth at least Rs 4.5 million are being implemented under the ministry. Now, the ministry is preparing to operate projects worth at least Rs 50 million. The ministry is preparing to table a proposal seeking Rs 200 million for large projects in the next fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the high demand for developing integrated settlement, the ministry is not in favor of encouraging such plans. A study by the Ministry of Urban Development found that about 60 percent of the houses were locked during the monitoring of three such integrated settlements. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the mid-term expenditure structure, the National Planning Commission has capped a budget ceiling of Rs 36.68 billion for the ministry in the upcoming fiscal year. However, the ministry is preparing to propose a budget that is double the ceiling fixed by the commission. The ministry is preparing to propose a budget which includes programs worth Rs 73 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Officials claim that the ministry has the capacity to spend if the proposed budget is released. Despite such tall claims, the ministry has not been able to spend the budget allocated in the current fiscal year. In the current fiscal, the budget allocated for the Ministry is Rs 30.75 billion. However, it has spent only Rs 5.75 billion in the last six months. This is 18.72 percent of the total budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is also lobbying for more budget than the budget allocated to it at present. Education Minister Devendra Poudel has already met the vice chairman of the NPC Dr Bishwanath Poudel and asked him to increase the budget for education. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the current fiscal year, more than Rs 58.26 billion was allocated for the education ministry. In the mid-term assessment of the current fiscal year’s budget, the Ministry had spent a total of Rs 20.47 billion which is 35.14 percent of the allocated budget. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-03', 'modified' => '2022-03-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14608', 'image' => '20220303025828_20220210011355_Budget.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-03 14:57:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14865', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Market Reeling under Shortage of Imported Goods', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 3: There has been a shortage of imported goods in the market after Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) adopted the policy to tighten imports in an attempt to reduce trade deficit.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 3: There has been a shortage of imported goods in the market after Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) adopted the policy to tighten imports in an attempt to reduce trade deficit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The market has been reeling under shortage of goods since the last three months after the central bank made it mandatory for importers to have a hundred percent margin while opening LC for importing 46 types of goods that fall under the harmonization code. Concerned authorities say that due to the provision of a hundred percent margin, there has been a shortage of imported goods such as footwear, clothes, fancy dresses, cosmetics for daily use, soap, detergent, powder, shampoo, lip guard, body lotion, soup items, pasta, etc.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Mukunda Poudel, the general secretary of Nepal-China Trade Association, argues that the merchants could order goods directly from foreign companies under TT (telegraphic transfer) system and receive such goods by paying a certain amount in advance through the banking system. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There was a practice of paying the remaining amount upon the delivery of goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">But now, the traders have to pay the entire sum to the bank while opening the LC itself and this has caused problems in importing goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “Traders and businessmen are facing monetary crisis as an importer importing goods worth Rs 10 million has to deposit an additional Rs 10 million to the bank. Shortage of products has now started to occur since the majority of importers are not able to import goods due to the lack of money,” Poudel told New Business Age.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Due to the provision requiring hundred percent margin for opening LC, Nepal has been facing problems in importing certain products which it has to depend on other countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Due to this reason, consumers are facing difficulty in finding the products of their choice in the market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Durga Raj Shrestha, the chairman of Nepal Distributors Association, the cycle of market has been broken due to the provision of keeping a hundred cash percent margin for imports. He added that traders who could import goods worth Rs 20 million can now import goods worth just Rs 2.5 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“First of all, it has made a direct impact on the import of goods. After the import has been affected, there is a shortage of goods in the market and consumers do not get the goods they are looking for and there is no trade in the market,” said Shrestha adding, “When there is no trade, the shopkeepers have no money and face difficulty in sending payment to suppliers and importers. In this way, the market cycle has reached a state of disorder.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-03', 'modified' => '2022-03-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14607', 'image' => '20220303015604_USLUX-header-0423220.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-03 13:55:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14864', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'There are More Nepalis in Ukraine than Anticipated', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 3: There are more Nepalis in Ukraine than it was anticipated before.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Rama Subedi</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 3: There are more Nepalis in Ukraine than it was anticipated before. It was said that there are around 230 to 240 Nepalis in Ukraine. However, Non Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) believes that there could be around 1000 Nepalis in Ukraine. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A total of 192 Nepalis had gone to Ukraine after taking labour permits. Thirty eight Nepalis are living in Ukraine permanently. There are also some Nepali students in Ukraine. It has been learnt that a large number of undocumented Nepalis are also residing in Ukraine. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to NRNA, 402 Nepalis have already fled Ukraine to the neighbouring Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Moldova. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A high-level committee formed under the coordination of Nepal’s embassy in Germany to rescue Nepalis affected by the Russia-Ukraine war said most of the rescued Nepalis are currently in Poland.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal’s acting ambassador to Russia, Sushil Ghimire, informed that all the Nepalis living in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv have already left the country. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Labour expert Som Luitel believes that a lot of Nepali citizens might have been hiding in Ukraine in order to enter other European countries. Those who have documents have come forward openly but those lacking documents might still be hiding out of fear of exposure, says the expert. “Irrespective of their legal status, the government needs to help them.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NRNA has been helping the Nepalis who have fled to European countries from Ukraine. The national associations of NRNA have made temporary arrangements for food and accommodation for the Nepali citizens who have become the victims of conflict . Luitel says that the government must immediately take initiative to arrange food and accommodation of Nepalis as well as their evacuation from the war-affected areas.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He further says that the Government of Nepal must coordinate with European countries that share border with Ukraine to help prepare travel documents for the undocumented Nepalis and make arrangements for their temporary stay in those countries. He suggests the government to prepare its rescue plan according to the priority and needs of the Nepalis who have become the latest victims of Russia-Ukraine war.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">First of all, the government needs to prepare the list of Nepalis – both documented and undocumented – living in Ukraine at present, says Luitel.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-03', 'modified' => '2022-03-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14606', 'image' => '20220303114941_ukraine_refugees.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-03 11:48:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14863', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Directs Securities Board, NEPSE to Improve Capital Market ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 3: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has directed the Securities Board of Nepal, and Nepal Stock Exchange Limited to focus on improving capital market. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 3: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has directed the Securities Board of Nepal, and Nepal Stock Exchange Limited to focus on improving capital market. Both of the agencies were handed a 11-point directive in this regard. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During a programme organized on Wednesday, Finance Minister Sharma asked NEPSE and SEBON leaderships not to be swayed by anyone’s influence and pressure while discharging their respective duties. The government had recently appointed Krishna Bahadur Karki as chief executive officer of NEPSE and Ramesh Hamal as the chairperson of SEBON. There were made aware of how the investment of the general public could be made secure and problems of capital market resolved.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The minister said that the time has come to create environment where money in capital market is spent in mega projects. Individual’s money had entered capital market, which should be further capitalized, the minister told the newly appointed chiefs. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister Sharma claimed that he has discouraged anomalies such as insider trading, pump and dump and circular business which have posed threat to capital market after he assumed the office. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the occasion, Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini said that the new leaderships are expected to lead the capital market in a positive way. Revenue Secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar said that the share market has been improving. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">SEBON’s Chair Ramesh Hamal said share investors must be well informed through financial literacy. -- RSS </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-03', 'modified' => '2022-03-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14605', 'image' => '20220303104955_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-03 08:22:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, '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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Earlier, remittances up to Rs 100,000 were allowed within the country.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NRB officials said they took such measures due to an increase in remittances through the illegal ‘hundi; channel. He said that such decision was taken after the Nepali migrant workers started sending money to their relatives through hundi.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Questions have been raised about where the money sent by Nepali workers from abroad goes after the inflow of remittance started declining steadily after the peak of the Covid-19 crisis.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, no study has been conducted on whether the income of Nepali nationals living abroad has declined or whether the inflow of remittance to Nepal has declined.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Some experts suspect that Nepalis are more inclined towards cryptocurrency in recent times.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Former executive director of NRB Nara Bahadur Thapa, on the other hand, argued that the problem has surfaced due to the tiresome process of sending remittance as per the government’s criteria.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Besides, sending remittances to Nepal is expensive," he said, adding that the government casts an evil eye if anyone sends a good amount of money back home. “The government has even suspended accounts of those who send money back home in dollars,” added Thapa.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Labor, immigration expert, and advocate Som Luintel, who is studying the field of foreign employment meticulously, said that the declining remittances at this time is the effect of Covid-19 pandemic which halted the foreign employment business some time ago.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Remittances were sent by Nepalis who had gone abroad earlier during the Corona epidemic. But the number of Nepali migrant workers declined during the peak of Covid-19 and the result is seen now," he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NRB spokesperson Gunakar Bhatt also estimated that remittances have declined due to the decline in the number of people going for foreign employment when the pandemic was at its peak. He said that the inflow of remittances will increase after the number of people going for foreign employment starts rising again.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, some NRB officials say that the activity of hundi trading may have increased after the restrictions were lifted.