December 13: With adequate production of electricity in the country in recent days, debates have surfaced on how to utilize electricity as a catalyst for industrial development while ensuring its…
December 13: With adequate production of electricity in the country in recent days, debates have surfaced on how to utilize electricity as a catalyst for industrial development while ensuring its…
December 12: The Mountain Advocacy Summit-2022 is to be organized in Mustang on March 13 and 14, 2022 to make the world aware of the impact of climate change on the mountainous…
December 12: Nepal’s trade deficit with India from Birgunj customs alone has reached around Rs 125 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal…
December 12: Sugarcane farmers are at the receiving end as the government has not been able to fix the price of sugarcane on time.…
December 12: The Biratnagar Airport Victims Struggle Committee handed over a memorandum to Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale on…
December 12: The third phase of works of the Bheri-Babai Multi-purpose Diversion Project has started with the completion of second phase of works related to the…
December 12: Temperature has dropped in the Kathmandu Valley in recent days.…
December 12: Stakeholders have emphasized the need of a common action plan to promote religious tourism between Nepal and India.…
December 10: The work procedure for providing a 10-day tourism leave, announced by the government to promote domestic tourism to support the business affected by Covid-19, has been limited to…
December 10: Dhruba Thapa has been elected as the President of Nepal Automobiles Dealers Association…
December 10: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has claimed that the economic growth rate of the current fiscal year will be 7 percent.…
December 10: The major challenges faced by the country at the moment include inflation, liquidity crisis and the increasing volume of…
December 10: There has been a considerable rise in the number of electronic payment in online business (e-commerce).…
December 10: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against former section officer of finance ministry, Uddav Thapaliya, accusing him of amassing over Rs 15 million through illegal…
December 10: A big chunk of chemical fertilizers imported on subsidy for boosting agriculture yields has been allegedly misused for commercial…
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Similarly, they gave equal importance to increase internal consumption of energy. The viability is more on export of hydropower to Bangladesh and India, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Export of electricity would reduce trade deficit, the speakers argued. They shared such views at a programme organized jointly by Economic Policy Incubator and Society of Economic Journalists Nepal in the capital on Sunday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Minister for Energy, Hydropower and Irrigation Pampha Bhushal said the time has come for Nepal to prefer energy diplomacy to political and economic diplomacy. She also shared that newly appointed Ambassador to India, Shankar Sharma, was also reminded to focus on energy diplomacy during his tenure. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to her, a draft of new laws is being prepared to remove legal and technical hurdles to this end. A bill on this regard would be passed in the winter session of parliament if there would not be any political obstruction, Minister Bhushal said. She urged the private sector to make preparation to export hydropower.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to RSS, Joint Secretary at Energy Ministry Madhu Prasad Bhetuwal said cautious management of electricity is the need of the hour. Based on the present level of power demand, the surplus would increase to 50,000 Giga Watt Hour by 2028, he argued. "Hefty production cost compared to the neighbouring countries is the major challenge," RSS quoted Bhetuwal as saying. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to NEA Chief Executive Officer Kulman Ghising, how energy consumption could be increased is a serious challenge at present. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Nabil Bank's CEO Anil Keshari Shah worried that if the hydropower sector faced challenges, it would be a huge loss to country. "If the hydropower sector is dented, banks would go bankrupt," he warned, urging for apt management of hydropower in the country.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-13', 'modified' => '2021-12-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14209', 'image' => '20211213082247_20150823012330_ep1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-13 08:21:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14462', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mountain Advocacy Summit to be held in Mustang ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: The Mountain Advocacy Summit-2022 is to be organized in Mustang on March 13 and 14, 2022 to make the world aware of the impact of climate change on the mountainous region. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 12: The Mountain Advocacy Summit-2022 is to be organized in Mustang on March 13 and 14, 2022 to make the world aware of the impact of climate change on the mountainous region. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The objective of the Summit is to draw the attention of all stakeholders towards the problems and challenges faced by the Himalayan region due to the effects of climate change, and towards the possibilities and opportunities as well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/920769_589580434399017_325803078_o.jpg" style="height:600px; width:800px" /> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Summit is to be jointly organized by the Karnali Integrated Rural Development and Research Centre (KIRDAC –Nepal), The Mountain Foundation Nepal, the International Forum for Food Security and Climate Justice, among other organisations. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Executive Director of KIRDARC-Nepal, Govinda Bahadur Shahi informed in a press conference that the Summit is being held for discussing issues such as the increasing temperature due to climate change and its direct impact on the mountain ecosystem, the protection of biodiversity in the mountain region and coastal areas and the development of tourism. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/10287024_773958239294568_7942260973591736161_o.jpg" style="height:600px; width:800px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Stating that the mountainous region is at high risk of the impacts of climate change, Shahi underlined the need of informing the national and international sectors about this issue so as to reduce the risk. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Former member of the National Planning Commission (NPC), Min Bahadur Shahi said advocacy at the citizens' level is required for having positive influence in policy-making at the national, regional and international levels in order to protect biodiversity, art, culture and civilization as well as the lifestyle of the people in the mountain and coastal areas. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"It is necessary to provide services in an effective manner through the promotion of an accountable and responsible good governance system for the development and preservation of the mountain region. The development, conservation and preservation of this region will play an important role in the sustainable development of the entire planet and the biosphere, and not only of a specific geography and people's livelihood," Shahi added.-- RSS </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/901230_589580234399037_1411735628_o.jpg" style="height:451px; width:800px" /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14208', 'image' => '20211212061230_459932_589579011065826_229923417_o.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 18:10:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14463', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Trade Deficit through Birgunj Customs Crosses Rs 125 Billion in First Quarter', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: Nepal’s trade deficit with India from Birgunj customs alone has reached around Rs 125 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.', '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 12: Nepal’s trade deficit with India from Birgunj customs alone has reached around Rs 125 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Birgunj Customs Office, the country’s foreign trade with India has been at a deficit of Rs 120 billion between July to October 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"">In the last four months, goods worth Rs 158 billion have been imported from India through Birgunj customs. During the same period, goods worth Rs 38 billion were exported to India, according to the Birgunj Customs.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India is also Nepal's largest trading partner. Most of Nepal's imports come from India. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The trade deficit with India through Birgunj customs is about 65 percent of the total deficit. In the first four months of the current year, the total trade deficit is Rs 185 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the review period, the country’s total foreign trade was worth Rs 264 billion including imports of Rs 224 billion and exports equal to Rs 39.56 billion. Customs data shows that India is also Nepal’s largest export 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"">Around 96 percent of the total exports from Birgunj customs were to India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">China, the second-largest trading partner after India, exported goods worth Rs 13 billion to Nepal during the review period, while importing goods worth Rs 13 million. Nepal traded with 33 countries through the Birgunj Customs Office, while trade with the Czech Republic, Norway, Ireland, and Sweden were at a surplus.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Foreign trade has increased in the current fiscal year. During the corresponding period of last fiscal year, foreign trade contracted due to the pandemic. Customs officials said that the size of trade has increased, with the increase in demand in the market 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"">The Birgunj dry port mainly imports petroleum products, vehicles, spare parts, industrial raw materials, and exports food grains,<strong> </strong>refined oil, cloth, yarn, and carpets.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14207', 'image' => '20211212073526_Birgunj.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 19:34:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14461', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Delays Fixing Price of Sugarcane', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: Sugarcane farmers are at the receiving end as the government has not been able to fix the price of sugarcane on time. ', '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 12: Sugarcane farmers are at the receiving end as the government has not been able to fix the price of sugarcane on time. Thousands of farmers from over two dozen districts of the Terai region are involved in commercial farming of sugarcane. Despite the onset of the crushing season, the government still has not been able to determine the price of sugarcane this year. The farmers are in a dilemma due to this very reason.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">These days, farmers are compelled to visit the government’s administrative building - Singha Durbar - after the government showed no interest to determine the price of sugarcane. Last Thursday, the farmers' representative met Agriculture Minister Mahendra Raya Yadav and Agriculture Secretary Govinda Prasad Sharma and put pressure on them to fix the price of sugarcane.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 the meeting, they demanded to fix a fair price of sugarcane on the basis of production cost and selling price of sugar, said Kapil Muni Mainali, the president of Federation of Sugarcane Producers. They put forth their demand for maintaining the price of sugarcane at Rs 650 per quintal for 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"">"We have demanded that the minimum price of sugarcane be fixed at Rs 650 per quintal this year," said president Mainali adding, “If the prices allocated are not based on production cost, farmers will stop commercial farming of sugarcane. We have drawn the attention of the government and industrialists in this matter”.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prakash Sanjel, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development informed that preparations are being made to allocate the price of sugarcane for this year within this week itself. He claimed that this year's pricing of sugarcane will be more scientific and practical than it was in the previous years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the ministry had conducted a field study in 10 districts of the Terai, which is considered as a pocket area of sugarcane, to determine the price of sugarcane for this year. As per the ministry, more than 30 study samples have been collected from each district. </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"">How was the price for sugarcane fixed last year?</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"">Last year, the government had fixed the price of sugarcane at Rs 544.33 per quintal. The breakdown of the amount is given as the price of sugarcane (Rs 386.16), transportation cost and profit (Rs 92.89), and per quintal grant given by the government (Rs 65.28).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 price had increased by only Rs 8 per quintal last year as compared to the previous year. However, the Federation of Sugarcane Producers of Nepal has demanded to fix the price of sugarcane by an additional amount of Rs 106 per quintal as compared to last 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"">Sugarcane cultivation in the Terai has been declining for the past few years due to cost overruns. Farmers have been destroying sugarcane due to the problem of not getting the price in proportion to the cost and industrialists not paying the price fixed by the government on time.</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"">Industries on the verge of closing due to shortage of sugarcane</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"">Due to the shortage of sugarcane, the industries are on the verge of closure. The sugar industry, which used to remain operational for 4-5 months in winter a few years back, has now started to close within 2 months of operation due to lack of sugarcane.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Thakur Nepal, the head of the administration department of Indu Shankar Sugar Industry, sugar industries used to start their operation towards the end of November itself until a few years back. However, he said that there are no signs of starting the operation of the sugar industry even until mid-December 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"">Apart from Indu Shankar Sugar Industry of Sarlahi and Everest Sugar Industry of Mahottari, all the other sugar industries of the country have not paid their dues to the farmers on time. The sugarcane farmers have been upset and de-motivated by this behavior of the industries. As a consequence, farmers have started planting crops other than sugarcane.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Commercial farming of sugarcane has been taking place in Sarlahi, Mahottari, Dhanusha, Siraha, Saptari, Sunsari, Morang, Rautahat, Bara, Parsa, Nawalparasi and Rupandehi districts in the Terai. Statistics show that Nepal produced 120,000 metric tons of sugar last year. The country has an annual demand of 250,000 metric tons of sugar.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14206', 'image' => '20211212021448_20190107104522_sugarcane.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 14:14:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14460', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Minister Ale Positive towards the Demands of Biratnagar Airport Victims', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: The Biratnagar Airport Victims Struggle Committee handed over a memorandum to Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale on Friday.', '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 12: The Biratnagar Airport Victims Struggle Committee handed over a memorandum to Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale on Friday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A team including Bedraj Poudel, coordinator of the struggle committee, handed over a nine-point memorandum to Minister Ale. Stating that they have not received any compensation even after 17 months they were barred from transferring their land after the airport initiated the process for acquisition of their land , the victims' team had demanded the Minister to pay them the due compensation or release their houses and land.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government is planning to acquire 126 bighas of land to uprgade Biratnagar Airport to a regional airport. The team of the Struggle Committee met minister Ale and demanded that the airport should acquire the entire land of those whose portion of land falls inside the airport and, compensation should be paid in lump sum. Likewise, they also demanded that they should be paid Rs 4,500 per square foot for a house and Rs 2 million per dhur of land.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ale assured that they are ready to listen to the victims and will manage the fund for the compensation once they return to Kathmandu. He said he was positive about the demands of the victims.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Ale also inspected the Biratnagar Airport on Friday. He also said that a budget of Rs 85 million would be allocated for beautification of Biratnagar Airport.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 mentioned that a budget would be allocated for the development and expansion of the airport and construction of the palace of the ancient King Birat at Bhediyari in Biratnagar. Minister Ale said that it would be appropriate to move the Biratnagar Airport to Amduwa, Sunsari. He said that if all the political parties, organizations, private sector and the people of Biratnagar do not have objection, then the airport could be relocated to 600 bighas of land in Amduwa.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ale pointed to the officials of CNI and said, “The ball is in your court. If you come to an agreement, the airport can be shifted to Amduwa.” The government has also allocated a budget to conduct a study to build a cross-border industrial zone on 600 bighas of land in Amaduwa.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14205', 'image' => '20211212020341_20211201071952_1638316047.Clipboard03.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 14:03:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14459', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bheri-Babai Project Expected to Complete by 2023', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: The third phase of works of the Bheri-Babai Multi-purpose Diversion Project has started with the completion of second phase of works related to the project.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 12: The third phase of works of the Bheri-Babai Multi-purpose Diversion Project has started with the completion of second phase of works related to the project.The second phase of works was related to civil construction while the third phase includes work related to hydro mechanical (HM) and electro-mechanical (EM) engineering, according to information officer at the project, Lekhnath Subedi. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The national pride project with estimated cost of over Rs 36.8 billion has achieved 49 per cent of physical progress and 38.24 per cent of fiscal progress so far, shared Subedi. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Agreement for the HM related works has been inked while e-bidding for EM is in the process, he informed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The project aims to divert water from Bheri River to Babai River through a 12.2-kilometre tunnel and irrigate 51,000 hectares of farmland in Banke and Bardiya districts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The multipurpose project, which is expected to be completed by 2023, will also generate 48 megawatts of electricity, according to the project officials. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14204', 'image' => '20211212121946_20171123111955_20171120041016_Veri Babai TBM.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 12:18:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14458', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mercury Level Plummets, Snowfall Predicted later this Week', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: Temperature has dropped in the Kathmandu Valley in recent days. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 12: Temperature has dropped in the Kathmandu Valley in recent days. The minimum temperature of the Valley was recorded at 5 degrees Celsius on Sunday, the coldest this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The temperature was 5.4 degrees Celsius on Saturday and 6.5 degrees on Friday, according to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. Due to a drop in temperature, people are experiencing extreme cold throughout the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Department has urged one and all to keep warm and safe from cold as mercury continues to dip. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Snowfall is predicted in some high areas of Sudurpaschim, Karnali and Gandaki Provinces later this week due to the mixture of westerly wind and westerly low pressure system, the Department said. