December 21: Minister for Education, Science and Technology Devendra Paudel has said it is high time for soul-searching on whether the skills and knowledge obtained from higher education have been limited to certificate in the context of…
December 21: Minister for Education, Science and Technology Devendra Paudel has said it is high time for soul-searching on whether the skills and knowledge obtained from higher education have been limited to certificate in the context of…
December 21: The ownership transfer of fifty percent shares of Khimti Hydropower Project to the government has been delayed due to lack of consensus between the NEA and the promoter company.…
December 20: The entrepreneurs and businessmen of Biratnagar are obliged to pay taxes under different headings if they make profits above 20 percent.…
December 20: A fire that broke out in the sixth floor of a commercial complex at New Baneshwor, Kathmandu gutted properties worth over Rs 30.5 million on…
December 20: The registration of micro, cottage and small scale industries have increased across the country amid the covid-19…
December 20: Water supply in the Kathmandu Valley is less than one third of the demand.…
December 20: The demand for electricity has increased significantly in the domestic market, thanks to the effective policy of the government and practical action plan among other initiatives.…
December 20: The ruling alliance has formed a three-member taskforce to hold discussions on US-funded project Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) with other political parties in order to reach a…
December 19: The spending system of the government can be summed up as…
December 19: A US report released on Thursday states that the threat posed by international terrorist organization has decreased in Nepal, but the risk…
December 19: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has directed banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to prepare necessary action plans to maintain the CD ratio within the prescribed limit.…
December 19: The government has prepared a draft of electricity trade work procedure to allow the private sector to get involved in electricity trade.…
December 19: Nepal’s progress towards reducing malnutrition faces setback due to multidimensional poverty, vulnerability to shocks including the economic slowdown from COVID-19 and weak infrastructure, states a report prepared by the National Planning Commission…
December 19: Economists have urged the government to take immediate measures to bail out the country's economy from crisis, arguing that the banking sector has been facing liquidity crunch while the capital expenditure is meagre, and the balance of payments (BoP) has been…
December 17: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has directed all ministries to spend 30 per cent of their budget within one month.…
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', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 21: Minister for Education, Science and Technology Devendra Paudel has said it is high time for soul-searching on whether the skills and knowledge obtained from higher education have been limited to certificate in the context of Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 21: Minister for Education, Science and Technology Devendra Paudel has said it is high time for soul-searching on whether the skills and knowledge obtained from higher education have been limited to certificate in the context of Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister Paudel made such remark while addressing the 47th Convocation Day of the University on Monday, December 20. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the occasion, he expressed concerns regarding brain-drain and said that the country's skilled human resources are compelled to go abroad seeking employment opportunities at a time when Nepal needs to bring the knowledge and experiences from across the world scenario into the country for the nation's development. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"I wonder whether it is the educational programmes and contents of our universities that are not matching the requirements of our life or is it that we only have confined the skills and knowledge we learned to certificate alone and failed to translate them into practice. It is time to ponder over this matter," the state-owned national news agency RSS quoted the education minister as saying. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He suggested the graduates who have got their degrees to use the skills they have learned to bring about improvement in the society, by synchronizing the knowledge learned with the world scenario and local needs. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Education Minister Paudel reportedly said that Nepal could not move forward on the path of development as per the expectation because the available means and resources at its disposal could not be utilized in a judicious manner in spite of its cultural, geographical and natural diversities and richness. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Education Minister and TU Pro-Chancellor urged the TU, the country's biggest and oldest university, to address the issues of poverty and unemployment by providing a world-class education. He suggested the university to make its research institutions more effective. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to RSS, Education Minister Paudel underscored the need of linking education to skills and skills to production and employment to stop large amount of money going abroad in the name of higher and quality education. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-21', 'modified' => '2021-12-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14257', 'image' => '20211221081849_education.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-21 08:18:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14512', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ownership Transfer of Khimti Hydropower Project Delayed', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 21: The ownership transfer of fifty percent shares of Khimti Hydropower Project to the government has been delayed due to lack of consensus between the NEA and the promoter company. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">December 21: The ownership transfer of fifty percent shares of Khimti Hydropower Project to the government has been delayed due to lack of consensus between the NEA and the promoter company. As per the agreement reached between the government and the promoter company, Himal Power, fifty percent shares of the project should be owned by Nepal Electricity Authority from July 11, 2020. However, the transfer has not taken place.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The officials of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation and NEA said that discussions are still underway for the transfer of share ownership. They have been in discussions with the promoter company for the last two years. However, no concrete decision has been made. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Spokesperson of the Ministry and Joint Secretary Madhu Prasad Bhetuwal said that discussions are underway to transfer ownership of the Khimti project. Both the parties are yet to reach agreement on some issues. "Following the share transfer, the same company is required to take responsibility for the operation of the project which the company has objected to," he said. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Meanwhile, Kulman Ghising, managing director of NEA, said that the process of share transfer has been delayed due to Himal Power Company. “We are negotiating on issues like PPA, but the delay is due to their side," he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The COVID-19 pandemic has also delayed the transfer of ownership. Himal Power Company includes foreign investors, and the COVID-19 restrictions prevented physical meetings for a long time.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Hydropower projects built by the private sector should be handed over to the government after a certain period of time. This is the first project being handed over to the government by the private sector so it is being looked upon with high priority.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Bhetuwal also claimed the government is working on this issue giving due importance. "This is the first hydropower project being handed over to the government. So a wrong precedence should not be established,” he added. <br /> In order to complete the process of share transfer, it is necessary to establish a joint venture company owned by both the authority and the promoter company. Then the company will sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) with NEA. However, such joint company has yet to be established. Also, the two sides have not reached an agreement on PPA. However, both sides have agreed that the current PPA rate will be decided in terms of Nepali currency. The law forbids PPA of projects below 100 MW capacity in foreign currency. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">This is the first privately funded hydropower project with investment from companies including Butwal Power Company Limited of Nepal, Statkraft SF of Norway and Alstom Power S. <br /> An agreement was signed between the then government and the company to transfer 50 percent shares of the project to NEA after twenty years of production. After fifty years of operation of the project, NEA will have full ownership of the project.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Currently, the project is being operated by signing an interim agreement between Himal Power and NEA. <br /> The interim agreement between NEA and Himal Power Company has been extended till mid-July 2022 as the transfer of ownership could not be completed on time. Ghising believes the transfer of ownership will be completed by mid-July.</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-21', 'modified' => '2021-12-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14256', 'image' => '20211221112231_20210823010727_20210119023725_1611012723.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-21 11:21:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14509', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CNI Calls for Capping Profits of Banks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: The entrepreneurs and businessmen of Biratnagar are obliged to pay taxes under different headings if they make profits above 20 percent. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 20: The entrepreneurs and businessmen of Biratnagar are obliged to pay taxes under different headings if they make profits above 20 percent. Meanwhile, this policy is not applicable for banks. The banks can earn as much as they want and are exempt of paying extra taxes. The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has called upon the concerned authorities to cap the profits made by the banks as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 president of Province 1 chapter of CNI, Bhim Ghimire, along with other businessmen has warned the government that they will start protest if this unfair treatment continues. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “We want to draw your attention to take the initiative to keep the banks’ interest rate unchanged from single digit and to keep the interest rate system stable and sustainable until the country's economic situation improves so as not to affect investors who have already invested in manufacturing industries and infrastructure projects,” said Ghimire.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ghimire accused that the banks are getting motivated to earn profits like businessmen instead of being a medium to uplift the nation's economy.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A statement issued by the CNI says that the banks in Nepal have become profit-oriented just like the rich merchants of ancient period. The confederation has also stated that banks and financial institutions are the main reason for the economic turmoil and inability to build capital.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “How long will the investors and the general public have to suffer due to the banks increasing interest rates showing the problem of lack of liquidity?” the statement said, adding, “We are beginning to realize that the industry is collapsing in the game of raising and lowering interest rates every month and that the government and the central bank are only taking care of the banks”.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 industrialists have also demanded that the investors of banks and the investors of industries should be different. President Ghimire questioned that since the investors of banks as well as industries are the same, does the central bank have any idea about where and how the economic activities of the country is heading towards? “We want to make sure that the central bank and the government do not ignore this,” reads the statement.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Mahesh Jaju, senior advisor to the confederation, said that the banks have stopped opening LCs for foreign trade and imports. He claimed that the trade of the country would come to stand still and cause a problem in supply of materials due to this activity of the banks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We are appealing to the government to prevent the country's economy from coming to a standstill, otherwise we will be forced to protest on the streets,” said Jaju adding that this will cause a reduction of government revenue.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During a recent press conference, Pawan Sarda, a member of the Constituent Assembly and former president of the Morang Trade Association and patron of CNI, said that there are problems occurring in imports of goods due to the banks. According to Sarda, the image of Nepali importers and exporters in international business has been tarnished due to the banks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 submitting documents to open an LC of Rs 200 million, the banks are demanding a deposit of Rs 50 million in advance,” said Sarda with the adding, “If we had 50 million, why would we seek loan?” He said that if the banks were reluctant to open ASL for foreign trade for a long time, the industries would automatically close down due to the lack of raw materials.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14255', 'image' => '20211220045505_Banks.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 16:54:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14510', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Fire Destroys Properties worth Rs 30.5 Million in Indreni Complex ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: A fire that broke out in the sixth floor of a commercial complex at New Baneshwor, Kathmandu gutted properties worth over Rs 30.5 million on Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 20: A fire that broke out in the sixth floor of a commercial complex at New Baneshwor, Kathmandu gutted properties worth over Rs 30.5 million on Monday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to a preliminary investigation of the police, the fire erupted due to electric short circuit in an inverter of a fitness and spa centre in the sixth floor of the Indreni complex. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">SP Dineshraj Mainali of the Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu, said the fire has been doused by five fire brigades called in from Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. -- RSS </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14254', 'image' => '20211220085054_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 20:50:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14508', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Registration of SMEs Doubled in a Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: The registration of micro, cottage and small scale industries have increased across the country amid the covid-19 pandemic.', '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"">December 20: The registration of micro, cottage and small scale industries have increased across the country amid the covid-19 pandemic. According to the ‘Micro, Cottage and Small Industries Statistics 2020/21’ released by the Department of Industry a few days ago, the registration of such industries has increased significantly in the last fiscal year as compared to the previous year. The department also informed that the investment in SMEs have also increased. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 statistics show that a total of 83,386 industries were registered in 77 districts during the review period, which is almost double the previous year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The proposed total capital of the registered companies last year was Rs 185.20 billion and it is estimated that those industries will create employment for 311,693 people after they come into operation. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the fiscal year 2076/77, a total of 45,854 industries were registered across the nation. Likewise, the proposed capital of all those industries was Rs 111.15 billion. These registered industries were expected to provide employment to 169,771 after their operation. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pushparaj Shivakoti, a statistics officer involved in writing the report, says that the number of registered industries has also increased as the number of youths who want to do something in the country has increased after the pandemic. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the statistics of the two fiscal years, the total number of micro, cottage and small industries has reached more than 487,000 so far. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 highest number of such industries have been registered in Bagmati Province (32 percent) and the lowest in Karnali Province.</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> As per the data of the department, only 5 percent micro, cottage and small industries have been registered in Karnali. Likewise, 17 percent of such industries are registered in Lumbini, The registration of such industries in Province 1 and Province 2 is 14 percent each while 11 percent of industries have been registered in Gandaki Province and 7 percent in Far Western Province.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 small scale industries have been catagorised into eight different sections. Among them, manufacturing, agriculture and forestry, tourism and service sectors have the highest number of registered industries. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The highest number of registered industries are service-oriented industries and the lowest is the IT industry. So far, 178,662 service-oriented industries have been registered. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department has included the registration from the fiscal year 2051/52 in this report. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, such industries have contributed about 22 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP) and there are more than 2.5 million entrepreneurs. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14253', 'image' => '20211220020347_20200923125807_1198.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 14:02:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14507', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Water Supply in Kathmandu Valley Less than One Third of Demand ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: Water supply in the Kathmandu Valley is less than one third of the demand. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 20: Water supply in the Kathmandu Valley is less than one third of the demand. The Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) distributes around 130 million litres of water on a daily basis, despite the demand of around 430 million litres of water. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The supply further goes down during the dry season in March, April and May as the distribution is around 110 million liters. During rainy season, the distribution reaches up to 160 million litres. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Shortage of drinking water is a perennial issue in the Kathmandu Valley since a long time. The Valley denizens are forced to seek alternative sources for water for daily needs as the supply from the KUKL is insufficient. Sometimes, the distribution remains halted for many days. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to KUKL, 237,000 taps have been fixed in the Valley. Water taps fixed illegally are also found in many areas. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Water from Sundarijal, Mahadevkhola, Nakhhu, Shesh Narayan, Hititole, Saatmul, Kuturi, Devaki, Basuki, Balkhu River, Muldole, Charghare, Bishnumati, Panchmane, Chhahare, and Alle is collected and distributed in the Kathmandu. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In some areas, underground water is supplied as water collected from natural resources is insufficient At present, underground water is pulled from around 80 locations for the distribution. The KUKL is preparing to add around 10 million of underground water in the supplies from this year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A study shows that the demand for water increases by some 10 per cent each year in the Kathmandu Valley. Growing population, a rise in the physical construction works and drying natural water resources have posed challenges to the water supply system. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Management Board and the KUKL have signed a 30-year agreement beginning from February 13, 2008. As per the agreement, the KUKL is responsible for water supply in the Valley. -- RSS </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14252', 'image' => '20211220110034_20210726100917_20200903113103_1599056781.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 10:59:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14506', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Demand for Electricity Increasing Every Year: NEA', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: The demand for electricity has increased significantly in the domestic market, thanks to the effective policy of the government and practical action plan among other initiatives. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">December 20: The demand for electricity has increased significantly in the domestic market, thanks to the effective policy of the government and practical action plan among other initiatives. The demand for electricity has been increasing by 20 per cent every year on an average, according to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The NEA informed that the internal demand for electricity has suddenly increased due to the steps taken to increase the electricity demand and the increase in cold weather. The peak demand for electricity this year has increased compared to the previous year and it is in the range of 300 megawatts. NEA has adopted the policy of promoting the use of electric appliances and to provide the required energy to the industries with the aim of increasing the domestic consumption of electricity following a surplus of electricity in the market. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The big industries have been supplied with electricity as per their demand and this has helped enhance their production capacity. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">NEA has provided 30 megawatts of electricity to Hongshi Cement Industry, the largest cement factory in the country, since the second week of November. Another cement factory with Chinese investment, Huashin Cement Industry, has also taken 20 megawatts electricity. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Electricity demand capacity both in terms of megawatts and energy units is found increasing. For instance, the peak demand in the system on December 13 was 1,539 megawatts whereas the peak demand on the same day last year was 1,217 megawatts – an increase of 322 megawatts. On this basis, the peak demand for electricity has increased by 26.5 per cent this year compared to the demand on the same date last year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In order to meet the peak demand for electricity on December 13, NEA had managed 540 megawatts of electricity from its power houses, 529 megawatts from the powerhouses of its subsidiary companies and 425 megawatts from the private sector power houses, and imported 25 megawatts from India. Four megawatts electricity was exported to India even during peak time on that date. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Likewise, electricity demand has also increased suddenly in the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding regions where there is high electricity consumption. The peak demand in the Valley last year was 293 megawatts and it has gone up to 382 megawatts this year. This shows that the demand for electricity has increased notably in the Kathmandu Valley as well. The use of electric induction ovens has increased in the Valley. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">On the basis of the energy demand, the electricity consumption was 27.2 million units on December 13, which is 28.65 per cent more compared to 21.1 million units on the same day last year. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14251', 'image' => '20211220105149_NEA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 10:51:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14505', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ruling Parties form Taskforce to Discuss MCC ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: The ruling alliance has formed a three-member taskforce to hold discussions on US-funded project Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) with other political parties in order to reach a consensus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 20: The ruling alliance has formed a three-member taskforce to hold discussions on US-funded project Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) with other political parties in order to reach a consensus. </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"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, a meeting of the ruling alliance called by Prime Minister and Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba took a decision to this effect on Sunday. </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 taskforce comprises senior leader of CPN (Unified Socialist) Jhalanath Khanal, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki and CPN (Maoist Centre) Vice-chairman Narayankaji Shrestha. </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 taskforce has been entrusted with the responsibility of holding consultations with all political parties to resolve various issues that are under consideration in the parliament and resuming the House proceedings, RSS further 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"">The ruling coalition decided to form the taskforce after an all-party meeting called by PM Deuba could not reach a consensus regarding the MCC due to the differing views among the ruling parties. The ruling parties including Maoist Centre and CPN Unified Socialist were in favour of endorsing the grant agreement only after amendment. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting ended inconclusively due to the absence of the main opposition party CPN UML.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14250', 'image' => '20211220104128_MCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 10:40:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14504', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'FinMin Happy with Speech Delivery while Development Expenditure Remains Less than 2 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: The spending system of the government can be summed up as problematic.', '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"">December 19: The spending system of the government can be summed up as problematic. The government announced large budget to please the people. But the implementation of the budget has been poor. Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has still not shown his interest in implementing the budget, despite the budget not being spent as per the provisions authorized by him.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister Sharma shows his pretentious nature, giving strict instructions during budget review. But, he indulges himself into empty talks in programs organized by the party instead of taking care of problems in the spending 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:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the formation of the government led by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Finance Minister Sharma came to take charge of the Ministry of Finance. He presented the replacement bill on budget and announced a plan to spend 10 percent of the capital budget every month. As per the announcement, the Ministry of Finance issued the 'Criteria for Making Public Expenditure Economical and Effective 2078' and set a target of achieving 100 percent result by mid-June at a minimum rate of 10 percent within the first quarter and then at least 10 percent each month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the contrary, the government’s expenditure has not been able to exceed even 2 percent. Based on the target, the government was supposed to spend 30 percent of the total budget by mid-December. Meanwhile, only 6.46 percent or Rs 28.40 billion has been spent so far. This expenditure ratio is the lowest in 3 years and even weaker than during the Covid-19 pandemic period. A total of 10.18 percent of capital expenditure was incurred in the first five months of the fiscal year 2077/78. During the review period of the current fiscal year, capital expenditure has been much weaker than in the previous years. This indicates the failure of Minister Sharma to implement the budget.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister surrounded by activists</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 budget implementation has become weak due to the ignorance in taking care of problems within the spending system. According to the sources at the Ministry of Finance, Minister Sharma is absent from the ministry most of the time. And even if he comes to the office, the party activists surround him. The room of minister Sharma is crowded all the time. Despite the administrators saying that the authority of Singha Durbar has reached to the villages, the office of finance minister is filled with huge crowds to solve minor issues all the time.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“He (the finance minister) often has party special programs to attend. When he comes to the ministry, he is surrounded by the activists and well-wishers. The finance minister is more inclined to listen to the problems of the party workers than to address the problems of the economy,” said one of the senior officials of finance ministry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He doesn’t stop Instructing</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma, who is usually out attending party programmes, does not stop reviewing the budget and giving instructions to the officials. He called the secretaries and ministers of the concerned ministries to the finance ministry on Friday to review the budget after the budget implementation was proven to be weak. The meeting was attended by Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Renu Kumari Yadav, Minister for Health Birodh Khatiwada and Minister for Drinking Water Umakanta Chaudhary.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the meeting, Finance Minister Sharma asked the secretaries / ministries to implement the budget on time. The minister directed to spend 30 percent of the budget of each ministry by mid-January. Stating that the failure to make timely capital expenditure has also affected liquidity, he urged the ministries to spend on development as soon as possible.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma warned that if the budget expenditure is not seen, the allocated amount will be transferred under other headings during the upcoming review of the budget expenditure.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma said that the budget would be transferred to the places where the expenditure would be incurred at the state and local level if the situation was not resolved on time. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“If you don't spend, you can't hold on to that budget,” said the minister. Despite the strict instructions, there are no signs of compliance with spending the budget.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">While the budget implementation is weak, the government has not paid much attention to identification of the problem as well. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Economist Bishwambhar Pyakurel said that the report prepared by the Public Expenditure Review Commission formed by the government three years ago is still kept secret , while pointing out the problems in the expenditure system. This makes it clear that the government itself does not want to spend the money. According to him, the government must show seriousness in resolving the problems prevalent in the expenditure system.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ministers-secretaries are the obstacles in budget implementation</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ministers and secretaries are seen as obstacles in the implementation of the current budget. In particular, Urban Development Minister Ram Kumari Jhankri was firm in reversing the provisions in the budget. Later the decision of the minister was reversed through a secretary level deision.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A few months ago, Urban Development Minister Jhankri decided to block the agreement reached through the Consumer Committee. Because of which, the activities to be carried out through the consumer committee as per the budget had been stopped.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Recently, the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration made a secretary-level decision and revoked the decision of Minister Jhankri in order to continue the work to be done through the Consumer Committee. Minister Jhankri had decided to stop the purchase agreement saying that the work of the consumer committee was not of quality, full of corruption and that they showed slowness with work. Accordingly, all kinds of public purchases through the Consumers Committee were stopped from October 31. Flipping that decision, the Ministry of General Administration wrote to all the local levels to keep the work going.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Urban Development Minister is angry over the decision of the Ministry of General Administration and Minister Jhankri has said that she will not abide by the decision and has instructed the officials not to do the work under the ministry from the Consumer Committee until further notice, as per a source close to her.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14249', 'image' => '20211219040548_20210716022924_1626392414.Clipboard14.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 16:04:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14502', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Terrorism Threat Declines in Nepal but Risk Remains: US Report on Terrorism', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: A US report released on Thursday states that the threat posed by international terrorist organization has decreased in Nepal, but the risk persists.', '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"">December 19: A US report released on Thursday states that the threat posed by international terrorist organization has decreased in Nepal, but the risk persists. The new report on terrorism recently released by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken points out that there is still a risk that Nepal could become a transit point for an international terrorist organization.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 United States has cited Nepal’s open borders with India and inadequate security measures and arrangements at the country's only international airport as the reasons for such risk. In its 2018 report, the United States cited Nepal as a fertile ground for terrorism. However, the current report only points out the risks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In a report from 2015 to 2018, the United States stated that the Indian Mujahideen had expanded its base in Nepal and that Nepal was the hub of the organization. But the report, this time states the open border with India as a security risk.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The report was released by the US State Department's Bureau of Counterterrorism. The report states that there was no anti-US terrorist activity in Nepal in 2020.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that Netra Bikram Chand-led group has renounced violence and entered the peace process, the US report said that the group has continued its violent activities.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 US has addressed the group that was referred to as a pro-terrorist in the previous report, as pro-violent extremist this year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that Nepal does not have its own definition of terrorism, the US report points out the risk of terrorist activity in the Middle East affecting Nepal as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Dozens of members of international terrorist organizations have been arrested in Nepal in the last two decades. The Nepal Police has taken action against the persons arrested in such incidents as per the prevailing laws of Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to a high-ranking police source, Nepal has been secretly handing over many of them to the concerned countries in lack of extradition treaty.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A few years ago, a member of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba reportedly came to Nepal. He spent a few months in Kathmandu, Nepalgunj, Rupandehi and Kapilvastu. It was revealed that the member had obtained citizenship of Nepal from Kapilvastu. The Nepal Police had traced his activities and whereabouts. According to a high-ranking police source, he was arrested and action was taken against him for tampering with the government stamp.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 paying the penalty, he was secretly handed over to the concerned country. According to the police, he had come to Nepal to expand his organization in South Asia. Police had recovered some money and other documents from him.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14248', 'image' => '20211219032806_20211202020506_2009-03_Kathmandu_10.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 15:27:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14503', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Directs BFIs to prepare CD Ratio Action Plan', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has directed banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to prepare necessary action plans to maintain the CD ratio within the prescribed limit. ', '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"">December 19: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has directed banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to prepare necessary action plans to maintain the CD ratio within the prescribed limit. NRB issued the directive on Thursday, December 16. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 has issued the directive according to its arrangements made in the first quarterly review of the monetary policy. NRB has directed that deposit mobilization and credit flow should be managed on a monthly basis in compliance with the CD ratio.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The NRB had abolished the provision of CCD ratio of 85 percent in the current fiscal year and had made provision of CD ratio up to 90 percent. At present, the CD ratio of most banks is above 90 percent. The banks and financial institutions have been told to maintain the CD ratio at 90 percent by mid-July 2022. Accordingly, banks will be able to disburse the loans beyond the prescribed limit of CD ratio for the time being.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 NRB, banks and financial institutions can make action plans accordingly. This will resolve the issue of credit flow. NRB has introduced such provisions to facilitate lending in some essential 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"">Earlier, banks were seeking to increase the CD ratio to 92 percent. However, NRB has not increased the CD ratio but has facilitated its implementation. One of the officials of the central bank said banks should prepare an action plan to maintain CD ratio by mid July 2022. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"If the CD ratio of some banks is maintained at 91% but needs to extend the credit, the central bank will not prevent it from disbursing loans. It wouldn't be an issue if the CD ratio goes higher at present but it must be maintained within 90% by mid-July," 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"">Also, when banks and financial institutions assign the evaluator for the purpose of valuing the collateral, their work, duties, rights and responsibilities should be clearly stated in the agreement. The evaluator should evaluate the property to be accepted as collateral independently, without any bias or prejudice, on the basis of international recognition and good practices, NRB stated.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14247', 'image' => '20211219034337_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 15:42:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14501', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Prepares Work Procedure to Allow Participation of Private Sector in Power Trade', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: The government has prepared a draft of electricity trade work procedure to allow the private sector to get involved in electricity trade. ', '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"">December 19: The government has prepared a draft of electricity trade work procedure to allow the private sector to get involved in electricity trade. The Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has formulated the draft, informed a high-ranking official at the 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"">According to the official, the electricity bill under consideration in the federal parliament has proposed to allow the private sector to trade electricity. The ministry has said the work procedure will include this matter in a more precise way. According to a source, it has been proposed to allow the private sector to trade electricity not only in the country but also in the regional 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"">"Economic development is not possible without the participation of the private sector. Therefore, we need to take the private sector along in energy development. Accordingly, we have prepared a draft to allow the private sector to trade electricity," said the source.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Currently, only the government-owned Nepal Electricity Authority is allowed to engage in such trade. The private sector has been demanding for a permit to participate in the trade of electricity for a long time. Now the government is going to make policy arrangements in this regard. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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, this procedure will be implemented after the electricity bill under consideration in the parliament is endorsed. "We will implement the procedure accordingly after the bill is passed," said the source.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the ministry is also working to formulate guidelines on cross-border electricity trade. The ministry is ready to implement the guideline soon. The guideline is being formulated prioritizing electricity trade with India. As per the agreement reached between the two countries, India has already made such guidelines. The ministry expects the electricity trade to be more convenient once the guideline is prepared.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although there are no policy at the moment, the private sector has already established companies to trade electricity. Nepal Power Exchange Company has already been registered with the investment of businessmen including Kumar Pandey. Entrepreneurs including Motilal Dugad and Sandeep Shah have also set up electricity trading companies. Nepal Electricity Authority has also established Nepal Power Trade Company.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Recently, Nepal Infrastructure Bank (NIFRA) has also set up a separate company to trade electricity. However, they have not been able to get permits due to lack of necessary policy. Entrepreneur Pandey says that the possibility of getting a license has increased as the government is making policy arrangements.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that an alternative company should come to trade electricity in the country. "NEA has monopoly in trading electricity here. From now on, with the participation of companies from the private sector, the energy sector should have multiple buyers and multiple traders."</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14246', 'image' => '20211219024631_electricity.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 14:45:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14500', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '32 Per Cent Children in Nepal Chronically Malnourished: Report ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: Nepal’s progress towards reducing malnutrition faces setback due to multidimensional poverty, vulnerability to shocks including the economic slowdown from COVID-19 and weak infrastructure, states a report prepared by the National Planning Commission (NPC).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">December 19: Nepal’s progress towards reducing malnutrition faces setback due to multidimensional poverty, vulnerability to shocks including the economic slowdown from COVID-19 and weak infrastructure, states a report prepared by the National Planning Commission (NPC).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to a study conducted by the NPC, 32 per cent children in Nepal are chronically malnourished while seventeen percent of Nepalese women are overweight or obese. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The report unveiled last week points out to the prevalence of stunting among the poorest households in more than double that of the richest quintile. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the report, micronutrient deficiency or ‘hidden hunger’ is caused by inadequate diversity and limited essential nutrients in diets. The report also noted that the production and consumption of staple food is currently higher than that of fresh nutritious food. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The finding of the Fill the Nutrient Gap Analysis initiated by the NPC in 2020 show that the lowest cost nutritious diet is, at the national average, 348 per five-person household per day. The report further states that nutritious diet is more than twice as expensive as a diet that meets only the requirement of energy diets. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The study supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) used a food system approach to better understand the barriers to consuming national diets including how economic barriers prevent households from affording healthy foods. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The study highlights the need of a role from all sectors in improving the status of nutrition in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“To improve access to diets, Nepal must focus on food system transformation. Investment in nutrition-sensitive agriculture, staple food fortification and better infrastructure can improve accessibility to healthy foods for all,” the report states. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Unveiling the report on Friday, NPC member Dr Dil Bahadur Gurung underlined the need of credible data to rightly intervene in the malnutrition issues and reportedly said this type of analysis would help come up with right policies and programmes against malnutrition and implement them effectively in the future. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">WFP country director and representative Robert Kasca recommended the implementation of social security programmes, livelihood support programmes and school mid-day programmes targeting the households facing economic barriers to afford nutritious food to address the their nutritional requirements. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14245', 'image' => '20211219104353_191028-6-1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 10:43:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14499', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Experts Warn of Economic Slump, urge Govt to take Immediate Measures ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: Economists have urged the government to take immediate measures to bail out the country's economy from crisis, arguing that the banking sector has been facing liquidity crunch while the capital expenditure is meagre, and the balance of payments (BoP) has been increasing. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 19: Economists have urged the government to take immediate measures to bail out the country's economy from crisis, arguing that the banking sector has been facing liquidity crunch while the capital expenditure is meagre, and the balance of payments (BoP) has been increasing. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The balance of payments in the last four months is in deficit of Rs 1.51 billion, according to Nepal Rastra Bank. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The foreign currency reserve is also declining. In the recent months, remittance inflow has also declined. The development activities have not gained pace. The banking and financial sector is not able to extend loan as deposit collection has not increased. The import of luxury goods has impacted on foreign currency. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at a recent interaction organized in the capital, economist Dr Chandramani Adhikari said that the country's economy is in imminent crisis. According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, he suggested the government to increase foreign currency reserve through export of goods and services and give priority to foreign investment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Another economist Dr Dilliraj Khanal wondered why the production is stagnant when the banks have stepped up investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Former governor of Nepal Rastra Bank and economist Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri stressed on banning import of certain luxury items. He argued that the capital expenditure remains dismal due to managerial weakness. The current problem is not only the result of political system but also of the budget system, he added. Chhetri further said that the government did not have a clear trade policy. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14244', 'image' => '20211219102227_economic crisis.