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 youths who have gone for foreign employment have sent remittances of Rs 468.45 billion as of December 2021 in the current fiscal year, which is 5.5 percent less than the remittance sent during the corresponding period of last fiscal year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-06', 'modified' => '2022-03-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14619', 'image' => '20220306015310_Remittance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-06 13:52:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14876', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Import of Betel Nuts Five Times more than Actual Demand: Report ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 6: A study conducted by a parliamentary panel has found that excessive amount of betel nuts have been imported into the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 6: A study conducted by a parliamentary panel has found that excessive amount of betel nuts have been imported into the country. The report prepared by a subcommittee formed to study policy provisions on the import of betel nuts from third countries has been submitted to the Sustainable Development and Good Governance Committee (SDGGC) of the National Assembly on Friday. The next meeting of the parliamentary committee will discuss about the report and issue directive to the government and other stakeholders, informed Ramesh Jung Rayamajhi, coordinator of the committee. </span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the investigation, it was found that betel nuts were imported much more than the actual demand. According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, Rayamajhi said that 25,000 metric tonnes of betel nuts were imported in the country when the demand for betel nuts from factories in Nepal was just 5,000 metric tonnes. </span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although the upper house committee had summoned the director general of the Department of Customs, some secretaries and the importers to discuss the matter in the meeting, they were absent, RSS said quoting Rayamajhi. </span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government allegedly allowed the import of more betel nuts than the demand under the influence of importers, said the report. The imported betel nuts would be exported to neighbouring India, 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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A report published by New Business Age on March 23 last year states that the government had allowed import of 25,000 metric tons of betel nuts, 5,000 metric tons of dates and 15,000 metric tons of black pepper in fiscal year 2020/21 under the quota system.</span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government had earlier imposed a ban on import of most goods in April 2020 in a bid to prevent foreign currency from flowing out of the country during the crisis created by coronavirus pandemic. The government had put a complete ban on the import of black pepper, peas, dates, and betel nuts initially but later imposed quota system for the imports. Similarly, the government had also restricted the import of alcohol and other luxurious goods during the period.</span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The restriction on import of beetle nuts and other edible items were lifted in March 2021 after the situation turned normal. Interestingly, the ban on alcohol was lifted in September 2020 much before the ban on other items were removed.</span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It was not the first time that the government had imposed a ban on betel nuts though. </span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that former Chief Commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority Lokman Singh Karki lost his temper during a press meet in 2014 when reporters asked him repeatedly to clarify reasons behind the unchecked smuggling of betel nuts and his involvement in it. </span></span></span></span></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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The reporters were curious to know why the ban on betel nuts was lifted after Karki was appointed CIAA chief. That incident in Biratnagar ultimately led to the downfall of Karki.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-06', 'modified' => '2022-03-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14618', 'image' => '20220306121659_supari.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-06 12:14:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14875', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Airline Operators Hike Price of Air Tickets', 'sub_title' => 'The airfare has been increased by Rs 90 to Rs 540', 'summary' => 'March 6: Airline operators of Nepal have increased the price of air tickets again.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 6: Airline operators of Nepal have increased the price of air tickets again.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Airlines Operators Association of Nepal (AOAN) decided to increase the airfare on Saturday, two days after the Nepal Oil Corporation increased the price of petroleum products. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The state-owned oil monopoly had announced to revise the price of aviation turbine fuel from Rs 126 per litre to Rs 136 per litre. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the decision of the airline operators, the prices of air tickets for domestic flights have been increased from Rs 90 to Rs 540. The tickets for mountain flights from Kathmandu have been increased by Rs 340 per person.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The airfare of Kathmandu-Siamra flights have been increased the least by Rs 90 while the tickets for Biratnagar- Nepalgunj flights have been increased the most by Rs 540. The new airfare will be applicable from Sunday, March 6.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prior to this, the AOAN had increased airfare on February 11 in coordination with the Civil Aviation Association of Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-06', 'modified' => '2022-03-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14617', 'image' => '20220306113039_20201109112912_1604878353.14.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-06 08:27:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14874', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'All Prohibitory Orders Relating to COVID-19 Removed in Kathmandu Valley ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: All sorts of prohibitory orders issued earlier in the Kathmandu Valley following the increase in COVID-19 cases have been lifted with the decline in infection rate.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 4: All sorts of prohibitory orders issued earlier in the Kathmandu Valley following the increase in COVID-19 cases have been lifted with the decline in infection rate.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The prohibitory orders will be removed from March 5. All three districts in the valley (Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur) confirmed this on Friday. With this, activities relating to politics, economy, society, education and other professions will resume in full-fledge by following health protocols. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The decision to lift the prohibitory orders was taken in line with the Local Administration Act, 2028, the Infectious Disease Act, 2020, the smart lockdown procedure, 2078, risk control regulation and prohibition of COVID-19, recommendations of the COVID-19 Crisis Management Coordination Centre, and the decisions taken by the Council of Ministers, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The district administration offices of all three districts of the valley thanked the people for helping the government in the prevention and control of the virus by abiding by the prohibitory orders. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14616', 'image' => '20220304080511_Kathmandu Valley.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 20:04:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14873', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Grants Survey License to Hydropower Projects but Denies PPA', 'sub_title' => 'Promoters of ROR Projects say their Investment has Gone Down the Drain due to Government Policy', 'summary' => 'March 4: Hydropower sector is often linked with Nepal’s prosperity. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 4: Hydropower sector is often linked with Nepal’s prosperity. It is believed that the country’s economy will improve if the electricity produced in the country is exported. However, the government’s policy is causing problems for hydropower developers who have made massive investment with the hope of bountiful return.</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"">Despite the possibility of reaping huge economic benefits from internal consumption of electricity as well as export of power generated in the country, more than 200 run-of-the-river (ROR) based projects which are under construction since the last three years are yet to sign any power purchase agreement with the concerned stakeholder. They have been given survey license but are unable to obtain permission to sell the electricity due to the rigid policy adopted by the government.</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 Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the sole licensed body to trade electricity, has suspended PPA for ROR projects saying that the quota has been exhausted.</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 government's policy on energy, 30 percent of the total electricity connected to the national grid has to come from the ROR projects. The remaining electricity will be sourced from reservoir-based projects, solar plants, and others.</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"">This arrangement has been implemented with the target of generating 15,000 MW of electricity in 10 years. According to the energy producers, the PPA for 215 ROR projects with a combined capacity of 9000 MW has been suspended at the moment.</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"">PPA is an important aspect of power projects. Banks and investors invest in loans and shares in the projects based on PPA. However, the financial management of these projects has not been possible as the government has not come up with a clear policy. It puts the investment of promoters at risk and also the future of the entire projects.</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 government has distributed the survey license to these projects. The promoter company needs to sign the PPA and get the production license within five years after obtaining the survey license. The future of the projects is at stake due to the suspension of PPA by the government. Promoters say that if the PPA is not opened immediately, the survey license will be revoked. They complained that the investments made so far have been wasted.</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"">It has been almost five years since some projects got survey licenses. Without immediate PPA, the survey license of such projects will be revoked within the deadline.</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"">It costs up to Rs 100 million to survey a project of up to 10 MW. Even if you get a survey license, you have to pay Rs 1 million to Rs 3 million annually to the government depending on the size of the project. The promoters argue that the investment will be wasted if the survey license is revoked due to the suspension of PPA.</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 government has a long-term plan to trade electricity with India, Bangladesh, China, and other countries. Accordingly, the private sector has invested heavily in hydropower. Entrepreneurs say they are discouraged by the lack of PPA.</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"">They say that a clear policy should be brought immediately regarding PPA. "The government must open PPA. If not, alternative arrangements should be made,” said an entrepreneur. If the private sector is not allowed to do business and the PPA is not allowed, the development of the energy sector will be pushed backwards, he opined.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14615', 'image' => '20220304055417_604790760.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 17:53:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14872', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Oxygen Plants Purchased during the Peak of Covid-19 Pandemic yet to Arrive', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: Oxygen plants worth more than Rs 70 million purchased by Nepali entrepreneurs have been stuck in France due to the negligence of the transportation company.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 4: Oxygen plants worth more than Rs 70 million purchased by Nepali entrepreneurs have been stuck in France due to the negligence of the transportation 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"">Nepali businessmen and social organisations had purchased 10 sets of oxygen generator plants from France nine months under the coordination of a non-governmental organization called Reconstruction Nepal. “After purchasing the goods, Flash Freight Logistics Company was entrusted with the task of transporting the goods,” said a businessman who bought the oxygen generator plants, adding, “But even after multiple requests, the company is not even interested in transporting the goods.”</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"">Six different business houses had invested on those oxygen plants during the Covid-19 pandemic. The cost of transporting the oxygen plants was paid by the government. The government had reportedly paid USD 275,000 to the company for transporting the oxygen plants.</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 company then entered into an agreement with Nepal Airlines to transport the plants for USD 272,000. The concerned businessmen said despite the agreement, the transportation company has been refusing to transport the oxygen plants.</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"">Deepesh Adhikari on behalf of the transportation company and president of US-based Reconstruction Nepal, Dr Madan Upreti on behalf of the buyers had signed the agreement for transporting the plants to 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"">The agreement was to bring the oxygen plant to Nepal within the month of December, 2021. After being brought to Nepal, the target was to set up two of the oxygen plants at Kathmandu’s Teaching Hospital, three at Gandaki and Lumbini hospitals, one at Damak's Amda and one at Darchula Hospital. The government had planned to set up another station at Jogbudha Hospital in Dadeldhura with the plants brought from France.</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"">But due to the negligence of the transporter to bring those oxygen plants, not only the investment of the businessman has sunk but also the general public has not been able to get the service. Oxygen plants were urgently needed in hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many patients were killed during the Covid-19 pandemic due to the unavailability of oxygen.</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"">When the representative of the company that did not ship the plants as per the agreement, he declined to comment. He has reportedly been avoiding any kind of contact.</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"">One of the businessmen who bought the oxygen plants said that the cargo company is arguing that the ship fare has increased now.