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the latest updates provided by the Meteorological Forecasting Division, the maximum temperature of the Valley was 19.8 degrees Celsius today (December 12). Similarly, Jumla reported the lowest minus 4.5 degrees Celsius while Bhairahawa recorded the highest 28.4 degrees Celsius. </span><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">-- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14203', 'image' => '20211212105233_20190228040359_DSC_2752.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 10:51:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14457', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Collaboration Between Nepal and India Emphasized for Promotion of Religious Tourism ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: Stakeholders have emphasized the need of a common action plan to promote religious tourism between Nepal and India. ', 'content' => '<p><em>Lumbini. Photos: RSS</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 12: Stakeholders have emphasized the need of a common action plan to promote religious tourism between Nepal and India. They argued that this will benefit both the countries as they share centuries-old bond and similar culture and religion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The stakeholders said so while addressing a three-day international convention of the Association of Buddhist Tour Operators (ABTO) organized by the ABTO, India in Bodh Gaya. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Inaugurating the convention on Friday (December 10), New Delhi government's Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam underscored the need for mutual cooperation between India and Nepal to tap the abundant potential of the two countries in tourism sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He emphasized mutual cooperation to promote religious tourism in the countries as both Nepal and India have been connected to issues relating to Lord Buddha. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Such initiate would help in economic and social developments of both the countries, according to a statement issued by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, other participants on the occasion also seconded Minister Gautam while emphasizing cooperation between the two countries for the promotion of religious tourism. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Those who shared their views included NTB Director Maniraj Lamichhane, President of the Nepal Association of Tour and Travels Agents, Achyut Guragain; General Secretary of the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal, Sarita Lama; central member of the Hotel Association of Nepal, CP Shrestha; and Assistant Director of the Kolkata Tourism Office, BB Mukherjee.</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"">Experts will table various working papers during the convention. A business-to-business (B2B) session will also be organized during the event as well, said the ABTO General Secretary Dr Kaulesh Kumar. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> <img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/LumbiniRSS%281%29.jpg" style="height:600px; width:800px" /></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14202', 'image' => '20211212104623_LumbiniRSSS.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 08:13:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14455', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Work Procedure on Tourism Leave Limited to Draft', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: The work procedure for providing a 10-day tourism leave, announced by the government to promote domestic tourism to support the business affected by Covid-19, has been limited to draft.', '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 10: The work procedure for providing a 10-day tourism leave, announced by the government to promote domestic tourism to support the business affected by Covid-19, has been limited to draft. Although the draft of the procedure was prepared last September it has not been approved yet. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation has also delayed collecting feedback related to the draft from other ministries. One month after the draft was prepared, the ministry started seeking suggestions from all the ministries. Currently, only a few ministries have provided feedback on the draft procedure. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tek Narayan Poudel, joint spokesperson of the Ministry, said that a revised draft of the work procedure will be submitted to the Council of Ministers as soon as the ministry approves the suggestions received from other ministries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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, he said that the suggestions would be collected soon, and the procedure would be passed and implemented within December. The government had announced this program in its budget speech on May 30. It took almost six months to prepare the draft of the work procedure.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tourism entrepreneurs have become frustrated with the government for not implementing the plan to provide 10-day tourism leave to civil servants and other government employees as a relief to the tourism sector that has been worst affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Encouraged by the program brought by the government, the tourism entrepreneurs had come up with attractive packages accordingly. However, they say that the package did not work.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even though hoteliers have made packages in collaboration with airline companies, they are disappointed that the programme has not been implemented, says Binayak Shah, senior vice president of the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN). "The work procedure has not been finalized yet. Therefore, this program isn’t meaningful at all,” said Shah.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the tourism sector requires domestic tourists at the moment as foreign tourists are not coming in large numbers as before.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the government had pledged to implement the programme soon after the announcement, Shah said that there is no possibility to move ahead as the government has not started the programme yet. He added that it is too late to implement the programme.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chairman of the Talking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN), Khum Bahadur Subedi, complained that the government had given priority only to the plan but did not show seriousness in its implementation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 packages and plans made by the trekking agencies for this purpose have been wasted, said Subedi.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 draft of the working procedure has provision to provide expenses even to a non-employee, i.e. a family member of the employee. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 the budget announcement, the government had mentioned that civil servants as well as employees of public institutions and establishments will be provided tourism leave with an amount equal to 10 days' salary in order to promote domestic tourism.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14201', 'image' => '20211210063052_20200719042015_Tourism Nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 18:30:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14456', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Thapa Elected NADA President ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: Dhruba Thapa has been elected as the President of Nepal Automobiles Dealers Association (NADA). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 10: Dhruba Thapa has been elected as the President of Nepal Automobiles Dealers Association (NADA). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">An entrepreneur from Pokhara, Thapa, defeated his rival Karan Chaudhary by 66 votes. NADA's chief election officer and advocate Bal Krishna Dhakal shared that Thapa received 1,413 votes against 1,347 votes obtained by Chaudhary. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 45th annual general meeting of NADA has elected a 17-member executive committee that includes Bikram Singhania, Milan Babu Malla, Rajan Babu Shrestha and Surendra Kumar Uptrey. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Sunil Rijal, Abhisekh Jyoti, Prakash Kapuri, Bikram Singhania, Gopal Bhattarai, Yamuna Shreshta and Bardan Basnet among others were also elected in the new executive committee. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Of the total 3,200 members of NADA, 2,788 votes were cast in the election for the new executive committee. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14200', 'image' => '20211210065523_NADA-Election-2021-Dhruba-Thapa-Panel-Announced-Featured-Image-1110x577.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 18:54:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14454', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Finance Minister Assures of Economic Growth Rate of 7 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has claimed that the economic growth rate of the current fiscal year will be 7 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 10: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has claimed that the economic growth rate of the current fiscal year will be 7 percent.</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> The goal of economic growth was difficult to achieve in the past due to various problems, said Sharma, adding that there won’t be such problems now.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at a meeting of the Finance Committee of the House of Representatives on Thursday, Finance Minister Sharma said that 98 percent of the industries and factories have been re-opened after the Covid-19 pandemic. He said that economic activities have increased everywhere and this will also help in economic growth.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to him, climate change has been seen as the main challenge in achieving economic growth of late. Stating that billions of rupees have been lost due to unseasonal rainfall, he said that despite these challenges, the target of economic growth would be met.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Furthermore, he also said that liquidity crisis still persists in the market. Stating that there is only Rs 16 billion investment (liquidity) in the banking sector now, he said that the liquidity problem has been removed to some extent. “Even though the NRB has injected Rs 2.3 trillion in the banking system in the current fiscal year alone, the problem has not been resolved. The lack of capital expenditure is also a weakness. However, government’s overall expenditure is 2 percent higher than last year,” 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"">Stating that the flow of foreign aid is continuing, he said that discussions are being held with various donor agencies. “We have just reached an agreement for $400 million loan with the IMF under the ECF. We are getting $100 million at the moment. We are also in the process of getting assistance from other agencies like ADB and other countries,” said Minister Sharma.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 NRB has made arrangements for non-resident Nepalis to open savings accounts in dollars, he said that it would have a positive impact on the country's economy. According to Sharma, the ministry has deployed a special task force at the airport customs. The task force has been seizing 19/20 kg of gold daily at the airport. Stating that arrangements have been made to release the seized gold only after collecting customs duty, Sharma expressed confidence that it would help in revenue collection</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At the meeting of the committee, Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, Maha Prasad Adhikari, said that there was a lack of liquidity as more loans were disbursed than deposits collected. According to officials, deposits have increased by only Rs 64 billion whereas loans from the banking system have gone up to Rs 411 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“There is a lack of liquidity due to the gap of Rs 300 billion,” he said. According to the governor, 50 percent of the extended loan, or Rs 205 billion, has to be spent on imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 remittances have not increased significantly, Governor Adhikari said that an average of Rs 80 billion is being received. He says remittances have not been able to keep up with high imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14199', 'image' => '20211210015931_CKC_KTM_JANARDANSHARMA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 13:58:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14453', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Controlling Inflation is Challenging, says NRB Governor', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: The major challenges faced by the country at the moment include inflation, liquidity crisis and the increasing volume of imports.', '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 10: The major challenges faced by the country at the moment include inflation, liquidity crisis and the increasing volume of imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari is of the view that it will be quite challenging to keep inflation within the limit of 6.5 percent </span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">if the current economic indicators are not improved.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/20201211011108_20200407080848_IMG_4955%20-%20Copy.jpg" style="height:268px; width:300px" /></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Adhikari, the impact of this year's heavy rainfall on rice and other crops will reflect in inflation. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He made such remarks during a meeting of the Finance Committee of Parliament.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank is mobilizing all its monetary instruments for the management of financial crisis.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Adhikari, the central bank is planning to tighten imports of luxury items, considering its impact on the economy. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that imports, which were excessively high during the pandemic, may be alarming under normal circumstances, he warned.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Foreign exchange reserves have declined to Rs 131 billion from Rs 139 billion. With foreign investment and remittances declining, payments for rising import is another challenge.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The shortage of liquidity still persists. Credit worth Rs 411 billion has been disbursed until now but only Rs 64 billion has been collected as deposits resulting in the liquidity crisis. And a total of Rs 205 billion is being spent for imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Adhikari said the flow of remittance has not increased much and stands at an average of Rs 80 billion. Remittance inflow has not been able to cope with the high volume of import, he said. Considering the impact on liquidity, the central bank has not raised internal debt. In order to increase the flow of remittance, the central bank has floated the idea of increasing the interest on the amount deposited through remittance by one percentage points.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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, a new scheme has been introduced to attract deposits from non-resident Nepalis.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He also suggested investing in the stock market after developing a good understanding about it. Investors need to have information about financial reports of companies before investing, added Adhikari. The stock market witnessed a steep rise due to lack of promising areas during the pandemic. Public awareness needs to be increased regarding this matter, he further stated. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14198', 'image' => '20211210013911_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 13:37:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14452', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Online Payment on the Rise', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: There has been a considerable rise in the number of electronic payment in online business (e-commerce). ', '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 10: There has been a considerable rise in the number of electronic payment in online business (e-commerce). Although e-commerce has already been popular for quite some time, payments were still made in cash. However, lately, payments have also been increasing through electronic means.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 data obtained from the Department of Payment Systems of Nepal Rastra Bank, electronic payments have been increasing progressively since last May. Not only the amount, but the number of transactions has also increased during the review period.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">From mid-May to mid-June last year, payments of Rs 161 million were made through electronic means. By September, it had increased to Rs 455 million.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 last May, the number of payments made online while purchasing goods was 38,613. By September, 76,357 such payments were made.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 past, although most of the customers bought goods online, they used to make payments through cash. NRB spokesperson Dev Kumar Dhakal says that the trend of making payments online has increased recently in contrast to previous years. “Now, the common people are changing their habits. They tend to stop carrying cash. They try to make online payments whenever it’s possible,” he said, adding “This is the reason why online payments are increasing.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 says Covid-19 has made electronic payments take a big leap. “Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, people are starting to use technology,” said Dhakal adding, “There are various digital wallets in operation currently. Banks are also making mobile banking more effective, aiding in the surge of electronic payments.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14197', 'image' => '20211210125229_20200918073634_digita.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 12:51:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14451', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CIAA Files Corruption Case against Former Section Officer of Finance Ministry', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against former section officer of finance ministry, Uddav Thapaliya, accusing him of amassing over Rs 15 million through illegal means.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 10: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against former section officer of finance ministry, Uddav Thapaliya, accusing him of amassing over Rs 15 million through illegal means. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The CIAA filed the case against the retired officer at the Special Court charging him of amassing the amount illegally during his 35-year service to the government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the anti-graft body, the detailed study of Thapaliya’s income and expenditure since he started the government job on February 18, 1984 till his retirement on April 13, 2019 could only establish the source of income amounting to Rs 10.2 million. However, Thapaliya has been found of spending and investing an Rs 20.67 million during the review period, out of which the source of income of Rs 16.4 million is unknown. The CIAA decided to file the corruption case against Thapaliya after this source of income could not be verified. The anti-graft body has sought a bail amount equal to the money he amassed through unconfirmed sources.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The CIAA has also sought to freeze his properties including land, house and bank account whose source is not confirmed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The CIAA has also filed a case against his wife Muna Panta Thapaliya for abetting the crime. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14196', 'image' => '20211210115020_20210624124455_20190205023717_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 11:49:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14450', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Urea Imported on Subsidy Grossly Misused: Parliamentary Committee ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: A big chunk of chemical fertilizers imported on subsidy for boosting agriculture yields has been allegedly misused for commercial purpose. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 10: A big chunk of chemical fertilizers imported on subsidy for boosting agriculture yields has been allegedly misused for commercial purpose. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the National Assembly's Delegated Management and Government Assurance Committee on Wednesday shared the information that around 80 plywood industries currently operating in the country are using the chemical fertilizer for gluing purpose. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The misuse has come to the light in course of committee interaction with stakeholders on how to best utilize and manage around 150,000 sacks of chemical fertilizer that has been stuck in Birgunj-based dry port. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the official data, the government has been annually importing almost 500,000 tons of chemical fertilizer from abroad for agriculture. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It has been suspected that out of the total imported urea, roughly 10 percent has been supplied to the plywood industries. It has been found that majority of industries have been using urea although they have stated that a chemical namely raisin will be used as glue in course of obtaining approval for setting up the industry. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government has been providing chemical fertilizer to the farmers at subsidized rate of Rs 74 per kilogram. The fertilizer is not available for the farmers during the time of crop cultivation in Nepal, when it is needed the most. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The alleged use of chemical fertilizers for commercial purpose meant to be given to the farmers shows a gross misuse of subsidy provided to the farmers. The price of chemical fertilizers has increased manifold in the international market of late. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It is very tough to import chemical fertilizers with the rise in the price of raw materials used in manufacturing fertilizers, shared the stakeholders including the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Salt Trading Corporation and Agriculture Inputs Company Limited. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Committee President Ram Narayan Bidari said serious discussion with concerned ministry and agency has been put forth to draw their attention to resolve the pertinent problem of the country. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14195', 'image' => '20211210081838_20210526042706_20200817122726_1597613093.Clipboard02 (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 08:17:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14464', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'It's Time for Energy Diplomacy, says Minister', 'sub_title' => 'Experts stress on utilizing electricity for industrial development', 'summary' => 'December 13: With adequate production of electricity in the country in recent days, debates have surfaced on how to utilize electricity as a catalyst for industrial development while ensuring its export.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 13: With adequate production of electricity in the country in recent days, debates have surfaced on how to utilize electricity as a catalyst for industrial development while ensuring its export. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Experts have stressed the need for finding international market for electricity produced in Nepal by clearing legal and technical hurdles. Similarly, they gave equal importance to increase internal consumption of energy. The viability is more on export of hydropower to Bangladesh and India, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Export of electricity would reduce trade deficit, the speakers argued. They shared such views at a programme organized jointly by Economic Policy Incubator and Society of Economic Journalists Nepal in the capital on Sunday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Minister for Energy, Hydropower and Irrigation Pampha Bhushal said the time has come for Nepal to prefer energy diplomacy to political and economic diplomacy. She also shared that newly appointed Ambassador to India, Shankar Sharma, was also reminded to focus on energy diplomacy during his tenure. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to her, a draft of new laws is being prepared to remove legal and technical hurdles to this end. A bill on this regard would be passed in the winter session of parliament if there would not be any political obstruction, Minister Bhushal said. She urged the private sector to make preparation to export hydropower.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to RSS, Joint Secretary at Energy Ministry Madhu Prasad Bhetuwal said cautious management of electricity is the need of the hour. Based on the present level of power demand, the surplus would increase to 50,000 Giga Watt Hour by 2028, he argued. "Hefty production cost compared to the neighbouring countries is the major challenge," RSS quoted Bhetuwal as saying. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to NEA Chief Executive Officer Kulman Ghising, how energy consumption could be increased is a serious challenge at present. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Nabil Bank's CEO Anil Keshari Shah worried that if the hydropower sector faced challenges, it would be a huge loss to country. "If the hydropower sector is dented, banks would go bankrupt," he warned, urging for apt management of hydropower in the country.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-13', 'modified' => '2021-12-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14209', 'image' => '20211213082247_20150823012330_ep1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-13 08:21:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14462', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mountain Advocacy Summit to be held in Mustang ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: The Mountain Advocacy Summit-2022 is to be organized in Mustang on March 13 and 14, 2022 to make the world aware of the impact of climate change on the mountainous region. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 12: The Mountain Advocacy Summit-2022 is to be organized in Mustang on March 13 and 14, 2022 to make the world aware of the impact of climate change on the mountainous region. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The objective of the Summit is to draw the attention of all stakeholders towards the problems and challenges faced by the Himalayan region due to the effects of climate change, and towards the possibilities and opportunities as well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/920769_589580434399017_325803078_o.jpg" style="height:600px; width:800px" /> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Summit is to be jointly organized by the Karnali Integrated Rural Development and Research Centre (KIRDAC –Nepal), The Mountain Foundation Nepal, the International Forum for Food Security and Climate Justice, among other organisations. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Executive Director of KIRDARC-Nepal, Govinda Bahadur Shahi informed in a press conference that the Summit is being held for discussing issues such as the increasing temperature due to climate change and its direct impact on the mountain ecosystem, the protection of biodiversity in the mountain region and coastal areas and the development of tourism. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/10287024_773958239294568_7942260973591736161_o.jpg" style="height:600px; width:800px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Stating that the mountainous region is at high risk of the impacts of climate change, Shahi underlined the need of informing the national and international sectors about this issue so as to reduce the risk. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Former member of the National Planning Commission (NPC), Min Bahadur Shahi said advocacy at the citizens' level is required for having positive influence in policy-making at the national, regional and international levels in order to protect biodiversity, art, culture and civilization as well as the lifestyle of the people in the mountain and coastal areas. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"It is necessary to provide services in an effective manner through the promotion of an accountable and responsible good governance system for the development and preservation of the mountain region. The development, conservation and preservation of this region will play an important role in the sustainable development of the entire planet and the biosphere, and not only of a specific geography and people's livelihood," Shahi added.-- RSS </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/901230_589580234399037_1411735628_o.jpg" style="height:451px; width:800px" /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14208', 'image' => '20211212061230_459932_589579011065826_229923417_o.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 18:10:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14463', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Trade Deficit through Birgunj Customs Crosses Rs 125 Billion in First Quarter', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: Nepal’s trade deficit with India from Birgunj customs alone has reached around Rs 125 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.', '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 12: Nepal’s trade deficit with India from Birgunj customs alone has reached around Rs 125 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Birgunj Customs Office, the country’s foreign trade with India has been at a deficit of Rs 120 billion between July to October 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"">In the last four months, goods worth Rs 158 billion have been imported from India through Birgunj customs. During the same period, goods worth Rs 38 billion were exported to India, according to the Birgunj Customs.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India is also Nepal's largest trading partner. Most of Nepal's imports come from India. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The trade deficit with India through Birgunj customs is about 65 percent of the total deficit. In the first four months of the current year, the total trade deficit is Rs 185 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the review period, the country’s total foreign trade was worth Rs 264 billion including imports of Rs 224 billion and exports equal to Rs 39.56 billion. Customs data shows that India is also Nepal’s largest export 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"">Around 96 percent of the total exports from Birgunj customs were to India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">China, the second-largest trading partner after India, exported goods worth Rs 13 billion to Nepal during the review period, while importing goods worth Rs 13 million. Nepal traded with 33 countries through the Birgunj Customs Office, while trade with the Czech Republic, Norway, Ireland, and Sweden were at a surplus.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Foreign trade has increased in the current fiscal year. During the corresponding period of last fiscal year, foreign trade contracted due to the pandemic. Customs officials said that the size of trade has increased, with the increase in demand in the market 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"">The Birgunj dry port mainly imports petroleum products, vehicles, spare parts, industrial raw materials, and exports food grains,<strong> </strong>refined oil, cloth, yarn, and carpets.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14207', 'image' => '20211212073526_Birgunj.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 19:34:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14461', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Delays Fixing Price of Sugarcane', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: Sugarcane farmers are at the receiving end as the government has not been able to fix the price of sugarcane on time. ', '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 12: Sugarcane farmers are at the receiving end as the government has not been able to fix the price of sugarcane on time. Thousands of farmers from over two dozen districts of the Terai region are involved in commercial farming of sugarcane. Despite the onset of the crushing season, the government still has not been able to determine the price of sugarcane this year. The farmers are in a dilemma due to this very reason.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">These days, farmers are compelled to visit the government’s administrative building - Singha Durbar - after the government showed no interest to determine the price of sugarcane. Last Thursday, the farmers' representative met Agriculture Minister Mahendra Raya Yadav and Agriculture Secretary Govinda Prasad Sharma and put pressure on them to fix the price of sugarcane.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 the meeting, they demanded to fix a fair price of sugarcane on the basis of production cost and selling price of sugar, said Kapil Muni Mainali, the president of Federation of Sugarcane Producers. They put forth their demand for maintaining the price of sugarcane at Rs 650 per quintal for 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"">"We have demanded that the minimum price of sugarcane be fixed at Rs 650 per quintal this year," said president Mainali adding, “If the prices allocated are not based on production cost, farmers will stop commercial farming of sugarcane. We have drawn the attention of the government and industrialists in this matter”.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prakash Sanjel, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development informed that preparations are being made to allocate the price of sugarcane for this year within this week itself. He claimed that this year's pricing of sugarcane will be more scientific and practical than it was in the previous years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the ministry had conducted a field study in 10 districts of the Terai, which is considered as a pocket area of sugarcane, to determine the price of sugarcane for this year. As per the ministry, more than 30 study samples have been collected from each district. </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"">How was the price for sugarcane fixed last year?</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"">Last year, the government had fixed the price of sugarcane at Rs 544.33 per quintal. The breakdown of the amount is given as the price of sugarcane (Rs 386.16), transportation cost and profit (Rs 92.89), and per quintal grant given by the government (Rs 65.28).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 price had increased by only Rs 8 per quintal last year as compared to the previous year. However, the Federation of Sugarcane Producers of Nepal has demanded to fix the price of sugarcane by an additional amount of Rs 106 per quintal as compared to last 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"">Sugarcane cultivation in the Terai has been declining for the past few years due to cost overruns. Farmers have been destroying sugarcane due to the problem of not getting the price in proportion to the cost and industrialists not paying the price fixed by the government on time.</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"">Industries on the verge of closing due to shortage of sugarcane</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"">Due to the shortage of sugarcane, the industries are on the verge of closure. The sugar industry, which used to remain operational for 4-5 months in winter a few years back, has now started to close within 2 months of operation due to lack of sugarcane.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Thakur Nepal, the head of the administration department of Indu Shankar Sugar Industry, sugar industries used to start their operation towards the end of November itself until a few years back. However, he said that there are no signs of starting the operation of the sugar industry even until mid-December 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"">Apart from Indu Shankar Sugar Industry of Sarlahi and Everest Sugar Industry of Mahottari, all the other sugar industries of the country have not paid their dues to the farmers on time. The sugarcane farmers have been upset and de-motivated by this behavior of the industries. As a consequence, farmers have started planting crops other than sugarcane.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Commercial farming of sugarcane has been taking place in Sarlahi, Mahottari, Dhanusha, Siraha, Saptari, Sunsari, Morang, Rautahat, Bara, Parsa, Nawalparasi and Rupandehi districts in the Terai. Statistics show that Nepal produced 120,000 metric tons of sugar last year. The country has an annual demand of 250,000 metric tons of sugar.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14206', 'image' => '20211212021448_20190107104522_sugarcane.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 14:14:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14460', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Minister Ale Positive towards the Demands of Biratnagar Airport Victims', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: The Biratnagar Airport Victims Struggle Committee handed over a memorandum to Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale on Friday.', '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 12: The Biratnagar Airport Victims Struggle Committee handed over a memorandum to Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale on Friday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A team including Bedraj Poudel, coordinator of the struggle committee, handed over a nine-point memorandum to Minister Ale. Stating that they have not received any compensation even after 17 months they were barred from transferring their land after the airport initiated the process for acquisition of their land , the victims' team had demanded the Minister to pay them the due compensation or release their houses and land.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government is planning to acquire 126 bighas of land to uprgade Biratnagar Airport to a regional airport. The team of the Struggle Committee met minister Ale and demanded that the airport should acquire the entire land of those whose portion of land falls inside the airport and, compensation should be paid in lump sum. Likewise, they also demanded that they should be paid Rs 4,500 per square foot for a house and Rs 2 million per dhur of land.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ale assured that they are ready to listen to the victims and will manage the fund for the compensation once they return to Kathmandu. He said he was positive about the demands of the victims.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Ale also inspected the Biratnagar Airport on Friday. He also said that a budget of Rs 85 million would be allocated for beautification of Biratnagar Airport.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 mentioned that a budget would be allocated for the development and expansion of the airport and construction of the palace of the ancient King Birat at Bhediyari in Biratnagar. Minister Ale said that it would be appropriate to move the Biratnagar Airport to Amduwa, Sunsari. He said that if all the political parties, organizations, private sector and the people of Biratnagar do not have objection, then the airport could be relocated to 600 bighas of land in Amduwa.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ale pointed to the officials of CNI and said, “The ball is in your court. If you come to an agreement, the airport can be shifted to Amduwa.” The government has also allocated a budget to conduct a study to build a cross-border industrial zone on 600 bighas of land in Amaduwa.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14205', 'image' => '20211212020341_20211201071952_1638316047.Clipboard03.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 14:03:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14459', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bheri-Babai Project Expected to Complete by 2023', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: The third phase of works of the Bheri-Babai Multi-purpose Diversion Project has started with the completion of second phase of works related to the project.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 12: The third phase of works of the Bheri-Babai Multi-purpose Diversion Project has started with the completion of second phase of works related to the project.The second phase of works was related to civil construction while the third phase includes work related to hydro mechanical (HM) and electro-mechanical (EM) engineering, according to information officer at the project, Lekhnath Subedi. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The national pride project with estimated cost of over Rs 36.8 billion has achieved 49 per cent of physical progress and 38.24 per cent of fiscal progress so far, shared Subedi. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Agreement for the HM related works has been inked while e-bidding for EM is in the process, he informed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The project aims to divert water from Bheri River to Babai River through a 12.2-kilometre tunnel and irrigate 51,000 hectares of farmland in Banke and Bardiya districts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The multipurpose project, which is expected to be completed by 2023, will also generate 48 megawatts of electricity, according to the project officials. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14204', 'image' => '20211212121946_20171123111955_20171120041016_Veri Babai TBM.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 12:18:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14458', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mercury Level Plummets, Snowfall Predicted later this Week', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: Temperature has dropped in the Kathmandu Valley in recent days. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 12: Temperature has dropped in the Kathmandu Valley in recent days. The minimum temperature of the Valley was recorded at 5 degrees Celsius on Sunday, the coldest this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The temperature was 5.4 degrees Celsius on Saturday and 6.5 degrees on Friday, according to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. Due to a drop in temperature, people are experiencing extreme cold throughout the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Department has urged one and all to keep warm and safe from cold as mercury continues to dip. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Snowfall is predicted in some high areas of Sudurpaschim, Karnali and Gandaki Provinces later this week due to the mixture of westerly wind and westerly low pressure system, the Department said. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the latest updates provided by the Meteorological Forecasting Division, the maximum temperature of the Valley was 19.8 degrees Celsius today (December 12). Similarly, Jumla reported the lowest minus 4.5 degrees Celsius while Bhairahawa recorded the highest 28.4 degrees Celsius. </span><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">-- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14203', 'image' => '20211212105233_20190228040359_DSC_2752.