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 10:21:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14498', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Directs Ministries to Spend 30 per cent of Budget within 1 Month', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 17: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has directed all ministries to spend 30 per cent of their budget within one month. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 17: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has directed all ministries to spend 30 per cent of their budget within one month. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The finance minister argued that lack of capital expenditure has contributed to the liquidity crunch in the country. He added that no ministry will be exempted from delaying budget expenditure. The Finance Ministry will provide necessary help in this regard, said the minister at an inter-ministry discussion at the Ministry of Finance on Friday. </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"">Minister Sharma warned that the unspent budget will be transferred under other headings if the ministries fail to spend the budget on time. He also reiterated to end the trend of </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">releasing budget towards the end of the fiscal year. Minister Sharma also directed prompt delivery of government services. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Present on the occasion were Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Renu Kumari Yadav, Health Minister Birodh Khatiwada and Minister for Water Supply Umakanta Chaudhary. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-17', 'modified' => '2021-12-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14243', 'image' => '20211217092607_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-17 21:25:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 21: Minister for Education, Science and Technology Devendra Paudel has said it is high time for soul-searching on whether the skills and knowledge obtained from higher education have been limited to certificate in the context of Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 21: Minister for Education, Science and Technology Devendra Paudel has said it is high time for soul-searching on whether the skills and knowledge obtained from higher education have been limited to certificate in the context of Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister Paudel made such remark while addressing the 47th Convocation Day of the University on Monday, December 20. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the occasion, he expressed concerns regarding brain-drain and said that the country's skilled human resources are compelled to go abroad seeking employment opportunities at a time when Nepal needs to bring the knowledge and experiences from across the world scenario into the country for the nation's development. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"I wonder whether it is the educational programmes and contents of our universities that are not matching the requirements of our life or is it that we only have confined the skills and knowledge we learned to certificate alone and failed to translate them into practice. It is time to ponder over this matter," the state-owned national news agency RSS quoted the education minister as saying. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He suggested the graduates who have got their degrees to use the skills they have learned to bring about improvement in the society, by synchronizing the knowledge learned with the world scenario and local needs. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Education Minister Paudel reportedly said that Nepal could not move forward on the path of development as per the expectation because the available means and resources at its disposal could not be utilized in a judicious manner in spite of its cultural, geographical and natural diversities and richness. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Education Minister and TU Pro-Chancellor urged the TU, the country's biggest and oldest university, to address the issues of poverty and unemployment by providing a world-class education. He suggested the university to make its research institutions more effective. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to RSS, Education Minister Paudel underscored the need of linking education to skills and skills to production and employment to stop large amount of money going abroad in the name of higher and quality education. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-21', 'modified' => '2021-12-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14257', 'image' => '20211221081849_education.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-21 08:18:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14512', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ownership Transfer of Khimti Hydropower Project Delayed', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 21: The ownership transfer of fifty percent shares of Khimti Hydropower Project to the government has been delayed due to lack of consensus between the NEA and the promoter company. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">December 21: The ownership transfer of fifty percent shares of Khimti Hydropower Project to the government has been delayed due to lack of consensus between the NEA and the promoter company. As per the agreement reached between the government and the promoter company, Himal Power, fifty percent shares of the project should be owned by Nepal Electricity Authority from July 11, 2020. However, the transfer has not taken place.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The officials of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation and NEA said that discussions are still underway for the transfer of share ownership. They have been in discussions with the promoter company for the last two years. However, no concrete decision has been made. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Spokesperson of the Ministry and Joint Secretary Madhu Prasad Bhetuwal said that discussions are underway to transfer ownership of the Khimti project. Both the parties are yet to reach agreement on some issues. "Following the share transfer, the same company is required to take responsibility for the operation of the project which the company has objected to," he said. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Meanwhile, Kulman Ghising, managing director of NEA, said that the process of share transfer has been delayed due to Himal Power Company. “We are negotiating on issues like PPA, but the delay is due to their side," he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The COVID-19 pandemic has also delayed the transfer of ownership. Himal Power Company includes foreign investors, and the COVID-19 restrictions prevented physical meetings for a long time.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Hydropower projects built by the private sector should be handed over to the government after a certain period of time. This is the first project being handed over to the government by the private sector so it is being looked upon with high priority.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Bhetuwal also claimed the government is working on this issue giving due importance. "This is the first hydropower project being handed over to the government. So a wrong precedence should not be established,” he added. <br /> In order to complete the process of share transfer, it is necessary to establish a joint venture company owned by both the authority and the promoter company. Then the company will sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) with NEA. However, such joint company has yet to be established. Also, the two sides have not reached an agreement on PPA. However, both sides have agreed that the current PPA rate will be decided in terms of Nepali currency. The law forbids PPA of projects below 100 MW capacity in foreign currency. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">This is the first privately funded hydropower project with investment from companies including Butwal Power Company Limited of Nepal, Statkraft SF of Norway and Alstom Power S. <br /> An agreement was signed between the then government and the company to transfer 50 percent shares of the project to NEA after twenty years of production. After fifty years of operation of the project, NEA will have full ownership of the project.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Currently, the project is being operated by signing an interim agreement between Himal Power and NEA. <br /> The interim agreement between NEA and Himal Power Company has been extended till mid-July 2022 as the transfer of ownership could not be completed on time. Ghising believes the transfer of ownership will be completed by mid-July.</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-21', 'modified' => '2021-12-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14256', 'image' => '20211221112231_20210823010727_20210119023725_1611012723.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-21 11:21:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14509', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CNI Calls for Capping Profits of Banks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: The entrepreneurs and businessmen of Biratnagar are obliged to pay taxes under different headings if they make profits above 20 percent. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 20: The entrepreneurs and businessmen of Biratnagar are obliged to pay taxes under different headings if they make profits above 20 percent. Meanwhile, this policy is not applicable for banks. The banks can earn as much as they want and are exempt of paying extra taxes. The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has called upon the concerned authorities to cap the profits made by the banks as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 president of Province 1 chapter of CNI, Bhim Ghimire, along with other businessmen has warned the government that they will start protest if this unfair treatment continues. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “We want to draw your attention to take the initiative to keep the banks’ interest rate unchanged from single digit and to keep the interest rate system stable and sustainable until the country's economic situation improves so as not to affect investors who have already invested in manufacturing industries and infrastructure projects,” said Ghimire.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ghimire accused that the banks are getting motivated to earn profits like businessmen instead of being a medium to uplift the nation's economy.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A statement issued by the CNI says that the banks in Nepal have become profit-oriented just like the rich merchants of ancient period. The confederation has also stated that banks and financial institutions are the main reason for the economic turmoil and inability to build capital.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “How long will the investors and the general public have to suffer due to the banks increasing interest rates showing the problem of lack of liquidity?” the statement said, adding, “We are beginning to realize that the industry is collapsing in the game of raising and lowering interest rates every month and that the government and the central bank are only taking care of the banks”.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 industrialists have also demanded that the investors of banks and the investors of industries should be different. President Ghimire questioned that since the investors of banks as well as industries are the same, does the central bank have any idea about where and how the economic activities of the country is heading towards? “We want to make sure that the central bank and the government do not ignore this,” reads the statement.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Mahesh Jaju, senior advisor to the confederation, said that the banks have stopped opening LCs for foreign trade and imports. He claimed that the trade of the country would come to stand still and cause a problem in supply of materials due to this activity of the banks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We are appealing to the government to prevent the country's economy from coming to a standstill, otherwise we will be forced to protest on the streets,” said Jaju adding that this will cause a reduction of government revenue.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During a recent press conference, Pawan Sarda, a member of the Constituent Assembly and former president of the Morang Trade Association and patron of CNI, said that there are problems occurring in imports of goods due to the banks. According to Sarda, the image of Nepali importers and exporters in international business has been tarnished due to the banks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 submitting documents to open an LC of Rs 200 million, the banks are demanding a deposit of Rs 50 million in advance,” said Sarda with the adding, “If we had 50 million, why would we seek loan?” He said that if the banks were reluctant to open ASL for foreign trade for a long time, the industries would automatically close down due to the lack of raw materials.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14255', 'image' => '20211220045505_Banks.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 16:54:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14510', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Fire Destroys Properties worth Rs 30.5 Million in Indreni Complex ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: A fire that broke out in the sixth floor of a commercial complex at New Baneshwor, Kathmandu gutted properties worth over Rs 30.5 million on Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 20: A fire that broke out in the sixth floor of a commercial complex at New Baneshwor, Kathmandu gutted properties worth over Rs 30.5 million on Monday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to a preliminary investigation of the police, the fire erupted due to electric short circuit in an inverter of a fitness and spa centre in the sixth floor of the Indreni complex. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">SP Dineshraj Mainali of the Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu, said the fire has been doused by five fire brigades called in from Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. -- RSS </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14254', 'image' => '20211220085054_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 20:50:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14508', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Registration of SMEs Doubled in a Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: The registration of micro, cottage and small scale industries have increased across the country amid the covid-19 pandemic.', '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"">December 20: The registration of micro, cottage and small scale industries have increased across the country amid the covid-19 pandemic. According to the ‘Micro, Cottage and Small Industries Statistics 2020/21’ released by the Department of Industry a few days ago, the registration of such industries has increased significantly in the last fiscal year as compared to the previous year. The department also informed that the investment in SMEs have also increased. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 statistics show that a total of 83,386 industries were registered in 77 districts during the review period, which is almost double the previous year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The proposed total capital of the registered companies last year was Rs 185.20 billion and it is estimated that those industries will create employment for 311,693 people after they come into operation. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the fiscal year 2076/77, a total of 45,854 industries were registered across the nation. Likewise, the proposed capital of all those industries was Rs 111.15 billion. These registered industries were expected to provide employment to 169,771 after their operation. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pushparaj Shivakoti, a statistics officer involved in writing the report, says that the number of registered industries has also increased as the number of youths who want to do something in the country has increased after the pandemic. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the statistics of the two fiscal years, the total number of micro, cottage and small industries has reached more than 487,000 so far. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 highest number of such industries have been registered in Bagmati Province (32 percent) and the lowest in Karnali Province.</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> As per the data of the department, only 5 percent micro, cottage and small industries have been registered in Karnali. Likewise, 17 percent of such industries are registered in Lumbini, The registration of such industries in Province 1 and Province 2 is 14 percent each while 11 percent of industries have been registered in Gandaki Province and 7 percent in Far Western Province.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 small scale industries have been catagorised into eight different sections. Among them, manufacturing, agriculture and forestry, tourism and service sectors have the highest number of registered industries. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The highest number of registered industries are service-oriented industries and the lowest is the IT industry. So far, 178,662 service-oriented industries have been registered. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department has included the registration from the fiscal year 2051/52 in this report. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, such industries have contributed about 22 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP) and there are more than 2.5 million entrepreneurs. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14253', 'image' => '20211220020347_20200923125807_1198.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 14:02:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14507', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Water Supply in Kathmandu Valley Less than One Third of Demand ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: Water supply in the Kathmandu Valley is less than one third of the demand. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 20: Water supply in the Kathmandu Valley is less than one third of the demand. The Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) distributes around 130 million litres of water on a daily basis, despite the demand of around 430 million litres of water. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The supply further goes down during the dry season in March, April and May as the distribution is around 110 million liters. During rainy season, the distribution reaches up to 160 million litres. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Shortage of drinking water is a perennial issue in the Kathmandu Valley since a long time. The Valley denizens are forced to seek alternative sources for water for daily needs as the supply from the KUKL is insufficient. Sometimes, the distribution remains halted for many days. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to KUKL, 237,000 taps have been fixed in the Valley. Water taps fixed illegally are also found in many areas. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Water from Sundarijal, Mahadevkhola, Nakhhu, Shesh Narayan, Hititole, Saatmul, Kuturi, Devaki, Basuki, Balkhu River, Muldole, Charghare, Bishnumati, Panchmane, Chhahare, and Alle is collected and distributed in the Kathmandu. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In some areas, underground water is supplied as water collected from natural resources is insufficient At present, underground water is pulled from around 80 locations for the distribution. The KUKL is preparing to add around 10 million of underground water in the supplies from this year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A study shows that the demand for water increases by some 10 per cent each year in the Kathmandu Valley. Growing population, a rise in the physical construction works and drying natural water resources have posed challenges to the water supply system. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Management Board and the KUKL have signed a 30-year agreement beginning from February 13, 2008. As per the agreement, the KUKL is responsible for water supply in the Valley. -- RSS </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14252', 'image' => '20211220110034_20210726100917_20200903113103_1599056781.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 10:59:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14506', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Demand for Electricity Increasing Every Year: NEA', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: The demand for electricity has increased significantly in the domestic market, thanks to the effective policy of the government and practical action plan among other initiatives. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">December 20: The demand for electricity has increased significantly in the domestic market, thanks to the effective policy of the government and practical action plan among other initiatives. The demand for electricity has been increasing by 20 per cent every year on an average, according to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The NEA informed that the internal demand for electricity has suddenly increased due to the steps taken to increase the electricity demand and the increase in cold weather. The peak demand for electricity this year has increased compared to the previous year and it is in the range of 300 megawatts. NEA has adopted the policy of promoting the use of electric appliances and to provide the required energy to the industries with the aim of increasing the domestic consumption of electricity following a surplus of electricity in the market. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The big industries have been supplied with electricity as per their demand and this has helped enhance their production capacity. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">NEA has provided 30 megawatts of electricity to Hongshi Cement Industry, the largest cement factory in the country, since the second week of November. Another cement factory with Chinese investment, Huashin Cement Industry, has also taken 20 megawatts electricity. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Electricity demand capacity both in terms of megawatts and energy units is found increasing. For instance, the peak demand in the system on December 13 was 1,539 megawatts whereas the peak demand on the same day last year was 1,217 megawatts – an increase of 322 megawatts. On this basis, the peak demand for electricity has increased by 26.5 per cent this year compared to the demand on the same date last year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In order to meet the peak demand for electricity on December 13, NEA had managed 540 megawatts of electricity from its power houses, 529 megawatts from the powerhouses of its subsidiary companies and 425 megawatts from the private sector power houses, and imported 25 megawatts from India. Four megawatts electricity was exported to India even during peak time on that date. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Likewise, electricity demand has also increased suddenly in the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding regions where there is high electricity consumption. The peak demand in the Valley last year was 293 megawatts and it has gone up to 382 megawatts this year. This shows that the demand for electricity has increased notably in the Kathmandu Valley as well. The use of electric induction ovens has increased in the Valley. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">On the basis of the energy demand, the electricity consumption was 27.2 million units on December 13, which is 28.65 per cent more compared to 21.1 million units on the same day last year. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14251', 'image' => '20211220105149_NEA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 10:51:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14505', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ruling Parties form Taskforce to Discuss MCC ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: The ruling alliance has formed a three-member taskforce to hold discussions on US-funded project Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) with other political parties in order to reach a consensus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 20: The ruling alliance has formed a three-member taskforce to hold discussions on US-funded project Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) with other political parties in order to reach a consensus. </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"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, a meeting of the ruling alliance called by Prime Minister and Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba took a decision to this effect on Sunday. </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 taskforce comprises senior leader of CPN (Unified Socialist) Jhalanath Khanal, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki and CPN (Maoist Centre) Vice-chairman Narayankaji Shrestha. </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 taskforce has been entrusted with the responsibility of holding consultations with all political parties to resolve various issues that are under consideration in the parliament and resuming the House proceedings, RSS further 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"">The ruling coalition decided to form the taskforce after an all-party meeting called by PM Deuba could not reach a consensus regarding the MCC due to the differing views among the ruling parties. The ruling parties including Maoist Centre and CPN Unified Socialist were in favour of endorsing the grant agreement only after amendment. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting ended inconclusively due to the absence of the main opposition party CPN UML.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14250', 'image' => '20211220104128_MCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 10:40:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14504', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'FinMin Happy with Speech Delivery while Development Expenditure Remains Less than 2 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: The spending system of the government can be summed up as problematic.', '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"">December 19: The spending system of the government can be summed up as problematic. The government announced large budget to please the people. But the implementation of the budget has been poor. Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has still not shown his interest in implementing the budget, despite the budget not being spent as per the provisions authorized by him.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister Sharma shows his pretentious nature, giving strict instructions during budget review. But, he indulges himself into empty talks in programs organized by the party instead of taking care of problems in the spending 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:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the formation of the government led by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Finance Minister Sharma came to take charge of the Ministry of Finance. He presented the replacement bill on budget and announced a plan to spend 10 percent of the capital budget every month. As per the announcement, the Ministry of Finance issued the 'Criteria for Making Public Expenditure Economical and Effective 2078' and set a target of achieving 100 percent result by mid-June at a minimum rate of 10 percent within the first quarter and then at least 10 percent each month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the contrary, the government’s expenditure has not been able to exceed even 2 percent. Based on the target, the government was supposed to spend 30 percent of the total budget by mid-December. Meanwhile, only 6.46 percent or Rs 28.40 billion has been spent so far. This expenditure ratio is the lowest in 3 years and even weaker than during the Covid-19 pandemic period. A total of 10.18 percent of capital expenditure was incurred in the first five months of the fiscal year 2077/78. During the review period of the current fiscal year, capital expenditure has been much weaker than in the previous years. This indicates the failure of Minister Sharma to implement the budget.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister surrounded by activists</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 budget implementation has become weak due to the ignorance in taking care of problems within the spending system. According to the sources at the Ministry of Finance, Minister Sharma is absent from the ministry most of the time. And even if he comes to the office, the party activists surround him. The room of minister Sharma is crowded all the time. Despite the administrators saying that the authority of Singha Durbar has reached to the villages, the office of finance minister is filled with huge crowds to solve minor issues all the time.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“He (the finance minister) often has party special programs to attend. When he comes to the ministry, he is surrounded by the activists and well-wishers. The finance minister is more inclined to listen to the problems of the party workers than to address the problems of the economy,” said one of the senior officials of finance ministry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He doesn’t stop Instructing</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma, who is usually out attending party programmes, does not stop reviewing the budget and giving instructions to the officials. He called the secretaries and ministers of the concerned ministries to the finance ministry on Friday to review the budget after the budget implementation was proven to be weak. The meeting was attended by Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Renu Kumari Yadav, Minister for Health Birodh Khatiwada and Minister for Drinking Water Umakanta Chaudhary.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the meeting, Finance Minister Sharma asked the secretaries / ministries to implement the budget on time. The minister directed to spend 30 percent of the budget of each ministry by mid-January. Stating that the failure to make timely capital expenditure has also affected liquidity, he urged the ministries to spend on development as soon as possible.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma warned that if the budget expenditure is not seen, the allocated amount will be transferred under other headings during the upcoming review of the budget expenditure.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma said that the budget would be transferred to the places where the expenditure would be incurred at the state and local level if the situation was not resolved on time. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“If you don't spend, you can't hold on to that budget,” said the minister. Despite the strict instructions, there are no signs of compliance with spending the budget.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">While the budget implementation is weak, the government has not paid much attention to identification of the problem as well. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Economist Bishwambhar Pyakurel said that the report prepared by the Public Expenditure Review Commission formed by the government three years ago is still kept secret , while pointing out the problems in the expenditure system. This makes it clear that the government itself does not want to spend the money. According to him, the government must show seriousness in resolving the problems prevalent in the expenditure system.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ministers-secretaries are the obstacles in budget implementation</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ministers and secretaries are seen as obstacles in the implementation of the current budget. In particular, Urban Development Minister Ram Kumari Jhankri was firm in reversing the provisions in the budget. Later the decision of the minister was reversed through a secretary level deision.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A few months ago, Urban Development Minister Jhankri decided to block the agreement reached through the Consumer Committee. Because of which, the activities to be carried out through the consumer committee as per the budget had been stopped.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Recently, the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration made a secretary-level decision and revoked the decision of Minister Jhankri in order to continue the work to be done through the Consumer Committee. Minister Jhankri had decided to stop the purchase agreement saying that the work of the consumer committee was not of quality, full of corruption and that they showed slowness with work. Accordingly, all kinds of public purchases through the Consumers Committee were stopped from October 31. Flipping that decision, the Ministry of General Administration wrote to all the local levels to keep the work going.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Urban Development Minister is angry over the decision of the Ministry of General Administration and Minister Jhankri has said that she will not abide by the decision and has instructed the officials not to do the work under the ministry from the Consumer Committee until further notice, as per a source close to her.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14249', 'image' => '20211219040548_20210716022924_1626392414.Clipboard14.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 16:04:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14502', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Terrorism Threat Declines in Nepal but Risk Remains: US Report on Terrorism', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: A US report released on Thursday states that the threat posed by international terrorist organization has decreased in Nepal, but the risk persists.', '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"">December 19: A US report released on Thursday states that the threat posed by international terrorist organization has decreased in Nepal, but the risk persists. The new report on terrorism recently released by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken points out that there is still a risk that Nepal could become a transit point for an international terrorist organization.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 United States has cited Nepal’s open borders with India and inadequate security measures and arrangements at the country's only international airport as the reasons for such risk. In its 2018 report, the United States cited Nepal as a fertile ground for terrorism. However, the current report only points out the risks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In a report from 2015 to 2018, the United States stated that the Indian Mujahideen had expanded its base in Nepal and that Nepal was the hub of the organization. But the report, this time states the open border with India as a security risk.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The report was released by the US State Department's Bureau of Counterterrorism. The report states that there was no anti-US terrorist activity in Nepal in 2020.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that Netra Bikram Chand-led group has renounced violence and entered the peace process, the US report said that the group has continued its violent activities.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 US has addressed the group that was referred to as a pro-terrorist in the previous report, as pro-violent extremist this year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that Nepal does not have its own definition of terrorism, the US report points out the risk of terrorist activity in the Middle East affecting Nepal as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Dozens of members of international terrorist organizations have been arrested in Nepal in the last two decades. The Nepal Police has taken action against the persons arrested in such incidents as per the prevailing laws of Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to a high-ranking police source, Nepal has been secretly handing over many of them to the concerned countries in lack of extradition treaty.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A few years ago, a member of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba reportedly came to Nepal. He spent a few months in Kathmandu, Nepalgunj, Rupandehi and Kapilvastu. It was revealed that the member had obtained citizenship of Nepal from Kapilvastu. The Nepal Police had traced his activities and whereabouts. According to a high-ranking police source, he was arrested and action was taken against him for tampering with the government stamp.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 paying the penalty, he was secretly handed over to the concerned country. According to the police, he had come to Nepal to expand his organization in South Asia. Police had recovered some money and other documents from him.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14248', 'image' => '20211219032806_20211202020506_2009-03_Kathmandu_10.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 15:27:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14503', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Directs BFIs to prepare CD Ratio Action Plan', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has directed banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to prepare necessary action plans to maintain the CD ratio within the prescribed limit. ', '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"">December 19: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has directed banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to prepare necessary action plans to maintain the CD ratio within the prescribed limit. NRB issued the directive on Thursday, December 16. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 has issued the directive according to its arrangements made in the first quarterly review of the monetary policy. NRB has directed that deposit mobilization and credit flow should be managed on a monthly basis in compliance with the CD ratio.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The NRB had abolished the provision of CCD ratio of 85 percent in the current fiscal year and had made provision of CD ratio up to 90 percent. At present, the CD ratio of most banks is above 90 percent. The banks and financial institutions have been told to maintain the CD ratio at 90 percent by mid-July 2022. Accordingly, banks will be able to disburse the loans beyond the prescribed limit of CD ratio for the time being.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 NRB, banks and financial institutions can make action plans accordingly. This will resolve the issue of credit flow. NRB has introduced such provisions to facilitate lending in some essential 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"">Earlier, banks were seeking to increase the CD ratio to 92 percent. However, NRB has not increased the CD ratio but has facilitated its implementation. One of the officials of the central bank said banks should prepare an action plan to maintain CD ratio by mid July 2022. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"If the CD ratio of some banks is maintained at 91% but needs to extend the credit, the central bank will not prevent it from disbursing loans. It wouldn't be an issue if the CD ratio goes higher at present but it must be maintained within 90% by mid-July," 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"">Also, when banks and financial institutions assign the evaluator for the purpose of valuing the collateral, their work, duties, rights and responsibilities should be clearly stated in the agreement. The evaluator should evaluate the property to be accepted as collateral independently, without any bias or prejudice, on the basis of international recognition and good practices, NRB stated.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14247', 'image' => '20211219034337_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 15:42:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14501', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Prepares Work Procedure to Allow Participation of Private Sector in Power Trade', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: The government has prepared a draft of electricity trade work procedure to allow the private sector to get involved in electricity trade. ', '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"">December 19: The government has prepared a draft of electricity trade work procedure to allow the private sector to get involved in electricity trade. The Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has formulated the draft, informed a high-ranking official at the 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"">According to the official, the electricity bill under consideration in the federal parliament has proposed to allow the private sector to trade electricity. The ministry has said the work procedure will include this matter in a more precise way. According to a source, it has been proposed to allow the private sector to trade electricity not only in the country but also in the regional 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"">"Economic development is not possible without the participation of the private sector. Therefore, we need to take the private sector along in energy development. Accordingly, we have prepared a draft to allow the private sector to trade electricity," said the source.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Currently, only the government-owned Nepal Electricity Authority is allowed to engage in such trade. The private sector has been demanding for a permit to participate in the trade of electricity for a long time. Now the government is going to make policy arrangements in this regard. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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, this procedure will be implemented after the electricity bill under consideration in the parliament is endorsed. "We will implement the procedure accordingly after the bill is passed," said the source.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the ministry is also working to formulate guidelines on cross-border electricity trade. The ministry is ready to implement the guideline soon. The guideline is being formulated prioritizing electricity trade with India. As per the agreement reached between the two countries, India has already made such guidelines. The ministry expects the electricity trade to be more convenient once the guideline is prepared.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although there are no policy at the moment, the private sector has already established companies to trade electricity. Nepal Power Exchange Company has already been registered with the investment of businessmen including Kumar Pandey. Entrepreneurs including Motilal Dugad and Sandeep Shah have also set up electricity trading companies. Nepal Electricity Authority has also established Nepal Power Trade Company.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Recently, Nepal Infrastructure Bank (NIFRA) has also set up a separate company to trade electricity. However, they have not been able to get permits due to lack of necessary policy. Entrepreneur Pandey says that the possibility of getting a license has increased as the government is making policy arrangements.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that an alternative company should come to trade electricity in the country. "NEA has monopoly in trading electricity here. From now on, with the participation of companies from the private sector, the energy sector should have multiple buyers and multiple traders."</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14246', 'image' => '20211219024631_electricity.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 14:45:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14500', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '32 Per Cent Children in Nepal Chronically Malnourished: Report ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: Nepal’s progress towards reducing malnutrition faces setback due to multidimensional poverty, vulnerability to shocks including the economic slowdown from COVID-19 and weak infrastructure, states a report prepared by the National Planning Commission (NPC).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">December 19: Nepal’s progress towards reducing malnutrition faces setback due to multidimensional poverty, vulnerability to shocks including the economic slowdown from COVID-19 and weak infrastructure, states a report prepared by the National Planning Commission (NPC).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to a study conducted by the NPC, 32 per cent children in Nepal are chronically malnourished while seventeen percent of Nepalese women are overweight or obese. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The report unveiled last week points out to the prevalence of stunting among the poorest households in more than double that of the richest quintile. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the report, micronutrient deficiency or ‘hidden hunger’ is caused by inadequate diversity and limited essential nutrients in diets. The report also noted that the production and consumption of staple food is currently higher than that of fresh nutritious food. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The finding of the Fill the Nutrient Gap Analysis initiated by the NPC in 2020 show that the lowest cost nutritious diet is, at the national average, 348 per five-person household per day. The report further states that nutritious diet is more than twice as expensive as a diet that meets only the requirement of energy diets. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The study supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) used a food system approach to better understand the barriers to consuming national diets including how economic barriers prevent households from affording healthy foods. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The study highlights the need of a role from all sectors in improving the status of nutrition in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“To improve access to diets, Nepal must focus on food system transformation. Investment in nutrition-sensitive agriculture, staple food fortification and better infrastructure can improve accessibility to healthy foods for all,” the report states. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Unveiling the report on Friday, NPC member Dr Dil Bahadur Gurung underlined the need of credible data to rightly intervene in the malnutrition issues and reportedly said this type of analysis would help come up with right policies and programmes against malnutrition and implement them effectively in the future. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">WFP country director and representative Robert Kasca recommended the implementation of social security programmes, livelihood support programmes and school mid-day programmes targeting the households facing economic barriers to afford nutritious food to address the their nutritional requirements. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14245', 'image' => '20211219104353_191028-6-1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 10:43:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14499', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Experts Warn of Economic Slump, urge Govt to take Immediate Measures ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: Economists have urged the government to take immediate measures to bail out the country's economy from crisis, arguing that the banking sector has been facing liquidity crunch while the capital expenditure is meagre, and the balance of payments (BoP) has been increasing. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 19: Economists have urged the government to take immediate measures to bail out the country's economy from crisis, arguing that the banking sector has been facing liquidity crunch while the capital expenditure is meagre, and the balance of payments (BoP) has been increasing. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The balance of payments in the last four months is in deficit of Rs 1.51 billion, according to Nepal Rastra Bank. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The foreign currency reserve is also declining. In the recent months, remittance inflow has also declined. The development activities have not gained pace. The banking and financial sector is not able to extend loan as deposit collection has not increased. The import of luxury goods has impacted on foreign currency. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at a recent interaction organized in the capital, economist Dr Chandramani Adhikari said that the country's economy is in imminent crisis. According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, he suggested the government to increase foreign currency reserve through export of goods and services and give priority to foreign investment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Another economist Dr Dilliraj Khanal wondered why the production is stagnant when the banks have stepped up investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Former governor of Nepal Rastra Bank and economist Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri stressed on banning import of certain luxury items. He argued that the capital expenditure remains dismal due to managerial weakness. The current problem is not only the result of political system but also of the budget system, he added. Chhetri further said that the government did not have a clear trade policy. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14244', 'image' => '20211219102227_economic crisis.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 10:21:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14498', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Directs Ministries to Spend 30 per cent of Budget within 1 Month', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 17: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has directed all ministries to spend 30 per cent of their budget within one month. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 17: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has directed all ministries to spend 30 per cent of their budget within one month. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The finance minister argued that lack of capital expenditure has contributed to the liquidity crunch in the country. He added that no ministry will be exempted from delaying budget expenditure. The Finance Ministry will provide necessary help in this regard, said the minister at an inter-ministry discussion at the Ministry of Finance on Friday. </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"">Minister Sharma warned that the unspent budget will be transferred under other headings if the ministries fail to spend the budget on time. He also reiterated to end the trend of </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">releasing budget towards the end of the fiscal year. Minister Sharma also directed prompt delivery of government services. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Present on the occasion were Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Renu Kumari Yadav, Health Minister Birodh Khatiwada and Minister for Water Supply Umakanta Chaudhary. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-17', 'modified' => '2021-12-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14243', 'image' => '20211217092607_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-17 21:25:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 21: Minister for Education, Science and Technology Devendra Paudel has said it is high time for soul-searching on whether the skills and knowledge obtained from higher education have been limited to certificate in the context of Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 21: Minister for Education, Science and Technology Devendra Paudel has said it is high time for soul-searching on whether the skills and knowledge obtained from higher education have been limited to certificate in the context of Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister Paudel made such remark while addressing the 47th Convocation Day of the University on Monday, December 20. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the occasion, he expressed concerns regarding brain-drain and said that the country's skilled human resources are compelled to go abroad seeking employment opportunities at a time when Nepal needs to bring the knowledge and experiences from across the world scenario into the country for the nation's development. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"I wonder whether it is the educational programmes and contents of our universities that are not matching the requirements of our life or is it that we only have confined the skills and knowledge we learned to certificate alone and failed to translate them into practice. It is time to ponder over this matter," the state-owned national news agency RSS quoted the education minister as saying. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He suggested the graduates who have got their degrees to use the skills they have learned to bring about improvement in the society, by synchronizing the knowledge learned with the world scenario and local needs. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Education Minister Paudel reportedly said that Nepal could not move forward on the path of development as per the expectation because the available means and resources at its disposal could not be utilized in a judicious manner in spite of its cultural, geographical and natural diversities and richness. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Education Minister and TU Pro-Chancellor urged the TU, the country's biggest and oldest university, to address the issues of poverty and unemployment by providing a world-class education. He suggested the university to make its research institutions more effective. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to RSS, Education Minister Paudel underscored the need of linking education to skills and skills to production and employment to stop large amount of money going abroad in the name of higher and quality education. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-21', 'modified' => '2021-12-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14257', 'image' => '20211221081849_education.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-21 08:18:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14512', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ownership Transfer of Khimti Hydropower Project Delayed', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 21: The ownership transfer of fifty percent shares of Khimti Hydropower Project to the government has been delayed due to lack of consensus between the NEA and the promoter company. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">December 21: The ownership transfer of fifty percent shares of Khimti Hydropower Project to the government has been delayed due to lack of consensus between the NEA and the promoter company. As per the agreement reached between the government and the promoter company, Himal Power, fifty percent shares of the project should be owned by Nepal Electricity Authority from July 11, 2020. However, the transfer has not taken place.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The officials of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation and NEA said that discussions are still underway for the transfer of share ownership. They have been in discussions with the promoter company for the last two years. However, no concrete decision has been made. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Spokesperson of the Ministry and Joint Secretary Madhu Prasad Bhetuwal said that discussions are underway to transfer ownership of the Khimti project. Both the parties are yet to reach agreement on some issues. "Following the share transfer, the same company is required to take responsibility for the operation of the project which the company has objected to," he said. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Meanwhile, Kulman Ghising, managing director of NEA, said that the process of share transfer has been delayed due to Himal Power Company. “We are negotiating on issues like PPA, but the delay is due to their side," he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The COVID-19 pandemic has also delayed the transfer of ownership. Himal Power Company includes foreign investors, and the COVID-19 restrictions prevented physical meetings for a long time.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Hydropower projects built by the private sector should be handed over to the government after a certain period of time. This is the first project being handed over to the government by the private sector so it is being looked upon with high priority.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Bhetuwal also claimed the government is working on this issue giving due importance. "This is the first hydropower project being handed over to the government. So a wrong precedence should not be established,” he added. <br /> In order to complete the process of share transfer, it is necessary to establish a joint venture company owned by both the authority and the promoter company. Then the company will sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) with NEA. However, such joint company has yet to be established. Also, the two sides have not reached an agreement on PPA. However, both sides have agreed that the current PPA rate will be decided in terms of Nepali currency. The law forbids PPA of projects below 100 MW capacity in foreign currency. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">This is the first privately funded hydropower project with investment from companies including Butwal Power Company Limited of Nepal, Statkraft SF of Norway and Alstom Power S. <br /> An agreement was signed between the then government and the company to transfer 50 percent shares of the project to NEA after twenty years of production. After fifty years of operation of the project, NEA will have full ownership of the project.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Currently, the project is being operated by signing an interim agreement between Himal Power and NEA. <br /> The interim agreement between NEA and Himal Power Company has been extended till mid-July 2022 as the transfer of ownership could not be completed on time. Ghising believes the transfer of ownership will be completed by mid-July.</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-21', 'modified' => '2021-12-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14256', 'image' => '20211221112231_20210823010727_20210119023725_1611012723.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-21 11:21:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14509', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CNI Calls for Capping Profits of Banks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: The entrepreneurs and businessmen of Biratnagar are obliged to pay taxes under different headings if they make profits above 20 percent. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 20: The entrepreneurs and businessmen of Biratnagar are obliged to pay taxes under different headings if they make profits above 20 percent. Meanwhile, this policy is not applicable for banks. The banks can earn as much as they want and are exempt of paying extra taxes. The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has called upon the concerned authorities to cap the profits made by the banks as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 president of Province 1 chapter of CNI, Bhim Ghimire, along with other businessmen has warned the government that they will start protest if this unfair treatment continues. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “We want to draw your attention to take the initiative to keep the banks’ interest rate unchanged from single digit and to keep the interest rate system stable and sustainable until the country's economic situation improves so as not to affect investors who have already invested in manufacturing industries and infrastructure projects,” said Ghimire.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ghimire accused that the banks are getting motivated to earn profits like businessmen instead of being a medium to uplift the nation's economy.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A statement issued by the CNI says that the banks in Nepal have become profit-oriented just like the rich merchants of ancient period. The confederation has also stated that banks and financial institutions are the main reason for the economic turmoil and inability to build capital.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “How long will the investors and the general public have to suffer due to the banks increasing interest rates showing the problem of lack of liquidity?” the statement said, adding, “We are beginning to realize that the industry is collapsing in the game of raising and lowering interest rates every month and that the government and the central bank are only taking care of the banks”.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 industrialists have also demanded that the investors of banks and the investors of industries should be different. President Ghimire questioned that since the investors of banks as well as industries are the same, does the central bank have any idea about where and how the economic activities of the country is heading towards? “We want to make sure that the central bank and the government do not ignore this,” reads the statement.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Mahesh Jaju, senior advisor to the confederation, said that the banks have stopped opening LCs for foreign trade and imports. He claimed that the trade of the country would come to stand still and cause a problem in supply of materials due to this activity of the banks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We are appealing to the government to prevent the country's economy from coming to a standstill, otherwise we will be forced to protest on the streets,” said Jaju adding that this will cause a reduction of government revenue.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During a recent press conference, Pawan Sarda, a member of the Constituent Assembly and former president of the Morang Trade Association and patron of CNI, said that there are problems occurring in imports of goods due to the banks. According to Sarda, the image of Nepali importers and exporters in international business has been tarnished due to the banks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 submitting documents to open an LC of Rs 200 million, the banks are demanding a deposit of Rs 50 million in advance,” said Sarda with the adding, “If we had 50 million, why would we seek loan?” He said that if the banks were reluctant to open ASL for foreign trade for a long time, the industries would automatically close down due to the lack of raw materials.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14255', 'image' => '20211220045505_Banks.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 16:54:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14510', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Fire Destroys Properties worth Rs 30.5 Million in Indreni Complex ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: A fire that broke out in the sixth floor of a commercial complex at New Baneshwor, Kathmandu gutted properties worth over Rs 30.5 million on Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 20: A fire that broke out in the sixth floor of a commercial complex at New Baneshwor, Kathmandu gutted properties worth over Rs 30.5 million on Monday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to a preliminary investigation of the police, the fire erupted due to electric short circuit in an inverter of a fitness and spa centre in the sixth floor of the Indreni complex. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">SP Dineshraj Mainali of the Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu, said the fire has been doused by five fire brigades called in from Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. -- RSS </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14254', 'image' => '20211220085054_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 20:50:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14508', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Registration of SMEs Doubled in a Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: The registration of micro, cottage and small scale industries have increased across the country amid the covid-19 pandemic.', '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"">December 20: The registration of micro, cottage and small scale industries have increased across the country amid the covid-19 pandemic. According to the ‘Micro, Cottage and Small Industries Statistics 2020/21’ released by the Department of Industry a few days ago, the registration of such industries has increased significantly in the last fiscal year as compared to the previous year. The department also informed that the investment in SMEs have also increased. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 statistics show that a total of 83,386 industries were registered in 77 districts during the review period, which is almost double the previous year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The proposed total capital of the registered companies last year was Rs 185.20 billion and it is estimated that those industries will create employment for 311,693 people after they come into operation. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the fiscal year 2076/77, a total of 45,854 industries were registered across the nation. Likewise, the proposed capital of all those industries was Rs 111.15 billion. These registered industries were expected to provide employment to 169,771 after their operation. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pushparaj Shivakoti, a statistics officer involved in writing the report, says that the number of registered industries has also increased as the number of youths who want to do something in the country has increased after the pandemic. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the statistics of the two fiscal years, the total number of micro, cottage and small industries has reached more than 487,000 so far. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 highest number of such industries have been registered in Bagmati Province (32 percent) and the lowest in Karnali Province.</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> As per the data of the department, only 5 percent micro, cottage and small industries have been registered in Karnali. Likewise, 17 percent of such industries are registered in Lumbini, The registration of such industries in Province 1 and Province 2 is 14 percent each while 11 percent of industries have been registered in Gandaki Province and 7 percent in Far Western Province.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 small scale industries have been catagorised into eight different sections. Among them, manufacturing, agriculture and forestry, tourism and service sectors have the highest number of registered industries. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The highest number of registered industries are service-oriented industries and the lowest is the IT industry. So far, 178,662 service-oriented industries have been registered. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department has included the registration from the fiscal year 2051/52 in this report. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, such industries have contributed about 22 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP) and there are more than 2.5 million entrepreneurs. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14253', 'image' => '20211220020347_20200923125807_1198.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 14:02:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14507', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Water Supply in Kathmandu Valley Less than One Third of Demand ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: Water supply in the Kathmandu Valley is less than one third of the demand. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 20: Water supply in the Kathmandu Valley is less than one third of the demand. The Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) distributes around 130 million litres of water on a daily basis, despite the demand of around 430 million litres of water. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The supply further goes down during the dry season in March, April and May as the distribution is around 110 million liters. During rainy season, the distribution reaches up to 160 million litres. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Shortage of drinking water is a perennial issue in the Kathmandu Valley since a long time. The Valley denizens are forced to seek alternative sources for water for daily needs as the supply from the KUKL is insufficient. Sometimes, the distribution remains halted for many days. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to KUKL, 237,000 taps have been fixed in the Valley. Water taps fixed illegally are also found in many areas. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Water from Sundarijal, Mahadevkhola, Nakhhu, Shesh Narayan, Hititole, Saatmul, Kuturi, Devaki, Basuki, Balkhu River, Muldole, Charghare, Bishnumati, Panchmane, Chhahare, and Alle is collected and distributed in the Kathmandu. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In some areas, underground water is supplied as water collected from natural resources is insufficient At present, underground water is pulled from around 80 locations for the distribution. The KUKL is preparing to add around 10 million of underground water in the supplies from this year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A study shows that the demand for water increases by some 10 per cent each year in the Kathmandu Valley. Growing population, a rise in the physical construction works and drying natural water resources have posed challenges to the water supply system. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Management Board and the KUKL have signed a 30-year agreement beginning from February 13, 2008. As per the agreement, the KUKL is responsible for water supply in the Valley. -- RSS </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14252', 'image' => '20211220110034_20210726100917_20200903113103_1599056781.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 10:59:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14506', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Demand for Electricity Increasing Every Year: NEA', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: The demand for electricity has increased significantly in the domestic market, thanks to the effective policy of the government and practical action plan among other initiatives. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">December 20: The demand for electricity has increased significantly in the domestic market, thanks to the effective policy of the government and practical action plan among other initiatives. The demand for electricity has been increasing by 20 per cent every year on an average, according to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The NEA informed that the internal demand for electricity has suddenly increased due to the steps taken to increase the electricity demand and the increase in cold weather. The peak demand for electricity this year has increased compared to the previous year and it is in the range of 300 megawatts. NEA has adopted the policy of promoting the use of electric appliances and to provide the required energy to the industries with the aim of increasing the domestic consumption of electricity following a surplus of electricity in the market. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The big industries have been supplied with electricity as per their demand and this has helped enhance their production capacity. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">NEA has provided 30 megawatts of electricity to Hongshi Cement Industry, the largest cement factory in the country, since the second week of November. Another cement factory with Chinese investment, Huashin Cement Industry, has also taken 20 megawatts electricity. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Electricity demand capacity both in terms of megawatts and energy units is found increasing. For instance, the peak demand in the system on December 13 was 1,539 megawatts whereas the peak demand on the same day last year was 1,217 megawatts – an increase of 322 megawatts. On this basis, the peak demand for electricity has increased by 26.5 per cent this year compared to the demand on the same date last year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In order to meet the peak demand for electricity on December 13, NEA had managed 540 megawatts of electricity from its power houses, 529 megawatts from the powerhouses of its subsidiary companies and 425 megawatts from the private sector power houses, and imported 25 megawatts from India. Four megawatts electricity was exported to India even during peak time on that date. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Likewise, electricity demand has also increased suddenly in the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding regions where there is high electricity consumption. The peak demand in the Valley last year was 293 megawatts and it has gone up to 382 megawatts this year. This shows that the demand for electricity has increased notably in the Kathmandu Valley as well. The use of electric induction ovens has increased in the Valley. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">On the basis of the energy demand, the electricity consumption was 27.2 million units on December 13, which is 28.65 per cent more compared to 21.1 million units on the same day last year. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14251', 'image' => '20211220105149_NEA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 10:51:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14505', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ruling Parties form Taskforce to Discuss MCC ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: The ruling alliance has formed a three-member taskforce to hold discussions on US-funded project Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) with other political parties in order to reach a consensus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 20: The ruling alliance has formed a three-member taskforce to hold discussions on US-funded project Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) with other political parties in order to reach a consensus. </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"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, a meeting of the ruling alliance called by Prime Minister and Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba took a decision to this effect on Sunday. </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 taskforce comprises senior leader of CPN (Unified Socialist) Jhalanath Khanal, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki and CPN (Maoist Centre) Vice-chairman Narayankaji Shrestha. </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 taskforce has been entrusted with the responsibility of holding consultations with all political parties to resolve various issues that are under consideration in the parliament and resuming the House proceedings, RSS further 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"">The ruling coalition decided to form the taskforce after an all-party meeting called by PM Deuba could not reach a consensus regarding the MCC due to the differing views among the ruling parties. The ruling parties including Maoist Centre and CPN Unified Socialist were in favour of endorsing the grant agreement only after amendment. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting ended inconclusively due to the absence of the main opposition party CPN UML.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14250', 'image' => '20211220104128_MCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 10:40:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14504', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'FinMin Happy with Speech Delivery while Development Expenditure Remains Less than 2 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: The spending system of the government can be summed up as problematic.', '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"">December 19: The spending system of the government can be summed up as problematic. The government announced large budget to please the people. But the implementation of the budget has been poor. Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has still not shown his interest in implementing the budget, despite the budget not being spent as per the provisions authorized by him.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister Sharma shows his pretentious nature, giving strict instructions during budget review. But, he indulges himself into empty talks in programs organized by the party instead of taking care of problems in the spending 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:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the formation of the government led by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Finance Minister Sharma came to take charge of the Ministry of Finance. He presented the replacement bill on budget and announced a plan to spend 10 percent of the capital budget every month. As per the announcement, the Ministry of Finance issued the 'Criteria for Making Public Expenditure Economical and Effective 2078' and set a target of achieving 100 percent result by mid-June at a minimum rate of 10 percent within the first quarter and then at least 10 percent each month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the contrary, the government’s expenditure has not been able to exceed even 2 percent. Based on the target, the government was supposed to spend 30 percent of the total budget by mid-December. Meanwhile, only 6.46 percent or Rs 28.40 billion has been spent so far. This expenditure ratio is the lowest in 3 years and even weaker than during the Covid-19 pandemic period. A total of 10.18 percent of capital expenditure was incurred in the first five months of the fiscal year 2077/78. During the review period of the current fiscal year, capital expenditure has been much weaker than in the previous years. This indicates the failure of Minister Sharma to implement the budget.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister surrounded by activists</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 budget implementation has become weak due to the ignorance in taking care of problems within the spending system. According to the sources at the Ministry of Finance, Minister Sharma is absent from the ministry most of the time. And even if he comes to the office, the party activists surround him. The room of minister Sharma is crowded all the time. Despite the administrators saying that the authority of Singha Durbar has reached to the villages, the office of finance minister is filled with huge crowds to solve minor issues all the time.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“He (the finance minister) often has party special programs to attend. When he comes to the ministry, he is surrounded by the activists and well-wishers. The finance minister is more inclined to listen to the problems of the party workers than to address the problems of the economy,” said one of the senior officials of finance ministry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He doesn’t stop Instructing</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma, who is usually out attending party programmes, does not stop reviewing the budget and giving instructions to the officials. He called the secretaries and ministers of the concerned ministries to the finance ministry on Friday to review the budget after the budget implementation was proven to be weak. The meeting was attended by Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Renu Kumari Yadav, Minister for Health Birodh Khatiwada and Minister for Drinking Water Umakanta Chaudhary.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the meeting, Finance Minister Sharma asked the secretaries / ministries to implement the budget on time. The minister directed to spend 30 percent of the budget of each ministry by mid-January. Stating that the failure to make timely capital expenditure has also affected liquidity, he urged the ministries to spend on development as soon as possible.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma warned that if the budget expenditure is not seen, the allocated amount will be transferred under other headings during the upcoming review of the budget expenditure.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma said that the budget would be transferred to the places where the expenditure would be incurred at the state and local level if the situation was not resolved on time. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“If you don't spend, you can't hold on to that budget,” said the minister. Despite the strict instructions, there are no signs of compliance with spending the budget.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">While the budget implementation is weak, the government has not paid much attention to identification of the problem as well. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Economist Bishwambhar Pyakurel said that the report prepared by the Public Expenditure Review Commission formed by the government three years ago is still kept secret , while pointing out the problems in the expenditure system. This makes it clear that the government itself does not want to spend the money. According to him, the government must show seriousness in resolving the problems prevalent in the expenditure system.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ministers-secretaries are the obstacles in budget implementation</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ministers and secretaries are seen as obstacles in the implementation of the current budget. In particular, Urban Development Minister Ram Kumari Jhankri was firm in reversing the provisions in the budget. Later the decision of the minister was reversed through a secretary level deision.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A few months ago, Urban Development Minister Jhankri decided to block the agreement reached through the Consumer Committee. Because of which, the activities to be carried out through the consumer committee as per the budget had been stopped.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Recently, the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration made a secretary-level decision and revoked the decision of Minister Jhankri in order to continue the work to be done through the Consumer Committee. Minister Jhankri had decided to stop the purchase agreement saying that the work of the consumer committee was not of quality, full of corruption and that they showed slowness with work. Accordingly, all kinds of public purchases through the Consumers Committee were stopped from October 31. Flipping that decision, the Ministry of General Administration wrote to all the local levels to keep the work going.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Urban Development Minister is angry over the decision of the Ministry of General Administration and Minister Jhankri has said that she will not abide by the decision and has instructed the officials not to do the work under the ministry from the Consumer Committee until further notice, as per a source close to her.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14249', 'image' => '20211219040548_20210716022924_1626392414.Clipboard14.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 16:04:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14502', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Terrorism Threat Declines in Nepal but Risk Remains: US Report on Terrorism', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: A US report released on Thursday states that the threat posed by international terrorist organization has decreased in Nepal, but the risk persists.', '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"">December 19: A US report released on Thursday states that the threat posed by international terrorist organization has decreased in Nepal, but the risk persists. The new report on terrorism recently released by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken points out that there is still a risk that Nepal could become a transit point for an international terrorist organization.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 United States has cited Nepal’s open borders with India and inadequate security measures and arrangements at the country's only international airport as the reasons for such risk. In its 2018 report, the United States cited Nepal as a fertile ground for terrorism. However, the current report only points out the risks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In a report from 2015 to 2018, the United States stated that the Indian Mujahideen had expanded its base in Nepal and that Nepal was the hub of the organization. But the report, this time states the open border with India as a security risk.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The report was released by the US State Department's Bureau of Counterterrorism. The report states that there was no anti-US terrorist activity in Nepal in 2020.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that Netra Bikram Chand-led group has renounced violence and entered the peace process, the US report said that the group has continued its violent activities.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 US has addressed the group that was referred to as a pro-terrorist in the previous report, as pro-violent extremist this year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that Nepal does not have its own definition of terrorism, the US report points out the risk of terrorist activity in the Middle East affecting Nepal as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Dozens of members of international terrorist organizations have been arrested in Nepal in the last two decades. The Nepal Police has taken action against the persons arrested in such incidents as per the prevailing laws of Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to a high-ranking police source, Nepal has been secretly handing over many of them to the concerned countries in lack of extradition treaty.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A few years ago, a member of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba reportedly came to Nepal. He spent a few months in Kathmandu, Nepalgunj, Rupandehi and Kapilvastu. It was revealed that the member had obtained citizenship of Nepal from Kapilvastu. The Nepal Police had traced his activities and whereabouts. According to a high-ranking police source, he was arrested and action was taken against him for tampering with the government stamp.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 paying the penalty, he was secretly handed over to the concerned country. According to the police, he had come to Nepal to expand his organization in South Asia. Police had recovered some money and other documents from him.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14248', 'image' => '20211219032806_20211202020506_2009-03_Kathmandu_10.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 15:27:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14503', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Directs BFIs to prepare CD Ratio Action Plan', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has directed banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to prepare necessary action plans to maintain the CD ratio within the prescribed limit. ', '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"">December 19: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has directed banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to prepare necessary action plans to maintain the CD ratio within the prescribed limit. NRB issued the directive on Thursday, December 16. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 has issued the directive according to its arrangements made in the first quarterly review of the monetary policy. NRB has directed that deposit mobilization and credit flow should be managed on a monthly basis in compliance with the CD ratio.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The NRB had abolished the provision of CCD ratio of 85 percent in the current fiscal year and had made provision of CD ratio up to 90 percent. At present, the CD ratio of most banks is above 90 percent. The banks and financial institutions have been told to maintain the CD ratio at 90 percent by mid-July 2022. Accordingly, banks will be able to disburse the loans beyond the prescribed limit of CD ratio for the time being.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 NRB, banks and financial institutions can make action plans accordingly. This will resolve the issue of credit flow. NRB has introduced such provisions to facilitate lending in some essential 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"">Earlier, banks were seeking to increase the CD ratio to 92 percent. However, NRB has not increased the CD ratio but has facilitated its implementation. One of the officials of the central bank said banks should prepare an action plan to maintain CD ratio by mid July 2022. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"If the CD ratio of some banks is maintained at 91% but needs to extend the credit, the central bank will not prevent it from disbursing loans. It wouldn't be an issue if the CD ratio goes higher at present but it must be maintained within 90% by mid-July," 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"">Also, when banks and financial institutions assign the evaluator for the purpose of valuing the collateral, their work, duties, rights and responsibilities should be clearly stated in the agreement. The evaluator should evaluate the property to be accepted as collateral independently, without any bias or prejudice, on the basis of international recognition and good practices, NRB stated.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14247', 'image' => '20211219034337_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 15:42:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14501', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Prepares Work Procedure to Allow Participation of Private Sector in Power Trade', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: The government has prepared a draft of electricity trade work procedure to allow the private sector to get involved in electricity trade. ', '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"">December 19: The government has prepared a draft of electricity trade work procedure to allow the private sector to get involved in electricity trade. The Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has formulated the draft, informed a high-ranking official at the 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"">According to the official, the electricity bill under consideration in the federal parliament has proposed to allow the private sector to trade electricity. The ministry has said the work procedure will include this matter in a more precise way. According to a source, it has been proposed to allow the private sector to trade electricity not only in the country but also in the regional 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"">"Economic development is not possible without the participation of the private sector. Therefore, we need to take the private sector along in energy development. Accordingly, we have prepared a draft to allow the private sector to trade electricity," said the source.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Currently, only the government-owned Nepal Electricity Authority is allowed to engage in such trade. The private sector has been demanding for a permit to participate in the trade of electricity for a long time. Now the government is going to make policy arrangements in this regard. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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, this procedure will be implemented after the electricity bill under consideration in the parliament is endorsed. "We will implement the procedure accordingly after the bill is passed," said the source.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the ministry is also working to formulate guidelines on cross-border electricity trade. The ministry is ready to implement the guideline soon. The guideline is being formulated prioritizing electricity trade with India. As per the agreement reached between the two countries, India has already made such guidelines. The ministry expects the electricity trade to be more convenient once the guideline is prepared.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although there are no policy at the moment, the private sector has already established companies to trade electricity. Nepal Power Exchange Company has already been registered with the investment of businessmen including Kumar Pandey. Entrepreneurs including Motilal Dugad and Sandeep Shah have also set up electricity trading companies. Nepal Electricity Authority has also established Nepal Power Trade Company.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Recently, Nepal Infrastructure Bank (NIFRA) has also set up a separate company to trade electricity. However, they have not been able to get permits due to lack of necessary policy. Entrepreneur Pandey says that the possibility of getting a license has increased as the government is making policy arrangements.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that an alternative company should come to trade electricity in the country. "NEA has monopoly in trading electricity here. From now on, with the participation of companies from the private sector, the energy sector should have multiple buyers and multiple traders."</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14246', 'image' => '20211219024631_electricity.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 14:45:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14500', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '32 Per Cent Children in Nepal Chronically Malnourished: Report ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: Nepal’s progress towards reducing malnutrition faces setback due to multidimensional poverty, vulnerability to shocks including the economic slowdown from COVID-19 and weak infrastructure, states a report prepared by the National Planning Commission (NPC).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">December 19: Nepal’s progress towards reducing malnutrition faces setback due to multidimensional poverty, vulnerability to shocks including the economic slowdown from COVID-19 and weak infrastructure, states a report prepared by the National Planning Commission (NPC).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to a study conducted by the NPC, 32 per cent children in Nepal are chronically malnourished while seventeen percent of Nepalese women are overweight or obese. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The report unveiled last week points out to the prevalence of stunting among the poorest households in more than double that of the richest quintile. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the report, micronutrient deficiency or ‘hidden hunger’ is caused by inadequate diversity and limited essential nutrients in diets. The report also noted that the production and consumption of staple food is currently higher than that of fresh nutritious food. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The finding of the Fill the Nutrient Gap Analysis initiated by the NPC in 2020 show that the lowest cost nutritious diet is, at the national average, 348 per five-person household per day. The report further states that nutritious diet is more than twice as expensive as a diet that meets only the requirement of energy diets. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The study supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) used a food system approach to better understand the barriers to consuming national diets including how economic barriers prevent households from affording healthy foods. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The study highlights the need of a role from all sectors in improving the status of nutrition in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“To improve access to diets, Nepal must focus on food system transformation. Investment in nutrition-sensitive agriculture, staple food fortification and better infrastructure can improve accessibility to healthy foods for all,” the report states. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Unveiling the report on Friday, NPC member Dr Dil Bahadur Gurung underlined the need of credible data to rightly intervene in the malnutrition issues and reportedly said this type of analysis would help come up with right policies and programmes against malnutrition and implement them effectively in the future. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">WFP country director and representative Robert Kasca recommended the implementation of social security programmes, livelihood support programmes and school mid-day programmes targeting the households facing economic barriers to afford nutritious food to address the their nutritional requirements. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14245', 'image' => '20211219104353_191028-6-1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 10:43:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14499', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Experts Warn of Economic Slump, urge Govt to take Immediate Measures ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: Economists have urged the government to take immediate measures to bail out the country's economy from crisis, arguing that the banking sector has been facing liquidity crunch while the capital expenditure is meagre, and the balance of payments (BoP) has been increasing. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 19: Economists have urged the government to take immediate measures to bail out the country's economy from crisis, arguing that the banking sector has been facing liquidity crunch while the capital expenditure is meagre, and the balance of payments (BoP) has been increasing. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The balance of payments in the last four months is in deficit of Rs 1.51 billion, according to Nepal Rastra Bank. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The foreign currency reserve is also declining. In the recent months, remittance inflow has also declined. The development activities have not gained pace. The banking and financial sector is not able to extend loan as deposit collection has not increased. The import of luxury goods has impacted on foreign currency. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at a recent interaction organized in the capital, economist Dr Chandramani Adhikari said that the country's economy is in imminent crisis. According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, he suggested the government to increase foreign currency reserve through export of goods and services and give priority to foreign investment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Another economist Dr Dilliraj Khanal wondered why the production is stagnant when the banks have stepped up investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Former governor of Nepal Rastra Bank and economist Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri stressed on banning import of certain luxury items. He argued that the capital expenditure remains dismal due to managerial weakness. The current problem is not only the result of political system but also of the budget system, he added. Chhetri further said that the government did not have a clear trade policy. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14244', 'image' => '20211219102227_economic crisis.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 10:21:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14498', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Directs Ministries to Spend 30 per cent of Budget within 1 Month', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 17: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has directed all ministries to spend 30 per cent of their budget within one month. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 17: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has directed all ministries to spend 30 per cent of their budget within one month. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The finance minister argued that lack of capital expenditure has contributed to the liquidity crunch in the country. He added that no ministry will be exempted from delaying budget expenditure. The Finance Ministry will provide necessary help in this regard, said the minister at an inter-ministry discussion at the Ministry of Finance on Friday. </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"">Minister Sharma warned that the unspent budget will be transferred under other headings if the ministries fail to spend the budget on time. He also reiterated to end the trend of </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">releasing budget towards the end of the fiscal year. Minister Sharma also directed prompt delivery of government services. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Present on the occasion were Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Renu Kumari Yadav, Health Minister Birodh Khatiwada and Minister for Water Supply Umakanta Chaudhary. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-17', 'modified' => '2021-12-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14243', 'image' => '20211217092607_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-17 21:25:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 21: Minister for Education, Science and Technology Devendra Paudel has said it is high time for soul-searching on whether the skills and knowledge obtained from higher education have been limited to certificate in the context of Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 21: Minister for Education, Science and Technology Devendra Paudel has said it is high time for soul-searching on whether the skills and knowledge obtained from higher education have been limited to certificate in the context of Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister Paudel made such remark while addressing the 47th Convocation Day of the University on Monday, December 20. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the occasion, he expressed concerns regarding brain-drain and said that the country's skilled human resources are compelled to go abroad seeking employment opportunities at a time when Nepal needs to bring the knowledge and experiences from across the world scenario into the country for the nation's development. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"I wonder whether it is the educational programmes and contents of our universities that are not matching the requirements of our life or is it that we only have confined the skills and knowledge we learned to certificate alone and failed to translate them into practice. It is time to ponder over this matter," the state-owned national news agency RSS quoted the education minister as saying. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He suggested the graduates who have got their degrees to use the skills they have learned to bring about improvement in the society, by synchronizing the knowledge learned with the world scenario and local needs. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Education Minister Paudel reportedly said that Nepal could not move forward on the path of development as per the expectation because the available means and resources at its disposal could not be utilized in a judicious manner in spite of its cultural, geographical and natural diversities and richness. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Education Minister and TU Pro-Chancellor urged the TU, the country's biggest and oldest university, to address the issues of poverty and unemployment by providing a world-class education. He suggested the university to make its research institutions more effective. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to RSS, Education Minister Paudel underscored the need of linking education to skills and skills to production and employment to stop large amount of money going abroad in the name of higher and quality education. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-21', 'modified' => '2021-12-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14257', 'image' => '20211221081849_education.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-21 08:18:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14512', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ownership Transfer of Khimti Hydropower Project Delayed', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 21: The ownership transfer of fifty percent shares of Khimti Hydropower Project to the government has been delayed due to lack of consensus between the NEA and the promoter company. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">December 21: The ownership transfer of fifty percent shares of Khimti Hydropower Project to the government has been delayed due to lack of consensus between the NEA and the promoter company. As per the agreement reached between the government and the promoter company, Himal Power, fifty percent shares of the project should be owned by Nepal Electricity Authority from July 11, 2020. However, the transfer has not taken place.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The officials of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation and NEA said that discussions are still underway for the transfer of share ownership. They have been in discussions with the promoter company for the last two years. However, no concrete decision has been made. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Spokesperson of the Ministry and Joint Secretary Madhu Prasad Bhetuwal said that discussions are underway to transfer ownership of the Khimti project. Both the parties are yet to reach agreement on some issues. "Following the share transfer, the same company is required to take responsibility for the operation of the project which the company has objected to," he said. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Meanwhile, Kulman Ghising, managing director of NEA, said that the process of share transfer has been delayed due to Himal Power Company. “We are negotiating on issues like PPA, but the delay is due to their side," he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The COVID-19 pandemic has also delayed the transfer of ownership. Himal Power Company includes foreign investors, and the COVID-19 restrictions prevented physical meetings for a long time.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Hydropower projects built by the private sector should be handed over to the government after a certain period of time. This is the first project being handed over to the government by the private sector so it is being looked upon with high priority.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Bhetuwal also claimed the government is working on this issue giving due importance. "This is the first hydropower project being handed over to the government. So a wrong precedence should not be established,” he added. <br /> In order to complete the process of share transfer, it is necessary to establish a joint venture company owned by both the authority and the promoter company. Then the company will sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) with NEA. However, such joint company has yet to be established. Also, the two sides have not reached an agreement on PPA. However, both sides have agreed that the current PPA rate will be decided in terms of Nepali currency. The law forbids PPA of projects below 100 MW capacity in foreign currency. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">This is the first privately funded hydropower project with investment from companies including Butwal Power Company Limited of Nepal, Statkraft SF of Norway and Alstom Power S. <br /> An agreement was signed between the then government and the company to transfer 50 percent shares of the project to NEA after twenty years of production. After fifty years of operation of the project, NEA will have full ownership of the project.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Currently, the project is being operated by signing an interim agreement between Himal Power and NEA. <br /> The interim agreement between NEA and Himal Power Company has been extended till mid-July 2022 as the transfer of ownership could not be completed on time. Ghising believes the transfer of ownership will be completed by mid-July.</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-21', 'modified' => '2021-12-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14256', 'image' => '20211221112231_20210823010727_20210119023725_1611012723.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-21 11:21:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14509', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CNI Calls for Capping Profits of Banks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: The entrepreneurs and businessmen of Biratnagar are obliged to pay taxes under different headings if they make profits above 20 percent. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 20: The entrepreneurs and businessmen of Biratnagar are obliged to pay taxes under different headings if they make profits above 20 percent. Meanwhile, this policy is not applicable for banks. The banks can earn as much as they want and are exempt of paying extra taxes. The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has called upon the concerned authorities to cap the profits made by the banks as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 president of Province 1 chapter of CNI, Bhim Ghimire, along with other businessmen has warned the government that they will start protest if this unfair treatment continues. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “We want to draw your attention to take the initiative to keep the banks’ interest rate unchanged from single digit and to keep the interest rate system stable and sustainable until the country's economic situation improves so as not to affect investors who have already invested in manufacturing industries and infrastructure projects,” said Ghimire.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ghimire accused that the banks are getting motivated to earn profits like businessmen instead of being a medium to uplift the nation's economy.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A statement issued by the CNI says that the banks in Nepal have become profit-oriented just like the rich merchants of ancient period. The confederation has also stated that banks and financial institutions are the main reason for the economic turmoil and inability to build capital.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “How long will the investors and the general public have to suffer due to the banks increasing interest rates showing the problem of lack of liquidity?” the statement said, adding, “We are beginning to realize that the industry is collapsing in the game of raising and lowering interest rates every month and that the government and the central bank are only taking care of the banks”.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 industrialists have also demanded that the investors of banks and the investors of industries should be different. President Ghimire questioned that since the investors of banks as well as industries are the same, does the central bank have any idea about where and how the economic activities of the country is heading towards? “We want to make sure that the central bank and the government do not ignore this,” reads the statement.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Mahesh Jaju, senior advisor to the confederation, said that the banks have stopped opening LCs for foreign trade and imports. He claimed that the trade of the country would come to stand still and cause a problem in supply of materials due to this activity of the banks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“We are appealing to the government to prevent the country's economy from coming to a standstill, otherwise we will be forced to protest on the streets,” said Jaju adding that this will cause a reduction of government revenue.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During a recent press conference, Pawan Sarda, a member of the Constituent Assembly and former president of the Morang Trade Association and patron of CNI, said that there are problems occurring in imports of goods due to the banks. According to Sarda, the image of Nepali importers and exporters in international business has been tarnished due to the banks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 submitting documents to open an LC of Rs 200 million, the banks are demanding a deposit of Rs 50 million in advance,” said Sarda with the adding, “If we had 50 million, why would we seek loan?” He said that if the banks were reluctant to open ASL for foreign trade for a long time, the industries would automatically close down due to the lack of raw materials.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14255', 'image' => '20211220045505_Banks.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 16:54:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14510', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Fire Destroys Properties worth Rs 30.5 Million in Indreni Complex ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: A fire that broke out in the sixth floor of a commercial complex at New Baneshwor, Kathmandu gutted properties worth over Rs 30.5 million on Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 20: A fire that broke out in the sixth floor of a commercial complex at New Baneshwor, Kathmandu gutted properties worth over Rs 30.5 million on Monday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to a preliminary investigation of the police, the fire erupted due to electric short circuit in an inverter of a fitness and spa centre in the sixth floor of the Indreni complex. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">SP Dineshraj Mainali of the Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu, said the fire has been doused by five fire brigades called in from Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. -- RSS </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14254', 'image' => '20211220085054_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 20:50:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14508', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Registration of SMEs Doubled in a Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: The registration of micro, cottage and small scale industries have increased across the country amid the covid-19 pandemic.', '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"">December 20: The registration of micro, cottage and small scale industries have increased across the country amid the covid-19 pandemic. According to the ‘Micro, Cottage and Small Industries Statistics 2020/21’ released by the Department of Industry a few days ago, the registration of such industries has increased significantly in the last fiscal year as compared to the previous year. The department also informed that the investment in SMEs have also increased. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 statistics show that a total of 83,386 industries were registered in 77 districts during the review period, which is almost double the previous year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The proposed total capital of the registered companies last year was Rs 185.20 billion and it is estimated that those industries will create employment for 311,693 people after they come into operation. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the fiscal year 2076/77, a total of 45,854 industries were registered across the nation. Likewise, the proposed capital of all those industries was Rs 111.15 billion. These registered industries were expected to provide employment to 169,771 after their operation. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pushparaj Shivakoti, a statistics officer involved in writing the report, says that the number of registered industries has also increased as the number of youths who want to do something in the country has increased after the pandemic. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the statistics of the two fiscal years, the total number of micro, cottage and small industries has reached more than 487,000 so far. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 highest number of such industries have been registered in Bagmati Province (32 percent) and the lowest in Karnali Province.</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> As per the data of the department, only 5 percent micro, cottage and small industries have been registered in Karnali. Likewise, 17 percent of such industries are registered in Lumbini, The registration of such industries in Province 1 and Province 2 is 14 percent each while 11 percent of industries have been registered in Gandaki Province and 7 percent in Far Western Province.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 small scale industries have been catagorised into eight different sections. Among them, manufacturing, agriculture and forestry, tourism and service sectors have the highest number of registered industries. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The highest number of registered industries are service-oriented industries and the lowest is the IT industry. So far, 178,662 service-oriented industries have been registered. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department has included the registration from the fiscal year 2051/52 in this report. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, such industries have contributed about 22 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP) and there are more than 2.5 million entrepreneurs. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14253', 'image' => '20211220020347_20200923125807_1198.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 14:02:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14507', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Water Supply in Kathmandu Valley Less than One Third of Demand ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: Water supply in the Kathmandu Valley is less than one third of the demand. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 20: Water supply in the Kathmandu Valley is less than one third of the demand. The Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) distributes around 130 million litres of water on a daily basis, despite the demand of around 430 million litres of water. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The supply further goes down during the dry season in March, April and May as the distribution is around 110 million liters. During rainy season, the distribution reaches up to 160 million litres. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Shortage of drinking water is a perennial issue in the Kathmandu Valley since a long time. The Valley denizens are forced to seek alternative sources for water for daily needs as the supply from the KUKL is insufficient. Sometimes, the distribution remains halted for many days. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to KUKL, 237,000 taps have been fixed in the Valley. Water taps fixed illegally are also found in many areas. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Water from Sundarijal, Mahadevkhola, Nakhhu, Shesh Narayan, Hititole, Saatmul, Kuturi, Devaki, Basuki, Balkhu River, Muldole, Charghare, Bishnumati, Panchmane, Chhahare, and Alle is collected and distributed in the Kathmandu. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In some areas, underground water is supplied as water collected from natural resources is insufficient At present, underground water is pulled from around 80 locations for the distribution. The KUKL is preparing to add around 10 million of underground water in the supplies from this year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A study shows that the demand for water increases by some 10 per cent each year in the Kathmandu Valley. Growing population, a rise in the physical construction works and drying natural water resources have posed challenges to the water supply system. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Management Board and the KUKL have signed a 30-year agreement beginning from February 13, 2008. As per the agreement, the KUKL is responsible for water supply in the Valley. -- RSS </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14252', 'image' => '20211220110034_20210726100917_20200903113103_1599056781.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 10:59:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14506', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Demand for Electricity Increasing Every Year: NEA', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: The demand for electricity has increased significantly in the domestic market, thanks to the effective policy of the government and practical action plan among other initiatives. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">December 20: The demand for electricity has increased significantly in the domestic market, thanks to the effective policy of the government and practical action plan among other initiatives. The demand for electricity has been increasing by 20 per cent every year on an average, according to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The NEA informed that the internal demand for electricity has suddenly increased due to the steps taken to increase the electricity demand and the increase in cold weather. The peak demand for electricity this year has increased compared to the previous year and it is in the range of 300 megawatts. NEA has adopted the policy of promoting the use of electric appliances and to provide the required energy to the industries with the aim of increasing the domestic consumption of electricity following a surplus of electricity in the market. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The big industries have been supplied with electricity as per their demand and this has helped enhance their production capacity. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">NEA has provided 30 megawatts of electricity to Hongshi Cement Industry, the largest cement factory in the country, since the second week of November. Another cement factory with Chinese investment, Huashin Cement Industry, has also taken 20 megawatts electricity. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Electricity demand capacity both in terms of megawatts and energy units is found increasing. For instance, the peak demand in the system on December 13 was 1,539 megawatts whereas the peak demand on the same day last year was 1,217 megawatts – an increase of 322 megawatts. On this basis, the peak demand for electricity has increased by 26.5 per cent this year compared to the demand on the same date last year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In order to meet the peak demand for electricity on December 13, NEA had managed 540 megawatts of electricity from its power houses, 529 megawatts from the powerhouses of its subsidiary companies and 425 megawatts from the private sector power houses, and imported 25 megawatts from India. Four megawatts electricity was exported to India even during peak time on that date. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Likewise, electricity demand has also increased suddenly in the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding regions where there is high electricity consumption. The peak demand in the Valley last year was 293 megawatts and it has gone up to 382 megawatts this year. This shows that the demand for electricity has increased notably in the Kathmandu Valley as well. The use of electric induction ovens has increased in the Valley. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">On the basis of the energy demand, the electricity consumption was 27.2 million units on December 13, which is 28.65 per cent more compared to 21.1 million units on the same day last year. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14251', 'image' => '20211220105149_NEA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 10:51:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14505', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ruling Parties form Taskforce to Discuss MCC ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 20: The ruling alliance has formed a three-member taskforce to hold discussions on US-funded project Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) with other political parties in order to reach a consensus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 20: The ruling alliance has formed a three-member taskforce to hold discussions on US-funded project Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) with other political parties in order to reach a consensus. </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"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, a meeting of the ruling alliance called by Prime Minister and Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba took a decision to this effect on Sunday. </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 taskforce comprises senior leader of CPN (Unified Socialist) Jhalanath Khanal, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki and CPN (Maoist Centre) Vice-chairman Narayankaji Shrestha. </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 taskforce has been entrusted with the responsibility of holding consultations with all political parties to resolve various issues that are under consideration in the parliament and resuming the House proceedings, RSS further 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"">The ruling coalition decided to form the taskforce after an all-party meeting called by PM Deuba could not reach a consensus regarding the MCC due to the differing views among the ruling parties. The ruling parties including Maoist Centre and CPN Unified Socialist were in favour of endorsing the grant agreement only after amendment. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting ended inconclusively due to the absence of the main opposition party CPN UML.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-20', 'modified' => '2021-12-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14250', 'image' => '20211220104128_MCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-20 10:40:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14504', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'FinMin Happy with Speech Delivery while Development Expenditure Remains Less than 2 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: The spending system of the government can be summed up as problematic.', '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"">December 19: The spending system of the government can be summed up as problematic. The government announced large budget to please the people. But the implementation of the budget has been poor. Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has still not shown his interest in implementing the budget, despite the budget not being spent as per the provisions authorized by him.