</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 the shipping company had asked for more money to transport the oxygen plants. “We have already given the transport company an additional Rs 1 million per plant, in addition to what the government had already promised,” he said adding, “Now action needs to be taken against that 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"">Batas Foundation, America Nepal Medical Foundation, Creation Nepal, Humanity Foundation Nepal, Reconstruction Nepal, Jagdamba Steel and Syakar Trading Company had partnered to bring the oxygen plant. Businessmen have demanded to confiscate the deposit of the company and blacklist it for not delivering the shipment as per the agreement.</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"">Businessmen are appealing to various agencies for transportation after the oxygen plants purchased on May 20, 2021 failed to arrive.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">How the oxygen plant purchase procedure started</span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hospitals across the country were in dire need of oxygen as the Covid-19 pandemic intensified. Reconstruction Nepal bought oxygen plants in France with the aim of setting up oxygen plants in various hospitals after patients started dying due to lack of oxygen.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The buyers had requested the government to assist in the transportation of the plants as the shipment by water would be delayed and transportation by air would be costly. Accepting the request, the then KP Sharma Oli-led government had decided to provide transportation expenses.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14614', 'image' => '20220304040957_1646349322.Clipboard17.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 16:09:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14871', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Asia Stocks Tumble to 16-Month Lows after Ukraine Nuclear Complex Fire', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: Asian equities and the euro slumped on Friday after news of a fire near a Ukraine nuclear facility.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 4: Asian equities and the euro slumped on Friday after news of a fire near a Ukraine nuclear facility. According to Reuters, the fire erupted following clashes between the Russian and Ukrainian forces, which heightened investor fears about the escalating conflict and sent oil prices higher.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The news agency further said that the risk-off appetite battered markets across the region, with European bourses set for a weak open as Euro Stoxx 50 futures while German DAX futures shed 2.6 percent and FTSE futures lost 1.4 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A fire that broke out in a training building near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest of its kind in Europe, during intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces has since been extinguished, Reuters reported Friday citing the local authorities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">While that has helped ease some of the initial panic that hit markets earlier in the day, investors remain extremely anxious about the conflict.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Markets are worried about nuclear fallout. The risk is that there is a miscalculation or overreaction and the war prolongs," Reuters quoted Vasu Menon, executive director of investment strategy at OCBC Bank, as saying.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Stock markets across Asia were in a sea of red, with Japan losing 2.5 percent, South Korea 1.1 percent, China 0.8 percent and Hong Kong 2.5 percent while commodities-heavy Australia was down 0.6 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">S&P 500 futures shed 0.3 percent and Nasdaq futures fell 0.41 percent, paring sharp losses from early trading. Overnight, Wall Street ended lower as investors remained on edge over the Ukraine crisis, while rising prices of commodities also weighed on market sentiment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Investors sought refuge in safe-haven US Treasuries, sending yields on benchmark 10-year yields as much as 14 basis points lower to 1.7 percent, Reuters reported. They later inched back up to 1.79 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Oil prices jumped on Friday after ending steady a day earlier, with the market also focused on whether the OPEC+ producers, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, would increase output from January.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Brent crude futures for May rose to as much as $114.23 a barrel and were last up 0.5% percent at $111. The contract fell 2.2 percent on Thursday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There was no let-up in other commodities also, with Chicago wheat futures jumping nearly 7 percent, taking the weekly gain to more than 40 percent on supply side worries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the news agency, economists said higher interest rates were needed to tame high inflation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Timely determined action from central banks is required to settle inflationary expectations as supply chain disruptions and rising energy prices boost current inflation. The war has intensified these forces," Bill Evans, chief economist at Westpac, was quoted as saying by Reuters.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Central banks have the responsibility to ensure that high inflationary expectations do not become embedded in the system - risking a wage/price spiral. Despite the uncertainties of the war this task should not be compromised," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Gold prices also rose in the international market on Friday, eyeing their best weekly gain since May 2021. Spot gold edged up 0.1 percent to $1,936.9, according to Reuters.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In currency markets, the euro lost further ground and was set for its worst week versus the dollar in nine months. It fell 0.3 percent to $1.10320 and traded above the day's lows. It has lost about 1.8 percent this week, which would be the euro's worst week since June 2021.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14613', 'image' => '20220304022129_Asian-stocks.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 14:20:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14870', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Blame for Hike in Price of Sugar', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: The price of sugar has been going up in an uncontrolled manner, but the government doesn’t seem to be able to control it.', '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"">March 4: The price of sugar has been going up in an uncontrolled manner, but the government doesn’t seem to be able to control it. Concerned authorities say that the price of sugar has been rising because the government itself has not given permission to the Salt Trading Corporation Limited to purchase of sugar since the last one and a half years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">About 15 months ago, Salt Trading had sent a letter to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies seeking permission to purchase 50,000 metric tons of sugar with customs duty exemption. Although the Ministry of Industry has forwarded the letter to the Ministry of Finance seeking release of budget, the letter is gathering dust at the finance ministry. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Salt Trading Corporation has almost run out of stock of subsidized sugar. As a result, the price of sugar has gone out of control in the market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to spokesperson of the Salt Trading Corporation, Kumar Raj Bhandari, the state-owned company currently has only 100 metric tons of sugar in stock. He said that they have been selling sugar only to retail customers to avoid running out of stock as the stock is not enough even for a day if it is sold as per the market demand.