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 10:51:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14457', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Collaboration Between Nepal and India Emphasized for Promotion of Religious Tourism ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: Stakeholders have emphasized the need of a common action plan to promote religious tourism between Nepal and India. ', 'content' => '<p><em>Lumbini. Photos: RSS</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 12: Stakeholders have emphasized the need of a common action plan to promote religious tourism between Nepal and India. They argued that this will benefit both the countries as they share centuries-old bond and similar culture and religion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The stakeholders said so while addressing a three-day international convention of the Association of Buddhist Tour Operators (ABTO) organized by the ABTO, India in Bodh Gaya. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Inaugurating the convention on Friday (December 10), New Delhi government's Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam underscored the need for mutual cooperation between India and Nepal to tap the abundant potential of the two countries in tourism sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He emphasized mutual cooperation to promote religious tourism in the countries as both Nepal and India have been connected to issues relating to Lord Buddha. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Such initiate would help in economic and social developments of both the countries, according to a statement issued by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, other participants on the occasion also seconded Minister Gautam while emphasizing cooperation between the two countries for the promotion of religious tourism. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Those who shared their views included NTB Director Maniraj Lamichhane, President of the Nepal Association of Tour and Travels Agents, Achyut Guragain; General Secretary of the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal, Sarita Lama; central member of the Hotel Association of Nepal, CP Shrestha; and Assistant Director of the Kolkata Tourism Office, BB Mukherjee.</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"">Experts will table various working papers during the convention. A business-to-business (B2B) session will also be organized during the event as well, said the ABTO General Secretary Dr Kaulesh Kumar. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> <img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/LumbiniRSS%281%29.jpg" style="height:600px; width:800px" /></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14202', 'image' => '20211212104623_LumbiniRSSS.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 08:13:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14455', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Work Procedure on Tourism Leave Limited to Draft', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: The work procedure for providing a 10-day tourism leave, announced by the government to promote domestic tourism to support the business affected by Covid-19, has been limited to draft.', '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 10: The work procedure for providing a 10-day tourism leave, announced by the government to promote domestic tourism to support the business affected by Covid-19, has been limited to draft. Although the draft of the procedure was prepared last September it has not been approved yet. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation has also delayed collecting feedback related to the draft from other ministries. One month after the draft was prepared, the ministry started seeking suggestions from all the ministries. Currently, only a few ministries have provided feedback on the draft procedure. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tek Narayan Poudel, joint spokesperson of the Ministry, said that a revised draft of the work procedure will be submitted to the Council of Ministers as soon as the ministry approves the suggestions received from other ministries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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, he said that the suggestions would be collected soon, and the procedure would be passed and implemented within December. The government had announced this program in its budget speech on May 30. It took almost six months to prepare the draft of the work procedure.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tourism entrepreneurs have become frustrated with the government for not implementing the plan to provide 10-day tourism leave to civil servants and other government employees as a relief to the tourism sector that has been worst affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Encouraged by the program brought by the government, the tourism entrepreneurs had come up with attractive packages accordingly. However, they say that the package did not work.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even though hoteliers have made packages in collaboration with airline companies, they are disappointed that the programme has not been implemented, says Binayak Shah, senior vice president of the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN). "The work procedure has not been finalized yet. Therefore, this program isn’t meaningful at all,” said Shah.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the tourism sector requires domestic tourists at the moment as foreign tourists are not coming in large numbers as before.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the government had pledged to implement the programme soon after the announcement, Shah said that there is no possibility to move ahead as the government has not started the programme yet. He added that it is too late to implement the programme.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chairman of the Talking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN), Khum Bahadur Subedi, complained that the government had given priority only to the plan but did not show seriousness in its implementation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 packages and plans made by the trekking agencies for this purpose have been wasted, said Subedi.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 draft of the working procedure has provision to provide expenses even to a non-employee, i.e. a family member of the employee. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 the budget announcement, the government had mentioned that civil servants as well as employees of public institutions and establishments will be provided tourism leave with an amount equal to 10 days' salary in order to promote domestic tourism.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14201', 'image' => '20211210063052_20200719042015_Tourism Nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 18:30:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14456', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Thapa Elected NADA President ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: Dhruba Thapa has been elected as the President of Nepal Automobiles Dealers Association (NADA). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 10: Dhruba Thapa has been elected as the President of Nepal Automobiles Dealers Association (NADA). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">An entrepreneur from Pokhara, Thapa, defeated his rival Karan Chaudhary by 66 votes. NADA's chief election officer and advocate Bal Krishna Dhakal shared that Thapa received 1,413 votes against 1,347 votes obtained by Chaudhary. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 45th annual general meeting of NADA has elected a 17-member executive committee that includes Bikram Singhania, Milan Babu Malla, Rajan Babu Shrestha and Surendra Kumar Uptrey. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Sunil Rijal, Abhisekh Jyoti, Prakash Kapuri, Bikram Singhania, Gopal Bhattarai, Yamuna Shreshta and Bardan Basnet among others were also elected in the new executive committee. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Of the total 3,200 members of NADA, 2,788 votes were cast in the election for the new executive committee. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14200', 'image' => '20211210065523_NADA-Election-2021-Dhruba-Thapa-Panel-Announced-Featured-Image-1110x577.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 18:54:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14454', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Finance Minister Assures of Economic Growth Rate of 7 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has claimed that the economic growth rate of the current fiscal year will be 7 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 10: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has claimed that the economic growth rate of the current fiscal year will be 7 percent.</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> The goal of economic growth was difficult to achieve in the past due to various problems, said Sharma, adding that there won’t be such problems now.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at a meeting of the Finance Committee of the House of Representatives on Thursday, Finance Minister Sharma said that 98 percent of the industries and factories have been re-opened after the Covid-19 pandemic. He said that economic activities have increased everywhere and this will also help in economic growth.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to him, climate change has been seen as the main challenge in achieving economic growth of late. Stating that billions of rupees have been lost due to unseasonal rainfall, he said that despite these challenges, the target of economic growth would be met.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Furthermore, he also said that liquidity crisis still persists in the market. Stating that there is only Rs 16 billion investment (liquidity) in the banking sector now, he said that the liquidity problem has been removed to some extent. “Even though the NRB has injected Rs 2.3 trillion in the banking system in the current fiscal year alone, the problem has not been resolved. The lack of capital expenditure is also a weakness. However, government’s overall expenditure is 2 percent higher than last year,” 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"">Stating that the flow of foreign aid is continuing, he said that discussions are being held with various donor agencies. “We have just reached an agreement for $400 million loan with the IMF under the ECF. We are getting $100 million at the moment. We are also in the process of getting assistance from other agencies like ADB and other countries,” said Minister Sharma.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 NRB has made arrangements for non-resident Nepalis to open savings accounts in dollars, he said that it would have a positive impact on the country's economy. According to Sharma, the ministry has deployed a special task force at the airport customs. The task force has been seizing 19/20 kg of gold daily at the airport. Stating that arrangements have been made to release the seized gold only after collecting customs duty, Sharma expressed confidence that it would help in revenue collection</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At the meeting of the committee, Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, Maha Prasad Adhikari, said that there was a lack of liquidity as more loans were disbursed than deposits collected. According to officials, deposits have increased by only Rs 64 billion whereas loans from the banking system have gone up to Rs 411 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“There is a lack of liquidity due to the gap of Rs 300 billion,” he said. According to the governor, 50 percent of the extended loan, or Rs 205 billion, has to be spent on imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 remittances have not increased significantly, Governor Adhikari said that an average of Rs 80 billion is being received. He says remittances have not been able to keep up with high imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14199', 'image' => '20211210015931_CKC_KTM_JANARDANSHARMA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 13:58:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14453', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Controlling Inflation is Challenging, says NRB Governor', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: The major challenges faced by the country at the moment include inflation, liquidity crisis and the increasing volume of imports.', '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 10: The major challenges faced by the country at the moment include inflation, liquidity crisis and the increasing volume of imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari is of the view that it will be quite challenging to keep inflation within the limit of 6.5 percent </span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">if the current economic indicators are not improved.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/20201211011108_20200407080848_IMG_4955%20-%20Copy.jpg" style="height:268px; width:300px" /></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Adhikari, the impact of this year's heavy rainfall on rice and other crops will reflect in inflation. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He made such remarks during a meeting of the Finance Committee of Parliament.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank is mobilizing all its monetary instruments for the management of financial crisis.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Adhikari, the central bank is planning to tighten imports of luxury items, considering its impact on the economy. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that imports, which were excessively high during the pandemic, may be alarming under normal circumstances, he warned.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Foreign exchange reserves have declined to Rs 131 billion from Rs 139 billion. With foreign investment and remittances declining, payments for rising import is another challenge.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The shortage of liquidity still persists. Credit worth Rs 411 billion has been disbursed until now but only Rs 64 billion has been collected as deposits resulting in the liquidity crisis. And a total of Rs 205 billion is being spent for imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Adhikari said the flow of remittance has not increased much and stands at an average of Rs 80 billion. Remittance inflow has not been able to cope with the high volume of import, he said. Considering the impact on liquidity, the central bank has not raised internal debt. In order to increase the flow of remittance, the central bank has floated the idea of increasing the interest on the amount deposited through remittance by one percentage points.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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, a new scheme has been introduced to attract deposits from non-resident Nepalis.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He also suggested investing in the stock market after developing a good understanding about it. Investors need to have information about financial reports of companies before investing, added Adhikari. The stock market witnessed a steep rise due to lack of promising areas during the pandemic. Public awareness needs to be increased regarding this matter, he further stated. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14198', 'image' => '20211210013911_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 13:37:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14452', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Online Payment on the Rise', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: There has been a considerable rise in the number of electronic payment in online business (e-commerce). ', '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 10: There has been a considerable rise in the number of electronic payment in online business (e-commerce). Although e-commerce has already been popular for quite some time, payments were still made in cash. However, lately, payments have also been increasing through electronic means.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 data obtained from the Department of Payment Systems of Nepal Rastra Bank, electronic payments have been increasing progressively since last May. Not only the amount, but the number of transactions has also increased during the review period.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">From mid-May to mid-June last year, payments of Rs 161 million were made through electronic means. By September, it had increased to Rs 455 million.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 last May, the number of payments made online while purchasing goods was 38,613. By September, 76,357 such payments were made.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 past, although most of the customers bought goods online, they used to make payments through cash. NRB spokesperson Dev Kumar Dhakal says that the trend of making payments online has increased recently in contrast to previous years. “Now, the common people are changing their habits. They tend to stop carrying cash. They try to make online payments whenever it’s possible,” he said, adding “This is the reason why online payments are increasing.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 says Covid-19 has made electronic payments take a big leap. “Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, people are starting to use technology,” said Dhakal adding, “There are various digital wallets in operation currently. Banks are also making mobile banking more effective, aiding in the surge of electronic payments.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14197', 'image' => '20211210125229_20200918073634_digita.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 12:51:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14451', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CIAA Files Corruption Case against Former Section Officer of Finance Ministry', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against former section officer of finance ministry, Uddav Thapaliya, accusing him of amassing over Rs 15 million through illegal means.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 10: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against former section officer of finance ministry, Uddav Thapaliya, accusing him of amassing over Rs 15 million through illegal means. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The CIAA filed the case against the retired officer at the Special Court charging him of amassing the amount illegally during his 35-year service to the government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the anti-graft body, the detailed study of Thapaliya’s income and expenditure since he started the government job on February 18, 1984 till his retirement on April 13, 2019 could only establish the source of income amounting to Rs 10.2 million. However, Thapaliya has been found of spending and investing an Rs 20.67 million during the review period, out of which the source of income of Rs 16.4 million is unknown. The CIAA decided to file the corruption case against Thapaliya after this source of income could not be verified. The anti-graft body has sought a bail amount equal to the money he amassed through unconfirmed sources.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The CIAA has also sought to freeze his properties including land, house and bank account whose source is not confirmed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The CIAA has also filed a case against his wife Muna Panta Thapaliya for abetting the crime. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14196', 'image' => '20211210115020_20210624124455_20190205023717_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 11:49:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14450', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Urea Imported on Subsidy Grossly Misused: Parliamentary Committee ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: A big chunk of chemical fertilizers imported on subsidy for boosting agriculture yields has been allegedly misused for commercial purpose. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 10: A big chunk of chemical fertilizers imported on subsidy for boosting agriculture yields has been allegedly misused for commercial purpose. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the National Assembly's Delegated Management and Government Assurance Committee on Wednesday shared the information that around 80 plywood industries currently operating in the country are using the chemical fertilizer for gluing purpose. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The misuse has come to the light in course of committee interaction with stakeholders on how to best utilize and manage around 150,000 sacks of chemical fertilizer that has been stuck in Birgunj-based dry port. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the official data, the government has been annually importing almost 500,000 tons of chemical fertilizer from abroad for agriculture. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It has been suspected that out of the total imported urea, roughly 10 percent has been supplied to the plywood industries. It has been found that majority of industries have been using urea although they have stated that a chemical namely raisin will be used as glue in course of obtaining approval for setting up the industry. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government has been providing chemical fertilizer to the farmers at subsidized rate of Rs 74 per kilogram. The fertilizer is not available for the farmers during the time of crop cultivation in Nepal, when it is needed the most. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The alleged use of chemical fertilizers for commercial purpose meant to be given to the farmers shows a gross misuse of subsidy provided to the farmers. The price of chemical fertilizers has increased manifold in the international market of late. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It is very tough to import chemical fertilizers with the rise in the price of raw materials used in manufacturing fertilizers, shared the stakeholders including the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Salt Trading Corporation and Agriculture Inputs Company Limited. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Committee President Ram Narayan Bidari said serious discussion with concerned ministry and agency has been put forth to draw their attention to resolve the pertinent problem of the country. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14195', 'image' => '20211210081838_20210526042706_20200817122726_1597613093.Clipboard02 (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 08:17:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14464', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'It's Time for Energy Diplomacy, says Minister', 'sub_title' => 'Experts stress on utilizing electricity for industrial development', 'summary' => 'December 13: With adequate production of electricity in the country in recent days, debates have surfaced on how to utilize electricity as a catalyst for industrial development while ensuring its export.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 13: With adequate production of electricity in the country in recent days, debates have surfaced on how to utilize electricity as a catalyst for industrial development while ensuring its export. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Experts have stressed the need for finding international market for electricity produced in Nepal by clearing legal and technical hurdles. Similarly, they gave equal importance to increase internal consumption of energy. The viability is more on export of hydropower to Bangladesh and India, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Export of electricity would reduce trade deficit, the speakers argued. They shared such views at a programme organized jointly by Economic Policy Incubator and Society of Economic Journalists Nepal in the capital on Sunday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Minister for Energy, Hydropower and Irrigation Pampha Bhushal said the time has come for Nepal to prefer energy diplomacy to political and economic diplomacy. She also shared that newly appointed Ambassador to India, Shankar Sharma, was also reminded to focus on energy diplomacy during his tenure. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to her, a draft of new laws is being prepared to remove legal and technical hurdles to this end. A bill on this regard would be passed in the winter session of parliament if there would not be any political obstruction, Minister Bhushal said. She urged the private sector to make preparation to export hydropower.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to RSS, Joint Secretary at Energy Ministry Madhu Prasad Bhetuwal said cautious management of electricity is the need of the hour. Based on the present level of power demand, the surplus would increase to 50,000 Giga Watt Hour by 2028, he argued. "Hefty production cost compared to the neighbouring countries is the major challenge," RSS quoted Bhetuwal as saying. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to NEA Chief Executive Officer Kulman Ghising, how energy consumption could be increased is a serious challenge at present. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Nabil Bank's CEO Anil Keshari Shah worried that if the hydropower sector faced challenges, it would be a huge loss to country. "If the hydropower sector is dented, banks would go bankrupt," he warned, urging for apt management of hydropower in the country.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-13', 'modified' => '2021-12-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14209', 'image' => '20211213082247_20150823012330_ep1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-13 08:21:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14462', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mountain Advocacy Summit to be held in Mustang ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: The Mountain Advocacy Summit-2022 is to be organized in Mustang on March 13 and 14, 2022 to make the world aware of the impact of climate change on the mountainous region. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 12: The Mountain Advocacy Summit-2022 is to be organized in Mustang on March 13 and 14, 2022 to make the world aware of the impact of climate change on the mountainous region. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The objective of the Summit is to draw the attention of all stakeholders towards the problems and challenges faced by the Himalayan region due to the effects of climate change, and towards the possibilities and opportunities as well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/920769_589580434399017_325803078_o.jpg" style="height:600px; width:800px" /> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Summit is to be jointly organized by the Karnali Integrated Rural Development and Research Centre (KIRDAC –Nepal), The Mountain Foundation Nepal, the International Forum for Food Security and Climate Justice, among other organisations. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Executive Director of KIRDARC-Nepal, Govinda Bahadur Shahi informed in a press conference that the Summit is being held for discussing issues such as the increasing temperature due to climate change and its direct impact on the mountain ecosystem, the protection of biodiversity in the mountain region and coastal areas and the development of tourism. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/10287024_773958239294568_7942260973591736161_o.jpg" style="height:600px; width:800px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Stating that the mountainous region is at high risk of the impacts of climate change, Shahi underlined the need of informing the national and international sectors about this issue so as to reduce the risk. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Former member of the National Planning Commission (NPC), Min Bahadur Shahi said advocacy at the citizens' level is required for having positive influence in policy-making at the national, regional and international levels in order to protect biodiversity, art, culture and civilization as well as the lifestyle of the people in the mountain and coastal areas. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"It is necessary to provide services in an effective manner through the promotion of an accountable and responsible good governance system for the development and preservation of the mountain region. The development, conservation and preservation of this region will play an important role in the sustainable development of the entire planet and the biosphere, and not only of a specific geography and people's livelihood," Shahi added.-- RSS </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/901230_589580234399037_1411735628_o.jpg" style="height:451px; width:800px" /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14208', 'image' => '20211212061230_459932_589579011065826_229923417_o.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 18:10:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14463', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Trade Deficit through Birgunj Customs Crosses Rs 125 Billion in First Quarter', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: Nepal’s trade deficit with India from Birgunj customs alone has reached around Rs 125 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.', '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 12: Nepal’s trade deficit with India from Birgunj customs alone has reached around Rs 125 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Birgunj Customs Office, the country’s foreign trade with India has been at a deficit of Rs 120 billion between July to October 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"">In the last four months, goods worth Rs 158 billion have been imported from India through Birgunj customs. During the same period, goods worth Rs 38 billion were exported to India, according to the Birgunj Customs.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India is also Nepal's largest trading partner. Most of Nepal's imports come from India. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The trade deficit with India through Birgunj customs is about 65 percent of the total deficit. In the first four months of the current year, the total trade deficit is Rs 185 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the review period, the country’s total foreign trade was worth Rs 264 billion including imports of Rs 224 billion and exports equal to Rs 39.56 billion. Customs data shows that India is also Nepal’s largest export 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"">Around 96 percent of the total exports from Birgunj customs were to India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">China, the second-largest trading partner after India, exported goods worth Rs 13 billion to Nepal during the review period, while importing goods worth Rs 13 million. Nepal traded with 33 countries through the Birgunj Customs Office, while trade with the Czech Republic, Norway, Ireland, and Sweden were at a surplus.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Foreign trade has increased in the current fiscal year. During the corresponding period of last fiscal year, foreign trade contracted due to the pandemic. Customs officials said that the size of trade has increased, with the increase in demand in the market 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"">The Birgunj dry port mainly imports petroleum products, vehicles, spare parts, industrial raw materials, and exports food grains,<strong> </strong>refined oil, cloth, yarn, and carpets.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14207', 'image' => '20211212073526_Birgunj.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 19:34:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14461', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Delays Fixing Price of Sugarcane', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: Sugarcane farmers are at the receiving end as the government has not been able to fix the price of sugarcane on time. ', '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 12: Sugarcane farmers are at the receiving end as the government has not been able to fix the price of sugarcane on time. Thousands of farmers from over two dozen districts of the Terai region are involved in commercial farming of sugarcane. Despite the onset of the crushing season, the government still has not been able to determine the price of sugarcane this year. The farmers are in a dilemma due to this very reason.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">These days, farmers are compelled to visit the government’s administrative building - Singha Durbar - after the government showed no interest to determine the price of sugarcane. Last Thursday, the farmers' representative met Agriculture Minister Mahendra Raya Yadav and Agriculture Secretary Govinda Prasad Sharma and put pressure on them to fix the price of sugarcane.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 the meeting, they demanded to fix a fair price of sugarcane on the basis of production cost and selling price of sugar, said Kapil Muni Mainali, the president of Federation of Sugarcane Producers. They put forth their demand for maintaining the price of sugarcane at Rs 650 per quintal for 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"">"We have demanded that the minimum price of sugarcane be fixed at Rs 650 per quintal this year," said president Mainali adding, “If the prices allocated are not based on production cost, farmers will stop commercial farming of sugarcane. We have drawn the attention of the government and industrialists in this matter”.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prakash Sanjel, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development informed that preparations are being made to allocate the price of sugarcane for this year within this week itself. He claimed that this year's pricing of sugarcane will be more scientific and practical than it was in the previous years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the ministry had conducted a field study in 10 districts of the Terai, which is considered as a pocket area of sugarcane, to determine the price of sugarcane for this year. As per the ministry, more than 30 study samples have been collected from each district. </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"">How was the price for sugarcane fixed last year?</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"">Last year, the government had fixed the price of sugarcane at Rs 544.33 per quintal. The breakdown of the amount is given as the price of sugarcane (Rs 386.16), transportation cost and profit (Rs 92.89), and per quintal grant given by the government (Rs 65.28).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 price had increased by only Rs 8 per quintal last year as compared to the previous year. However, the Federation of Sugarcane Producers of Nepal has demanded to fix the price of sugarcane by an additional amount of Rs 106 per quintal as compared to last 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"">Sugarcane cultivation in the Terai has been declining for the past few years due to cost overruns. Farmers have been destroying sugarcane due to the problem of not getting the price in proportion to the cost and industrialists not paying the price fixed by the government on time.</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"">Industries on the verge of closing due to shortage of sugarcane</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"">Due to the shortage of sugarcane, the industries are on the verge of closure. The sugar industry, which used to remain operational for 4-5 months in winter a few years back, has now started to close within 2 months of operation due to lack of sugarcane.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Thakur Nepal, the head of the administration department of Indu Shankar Sugar Industry, sugar industries used to start their operation towards the end of November itself until a few years back. However, he said that there are no signs of starting the operation of the sugar industry even until mid-December 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"">Apart from Indu Shankar Sugar Industry of Sarlahi and Everest Sugar Industry of Mahottari, all the other sugar industries of the country have not paid their dues to the farmers on time. The sugarcane farmers have been upset and de-motivated by this behavior of the industries. As a consequence, farmers have started planting crops other than sugarcane.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Commercial farming of sugarcane has been taking place in Sarlahi, Mahottari, Dhanusha, Siraha, Saptari, Sunsari, Morang, Rautahat, Bara, Parsa, Nawalparasi and Rupandehi districts in the Terai. Statistics show that Nepal produced 120,000 metric tons of sugar last year. The country has an annual demand of 250,000 metric tons of sugar.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14206', 'image' => '20211212021448_20190107104522_sugarcane.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 14:14:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14460', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Minister Ale Positive towards the Demands of Biratnagar Airport Victims', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: The Biratnagar Airport Victims Struggle Committee handed over a memorandum to Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale on Friday.', '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 12: The Biratnagar Airport Victims Struggle Committee handed over a memorandum to Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale on Friday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A team including Bedraj Poudel, coordinator of the struggle committee, handed over a nine-point memorandum to Minister Ale. Stating that they have not received any compensation even after 17 months they were barred from transferring their land after the airport initiated the process for acquisition of their land , the victims' team had demanded the Minister to pay them the due compensation or release their houses and land.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government is planning to acquire 126 bighas of land to uprgade Biratnagar Airport to a regional airport. The team of the Struggle Committee met minister Ale and demanded that the airport should acquire the entire land of those whose portion of land falls inside the airport and, compensation should be paid in lump sum. Likewise, they also demanded that they should be paid Rs 4,500 per square foot for a house and Rs 2 million per dhur of land.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ale assured that they are ready to listen to the victims and will manage the fund for the compensation once they return to Kathmandu. He said he was positive about the demands of the victims.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Ale also inspected the Biratnagar Airport on Friday. He also said that a budget of Rs 85 million would be allocated for beautification of Biratnagar Airport.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 mentioned that a budget would be allocated for the development and expansion of the airport and construction of the palace of the ancient King Birat at Bhediyari in Biratnagar. Minister Ale said that it would be appropriate to move the Biratnagar Airport to Amduwa, Sunsari. He said that if all the political parties, organizations, private sector and the people of Biratnagar do not have objection, then the airport could be relocated to 600 bighas of land in Amduwa.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ale pointed to the officials of CNI and said, “The ball is in your court. If you come to an agreement, the airport can be shifted to Amduwa.” The government has also allocated a budget to conduct a study to build a cross-border industrial zone on 600 bighas of land in Amaduwa.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14205', 'image' => '20211212020341_20211201071952_1638316047.Clipboard03.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 14:03:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14459', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bheri-Babai Project Expected to Complete by 2023', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: The third phase of works of the Bheri-Babai Multi-purpose Diversion Project has started with the completion of second phase of works related to the project.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 12: The third phase of works of the Bheri-Babai Multi-purpose Diversion Project has started with the completion of second phase of works related to the project.The second phase of works was related to civil construction while the third phase includes work related to hydro mechanical (HM) and electro-mechanical (EM) engineering, according to information officer at the project, Lekhnath Subedi. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The national pride project with estimated cost of over Rs 36.8 billion has achieved 49 per cent of physical progress and 38.24 per cent of fiscal progress so far, shared Subedi. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Agreement for the HM related works has been inked while e-bidding for EM is in the process, he informed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The project aims to divert water from Bheri River to Babai River through a 12.2-kilometre tunnel and irrigate 51,000 hectares of farmland in Banke and Bardiya districts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The multipurpose project, which is expected to be completed by 2023, will also generate 48 megawatts of electricity, according to the project officials. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14204', 'image' => '20211212121946_20171123111955_20171120041016_Veri Babai TBM.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 12:18:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14458', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mercury Level Plummets, Snowfall Predicted later this Week', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: Temperature has dropped in the Kathmandu Valley in recent days. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 12: Temperature has dropped in the Kathmandu Valley in recent days. The minimum temperature of the Valley was recorded at 5 degrees Celsius on Sunday, the coldest this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The temperature was 5.4 degrees Celsius on Saturday and 6.5 degrees on Friday, according to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. Due to a drop in temperature, people are experiencing extreme cold throughout the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Department has urged one and all to keep warm and safe from cold as mercury continues to dip. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Snowfall is predicted in some high areas of Sudurpaschim, Karnali and Gandaki Provinces later this week due to the mixture of westerly wind and westerly low pressure system, the Department said. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the latest updates provided by the Meteorological Forecasting Division, the maximum temperature of the Valley was 19.8 degrees Celsius today (December 12). Similarly, Jumla reported the lowest minus 4.5 degrees Celsius while Bhairahawa recorded the highest 28.4 degrees Celsius. </span><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">-- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14203', 'image' => '20211212105233_20190228040359_DSC_2752.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 10:51:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14457', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Collaboration Between Nepal and India Emphasized for Promotion of Religious Tourism ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: Stakeholders have emphasized the need of a common action plan to promote religious tourism between Nepal and India. ', 'content' => '<p><em>Lumbini. Photos: RSS</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 12: Stakeholders have emphasized the need of a common action plan to promote religious tourism between Nepal and India. They argued that this will benefit both the countries as they share centuries-old bond and similar culture and religion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The stakeholders said so while addressing a three-day international convention of the Association of Buddhist Tour Operators (ABTO) organized by the ABTO, India in Bodh Gaya. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Inaugurating the convention on Friday (December 10), New Delhi government's Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam underscored the need for mutual cooperation between India and Nepal to tap the abundant potential of the two countries in tourism sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He emphasized mutual cooperation to promote religious tourism in the countries as both Nepal and India have been connected to issues relating to Lord Buddha. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Such initiate would help in economic and social developments of both the countries, according to a statement issued by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, other participants on the occasion also seconded Minister Gautam while emphasizing cooperation between the two countries for the promotion of religious tourism. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Those who shared their views included NTB Director Maniraj Lamichhane, President of the Nepal Association of Tour and Travels Agents, Achyut Guragain; General Secretary of the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal, Sarita Lama; central member of the Hotel Association of Nepal, CP Shrestha; and Assistant Director of the Kolkata Tourism Office, BB Mukherjee.</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"">Experts will table various working papers during the convention. A business-to-business (B2B) session will also be organized during the event as well, said the ABTO General Secretary Dr Kaulesh Kumar. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> <img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/LumbiniRSS%281%29.jpg" style="height:600px; width:800px" /></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14202', 'image' => '20211212104623_LumbiniRSSS.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 08:13:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14455', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Work Procedure on Tourism Leave Limited to Draft', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: The work procedure for providing a 10-day tourism leave, announced by the government to promote domestic tourism to support the business affected by Covid-19, has been limited to draft.', '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 10: The work procedure for providing a 10-day tourism leave, announced by the government to promote domestic tourism to support the business affected by Covid-19, has been limited to draft. Although the draft of the procedure was prepared last September it has not been approved yet. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation has also delayed collecting feedback related to the draft from other ministries. One month after the draft was prepared, the ministry started seeking suggestions from all the ministries. Currently, only a few ministries have provided feedback on the draft procedure. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tek Narayan Poudel, joint spokesperson of the Ministry, said that a revised draft of the work procedure will be submitted to the Council of Ministers as soon as the ministry approves the suggestions received from other ministries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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, he said that the suggestions would be collected soon, and the procedure would be passed and implemented within December. The government had announced this program in its budget speech on May 30. It took almost six months to prepare the draft of the work procedure.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tourism entrepreneurs have become frustrated with the government for not implementing the plan to provide 10-day tourism leave to civil servants and other government employees as a relief to the tourism sector that has been worst affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Encouraged by the program brought by the government, the tourism entrepreneurs had come up with attractive packages accordingly. However, they say that the package did not work.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even though hoteliers have made packages in collaboration with airline companies, they are disappointed that the programme has not been implemented, says Binayak Shah, senior vice president of the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN). "The work procedure has not been finalized yet. Therefore, this program isn’t meaningful at all,” said Shah.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the tourism sector requires domestic tourists at the moment as foreign tourists are not coming in large numbers as before.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the government had pledged to implement the programme soon after the announcement, Shah said that there is no possibility to move ahead as the government has not started the programme yet. He added that it is too late to implement the programme.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chairman of the Talking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN), Khum Bahadur Subedi, complained that the government had given priority only to the plan but did not show seriousness in its implementation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 packages and plans made by the trekking agencies for this purpose have been wasted, said Subedi.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 draft of the working procedure has provision to provide expenses even to a non-employee, i.e. a family member of the employee. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 the budget announcement, the government had mentioned that civil servants as well as employees of public institutions and establishments will be provided tourism leave with an amount equal to 10 days' salary in order to promote domestic tourism.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14201', 'image' => '20211210063052_20200719042015_Tourism Nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 18:30:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14456', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Thapa Elected NADA President ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: Dhruba Thapa has been elected as the President of Nepal Automobiles Dealers Association (NADA). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 10: Dhruba Thapa has been elected as the President of Nepal Automobiles Dealers Association (NADA). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">An entrepreneur from Pokhara, Thapa, defeated his rival Karan Chaudhary by 66 votes. NADA's chief election officer and advocate Bal Krishna Dhakal shared that Thapa received 1,413 votes against 1,347 votes obtained by Chaudhary. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 45th annual general meeting of NADA has elected a 17-member executive committee that includes Bikram Singhania, Milan Babu Malla, Rajan Babu Shrestha and Surendra Kumar Uptrey. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Sunil Rijal, Abhisekh Jyoti, Prakash Kapuri, Bikram Singhania, Gopal Bhattarai, Yamuna Shreshta and Bardan Basnet among others were also elected in the new executive committee. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Of the total 3,200 members of NADA, 2,788 votes were cast in the election for the new executive committee. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14200', 'image' => '20211210065523_NADA-Election-2021-Dhruba-Thapa-Panel-Announced-Featured-Image-1110x577.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 18:54:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14454', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Finance Minister Assures of Economic Growth Rate of 7 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has claimed that the economic growth rate of the current fiscal year will be 7 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 10: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has claimed that the economic growth rate of the current fiscal year will be 7 percent.</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> The goal of economic growth was difficult to achieve in the past due to various problems, said Sharma, adding that there won’t be such problems now.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at a meeting of the Finance Committee of the House of Representatives on Thursday, Finance Minister Sharma said that 98 percent of the industries and factories have been re-opened after the Covid-19 pandemic. He said that economic activities have increased everywhere and this will also help in economic growth.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to him, climate change has been seen as the main challenge in achieving economic growth of late. Stating that billions of rupees have been lost due to unseasonal rainfall, he said that despite these challenges, the target of economic growth would be met.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Furthermore, he also said that liquidity crisis still persists in the market. Stating that there is only Rs 16 billion investment (liquidity) in the banking sector now, he said that the liquidity problem has been removed to some extent. “Even though the NRB has injected Rs 2.3 trillion in the banking system in the current fiscal year alone, the problem has not been resolved. The lack of capital expenditure is also a weakness. However, government’s overall expenditure is 2 percent higher than last year,” 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"">Stating that the flow of foreign aid is continuing, he said that discussions are being held with various donor agencies. “We have just reached an agreement for $400 million loan with the IMF under the ECF. We are getting $100 million at the moment. We are also in the process of getting assistance from other agencies like ADB and other countries,” said Minister Sharma.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 NRB has made arrangements for non-resident Nepalis to open savings accounts in dollars, he said that it would have a positive impact on the country's economy. According to Sharma, the ministry has deployed a special task force at the airport customs. The task force has been seizing 19/20 kg of gold daily at the airport. Stating that arrangements have been made to release the seized gold only after collecting customs duty, Sharma expressed confidence that it would help in revenue collection</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At the meeting of the committee, Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, Maha Prasad Adhikari, said that there was a lack of liquidity as more loans were disbursed than deposits collected. According to officials, deposits have increased by only Rs 64 billion whereas loans from the banking system have gone up to Rs 411 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“There is a lack of liquidity due to the gap of Rs 300 billion,” he said. According to the governor, 50 percent of the extended loan, or Rs 205 billion, has to be spent on imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 remittances have not increased significantly, Governor Adhikari said that an average of Rs 80 billion is being received. He says remittances have not been able to keep up with high imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14199', 'image' => '20211210015931_CKC_KTM_JANARDANSHARMA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 13:58:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14453', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Controlling Inflation is Challenging, says NRB Governor', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: The major challenges faced by the country at the moment include inflation, liquidity crisis and the increasing volume of imports.', '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 10: The major challenges faced by the country at the moment include inflation, liquidity crisis and the increasing volume of imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari is of the view that it will be quite challenging to keep inflation within the limit of 6.5 percent </span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">if the current economic indicators are not improved.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/20201211011108_20200407080848_IMG_4955%20-%20Copy.jpg" style="height:268px; width:300px" /></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Adhikari, the impact of this year's heavy rainfall on rice and other crops will reflect in inflation. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He made such remarks during a meeting of the Finance Committee of Parliament.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank is mobilizing all its monetary instruments for the management of financial crisis.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Adhikari, the central bank is planning to tighten imports of luxury items, considering its impact on the economy. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that imports, which were excessively high during the pandemic, may be alarming under normal circumstances, he warned.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Foreign exchange reserves have declined to Rs 131 billion from Rs 139 billion. With foreign investment and remittances declining, payments for rising import is another challenge.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The shortage of liquidity still persists. Credit worth Rs 411 billion has been disbursed until now but only Rs 64 billion has been collected as deposits resulting in the liquidity crisis. And a total of Rs 205 billion is being spent for imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Adhikari said the flow of remittance has not increased much and stands at an average of Rs 80 billion. Remittance inflow has not been able to cope with the high volume of import, he said. Considering the impact on liquidity, the central bank has not raised internal debt. In order to increase the flow of remittance, the central bank has floated the idea of increasing the interest on the amount deposited through remittance by one percentage points.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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, a new scheme has been introduced to attract deposits from non-resident Nepalis.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He also suggested investing in the stock market after developing a good understanding about it. Investors need to have information about financial reports of companies before investing, added Adhikari. The stock market witnessed a steep rise due to lack of promising areas during the pandemic. Public awareness needs to be increased regarding this matter, he further stated. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14198', 'image' => '20211210013911_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 13:37:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14452', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Online Payment on the Rise', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: There has been a considerable rise in the number of electronic payment in online business (e-commerce). ', '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 10: There has been a considerable rise in the number of electronic payment in online business (e-commerce). Although e-commerce has already been popular for quite some time, payments were still made in cash. However, lately, payments have also been increasing through electronic means.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 data obtained from the Department of Payment Systems of Nepal Rastra Bank, electronic payments have been increasing progressively since last May. Not only the amount, but the number of transactions has also increased during the review period.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">From mid-May to mid-June last year, payments of Rs 161 million were made through electronic means. By September, it had increased to Rs 455 million.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 last May, the number of payments made online while purchasing goods was 38,613. By September, 76,357 such payments were made.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 past, although most of the customers bought goods online, they used to make payments through cash. NRB spokesperson Dev Kumar Dhakal says that the trend of making payments online has increased recently in contrast to previous years. “Now, the common people are changing their habits. They tend to stop carrying cash. They try to make online payments whenever it’s possible,” he said, adding “This is the reason why online payments are increasing.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 says Covid-19 has made electronic payments take a big leap. “Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, people are starting to use technology,” said Dhakal adding, “There are various digital wallets in operation currently. Banks are also making mobile banking more effective, aiding in the surge of electronic payments.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14197', 'image' => '20211210125229_20200918073634_digita.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 12:51:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14451', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CIAA Files Corruption Case against Former Section Officer of Finance Ministry', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against former section officer of finance ministry, Uddav Thapaliya, accusing him of amassing over Rs 15 million through illegal means.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 10: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against former section officer of finance ministry, Uddav Thapaliya, accusing him of amassing over Rs 15 million through illegal means. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The CIAA filed the case against the retired officer at the Special Court charging him of amassing the amount illegally during his 35-year service to the government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the anti-graft body, the detailed study of Thapaliya’s income and expenditure since he started the government job on February 18, 1984 till his retirement on April 13, 2019 could only establish the source of income amounting to Rs 10.2 million. However, Thapaliya has been found of spending and investing an Rs 20.67 million during the review period, out of which the source of income of Rs 16.4 million is unknown. The CIAA decided to file the corruption case against Thapaliya after this source of income could not be verified. The anti-graft body has sought a bail amount equal to the money he amassed through unconfirmed sources.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The CIAA has also sought to freeze his properties including land, house and bank account whose source is not confirmed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The CIAA has also filed a case against his wife Muna Panta Thapaliya for abetting the crime. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14196', 'image' => '20211210115020_20210624124455_20190205023717_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 11:49:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14450', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Urea Imported on Subsidy Grossly Misused: Parliamentary Committee ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: A big chunk of chemical fertilizers imported on subsidy for boosting agriculture yields has been allegedly misused for commercial purpose. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 10: A big chunk of chemical fertilizers imported on subsidy for boosting agriculture yields has been allegedly misused for commercial purpose. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the National Assembly's Delegated Management and Government Assurance Committee on Wednesday shared the information that around 80 plywood industries currently operating in the country are using the chemical fertilizer for gluing purpose. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The misuse has come to the light in course of committee interaction with stakeholders on how to best utilize and manage around 150,000 sacks of chemical fertilizer that has been stuck in Birgunj-based dry port. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the official data, the government has been annually importing almost 500,000 tons of chemical fertilizer from abroad for agriculture. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It has been suspected that out of the total imported urea, roughly 10 percent has been supplied to the plywood industries. It has been found that majority of industries have been using urea although they have stated that a chemical namely raisin will be used as glue in course of obtaining approval for setting up the industry. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government has been providing chemical fertilizer to the farmers at subsidized rate of Rs 74 per kilogram. The fertilizer is not available for the farmers during the time of crop cultivation in Nepal, when it is needed the most. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The alleged use of chemical fertilizers for commercial purpose meant to be given to the farmers shows a gross misuse of subsidy provided to the farmers. The price of chemical fertilizers has increased manifold in the international market of late. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It is very tough to import chemical fertilizers with the rise in the price of raw materials used in manufacturing fertilizers, shared the stakeholders including the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Salt Trading Corporation and Agriculture Inputs Company Limited. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Committee President Ram Narayan Bidari said serious discussion with concerned ministry and agency has been put forth to draw their attention to resolve the pertinent problem of the country. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14195', 'image' => '20211210081838_20210526042706_20200817122726_1597613093.Clipboard02 (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 08:17:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14464', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'It's Time for Energy Diplomacy, says Minister', 'sub_title' => 'Experts stress on utilizing electricity for industrial development', 'summary' => 'December 13: With adequate production of electricity in the country in recent days, debates have surfaced on how to utilize electricity as a catalyst for industrial development while ensuring its export.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 13: With adequate production of electricity in the country in recent days, debates have surfaced on how to utilize electricity as a catalyst for industrial development while ensuring its export. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Experts have stressed the need for finding international market for electricity produced in Nepal by clearing legal and technical hurdles. Similarly, they gave equal importance to increase internal consumption of energy. The viability is more on export of hydropower to Bangladesh and India, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Export of electricity would reduce trade deficit, the speakers argued. They shared such views at a programme organized jointly by Economic Policy Incubator and Society of Economic Journalists Nepal in the capital on Sunday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Minister for Energy, Hydropower and Irrigation Pampha Bhushal said the time has come for Nepal to prefer energy diplomacy to political and economic diplomacy. She also shared that newly appointed Ambassador to India, Shankar Sharma, was also reminded to focus on energy diplomacy during his tenure. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to her, a draft of new laws is being prepared to remove legal and technical hurdles to this end. A bill on this regard would be passed in the winter session of parliament if there would not be any political obstruction, Minister Bhushal said. She urged the private sector to make preparation to export hydropower.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to RSS, Joint Secretary at Energy Ministry Madhu Prasad Bhetuwal said cautious management of electricity is the need of the hour. Based on the present level of power demand, the surplus would increase to 50,000 Giga Watt Hour by 2028, he argued. "Hefty production cost compared to the neighbouring countries is the major challenge," RSS quoted Bhetuwal as saying. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to NEA Chief Executive Officer Kulman Ghising, how energy consumption could be increased is a serious challenge at present. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Nabil Bank's CEO Anil Keshari Shah worried that if the hydropower sector faced challenges, it would be a huge loss to country. "If the hydropower sector is dented, banks would go bankrupt," he warned, urging for apt management of hydropower in the country.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-13', 'modified' => '2021-12-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14209', 'image' => '20211213082247_20150823012330_ep1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-13 08:21:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14462', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mountain Advocacy Summit to be held in Mustang ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: The Mountain Advocacy Summit-2022 is to be organized in Mustang on March 13 and 14, 2022 to make the world aware of the impact of climate change on the mountainous region. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 12: The Mountain Advocacy Summit-2022 is to be organized in Mustang on March 13 and 14, 2022 to make the world aware of the impact of climate change on the mountainous region. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The objective of the Summit is to draw the attention of all stakeholders towards the problems and challenges faced by the Himalayan region due to the effects of climate change, and towards the possibilities and opportunities as well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/920769_589580434399017_325803078_o.jpg" style="height:600px; width:800px" /> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Summit is to be jointly organized by the Karnali Integrated Rural Development and Research Centre (KIRDAC –Nepal), The Mountain Foundation Nepal, the International Forum for Food Security and Climate Justice, among other organisations. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Executive Director of KIRDARC-Nepal, Govinda Bahadur Shahi informed in a press conference that the Summit is being held for discussing issues such as the increasing temperature due to climate change and its direct impact on the mountain ecosystem, the protection of biodiversity in the mountain region and coastal areas and the development of tourism. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/10287024_773958239294568_7942260973591736161_o.jpg" style="height:600px; width:800px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Stating that the mountainous region is at high risk of the impacts of climate change, Shahi underlined the need of informing the national and international sectors about this issue so as to reduce the risk. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Former member of the National Planning Commission (NPC), Min Bahadur Shahi said advocacy at the citizens' level is required for having positive influence in policy-making at the national, regional and international levels in order to protect biodiversity, art, culture and civilization as well as the lifestyle of the people in the mountain and coastal areas. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"It is necessary to provide services in an effective manner through the promotion of an accountable and responsible good governance system for the development and preservation of the mountain region. The development, conservation and preservation of this region will play an important role in the sustainable development of the entire planet and the biosphere, and not only of a specific geography and people's livelihood," Shahi added.-- RSS </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/901230_589580234399037_1411735628_o.jpg" style="height:451px; width:800px" /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14208', 'image' => '20211212061230_459932_589579011065826_229923417_o.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 18:10:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14463', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Trade Deficit through Birgunj Customs Crosses Rs 125 Billion in First Quarter', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: Nepal’s trade deficit with India from Birgunj customs alone has reached around Rs 125 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.', '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 12: Nepal’s trade deficit with India from Birgunj customs alone has reached around Rs 125 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Birgunj Customs Office, the country’s foreign trade with India has been at a deficit of Rs 120 billion between July to October 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"">In the last four months, goods worth Rs 158 billion have been imported from India through Birgunj customs. During the same period, goods worth Rs 38 billion were exported to India, according to the Birgunj Customs.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India is also Nepal's largest trading partner. Most of Nepal's imports come from India. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The trade deficit with India through Birgunj customs is about 65 percent of the total deficit. In the first four months of the current year, the total trade deficit is Rs 185 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the review period, the country’s total foreign trade was worth Rs 264 billion including imports of Rs 224 billion and exports equal to Rs 39.56 billion. Customs data shows that India is also Nepal’s largest export 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"">Around 96 percent of the total exports from Birgunj customs were to India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">China, the second-largest trading partner after India, exported goods worth Rs 13 billion to Nepal during the review period, while importing goods worth Rs 13 million. Nepal traded with 33 countries through the Birgunj Customs Office, while trade with the Czech Republic, Norway, Ireland, and Sweden were at a surplus.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Foreign trade has increased in the current fiscal year. During the corresponding period of last fiscal year, foreign trade contracted due to the pandemic. Customs officials said that the size of trade has increased, with the increase in demand in the market 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"">The Birgunj dry port mainly imports petroleum products, vehicles, spare parts, industrial raw materials, and exports food grains,<strong> </strong>refined oil, cloth, yarn, and carpets.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14207', 'image' => '20211212073526_Birgunj.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 19:34:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14461', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Delays Fixing Price of Sugarcane', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: Sugarcane farmers are at the receiving end as the government has not been able to fix the price of sugarcane on time. ', '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 12: Sugarcane farmers are at the receiving end as the government has not been able to fix the price of sugarcane on time. Thousands of farmers from over two dozen districts of the Terai region are involved in commercial farming of sugarcane. Despite the onset of the crushing season, the government still has not been able to determine the price of sugarcane this year. The farmers are in a dilemma due to this very reason.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">These days, farmers are compelled to visit the government’s administrative building - Singha Durbar - after the government showed no interest to determine the price of sugarcane. Last Thursday, the farmers' representative met Agriculture Minister Mahendra Raya Yadav and Agriculture Secretary Govinda Prasad Sharma and put pressure on them to fix the price of sugarcane.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 the meeting, they demanded to fix a fair price of sugarcane on the basis of production cost and selling price of sugar, said Kapil Muni Mainali, the president of Federation of Sugarcane Producers. They put forth their demand for maintaining the price of sugarcane at Rs 650 per quintal for 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"">"We have demanded that the minimum price of sugarcane be fixed at Rs 650 per quintal this year," said president Mainali adding, “If the prices allocated are not based on production cost, farmers will stop commercial farming of sugarcane. We have drawn the attention of the government and industrialists in this matter”.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prakash Sanjel, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development informed that preparations are being made to allocate the price of sugarcane for this year within this week itself. He claimed that this year's pricing of sugarcane will be more scientific and practical than it was in the previous years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the ministry had conducted a field study in 10 districts of the Terai, which is considered as a pocket area of sugarcane, to determine the price of sugarcane for this year. As per the ministry, more than 30 study samples have been collected from each district. </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"">How was the price for sugarcane fixed last year?</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"">Last year, the government had fixed the price of sugarcane at Rs 544.33 per quintal. The breakdown of the amount is given as the price of sugarcane (Rs 386.16), transportation cost and profit (Rs 92.89), and per quintal grant given by the government (Rs 65.28).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 price had increased by only Rs 8 per quintal last year as compared to the previous year. However, the Federation of Sugarcane Producers of Nepal has demanded to fix the price of sugarcane by an additional amount of Rs 106 per quintal as compared to last 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"">Sugarcane cultivation in the Terai has been declining for the past few years due to cost overruns. Farmers have been destroying sugarcane due to the problem of not getting the price in proportion to the cost and industrialists not paying the price fixed by the government on time.</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"">Industries on the verge of closing due to shortage of sugarcane</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"">Due to the shortage of sugarcane, the industries are on the verge of closure. The sugar industry, which used to remain operational for 4-5 months in winter a few years back, has now started to close within 2 months of operation due to lack of sugarcane.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Thakur Nepal, the head of the administration department of Indu Shankar Sugar Industry, sugar industries used to start their operation towards the end of November itself until a few years back. However, he said that there are no signs of starting the operation of the sugar industry even until mid-December 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"">Apart from Indu Shankar Sugar Industry of Sarlahi and Everest Sugar Industry of Mahottari, all the other sugar industries of the country have not paid their dues to the farmers on time. The sugarcane farmers have been upset and de-motivated by this behavior of the industries. As a consequence, farmers have started planting crops other than sugarcane.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Commercial farming of sugarcane has been taking place in Sarlahi, Mahottari, Dhanusha, Siraha, Saptari, Sunsari, Morang, Rautahat, Bara, Parsa, Nawalparasi and Rupandehi districts in the Terai. Statistics show that Nepal produced 120,000 metric tons of sugar last year. The country has an annual demand of 250,000 metric tons of sugar.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14206', 'image' => '20211212021448_20190107104522_sugarcane.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 14:14:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14460', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Minister Ale Positive towards the Demands of Biratnagar Airport Victims', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: The Biratnagar Airport Victims Struggle Committee handed over a memorandum to Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale on Friday.', '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 12: The Biratnagar Airport Victims Struggle Committee handed over a memorandum to Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale on Friday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A team including Bedraj Poudel, coordinator of the struggle committee, handed over a nine-point memorandum to Minister Ale. Stating that they have not received any compensation even after 17 months they were barred from transferring their land after the airport initiated the process for acquisition of their land , the victims' team had demanded the Minister to pay them the due compensation or release their houses and land.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government is planning to acquire 126 bighas of land to uprgade Biratnagar Airport to a regional airport. The team of the Struggle Committee met minister Ale and demanded that the airport should acquire the entire land of those whose portion of land falls inside the airport and, compensation should be paid in lump sum. Likewise, they also demanded that they should be paid Rs 4,500 per square foot for a house and Rs 2 million per dhur of land.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ale assured that they are ready to listen to the victims and will manage the fund for the compensation once they return to Kathmandu. He said he was positive about the demands of the victims.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Ale also inspected the Biratnagar Airport on Friday. He also said that a budget of Rs 85 million would be allocated for beautification of Biratnagar Airport.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 mentioned that a budget would be allocated for the development and expansion of the airport and construction of the palace of the ancient King Birat at Bhediyari in Biratnagar. Minister Ale said that it would be appropriate to move the Biratnagar Airport to Amduwa, Sunsari. He said that if all the political parties, organizations, private sector and the people of Biratnagar do not have objection, then the airport could be relocated to 600 bighas of land in Amduwa.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ale pointed to the officials of CNI and said, “The ball is in your court. If you come to an agreement, the airport can be shifted to Amduwa.” The government has also allocated a budget to conduct a study to build a cross-border industrial zone on 600 bighas of land in Amaduwa.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14205', 'image' => '20211212020341_20211201071952_1638316047.Clipboard03.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 14:03:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14459', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bheri-Babai Project Expected to Complete by 2023', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: The third phase of works of the Bheri-Babai Multi-purpose Diversion Project has started with the completion of second phase of works related to the project.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 12: The third phase of works of the Bheri-Babai Multi-purpose Diversion Project has started with the completion of second phase of works related to the project.The second phase of works was related to civil construction while the third phase includes work related to hydro mechanical (HM) and electro-mechanical (EM) engineering, according to information officer at the project, Lekhnath Subedi. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The national pride project with estimated cost of over Rs 36.8 billion has achieved 49 per cent of physical progress and 38.24 per cent of fiscal progress so far, shared Subedi. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Agreement for the HM related works has been inked while e-bidding for EM is in the process, he informed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The project aims to divert water from Bheri River to Babai River through a 12.2-kilometre tunnel and irrigate 51,000 hectares of farmland in Banke and Bardiya districts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The multipurpose project, which is expected to be completed by 2023, will also generate 48 megawatts of electricity, according to the project officials. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14204', 'image' => '20211212121946_20171123111955_20171120041016_Veri Babai TBM.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 12:18:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14458', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mercury Level Plummets, Snowfall Predicted later this Week', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: Temperature has dropped in the Kathmandu Valley in recent days. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 12: Temperature has dropped in the Kathmandu Valley in recent days. The minimum temperature of the Valley was recorded at 5 degrees Celsius on Sunday, the coldest this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The temperature was 5.4 degrees Celsius on Saturday and 6.5 degrees on Friday, according to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. Due to a drop in temperature, people are experiencing extreme cold throughout the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Department has urged one and all to keep warm and safe from cold as mercury continues to dip. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Snowfall is predicted in some high areas of Sudurpaschim, Karnali and Gandaki Provinces later this week due to the mixture of westerly wind and westerly low pressure system, the Department said. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the latest updates provided by the Meteorological Forecasting Division, the maximum temperature of the Valley was 19.8 degrees Celsius today (December 12). Similarly, Jumla reported the lowest minus 4.5 degrees Celsius while Bhairahawa recorded the highest 28.4 degrees Celsius. </span><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">-- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14203', 'image' => '20211212105233_20190228040359_DSC_2752.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 10:51:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14457', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Collaboration Between Nepal and India Emphasized for Promotion of Religious Tourism ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 12: Stakeholders have emphasized the need of a common action plan to promote religious tourism between Nepal and India. ', 'content' => '<p><em>Lumbini. Photos: RSS</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 12: Stakeholders have emphasized the need of a common action plan to promote religious tourism between Nepal and India. They argued that this will benefit both the countries as they share centuries-old bond and similar culture and religion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The stakeholders said so while addressing a three-day international convention of the Association of Buddhist Tour Operators (ABTO) organized by the ABTO, India in Bodh Gaya. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Inaugurating the convention on Friday (December 10), New Delhi government's Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam underscored the need for mutual cooperation between India and Nepal to tap the abundant potential of the two countries in tourism sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He emphasized mutual cooperation to promote religious tourism in the countries as both Nepal and India have been connected to issues relating to Lord Buddha. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Such initiate would help in economic and social developments of both the countries, according to a statement issued by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, other participants on the occasion also seconded Minister Gautam while emphasizing cooperation between the two countries for the promotion of religious tourism. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Those who shared their views included NTB Director Maniraj Lamichhane, President of the Nepal Association of Tour and Travels Agents, Achyut Guragain; General Secretary of the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal, Sarita Lama; central member of the Hotel Association of Nepal, CP Shrestha; and Assistant Director of the Kolkata Tourism Office, BB Mukherjee.</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"">Experts will table various working papers during the convention. A business-to-business (B2B) session will also be organized during the event as well, said the ABTO General Secretary Dr Kaulesh Kumar. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> <img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/LumbiniRSS%281%29.jpg" style="height:600px; width:800px" /></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-12', 'modified' => '2021-12-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14202', 'image' => '20211212104623_LumbiniRSSS.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-12 08:13:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14455', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Work Procedure on Tourism Leave Limited to Draft', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: The work procedure for providing a 10-day tourism leave, announced by the government to promote domestic tourism to support the business affected by Covid-19, has been limited to draft.', '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 10: The work procedure for providing a 10-day tourism leave, announced by the government to promote domestic tourism to support the business affected by Covid-19, has been limited to draft. Although the draft of the procedure was prepared last September it has not been approved yet. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation has also delayed collecting feedback related to the draft from other ministries. One month after the draft was prepared, the ministry started seeking suggestions from all the ministries. Currently, only a few ministries have provided feedback on the draft procedure. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tek Narayan Poudel, joint spokesperson of the Ministry, said that a revised draft of the work procedure will be submitted to the Council of Ministers as soon as the ministry approves the suggestions received from other ministries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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, he said that the suggestions would be collected soon, and the procedure would be passed and implemented within December. The government had announced this program in its budget speech on May 30. It took almost six months to prepare the draft of the work procedure.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tourism entrepreneurs have become frustrated with the government for not implementing the plan to provide 10-day tourism leave to civil servants and other government employees as a relief to the tourism sector that has been worst affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Encouraged by the program brought by the government, the tourism entrepreneurs had come up with attractive packages accordingly. However, they say that the package did not work.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even though hoteliers have made packages in collaboration with airline companies, they are disappointed that the programme has not been implemented, says Binayak Shah, senior vice president of the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN). "The work procedure has not been finalized yet. Therefore, this program isn’t meaningful at all,” said Shah.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the tourism sector requires domestic tourists at the moment as foreign tourists are not coming in large numbers as before.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the government had pledged to implement the programme soon after the announcement, Shah said that there is no possibility to move ahead as the government has not started the programme yet. He added that it is too late to implement the programme.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chairman of the Talking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN), Khum Bahadur Subedi, complained that the government had given priority only to the plan but did not show seriousness in its implementation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 packages and plans made by the trekking agencies for this purpose have been wasted, said Subedi.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 draft of the working procedure has provision to provide expenses even to a non-employee, i.e. a family member of the employee. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 the budget announcement, the government had mentioned that civil servants as well as employees of public institutions and establishments will be provided tourism leave with an amount equal to 10 days' salary in order to promote domestic tourism.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14201', 'image' => '20211210063052_20200719042015_Tourism Nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 18:30:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14456', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Thapa Elected NADA President ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: Dhruba Thapa has been elected as the President of Nepal Automobiles Dealers Association (NADA). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 10: Dhruba Thapa has been elected as the President of Nepal Automobiles Dealers Association (NADA). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">An entrepreneur from Pokhara, Thapa, defeated his rival Karan Chaudhary by 66 votes. NADA's chief election officer and advocate Bal Krishna Dhakal shared that Thapa received 1,413 votes against 1,347 votes obtained by Chaudhary. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 45th annual general meeting of NADA has elected a 17-member executive committee that includes Bikram Singhania, Milan Babu Malla, Rajan Babu Shrestha and Surendra Kumar Uptrey. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Sunil Rijal, Abhisekh Jyoti, Prakash Kapuri, Bikram Singhania, Gopal Bhattarai, Yamuna Shreshta and Bardan Basnet among others were also elected in the new executive committee. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Of the total 3,200 members of NADA, 2,788 votes were cast in the election for the new executive committee. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14200', 'image' => '20211210065523_NADA-Election-2021-Dhruba-Thapa-Panel-Announced-Featured-Image-1110x577.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 18:54:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14454', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Finance Minister Assures of Economic Growth Rate of 7 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has claimed that the economic growth rate of the current fiscal year will be 7 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 10: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has claimed that the economic growth rate of the current fiscal year will be 7 percent.</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> The goal of economic growth was difficult to achieve in the past due to various problems, said Sharma, adding that there won’t be such problems now.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at a meeting of the Finance Committee of the House of Representatives on Thursday, Finance Minister Sharma said that 98 percent of the industries and factories have been re-opened after the Covid-19 pandemic. He said that economic activities have increased everywhere and this will also help in economic growth.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to him, climate change has been seen as the main challenge in achieving economic growth of late. Stating that billions of rupees have been lost due to unseasonal rainfall, he said that despite these challenges, the target of economic growth would be met.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Furthermore, he also said that liquidity crisis still persists in the market. Stating that there is only Rs 16 billion investment (liquidity) in the banking sector now, he said that the liquidity problem has been removed to some extent. “Even though the NRB has injected Rs 2.3 trillion in the banking system in the current fiscal year alone, the problem has not been resolved. The lack of capital expenditure is also a weakness. However, government’s overall expenditure is 2 percent higher than last year,” 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"">Stating that the flow of foreign aid is continuing, he said that discussions are being held with various donor agencies. “We have just reached an agreement for $400 million loan with the IMF under the ECF. We are getting $100 million at the moment. We are also in the process of getting assistance from other agencies like ADB and other countries,” said Minister Sharma.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 NRB has made arrangements for non-resident Nepalis to open savings accounts in dollars, he said that it would have a positive impact on the country's economy. According to Sharma, the ministry has deployed a special task force at the airport customs. The task force has been seizing 19/20 kg of gold daily at the airport. Stating that arrangements have been made to release the seized gold only after collecting customs duty, Sharma expressed confidence that it would help in revenue collection</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At the meeting of the committee, Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, Maha Prasad Adhikari, said that there was a lack of liquidity as more loans were disbursed than deposits collected. According to officials, deposits have increased by only Rs 64 billion whereas loans from the banking system have gone up to Rs 411 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“There is a lack of liquidity due to the gap of Rs 300 billion,” he said. According to the governor, 50 percent of the extended loan, or Rs 205 billion, has to be spent on imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 remittances have not increased significantly, Governor Adhikari said that an average of Rs 80 billion is being received. He says remittances have not been able to keep up with high imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14199', 'image' => '20211210015931_CKC_KTM_JANARDANSHARMA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 13:58:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14453', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Controlling Inflation is Challenging, says NRB Governor', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: The major challenges faced by the country at the moment include inflation, liquidity crisis and the increasing volume of imports.', '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 10: The major challenges faced by the country at the moment include inflation, liquidity crisis and the increasing volume of imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari is of the view that it will be quite challenging to keep inflation within the limit of 6.5 percent </span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">if the current economic indicators are not improved.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/20201211011108_20200407080848_IMG_4955%20-%20Copy.jpg" style="height:268px; width:300px" /></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Adhikari, the impact of this year's heavy rainfall on rice and other crops will reflect in inflation. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He made such remarks during a meeting of the Finance Committee of Parliament.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank is mobilizing all its monetary instruments for the management of financial crisis.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Adhikari, the central bank is planning to tighten imports of luxury items, considering its impact on the economy. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that imports, which were excessively high during the pandemic, may be alarming under normal circumstances, he warned.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Foreign exchange reserves have declined to Rs 131 billion from Rs 139 billion. With foreign investment and remittances declining, payments for rising import is another challenge.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The shortage of liquidity still persists. Credit worth Rs 411 billion has been disbursed until now but only Rs 64 billion has been collected as deposits resulting in the liquidity crisis. And a total of Rs 205 billion is being spent for imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Adhikari said the flow of remittance has not increased much and stands at an average of Rs 80 billion. Remittance inflow has not been able to cope with the high volume of import, he said. Considering the impact on liquidity, the central bank has not raised internal debt. In order to increase the flow of remittance, the central bank has floated the idea of increasing the interest on the amount deposited through remittance by one percentage points.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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, a new scheme has been introduced to attract deposits from non-resident Nepalis.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He also suggested investing in the stock market after developing a good understanding about it. Investors need to have information about financial reports of companies before investing, added Adhikari. The stock market witnessed a steep rise due to lack of promising areas during the pandemic. Public awareness needs to be increased regarding this matter, he further stated. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14198', 'image' => '20211210013911_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 13:37:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14452', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Online Payment on the Rise', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: There has been a considerable rise in the number of electronic payment in online business (e-commerce). ', '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 10: There has been a considerable rise in the number of electronic payment in online business (e-commerce). Although e-commerce has already been popular for quite some time, payments were still made in cash. However, lately, payments have also been increasing through electronic means.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 data obtained from the Department of Payment Systems of Nepal Rastra Bank, electronic payments have been increasing progressively since last May. Not only the amount, but the number of transactions has also increased during the review period.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">From mid-May to mid-June last year, payments of Rs 161 million were made through electronic means. By September, it had increased to Rs 455 million.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 last May, the number of payments made online while purchasing goods was 38,613. By September, 76,357 such payments were made.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 past, although most of the customers bought goods online, they used to make payments through cash. NRB spokesperson Dev Kumar Dhakal says that the trend of making payments online has increased recently in contrast to previous years. “Now, the common people are changing their habits. They tend to stop carrying cash. They try to make online payments whenever it’s possible,” he said, adding “This is the reason why online payments are increasing.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 says Covid-19 has made electronic payments take a big leap. “Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, people are starting to use technology,” said Dhakal adding, “There are various digital wallets in operation currently. Banks are also making mobile banking more effective, aiding in the surge of electronic payments.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14197', 'image' => '20211210125229_20200918073634_digita.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 12:51:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14451', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CIAA Files Corruption Case against Former Section Officer of Finance Ministry', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against former section officer of finance ministry, Uddav Thapaliya, accusing him of amassing over Rs 15 million through illegal means.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 10: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against former section officer of finance ministry, Uddav Thapaliya, accusing him of amassing over Rs 15 million through illegal means. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The CIAA filed the case against the retired officer at the Special Court charging him of amassing the amount illegally during his 35-year service to the government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the anti-graft body, the detailed study of Thapaliya’s income and expenditure since he started the government job on February 18, 1984 till his retirement on April 13, 2019 could only establish the source of income amounting to Rs 10.2 million. However, Thapaliya has been found of spending and investing an Rs 20.67 million during the review period, out of which the source of income of Rs 16.4 million is unknown. The CIAA decided to file the corruption case against Thapaliya after this source of income could not be verified. The anti-graft body has sought a bail amount equal to the money he amassed through unconfirmed sources.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The CIAA has also sought to freeze his properties including land, house and bank account whose source is not confirmed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The CIAA has also filed a case against his wife Muna Panta Thapaliya for abetting the crime. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14196', 'image' => '20211210115020_20210624124455_20190205023717_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 11:49:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14450', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Urea Imported on Subsidy Grossly Misused: Parliamentary Committee ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 10: A big chunk of chemical fertilizers imported on subsidy for boosting agriculture yields has been allegedly misused for commercial purpose. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 10: A big chunk of chemical fertilizers imported on subsidy for boosting agriculture yields has been allegedly misused for commercial purpose. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the National Assembly's Delegated Management and Government Assurance Committee on Wednesday shared the information that around 80 plywood industries currently operating in the country are using the chemical fertilizer for gluing purpose. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The misuse has come to the light in course of committee interaction with stakeholders on how to best utilize and manage around 150,000 sacks of chemical fertilizer that has been stuck in Birgunj-based dry port. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the official data, the government has been annually importing almost 500,000 tons of chemical fertilizer from abroad for agriculture. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It has been suspected that out of the total imported urea, roughly 10 percent has been supplied to the plywood industries. It has been found that majority of industries have been using urea although they have stated that a chemical namely raisin will be used as glue in course of obtaining approval for setting up the industry. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government has been providing chemical fertilizer to the farmers at subsidized rate of Rs 74 per kilogram. The fertilizer is not available for the farmers during the time of crop cultivation in Nepal, when it is needed the most. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The alleged use of chemical fertilizers for commercial purpose meant to be given to the farmers shows a gross misuse of subsidy provided to the farmers. The price of chemical fertilizers has increased manifold in the international market of late. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It is very tough to import chemical fertilizers with the rise in the price of raw materials used in manufacturing fertilizers, shared the stakeholders including the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Salt Trading Corporation and Agriculture Inputs Company Limited. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Committee President Ram Narayan Bidari said serious discussion with concerned ministry and agency has been put forth to draw their attention to resolve the pertinent problem of the country. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-10', 'modified' => '2021-12-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14195', 'image' => '20211210081838_20210526042706_20200817122726_1597613093.Clipboard02 (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-10 08:17:18', '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