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister Sharma shows his pretentious nature, giving strict instructions during budget review. But, he indulges himself into empty talks in programs organized by the party instead of taking care of problems in the spending 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:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the formation of the government led by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Finance Minister Sharma came to take charge of the Ministry of Finance. He presented the replacement bill on budget and announced a plan to spend 10 percent of the capital budget every month. As per the announcement, the Ministry of Finance issued the 'Criteria for Making Public Expenditure Economical and Effective 2078' and set a target of achieving 100 percent result by mid-June at a minimum rate of 10 percent within the first quarter and then at least 10 percent each month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the contrary, the government’s expenditure has not been able to exceed even 2 percent. Based on the target, the government was supposed to spend 30 percent of the total budget by mid-December. Meanwhile, only 6.46 percent or Rs 28.40 billion has been spent so far. This expenditure ratio is the lowest in 3 years and even weaker than during the Covid-19 pandemic period. A total of 10.18 percent of capital expenditure was incurred in the first five months of the fiscal year 2077/78. During the review period of the current fiscal year, capital expenditure has been much weaker than in the previous years. This indicates the failure of Minister Sharma to implement the budget.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister surrounded by activists</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 budget implementation has become weak due to the ignorance in taking care of problems within the spending system. According to the sources at the Ministry of Finance, Minister Sharma is absent from the ministry most of the time. And even if he comes to the office, the party activists surround him. The room of minister Sharma is crowded all the time. Despite the administrators saying that the authority of Singha Durbar has reached to the villages, the office of finance minister is filled with huge crowds to solve minor issues all the time.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“He (the finance minister) often has party special programs to attend. When he comes to the ministry, he is surrounded by the activists and well-wishers. The finance minister is more inclined to listen to the problems of the party workers than to address the problems of the economy,” said one of the senior officials of finance ministry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He doesn’t stop Instructing</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma, who is usually out attending party programmes, does not stop reviewing the budget and giving instructions to the officials. He called the secretaries and ministers of the concerned ministries to the finance ministry on Friday to review the budget after the budget implementation was proven to be weak. The meeting was attended by Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Renu Kumari Yadav, Minister for Health Birodh Khatiwada and Minister for Drinking Water Umakanta Chaudhary.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the meeting, Finance Minister Sharma asked the secretaries / ministries to implement the budget on time. The minister directed to spend 30 percent of the budget of each ministry by mid-January. Stating that the failure to make timely capital expenditure has also affected liquidity, he urged the ministries to spend on development as soon as possible.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma warned that if the budget expenditure is not seen, the allocated amount will be transferred under other headings during the upcoming review of the budget expenditure.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma said that the budget would be transferred to the places where the expenditure would be incurred at the state and local level if the situation was not resolved on time. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“If you don't spend, you can't hold on to that budget,” said the minister. Despite the strict instructions, there are no signs of compliance with spending the budget.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">While the budget implementation is weak, the government has not paid much attention to identification of the problem as well. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Economist Bishwambhar Pyakurel said that the report prepared by the Public Expenditure Review Commission formed by the government three years ago is still kept secret , while pointing out the problems in the expenditure system. This makes it clear that the government itself does not want to spend the money. According to him, the government must show seriousness in resolving the problems prevalent in the expenditure system.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ministers-secretaries are the obstacles in budget implementation</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ministers and secretaries are seen as obstacles in the implementation of the current budget. In particular, Urban Development Minister Ram Kumari Jhankri was firm in reversing the provisions in the budget. Later the decision of the minister was reversed through a secretary level deision.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A few months ago, Urban Development Minister Jhankri decided to block the agreement reached through the Consumer Committee. Because of which, the activities to be carried out through the consumer committee as per the budget had been stopped.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Recently, the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration made a secretary-level decision and revoked the decision of Minister Jhankri in order to continue the work to be done through the Consumer Committee. Minister Jhankri had decided to stop the purchase agreement saying that the work of the consumer committee was not of quality, full of corruption and that they showed slowness with work. Accordingly, all kinds of public purchases through the Consumers Committee were stopped from October 31. Flipping that decision, the Ministry of General Administration wrote to all the local levels to keep the work going.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Urban Development Minister is angry over the decision of the Ministry of General Administration and Minister Jhankri has said that she will not abide by the decision and has instructed the officials not to do the work under the ministry from the Consumer Committee until further notice, as per a source close to her.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14249', 'image' => '20211219040548_20210716022924_1626392414.Clipboard14.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 16:04:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14502', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Terrorism Threat Declines in Nepal but Risk Remains: US Report on Terrorism', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: A US report released on Thursday states that the threat posed by international terrorist organization has decreased in Nepal, but the risk persists.', '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"">December 19: A US report released on Thursday states that the threat posed by international terrorist organization has decreased in Nepal, but the risk persists. The new report on terrorism recently released by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken points out that there is still a risk that Nepal could become a transit point for an international terrorist organization.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 United States has cited Nepal’s open borders with India and inadequate security measures and arrangements at the country's only international airport as the reasons for such risk. In its 2018 report, the United States cited Nepal as a fertile ground for terrorism. However, the current report only points out the risks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In a report from 2015 to 2018, the United States stated that the Indian Mujahideen had expanded its base in Nepal and that Nepal was the hub of the organization. But the report, this time states the open border with India as a security risk.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The report was released by the US State Department's Bureau of Counterterrorism. The report states that there was no anti-US terrorist activity in Nepal in 2020.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that Netra Bikram Chand-led group has renounced violence and entered the peace process, the US report said that the group has continued its violent activities.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 US has addressed the group that was referred to as a pro-terrorist in the previous report, as pro-violent extremist this year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that Nepal does not have its own definition of terrorism, the US report points out the risk of terrorist activity in the Middle East affecting Nepal as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Dozens of members of international terrorist organizations have been arrested in Nepal in the last two decades. The Nepal Police has taken action against the persons arrested in such incidents as per the prevailing laws of Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to a high-ranking police source, Nepal has been secretly handing over many of them to the concerned countries in lack of extradition treaty.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A few years ago, a member of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba reportedly came to Nepal. He spent a few months in Kathmandu, Nepalgunj, Rupandehi and Kapilvastu. It was revealed that the member had obtained citizenship of Nepal from Kapilvastu. The Nepal Police had traced his activities and whereabouts. According to a high-ranking police source, he was arrested and action was taken against him for tampering with the government stamp.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 paying the penalty, he was secretly handed over to the concerned country. According to the police, he had come to Nepal to expand his organization in South Asia. Police had recovered some money and other documents from him.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14248', 'image' => '20211219032806_20211202020506_2009-03_Kathmandu_10.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 15:27:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14503', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Directs BFIs to prepare CD Ratio Action Plan', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has directed banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to prepare necessary action plans to maintain the CD ratio within the prescribed limit. ', '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"">December 19: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has directed banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to prepare necessary action plans to maintain the CD ratio within the prescribed limit. NRB issued the directive on Thursday, December 16. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 has issued the directive according to its arrangements made in the first quarterly review of the monetary policy. NRB has directed that deposit mobilization and credit flow should be managed on a monthly basis in compliance with the CD ratio.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The NRB had abolished the provision of CCD ratio of 85 percent in the current fiscal year and had made provision of CD ratio up to 90 percent. At present, the CD ratio of most banks is above 90 percent. The banks and financial institutions have been told to maintain the CD ratio at 90 percent by mid-July 2022. Accordingly, banks will be able to disburse the loans beyond the prescribed limit of CD ratio for the time being.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 NRB, banks and financial institutions can make action plans accordingly. This will resolve the issue of credit flow. NRB has introduced such provisions to facilitate lending in some essential 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"">Earlier, banks were seeking to increase the CD ratio to 92 percent. However, NRB has not increased the CD ratio but has facilitated its implementation. One of the officials of the central bank said banks should prepare an action plan to maintain CD ratio by mid July 2022. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"If the CD ratio of some banks is maintained at 91% but needs to extend the credit, the central bank will not prevent it from disbursing loans. It wouldn't be an issue if the CD ratio goes higher at present but it must be maintained within 90% by mid-July," 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"">Also, when banks and financial institutions assign the evaluator for the purpose of valuing the collateral, their work, duties, rights and responsibilities should be clearly stated in the agreement. The evaluator should evaluate the property to be accepted as collateral independently, without any bias or prejudice, on the basis of international recognition and good practices, NRB stated.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14247', 'image' => '20211219034337_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 15:42:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14501', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Prepares Work Procedure to Allow Participation of Private Sector in Power Trade', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: The government has prepared a draft of electricity trade work procedure to allow the private sector to get involved in electricity trade. ', '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"">December 19: The government has prepared a draft of electricity trade work procedure to allow the private sector to get involved in electricity trade. The Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has formulated the draft, informed a high-ranking official at the 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"">According to the official, the electricity bill under consideration in the federal parliament has proposed to allow the private sector to trade electricity. The ministry has said the work procedure will include this matter in a more precise way. According to a source, it has been proposed to allow the private sector to trade electricity not only in the country but also in the regional 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"">"Economic development is not possible without the participation of the private sector. Therefore, we need to take the private sector along in energy development. Accordingly, we have prepared a draft to allow the private sector to trade electricity," said the source.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Currently, only the government-owned Nepal Electricity Authority is allowed to engage in such trade. The private sector has been demanding for a permit to participate in the trade of electricity for a long time. Now the government is going to make policy arrangements in this regard. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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, this procedure will be implemented after the electricity bill under consideration in the parliament is endorsed. "We will implement the procedure accordingly after the bill is passed," said the source.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the ministry is also working to formulate guidelines on cross-border electricity trade. The ministry is ready to implement the guideline soon. The guideline is being formulated prioritizing electricity trade with India. As per the agreement reached between the two countries, India has already made such guidelines. The ministry expects the electricity trade to be more convenient once the guideline is prepared.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although there are no policy at the moment, the private sector has already established companies to trade electricity. Nepal Power Exchange Company has already been registered with the investment of businessmen including Kumar Pandey. Entrepreneurs including Motilal Dugad and Sandeep Shah have also set up electricity trading companies. Nepal Electricity Authority has also established Nepal Power Trade Company.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Recently, Nepal Infrastructure Bank (NIFRA) has also set up a separate company to trade electricity. However, they have not been able to get permits due to lack of necessary policy. Entrepreneur Pandey says that the possibility of getting a license has increased as the government is making policy arrangements.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that an alternative company should come to trade electricity in the country. "NEA has monopoly in trading electricity here. From now on, with the participation of companies from the private sector, the energy sector should have multiple buyers and multiple traders."</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14246', 'image' => '20211219024631_electricity.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 14:45:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14500', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '32 Per Cent Children in Nepal Chronically Malnourished: Report ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: Nepal’s progress towards reducing malnutrition faces setback due to multidimensional poverty, vulnerability to shocks including the economic slowdown from COVID-19 and weak infrastructure, states a report prepared by the National Planning Commission (NPC).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">December 19: Nepal’s progress towards reducing malnutrition faces setback due to multidimensional poverty, vulnerability to shocks including the economic slowdown from COVID-19 and weak infrastructure, states a report prepared by the National Planning Commission (NPC).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to a study conducted by the NPC, 32 per cent children in Nepal are chronically malnourished while seventeen percent of Nepalese women are overweight or obese. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The report unveiled last week points out to the prevalence of stunting among the poorest households in more than double that of the richest quintile. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the report, micronutrient deficiency or ‘hidden hunger’ is caused by inadequate diversity and limited essential nutrients in diets. The report also noted that the production and consumption of staple food is currently higher than that of fresh nutritious food. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The finding of the Fill the Nutrient Gap Analysis initiated by the NPC in 2020 show that the lowest cost nutritious diet is, at the national average, 348 per five-person household per day. The report further states that nutritious diet is more than twice as expensive as a diet that meets only the requirement of energy diets. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The study supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) used a food system approach to better understand the barriers to consuming national diets including how economic barriers prevent households from affording healthy foods. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The study highlights the need of a role from all sectors in improving the status of nutrition in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“To improve access to diets, Nepal must focus on food system transformation. Investment in nutrition-sensitive agriculture, staple food fortification and better infrastructure can improve accessibility to healthy foods for all,” the report states. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Unveiling the report on Friday, NPC member Dr Dil Bahadur Gurung underlined the need of credible data to rightly intervene in the malnutrition issues and reportedly said this type of analysis would help come up with right policies and programmes against malnutrition and implement them effectively in the future. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">WFP country director and representative Robert Kasca recommended the implementation of social security programmes, livelihood support programmes and school mid-day programmes targeting the households facing economic barriers to afford nutritious food to address the their nutritional requirements. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14245', 'image' => '20211219104353_191028-6-1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 10:43:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14499', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Experts Warn of Economic Slump, urge Govt to take Immediate Measures ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 19: Economists have urged the government to take immediate measures to bail out the country's economy from crisis, arguing that the banking sector has been facing liquidity crunch while the capital expenditure is meagre, and the balance of payments (BoP) has been increasing. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 19: Economists have urged the government to take immediate measures to bail out the country's economy from crisis, arguing that the banking sector has been facing liquidity crunch while the capital expenditure is meagre, and the balance of payments (BoP) has been increasing. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The balance of payments in the last four months is in deficit of Rs 1.51 billion, according to Nepal Rastra Bank. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The foreign currency reserve is also declining. In the recent months, remittance inflow has also declined. The development activities have not gained pace. The banking and financial sector is not able to extend loan as deposit collection has not increased. The import of luxury goods has impacted on foreign currency. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at a recent interaction organized in the capital, economist Dr Chandramani Adhikari said that the country's economy is in imminent crisis. According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, he suggested the government to increase foreign currency reserve through export of goods and services and give priority to foreign investment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Another economist Dr Dilliraj Khanal wondered why the production is stagnant when the banks have stepped up investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Former governor of Nepal Rastra Bank and economist Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri stressed on banning import of certain luxury items. He argued that the capital expenditure remains dismal due to managerial weakness. The current problem is not only the result of political system but also of the budget system, he added. Chhetri further said that the government did not have a clear trade policy. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-19', 'modified' => '2021-12-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14244', 'image' => '20211219102227_economic crisis.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-19 10:21:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14498', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Directs Ministries to Spend 30 per cent of Budget within 1 Month', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 17: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has directed all ministries to spend 30 per cent of their budget within one month. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 17: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has directed all ministries to spend 30 per cent of their budget within one month. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The finance minister argued that lack of capital expenditure has contributed to the liquidity crunch in the country. He added that no ministry will be exempted from delaying budget expenditure. The Finance Ministry will provide necessary help in this regard, said the minister at an inter-ministry discussion at the Ministry of Finance on Friday. </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"">Minister Sharma warned that the unspent budget will be transferred under other headings if the ministries fail to spend the budget on time. He also reiterated to end the trend of </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">releasing budget towards the end of the fiscal year. Minister Sharma also directed prompt delivery of government services. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Present on the occasion were Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Renu Kumari Yadav, Health Minister Birodh Khatiwada and Minister for Water Supply Umakanta Chaudhary. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-17', 'modified' => '2021-12-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14243', 'image' => '20211217092607_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-17 21:25:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
| Currency | Unit |
Buy | Sell |
| U.S. Dollar | 1 | 121.23 | 121.83 |
| European Euro | 1 | 131.65 | 132.31 |
| UK Pound Sterling | 1 | 142.47 | 143.18 |
| Swiss Franc | 1 | 124.29 | 124.90 |
| Australian Dollar | 1 | 71.69 | 72.05 |
| Canadian Dollar | 1 | 83.90 | 84.32 |
| Japanese Yen | 10 | 10.94 | 11.00 |
| Chinese Yuan | 1 | 17.17 | 17.26 |
| Saudi Arabian Riyal | 1 | 32.27 | 32.43 |
| UAE Dirham | 1 | 33.01 | 33.17 |
| Malaysian Ringgit | 1 | 27.36 | 27.50 |
| South Korean Won | 100 | 9.77 | 9.82 |
Update: 2020-03-25 | Source: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)
| Fine Gold | 1 tola | 77000.00 |
| Tejabi Gold | 1 tola | 76700.00 |
| Silver | 1 tola | 720.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
Source: Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association
| Petrol | 1 Liter | 106.00 |
| Diesel | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| Kerosene | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| LP Gas | 1 Cylinder | 1375.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