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Middlemen and big businessmen are taking advantage of the state-owned company’s inability to supply subsidized sugar in the market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The retail price of sugar has increased by Rs 15 per kg to reach an all-time high of Rs 100 since last December. Although the price has continued to rise, the government has remained a mute spectator. The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies said it has repeatedly requested the finance ministry to release budget but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance claims that the process to release budget is underway.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pavitra Bajracharya, the outgoing president of the Retail Trade Association, said that they are facing problems in selling sugar to the retailers due to the uncontrolled price hike.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Import of sugar increased from Rs 3.12 billion in fiscal year 2075/76 to Rs 12.26 billion in the last fiscal year. Consumers have been complaining that the state-owned company is not even getting permission to buy sugar when large amount of sugar is being imported by the private sector in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14612', 'image' => '20220304020256_sugar.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 14:02:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14869', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'SSF unable to Invest Money in Profit-Generating Sector ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: The government has not invested most of the amount collected under the contribution-based Social Security Fund (SSF) in profit-generating sector.', '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"">March 4: The government has not invested most of the amount collected under the contribution-based Social Security Fund (SSF) in profit-generating sector. The fund was launched by the then government led by KP Sharma Oli with tall promises.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, the government’s inability to mobilize billions of rupees collected under various headings, including the social security program, in profit-generating programmes, has poured cold water on the chances of investors getting additional benefits. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the SSF, it has so far collected Rs 43 billion under different headings from the contributors of the private sector who have been promised of post-retirement benefits and various other facilities. The contribution amount under the social security program is Rs 13.37 billion. Similarly, Rs 28 billion of National Welfare Fund is also with SSF. Likewise, SSF has also collected Rs 1 billion under social security tax and Rs 2 billion under various other topics. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 officials of SSF say that only Rs 2 billion has been mobilised out of the collected amount. As per the investment procedure of SSF, it can invest the amount in government bonds, shares, debentures, mutual funds and fixed assets. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the deputy executive director of the fund Bibek Panthi, out of the amount collected by SSF, Rs 2 billion has been invested in debentures while the rest is kept in fixed deposit account. "Most of the money is kept in a fixed deposit account. The average interest rate is 8 percent. Preparations are being made to invest more money," he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The council of ministers had passed a work procedure one and a half years ago to invest the money of the fund in different sectors. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the issuance of this procedure, the amount of contributors was expected to be invested in various sectors. Although investing in this way is expected to increase the income of the fund, the SSF does not seem to be able to make investment. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14611', 'image' => '20220304012317_SSF (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 13:22:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14868', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Fuel Prices go up Again, Petrol to cost Rs 150 per Litre ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 4: The Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has increased the prices of fuel with effect from Thursday midnight (March 4). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 4: The Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has increased the prices of fuel with effect from Thursday midnight (March 4). The prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene each have been increased by Rs 5 per litre, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </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"">With the revised price, petrol will now cost Rs 150 per litre while diesel and kerosene will cost Rs 133 per litre in Kathmandu valley. </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, the price of aviation fuel has been increased by Rs 10 per litre for domestic flights while the price has been increased by US$ 100 per kilolitre for international flights. The price of cooking gas (LPG) however has not been changed. </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 NOC hiked the price of petroleum products after receiving a revised list of fuel prices from the Indian Oil Corporation recently. </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"">This is the eighth time in the last seven months that the NOC has increased the prices of petroleum products, according to the data published on NOC’s website. In February alone, NOC had increased the fuel price three times on February 1, February 19 and February 20 (only ATF price). NOC again increased the price in less than two weeks.</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 state-owned oil monopoly has been saying time and again that is under compulsion to increase the price of fuel due to heavy losses it has to incur while selling fuel at subsidized rate.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-04', 'modified' => '2022-03-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14610', 'image' => '20220304114313_Petrol-Price-Increase.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-04 11:42:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14867', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Task Force Recommends Government to Amend Criteria related to Visit Visa', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 3: A task force formed to study the problems related to visit visas and to recommend solutions to the problems has submitted its report to Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 3: A task force formed to study the problems related to visit visas and to recommend solutions to the problems has submitted its report to Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand.</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"">Home Ministry spokesperson Fanindra Mani Pokharel, who is also the head of the task force, presented the report to the minister at a program organized at the Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday.</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 task force formed under the coordination of spokesperson Pokharel on January 25 has recommended the government to identify on what basis is a person eligible for the visit and what is the reason for the visit. </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"">Pokharel said that the report will be implemented after formulating a work procedure in this regard. He said that a committee comprising representatives of the Department of Immigration, Department of Foreign Employment and concerned agencies would be formed to formulate the work procedure.</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 report also suggests to implement the existing criteria and procedures related to visit visa only after amending them. Another recommendation made by the report is to simplify the complex process of approving labour permit and to make the process transparent and quick.</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""> Similarly, the report also suggests to punish the operators of any licensed foreign employment company as per Article 44 of the Foreign Employment Act 2064 if they send people abroad on visit visa or other means without obtaining labor permit.</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"">Buddhisagar Lamichhane, joint secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation; Shesh Narayan Poudel, joint secretary at the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security; Harish Chandra Poudel, joint secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Bhim Prasad Dhakal, senior superintendent of police; Prakash Chandra Adhikari, under secretary of the Department of Immigration; and Deenbandhu Subedi, under secretary at the Foreign Employment Promotion Board were the members of the task force.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-03', 'modified' => '2022-03-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14609', 'image' => '20220303041543_Visit-visa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-03 16:14:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14866', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Making Preparations for Budget ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 3: As the government is preparing for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2079/80), various ministries and related bodies are lobbying to get more budget. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 3: As the government is preparing for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2079/80), various ministries and related bodies are lobbying to get more budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A source at the Ministry of Finance said that various bodies are taking initiative to get more budget than the budget allocated in the current fiscal year. At present, the Ministry of Urban Development and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology are making intense efforts to get more budget. These ministries are lobbying for more budget than their current budget. According to the Ministry of Urban Development, it will require more budget for the upcoming fiscal year than the ceiling fixed by the National Planning Commission. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The ministry is lobbying to increase the budget as it is preparing to announce a budget focusing on big projects. At present, the Ministry of Urban Development is running most of the small projects. But the ministry plans to increase the number of big projects soon. Till now, programs worth at least Rs 4.5 million are being implemented under the ministry. Now, the ministry is preparing to operate projects worth at least Rs 50 million. The ministry is preparing to table a proposal seeking Rs 200 million for large projects in the next fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the high demand for developing integrated settlement, the ministry is not in favor of encouraging such plans. A study by the Ministry of Urban Development found that about 60 percent of the houses were locked during the monitoring of three such integrated settlements. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As per the mid-term expenditure structure, the National Planning Commission has capped a budget ceiling of Rs 36.68 billion for the ministry in the upcoming fiscal year. However, the ministry is preparing to propose a budget that is double the ceiling fixed by the commission. The ministry is preparing to propose a budget which includes programs worth Rs 73 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Officials claim that the ministry has the capacity to spend if the proposed budget is released. Despite such tall claims, the ministry has not been able to spend the budget allocated in the current fiscal year. In the current fiscal, the budget allocated for the Ministry is Rs 30.75 billion. However, it has spent only Rs 5.75 billion in the last six months. This is 18.72 percent of the total budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is also lobbying for more budget than the budget allocated to it at present. Education Minister Devendra Poudel has already met the vice chairman of the NPC Dr Bishwanath Poudel and asked him to increase the budget for education. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the current fiscal year, more than Rs 58.26 billion was allocated for the education ministry. In the mid-term assessment of the current fiscal year’s budget, the Ministry had spent a total of Rs 20.47 billion which is 35.14 percent of the allocated budget. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-03', 'modified' => '2022-03-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14608', 'image' => '20220303025828_20220210011355_Budget.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-03 14:57:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14865', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Market Reeling under Shortage of Imported Goods', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 3: There has been a shortage of imported goods in the market after Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) adopted the policy to tighten imports in an attempt to reduce trade deficit.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 3: There has been a shortage of imported goods in the market after Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) adopted the policy to tighten imports in an attempt to reduce trade deficit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The market has been reeling under shortage of goods since the last three months after the central bank made it mandatory for importers to have a hundred percent margin while opening LC for importing 46 types of goods that fall under the harmonization code. Concerned authorities say that due to the provision of a hundred percent margin, there has been a shortage of imported goods such as footwear, clothes, fancy dresses, cosmetics for daily use, soap, detergent, powder, shampoo, lip guard, body lotion, soup items, pasta, etc.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Mukunda Poudel, the general secretary of Nepal-China Trade Association, argues that the merchants could order goods directly from foreign companies under TT (telegraphic transfer) system and receive such goods by paying a certain amount in advance through the banking system. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There was a practice of paying the remaining amount upon the delivery of goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">But now, the traders have to pay the entire sum to the bank while opening the LC itself and this has caused problems in importing goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “Traders and businessmen are facing monetary crisis as an importer importing goods worth Rs 10 million has to deposit an additional Rs 10 million to the bank. Shortage of products has now started to occur since the majority of importers are not able to import goods due to the lack of money,” Poudel told New Business Age.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Due to the provision requiring hundred percent margin for opening LC, Nepal has been facing problems in importing certain products which it has to depend on other countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Due to this reason, consumers are facing difficulty in finding the products of their choice in the market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Durga Raj Shrestha, the chairman of Nepal Distributors Association, the cycle of market has been broken due to the provision of keeping a hundred cash percent margin for imports. He added that traders who could import goods worth Rs 20 million can now import goods worth just Rs 2.5 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“First of all, it has made a direct impact on the import of goods. After the import has been affected, there is a shortage of goods in the market and consumers do not get the goods they are looking for and there is no trade in the market,” said Shrestha adding, “When there is no trade, the shopkeepers have no money and face difficulty in sending payment to suppliers and importers. In this way, the market cycle has reached a state of disorder.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-03', 'modified' => '2022-03-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14607', 'image' => '20220303015604_USLUX-header-0423220.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-03 13:55:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14864', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'There are More Nepalis in Ukraine than Anticipated', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 3: There are more Nepalis in Ukraine than it was anticipated before.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Rama Subedi</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 3: There are more Nepalis in Ukraine than it was anticipated before. It was said that there are around 230 to 240 Nepalis in Ukraine. However, Non Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) believes that there could be around 1000 Nepalis in Ukraine. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A total of 192 Nepalis had gone to Ukraine after taking labour permits. Thirty eight Nepalis are living in Ukraine permanently. There are also some Nepali students in Ukraine. It has been learnt that a large number of undocumented Nepalis are also residing in Ukraine. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to NRNA, 402 Nepalis have already fled Ukraine to the neighbouring Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Moldova. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A high-level committee formed under the coordination of Nepal’s embassy in Germany to rescue Nepalis affected by the Russia-Ukraine war said most of the rescued Nepalis are currently in Poland.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal’s acting ambassador to Russia, Sushil Ghimire, informed that all the Nepalis living in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv have already left the country. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Labour expert Som Luitel believes that a lot of Nepali citizens might have been hiding in Ukraine in order to enter other European countries. Those who have documents have come forward openly but those lacking documents might still be hiding out of fear of exposure, says the expert. “Irrespective of their legal status, the government needs to help them.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NRNA has been helping the Nepalis who have fled to European countries from Ukraine. The national associations of NRNA have made temporary arrangements for food and accommodation for the Nepali citizens who have become the victims of conflict . Luitel says that the government must immediately take initiative to arrange food and accommodation of Nepalis as well as their evacuation from the war-affected areas.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He further says that the Government of Nepal must coordinate with European countries that share border with Ukraine to help prepare travel documents for the undocumented Nepalis and make arrangements for their temporary stay in those countries. He suggests the government to prepare its rescue plan according to the priority and needs of the Nepalis who have become the latest victims of Russia-Ukraine war.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">First of all, the government needs to prepare the list of Nepalis – both documented and undocumented – living in Ukraine at present, says Luitel.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-03', 'modified' => '2022-03-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14606', 'image' => '20220303114941_ukraine_refugees.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-03 11:48:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14863', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Directs Securities Board, NEPSE to Improve Capital Market ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 3: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has directed the Securities Board of Nepal, and Nepal Stock Exchange Limited to focus on improving capital market. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 3: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has directed the Securities Board of Nepal, and Nepal Stock Exchange Limited to focus on improving capital market. Both of the agencies were handed a 11-point directive in this regard. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During a programme organized on Wednesday, Finance Minister Sharma asked NEPSE and SEBON leaderships not to be swayed by anyone’s influence and pressure while discharging their respective duties. The government had recently appointed Krishna Bahadur Karki as chief executive officer of NEPSE and Ramesh Hamal as the chairperson of SEBON. There were made aware of how the investment of the general public could be made secure and problems of capital market resolved.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The minister said that the time has come to create environment where money in capital market is spent in mega projects. Individual’s money had entered capital market, which should be further capitalized, the minister told the newly appointed chiefs. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister Sharma claimed that he has discouraged anomalies such as insider trading, pump and dump and circular business which have posed threat to capital market after he assumed the office. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the occasion, Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini said that the new leaderships are expected to lead the capital market in a positive way. Revenue Secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar said that the share market has been improving. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">SEBON’s Chair Ramesh Hamal said share investors must be well informed through financial literacy. -- RSS </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-03-03', 'modified' => '2022-03-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14605', 'image' => '20220303104955_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-03-03 08:22:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, '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
